Best Pool Memory

ScottR

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just wondering what everyone's favorite/most interesting pool memories are, and why. Let's try 3 categories and jump-start our brain cells . . . . .

1. Best with you at the table
2. Best with someone else at the table
3. Best pool-related, but non-playing (woofing, etc.)

Here are mine:
1. Playing against an inmate within the walls of Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary and winning before finding out he was in for multiple 1st degree contract murder and crossing state lines with the victims.
2. Watching a young Johnny Archer and a semi-young Efren give a "how to play 9-ball" show during a match in Atlanta during the mid-80's.
3. Having dinner with Willie Mosconi and the local "connected" family in a major midwestern city and being too scared to refuse to get drunk on Drambuie.

I know mine're pretty weak, so let the good stories flow . . . . .

Scott
 
ScottR said:
Just wondering what everyone's favorite/most interesting pool memories are,

1. Best with you at the table
2. Best with someone else at the table
3. Best pool-related, but non-playing (woofing, etc.)

Scott


1. With me at the table...I ran a bunch of racks and won big $$$$

2. With someone else at the table...he kept missing and lost big $$$$

3. I think that's yet to take place

Sorry Scott... I'm all out of gas creatively today. Those cue threads drained me and to a large fault you caused it for being a custom cue junkie. :p :D :D
 
Boy Club of America in Miami Florida, about 1954, 55 ish where I was FIRST Introduced to the game of Pool.

Had a heck of a lot of fun playing on the WOBBLY TABLES, also played pretty well, as I went home many days from the Boys Club with a FIST FULL OF MONEY, ($2.00-3.00) as I gambled for Lunch Money.

Alway had a problem explaing to my Mom where I got the money, but the Lies (creative stories) Worked until I got booted out of the Boys Club for Gambling.
:D
 
Easily my best pool memory right now is winning a match for our team in the BCA Open team event. Tied 12-12 in a race to 13 if i win we are guaranteed $1000 if i lose we get $750. I won. That was my best experience in recent memory.
 
best memory in pool has to be when my best budie and i were playing a $1 a rack for some thing to do and I gave hm the first break he made 11 nineball breaks in a row no lie.. He's suck a lucky bastard. I was even moving the rack left right ,up ,and below the spot. He just made them in different pockets. Every time he makes a 9 ball on the break now he's got to tell every one we play with about it. His name is Tim horn he is also the wisconson jr. state champ last two years in a row.
 
1. Beating Mika Immonen even in a race to 9, from his break, running out the final two games to win 9-8. All for fun but on the head-table in front of a small crowd.

2. Watching teammate Steve Lipsky at the National 8-ball Championship in Las Vegas, NV run-out for a match-win with a positional shot that required sending the cue-ball nearly 8 feet for position to hit a mid-table window no more than 6 inches wide.

3. Meeting my fiance when she applied for a job at the poolroom I used to manage.
 
Jude Rosenstock said:
1. Beating Mika Immonen even in a race to 9, from his break, running out the final two games to win 9-8. All for fun but on the head-table in front of a small crowd.

2. Watching teammate Steve Lipsky at the National 8-ball Championship in Las Vegas, NV run-out for a match-win with a positional shot that required sending the cue-ball nearly 8 feet for position to hit a mid-table window no more than 6 inches wide.

3. Meeting my fiance when she applied for a job at the poolroom I used to manage.
Very sporty! :)
 
1. Breaking and running a rack of 9 Ball against Karen Corr at a WPBA charity event in 2004. I got lucky on the first shot; trying to carom the 8 into the side I cut the 1 all the way up into the corner instead, and was able to run the rest from there. Shame she beat me 2-0 in 2005, oh well maybe next year.

2. Watching Steve Davis beat Earl Stickland 5-0 at the 2003 Mosconi Cup

3. Getting a midnight call from a friend playing at the BCA Open in Vegas a few years ago. I'd been helping with his 8 Ball and a piece of advice I'd given him helped him win a match.
 
Playing straight pool with Corey Deuel. He ran 29 off my break and I followed with a 28. He then ran 42. Back and forth after that until I lost 125-103.
 
drivermaker said:
1. With me at the table...I ran a bunch of racks and won big $$$$

2. With someone else at the table...he kept missing and lost big $$$$

3. I think that's yet to take place

Sorry Scott... I'm all out of gas creatively today. Those cue threads drained me and to a large fault you caused it for being a custom cue junkie. :p :D :D

It was your best pool memory with you at the table and you can't remember how many racks you ran? BS.
 
