Additional acknowledgments

[JoeyA]

You know, we often have lots of fun at pool tournaments and some of the people that make our experience so pleasureful are under acknowledged.

Jay Helfert is a workaholic when he attends a pool tournament whether or not it's a big paying event or a labor of love. Guys like Jay bust their butt to help add some valuable spice to the tournaments, whether it is doing commentary or managing, directing, promoting or simply running a pool tournament like THE FAT BOY CHALLENGE at the Derby City Classic.

Jay is always keeping the fans, spectators AND players up to date on what's going on with his events and even the events of others. He's always helping out, managing, directing and I have truly come to appreciate his hard work at these events. Jay did a fantastic job promoting and running the Fat Boy Challenge and I just wanted to thank him publicly for his hard work.

The One Pocket Challenge was another event where I witnessed Jay bringing his talents on a daily basis to the enjoyment of the competitors and the fans.

Jay you are a talented fellow and no one works harder than you do.

Thank you for all you do for pool.

JoeyA (Did I mention that Jay wrote one of the best pool action books ever written? (Pool Wars).
:wink:

 

[Tommyd1]

Jay is one of those people that makes pool what it is for us mere mortals.

MUCH APPRECIATED :smile:

Thanks Jay !!

 

[JimS]

You know, we often have lots of fun at pool tournaments and some of the people that make our experience so pleasureful are under acknowledged.

Jay Helfert is a workaholic when he attends a pool tournament whether or not it's a big paying event or a labor of love. Guys like Jay bust their butt to help add some valuable spice to the tournaments, whether it is doing commentary or managing, directing, promoting or simply running a pool tournament like THE FAT BOY CHALLENGE at the Derby City Classic.

Jay is always keeping the fans, spectators AND players up to date on what's going on with his events and even the events of others. He's always helping out, managing, directing and I have truly come to appreciate his hard work at these events. Jay did a fantastic job promoting and running the Fat Boy Challenge and I just wanted to thank him publicly for his hard work.

The One Pocket Challenge was another event where I witnessed Jay bringing his talents on a daily basis to the enjoyment of the competitors and the fans.

Jay you are a talented fellow and no one works harder than you do.

Thank you for all you do for pool.

JoeyA (Did I mention that Jay wrote one of the best pool action books ever written? (Pool Wars).
:wink:

Everything I see of Jay on this site tells me you are right about him. I've grown to respect and admire Jay and what you have to say about him deepens that respect.

Thanks to Jay for all he does for pool and thanks to JoeyA for makeing in public! (This is a kind and thoughtful thread!) OOOPS... almost forgot... :groucho: :groucho: :groucho:

 

[jay helfert]

JOEY!!! I'm gonna kill you! :embarrassed2: Nahh I love ya man. Too bad we didn't get to hang out in the same poolroom for a few years. We would have been at each other's throats every day.

I always had a one or two guys like that in the poolrooms I hung out in. I remember Mike Minkow at Ye Billiard Den in Hollywood. He was a tough little player who would only play me $5 One Pocket back in the 60's. Oh, did we go round and round. I would rejoice when I beat him and he loved beating on me. Mike got into making TV commercials and hit the jackpot. God bless him!

In Dayton it was Frank Reeves, a pretty smart hustler who played me $1 a game 9-Ball when I was a kid. He would spot me the eight ball and beat me every time for five or ten dollars. When the day finally came and I beat him for a few dollars, he quit me! He said, "Kid you're too tough" and we never played again. Frank has owned a poolroom in Dayton for many years now, another lifetime pool guy.

P.S. The 14th Annual Jay Swanson Memorial tournament is at Hollywood Billiards this coming weekend (Feb. 12-14). There is a $25 mini tourney on Friday night ($500 added) and the main event starts at 10 AM Saturday morning. $75 entry and $4,000 added! We expect over 180 players. It's like a Los Angeles pool reunion. Come on down if you're in the neighborhood. There'll be some special celebrity guests there this year too. I'm not at liberty to say who. It's the absolute craziest tourney I run all year, with my buddy Mark Griffin, who spends all day trying to hustle me at One Pocket.

 

[justadub]

I do hope that you will give us a report on it all, and who the celebrity guests were after it's all done and finished.

I would love to come and simply watch, since I'm nowhere near good enough to play in that sort of thing. But as I'm about as far away from LA as you can be and still be in the US, I guess I won't just drop on by.
I'll have to enjoy the reports here. Jay, you sure seem like a guy everyone ought to meet at one point or another. Best of luck with the tournament!