How long have you known a player to have been or lived on the road?

[justinb386]

I hope this thread is not too similar to one that I created in the past (I do not think it is, but not quite sure).

I am just curious how long you have known a player to have stayed on their road trip (if they actually had a permanent residence that is).

I understand that back in like the 60's, it was so cheap for the road players to live out of motels (going from town to town, hustling, to make a living), that maybe they did not really need a permanent residence.

I imagine that back then, a great player could survive on the road for a very long time (if they knew where to find action, or if they had a great personality and game for hustling).

Just curious how long some of these great players lived (survived) on the road, before they went back home (if they had one to go back to).

I imagine that the fictional character Eddie Felson could have survived by just going from town to town year around (without maybe ever having to go back home, unless you tried to hustler the wrong person, and got himself seriously hurt or worse).

Thanks for any thoughts, or stories you can think of about players you knew of and the length of their road trips.

I love reading about pool player road stories too (that stuff is so interesting to me).

 

[BmoreMoney]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but anyway first person that comes to my mind is Black Nate. He has got to be 70++ by now. I don't know exactly when he hit the road but I'd imagine no later than 20 or so. So that's a good 50+ years. He'd come to town and stay around as long as there was action to be had, OR till he made enough to head south again. Usually he would be around for a couple months at a time. When the weather would turn colder he would head south to go hustle golf. He was a hell of a golfer too. He has been all over the country playing pool, cards, and golf.

Hell of a one pocket player too. One of the best in the state. Which state you ask? Well whichever state he was in at the time! He spent a fair amount of time in our area, in my home room as a matter of fact and that was because of all of the action we used to have. I know Alabama and Cali were some of his favorites too. He was an old school player. What I mean by that is he was ALWAYS dressed very nicely, soft spoken and polite ( most of the time lol ), drove a big black Mercedes, and what I can't forget just about always had a beret on. Nate was exactly what you would think when thinking of a lifetime road warrior and he did it most of his life. If you happen to read this buddy, miss us hanging out all those nights - drop on by MD when ya get a chance and hope all is well!

 

[justinb386]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but anyway first person that comes to my mind is Black Nate. He has got to be 70++ by now. I don't know exactly when he hit the road but I'd imagine no later than 20 or so. So that's a good 50+ years. He'd come to town and stay around as long as there was action to be had, OR till he made enough to head south again. Usually he would be around for a couple months at a time. When the weather would turn colder he would head south to go hustle golf. He was a hell of a golfer too. He has been all over the country playing pool, cards, and golf.

Hell of a one pocket player too. One of the best in the state. Which state you ask? Well whichever state he was in at the time! He spent a fair amount of time in our area, in my home room as a matter of fact and that was because of all of the action we used to have. I know Alabama and Cali were some of his favorites too. He was an old school player. What I mean by that is he was ALWAYS dressed very nicely, soft spoken and polite ( most of the time lol ), drove a big black Mercedes, and what I can't forget just about always had a beret on. Nate was exactly what you would think when thinking of a lifetime road warrior and he did it most of his life. If you happen to read this buddy, miss us hanging out all those nights - drop on by MD when ya get a chance and hope all is well!

Nice story. Very interesting. So it sounds like he was the type of person who never really had a home address (for more then a few months at a time, it sounds). I would trade the internet and all of this new technology to have lived back in the 60's 70's or 80's. Great times for pool I imagine. I grew up in the 90's, so I did get to see a lot of good action (from a time before the internet ruined all of the action for all of the unknown players).

 

[jay helfert]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but anyway first person that comes to my mind is Black Nate. He has got to be 70++ by now. I don't know exactly when he hit the road but I'd imagine no later than 20 or so. So that's a good 50+ years. He'd come to town and stay around as long as there was action to be had, OR till he made enough to head south again. Usually he would be around for a couple months at a time. When the weather would turn colder he would head south to go hustle golf. He was a hell of a golfer too. He has been all over the country playing pool, cards, and golf.

