the world did get the 8....
- Thread starter dapistol
- Start date
Metairie here 
O
onesocket
Guest
THe world.. got the 8??
Well im a McCready fan as most of us are and in no way forum or fashion am I knocking his game. Hes the reason that i started this but giving Mike Sigel the call 8 I dont belive unless it was setup and didnt efren spot him the 8 or last two in an after hours session and robbed him. Dont take offense Keith or still my hero but i belive he be blowing smoke..
Well im a McCready fan as most of us are and in no way forum or fashion am I knocking his game. Hes the reason that i started this but giving Mike Sigel the call 8 I dont belive unless it was setup and didnt efren spot him the 8 or last two in an after hours session and robbed him. Dont take offense Keith or still my hero but i belive he be blowing smoke..
onesocket said:
There was no setup, Onesocket. As a collector of Keith stories (LOL), I remember when he posted about that particular game on this forum:
Bill, I gotta tell ya', when I read the title of this thread, I had to pinch myself to make sure I was still alive. [ha-ha]
I've got a lot of fond memories from my days in Baton Rouge. I was running around the pool room like a chicken with my head cut off and had to settle for Mike Sigel. It could have been a little softer, but he was the only customer at that time.
I played pretty good on him that day in Baton Rouge, but not as good as I was when I was playing in California. He only got to see my A game once, and that was in California. Him and Larry Hubbert were on the road, and I ended up giving Mike Sigel the last two on a bar table and Larry Hubbert the 8. I beat 'em like sand going through an hourglass. It didn't take long. Then, after that, Larry Hubbert went to Oklahoma City, won the pool tournament, and busted Dave Matlock playing even. As you all know, Mike Sigel back then was very hard to beat, especially in pool tournaments. I always figured I'd have to high-roll him to where he would dog it because, if you let him shake loose and get loose, you were a dead duck....
I know this for a fact, though. Keith has made mention many times that he always seemed to be a bride's maid in tournaments to players like Mike Sigel, Earl Strickland, Jim Rempe, Nick Varner, Buddy Hall, and Allen Hopkins when these players were the sport's headliners. It was real tough to beat these players, and BTW, these games were played on the slow-nap cloth, no jump cues allowed!
Allen Hopkins and Keith McCready were playing in a world championship a couple decades ago, and it came down to the infamous hill-hill. Allen snatched the prestigious title, but it is one of those games that a player NEVER forgets. Though Allen Hopkins today is well known as a promoter of the game/sport, the man can still play, make no mistake about it.
Picture of Keith and Allen taken at a Joss Tour event at Drexeline Billiards earlier this year. Seeing the two of them play at that tournament was nothing but pure poetry in motion.
Allen Hopkins continues to present a platform for pool which is enjoyed by thousands each and every year at the Super Billiards Expo, multiple competitions open to players of all caliber. When we see Allen at events on the tournament trail, he is nothing but NICE. Like other world-champion players, Allen managed to find a way to earn a living in another pool-related field rather than competing professionally. He is a successful businessman who NEVER forgets his friends from the good old days.
JAM
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yup, its true
Onesocket, I couldn't believe it myself. My dad grew up at 4th and main in LA, CA. Pretty much the same place Keith hung out all the time. He told me some amazing stories about how he would give EVERYBODY some kinda weight, Sigel included!
It always makes my dad smile talking about how Keith would come down the stairs yelling and hollering that so and so had the 7 or some insane weight and actually beat them.lol. I just wish I was born a lot earlier to see that in person! 
Onesocket, I couldn't believe it myself. My dad grew up at 4th and main in LA, CA. Pretty much the same place Keith hung out all the time. He told me some amazing stories about how he would give EVERYBODY some kinda weight, Sigel included!
It always makes my dad smile talking about how Keith would come down the stairs yelling and hollering that so and so had the 7 or some insane weight and actually beat them.lol. I just wish I was born a lot earlier to see that in person!
O
onesocket
Guest
On a bar table yes i say the world did get the 8
But I dont see him givin Sigel the 8 on a reg table.. No doubt about it On a bar table the world did get the 8...
