Funny little story

John Brumback

John Brumback

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Way back when I was about 20 years old and thought i could beat just about anybody I walked into this pool room down in NC (looked it up in the phone book,that's how it used to be done) So I walk in and ask the guy working if there was anyone around who might want to play some 9ball.He said well I might find ya a game,give me a couple minutes.I thought he was going to go call someone.He goes in the back room and comes out and says,yep found you a game.He didn't ask my name or anything.I should have known right then.Well a few minutes go by and out comes this guy who looks like he's been back in there sleeping.We flip the coin for about 30 or 40 a rack 9ball and I took the worst beatin of my pool life.
I didn't but should have asked who he was but back then I didn't care I just wanted to play.That's how we did it way back then.On top of not missing a ball for what seemed like hours he must have drank 24 beers while we were playing.So after i lost bout 400 and saw the light I find out who this guy is.Denny Searcy.Some of the best 9ball i have ever seen played to this day.The guy had the smoothest stroke and the best nerves i have ever seen.Took me months to get over that beatin,LOL John Brumback
 
Great story John and thanks for sharing. 24 beers and still running racks...Jesus, talk about auto-pilot!

Was he staggering around or slurring his speech? or, telling you some good one liners?
 
ratnip said:
Great story John and thanks for sharing. 24 beers and still running racks...Jesus, talk about auto-pilot!

Was he staggering around or slurring his speech? or, telling you some good one liners?
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No he was not staggering at all and never said a word unless it was..you owe me one,right? John B.
 
JBKY said:
No he was not staggering at all and never said a word unless it was..you owe me one,right? John B.
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I love that line, "You owe me one, right?" That's the all time single best line ever on AZ! That was better than a five railer! :thumbup2:

Denny was a man of few words. I'll tell you one about him John. We had this big tournament in Bend, Oregon in 1976. Ronnie Allen co-promoted it with a local businessman. All the top players came out there and it was 9-Ball and Eight Ball. Sigel won the 9-Ball and Dan Louie won the Eight Ball. After it was all over, two guys walk into the tournament room with all these great players around. The one guy says, "We want to play anyone some 9-Ball for any amount!" The guy standing next to him was Denny. I knew him from the Pay Ball games at the Billiard Palace in L.A.

Sigel, Billy, Rempe, Lassiter (past his prime though), Hopkins, Mizerak, Varner, they were all there. But no one moved a muscle! I was amazed that no one would play Denny. Finally Louie Roberts got up and played. One set, ten ahead for five thousand! Denny dusted him off and left town. Denny was the most feared 9-Ball player on Earth back then. And the best Pay Ball player too! You caught a good one when you found him. :thumbup:

God, how I wish Parica had come over then. What a game that would have been! Denny may have been the only one who could have beat Parica, no one else could! Parica moved the cue ball better than anyone ever and had a huge heart for gambling. But Denny could make shots that no one else could make (plus he never missed!) and had just as big a heart. It's a toss up. That would have been epic. The only other player who might have been able to beat Parica was Harold Worst, but he was long gone by then. Harold over powered the balls and the table, bringing the game to its knees! Kind of like how Matlock used to do it on a bar table.
 
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Denny S.

I watch Denny play a lot of pay ball at Cockrans in the late 60's & early 70's, games when on for every it seemed like. You could leave come back the next night and the game would still be going. The games would 4,5,6 players or more.

Dale
 
jay helfert said:
I love that line, "You owe me one, right?" That's the all time single best line ever on AZ! That was better than a five railer! :thumbup2:

Denny was a man of few words. I'll tell you one about him John. We had this big tournament in Bend, Oregon in 1976. Ronnie Allen co-promoted it with a local businessman. All the top players came out there and it was 9-Ball and Eight Ball. Sigel won the 9-Ball and Dan Louie won the Eight Ball. After it was all over, two guys walk into the tournament room with all these great players around. The one guy says, "We want to play anyone some 9-Ball for any amount!" The guy standing next to him was Denny. I knew him from the Pay Ball games at the Billiard Palace in L.A.

