Earl Strickland v/s BJ Ussery This Sunday (8/19/2007)

Don't Worry, I'll Guide You

Eric,
I understand that you're new to this, but the "I've only been doing this for 10 days" excuse is unacceptable. There are some unwritten rules in pool and you broke one. Ignorance of the rules is No excuse.
In an effort to help you along your way, some AZBers may enlighten you to some of pool's rules...
You are probably unaware that if an overweight AZBer travels a great distance to be a 'paid spectator' at an event, the room owner is required to offer them a 50% discount on their bartab and Free food and/or snacks while in attendance. (this is an Important rule to remember.... imo)
Doug
( also, you should NEVER call the authorities if the same AZBer is caught groping the waitresses or bartenderess )
 
Maybe that cover charge should help pay for wear and tear

John Barton said:
Here in China and in Taiwan table time is always charged for practice time and during each tournament match. In every tournament match the loser pays time. Which is why they have races to 13 all the time :-)

Seriously, I think it's a fair system, the most you can pay time is twice in a double elimination tournament and that's it. I don't really get why players should get to wear out the tables for free. And no, as a player and a former room owner I don't think the profits from the food and drink cover the wear and tear to the tables. I think it's just the way the culture has developed in the States.

Well anyway, that was off on a tangent....
Click to expand...

Ya know,you got a point.I was just watching the bears and the colts and them football players were tearing up the feild all night. Maybe we need to start charging them player for wear and tear on the feilds and maybe the price of a game ticket would go down........:p
 
Hi guys. It's the dork that doesn't know how to run a pool room again.

Listen, I learned tonight that BJ & Earl changed the terms slightly right before they started. Instead of continuing another day if the 8 hour time "limit" lapsed, they agreed to just pro-rate the set based on the number of games the current leader was up.

I didn't find this out until about 9:45 tonight. That said, Earl stopped playing when the set was even, which in my mind is very gracious. Like I said before, I left early so I'm not sure who was up and who won the last game, but Earl did a cool thing by stopping even.

That said, Earl fullfilled his obligations just fine and we're going to take care of him as well. He and/or his backer should be stopping by the bar later this week and we'll get it resolved. Yes, he already knows.

Further, and I'm doing this out of my own pocket, not the bar till, I'm going to donate the entire cover charge amount we received to a charity of Earl's choice. I'll find out from him or his backer what it is.

There was never any intent to cause ill will or hard feelings towards Earl or anyone else. Personally, I had a blast and I know the patrons did too. Part of me would like to think that even Earl enjoyed himself too, even if only for a few minutes.

Thanks and g'night!

eric
 
Drater said:
First of all, let me clarify one more time. We charged Earl *only* for his practice time Saturday afternoon. Just like we charge every other customer during normal business hours. Hell, my parents came in on opening night and were charged pool time.

The only people that shoot for free are my employees. Beyond that, league and tournament players get free practice time before and of course during their events. We collect reasonable greens fees for tournaments.

And of course Earl was *not* charged for the time he spent gambling with BJ.

Secondly, Earl's backer called on us to setup a gambling match with BJ. In fact, he walked into the bar and asked Michelle (Trevor's wife) if BJ was up for gambling with someone. After a minute or two of back-n-forth, he finally admitted that he was staking Earl. From there, Michelle gave him Trevor's cell number and they negotiated the terms. (Michelle & Trevor are my other two partners in this business). Trevor and I were covering the bet for BJ.

If instead they wanted to do an exhibition kind of thing where it was a "challenge match" or something similar, then *we* would have *paid* Earl. However, they wanted to gamble. When someone comes in to *practice* on a table, during our busiest day of the week, with the specific purpose of beating my house pro out of hard-earned cash, your damn right I'm charging them for that time. I am making no excuses for that.

Concerning the $5.00 door charge. BJ brought it to our attention that it is indeed customary to cut the players in on it. We didn't know. Like I said before, only been at this for 10 days and have (obviously) never coordinated something like this before. My bad. Next time we'll make sure to get details like this nailed down up-front.

Please know that BJ is being taken care of. We would have taken care of Earl, however part of the terms was that if after 8 hours the two sets weren't finished then they'd resume where they left off at a mutually agreeable day & time. Earl made it very clear that a) he wasn't coming back to Shooters and b) he wasn't playing BJ again. I left early and missed the end-game drama, but from what I understand from Trevor, Earl was upset with BJ's cheering section. I'm sorry if that's the case but it seems reasonable that the local guys are going to pull for their local player.

