How did you first start to play pool?

When I was 5, my father bought an 8 foot table at a Montgomery Wards tent sale for $25. Plywood bed, bumpers about 1/4 inch think. After a few months you couldn't roll a ball up the rail. While he was at work, I would play. A few months later, he and his bricklayer buddies came home early on a day when they were rained out. I went down to the basement where they were playing and one of them asked my dad if I played. He told them that I was playing some. So the guy plays me a game of 8 ball and leaves me hooked with nothing but a table length kick shot on the 8. I lined it up, called the the pocket and fired it in. The cat calls that he got when that 8 dropped were priceless. I'm guessing the rest of the guys never let him forget it.

I was hooked. That was 49 years ago.

Brian in VA
 
First tournament

I started playing in high school, in 1985. After I was playing a few months I talked a friend's dad into letting me move their dissembled table from their garage into my game room. I told him "I'll pay to have the table moved, and the next day you place an ad in the paper to sell it. I'll use it until you sell it." I don't think he ever placed that ad.

I started practicing 3 hours a day. I happened to find out about a bar box 8-ball tournament on Friday nights at a local dive bar. So I decide to play and a friend joined me. I was a 17 year old scrawny kid in a bar packed with big cowboys twice my age. I managed to win my first four matches (race to 3) to get into the finals. I was up against the big stick in the place, who wore a cowboy hat, boots, and about 300 keys on a keychain attached to his belt. He clanked and jangled as he walked around the table. He had a name like "butch". He got ahead and then I got him hill-hill and I had the break. Everyone was watching the game and I was starting to get nervous. I leaned over and whispered "hey, Butch, am I going to walk out of here alive if I win this game?". He said "Hey, Jeff, don't worry about it. Just play". I won the game and $63. I continued to play in that tournament until I went to college, having a lot of fun and meeting great people.

After getting back into the game last year I played in a number of local weekly tournaments. It's interesting to see that my $63 in 1987 is about the same amount the winner is getting in these tournaments today. :)
 
When i was 8-9Yrs Old, we moved into a house were the previous owner left a table there, it was an 8 footer that was pretty beatup, rails were dead but once i picked up the cue ive been hooked.. been playing 10+ hours ever since that day. By the time i was 16-17Yrs old i was gambling for big bucks and playing in tournaments making more money than any kid i knew my age most of my teachers, getting in trouble for sleeping in class was actually comical when the teachers kept you after school and told me that i would never amount to nothing, i just laughed at them cuz i had $2000 in my pocket from the night before!

Then i started a company at 20Yrs old and took a solid 10Yrs away from competitive play but my first large purchase when i got my new home was a Brunswick Gold Crown 1 with very tight pockets. i didnt use it much in that time frame but i did stay kindof close to the game as not to entirely lose it. Now im back again and its not the same, i do it solely for the trophy, the money is a bonus.

This game taught me so many things that apply in life and business... Patience, When to take a chance and most importantly, self employment... GOD I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!!
 
I was a competitive bowler in college, practiced with the team but didn't officially play since I was also on the tennis team and didn't have the time. While in a charity tourney I bowled 15 games or so and started to get a blister on my thumb. Put some cotton and tape and Nuskin on, kept bowling. A few shots later, the cotton got caught, ripping the newly applied adhesive and more of my thumb right off.

While out of commission for a week or two to heal, a friend of a friend came into the rec center, we talked a bit and he started playing pool. Since I had nothing else to do, I started watching. He was a B type player, to me he was awesome at the time. Then he showed me some stuff, and I played a little. Saw him a few days later, more of the same. I started getting into it, played a little more.

Then the Color of Money came out, and next time I saw my friend he was demonstrating shots from the movie. Again, quite awesome to me at the time. I bought a book, borrowed a cue, started practicing a ton (bowling was now all but forgotten, new challenge ahead) and 2 months later I won my first game against the guy, and the rest is history...

