The day you became a player!

Gerry

Gerry

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My wife and I were talking about back in the day when we first started going out, and the room I worked in, and all our old friends. When I started there I was a high level banger. Within a year I was turned into a player. The day it happened I was playing my mentor Andy Toth a little 14.1. He was almost a daily 100 ball runner with a high of 229 I think. We were playing to 125, and he put a 70 on me from my break, and missed a tough breaker which started me on a 48 and safe. He kicked bad and I went 50 some odd balls with eyes on the finish line. I played safe on the end rail, and left a dead one which he made and went out! there were maybe 10 people watching and they all had nice things to say afterwards for the 5 inning game between us at 125 to like 105.

Next I made him play a race to 7 9ball (Andy hates 9ball) for the same bet, and I actually won the set breaking even..........which was my ticket to playerdom in that room!...........what a day! I look back on it now and I just think I really didn't know ANYTHING back then but make the ball!:D

When and how did you all become a player?

Gerry
 
Gerry said:
My wife and I were talking about back in the day when we first started going out, and the room I worked in, and all our old friends. When I started there I was a high level banger. Within a year I was turned into a player. The day it happened I was playing my mentor Andy Toth a little 14.1. He was almost a daily 100 ball runner with a high of 229 I think. We were playing to 125, and he put a 70 on me from my break, and missed a tough breaker which started me on a 48 and safe. He kicked bad and I went 50 some odd balls with eyes on the finish line. I played safe on the end rail, and left a dead one which he made and went out! there were maybe 10 people watching and they all had nice things to say afterwards for the 5 inning game between us at 125 to like 105.

Next I made him play a race to 7 9ball (Andy hates 9ball) for the same bet, and I actually won the set breaking even..........which was my ticket to playerdom in that room!...........what a day! I look back on it now and I just think I really didn't know ANYTHING back then but make the ball!:D

When and how did you all become a player?

Gerry
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I was at the pool room in Denver and was playing this guy 10 ahead for $200.

My girlfriend called and said I needed to come home right now. I asked what the problem was and she replies that she intended to get pregnant that night and that it would be nice if I was there to paticipate.

We had been playing for about 4 hours and replied that I would be there when he was busted.

When I got home, she was gone and I slept like a baby. I then knew I was on the right track.
 
ironman said:
I was at the pool room in Denver and was playing this guy 10 ahead for $200.

My girlfriend called and said I needed to come home right now. I asked what the problem was and she replies that she intended to get pregnant that night and that it would be nice if I was there to paticipate.

We had been playing for about 4 hours and replied that I would be there when he was busted.

When I got home, she was gone and I slept like a baby. I then knew I was on the right track.
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Hahahaha !!! Good one !! :D :cool:

My first one was when I was playing Mika Immonen on our club championships back in -96. The table was with quite tight pockets and old cloth. I remember that I played really well before missed an easy 8-ball leading 6-5 race-to-7. Mika broke empty on the hill-hill rack and I cleared the table but had to leave a long straight-in 9-ball with cueball frozen to the short rail because I left myself dead straight in on the 8-ball and was afraid to cheat the tight pockets. Of course I split the wicket with the 9 and won the Ritz club 9-ball championships. :cool:
 
I never really thought about it, because I was so used to being beat up on. After stints in Ohio, Oklahoma, Illinois, Florida, New York and points in between, I moved to California. All I wanted to do was play pool every day and try to make a few bucks. I was the ripe old age of 22, and had been playing five long years. I thought I could play, but wasn't too sure.

I found that out here there were guys I could (and did) beat. Pretty soon, the regulars were complimenting me on my good play. They were steering me into games and betting on me. And I was winning. Confidence does wonders for your game, and I began to play better and better. It was other people (the sweators) that convinced me I was a player.
 
just a little grin

My time came when I was beating mightily on the person I was playing and backed off just a tad to let them think they might be in the game. I looked over at the very best player I knew at the time and he was looking at me with a little grin on his face. He knew exactly what I did and why and it was something he well might have done himself. It didn't make us equals by any means but I did feel I had his respect as a player.

Hu
 
not yet *wink*

I used to think I was a "player" myself, until I heard of KIDS alot younger than me that play better. I still guess that in THIS area, I'm being considered a "player", but there's only a handful of us that can break and run, pretty much at will, ANYTIME there is an opportunity to do so. I can say this however, I recently played our city's BEST player Dan, about 2 weeks ago,and finally got the best of him. I always do well against him but for some reason, never beat him before...Until that night! haha, I had him talking to himself, and for anyone who knows him, he don't do that too often :eek: :D I have even earned the respect of another strong player in this area, John, just this past year by playing him the way I can, and do. There's only a few more players in this area that I need to earn respect from, but I have reason to believe it will be by the end of this calendar year, as I've even started talking to one of em'...kinda anyways. It won't be too long before we're playing and he sees how much better of a player/person I've become. I guess time will tell for sure, but this year is my prediction
 
I rack balls said:
When I won the National BCA Singles title in 2007 ;)

Eric.
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Wait...I thought you got 2nd to me that year. :D :D Good luck down there as well.
 