If he decides to come back and finish the second set, then absolutely we'll take care of him too. He's invited and I'd love for him to come back. No cover charge if he does come back to finish. You heard it here and every one of you are more than welcome to hold me to it. I've been nothing but brutally honest with youse guys from the beginning.

Finally, I realize that I'll never be able to please all of you. If some (or even all) of you here at AZB think we're a bunch of dorks then I'm sorry. We at Shooters are trying to do something good for pool here in the Greensboro, NC area. Last night we had a world champion playing a local pool hero. For only being in business for 10 days, I think that's pretty darn good. As time goes on we plan on doing a lot more and I sincerely hope y'all will be involved.

Thanks and have a good evening!

eric ridge
Click to expand...

Eric,
You, Michelle and Trevor deserve lots of credit for having the moxy to put up the money for BJ to play and treat all of AZ Billiards to a fantastic night of pool on the Internet. I don't know when I've enjoyed myself more unless it was the time that Smorgasbored got me drunk drinking sweet wine. At least this time, I didn't have to drive anywhere.

You treated Earl fairly and whether you've been in business 10 days or 10 years, I believe you did GREAT! I would be honored to play pool at your place of business. You keep doing what you did last night and you will win over a lot of customers.

Some of the regulars on AZ helped out a great deal too and they know they are appreciated as well.

I hope Earl gives you guys a second chance and I hope you all give Earl a second chance. It seems like the game was a little out of line, not much but a little.

Why don't you offer Earl another shot at BJ with BJ playing him head-up. If BJ wins, no hard feelings. That would show BJ has a lot of class and if he wins he got bragging rights for a LONG LONG TIME.

If Earl wins the even-up set, he plays ONE more set giving BJ the call eight. While money doesn't grow on trees olive branches do.

Best regards and good luck with your pool hall. I know you will do well and thanks again for sharing this new horizon with us.
JoeyA
 
hey eric

just wanna say i thought you did ok, nothing wrong with charging earl the day b4 when he was practicing (sure it might not make him rush back to your room but i dont think its out of line), and you comped him for his match timeso no harm no foul. Im definitely going to be coming down more, might even check out the one pocket tourney with a buddy although 1 hole is sooooooo not my game lol, im gonna get creamed but maybe ill learn alot.

hey if you wouldnt mind doing me a favor, could you get a phone number for earl, id love to get 3 or 4 hours of lessons with him if hes going to be in greensboro now more. Either that or give him mine, ill pm it to ya if you dont mind.

thanks
 
scottycoyote said:
hey if you wouldnt mind doing me a favor, could you get a phone number for earl, id love to get 3 or 4 hours of lessons with him if hes going to be in greensboro now more. Either that or give him mine, ill pm it to ya if you dont mind.

thanks
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words Scotty. Yeah, send me your number and I'll do my best to pass it along. I actually don't have a personal contact number for Earl and even if I did, I wouldn't give it out w/o his permission.
 
[B said:
Smorgass Bored[/B]]Eric,
I understand that you're new to this, but the "I've only been doing this for 10 days" excuse is unacceptable. There are some unwritten rules in pool and you broke one. Ignorance of the rules is No excuse.
In an effort to help you along your way, some AZBers may enlighten you to some of pool's rules...
You are probably unaware that if an overweight AZBer travels a great distance to be a 'paid spectator' at an event, the room owner is required to offer them a 50% discount on their bartab and Free food and/or snacks while in attendance. (this is an Important rule to remember.... imo)
Doug
( also, you should NEVER call the authorities if the same AZBer is caught groping the waitresses or bartenderess )
Click to expand...

Okay, first I scratched my head. Then I LOL'd. After driving home, having a shot of Crown and reading this again, I LOL'd one more time. Shanks for the laugh.

Also, I'd like to mention that since we dont have a "No Groping" rule in our membership guidelines, I'll be adding one on Tuesday. In fact, I think it'll read:

  • Smorgass Bored is not allowed to grope employees; only the owners.
 
Drater said:
Okay, first I scratched my head. Then I LOL'd. After driving home, having a shot of Crown and reading this again, I LOL'd one more time. Shanks for the laugh.

Also, I'd like to mention that since we dont have a "No Groping" rule in our membership guidelines, I'll be adding one on Tuesday. In fact, I think it'll read:

  • Smorgass Bored is not allowed to grope employees; only the owners.
Click to expand...


What makes you think SMORGIE wants to grope you:confused: ? He aint "happy"
 
Wow, it's hard for me to take anyone that wears what looks like a pasta strainer on their head seriously, but I'll try...

