How did you learn the game?

[Gerry]

While reading a post from Blue Wolf, and how she is going to venture out to her first big tourny (good luck BTW), it got me thinking about when I first started to play. When I was a kid we
had a white brunswick 8 footer, but nobody was any good, and we basically banged em around. I'm sure that is where I started to love the game. Then during the "Color-o-$$$" craze when rooms were poppin out all over I started to play ALOT. The room I learned in was old fasioned, mainly straight pool/9-ball, and everyone gambled. If you asked how to learn the response was always "you step up to the table and play". So I played , learned, watched, worked there, cleaned the friggin tables, sold cues, ahem....sorry....How did you all learn the game?....Gerry

 

[Koop]

Learned while in the Air Force. I was stationed in Upstate New York and one of my best friends I met up there was a solid B+ / A- player who basically taught me how to play the game the right way. I also got to watch a guy by the name of "Cannonball" (Ed Kienowski) who passed away a few years ago but was a real world beater. I spoke to Mike Zuglan at one of the Joss events and he told me he knew Cannonball very well.

Dave

 

[amateur]

Basically, I was a barbox banger for a few years, playing 8ball about 2 times a week.

About 2 years ago, I finally joined a club with fine 9 footers. This is where I really started to pay attention to fundamental technique and all those important things which many take for granted. Started to play a bit of 9ball too. Now I'm really trying to fix my stroke and break the bad habits from previous casual play on barboxes.

Alex

 

[piglit]

The way I learned is the same! Sub 1-hole for 14.1...

...during the "Color-o-$$$" craze when rooms were poppin out all over I started to play ALOT. The room I learned in was old fasioned, mainly straight pool/9-ball, and everyone gambled. If you asked how to learn the response was always "you step up to the table and play". So I played , learned, watched, worked there, cleaned the friggin tables, sold cues, ahem....sorry...

Then about 5-years after starting, began to play in tournaments, first the local weeklys, then bigger and bigger ones. I think that the tourneys are a good way to get to play good/ better players.

Of course, if you made a fair game w/ one of the better players, you could play much longer than you would in a tournament...much better than a single session for seasoning!

-pigo

 

[Bluewolf]

While reading a post from Blue Wolf, and how she is going to venture out to her first big tourny (good luck BTW), it got me thinking about when I first started to play. ..Gerry

I first played pool at the age of ten. We had a barbox in our big attic that I played on with my dad several times a week for several years.I was pretty terrible LOL

Then I played on barboxes back in my drinkin days.I learned english, combos, follow, draw,etc, but found out later, there was another more acceptable way to draw and I probably had a 'punch stroke' with no preshot. <G> I was a medium bar player, which I now see was not as good as I thought.

About 5 years ago, I started playing off and on say 2 times a week on the average, sometimes more on 8 and 9 foots. Just started taking the game seriously with everyday practice and lessons a little over a year ago. So have told everyone have been playing a year because that is when I got serious, and before then did not know any pool lingo or anything about the pros. Also it was a year ago I started learning proper fundamentals and defense.

It has been funny. Stuff I was doing years ago, when I got serious, people started telling me not to do it. Oh well. Looking forward to this first step out into a real tournament. Thanks for the encouragement.

Laura

 

[UWPoolGod1]

