funny talk with a "pool player" that i gotta retell......

scottycoyote

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
so im in my local room practicing, guy at the next table strikes up a conversation with me, talking pool and players and tournaments, he mentions he used to play archer down in nc when he lived there, etc.....seems fairly knowledgeable.
He then proceeds to tell me about a friend of his who was on the pro circuit for awhile and his friend was shooting with some $4,000.oo cue, made by someone whos name starts with an "M"........heres the funny part

he says......"well i just had to brag a little bit to my friend and show him what I was shooting with......" and he hands me his stick. Well i look at it......seems ok.....i twirl it around and its one of those george balabushka replicas made by helmstutter or whoever......LMAO.....he bragging about how this stick is a balabushka, blahblahblah......i didnt have the heart to break his bubble. lol
 
Think you did the right thing not telling him. Let him live his fantasy, right?

Don't know where you're posting from, but here in the Northeast, anybody who is considering buying a Balabushka and wants its authenticity validated should track down Pete Tascarella.
 
Yeah, they're both made by Adams. I've had a couple Helmstetters, and I have one of the Balabushka replicas. It actually shoots pretty good. I have a friend who owns a pool room, and I got it wholesale. Pretty good cue for the money. But, it sure ain't no Balabushka.
 
I can relate....

I was sitting on the rail a few weeks ago having my "after work" beer...

There was a guy playing by himself at a table in front of me. From about 15 feet away, his cue looked a bit familiar, I thought it was a Scruggs or something. So I pipe up when he is racking and said, "Hey, what is that you are shooting with?"

"It's a Balabushka" (me thinking .....great.....one of those....) "You ever see The Color of Money?"

Me - "yeah......"

him - "well that's what they used in that movie"

So rather than completely tell him that he has a cheap repro cue and that the one in TCOM was really a Joss, I just chose to sit there and finish my bottle....

:D
 
Along the same lines, there was this guy who frequented the poolroom I went to as a youth in TN. He was one of these "live by the seat of your pants guys" who thought they knew everything about everything, very loud and obnoxious, one week he's selling jewelry - the next he's working construction...kind of an odd duck. He could play a little (very little), but by his mouth he talked like he was a world champion..ready to gamble with anyone until he was called on it.

Anyhow, one of the stories he loved to tell was how he was in a pool room in FL with Fast Eddie Felson (who the movie is after...right? :) ) who is his close friend, and how Tom Cruise came down after making the Color of Money and was hustling everyone. Yes.....I'm serious. He was going on and on about how great Tom Cruise played (the sh*t just got deeper and deeper). Nobody ever popped his bubble, we just laughed at him..very funny, but kind of sad. I would always tell him to tell Fast Eddie I was his biggest fan next time he visited. Sheesh...
 
I was at a bar playing one night and I over hear the guy at the table next to me bragging about his new $800 cue. Well the cue looked really familar and I kept trying to sneek a peek to see a logo or something. Finally I as the guy whats he shootin' with and he looks at me all beamming with a smile as wide as the grand canyon and say's " Its a Players Custom cue" I tried so hard not to laugh and then i asked him what he paid for it and he says to me "Well the guy wanted $1200 for it but offered him $800 cash on the spot and the fool took it" at that I did burst out laughing. When he asked why I was laughing so hard choked out it shows there really is a fool born every minute and he replies "yup and I was lucky enough to run into him at that minute" and then to make it even better when I asked him where he got it he told me the name of the guy and it was a guy on my vally pool team. I checked it out with him and its a true story
 
pimp said:
I was at a bar playing one night and I over hear the guy at the table next to me bragging about his new $800 cue. Well the cue looked really familar and I kept trying to sneek a peek to see a logo or something. Finally I as the guy whats he shootin' with and he looks at me all beamming with a smile as wide as the grand canyon and say's " Its a Players Custom cue" I tried so hard not to laugh and then i asked him what he paid for it and he says to me "Well the guy wanted $1200 for it but offered him $800 cash on the spot and the fool took it" at that I did burst out laughing. When he asked why I was laughing so hard choked out it shows there really is a fool born every minute and he replies "yup and I was lucky enough to run into him at that minute" and then to make it even better when I asked him where he got it he told me the name of the guy and it was a guy on my vally pool team. I checked it out with him and its a true story
OUCH!! Dayum, that hurts! :p
 
pimp said:
I was at a bar playing one night and I over hear the guy at the table next to me bragging about his new $800 cue. Well the cue looked really familar and I kept trying to sneek a peek to see a logo or something. Finally I as the guy whats he shootin' with and he looks at me all beamming with a smile as wide as the grand canyon and say's " Its a Players Custom cue" I tried so hard not to laugh and then i asked him what he paid for it and he says to me "Well the guy wanted $1200 for it but offered him $800 cash on the spot and the fool took it" at that I did burst out laughing. When he asked why I was laughing so hard choked out it shows there really is a fool born every minute and he replies "yup and I was lucky enough to run into him at that minute" and then to make it even better when I asked him where he got it he told me the name of the guy and it was a guy on my vally pool team. I checked it out with him and its a true story

This reminds me of when I last had my table recovered. I commented on the nice level the table mechanic was using, a 12" Starrett 98. He said "well it better be a nice level for $800 ! " and I burst out laughing (oops, he wasn't done my table yet !). Anyway, I asked him if he paid that much, and no, he bought it used for much less (I think I know who told him it was worth $800). I told him that was good because the thing new is worth under $200. He said 'bullshit' so I pulled out an MSC or McMasterCarr catalog and showed him. He was pretty quiet after that ... in hindsight I wish I'd kept my mouth shut other than complimenting him on the level, which is a very nice instrument. Though it was suprising that guy couldn't figure out the real value of a widely distributed product (we have at least 10 places to buy Starrett in Saskatoon, a city of 220,000),

Dave
 
I was playing someone with a house cue and some guy offered to let me use his really crappy looking players. I mean it was one of the ugliest sticks I've ever seen...but that thing hit damn good. So afterwards I asked the guy if I could buy it off him for 75 (which I thought was a real good deal for him). He said 'sorry man I just got it and it was 250'. Doesn't even touch your story though lol

pimp said:
Its a Players Custom cue" I tried so hard not to laugh and then i asked him what he paid for it and he says to me "Well the guy wanted $1200 for it but offered him $800 cash on the spot and the fool took it" at that I did burst out laughing. When he asked
 
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