Scott
 
Nell's Cafe

My mom had a cafe when I was 12, it had to bar tables, and two pinball machines in the back. One of the pinball machines was called Eight Ball Deluxe. Every few minutes, that would scream out of it. The cafe was open 24 hours a day. A couple local guys taught me how to hold the cue and stroke. A legend in our neck of the woods brought a guy in on Friday morning, 2:05 am, after the bars closed, and they played until Sunday afternoon. Tacoma whitey was the legend. He beat the guy out of a few breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, and 30 grand. He noticed that I could hold a cue and stroke, so he spent two years off and on teaching me the game. I used to hit pretty strong. My game name he gave me was Renton Rod. Their was Rainer Bob, Olympia Rich, Vernon Joe, Lake City Red, Bremerton Jim. Just some of the Seattle area players with game names back then. I'm sure every community had them,lol.:thumbup:
 
I was 16, it was my birthday. Sitting at home not wanting to go anywhere, but my parents were trying to get me out of the house so they could set up for a surprise birthday party. My older brother used to hang at the pool room w/his friends where you had to be 17 to get in (he was 18 months older, 1 school year ahead & we shared a few friends). My Mom asked him to take me to the pool room because she knew that would do it. It did. Love at first sight! :thumbup:

I forged a fake ID about 3 mos later so I could get in...But please don't tell anyone because I'm not sure if the statute of limitation had run out, that was 1969 :).

Dave
 
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I wish I had the opportunity... I also remember "Wide World of Sports" and being fascinated by the game. Nobody I new while growing up ever had access to a table. Late in high school (Class of '81) I started hanging at a kid's house with a table. Of course by that time he was burnt out on it and never wanted to play. So basically, I didn't really touch a cue until I turned 21. At that time there were a couple of leagues (no handicap and yes, beer-frames) and very few tournaments. I lost, I was terrible, an absolute beginner. This was a popular place (The Schooner, Lakewood Wa - Great Owner) Ft Lewis and McChord AFB are near, long wait when you lost. If you got into the 4 person (.50/1.00) ring game though, you played nonstop until you wanted out. I would go in with 20 bucks or so, at least 5 nights a week - people made bank following me - for a while.
:wink:
 
I'm from Bulgaria and pool wasn't very popular here when I was a kid. We didn't have decent pool halls, nor tables. Nevertheless I used to play 15 years ago (now i'm 30) at some barboxes with plastic cues. After that I completely stopped.
3-4 years ago a friend of mine from Holland told me he plays pool a lot and I got jealous about it, I felt like grabbing a stick and trying it out, so I called my cousin, found a club and we began playing. We decided that there are not many things better than pool, beer and rock music and we never looked back.
And now I can't imagine my life without it, I play a lot, found a tone of friends, I go to tourneys and I represent my club - BSD, one of the best in Bulgaria.
 
I was hanging out at slot-car tracks. The one run by Mr Wilson closed down, and we changed to Lofty's track in a different part of town. There was a pay table and we played a lot.

A couple years later, my dad and 3 of his buddies went and bought the 4 tables of a pool hall that was closing down, set it up in our basement. Then I played for 3 hours a day durring high school going through a book of tricks shots by Mosconni.

I joined a Frat House in College and spent 5 years palying 3-4 hours s day.

Then I did not play pool for 35 years.

Finally, I moved to an area within walking distance of a bar that happened to have pool tables, I started to play, bought a cue, started to play better, bought a table for my home, and am now practicing 2-3 hours per day.

After a couple years of this, my wife insisted that I join a pool league, which I did in Sept, and our team cam in first in the Jan Shootout for our section of APA in Austin Texas.
 
We had a piece o crap sears table that came with a ping pong table top. Every once in a while I would roll the balls around by hand and try to learn the banks. I think I learned the basics of the diamond system before I ever used a cue. Of course I didn't know that's what it was at the time. I was probably 4 years old!
I continued to play on that table until I was around 11, about that time my friends entered me into a tournament for kids and I placed 2nd. I was hooked from there on.
 