ScottR said:
Just wondering what everyone's favorite/most interesting pool memories are, and why. Let's try 3 categories and jump-start our brain cells . . . . .

1. Best with you at the table
2. Best with someone else at the table
3. Best pool-related, but non-playing (woofing, etc.)
1:
Once in a match I was getting further and further behind my opponent when all of a sudden at 4-0 I decided to "listen" to the voice in my head that kept nagging me to go to the ladies room and wash out my contact lenses. So I took my break down 4-0 and when I got back to the table, I didn't give her another game and won 7-4.

2:
My best time with an opponent would be many, many moons ago up at Snookers in RI. My first match I was ahead, start to finish. But my next two matches had me coming from 6-2/6-3 behind to win on the hill. So then I had to face a "newish" Karen Corr on Sunday morning, but was okay, I had faced her in the past and managed 1 game from her. That Saturday night I was regaling my husband with my come-from-behind matches and that I was matching up with Karen the next day. He was so happy he drove (read: flew) up from the Philly area to catch my Sunday matches!! Surprised the heck outta me!

Anyway, Karen and I are going at it and when she missed, I ran out. When I missed, she ran out. We literally traded the first 6 racks. Then Karen changed her strategy and went for any safety she could, and she put some good ones on me that I remember to this day.

Why I remember this match is because Karen had to change her strategy against me during the match. Did I have her scared? I doubt it. But I traded racks with her! I had her thinking!!

3:
Last year at the US Open when I'm cheering for my buddy (and my first coach) Marty Ciccia. He's playing Earl Strickland and Marty snaps one in on the break to tie on the hill after pulling up from a 3 game deficit. I shout out, "One more Marty!". This is where I get "the glare" from Earl. I was actually wishing my cell would go off so Earl would glare at me again. I would've ppulled a "Can you hear me now" thing but I would've held the phone towards Earl and said "Hey Earl, it's your proctologist. Good news! They found your head!" :p :p :p

Barbara
 
The Day

The day I brokem like a banchie and nothing dropped. My wife ran the table and then banked in the eight ball. Her first run out!!!!
Purdman :D
 
ScottR said:
1. Best with you at the table
2. Best with someone else at the table
3. Best pool-related, but non-playing (woofing, etc.)

1. In 1999, I ran a 77 in straight pool on Jeanette Lee in front of a large crowd at Amsterdam Billiard Club. Not my high run, but doing it in front of a crowd of New yorkers that was, for the most part, rooting for me, it was a real thrill.

2. Sigel's 150 and out against Zuglan in the 1992 US Open Straight Pool event, a matched played in the presence of Caras and Mosconi (Willie would die just months later), remains the most memorable pool I've ever seen live, and I had a darn good seat, too. A close second is when Tony Robles ran 200 and out at Corner Billiards in NYC on George "Ginky" SanSouci in 1997 for a one inning win in a straight pool exhibition.

3. Pool related. Well, once upon a time, when I knew far fewer WPBA pros than I now know, I was invited to join the gals for dinner just after the final of the 1997 WPBA Prescott Classic. My friend Matt and I were the only two men invited to join a group that included Allison Fisher, Gerda Hofstatter, Jeanette Lee, Helena Thronfeldt, Monica Webb, Jennifer Chen, Vivan Villareal, and Nesli O'Hare. When dinner was over, they all said they were going to Colby's poolroom in Phoenix, the city from which most of us would fly out from the next morning, and invited me to join them. So I went to Colby's with them, and we all pulled an all-nighter together.
 
ScottR said:
Just wondering what everyone's favorite/most interesting pool memories are, and why. Let's try 3 categories and jump-start our brain cells . . . . .

1. Best with you at the table
2. Best with someone else at the table
3. Best pool-related, but non-playing (woofing, etc.)


