Some of Your Lowest Points in Pool
- Thread starter Fast Lenny
- Start date
Are you serious,where are you located?whitey2 said:My pool room. It is flooding as we speak.
whitey2 said:
Is it just me, or does Larry Liscotti look a little bit like Earl Strickland in that picture?
On a side note: How bout those threads?
I can hear Jim Rempe saying, "Don't touch the hair."
Last edited:
Dgerst said:
Thanks. It happens now and then, mostly now.
That is why I built the bottom part of the table out of metal.
(Using parts of filing cabinets, and an industrial electronics rack.)
I have actually practiced in an inch of water or so in the past. Kind of gives a new meaning to "pool".
When the GM of Hollywood Park called me down to his office for a meeting. He told me they were not renewing my lease. I had built up a good business over the last four years and wanted to exercise my three year option to renew. Three more years and I would have been fine with it. But this felt like someone just cut my legs off. Major Bummer!
Just this past weekend, I saw some of my old customers at Hollywood Billiards and they told me how much they missed Jay's Billiards. They asked me (maybe the 100th time I've been asked), when are you going to open up a new place. My answer is still "I don't know".
Just this past weekend, I saw some of my old customers at Hollywood Billiards and they told me how much they missed Jay's Billiards. They asked me (maybe the 100th time I've been asked), when are you going to open up a new place. My answer is still "I don't know".
Last edited:
Yeah its never easy closing down a room,my friend in NY is about to close up his,just cant make it,he is a very nice guy too.jay helfert said:
In 1974 I wanted to be a pro pool player as badly as anyone has ever wanted anything. I would dream about shots.
I was working as a stocker for Safeway and had been laidoff. Times were tough and money was real low.
A guy had bought this pool hall in south Denver and like me, played,,,, a little. I had exactly $110 to my name andgot into a game with him for like $5 a game. I had him stuck like $100 and he wanted the 8. I agreed and away we went. We got even and he insulted me into playing a Race to 11 for the $100. I agreed and got very nervous and began to dog my brains out.
With the score 10-10 it looked as though he was out but, got funny on the 9. {the 8 was gone} He made a great shot on the 9 only to xcratch and playing two shot in those days, I had a spot shot for all my dough.
Well, you guessed it, I dogged it so badly I nearly two railed it into the bottom corner. He made it and I was busted.
Two weeks later I gotevicted andspent the whole summer sleeping in my 66 GTO rightbeside thePlatte River in South Denver. I lost 25 lbs that summer, but was still determined to become a goodpool player.
Then one night in the same room, it happened. Some guy walks in and asked to play some $3 9-ball. I had exacltly 5 bucks to my name and jumped at it. I ended up winning $60 cash, a b&w TV, a lawn mower, a sewing machine, a 25 revolver, and a pair of Nocona cowboy boots.
There was a guy who owned a gas station Iknew and he bought all of it for $300. LIFE WAS GREAT.
We had played all night and nowit was close to noon, so I wentto place called MR Steak and ordered myself a nice thick Ribeye which cost about $5 in those days. The waitress brought it out andwithout even taking a bite, I ordered another. I ate two ribeyes 2 salads, 2 baked potatoes and drank about 6 cokes. By the time I gotto the car, I was the sickest person in Colorado.
I then went to a flea bag motel on Santa Fe Drive and stayed there for a week. I went to the pool room everyday and would shoot 100 spot sots each day.
About all Iplay nowis 1 pocket and spot shotscome up once in a while. To thisday, everytime I line up for one, I think about those two ribeyes and 1974.
I was working as a stocker for Safeway and had been laidoff. Times were tough and money was real low.
A guy had bought this pool hall in south Denver and like me, played,,,, a little. I had exactly $110 to my name andgot into a game with him for like $5 a game. I had him stuck like $100 and he wanted the 8. I agreed and away we went. We got even and he insulted me into playing a Race to 11 for the $100. I agreed and got very nervous and began to dog my brains out.
With the score 10-10 it looked as though he was out but, got funny on the 9. {the 8 was gone} He made a great shot on the 9 only to xcratch and playing two shot in those days, I had a spot shot for all my dough.
Well, you guessed it, I dogged it so badly I nearly two railed it into the bottom corner. He made it and I was busted.
Two weeks later I gotevicted andspent the whole summer sleeping in my 66 GTO rightbeside thePlatte River in South Denver. I lost 25 lbs that summer, but was still determined to become a goodpool player.
Then one night in the same room, it happened. Some guy walks in and asked to play some $3 9-ball. I had exacltly 5 bucks to my name and jumped at it. I ended up winning $60 cash, a b&w TV, a lawn mower, a sewing machine, a 25 revolver, and a pair of Nocona cowboy boots.
There was a guy who owned a gas station Iknew and he bought all of it for $300. LIFE WAS GREAT.
We had played all night and nowit was close to noon, so I wentto place called MR Steak and ordered myself a nice thick Ribeye which cost about $5 in those days. The waitress brought it out andwithout even taking a bite, I ordered another. I ate two ribeyes 2 salads, 2 baked potatoes and drank about 6 cokes. By the time I gotto the car, I was the sickest person in Colorado.
I then went to a flea bag motel on Santa Fe Drive and stayed there for a week. I went to the pool room everyday and would shoot 100 spot sots each day.
About all Iplay nowis 1 pocket and spot shotscome up once in a while. To thisday, everytime I line up for one, I think about those two ribeyes and 1974.
Great story and thanks for sharing it,this is the real stuff i wanted to hear about,the highs and lows and also the swings of being a pool player.ironman said:
I can certainly relate to that,its nice to know your not alone.ironman said:
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)
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)
girlwon1 said:
You are to talented to quit, woman! You've also been very helpful and are very knowlegable, I wish you would play regularly again. Think of the positives! I remember 2-3 years ago watching you play and do well at the pro event at Viejas with all of San Diego rooting you. Another positive, the life long friends you have made playing this game (like me)
. Sometimes the negatives seem like they out weight the positives but the positives give you much more in return
.
Last edited:
It seems like you got talent,i think you will be drawn back into the game again,sometimes its good to take a hiatus.girlwon1 said:
girlwon1 said:
Tina I met you at Hollywood Billiards the tuesday before you were to play in the WPBA event in South Florida. I walked up to you and called you girlwon1. The one thing that sticks out in my memory of meeting you was that you were really down on pool at the time and that you were talking about quitting pool. I hope you start back up again, you have alot of talent. Your still surfing the AZB site so the interest in pool is still there. This game is brutal for the those who choose to try to make a living at it, thats for sure.
Probably the first time I ever played in a FL Pro event. Wasn't anywhere near ready at the time, but I wanted to play. Drew Charlie Williams in the first round and got down 6-0 in a hurry, but I relaxed the nerves, got a few opportunities at the table, and lost something like 9-6. Sounds impressive, but Charlie was hardly trying until I put up some racks on the board. That wasn't the low point, though. The low point was the next match. I was playing another guy who was OK but had no business in a pro tournament either. I was just crushing the break that match, and I used it to pump myself up to an 8-2 lead (on the hill). I broke and ran to the 6 or 7 and dogged a really easy out. It got in my head that that was the last time I'd break in the match, and I really needed to get up there and just pound the balls for my own mental well being. I saw rack after rack disappear from me, and I had a few more easy outs that I dogged too. Total mental collapse, losing 9-8. I overheard some kids talking about the collapse as I was walking out.
Sometimes getting over the hill isnt that easy,i think the first and last game of any match are the toughest.thoffen said: