james chong
Banned
THIS THREAD IS NOT A JOKE.
has an opponeant ever made you squirrlley mad enough to accept this challenge?
has an opponeant ever made you squirrlley mad enough to accept this challenge?
have you ever been challened to play with a BROOMSTICK??
- Thread starter james chong
- Start date
I played with a golf putter once.
I yanked one off the wall at the local Baileys and proceeded to beat some league players that were yapping... Nails and all... It was an old wooden shafted one with a leather wrap so aside from the nails it may have been LD.......
The following is a true story.
(insert flashback music)
It was a Friday night, back in the early 70's, at Town & Country Billiards, in Daly City, California. As was my wont, at that period in my callow youth, there I was, hitting balls, instead of being out on a date, or working on my term paper which was due the following week. But, it was Friday night, the week of school and work was over, I was 19 years old, playing pool, and life was good.
About 10 o'clock, Vince -- a well-known (and well-heeled) mark, walks in the front door of the establishment. Vince was always good for some $5 or $10 9ball, a game I actually played and was semi-proficient at, way back then. As soon as I saw him come in the door, I knew I'd have only a very limited window of opportunity to put him under contract, before other, perhaps more enticing (but nonetheless unprofitable for Vince) offers were made by all the usual suspects. And so, with full knowledge that I'd only have one shot at this customer, I opened with what I thought would be a sure fire automatic deal-closer, "Hey Vince, come on. Let's play some 9ball. You got the eight." Vince didn't miss a beat and shot back, "I ain't playing you with no 8. I want the 6, 7, 8 from someone who shoots as straight as you." I instantly knew I had underestimated my man and grossly misplayed my opportunity and so I just weakly rejoined, "Hell! The 6, 7, 8?! I'd play someone with the broomstick with that kind of spot." And then, just like lighting, it came, and Vince barked back, "OK. You got the 6,7,8, for $20 a game."
Well, this was a totally unexpected turn of events. The hunter had somehow become the huntee and I was at a sudden loss as to what the appropriate move was. But then, Jerry and Devlin came to my rescue.
Jerry was my wing man on many an adventure. Devlin looked just like Cole Dickson and was just a straight shootin sum beeatch, about our age, who also hung around. "Play him -- you can win," Devlin said. I was totally not buying it, "What do you mean I can win?! Playing with a broomstick?!" Jerry says, "You can do it. Devlin did it against Dennis a few years ago. It's not that tough." Still, I had more than a few doubts. But somehow, their complete confidence in our side of the proposition swayed me and I said, "OK. Get the broomstick." I put the eight-point Gina back in its case for the night.
"Hey Stan. We need to borrow your broomstick."
Now for Stan Cleaner, owner and counter man, this request, came as no surprise or shock. He'd seen it all over the years and watched as his teenage charges had grown older, yet no wiser. This was just one more in a long string of inane, nonsensical, nutty things he'd heard and so, without much more than a shake of his head and a barely audible sigh, he continued reading his paper and said, "It's in the closet."
Stan's broom was standard issue (Made by the Blind). Maybe an 1 1/2" diameter blue wood handle, and the usual whisks in a tight natural colored fan pattern. The shape of the end of the handle was actually a pretty good approximation of a regular cue tip, except bigger. A lot bigger. "OK, look. You gotta keep it chalked, just like a regular pool cue. Just keep it chalked," Devlin instructed, as he sanded the blue enamel off the "tip." I looked at him dubiously.
Vince and I agreed to $20 a game (insert requisite: "that was pretty good action, back then.") Jerry, Devlin, and I quickly formed a consortium, pooling our monies for a grand total of $120. Six barrels. I'd have to come out of the starting blocks fast. The only thing that made this anything less than total lunacy was that Vince was a known go-off, and if somehow I could prevail, we'd all be on our way on a Vince sponsored excursion to Lake Tahoe, with its siren call of casinos, blackjack tables, and "free" beer, shortly after the conclusion of the match at hand.
We started and right off, I could tell: Jerry was right! It wasn't impossible. The hardest part was getting a decent grip on the whisks. And of course, you had to play with an open hand bridge. But Vince wasn't that good to begin with, and he had a little pooch in him, and I'm sure the potential stories that would circulate through the pool room -- about him losing to a guy playing with a broomstick -- were floating through his brain.
Vince jars an eight ball. Lou bumps the cue ball towards the eight and wins. Maybe this was not so tough after all...