#1) Smorgass Bored, by virtue of his name, has gotta be looking for some kind of action. And I'd wager he's up for any mix of things;

#2) In my little world with purple skys and yellow grass (the snow is green during the summer), everyone wants to grope me;

#3) He basically said he's into groping waitresses & bartenders. I've been known to do both @ Shooters

If you take all of that, strain out the water using whatever is on your head, toss it in the air a few times and serve w/ parsely, it's pretty clear... Smorgass Bored wants to grope me.
 
First you talk about shanking Smorgie for making you laugh and then you say he can grope you... You are morbid... :O

Eric classy move in donating the money to Earl's charity of choice. You've got a good thing going up there and I would gladly come back in the future.

Goodluck with your new business.
 
Drater said:
Wow, it's hard for me to take anyone that wears what looks like a pasta strainer on their head seriously, but I'll try...

#1) Smorgass Bored, by virtue of his name, has gotta be looking for some kind of action. And I'd wager he's up for any mix of things;

#2) In my little world with purple skys and yellow grass (the snow is green during the summer), everyone wants to grope me;

#3) He basically said he's into groping waitresses & bartenders. I've been known to do both @ Shooters

If you take all of that, strain out the water using whatever is on your head, toss it in the air a few times and serve w/ parsely, it's pretty clear... Smorgass Bored wants to grope me.
Click to expand...

Darn, I never knew that about old Smorgass Bored. Things you can learn online. Simply amazing. Oh well, each to his own. ;)
JoeyA
 
Drater said:
Hey thanks!

Just so everyone knows, Earl *did* pay his pool time. I'm sure on the inside he understands that we're in business to make money.
Click to expand...

WHAT??? Trevor told me that it was a non-profit organiztion...LOL!!
:D
 
You could tell that Earl hasn't made a match in a while....he agreed basically with everything that bj wanted except the jump cue. The match was to be 10 ahead with the call 7 for 2500 putting up 2 sets. Then bj said he would play him for less money with the 7 and the last 2 for 1000. BJ said he has had some bad experiences with other guys racking so he said no bet without him racking his own. So Earl i just wanted to say welcome back to the gambling world=)
 
Drater said:
Yeah, well, our papers say we're a for-profit corporation. ;)
Click to expand...
imo,you did the right thing.$5 to watch something like this is more than fair and its just good buisness.these guys are trying to have a respectable place where you can get action and feel safe about it and i think we should be glad instead of judging here.btw,the spectators for the corey vs shane match next month are being charged and every time ive been to something like this i have been charged a cover.
 
Drater said:
My name is Eric Ridge and I'm one of the *new* owners of Shooters in Greensboro, NC.

Earl and BJ Ussery of High Point, NC will be matching up this Sunday at 8:00pm. Right now it sounds like they'll be playing at least two 10 ahead sets and I think Earl is giving up a ball or two, but the spot hasn't been completely negotiated. Ya know how pool players are... nothing is ever settled until the first rack is broken.

Please come by to watch. We open at 1:00pm and there'll be a $5.00 cover starting about 6:00pm. We've got a bar with full ABC permits and grill. 17 pool tables (8 8' and 9 9'). Lots of seating to watch the action.

Those of you that have been to Shooters in the past will be surprised by the overhaul we've given the place. It's a friendly, clean, and well-lit room with pleanty of action and I'd love for any AZBer in the area to swing by for a few hours.

The address is:

3808 High Point Rd
Greensboro, NC 27407
336 852-1448

Also, let me mention that you should bring a *valid* photo ID. While Shooters has been around for a long time, it's under new ownership and we have to follow the laws very carefully. No valid ID, no entry. :)

Thanks and I hope to see you there!

EDIT: Fixed our phone number. D'oh!
Click to expand...
Just curious about something , and i'm not trying to knock what you are doing , I wish I could be there to watch ......but , worrying about i.d. for legal reasons while advertising that there is gambling going on ...?
 
hippiepool said:
Just curious about something , and i'm not trying to knock what you are doing , I wish I could be there to watch ......but , worrying about i.d. for legal reasons while advertising that there is gambling going on ...?
Click to expand...

PM that kind of stuff, HP if you r concerned.
JoeyA
 
im not sure of the law in north carolina......here in virginia from what i understand wagering is legal as long as its between 2 private parties. Where you get in trouble with wagering in virginia is when there is a "house", like a pokerhouse, who is raking the pot. Then you have a gambling business.
 
Its legal for 2 players to bet while playing each other...basically a 2 man tourney. Its illegal for others to bet on the same match though...or so I've been told.;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top