Sigel, Billy, Rempe, Lassiter (past his prime though), Hopkins, Mizerak, Varner, they were all there. But no one moved a muscle! I was amazed that no one would play Denny. Finally Louie Roberts got up and played. One set, ten ahead for five thousand! Denny dusted him off and left town. Denny was the most feared 9-Ball player on Earth back then. And the best Pay Ball player too! You caught a good one when you found him. :thumbup:

God, how I wish Parica had come over then. What a game that would have been! Denny may have been the only one who could have beat Parica, no one else could! Parica moved the cue ball better than anyone ever and had a huge heart for gambling. But Denny could make shots that no one else could make (plus he never missed!) and had just as big a heart. It's a toss up. That would have been epic. The only other player who might have been able to beat Parica was Harold Worst, but he was long gone by then. Harold over powered the balls and the table, bringing the game to its knees! Kind of like how Matlock used to do it on a bar table.
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LOL thanks Jay.Good story about him too! I was at forest park billiards in Dayton,Oh when they flew him in and he busted that BIG pay ball game on the snooker table.That was awesome to watch.You were probably there too.
PS: I would have bet on Denny S. John B.
 
JBKY said:
LOL thanks Jay.Good story about him too! I was at forest park billiards in Dayton,Oh when they flew him in and he busted that BIG pay ball game on the snooker table.That was awesome to watch.You were probably there too.
PS: I would have bet on Denny S. John B.
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Yep, I was there, and played in the 9-Ball (beat Dan Louie :wink:), Banks (beat a bunch of guys) and One Pocket (beat no one!). Danny whipped it on them for almost 30K!
 
And can someone please explain the "You owe me one right?" line while playing nine ball?
 
Luxury said:
Youngin' here. What is pay ball?
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Dang you are young uhh? LOL Pay ball is a game racking 6balls on a snooker table.
It's a ring game with as many as up to 6 or 7 players."Every" ball is a money ball.Like 5$ a ball and on top of that it pays double on a run out.Big $ when and if you run out.

The "you owe me one, right?" is what they used to say if you haven't paid off the game you just lost.Back then alot of the games were played by the game not just a set.Like when I was racking and hadn't took the time to pay him the game i just lost,he would come over and say...you owe me one,right? Hope that helps cause now I feel real old.LOL John B.
 
JBKY said:
Way back when I was about 20 years old and thought i could beat just about anybody I walked into this pool room down in NC (looked it up in the phone book,that's how it used to be done) So I walk in and ask the guy working if there was anyone around who might want to play some 9ball.He said well I might find ya a game,give me a couple minutes.I thought he was going to go call someone.He goes in the back room and comes out and says,yep found you a game.He didn't ask my name or anything.I should have known right then.Well a few minutes go by and out comes this guy who looks like he's been back in there sleeping.We flip the coin for about 30 or 40 a rack 9ball and I took the worst beatin of my pool life.
I didn't but should have asked who he was but back then I didn't care I just wanted to play.That's how we did it way back then.On top of not missing a ball for what seemed like hours he must have drank 24 beers while we were playing.So after i lost bout 400 and saw the light I find out who this guy is.Denny Searcy.Some of the best 9ball i have ever seen played to this day.The guy had the smoothest stroke and the best nerves i have ever seen.Took me months to get over that beatin,LOL John Brumback
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Thanks for the cool pool read, John. Enjoyed it a lot! Keep 'em coming! :)
 
JBKY said:
Way back when I was about 20 years old and thought i could beat just about anybody I walked into this pool room down in NC (looked it up in the phone book,that's how it used to be done) So I walk in and ask the guy working if there was anyone around who might want to play some 9ball.He said well I might find ya a game,give me a couple minutes.I thought he was going to go call someone.He goes in the back room and comes out and says,yep found you a game.He didn't ask my name or anything.I should have known right then.Well a few minutes go by and out comes this guy who looks like he's been back in there sleeping.We flip the coin for about 30 or 40 a rack 9ball and I took the worst beatin of my pool life.
I didn't but should have asked who he was but back then I didn't care I just wanted to play.That's how we did it way back then.On top of not missing a ball for what seemed like hours he must have drank 24 beers while we were playing.So after i lost bout 400 and saw the light I find out who this guy is.Denny Searcy.Some of the best 9ball i have ever seen played to this day.The guy had the smoothest stroke and the best nerves i have ever seen.Took me months to get over that beatin,LOL John Brumback
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John how can I work on my nerves? Do you think all the beers helped his nerves? I don't drink when I play but I have done a shot or two to take the edge off before.
 
Jay mentioned Dan Louie. I've watched Danny play many times over the past 10 years or so, and he gets it done against the best in the Seattle area still. His health is good and his eyes are bright.
Just how good was he "back in the day", in his prime?
 