After about two hours a serious problem began to emerge. It wasn't what was going on on the pool table. I was now getting the hang of it and was running three, and then four, and the occasional five balls at a time. I was even able to put a little stop shot action on the ball. And, we were now playing for $40 a game. Lou, Jerry, Devlin, Inc. was up almost $400. The problem was: gripping the broomstick by its whisks, the whisks had started to work their way up under my finger nails -- my fingers had begun to bleed and starting to hurt like hell. Jerry went running behind the counter to get the pool hall "Emergency Kit," which consisted entirely of a couple of old Band-Aids and an equally aging bottle of aspirin. We taped up all the fingers on my grip hand and I was good to go.
Well, to cut to the chase, we played into the night and I won just over $800 from Vince (not a bad score in those days). To this day, I don't know if the broomstick was conventional or low deflection. All I know is that you can play with a broom stick. But my recommendation is to wear a glove on your grip hand, if you're going to do it
Lou Figueroa
I played a guy once with a push broom. It was the kind where the head unscrewed. I beat him 5 racks in a row. And btw. You can still chalk a push broom.
Yes I have a couple times I beat a guy race to 5 , winning 5 2 last shot I drew the cue ball the length of the table for shape on the 8 ,,
I also ran a rack after the break with a window shade
1
I second that. The 'regulars' had a broom stick in the back ofnthe green room in north aurora, played a game or two with it.
both using the same broom or mop
With both of us using the same broom or mop I have played with the broom made by the blind Lou describes, the little light weight brooms screwed together or with the head off, mops, pretty much anything in the place that somewhat resembled a stick.
The worst thing was a big ol' commercial mop. That thing had been sitting in nasty rotten smelling water and even fresh wouldn't have been too fresh in a biker bar. We wrung it out best we could with a pretty worthless wringer but neither of us were grabbing that mop head. This thing must have weighed ten pounds or more with the head still wet and soon it was dripping this vile smelling water everywhere.
Stance and stroke was mostly designed to try to keep the water, mostly water anyway, off of us. Two ways to shoot with it, time the swing of the mop head hanging down and let it work with you hitting the cue ball or let it come to a complete stop and poke stroke, one stroking the cue ball. The poke stroke might have worked a little better but it meant standing there holding the mop a couple minutes longer and the smell wasn't getting any better as time wore on! We were slipping and sliding on the wet slick concrete floor just walking around the table, slipping even worse when trying to address the cue ball, and falling on that floor just wasn't an option!
When I think about it I am undefeated with mops, brooms, and assorted sticks never intended for cueing with. Never made a hundred dollar score on any given night though, I don't think we ever played over ten bucks a game, maybe twenty. We got the commercial mop taken away from us, even the patrons of the biker bar were drifting out the door.
Played the same guy for some serious nosebleed stakes but that was using conventional one piece house cues. Aside from being a wholesale and retail distributer of recreational pharmaceuticals to fill in around the edges he was the only remittance man I have ever met. His family was wealthy and they sent him a large check every six months as long as he stayed out of his home state!
Hu
With both of us using the same broom or mop I have played with the broom made by the blind Lou describes, the little light weight brooms screwed together or with the head off, mops, pretty much anything in the place that somewhat resembled a stick.
The worst thing was a big ol' commercial mop. That thing had been sitting in nasty rotten smelling water and even fresh wouldn't have been too fresh in a biker bar. We wrung it out best we could with a pretty worthless wringer but neither of us were grabbing that mop head. This thing must have weighed ten pounds or more with the head still wet and soon it was dripping this vile smelling water everywhere.
Stance and stroke was mostly designed to try to keep the water, mostly water anyway, off of us. Two ways to shoot with it, time the swing of the mop head hanging down and let it work with you hitting the cue ball or let it come to a complete stop and poke stroke, one stroking the cue ball. The poke stroke might have worked a little better but it meant standing there holding the mop a couple minutes longer and the smell wasn't getting any better as time wore on! We were slipping and sliding on the wet slick concrete floor just walking around the table, slipping even worse when trying to address the cue ball, and falling on that floor just wasn't an option!
When I think about it I am undefeated with mops, brooms, and assorted sticks never intended for cueing with. Never made a hundred dollar score on any given night though, I don't think we ever played over ten bucks a game, maybe twenty. We got the commercial mop taken away from us, even the patrons of the biker bar were drifting out the door.
Played the same guy for some serious nosebleed stakes but that was using conventional one piece house cues. Aside from being a wholesale and retail distributer of recreational pharmaceuticals to fill in around the edges he was the only remittance man I have ever met. His family was wealthy and they sent him a large check every six months as long as he stayed out of his home state!
Hu
Banks
Banned
A few years into playing, I was using a broom occasionally. A few semi-regulars called me Broomstick. I tried to make sure the opponent was cool with it(they usually made the challenge), otherwise people could get pissy real quick.