Hmm...2005, about to graduate high school, 18 years old. Young, dumb, full of...Anyway, I was messing around with some girl I had met at a party. She called me one day to pick her up from school. Then she takes me to Sticks. The place was deserted. Aside from us, there were two old guys playing on one of the big tables, and the bartender. We played a couple games and I wasn't all that interested. But I could smoke inside, so it seemed like a pretty good spot for me. We stayed a few hours and played maybe 2 games (I don't think I made a ball that day). But the whole time I had been watching the two old guys playing. At the time, I thought they must be pros. Finally, the two old guys unscrew their cues and one of them gives the other one a couple hundred bucks...I was hooked!!

A few days after that, I went back to Sticks early in the morning, by myself this time. I grabbed a table and started knocking balls around; trying to remember how those old guys were holding the cue. It was a disaster. Several people came by and asked if I wanted to play for money, but I knew I wasn't quite ready yet. Finally, one of them comes over and starts showing me a couple of things.

Now it's 7 o'clock and this guy in a wheelchair comes over and asks me if I want to play in the tournament. I had been playing all day and was starting to make some balls so I figured, "What the hell." After I went 2 and out, I grabbed a table again and kept playing.

A few hours after that, there were some guys woofing to each other back and forth and they finally settled into a game (I didn't know what was going on at the time). One of them was about my age, and the other one, named Shaky, was a little bit older (one of my best friends now). Watching these guys play looked like a totally different game than the old guys from last time. I was thinking, "Oh, so THESE guys are the pros." Anyway, Shaky wins and tries to play again and then mutters something about "no action" before he goes home.

After that, it became an 8 hrs a day kind of thing. Play pool all day long. Play the hold 'em tournaments at night. Play the 9ball tournaments on Sundays and Mondays. If I was lucky, I'd make it to class every once in awhile.
 
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Boys club

The Boys club, and I was about 8 years old . But I didn't get serious till I was 10. We used to play with our hands , no sticks. We would separate the solids and strips and the eight ball in the middle of the table. We would try to use our balls to hit the 8 ball in the other guys pocket. We called it "KONKO" and if you went fast with your hands you would be in serious pain. My last game of Konko ended up with a trip to the E.R. I got my index finger caught between the 9ball and the 8 ball. I guess you could say I was behind the eight ball. My finger swelled up to the size of a ball. When I go home I had to tell them what happen and after an old school ass wooopen , I had to go the hospital to get it lanced. The Dr. kept telling me it's going to be ok and them all of a sudden 3 male orderlies came and held me down and the Doc held my hand down and with this pen light device type thing he stuck the red hot electric prod straight in my nail in 2 different places and my finger was like a sprinkler of blood. A couple of day later my nail fell of and it never grew back the same way again.
From then on we used stick for our games and I went on to win the city tournament for my age group and have been hooked ever since. I still look down at my nail and think of those days at the Boys Club and would not change them for the world.
 
My first pool games

My dad was a domino player (and still is) and when he would raise up to go to the local bar I would go with him. I hated dominoes but I just wanted to get out of the house. Usually when we got to the bar he would give me couple of bucks in hopes it would keep me out of his hair for a while. I would play pool until the money ran out, then watch him play dominoes for the rest of the night. I learned real quick that the more I won at pool the less dominoes I had to watch!!
 
Started playing Snooker on a 12ft table in Ireland at age 12. Played pretty seriously from age 16-23 competing in tournaments and getting lessons. Always had dreams of turning pro but was just never good enough.

Emigrated to the USA in 1993 at age 24 and started playing pool almost right away. Couldn't believe how easy it was to pocket balls on such a 'small' 9ft table. However, I quickly realized that I didn't know how to Break, Jump, Bank or Kick and I was also using a 9.5mm Snooker Cue for the first year that I played Pool. I did in that time, enter a Florida Pro Tour Event in Browns Billiards in Daytona and used my Snooker Cue and finished 5th out of 64 players. I then had dreams of becoming a Pro Pool Player until I realized again that I wasn't good enough.

So in 1996 I gave up trying to be a Pro Player and started selling cues working for Predator and a couple of US Billiard Distributors and have been working in the industry ever since. Now, 16 years later, I still love the game and love what I do. What could be better?
 