I had probably played about 10 total games of pool in my life prior to heading to college. In the dorm we had two old Brunswick Centennials (a shame cause they are beat to hell...still trying to figure out how to get them out of there..maybe start a Save the Pool Tables foundation..like the rainforest...pool tables have feelings too LOL) that I began to shoot on. I was good shotmaker right off. There were two Vietnamese players whe were way better than anyone else...which for a competitive standpoint (having played Varsity Bsaketball/Baseball in HS)pissed me off and I HAD to beat them. The Rec center was open from 2PM-2AM and I was there pretty much the whole time. Talk about getting better in a hurry. Then the Asians disappeared one day and I found out there was a poolhall in the Student Union Building with better players that they were playing now. So I ventured over there and BAM! 12 Brunswick Centennials (most fully chrome sides, some not), 1 10-foot snooker table, and a 3-cushion billiard table. It was like walking into heaven. I preceded to learn from the upperclassmen and having a bug in my ass I had to beat them. Eventually catching them in speed, and then surpassing them. I got a job there behind the desk giving out balls, ping pong paddles(4 tables) and bowling shoes(10-lane alley) to students and families having birthday parties. All by myself on Sunday when hardly anyone came down so I got to play for free for 8 hours. Plenty of pool vidoes watched and books read have taught me about the mental/safe side of pool which IMHO is the most important. I then became the U of Washington champ for 3 years winning every league and tourney we had and have won the last two alumni tourneys with all of my old friends, rivals, and new underclassmen that I hadn't met. Just never got to win ACUI college regionals. Got 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 8th. Stupid WSU players kept taking me out. Man I hate those Cougars. Other than that I have just been getting lots of experience playing tourneys. Used to get nervous weak legs when playing better players, now I care about the table (not the man) cause I know I can run out too. Paid my bills and rent while I was laid off of a while playing tourneys. But I have paid a lot of money in entry fees/table time/equipment over the last 6 years...finally it is paying off a little bit.

A long winded rant..but there you go. HEHE

 

[matthew]

I pretty much learned to play in college too. A met a friend of mine and he taught me. Max Eberle was a college player wasn't he?

 

[Zims Rack]

I was actually a Dart thrower when I was younger in High School. My buddy, DAN D, and some friends played pool at his house on an 8' oversized AE Schmidt. They played cards often and the card table was in the way of me throwing darts. I really couldn't shoot pool because 1/2 of the table was blocked by the card table, so I just banked balls. This all started in the Fall of 1995. DAN D was the main man (it was his house) when it came to darts, pool, cards and parties. Mark Schuchmann (now an Ensign at Pearl Harbor) was the technical expert. We were all between the ages of 17-20 (I was the youngest, Mark the oldest) Mark had read many books, watched many videos on pool and had the best grasp on the game out of all the players that played at DAN D's house. This house became known as "Deiters Inn", after DAN D's last name. After the first night of banging bank shots, I was interested in the game. So Dan, Mark and I decided to pick up a couple of players and travel to Teachers Billiards in Troy Illinois about 20 minutes away to join their in house team 8ball league. This is the first time any of us has played in any organized pool event. We were all from a small town of under 900 people. Mark was our "go to" man in clutch situations, Dan played 2nd best and I fell on bottom of the totem poll. We played I believe a 14 week session at Teachers. Dan and I decided to talk to the local businesses and see if we could get $50-$100 from each business for sponsorship in the league. Needless to say, out of the 12 teams on our Sunday night league, "DEITERS INN" was the ONLY team to have team shirts, with (if I remember correctly) six sponsors silk screened logos. Many people commented on and "In House" league team having sponsors, but it was our trade mark sort of. Well, for a group of guys that have never played organized pool, and had sponsors, we finished in 2nd place, maybe 3rd, it's been too long (MAYBE DAN D CAN VERIFY THIS)! That was the beginning of my pool career. I was 18 years old when I entered my first organized pool event and have improved and experienced so much since then. I guarentee that you will read about Danny Deiters and Michael Zimmerman somewhere in the pool world now and more in the future.
This is just the beginning, but I don't want to bore you any longer.
Zim

 

[UWPoolGod1]

Yeah Max Eberle won the college national tounrament two years in a row. Dan Louie also did it two years in a row another great player. When I was a sophmore and got my 3rd place finish in regionals the winner was Jim Kellog out of Spokane. He was supposedly going to Spokane Falls CC and was 30+ years old. By far a great player over everyone, dominated the tourney killing everyone, beat me (just a shot maker at the time) for the point 9-2. He later was disqualified for not making the grade or even going, so they offered the trip to nationals to the 2nd place guy who couldn't make it. I got a call from a guy at the University of Florida and was invited to nationals but I could not go. Midterm week with two midterms on the day I would have to play the first round...one professor would have let me out...the other said "No, be here or get a 0, no exceptions" So I did not go. I would have been destroyed anyway, not knowing cueball control or safties...still would have been a fun experience.