But I dont see him givin Sigel the 8 on a reg table.. No doubt about it On a bar table the world did get the 8...
amazing to me
It's amazing to me how little people know about that level of play. Think about it now, how many times do you think that a world class player is gonna get to the last two or the eight ball and not make the nine or are gonna get a dead combo or carom on the eight? At that level spots are not about playing ability, they're about state of mind and a lot of the time it works backwards. You would think that the player getting the spot would have the mind advantage and for the most part that's true, but at the same time if you have to ask for a spot then you're telling the other person and yourself that your aren't as good as them. Yes, I know that a lot of the time they're just wanting the person giving up the spot to think that they feel that way, but a lot of the time they either know they aren't as good or deep down feel it. At the level of play we're talking about here though it's different.
Any given day any one of the top players can end up on top of a money match. I remember watching a match between Johnny Archer and Francisco Galindo out in San Bernardino and Johnny was giving him the eight. Francisco won, but I don't think that it was the physical spot that let him win. I think it was the mental advantage. IT'S ABSOLUTELY possible, even plausible that Keith was giving people the eight; not necesarily because he could, but because the people he was playing back then knew they could get it or felt they had to have it for that mental advantage. Sometimes it sucks to have a big name because you have to give up serious weight to get a game.
I'm glad I'm right where I'm at with just a few people knowing how I can really play, atleast until IPT starts having some serious nineball tours and pool players won't need to get games to make a decent living. Atleast I hope that the IPT works out the way they're planning and they eventually get a nineball tour going.
It's amazing to me how little people know about that level of play. Think about it now, how many times do you think that a world class player is gonna get to the last two or the eight ball and not make the nine or are gonna get a dead combo or carom on the eight? At that level spots are not about playing ability, they're about state of mind and a lot of the time it works backwards. You would think that the player getting the spot would have the mind advantage and for the most part that's true, but at the same time if you have to ask for a spot then you're telling the other person and yourself that your aren't as good as them. Yes, I know that a lot of the time they're just wanting the person giving up the spot to think that they feel that way, but a lot of the time they either know they aren't as good or deep down feel it. At the level of play we're talking about here though it's different.
Any given day any one of the top players can end up on top of a money match. I remember watching a match between Johnny Archer and Francisco Galindo out in San Bernardino and Johnny was giving him the eight. Francisco won, but I don't think that it was the physical spot that let him win. I think it was the mental advantage. IT'S ABSOLUTELY possible, even plausible that Keith was giving people the eight; not necesarily because he could, but because the people he was playing back then knew they could get it or felt they had to have it for that mental advantage. Sometimes it sucks to have a big name because you have to give up serious weight to get a game.
I'm glad I'm right where I'm at with just a few people knowing how I can really play, atleast until IPT starts having some serious nineball tours and pool players won't need to get games to make a decent living. Atleast I hope that the IPT works out the way they're planning and they eventually get a nineball tour going.
Keith and tournaments
Hello Jam,
I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet, but I've only heard good things about you and how you've helped Keith resurrect his career.
I totally agree with your comments on Allen H. One helluva player and could get there in tournaments and for the cheese. He should be in the BCA Hall Of Fame soon.
Now about Keith and tournaments. I used to stake Keith in tournaments and in some cash games many moons ago. For Keith playing for money (and it was usually big $$) always took priority over a tournament. If he was in action somewhere, he might not even bother going to a tournament. And if he was at a tournament and got into a serious game, he was liable to miss his match (and often did, much to my chagrin).
Oftentimes he would show up for a match after being up all night gambling, putting him at a real disadvantage. Thus he did not have the most sterling of tournament records. But let him show up at a tournament in the old days and really stick to business, and many good players were in deep doodoo. They definitely did not want to draw your man Keith. I SAW the fear in their eyes. They were hoping somehow someway, he wouldn't show up.
And guess what, Keith did WIN some big tournaments back then and had many top four finishes. My favorite story is about when Keith went to play in the B.C. Open in 1985. It was the biggest tournament of the year boasting a first prize of $25,000! He went thru one good player after another (Rempe, Varner, Hall and others) to reach the finals against Mike Lebron who was the reigning U.S. Open champ. First was 25K and second paid Ten. So Mike comes up to Keith before the match and asks him if he wants to make a deal. Keith calls me up (I wasn't there) and tells me what's going on. I asked Keith "what do you want to do?" and he says "I'd like to play for the whole 35." So I told him to go tell Mike Lebron that and see what he says. Keith put the phone down for about 5 minutes and comes back and tells me "When I told him that, he liked to shit all over himself."
So I said "Go ahead, just play for the 25" and Keith went out there and beat Mike 11-3 for all the marbles! Keith had totally intimidated him and won the match before it even started.