Hell of a one pocket player too. One of the best in the state. Which state you ask? Well whichever state he was in at the time! He spent a fair amount of time in our area, in my home room as a matter of fact and that was because of all of the action we used to have. I know Alabama and Cali were some of his favorites too. He was an old school player. What I mean by that is he was ALWAYS dressed very nicely, soft spoken and polite ( most of the time lol ), drove a big black Mercedes, and what I can't forget just about always had a beret on. Nate was exactly what you would think when thinking of a lifetime road warrior and he did it most of his life. If you happen to read this buddy, miss us hanging out all those nights - drop on by MD when ya get a chance and hope all is well!

I remember Nate from his being in Los Angeles in the late 60's. He was a top player back then, always dressed real sharp and drove a new Caddy. Only guys he avoided were Marvin, Ronnie and Rags. And of course no one would play 9-Ball with Richie Florence back then. Nate was young (late 20's maybe) and slim back then.

P.S. There were a lot of guys who spent their life on the road back then. They just moved from city to city, spending anywhere from a few weeks to few months in each place. That was the life of a "road" player back then. They would go wherever they heard there was action, make some connections and just stay in that town until it dried up, then move on to the next town. Sounds like a lonely existence but they usually made friends in each town they spent time in. Maybe even had a girl friend there. Most of the time when they left town she got left behind too. I can probably think of at least a couple of dozen guys I knew who spent their life on the road, or at least until they go too old for all the travel. Our Bobby Leblanc (Cotton) is one of them. He never settled in Vegas until he was in his 50's, a good thirty years plus on the road! He probably spent time in every major city in the U.S. I only really traveled for 8-10 years of my life and I'm sure I've played pool in 40 or 50 different cities.

 

[BarneyCalip]

Lizard

Aka, Steven James Smith.

He is still on the road.
And he can still play.

Heard he was in Sacramento Ca. About six months ago.

He wrote a book, "Through the Eyes of a Lizard".
It's a great read.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

I knew a guy who was on the road so long he started seeing things.
He once told me that on a cool, crisp, autumn afternoon he was motoring down a country road when all a sudden he looked over and saw a man, standing beside a barn, with his overalls down around his ankles, having sex with a sheep.
The guys slams on the brakes and broad slides into the farm house driveway. He jumps out of his car, runs up onto the farm house porch, and bangs on the door.
In a minute, or so, a young boy comes to the door, and says, "Can I help you, Mr?"
The guy says, "Sonny, did you know there's a man behind that barn, over there, having sex with a sheep?"
The boy says, "Oh, him? That's just my Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad." :smile:

 

[Patso44]

Road Player.....

Jim Lewis.....If the story that was told to me is accurate, he has been a road player for close to 30 years. He used to back Mark Tadd back in the 90s. In late 2000s I started playing 1hole with him. He is a amazing 1hole player although I think he never showed his real game; habit I guess. We played for about a year and then he went down south. Not too long ago; a pool buddy of mine who travels for work, was looking for a 1hole game in Georgia or Florida. The poolhall owner made a phone call and about 20 minutes later in walks Jim Lewis lol!

 

[bobbycotton]

confessions of a pool hustler

yep i was on the road most of my life. It has its ups and downs. I loved going to new places and playing new people for the cash, win or lose it was a blast. I matched up pretty good most of the time, haha i think any way. Those were the good ole days, no knocking just getting up and playing

 

[SpiderWeb]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but anyway first person that comes to my mind is Black Nate. He has got to be 70++ by now. I don't know exactly when he hit the road but I'd imagine no later than 20 or so. So that's a good 50+ years. He'd come to town and stay around as long as there was action to be had, OR till he made enough to head south again. Usually he would be around for a couple months at a time. When the weather would turn colder he would head south to go hustle golf. He was a hell of a golfer too. He has been all over the country playing pool, cards, and golf.

