justinb386
Banned
I am sorry. I was thinking of Mark Wilson. I was told that he is Bergmans godfather (I think) a long time ago. I do know that Mark Wilson was teaching Bergman from a very early age.
Does life as a road player change the personality of most players?
- Thread starter justinb386
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I am sorry. I was thinking of Mark Wilson. I was told that he is Bergmans godfather (I think) a long time ago. I do know that Mark Wilson was teaching Bergman from a very early age.
justinb386
Banned
I wonder how Skyler got so good without any help from a good instructor. Was his dad really that good? I remember seeing Skyler and his dad play at Shooters in Metropilis. That was when Skyler was very young (maybe 12?). He must have had some instruction from maybe Buddy Hall I think. Or, maybe he just picked up everything on the road, with experience. I am very amazed at how much he has improved. Bergman did not improve as fast as Skyler (I am guessing), and Bergman had instruction from Mark Wilson (one of the best instructors in the country) from a very early age. Was Skyler on Landons level at a young age? I know Landons dad is a great player and a master instructor. I just do not see how Skyler got so good without the help of a really good instructor.
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I had the good fortune to know some great older players after their prime. This was in the mid-70s in north Texas. Those few guys had spent years as successful 'hustlers' in the traditional sense of a U.J. Puckett - never the best of the best, but for years good enough to make some money playing pool.
These old guys both had working wives, ladies with good paying jobs who took care of the family finances and saw to it the boys did not rob the piggy bank except for a couple of hundred bucks once a month when the SS checks arrived. The ladies were the true source of stability and income in their family. When that two hundred or so was gone, my guys told war stories for the rest of the month, but oh could they tell stories.
The best investment any road player or prospective pool champion can make is to find and marry a woman with skills and a stable career, making good money, investing in a good retirement plan - then treat them however they want to be treated, so as to keep them around for the long term. A good girl at home is better than a rich backer any day. It's a sure-fire lock, and I am speaking from experience here. :wink:
Stoney Stone
Some how he just keeps rolling along like the tide. However he works. Usually 2 or 3 businesses he owns.
He did beat John Schmidt on John's home table. The table in John's house.
So him and only him. Successful and road player. He also has the largest heart offering spots that somehow he out runs. And every one likes him.
One in a million?
Nick
Some how he just keeps rolling along like the tide. However he works. Usually 2 or 3 businesses he owns.
He did beat John Schmidt on John's home table. The table in John's house.
So him and only him. Successful and road player. He also has the largest heart offering spots that somehow he out runs. And every one likes him.
One in a million?
Nick
No, Buddy or any of the other really good players never helped Skyler. There are and was several really good players in Paducah and I never saw them helping Skyler. It made me sick. There is a great banker there, and another was the owner of the poolroom was very strong player in all games, but I never saw them helping Skyler. I think they were all jealous of Skyler.
Skyler just played ALL THE TIME. I played him often. When I first started playing him, I was close to his speed, but later I couldnt run with that dog, and I found others to play. Even playing him one pocket was rough because I could out move him, but if he ever got a shot, he would run 8 and out.
Landons father is who I suggested Skyler go and work with, but that didnt happen either.
You keep saying that Skyler was going on the road. He didnt do that at a young age either. He played local tournaments, but he didnt go out gambling like you might think.
I am very proud of Skyler, as he is genuine, and has earned all of his success. But like the old joke “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” whose punch line is “Practice, practice, practice." That IMO is how Skyler got there.
It wasn't magic and it wasn't great mentoring from pro players, it was hard work.
Best of rolls to all.
Ken
(P.S.) After Skyler started getting really strong and playing more banks. He eventually came back to play the great banker in Paducah. Like most towns, most thought the old banker would stomp Skyler and most bet against him.....they were wrong.
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Sounds very true to me. So if you want to be a pool bum, you'd better have some gigilo in you too. And then pray the woman doesn't wise up.
Reading all this makes me more content with being a terrible pool player. You see, I spent decades working, raising a daughter, and running a small business. Didn't have time for pool until later in life. There is very little chance of the big score so many pool players seem to be looking for. The key to financial happiness is to do it the hard way. That is work, save, and also invest wisely. But that's for suckers, right?
There are always exceptions to the rule, but it seems to me there are very few serious pool players who are also good money managers.
(edit) It really is the old grasshoppers and ants fable.
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You CAN have both....Steve Mizerak, Dick Lane, Bob Vanover, CJ Wiley pursued their
pool dream without becoming a pool hall bum....
...add Harold Worst, Willie Mosconi, Joe Kerr, Mike Zuglan to the list....
...I'm sure AZers can add a lot more names.
Then compare with sports and entertainment stars who mismanaged their finances or
didn't live a full life span because of addictions...
....pool is not at the bottom of the heap.
Frank tullos. Greatness debatable!
Super nice guy, didnt he make helferts forst tome?
Super nice guy, didnt he make helferts forst tome?
Or am i thinking of frank torres, being in jays bok?
Sheeeat, i dunno, but i do know tullos...solid player and fine guy
All the names you mentioned, would probably have been successful at whatever they chose to pursue in life. There are winners and losers in every sport or game.. We choose to expound on pool players faults or successes because that is the game we can best relate to. Life is full of inconsistencies, always has been, always will be!
PS..Here is one exception to the rule..Can anyone explain how this guy (or his clueless, slutty wife) have enjoyed ANY success at all?..Doesn't say much for the youth of today, does it?
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I can agree with you on KK and her ass. He has absolutely no talent, if you ask me, and she has a pretty face but that's about it.
justinb386
Banned
She got very rich off of a reality TV show, right? But there must have been a good reason why her reality TV show was so popular. I never watched it, and never knew anything about her family. Reality TV is something that can make a person money though, if it is something that will be very interesting to the general public. Too bad pool is not very interesting to most people. Would love to see a great reality TV pool show about pool players, but only is it is serious, and not something really silly (that the average non pool player might really like).
I know one professional player that has seen to have changed a little bit in the 4-5 years of not seeing him. Before he was kinder and gentler with a upbeat positive attitude. Last time we were together he was a little more somber or lackluster due to men's professional pool. Deep down he was the same person but on the surface you could see he was tired. It takes a lot of heart and guts to make it out there
It is better to live one day as a tiger, than to live 1000 as a sheep.
Yeah but once you've lived like a wolf its hard to be tethered to the ground like a goat.