Some of Your Lowest Points in Pool

[ironman]

I was playing in a dive bar on Colfax a couple of years ago. I left the mountains just to find some action, and just about everybody was gone for a tournament in Tulsa, so I was trolling around when I heard about this place.
The guy told me "not to go alone, don't take your cues in, but there's alot of high rollers there". I thought I'd just found the promised land. What I found was a bunch of dealers and pimps playing craps and pool on four ragged out tables. Bars on the windows, no doors on the bathroom, hookers running all over the place and the first time I've seen anyone snorting coke on a toilet seat.... and I'm probably the only white guy in a cowboy hat in about two mile at least.
Anyway, I was up about $900, thinking this should be a good time to exit, they decided it was a good time to call. I'm about forty feet from the door with over $6grand on me and my cues in front of me, and a whole lot of people with cues and bottles, a knife poking me and a gun in my eye.
I can honestly say that was about the lowest point I've ever had since I picked up a cue.
There's a few guys from Denver, including cuesblues that knows the story and the results.
On the bright side, I also discoverd Tablesteaks that weekend on the way home!
But it was a good enough wake up call, that I stopped running the roads so much, and started spending alot more time running the roads with my kids. I have now seen every Zoo between Memphis and Vegas! lol

Years ago there were a couple ofbars like that in Denver and on Colfax. It gotpretty rough at times. After a while though, Igotto know allthepimps, felons, parolees, and mother rapers and feltsomewhat safe. I havemorethan a couple of scars from that area and era.

If you want some good stories about that area, just sit down sometimes with Melvin Sharp. Heran that area and those bars for years and years and if you know Melvin, he just had that personality that enabled him to get away with it.

Another tough placethere many years ago was the old 404 Club. Iwasin there with my old friend AL Hogue and Al had beaten a guy out of a few hundred andsure enough, the guy took the heat. The next thing I knew, the guy was standing next to Al and AL's eyes were as big as coffee cups. I looked down andthe guy had a kife held to Al's rib cage and withenough pressure on it that you could see a littleblood on Al's shirt.

At this point I didn't know exactly what to do, and dwas gettingpretty excited. Suddenly Jerry, the bar keep leaped from behind the bar andstuck a shotgun right in this guys face and I knew Jerry well enough to know he was very capable of using it.

The guy holding the knife made a jerking motion and his last. Jerry pulled the trigger and near took the guys head off. Al wasnot a real excitable guy, but just went nuts on , yelling andscreaming at him about how he could have missed and hit him.

Al was covered in blood and Jerry standing there with that shotgun and the two of them arguing about his marksmanship with a shotgun from about four feet. It has got to be sick of meto say that this was funny, but itwas over, andI began to laugh at the two ofthem and that pissed them off even more.

Thatended my days at the old 404 Club. Imoved outto the East Colfax are where the hookers and parolees were much friendlier.

 

[Cuephoric]

Years ago there were a couple ofbars like that in Denver and on Colfax. It gotpretty rough at times. After a while though, Igotto know allthepimps, felons, parolees, and mother rapers and feltsomewhat safe. I havemorethan a couple of scars from that area and era.

If you want some good stories about that area, just sit down sometimes with Melvin Sharp. Heran that area and those bars for years and years and if you know Melvin, he just had that personality that enabled him to get away with it.

Another tough placethere many years ago was the old 404 Club. Iwasin there with my old friend AL Hogue and Al had beaten a guy out of a few hundred andsure enough, the guy took the heat. The next thing I knew, the guy was standing next to Al and AL's eyes were as big as coffee cups. I looked down andthe guy had a kife held to Al's rib cage and withenough pressure on it that you could see a littleblood on Al's shirt.

At this point I didn't know exactly what to do, and dwas gettingpretty excited. Suddenly Jerry, the bar keep leaped from behind the bar andstuck a shotgun right in this guys face and I knew Jerry well enough to know he was very capable of using it.

The guy holding the knife made a jerking motion and his last. Jerry pulled the trigger and near took the guys head off. Al wasnot a real excitable guy, but just went nuts on , yelling andscreaming at him about how he could have missed and hit him.

Al was covered in blood and Jerry standing there with that shotgun and the two of them arguing about his marksmanship with a shotgun from about four feet. It has got to be sick of meto say that this was funny, but itwas over, andI began to laugh at the two ofthem and that pissed them off even more.

Thatended my days at the old 404 Club. Imoved outto the East Colfax are where the hookers and parolees were much friendlier.

LOL!!!NICE!!!

I used to play a little with Melvin and Marvin at Wynnkoop's or Paradise.
Melvin could talk the Devil into giving up the 7!

 

[Melissa Herndon]

Wow. I can think of so many!

2004 I thought I would go back and see my friend Julie Hunter and play on her regional tour just for one stop, at Mountain View. Michelle Rakin was winning all of the events at the time.

I beat her to go undefeated to win the winner bracket. Next day at the finals she made it back to see me. I ended up losing both sets (with break in between) in about 35 minutes race to 7 both.

I played so bad the first set in front of all my peers that I went outside and lost it. I dried my eyes and came back and played just as poorly the second set. I was devastated. I put my cue away after I got home, for a very, very long time. I can almost not ever remember playing that bad since.


Recalling the Pro Event at Hollwood, Fl. So much to say there, I'm not going into it.


Coming back from a 6-0 deficit to 6-6 (hill hill) and missing an almost straight in 9 against the "person to be beat" in the event. I went outside and actually hyperventilated. (circa 1997)


Watching my friend Jon Schmidt get held up with a gun outside a San Francisco area pool room by someone I will keep nameless. (another pool player)

After going to the second pro event of my first full year on the tour, I went to the tax office of a fellow pro player at the time. Her ranking was 23rd I think at the time. Her tax statement was for 12,000 dollars from the WPBA.

That gives you a lot to look forward to when starting out.

I feel like I could go on but it is 3:28am.


Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

I really glad I don't play this game anymore. Thanks for starting this thread which further cements that idea in my head.

Signed,

girlwon1 (long ago)

All I'm saying is...I'm putting on a State Championship in June...and you better be there For old times sake at the very least.

And if you aren't playing at Viejas...will you at least come visit me???

Love you....hope you're enjoying life!

Melissa

 

[Fast Lenny]

All I'm saying is...I'm putting on a State Championship in June...and you better be there For old times sake at the very least.

And if you aren't playing at Viejas...will you at least come visit me???

Love you....hope you're enjoying life!

Melissa

Hey Melissa werent you on a tv show something to do with hustling?

 

[mnorwood]

I can think of two low points. 1. Wittnessing the destruction of the table I learned how to play on. Four morbidly obese college baluga whales got drunk and ripped one of the rails off of it and destroyed the felt by dancing on the table. This table was located in the lobby of my wife's dorm. All I could do was shout at them, the RA finally intervened.
2. A really bad night at a league I played in two years ago. I was off of my game and we were having trouble getting a team mate to show up. We were stuck with a sub that recorded a high run of 1 ball. It was like ice skating up hill. Other than that all of my memories of pool are good.

 

[Dead Money]

Man, I dunno. A bad day of playing pool beats a good day of work anytime so I'm not sure I really have any low points in pool.

 

[Onepocket73]

I have had some low points too in my billiard quest.However,some of the stories here dwarf mine IMO.So I will just leave it at that