Favorite Stalev Story
I know this has been posted before...but this is my favorite Stalev story:
Fred Agnir reports on some action at the BCA tournament in Las Vegas at rec.sport.billiard recently and was kind enough to let us repeat it here.
You might hear of some of the action at the BCA tourney. There wasn't the action like Valley Forge, nor the high beans like Derby City, but... here's the story.
The eventual winner of the 8-ball SINGLES was Bobby Pickle from Tenn. He's a well known bar pool player. Even the guys I went with (who know nothing of real pool players) know his play. So, my buddy tells us that Pickle has got someone on the table for 200 jellybeans a game. All around seemed to agree that Pickle had speared a fish. Some Russian kid....
I couldn't get out there fast enough trying to see if by chance, the window was still open. My assumptions were correct. The Russian kid was Evgeny Stalev. They were well into it. You could hear Pickle yapping away. Think Keith McCready with a strawberry blond wig. The smoke-stung voice, the loud polite insults. And he could play. Really play. Remember, he won the single event. This was his first time out to the BCA Vegas, so he snuck in as an Open player. This guy would have won the Masters division. So much for local policing. Anyway, through all the vocals, the insults, inciting the "USA" chant, and the phenomenal outs, Stalev was monkey-stone-faced. For the uneducated, it seemed that Pickle must have been winning with all his banter. He seemed to be having a really fun time. But in the end, his backer pulled up, seven games stuck.
Pickle unscrews, and that's all she wrote. Right. Pickle starts to jaw with one of Stalev's backer buddies. And after a few moments, he rescrews. I've seen a lot of things at different action sessions, but I've never seen the next happening. A spectator, a railbirdess of sorts starts yelling out to Pickle, "hey, what are you doing. You unscrewed. BCA rules It's not your table. It's his!" pointing to Stalev. And she was dead serious. Did I mention she was drinking?
So, Pickle goes over to her and first asks her rather large boyfriend "If I insult her, are you gonna swing at me, cuz if you are, I'll be forced to... beat *him* up!(pointing to an older gentleman who could barely hold in his teeth)" Laughs abound, he tried to explain that they were matching up. She didn't get it. BCA rules, he unscrewed, he should be off the table. He sucks. Go home loser. Loser with a big "L" on the forehead. And on and on. It was beyond comical.
Back to the action, the match was made. 200 beans a game, Pickle was giving Stalev's back the last three. And Pickle is good enough to give most anyone the last three. But not Stalev's backer. It's amazing that pool players still don't know other pool players. I don't think Pickle ever heard of Stalev. And just who was Stalev's backer? Maryland's Ryan McCreesh, one of the few players who wins on the Joss Tour. On this size table (I think it was an 8' Smart Table), Ryan could give Pickle the last three. But, the hustle was on, and Pickle got pickled.
Pickle the player hits Ryan with a two-pack off the flip. Ryan gets to the last three in the next, and B&R's seven balls in the next. Match over. Spot is tossed. Pickle is not amused at the hustle. "What, you've never seen that before?" Ryan asks.
"I don't take a spot from nobody!" Pickle retorts. That speaks volumes.
They continue to spar for a match. The railbirdess continues to call Pickle names, remind him that he unscrewed, that his quarters aren't on the table, that the Russian should be on the table. Bystanders asks me why McCreesh doesn't want to play him even if he's that good. I have to explain to supposed pool players that he just got the last three, and that of course he'll be asking for a lesser spot, not eliminate the spot. I was thinking the last two, or the 8, or the breaks.
The game now was 5-ahead for 5, no spot. With seemingly no backers for Pickle, McCreesh wants Pickle to front the money on the lamp. (Okay, no lamp, but that's where it would have gone). More hemming and hawing, but Pickle finally concedes, leaves his stick on the table, and goes to his room to open a can of beans. On his return, a little more jawing of course and Pickle now asks Ryan to show his money. Ryan flashes some, and Pickle is now working the crowd.
"I didn't ask you to flash your money. I asked you to *show* your money. You made me go to my room to get my money, now *show* me your money." Stalev (who well understands English, despite any rumors that say otherwise) had already begun to pull out his wad. A roll of probably l0 large beans. He hands it to Ryan who in turn puts into Pickles face. It barely fits in his hands.
Pickle nods approval and turns away from the Stalev/McCreesh tandem. He widens his eyes and mouth with the "oh my gawd" look. He does not see this many beans often.
He did not fold. He played extremely well, running out all but one time he had an open look. He played better than he did against Stalev. But, as said here many times, there are so many levels of pool. One person can be dominated by someone, who can in turn be dominated by someone else, who in turn needs the 7 from someone else. Here we have the guy who wins the BCA singles, who could have won the BCA Masters,and who could've used the 7 from Ryan McCreesh. Ryan ran out almost everything, dawging one ball as well. But he had more B&R's, and though down at the onset, never looked in trouble. Pool at its best. And the reality is that the man McCreesh was with (Stalev) could have beat him with a spot. Sick.
After McCreesh finished it off, Pickle shook his hand and said "thank you. I enjoyed it. Really. You're a great player." I know he was seething, but the "thank you" seemed genuine. Bobby Pickle, the arrogant and boisterous learned a lesson, and really learned it cheaply. He needs to go to Derby City. He'd do well. He should take a spot. He'll need it. Fred
