Spotting Stories: What are some of the Craziest Spots/Most Complicated you have seen?

One big key to staying in action is to be able to play ALL normal games, and as many gaff games as you can come up with. The gaff games are great, because even if you win, you will have people that didn't believe it, and will pay to see it themselves.

I've been on both sides of large and crazy spots over the years:

5 pockets to a front playing back pocket
The L playing back pocket
2 fronts to a side playing back pocket
15-5 one hole
9-3 one hole
4-2 one hole
Every ball on the table playing 9 ball
The rail is your pocket playing 9 ball (I let my opponent choose which side of the spot he wanted)
5 out and break in 9 ball
2 fronts to 1 back playing 1 pocket!
100 to 5 straight pool I go to 5 and have the side pocket only
I play with a broom stick
I play with a paper bag over my head and my partner lines me up to shoot.
I get the handspan, I give the handspan
3 rail kicks of spotted ball using your hand to throw the cue ball
Using my foot to shoot (no shoe on)
pitching coins against a wall, but using a full size spare tire insteaf of a coin
Running in the parking lot
Jumping in the parking lot
Racing car in reverse vs person running in parking lot
Running backwards in parking lot
I shoot wiht my hand playing banks and getting 5-1 in balls
I shoot wiht a bride every shot
I shoot with the bumper of my cue
I shoot one handed
I shoot by standing 3 feet from the table and throwing the cue ball
I shoot by throwing the cue ball behind my back at the table
We boht have to shoot while the balls are still in motion or its a foul (this means we are both running around the table)

More I can't remember...
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^that guy has WAY too much time on his hands!!!
 
I was a witness

to a game not just a couple of months ago where some schmuck played one of the regular players some one hole race to 3 for 1k. They must've worked together because they had similar clothes on (wireless retail appearance) so they walk in and start playing with no warm up. JA was giving up the break and 12-2 one hole race to 3 for 1k.

The regular apparently had his hands full, cause the guy didn't break one pocket style, he broke 8 ball style. The thing is, I don't think he knew the table was triple shimmed. He really sucked, cause he missed 80% of the time. I sat there and watched JA win about 3 sets in a row and then left shaking my head.

Very soon after that, the JA sold his entire case with everything in it for $200 to another regular and said he was done playing. I don't get it.
 
dogginda9 said:
I've seen all kinds of crazy games made, but the toughest spot I ever gave out was the old "playing with a broom handle" spot. I even put a toilet plunger head on the end instead of the usual bristles. I had a pretty average player give me 20 balls to 50 in straight pool and then he gave me the wild 8 playing 9 ball. He was just totally intimidated and found a way to lose.
The 4 out call and the breaks is the biggest normal spot I've ever outrun before. I won $1200 or so. Funny part is we started out playing $5 a game 8 ball and he just kept escalating things until we got to the 4 out and the breaks.
The biggest spot I ever got was the 7 and breaks from a champion. That didn't go well for me. Also, 2 hit and the pick 9-8 playing one pocket from a very strong player. That went well. The most fun game I ever got was from Marco Marquez. We had been playing with me getting the breaks and I think the last 2. Back and forth we go. He was a little ahead I think and I call it a day. He talks me into playing a new way. We play 9 ball, winner breaks, and he gets to break and take 1 shot per rack right handed. All other shots are left handed!! He confirmed what I had heard before. His game only drops a relatively small amount. Watching him spin the cue ball off handed like that was pretty impressive. These are just a few of the weird games I've seen over the years.
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That reminds me Jeff...I saw Nevel play bookie Bob with the mop handle before back at 63rd street soon after Bob bought the place. There were some other stipulations invloved as well, but it was wild watching him stroke the ball with the mop handle. He was allowed to "rough up" the handle point, and use chalk on it. I am fairly sure Bob one that one.

I would give you the same spot if your willing to play with the broom handle :)
 
Worst_7_ever said:
That reminds me Jeff...I saw Nevel play bookie Bob with the mop handle before back at 63rd street soon after Bob bought the place. There were some other stipulations invloved as well, but it was wild watching him stroke the ball with the mop handle. He was allowed to "rough up" the handle point, and use chalk on it. I am fairly sure Bob one that one.

I would give you the same spot if your willing to play with the broom handle :)
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The broom handle/plunger game is for dead go offs that can't ever run out. Even though you ARE the Worst_7_ever, you do not qualify for such a game.:thumbup:















p.s. I kid. You're not the Worst-7-ever...................
 
One of the biggest spots I have ever seen was "80 no count" straight pool. It means the guy giving the spot (who also was my teacher) has to run 80 or more balls for his score to count!...yup, run 79 and miss and you are at ZERO.