 

[Voodoo Daddy]

I first played in my dads bar in the mid 70's on a 7' barbox. Few years later when I started playing on 8' tables, the two guys that helped me the most were Ronnie Crawford {the man that taught Tony Ellin <RIP>} and Arturo Coverson {an original Harlem Globetrotter and other mentor to Tony Ellin}. Tony moved to Ga. and began to learn under John DiToro of Florida Tour Fame...I had some good guidence, too bad I cant be guided!!!

 

[ceebee]

I am 60 years old & I wear glasses now. I still have some talent, but I'm not the threat I once was. But I still like them RING GAMES ($2 on the 5 & $5 on the 9) & GOLF 10-1-2. The other night we had a 20-2-DBL.... that’s $20 a man, $2 a hickey & double your dollars for the sell out.

I played Snooker from 14 ‘til 24... ran the table once from an opponents wide open break (9 RED BALLS). Made zillions of 50 point runs. Once made a 180 point run in 6-Ball wild game, to overwhelm an opponent (30 shots in the same corner without a miss). Won a lots of local money from my peers. Quit because of family.

When my marriage went south, I changed my habits. Started playing again at 30 & the game in the DFW area was 8 Ball and or 9 Ball for money (5,10,20 & 50 a game). Once I played 8 ball for a $100 a game.... we played all night & broke even. In this period I probably won 35 - 40 tournaments of 8 ball & 9 Ball. I had so many trophies, I didn't have a place to put them. This period was on Bar Boxes. Quit playing again at 33 because of employment reasons, at the BOEING Company Tool Engineers worked 56-58 hours a week. I also started chasing women & that too became a full time quest.

In 1998 I retired from BOEING-Seattle, moved to Oklahoma, got settled in & didn't know too many folks, so we joined the Moose Club. In 1999, I received a invitation to play in the Moose Spring Tournament & I did. Middle to Bad results, but the Moose Tournament season is twice a year. I did better the next time, but still had not taken the game up again. The following spring, 2000 I won the local & regional & ended up 5th in the State (the Moose format is one-game, double elimination on Bar Boxes)& believe me, out of the 150 players we have some PLAYERS. That FALL, after reading 25 books, watching 50 videos & doing a zillion drills, I won the FALL 2000 STATE TOURNAMENT. I learned more in that 6 months of study & training, than in all the previous years combined.

I live in a small town in Oklahoma, called Bartlesville, we are 50 miles north of Tulsa. Bartlesville is where David Matlock got his start & some of his fame. Our little Pool Hall used to be a ROADIE stop. I am classified as a 7-Speed in Tournament consistently on 4 1/2 x 9s. I have beat both of our 2 local 10-Speed heroes in a 32 man field 9-Ball Tournaments, on 4 1/2 x 9s, & I've won a couple of local out-of-town tournaments with a 64 man field. I won a $1000 the first time & $800 the second time, $500 lotsa times.. I am a general winner in match games, ring games (on 4 1/2 x 9s) & GOLF (on a Snooker table). I have played some 14.1 & some One-Pocket, but there's no real local interest.

The one thing that always escaped me, as a player, was a great Break Shot. So I set about to make a Tool to assist me in learning that shot. The first BreakRAK was a very good attempt at my goal. A year later, the BreakRAK II does what I set out to do.

 

[Reno]

I started in college at Eastern Illinois University. My freshman year an alumni came through and did a trick shot show and I was hooked from that moment on. The alumni's name is one "Dr. Cue" Tom Rossman. I started playing between classes, and then "advanced" to playing instead of going to class. I finally graduated (in just six years), moved to Arizona, and I was like a kid in a candy store when I realized there were pool rooms everywhere. Small town Illinois there was one "room", a bar with four nice bar boxes. For a small town though, there were some really good players. I probably learned the most from watching Michael Dunklin...he learned from the Fat Man back in the day. Also learned from Tyrone Brown & Jeff Mead. So for all of you that cry that I play too many safeties (or play them too well), you can blame Mr. Dunklin, "The Preacher Man." FYI, Glenn Bond used to run with Dunklin way back in the day.