I was getting decent with it after a while, but could only tolerate it for a short time before the drawbacks got annoying. A friend that was an apa 6 or so came in and challenged me for $10 a rack after we were talking about the broom. I told him I wanted the break and 2 balls playing 8. He agreed and I proceeded to break, put the two down and ran out. Well, so much for the spot. I think after going to one ball of his choice or mine, I was down $20.
Important part was holding it so that the broom head wasn't sideways or else you risked it hitting your ribs. The place I play at now doesn't have anything remotely usable.
I was getting decent with it after a while, but could only tolerate it for a short time before the drawbacks got annoying. A friend that was an apa 6 or so came in and challenged me for $10 a rack after we were talking about the broom. I told him I wanted the break and 2 balls playing 8. He agreed and I proceeded to break, put the two down and ran out. Well, so much for the spot. I think after going to one ball of his choice or mine, I was down $20.
Important part was holding it so that the broom head wasn't sideways or else you risked it hitting your ribs. The place I play at now doesn't have anything remotely usable.
Yes, by a Wiccan.
I asked, "what will you offer"?
She said, "a small jar of Eye of Newt, (which is quite rare these days), and some fresh Sage".
She offered me the use of her Broom. I said, "No, you're a hustler aren't you".
I used my own.
I lost. I think there may have been a little Hocus Pocus going on. I thought the Pentagram drawn in the middle of the table with Blue Masters was unnecessary as was the sprinkling of Salt in the pockets when it was my turn at the Altar, oops, I meant table.
I asked, "what will you offer"?
She said, "a small jar of Eye of Newt, (which is quite rare these days), and some fresh Sage".
She offered me the use of her Broom. I said, "No, you're a hustler aren't you".
I used my own.
I lost. I think there may have been a little Hocus Pocus going on. I thought the Pentagram drawn in the middle of the table with Blue Masters was unnecessary as was the sprinkling of Salt in the pockets when it was my turn at the Altar, oops, I meant table.
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I gave up using a broom when I realised it was virtually impossible to apply a touch of inside.
Good housekeeping is the teacher
Good housekeeping is the teacher
Hahaha. should be possible tho, depends on Witch corner of the room you are sweeping.
I have beat a dorm mate who I did not know out of some money, unintentionally using a tip-less cue, hitting all shots with the ferrule.
The following is a true story.
(insert flashback music)
It was a Friday night, back in the early 70's, at Town & Country Billiards, in Daly City, California. As was my wont, at that period in my callow youth, there I was, hitting balls, instead of being out on a date, or working on my term paper which was due the following week. But, it was Friday night, the week of school and work was over, I was 19 years old, playing pool, and life was good.
About 10 o'clock, Vince -- a well-known (and well-heeled) mark, walks in the front door of the establishment. Vince was always good for some $5 or $10 9ball, a game I actually played and was semi-proficient at, way back then. As soon as I saw him come in the door, I knew I'd have only a very limited window of opportunity to put him under contract, before other, perhaps more enticing (but nonetheless unprofitable for Vince) offers were made by all the usual suspects. And so, with full knowledge that I'd only have one shot at this customer, I opened with what I thought would be a sure fire automatic deal-closer, "Hey Vince, come on. Let's play some 9ball. You got the eight." Vince didn't miss a beat and shot back, "I ain't playing you with no 8. I want the 6, 7, 8 from someone who shoots as straight as you." I instantly knew I had underestimated my man and grossly misplayed my opportunity and so I just weakly rejoined, "Hell! The 6, 7, 8?! I'd play someone with the broomstick with that kind of spot." And then, just like lighting, it came, and Vince barked back, "OK. You got the 6,7,8, for $20 a game."
Well, this was a totally unexpected turn of events. The hunter had somehow become the huntee and I was at a sudden loss as to what the appropriate move was. But then, Jerry and Devlin came to my rescue.
Jerry was my wing man on many an adventure. Devlin looked just like Cole Dickson and was just a straight shootin sum beeatch, about our age, who also hung around. "Play him -- you can win," Devlin said. I was totally not buying it, "What do you mean I can win?! Playing with a broomstick?!" Jerry says, "You can do it. Devlin did it against Dennis a few years ago. It's not that tough." Still, I had more than a few doubts. But somehow, their complete confidence in our side of the proposition swayed me and I said, "OK. Get the broomstick." I put the eight-point Gina back in its case for the night.
"Hey Stan. We need to borrow your broomstick."