He pounded the guy senseless running 100's all day! I was working the counter watching this every couple of weeks. Can you imagine losing 80 no count going to 100.....whats next? :)
 
Gerry said:
One of the biggest spots I have ever seen was "80 no count" straight pool. It means the guy giving the spot (who also was my teacher) has to run 80 or more balls for his score to count!...yup, run 79 and miss and you are at ZERO.

He pounded the guy senseless running 100's all day! I was working the counter watching this every couple of weeks. Can you imagine losing 80 no count going to 100.....whats next? :)
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I've seen two players play 100 no count, it took about 2 hours before one ran a 100...there was a 71 ball run in there as well as a 63. this was on a loose pocketed table but still impressive.

Johnny Ervolino used to tell me how when he was just a kid he used to watch the great James Evans and Johnny "Irish" Lineen play 75 no count on a 5 x 10 table with very tight pockets. Now that's insane!
 
Bobby said:
I've seen two players play 100 no count, it took about 2 hours before one ran a 100...there was a 71 ball run in there as well as a 63. this was on a loose pocketed table but still impressive.

Johnny Ervolino used to tell me how when he was just a kid he used to watch the great James Evans and Johnny "Irish" Lineen play 75 no count on a 5 x 10 table with very tight pockets. Now that's insane!
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that is nuts!....our tables were GC3's at about 4-3/4.....so for a good player, 100's were not that hard, but I wouldn't say "easy". 100 ball runs are never easy!
 
Craziest one I saw

A few years ago I had a friend play races to 5 for $100 (freeze up $300)

Winner breaks-ball in hand after the break behind the line...all the other guy had to do is make a good hit to win.

First break he SMASHES the break...6 balls fall...cueball goes off the table sticks right in drywall halfin and half out. He walks over pulls it out of the wall gets ball in hand in the kitchen runs 3 balls says "thats 1"

Second break makes 5 ....again cueball hits the wall this time leaving a 3 inch dent where it hit the wall picks the ball up off the floor runs 4 says "thats 2"

The guy runs over to the Owner to complain "look and see what this guy is doing to your wall"

The owner says "he closes tonight.. after he does the register, wipes the tables down and replaces that section of drywall he can go home"

guy drops his head walks over to us and says
"I'm not going to like this am I"

he didn't
 
Abe Rosen, grand old man of pool, and a mentor to Johnny Ervolino, used to ask for 99 on the wire in a straight pool race to 100 as well as a provision that there would be no deductions for his scratches.

The catch was that Abe shot every shot with the sharp end of a pencil. Abe usually won. I believe Abe would have turned 100 this year if he'd lived. Even a shot like the one ball below was unmakeable because Abe couldn't hit the cue ball more than about 18-24 inches.


CueTable Help

 
just make one.....

At one of the rooms here in town, there is a table that breaks consistent. I have given decent players the follwing spot if they have no gamble to them..

Give me the break, I give you ALL THE BALLS. ALL OF THEM. Just make ONE.

I tried this with a better player, and it didnt matter, I still won.

I more recently gave it to a player just a tad under me, on a barbox that breaks like a champ. He pulled up 11 games down, after the 7-pack hit him. GREAT SPOT!@!!!!
 
sjm said:
Abe Rosen, grand old man of pool, and a mentor to Johnny Ervolino, used to ask for 99 on the wire in a straight pool race to 100 as well as a provision that there would be no deductions for his scratches.

The catch was that Abe shot every shot with the sharp end of a pencil. Abe usually won. I believe Abe would have turned 100 this year if he'd lived. Even a shot like the one ball below was unmakeable because Abe couldn't hit the cue ball more than about 18-24 inches.


CueTable Help

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I remember that spot that Abe used to get. I heard Abe was also great at winning games where both players had to run 2 and stop.
I believe though that he was born in 1907 or 1908 so he would've been 101 or 102 this year.
 
Cool thread :) reading these reminded me of a night I played banks with a guy, he would play regular banks while my banks shots had to start off with my cueball contacting at least 1 rail before my object ball... That's right, kick-banks :)
 
you know, thinking back, I remember another spot! one player had to go to 125 points of 14.1, and the other guy had to go to 10, BUT....his balls had to be ANYTHING but a straight in shot. Banks, caroms, combos, etc.....not as easy as it sounds.....

just leave em on the end rail was the winning thory....


G>
 
sfleinen said:
Haven't personally "witnessed" this one, but here's a crazy spot: the "hand span" spot -- where you get ball in hand anywhere within a hand span's distance of the cue ball's last position on the table:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eX1jmGbpnPU

This particular spot was given by Scott Frost in a One Pocket match up.

Pretty inventive spot!
-Sean
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The hand spot is huge if used right. I saw Frost, and Corey book losers to a guy with that spot at the Derby the last year it was held at the Excecutive.
 
i saw a match where 1 guy could pick 3 pockets the his opponent could not shoot the 9 ball......... ( the guy that chose the pockets didnt like it 2 well )
 
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