Scott

#1 Had a customer from Denmark contacted me at the BCA Trade Show in Vegas several years ago. He looked at the cues I had with me and and selected 3 he liked. I shot him my best price and he tried to talk me down $100 off what I'd told him was my firm price. I was about to give in when he suggested we play a set of 9-ball for the difference. Well I knew he palyed on the tour in Europe and I figured I was probably the underdog in the match, but I had a shot! When he suggested a race to 13, I got the feeling, he too thought I was at the disadvantage. lol

Well, we met at the Las Vegas Cue Club and he'd arrived a few minutes ahead of me. He's asked for the tightest table he could get, I found out later! I got out a coin to flip for the break. He said can't we lag instead. I said sure. I stopped the ball about a ball length from the end rail, he froze to the cushion! lol He ran 2 racks, played a jam up safe in the 3rd rack, got BIH & out. Broke and ran 2 more. I Finally got a game and made it 5-1. The next time I got a clear shot, it was 10-1! At that point, I'd pretty much written off the $100, but I knew that as long as I was alive, I had a chance! I started freewheeling! The table was almost as tight as my practice table in the shop, but I was making everything I shot at! I ended up winning the match 13-11. My opponent hadn't said a word since I started my battle back. When it was over he came up and shook my hand. He told me "that was one of the best matches I've ever played and you ran over me"! He said "at first I felt confident, but a lion appeared suddenly"! It was probably the best 9-ball I've ever played!


#2 When my best friend and road partner "Gary Spaeth", won the Clyde Childress Memorial Bank Pool Division in 1986 . He defeated Wade Crane in the finals. Jose Parica won the Nine Ball Division.
Gary and I were hanging out a lot with Earl those days. Earl had the misfortune to have his first really bad tournament at the hands of the Filipino contingency. Jose beat him on the winner's side, after which we were trying to cheer Earl up in his room. He was pretty upset about the crowd cheering for the Filipino players over him! Later Efren beat him in the loser's bracket to knock him out of the tournament his stakehorse at the time, Monroe Brock, put on! He was really furious when the fans aplauded Efren. Later he told me he thought it was "Un-American"!

#3 About 20 years ago I took my best buddy, the late Gary Spaeth to a bar table tournament at the Chatanooga Billiards Club in Downtown Chatanooga Tennessee. We thought that Gary should be "The Nuts" in this little $50 entry bar box tournament. We arrived a day early to scope the place out in the hopes of trapping a local and maybe making up part of the "nut" for the week.

As soon as we walked in the door Phil Windham, the owner, walked up to us and introduced himself. He immediately looked at Gary and said "You're Gary Spaeth aren't you?" Gary tried denying his identity and made up a phony name. Phil said "No, I know who you are, I saw you beat Jimmy Rempe 10 years ago in L.A.. Wait here, I can prove it." Quickly he went back to his office and produced an old program from some long forgotten tournament. It had pictures of most of the players in it. Phil pointed out an old picture of Gary with hair down the middle of his back, wearing bell bottom pants. We all laughed and couldn't deny Phil, "the pool detective", his glory. We apologized but Phil wasn't mad, he understood how tough it was back then. We continued to look at the pictures of the players in the program. Gary turned a page and there was a picture of Buddy Hall in his bell bottoms with a big grin on his face. At this point Gary really put his foot in his mouth by saying with a chuckle,"Check out Buddy, he was sure ugly back then."Phil had Gary autograph the old program and we all kind of laughed and went on about our business.

As the day progressed our original assessment of Gary having a lock on this little tourney started to wane as one after another Champion after Champion walked in. David Howard, Earl Strickland, Dave Matlock, Reed Pierce, Bucky Bell, Mike Massey, Buddy Hall on and on. We thought, "Damn what's next?"

Well the tourney got under way. Gary was playing very well! A few rounds into it Gary came up against Buddy Hall. To everyone's surprise, Phil Windham got on the PA as he was announcing the matches and told the story of our entrance to the Poolroom. He explained how he had gotten the program and mentioned Gary's (not so bright) comment about Buddy. Upon Buddy's arrival Phil asked him to autograph the program also. He kind of chuckled when he saw the old picture of Gary. This made Phil bring up Gary's comment which spurred the response from Buddy "I may have been ugly, but not as ugly as Gary". Phil thought this would be a good area for the audience to get involved. As he explained the whole story to the entire crowd he said we we're also going to have an "Ugly Contest" with the two entries. The crowd was to be the judge by way of applause on cue. (No pun intended! lol) Well with a lot of help, from me and a couple of Gary's other good buddies, Gary Spaeth won hands down. We whooped and hollered and cheered Gary on to victory. He even won the match, which was miraculous after the harassment he'd just received. Unfortunately that was the last match he won and he ended up finishing just out of the money. Things weren't much better for David Howard and Earl Strickland. That evening we got together at the motel and were swapping war stories. After an hour or two of "road tales" David Howard came up with the statement that started me on this story to begin with. He simply said "Yeah this pool's tough!... But somebody's gotta do it!". There's hardly a week goes by that I don't think of that statement. I often substitute "cuemaking" for "pool" when I use the words, but the thought's the same. David and I got to be great friends after that and made several road trips ourselves.