Now for Stan Cleaner, owner and counter man, this request, came as no surprise or shock. He'd seen it all over the years and watched as his teenage charges had grown older, yet no wiser. This was just one more in a long string of inane, nonsensical, nutty things he'd heard and so, without much more than a shake of his head and a barely audible sigh, he continued reading his paper and said, "It's in the closet."
Stan's broom was standard issue (Made by the Blind). Maybe an 1 1/2" diameter blue wood handle, and the usual whisks in a tight natural colored fan pattern. The shape of the end of the handle was actually a pretty good approximation of a regular cue tip, except bigger. A lot bigger. "OK, look. You gotta keep it chalked, just like a regular pool cue. Just keep it chalked," Devlin instructed, as he sanded the blue enamel off the "tip." I looked at him dubiously.
Vince and I agreed to $20 a game (insert requisite: "that was pretty good action, back then.") Jerry, Devlin, and I quickly formed a consortium, pooling our monies for a grand total of $120. Six barrels. I'd have to come out of the starting blocks fast. The only thing that made this anything less than total lunacy was that Vince was a known go-off, and if somehow I could prevail, we'd all be on our way on a Vince sponsored excursion to Lake Tahoe, with its siren call of casinos, blackjack tables, and "free" beer, shortly after the conclusion of the match at hand.
We started and right off, I could tell: Jerry was right! It wasn't impossible. The hardest part was getting a decent grip on the whisks. And of course, you had to play with an open hand bridge. But Vince wasn't that good to begin with, and he had a little pooch in him, and I'm sure the potential stories that would circulate through the pool room -- about him losing to a guy playing with a broomstick -- were floating through his brain.
Vince jars an eight ball. Lou bumps the cue ball towards the eight and wins. Maybe this was not so tough after all...
After about two hours a serious problem began to emerge. It wasn't what was going on on the pool table. I was now getting the hang of it and was running three, and then four, and the occasional five balls at a time. I was even able to put a little stop shot action on the ball. And, we were now playing for $40 a game. Lou, Jerry, Devlin, Inc. was up almost $400. The problem was: gripping the broomstick by its whisks, the whisks had started to work their way up under my finger nails -- my fingers had begun to bleed and starting to hurt like hell. Jerry went running behind the counter to get the pool hall "Emergency Kit," which consisted entirely of a couple of old Band-Aids and an equally aging bottle of aspirin. We taped up all the fingers on my grip hand and I was good to go.
Well, to cut to the chase, we played into the night and I won just over $800 from Vince (not a bad score in those days). To this day, I don't know if the broomstick was conventional or low deflection. All I know is that you can play with a broom stick. But my recommendation is to wear a glove on your grip hand, if you're going to do it
Lou Figueroa
I watched Billy Steele run three racks from the break with a broom handle in the mid-'80s...and not an altered broomstick, just a dirty old handle.
oh yeah. I think that towards then end of the match I was even able to put a little draw on the ball. Totally doable.
Lou Figueroa
In my teenage above average banger days, one of our social group members brought a cue his dad had apparently made in high school wood shop. He pushed everyone to the breaking point with his constant bragging about how awesome the cue was, how awesome his dad was, how awesome he was... finally, I told him that I could beat him with a broomstick. I'd read in Byrne's book that "Mosconi could run racks with a broomstick, and sweep up the place after"... and in my youthful, above average banger ignorance, I figured that whoever this Mosconi guy was, I was probably pretty close to that good, too.
We played several racks of 8 ball on the ratty, wood-topped table in the garage where we all hung out. I probably asked to play for $5-$10 a game, because I'd learned about betting from being in bars with my dad. I doubt the bet was taken, and we played until I had won enough games (surely not all of them, I wasn't great... just less terrible than him) to embarrass him enough that we stopped hearing his voice for the rest of the night.
I played with the handle only of a push-broom. I wouldn't try it with the head attached.
We played several racks of 8 ball on the ratty, wood-topped table in the garage where we all hung out. I probably asked to play for $5-$10 a game, because I'd learned about betting from being in bars with my dad. I doubt the bet was taken, and we played until I had won enough games (surely not all of them, I wasn't great... just less terrible than him) to embarrass him enough that we stopped hearing his voice for the rest of the night.
I played with the handle only of a push-broom. I wouldn't try it with the head attached.
you know you are in trouble . . .
You know you are in over your head when they reach in their pool case and pull out a custom two piece broom stick!
Never got much draw with a broom stick, side was pretty good and I had to fight getting too much follow when I didn't want it on a bar table with ye ol' mud ball.
Hu
You know you are in over your head when they reach in their pool case and pull out a custom two piece broom stick!
Never got much draw with a broom stick, side was pretty good and I had to fight getting too much follow when I didn't want it on a bar table with ye ol' mud ball.
Hu