JBKY said:
Way back when I was about 20 years old and thought i could beat just about anybody I walked into this pool room down in NC (looked it up in the phone book,that's how it used to be done) So I walk in and ask the guy working if there was anyone around who might want to play some 9ball.He said well I might find ya a game,give me a couple minutes.I thought he was going to go call someone.He goes in the back room and comes out and says,yep found you a game.He didn't ask my name or anything.I should have known right then.Well a few minutes go by and out comes this guy who looks like he's been back in there sleeping.We flip the coin for about 30 or 40 a rack 9ball and I took the worst beatin of my pool life.
I didn't but should have asked who he was but back then I didn't care I just wanted to play.That's how we did it way back then.On top of not missing a ball for what seemed like hours he must have drank 24 beers while we were playing.So after i lost bout 400 and saw the light I find out who this guy is.Denny Searcy.Some of the best 9ball i have ever seen played to this day.The guy had the smoothest stroke and the best nerves i have ever seen.Took me months to get over that beatin,LOL John Brumback
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I remember going to pay phone booths here in LA to look for pool rooms, sometimes the pages were missing from the phone book. I never tore the pages out figuring someone else would come along. Can you imagine? man that was a long time ago. I was guilty of taking the phone books from motels, i had a pile of them in my VW Van, I got so many I had to steal a milk crate to keep them in, I wish I had a picture of them. I had them in my VW from 85-90, When I moved to Vegas I tossed them. It was handy to have all those yellow pages, I was my own Smart Phone back then. My friend who rode with me would dig out the book for where ever we were going. After a while we had our spots all picked out.

I took some beatings doing that(walking into a room cold asking for a game) and I also won doing that as well. I remember one night at Bob's Billiards on Beach bl (Keith knows that spot real well) I got the balls and went to my box in the middle of the room, I had $300-$350 on me, that was ALL the $$ I owned at the time. I flipped a c-note on the box as I put my cue together and racked the balls, didnt say a word. I got a bite real fast, I figured that was the worst move I made I was either gonna get robbed or robbed one way or the other-for flashing my $$$, 1/3rd of my bankroll. I played the guy for $100 a short race and I won $200. Score!!! I played WAY over my head and beat who ever it was, I will never forget that. I stepped up and played great.

Of course I lost that $$$ at Hardtimes a few days later. I never have walked out of Hardtimes a winner (overall, maybe for a day but on my LA trips back in the 80's I never netted out a winning weekend there) I'd go to all the other rooms and get pumped up only to blow it at Hardtimes. Hardtimes was the equalizer for me, on the trips I didnt go there I always came home with more than I left with.

I miss the days of playing 4 guys in a day in 3 different rooms without having to drive for 5 hours.


best
Eric

PS Great Story JB
 
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brian0741 said:
John how can I work on my nerves? Do you think all the beers helped his nerves? I don't drink when I play but I have done a shot or two to take the edge off before.
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Yes I think the beer helped his nerves.
I was playing in a pretty big 9ball tourny in Greenville,SC at Cue Time ( it was the first time i had made it to the finals of a big tourny) I was
,I think in my early 20's.anyway I had to play Billy Johnson/Wade Crane
in the finals and I had heard of him my whole life so to say I was nevous would be a huge understatement.Wellll I told my buddy how nervous i was and he said go to the bar and get you a shot.So i did.I had her put two shots in one glass of coke.I gulped down about half of it at first.Then sipped it the rest of the match.I didn't miss ball and played darn near perfect and won my biggest tourny ever at the time.

However,you should not get dependent on doing it like that all the time.Every once in a while,I think is fine though.Proceed with caution,lol.
John B.
 
JBKY said:
Yes I think the beer helped his nerves.
I was playing in a pretty big 9ball tourny in Greenville,SC at Cue Time ( it was the first time i had made it to the finals of a big tourny) I was
,I think in my early 20's.anyway I had to play Billy Johnson/Wade Crane
in the finals and I had heard of him my whole life so to say I was nevous would be a huge understatement.Wellll I told my buddy how nervous i was and he said go to the bar and get you a shot.So i did.I had her put two shots in one glass of coke.I gulped down about half of it at first.Then sipped it the rest of the match.I didn't miss ball and played darn near perfect and won my biggest tourny ever at the time.

However,you should not get dependent on doing it like that all the time.Every once in a while,I think is fine though.Proceed with caution,lol.
John B.
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If I drink a drop of anything I cant make a ball, litterly I cant make 2 balls in a row after a beer. Its funny how bad I play after a drink, I couldnt beat the worst player ever. Drinking dont work for me, I seen John drink and play great-point is its different for everyone.