And you know what, it wasn't a bluff. Keith would have played for the whole thing....in a heartbeat!
JAM said:There was no setup, Onesocket. As a collector of Keith stories (LOL), I remember when he posted about that particular game on this forum:
Bill, I gotta tell ya', when I read the title of this thread, I had to pinch myself to make sure I was still alive. [ha-ha]
I've got a lot of fond memories from my days in Baton Rouge. I was running around the pool room like a chicken with my head cut off and had to settle for Mike Sigel. It could have been a little softer, but he was the only customer at that time.
I played pretty good on him that day in Baton Rouge, but not as good as I was when I was playing in California. He only got to see my A game once, and that was in California. Him and Larry Hubbert were on the road, and I ended up giving Mike Sigel the last two on a bar table and Larry Hubbert the 8. I beat 'em like sand going through an hourglass. It didn't take long. Then, after that, Larry Hubbert went to Oklahoma City, won the pool tournament, and busted Dave Matlock playing even. As you all know, Mike Sigel back then was very hard to beat, especially in pool tournaments. I always figured I'd have to high-roll him to where he would dog it because, if you let him shake loose and get loose, you were a dead duck....
I know this for a fact, though. Keith has made mention many times that he always seemed to be a bride's maid in tournaments to players like Mike Sigel, Earl Strickland, Jim Rempe, Nick Varner, Buddy Hall, and Allen Hopkins when these players were the sport's headliners. It was real tough to beat these players, and BTW, these games were played on the slow-nap cloth, no jump cues allowed!
Allen Hopkins and Keith McCready were playing in a world championship a couple decades ago, and it came down to the infamous hill-hill. Allen snatched the prestigious title, but it is one of those games that a player NEVER forgets. Though Allen Hopkins today is well known as a promoter of the game/sport, the man can still play, make no mistake about it.
Picture of Keith and Allen taken at a Joss Tour event at Drexeline Billiards earlier this year. Seeing the two of them play at that tournament was nothing but pure poetry in motion.
Allen Hopkins continues to present a platform for pool which is enjoyed by thousands each and every year at the Super Billiards Expo, multiple competitions open to players of all caliber. When we see Allen at events on the tournament trail, he is nothing but NICE. Like other world-champion players, Allen managed to find a way to earn a living in another pool-related field rather than competing professionally. He is a successful businessman who NEVER forgets his friends from the good old days.
JAM
Hello Jam,
I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet, but I've only heard good things about you and how you've helped Keith resurrect his career.
I totally agree with your comments on Allen H. One helluva player and could get there in tournaments and for the cheese. He should be in the BCA Hall Of Fame soon.
Now about Keith and tournaments. I used to stake Keith in tournaments and in some cash games many moons ago. For Keith playing for money (and it was usually big $$) always took priority over a tournament. If he was in action somewhere, he might not even bother going to a tournament. And if he was at a tournament and got into a serious game, he was liable to miss his match (and often did, much to my chagrin).
Oftentimes he would show up for a match after being up all night gambling, putting him at a real disadvantage. Thus he did not have the most sterling of tournament records. But let him show up at a tournament in the old days and really stick to business, and many good players were in deep doodoo. They definitely did not want to draw your man Keith. I SAW the fear in their eyes. They were hoping somehow someway, he wouldn't show up.
And guess what, Keith did WIN some big tournaments back then and had many top four finishes. My favorite story is about when Keith went to play in the B.C. Open in 1985. It was the biggest tournament of the year boasting a first prize of $25,000! He went thru one good player after another (Rempe, Varner, Hall and others) to reach the finals against Mike Lebron who was the reigning U.S. Open champ. First was 25K and second paid Ten. So Mike comes up to Keith before the match and asks him if he wants to make a deal. Keith calls me up (I wasn't there) and tells me what's going on. I asked Keith "what do you want to do?" and he says "I'd like to play for the whole 35." So I told him to go tell Mike Lebron that and see what he says. Keith put the phone down for about 5 minutes and comes back and tells me "When I told him that, he liked to shit all over himself."
So I said "Go ahead, just play for the 25" and Keith went out there and beat Mike 11-3 for all the marbles! Keith had totally intimidated him and won the match before it even started.
And you know what, it wasn't a bluff. Keith would have played for the whole thing....in a heartbeat!
jay helfert said:
You know he would've! That is an awesome story, and IMO, a sterling example of heart. No 50-50 deals, 100-0, baby!
Go get 'em, Keith!