 

[tom haney]

I started out with pocket pool and worked
my way up.

 

[Rickw]

I racked a lot of balls and paid a lot of money out for the time of better players! I watched better players and picked up things that I thought might work for me. I read books, watched tapes and practiced, practice and practiced some more. I'm one of those players that really can't get enough practice. I love being on the table whether I'm playing someone or just practicing by myself. This can be problematic when it comes to matching up with someone. Other players are always clocking your speed and your speed is usually a little better when you're practicing than when you're playing under pressure. It's tough to play well under pressure if you don't have many opportunities to play under it. This is a dilemma that I'm working on right now.

 

[Pogue]

In 1998 I retired from BOEING-Seattle, moved to Oklahoma, got settled in & didn't know too many folks, so we joined the Moose Club.

Ceebee,

I was at Fort Lewis, WA for three years, 1995-1998. Where did you play at? Did you ever travel down to Tacoma/Lakewood and play? I played a lot of bar pool in WA, too. Do you know "Little" Mike Hutcheson? Clyde "Farmer" Bowles? I'm sure you had heard of the big boys in WA state, like Mike Zimmerman, J.D., Tim Tweedel, etc.

Nice to meet someone else that was in the area at the same time.

Pogue

 

[Cardinal_Syn]

Back in my highschool days...started playing at the rec center then they closed the pool room so we started playing on the bar, (we bought anything just to play on those bar tables) then we found a pool hall right beside my highschool and i went on from there....practiced by myself mostly self taught. But i learned alot just by watching others play, the guy that runned it taught me a few stuff.

 

[UWPoolGod1]

Pogue-
I was at UW in those years at 96-98 while you were down there. Don't recognize the first few you named, but know all of the last three and big boys in WA. All solid players. Mike Z beat me 3-2 the only tourney at Dr. Cues I played him in. J.D. is still hanging around a playing great. Haven't seen Tweedel in a while. Was up in Seattle this past weekend playing in a tourney and ran up to Dr. Cues and gambler Vince was playing Harry Platis 8-ball race to 7 for $500. Platis gets all the action cause he has the dollars. Bill Cress is still around...trying to teach the up and coming players some lessons...didn't understand the lesson of him showing a kid trick shots the other day when I was up there but maybe that's what he wanted. I moved to Vancouver and regularly play Al Perez in a weekly tourney. Met Glenn Atwell's wife but not him yet...some of the good locals I have met want to match me up with him, but he has been winning most of the tourneys around the NW lately and the 8-ball bar table championships in Vegas...so screw that...maybe for free LOL.

I never have made it to City Lights in Tacoma although I hear it is a good place to play.

Todd

 

[bruin70]

i learned by watching.

 

[KingCarom]

I grew up on a pool table, and have played all my life, regularly since the age of 13, am now 30.
I never had a teacher,
and learned subtleties like throw and use of english on my own, just over time. Once I joined the APA in 95/96 I learned alot more about playing safe and how to best use that to your advantage.


I play in some tourneys in North Seattle and see JD now and then, have not seen Tweedel is some time either. I now have children and cant get out as much as I used to a few years ago.
Still get out at least once a week to play in APA, currently a 6.

Have any of you ever heard of, met, or played Lance Mcgill from Portland?

I have read alot about Atwell lately, and hear is is touring quite a bit, and playing lights out everywhere he goes.

 

[UWPoolGod1]

King-
Do you play up at Breaking Point in Lynnwood, or Daverthumps? I used to frequent BP all the time when I was getting better. Played once in the Daverthumps tourney. Lance McGill...is that the Pool Whisperer? No I have never seen or met him in person. I have not ventured into the Portland pool scene yet...have to find the places to play. I know Atwell and maybe Stan Tourangneau (sp?) play out of the Nighthawk.