Great thread and awesome stories! Now im not sure of everyones age but it seems the majority have quite a few years on myself and one post mentioned finding the game post-2000. Now im 26 and found the game very early in life but didnt really take it as part of my life until maybe the mid to late 90's. growing up i had one of the tiny little table w the tiny balls, that you could convert between pool and ping pong and maybe air hockey. i used that but it was just a game sitting in the backroom, never serious. then maybe around the age of 9 or so my dad (a heavy drinker, w a pool habit) got asked to be on a local saturday bar league team. so i thought that was cool, assuming a pool team for adults was like me playing little league, and i always insisted on going to watch. so my mom would take me, then we would leave after my dad shot his game or 2. i was amazed, infatuated, and wanted my shot as soon as possible. problem was, the bar didnt let kids under 18 play, i was still 9 years away. then some time went by with the same routine watching these matches and loving every minute of it and one day we went pretty early and no one was using the table yet so i built up the courage to ask my dad if i could play by myself without a stick. did that for a while and was getting my fix, and actually got really good at it. other guys would begin showing me how to influence the cue ball by spinning it in different manners, using the rails, and even caroms (or what i thought of as cheating off another ball). So eventually blah blah blah, the parents got a divorve and a bad habit of my dad taking me to the bar developed and earned a special privledge to start using a stick somewhere between ages 10-12, picked that up very quickly with a little physical advantage being a pretty tall kid, never had to chicken wing. started playing real games against my dad and his buddies and held my own pretty damn well. won a lot, lost even more, and even pulled off some pretty good shots for a young guy and beat some damn good shooters. its been a passion ever since. now i captain 2 teams at a local bar and have a blast with it. Thats my story, nothing crazy, but developed a unconditional love for a great game!
 
I've posted this story before, but I always come back to it when someone ask the question:
---------------------

I think I was 9 or 10. I went with my Dad to pick up my sister at the
Masonic Temple. She was waiting at the Temple in a rec. room playing 8-ball on this 9' table. I'd never really played before but was fascinated by the click of the balls. Neither my sister nor her friend had a clue as to what they were doing, but occassionally, one of them would catch a ball just right. The ball would hit the leather pocket with that wonderful *thwap* sound.

My sister let my father and I play a bit before we went home. For a guy who never plays, my dad has some obvious natural talent. My father only knew one game: rotation. So that was the first game that I knew as far as rules go.


In that first magical rack, I couldn't make a straight shot to save my life. I was able to make all of two balls: a bank on the 5, and a kick on the 13. My father apparently feeling no need to praise his young son on these accomplishments rewarded me with "lucky shot" on each.


And such was the spark that lit my burning desire. I never wanted to hear him tell me "lucky shot" again. Gee, dad. Thanks.

Freddie <~~~ lucky
 
Thanks for bringing back Memories

In 1955, I was 7.
My Dad was a card dealer in Chinatown in Delano California.
I visited him one summer and while he played cards, I learned a trade.

I met Sugey who was shining shoes in Chinatown at the time.
We became friends and we made me a shoe shine box and we became road partners.
We would start at one end of town and started shining shoes.
We would go into one bar that had pool tables in the back and the sound of the balls was mesmerizing.
We would see the guy’s at the bar drinking beer and eating beer nuts.
Once we shined all the shoes in the bar we would step up to the bar order a coke and eat beer nuts and watch the old men play pool.
Eventually the bartender asked us working men, if we wanted to play pool, and I fell in love with the game.

We would then go back to work.
At the end of the street was a soda fountain, we would go in and order a banana split.
Life was good for Sugey and me at 7, shoes, banana splits, pool and a nickel in our pockets.
Then we would start all over, go back down the street shining shoes.

That’s my story and I am sticking with it.

I am still in love with the clicking sound the balls make.

Thank god NIKE was not around then……. grin :smile:
 
Cuaba said:
I started playing at about 6, when my great uncle got a table for his basement.

I thought I was really good until I went to my first real pool hall.............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSJC1JvbCME
Click to expand...

Cuaba,

That's what you call a "real pool hall", a row of bar boxes? The real pool hall was behind you where that table labeled "Brunswick" was stationed. :D:p

When you gonna be back in sunny Southern Cal?
 
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