Among the more memorable of Mr. McCumber's stories about pool players in his book "Playing off the Rail" is Richard (Bucktooth) Cook, whose hustle is to raise the stakes by boasting of his wealth: "When I play pool I play for stacks of money. I don't count my money, I weigh it." And there's Keith McCready, taught to gamble by his divorced father, who, when he had custody of his children on weekends, would give each of them $20 and force them to play games with him, usually until he had won his money back.