just more hot air!
(a lot again this time)

Sherm Adamson
 
#1. After losing to Roger Griffis for the hot seat at Hard Times, when I had been up in the match, I walked outside to be by myself. A young kid walked up and said, "It's okay Rude Dog, you'll get 'em next time." It put it all in perspective for me from that day on. Win or lose, it really is just a game. To this day I have no idea who the kid was either.
#2. Running 5 racks on Nick Varner after he had broke and ran 6 from the coin flip.
#3. Winning $3,000 the day after I got fired from my job where I was working 6 days a week. BTW, it was on my birthday too!
#4. Meeting my wife at a bar during a tournament. I told her to cheer for me because it would make me play better and whatever I won I would spend it all on drinks for the night. She really thought that she was the reason I won the tournament. ;)
#5. Walking into the Chesapeake Convention Center last year for the U.S. Open thinking that I had the nuts! :D
 
ScottR said:
Just wondering what everyone's favorite/most interesting pool memories are, and why. Let's try 3 categories and jump-start our brain cells . . . . .

1. Best with you at the table
2. Best with someone else at the table
3. Best pool-related, but non-playing (woofing, etc.)

1. Best with you at the table
I was an over-rated 6 on the Busch Leage, which was 8-Ball back in them days. We were playing another local team on the road, and it came down to the final match for the win. Sonny, my team captain, picked me to go in the pit. The other team picked Vicki, who posts here on occasion. I knew Vicki was a really good player, and I was shaking in my boots. I didn't want to let my team down. Vicki and I battled back and forth and it came down to the case game for the win. It was my break. I looked at my team captain Sonny and said, "Sonny, 8-ball in the side pocket." I broke the balls, and the 8-ball went in the side pocket for the big "W." Each one of my team members jumped out of their chairs and came over to congratulate me, patting me on the back, giving me the high-five. I was the hero and in pool heaven. Great win for JAM.

2. Best with someone else at the table
I was in my hangout, Hank Dietle's Tavern, but at 18, I hadn't developed any pool skills, even though I enjoyed playing. There was only one bar box in the joint. At night, there usually was a waiting list with 20-plus names. To give everybody a chance to play, they'd sometimes make it a partners game, to make the list go quicker. Me being the weakest link, I'd never get picked to be anybody's partner, as I had no game to offer. I was literally down to my last dollar, after having donated the majority of my meager bank roll, and was ready to call it a night. In walks a stranger, and he put his name on the list. When his turn came up, he asked several patrons if they'd be his partner, but they declined, not knowing the fellow. He then turned to me, and I jumped at the chance. Well, to make a long story short, we held the table for the rest of the night, with me and him pocketing a buck each for every win. It turned out that the stranger was a local Maryland native, Tom-Tom Wirth, a pool champion in his own right, and we have remained friends ever since.

3. Best pool-related, but non-playing (woofing, et cetera.)
A recent woofing session comes to mind between Dennis Hatch and Italian Champion Fabio Petroni, which occurred at last year's Glass City Open in Toledo. Dennis was barking loudly at poor Fabio, trying to get him to post up for a few dimes. Fabio sat quietly on the rail and just listened to him squawk, never uttering a word. At one point, Dennis even unzipped his pants to display his manly charm to Fabio. Fortunately, his back was facing me when he did it! It went on for some time, getting kind of ugly, and finally, a friendly railbird couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up from the bleachers and said, "I'll back Fabio for whatever you want." Fabio stepped up to the plate and barbecued Dennis, and I enjoyed seeing him win!

JAM
 
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matthew staton said:
best memory in pool has to be when my best budie and i were playing a $1 a rack for some thing to do and I gave hm the first break he made 11 nineball breaks in a row no lie.. He's suck a lucky bastard. I was even moving the rack left right ,up ,and below the spot. He just made them in different pockets. Every time he makes a 9 ball on the break now he's got to tell every one we play with about it. His name is Tim horn he is also the wisconson jr. state champ last two years in a row.

Eleven in a row? Unheard of. Wow!
 
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