Hell of a one pocket player too. One of the best in the state. Which state you ask? Well whichever state he was in at the time! He spent a fair amount of time in our area, in my home room as a matter of fact and that was because of all of the action we used to have. I know Alabama and Cali were some of his favorites too. He was an old school player. What I mean by that is he was ALWAYS dressed very nicely, soft spoken and polite ( most of the time lol ), drove a big black Mercedes, and what I can't forget just about always had a beret on. Nate was exactly what you would think when thinking of a lifetime road warrior and he did it most of his life. If you happen to read this buddy, miss us hanging out all those nights - drop on by MD when ya get a chance and hope all is well![/QUOTE
He was a nice dresser and was always polite. He was in houston in the 80s and I never saw him back the cue ball up 4 feet ever, or did I ever see him lose of of at least 30 plays.

 

[SpiderWeb]

My trainer has a road atlas full of info and he and other pllayers always exchanged info depending on where they were headed. He told me he was in LA for 4 months and never went into a pool hall. He only played in go go joints because that was where the money was.

 

[BmoreMoney]

Not sure if this is what you are looking for but anyway first person that comes to my mind is Black Nate. He has got to be 70++ by now. I don't know exactly when he hit the road but I'd imagine no later than 20 or so. So that's a good 50+ years. He'd come to town and stay around as long as there was action to be had, OR till he made enough to head south again. Usually he would be around for a couple months at a time. When the weather would turn colder he would head south to go hustle golf. He was a hell of a golfer too. He has been all over the country playing pool, cards, and golf.

Hell of a one pocket player too. One of the best in the state. Which state you ask? Well whichever state he was in at the time! He spent a fair amount of time in our area, in my home room as a matter of fact and that was because of all of the action we used to have. I know Alabama and Cali were some of his favorites too. He was an old school player. What I mean by that is he was ALWAYS dressed very nicely, soft spoken and polite ( most of the time lol ), drove a big black Mercedes, and what I can't forget just about always had a beret on. Nate was exactly what you would think when thinking of a lifetime road warrior and he did it most of his life. If you happen to read this buddy, miss us hanging out all those nights - drop on by MD when ya get a chance and hope all is well![/QUOTE
He was a nice dresser and was always polite. He was in houston in the 80s and I never saw him back the cue ball up 4 feet ever, or did I ever see him lose of of at least 30 plays.

Sounds about right. He rarely booked losers. It was not because he was playing bangers all the time either, Quite the opposite in fact. In our area there were only a couple guys anywhere near his level in one hole and you sure didn't see them in no hurry to play him. Nate didn't play that often compared to most of the other players. When he did put his stick together you knew it was gonna be for some money AND you had better have yourself a good seat because you knew even before the flip you were about to see something special and you're not gonna want to miss one minute of it.

Jack & Jills was " a must do " for every road player for decades. All road players knew we had players, money, and action. Way more than most could handle in all three departments! Nate used to snap off just about every road player that came thru those doors paying one pocket. They would come in with a bunch of hopes and dreams and money, and leave with a " ya play real good " and a " do you need directions back to your state ? " lol.

I don't even need a whole hand to count the people that I've bet on and never lost. He was one of them, whether I was in on it or sweat betting he never booked a loserror for me. I can tell you one thing, in our room you HAD BETTER know what you're doing sweat bettin or you'd go BUST REAL fast. Nate sure did like the girlies too! He was as good with the ladies as he was with pool. He must have been in his 60ish back in the 90's and routinely pulled chic half and even a third of his age - no problem! They weren't pigs either, cute and hot was the norm.

He had a very " unique " psr and stroke. The only way I can describe it would be as " elegant ". If anyone on here has seen it and can describe it please do. I don't know if it was the same as when Jay knew him back in LA but maybe he could chime in. Unfortunately , Nate is from a by gone era. With most of the players today we just don't get to see " the good stuff " like you would with the top players of that era. No style, no heart, and DEF no gamble. Justin has been asking about road players. Yeah it did take big balls and a lot of heart to jump in your car and drive cross country to walk into strange rooms, play people you have no idea how they play, and throw your chicken right up on the light so that you could maybe find out. Remember one thing though Justin , it took just as much heart and gamble on the other side of that coin too. For instance the guys that were in the pool rooms when thode road players would stroll on in. These guys had the attitude of, I don't know you, don't care to, don't care how you play and oh BTW bet what you like!