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Back when I was 13, my dad brought me along with his friends to shoot some pool. my first taste of the pool genre. a kid who's contented to hit full ball and not much about pocketing. pocketing an OB would be a big accomplishment on my part. got interested in it eversince. 2 years later, I had my own gang to play with every weekends. pocketing skills were improving but still have a lot of work with the CB. another 2 years, learned some new tricks and was frequenting the poolhalls three times a week either after school or during vacancies. 3 years after that, pocketing was much easier, cut shots were as easy as picking cherries. another 3 more years, became competitive to play some of the regulars. most times, I played rotation. 9-ball is the least poolgame that I play, only when we're in a hurry and want to compile a lot of racks played.

I'm still not a complete player and in the process of polishing my skills. but I'm glad to be as competitive as any regulars are, and a player just the same, by all means. ;)
 
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A Player?

I asked Boston Shorty one day "How do you know when you become a player"?
He said when you are behind, in a race and your opponent only needs one game, and, the only shot you have is a long distance cut on the 8 with the 9 laying very tough, and ,
YOU KNOW >
YOU HAVE THE BEST OF IT!!!
 
The day that I really began to feel that I was a 'player' was when I beat 'Evangelista' (juegabillar or Billyards: can you help me out with his proper name?), then Puerto Rico champion, three straight sets of 9-ball for a total of $2500. He came with a posse of seven players, and there were only two of us who were even remotely capable of defending St. Thomas' money. The match was organized beforehand, and a lot of people knew about it in advance, so there was a large crowd and a commensurate amount of pressure. They had never seen me play, and he and the rest of the crew simply could not BELIEVE that he was getting beat by this unknown player from a true backwater of pool, since they went in KNOWING that they had the nuts! The funny thing is that I didn't know he was the PR champion until afterwards. To this day, I wonder if I would have played the same, at that point in my development, if I had known exactly who he was!
 
Define player, please. I know my defination but I'm curious what others feel the standard is to be a "Player" is.
 
my definition

Fatboy said:
Define player, please. I know my defination but I'm curious what others feel the standard is to be a "Player" is.
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My definition is this: Anyone who is looked upon by his peers as a consistent threat when playing pool...In other words, someone who can beat you on any given day! A.k.a...NOT a "banger", NOT an "average" player in that area that may only make 2-3 balls before getting out of line and losing the game cause of it, Someone who can, and very well just may show you that you don't play THAT much better, if any, than they do on any given day. I personally have a local guy, who I consider an "average" player, conned into thinking he has a chance to win...All cause I may let him win $20 every now and then, but when I beat him, its always for like $50-$200!!!! :eek: ;) (sighs) I guess some kids just NEVER learn, do they?!?! lmmfao
 
Fatboy said:
Define player, please. I know my defination but I'm curious what others feel the standard is to be a "Player" is.
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It's hard to answer this question better than the talented Laura Friedman did ten years ago over in RSB:

********************
When did I become a player? How did this harmless hobby lead me into
the brotherhood of bums and gamblers and assorted weirdoes that I've
spent so much damn time with over the years? It happens so quickly, one
day you play pool, the next you're a pool player. And once you're a
player, you'll never be anything but.

I can walk into any poolroom in any state and as quick as my eyes adjust
to the light the others of our kind become as clear as lanterns lit from
inside. If you're a player you know what I mean. And every mother's son
of them has the same story: frozen to the rail, snookered behind the
eight ball, drifting into the side. He shit out on me, quit on me,
stiffed me, sharked me, busted me, robbed me. He was playing above his
head, on the stall, laying a spread. God, every match I play is instant
dejavu. It's hill hill for the millionth time. One to two, look at
you, three to four, need one more. Stuck again, ahead again. Busted
again. Shit, there's only ten c-notes in each poolroom, and they've
been passed around since 1969. It's your turn to win, it's your turn to
lose. Have I played you before? You look kinda familiar. Hell, I just
can't remember anymore.

Quit!? Damn, you might as well ask me to change the color of my skin.
And if I never hit another ball it wouldn't make a damned bit of
difference -- I'd still be a player. On those dark cold nights I'll
still wander blindly into some poolroom or other looking for a
cup-a-joe, a little conversation. Remember so and so? Shit, that boy
played jaaaammm-up!

Another late night at the poolroom. I creep home on the deserted
highway, wondering how many other people in Los Angeles ever see the 101
empty of anything but lonely semis.

Laura
***************************
 
It's really hard to pinpoint. I guess it would be the day I was playing races to 3 for 50 and I was up $300 and decided to keep playing rather than go to work.

Then again what is a player? I haven't ever relied on pool for my living except in very brief stints. Is a player someone who steps up and fades the heat or someone who makes pool their obsession and is respected as one of the best in any given place?

I am always considered one of the best wherever I go but the really good players know I cab be a sucker and a go-off. So to most of the folks around I am a player and to the players I am a mark.
 
Great stories all! I wanted to ask the question not so much to classify us as "player" or not, but also to bring back some good memories of when we were coming into our own AS a player. I feel to be a player depends on where you are. In NY city playing 14.1 you can run 100 balls and NOT be a player, but you would be ANYWHERE else in the country. Maybe you go to Kentucky and run 100.....they would ask unimpressed if you want to play some BANKS!:D

On a side note I have gone into a new room and got talking to the counter guy asking who to match up with and how, and find out the "player" I was steered towards could be a world beater, or a banger.....

Gerry
 
John Barton said:
I am always considered one of the best wherever I go but the really good players know I cab be a sucker and a go-off. So to most of the folks around I am a player and to the players I am a mark.
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John, don't be so hard on yourself. Anyone that plays 1hole on the barbox is a player. ;)
 
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