I think the best cure for nervousness is time, the longer you play and the more times you are in a pressure situation you just get used to it. like a sun tan, if you stay in the sun long enough and enough times you wont burn, you build up a tolerance to the sun-it takes different people longer to get that way than others, some people will always burn, some people after a week can spend all day in the sun and not burn. its just exposure or in pool experience. experience is the key to nerves, or learning how to play well nervous. After a while its just pool no matter the situation. Is that how you see it JB? you been there many times and would know better than me.

Speaking for myself, if I do come out of the gate a little tight-in 10-15 minutes I can shake off what ever it is. unless the goon squad with guns show up, then I might get rattled. Thats unlikely to happen, It took me a long time to get used to what ever circumstance would make me nervous, but I did overcome that, in my world. I'm not a big time champion but if I was playing on the TV table wouldnt phase me a bit, The first time I played in big action I shit myself, LOL It took lots of time for me to come to terms with myself and limitations. Nervousness aint one of them, lack of coordination is my biggest problem and concentration.


best
fatboy:)
 
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Fatboy2 said:
If I drink a drop of anything I cant make a ball, litterly I cant make 2 balls in a row after a beer. Its funny how bad I play after a drink, I couldnt beat the worst player ever. Drinking dont work for me, I seen John drink and play great-point is its different for everyone.

I think the best cure for nervousness is time, the longer you play and the more times you are in a pressure situation you just get used to it. like a sun tan, if you stay in the sun long enough and enough times you wont burn, you build up a tolerance to the sun-it takes different people longer to get that way than others, some people will always burn, some people after a week can spend all day in the sun and not burn. its just exposure or in pool experience. experience is the key to nerves, or learning how to play well nervous. After a while its just pool no matter the situation.


best
fatboy:)
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Yes Fatso I mean Fatboy.Your very right.I should have said all that too.If you do it enough you will get used to it.Or you'll quit or go busted.LOL John B.
 
Booze is medicinal. :D:D

Consider the capacity of Bill Werbeniuk, a Canadian snooker player.

Werbeniuk was noted for the copious amounts of alcohol he consumed before and during matches – up to 50 pints of lager per day.[2] He said that he generally drank around six pints of lager before a match and then one pint for each frame. He said he did this to counteract familial benign essential tremor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Werbeniuk


After the North American Beer Festival, all the brewery presidents decided to go out for a beer. The guy from Corona sits down and says, 'Hey Senor, I would like the world's best beer, a Corona .' The bartender dusts off a bottle from the shelf and gives it to him.

The guy from Budweiser says, 'I'd like the best beer in the world, give me 'The King Of Beers', a Budweiser.' The bartender gives him one..

The guy from Coors says, 'I'd like the only beer made with Rocky Mountain spring water, give me a Coors.' He gets it.

The guy from Molson Canadian sits down and says, 'Give me a Coke.' The bartender is a little taken aback,
but gives him what he ordered.

The other brewery presidents look over at him and ask, 'Why aren't you drinking a Molson's?'"

The Molson Canadian president replies, 'Well, I figured if you guys aren't drinking beer, neither would I.'


(Corona, Coors, and Budweiser pass spell check. Molson does not):angry::angry::angry:
 
Pay Ball

JBKY said:
Dang you are young uhh? LOL Pay ball is a game racking 6balls on a snooker table.
It's a ring game with as many as up to 6 or 7 players."Every" ball is a money ball.Like 5$ a ball and on top of that it pays double on a run out.Big $ when and if you run out.

The "you owe me one, right?" is what they used to say if you haven't paid off the game you just lost.Back then alot of the games were played by the game not just a set.Like when I was racking and hadn't took the time to pay him the game i just lost,he would come over and say...you owe me one,right? Hope that helps cause now I feel real old.LOL John B.
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I have never played pay ball, so I have a question about it. I collect old antique pool balls and ball sets. A couple of different sets of balls, both of them pre-WWII, have surfaced in recent years. What they have in common is the numbering, with two sets of numbers on each ball. For example, the 1 ball has a #1 on each pole, but also has a #5 on each equator..... and the 1 through 3 balls all have the 5 on the equator. The 4-6 have the number 10 on the equator, 7-9 have 15, 10-12 have 20, and 13-15 have 25. These to me must be a pay ball game set of some sort, but has anyone here seen anything like that? Nobody has found them in catalogs, and it is assumed that they are rare because they were technically gambling equipment. One of the sets is so old it has engraved-style numbers stamped into it, dating them as early as the late 1800s. Ideas or knowledge anyone???
 
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