The Quitter

[Tommy Joe]

Good story makes me think back when i started playing, my first game was a money game little did i know this game wasn't easy and i lost every penny LOL, but from then to now, i have won more then my share of loss, and the guy who took my money then, i now have his State Coin that he won, hey he didin't deserve it anyways or at least he doesn't now from the way he plays LOL.....

Hey, I wonder if it makes a difference playing your first game for money instead of just for fun - setting the table for the rest of your life. Kind of like getting punched around early in life, so it's easier to punch back later on. Early experience has to count for something, no doubt. I'm glad you liked my story. Thanks for the post.

Tommy Joe

 

[Tommy Joe]

So I follow orders and proceed to lose four games in a row. We quit and Sunshine is hot as Hell. He takes me outside and cusses me out for five minutes, telling me what a big dog I am. We had won 400+ and then dropped 200 at a game I didn't like, and now he's reaming me out. I vowed then and there not to ever have another backer. Sunshine cured me.

Even though I haven't played in a long time, this is an interesting topic. I agree that playing with your own cash is best. But some people do need backers. And I don't believe all of them are the same.

What I needed beyond a backer was a manager. And that goes for more than just playing pool. It's funny I can talk forever about all my losses, but there was one guy who used to back me that was sensational. He did everything. It was frightening the way he would get people to play me by pissing them off with his obnoxious attitude. But I didn't have to think about a thing beyond shooting as well as I could. I am no different from you. I was stressed when I played with other people's cash. I didn't want anyone to lose on account of me. But with this guy I felt no pressure, because he matched me up right all the time, and if he didn't he never laid it on me. I swear, I know it sounds sick, but even if I had enough money to play with my own I might have paid this guy just to be there. He was good.

Tommy Joe

 

[rossaroni]

Oh, what's the harm? It's not like it is taking up any valuable space.

Well put!. Who cares if it is BS or not.

 

[Flex]

I know what you mean. I normally take my losses in stride, but when I dog it really bad, it eats away at me for the rest of the day. Its such a horrible feeling to lose in that manner. If I get beat and I was playing good, and my opponent played better, it doesn't bother me one bit.

If you play poorly, remember what you did wrong and go fix it. If it's a simple cut shot you know you should make most of the time, set it up and shoot it until you can do it with your eyes closed. Get the feel for the shot. But don't beat yourself up for losing. That will only make things worse. Minnesota Fats said only suckers put pressure on themselves. Take the loss in stride, suck it up, and get ready to blow the competition away next time.

Flex

 

[ShootingArts]

good enough for me

Tommy,

Your reply is plenty good enough for me to accept. For a few years I was the one responsible to check every drawing made or modified at the local nuke except for the ones I drew. This included the text of course. Never-the-less I surely am not 100% giving my own writing a quick proof reading. Sure spins me up when I miss something glaring on a forum where I can't go back and do a quick edit to a post. Nothing more annoying than checking the message and missing a typo in a title either!

Hu

I must respond. I wrote that story in a hurry, just yesterday in fact, right before sending it in. See, I can make excuses for writing a bad story just as quickly as I can make excuses for losing to a guy when I'm up 10 games.

My story was probably not well-written, because I did not intend to convey that losing came easy to me, that night or any. It didn't. I hated it. It's just that I'm able to look back and see humor in it. I didn't enjoy it and was not 'comfortable' with it.

Tommy Joe

 

[Rod]

Like you Rod, I never wanted any backers. I didn't want to worry about some other guys money, just mine. But here's a backer story for you anyway.

I'm playing out of the Billiard Den in Hollywood, CA and an old guy called Sunshine from NYC (Al Sunshine is his real name. He's in Fat's book "The kid with the NYU sweatshirt") starts hanging around. He sees me beat a couple of guys and tells me he has some spots for me.

He's talking a mile a minute about players and games, and finally says he'll put up all the money and pay for everything. So Okay, I go for it. We leave the next day for Long Beach and Beautiful Billiards is the name of the spot, and he hooks me up with Long Beach Dickie. He plays okay, but I beat him for about a hundred at ten a game (this is the 60's).

Now it's on to Gage Bowl and I play a guy (I think Mike Sullivan or something like that) and win another hundred or so. And finally on day two I play Jerry Vaughn at the Silver Cue in Huntington Park. Sunshine says no Straight Pool with this guy, make him play One Pocket. I follow orders and hold out for a One Hole game and beat this guy too. We're up about 400 or so.

On day three he takes me into Mother's which is right around the corner from the Billiard Den. He wants me to play Hollywood Jack, who I know about already. He Plays about my speed at 9 Ball and One Pocket. But his best game is Snooker. So Jack comes in and wants to play Snooker (with six reds) for $50 a game. I don't like it and tell Sunshine it's a bad game for me. He says I can beat the guy, just get up there and play.

So I follow orders and proceed to lose four games in a row. We quit and Sunshine is hot as Hell. He takes me outside and cusses me out for five minutes, telling me what a big dog I am. We had won 400+ and then dropped 200 at a game I didn't like, and now he's reaming me out. I vowed then and there not to ever have another backer. Sunshine cured me.

Thanks for the story Jay, that's actually kind of funny. Well at least you learned early and so did I. To me it's kind of like playing league. I don't like that kind of pressure.

I lived in LA area for a short time, 60's. I use to get a couple of balls from Marvin Henderson at 1P. I never was a very good 1P player. We played at that room on Washington Blvd not far from Culver City, (can't think of the name).

A guy (poor pool player) from another room came with me and wanted to watch. Unknown to me he's betting 10 bucks on the side. I'm doing ok but beating Henderson isn't something I want to make a living from. He told me about the bet and said beat this guy I'm down 40 or something. Right then and there I lost all desire. I packed it in and never took him anywhere again. I don't need or want that kind of pressure unless they tell me first.Not a backer story but I thought of it since you mentioned LA area.

BTW I didn't book many winners playing Marvin.

Rod

 

[Tommy Joe]

Tommy,

Your reply is plenty good enough for me to accept. For a few years I was the one responsible to check every drawing made or modified at the local nuke except for the ones I drew. This included the text of course. Never-the-less I surely am not 100% giving my own writing a quick proof reading. Sure spins me up when I miss something glaring on a forum where I can't go back and do a quick edit to a post. Nothing more annoying than checking the message and missing a typo in a title either!

Hu

I'm a fairly hyper person. I almost always read my posts before sending them off. It's incredible what I see when it appears, all sorts of mistakes and glaring omissions. I'm too hyper to put the practice to use, but I really think the best thing to do is put the post aside for a full day and come back and read it fresh. It's like being stuck on a really tough crossword puzzle (bad analogy for those who haven't done them). You're stuck and you can't go anywhere, which is part of the fun. You put that puzzle down and come back the next day and - boom! - everything just comes clear. But the beauty of the newsgroups is that you have the 'send' button and can hit it without all the work that comes with editing and proof-reading, etc. Anyway, I don't blame you or anyone for thinking any particular post might be a fake story, and was only trying to explain that this particular story was not fake, and I thank you for your response. I don't even want to know the meaning of the faces you attached to your post. I could look them up, but as already mentioned, I'm kind of hyper. So here we go...............Hit the send button. NOW.

Tommy Joe

 

[catscradle]

Hah hah hah.... I don't call myself a writer, but I do write a bit. Look, I'm writing right now as we speak. I really don't see what's so hard to believe about my story.

Sure, I sent in a post about a guy going into a poolroom with a huge cue-case filled with a dozen sticks already pieced together. It's like a golf bag, and one of the duties of his backer/manager is to pull out the proper cue to fit the occasion when the player commands it from the table.

I thought that idea was funny. But it was pretty obvious it was not a true story, it was a conceptual thing, and I believe I even said so. On the other hand, my story about changing my appearance to get an inferior player to play me, that story is true. Same with the one about me losing to Henry. Usually I make it pretty obvious what is fake and what is real. Sometimes I even say so right off the bat. But I do make it obvious. Sorry if that's not enough for you.

Tommy Joe

FWIW, I think Varney Cues is probably right and the story is just that, a story.

 

[Tommy Joe]

FWIW, I think Varney Cues is probably right and the story is just that, a story.

You're entitled to that. I don't see what's so hard to believe about it. I'm not the only guy who's been up 10 games on someone and let it slip away. I'm not saying it's an every day occurance, or I wouldn't have written about it - but it happens, and it happened to me, and I mostly did it to myself. I remember one time being ahead of a guy 8 to 2 in a race to 10 and letting him come back on me. It happens. Maybe not to YOU, but it happens. Another time, playing 3 cushion billiards, a game at which I'm pretty decent, I only needed 1 and my opponent needed 6. He beat me and never ran more than 1 at a time. I kept missing my out-shot by fractions of an inch, the sort of misses that are so close nobody could possibly miss them on purpose. I'm amazed why anyone would find such stories so hard to believe. But of course you're entitled to believe whatever you want.

Tommy Joe

 

[MaskedMan]

Tommy, do you play at the Cue N' Spirits in Winston Salem? That has got to be the best pool room on the east coast. Plus, they RESERVE two 9 footers for action games only. Also, their extremely well-kept equipment and great food and cheap table time kept me in there constantly when I lived in Pilot Mountain.

 

[Tommy Joe]

Tommy, do you play at the Cue N' Spirits in Winston Salem? That has got to be the best pool room on the east coast. Plus, they RESERVE two 9 footers for action games only. Also, their extremely well-kept equipment and great food and cheap table time kept me in there constantly when I lived in Pilot Mountain.

No, I don't play there, but I know where it is - about 4 miles from my apartment. This is a huge town, by the way - about 11 by 11 miles. I can walk 4 miles out, but I wouldn't want to walk back. I haven't owned a car in 20 years. I drive a cab at nights. I rent it 3 nights a week. I have very little social life other than driving the cab - and I blame no one but myself.

I used to hang out a lot when I lived in Hollywood, but somehow over the years I fell into a hermit life of sorts. But that's another story. When I first moved here 12 years ago I went to all the rooms including Cue n Spirits. I liked the feel of the place.

I haven't gone there or anywhere to shoot pool in years, but I drop people off there in the taxi and sometimes go in to pick someone up. Next time I go in there for any reason I will recall your post and be sure to give the place an extra glimpse as I recall your words, 'the best poolroom on the east coast.'

If Cue n Spirits was right around the corner I'd probably make it my hangout. I need a hangout bad, a place where I can stop in every day for a few hours, or longer if I have the time. But once a week is not enough. It's like lying in the sun one day a week - or lifting weights one day a week - what's the use? If I can't do something every day - something I enjoy - then I don't want to do it at all. I know that's a sick attitude, but it's the one I've developed over the years. Thanks for your post...........

Tommy Joe