Verl Horn road story

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
the two of us were in the Cuetopia waiting for Don wWlliams the poker player

as you realize ,being on the road or for that matter going to the pool room is
about 5% action and 95% waiting,a fella can be reduced to sheer boredom.
At times like these it really pays to have an interesting road partner with
stories that can make the day go by pleasantly

for those of you who knew Verl, he was the 100% best partner ever,he could do anything
,knew everyone in any form of gambling ,had contacts any and every where

We bought ivory tusk,pool cues and just about anything that you could imagine.
one day we stumbled into an opportunity to remove years of debris from an air force base that was closing down.
Verl inspected it minutely and then met with the man in charge,they agreed to pay Verl $600,000 to clear it off the base,Verl made two calls and within a week a big crew came to clear it up and haul it off,$800,000 is the best we can do.

Verl says Ok

He seems happy and I figured he just lost $200k,but no

they bought the stuff for $800k giving Verl a $1,400,000 profit and he never did any work at all

Well the story I want to share about Verl is , he is holding court and spins this story about his grade school days

A terrible snowstorm hits Oklahoma and Verl gets to school about an hour late ,maybe two hours.Not an uncommon occurrence for little Verl

The teacher is mad,but Verl explains

"This storm was so bad it blew me 2 steps back for every step I took"
The teacher,wise to his plays,shakes her finger and triumphantly " says",
"no way,I got you now."
"If that were the case you never would have got here"

But Verl up to the test explains"you would be right if I hadn't turned around and headed home"

You might had to be there but I laughed
 
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the two of us were in the Cuetopia waiting for Don wWlliams the poker player

as you realize ,being on the road or for that matter going to the pool room is
about 5% action and 95% waiting,a fella can be reduced to sheer boredom.
At times like these it really pays to have an interesting road partner with
stories that can make the day go by pleasantly

for those of you who knew Verl, he was the 100% best partner ever,he could do anything
,knew everyone in any form of gambling ,had contacts any and every where

We bought ivory tusk,pool cues and just about anything that you could imagine.
one day we stumbled into an opportunity to remove years of debris from an air force base that was closing down.
Verl inspected it minutely and then met with the man in charge,they agreed to pay Verl $600,000 to clear it off the base,Verl made two calls and within a week a big crew came to clear it up and haul it off,$800,000 is the best we can do.

Verl says Ok

He seems happy and I figured he just lost $200k,but no

they bought the stuff for $800k giving Verl a $1,400,000 profit and he never did any work at all

Well the story I want to share about Verl is , he is holding court and spins this story about his grade school days

A terrible snowstorm hits Oklahoma and Verl gets to school about an hour late ,maybe two hours.Not an uncommon occurrence for little Verl

The teacher is mad,but Verl explains

"This storm was so bad it blew me 2 steps back for every step I took"
The teacher,wise to his plays,shakes her finger and triumphantly " says",
"no way,I got you now."
"If that were the case you never would have got here"

But Verl up to the test explains"you would be right if I hadn't turned around and headed home"

You might had to be there but I laughed

Dean,

I grew up with Donnie Williams in a small town in Ohio (Crestline). He played great pool (kinda shortstop level), but always loved cards. We went down to several of Joe Burns' tournaments at Forest Park in Dayton in the early-mid 1970s, where he played pool but even more gin.

I remember when he moved from Mansfield to Las Vegas, where he then won a number of high dollar poker tournaments. He liked to hang out at Cuetopia. He brought Emil Glocar to Vegas from Ohio, where Emil worked for Donnie as a dealer, laying down his Szamboti, never to pick it up again.

Donnie died 4-5 years ago, in Mansfield.

Will Prout
 
Thank you, Dean & Will. Verl Horn is one of my all-time favorite Cue Makers.
I have several of his Super Fancy Ebony & Ivory (loaded) Tuxedo Cues and will
(somehow) take them to the grave ... or, give them to my Son.
Verl is still missed by many.
 
Verl

Thanks Dean

Verl was an amazing character. I used to hang out in is shop in Mooreland and deal his cues around the okc/Tulsa area. One time out there to visit and pick up some cues - He had just had bypass surgery (1995 I think) - but he wanted to play some and show off his scares (which he did!!) - we went out back and played on his valley bar box. Verl could still hit them well and told so many stories about the caddys he won (and lost)

Verl is missed
 
Glad to see Dean in a talkative mood. VERY entertaining. Keep 'em coming!
 
I have been asked.if you were such a bad player as
you say you are,"How come you were on the road winning money"

It may not make sense to you guys,but most pool players
are pure suckers,they end up broke either giving up too much weight or playing another game

It was not unusual for me to get a huge spot and win big.
It was also not unusual for me to lose with the nuts

However unlike most people I tried to make these losing occasions to
do 1 of two things,maybe both

1) after losing I would usually compliment my opponent,his game ,his heart,
his ability to play under pressure. I would confess that I had no idea how good he was.

"You play almost as good as Jackpot"
He says"Jackpot i give him the 8"

Me..Jack gives me the 5,6,7,8 no wonder you beat me,I needed more weight"

How much more?

so I used this losing fiasco into an opportunity to adjust,change the game and
then pow,having a large stack I would consider the first loss ,seed money

2) the other thing i did was use the one loss,which I now confess was self inflicted into an opportunity

LIke when Jersey Red gave me 3 pockets to his one.i lost about 10 in a row
everybody went to the men's room with me to tell me what a bad game I had
I replied,"you don't understand ,i have 3 pockets,all i have to do
is wait until he starts feel the heat"

this of course branded me as a fool
people gather around lamenting the lack of action,saying things like"nobody
got any gamble,they're all nut hunters"
then looking at me,afraid to offend me they would say

"Except you sir"

In this situation I would be offered several games and soon
I would really get the nuts"
on this occasion Danny Medina,no average player or scuff.decided to give me ,my 8 to his 2 but he had to bank his balls clean.

This is an impossible game ,so I recovered my initial seed money and several more from
the patrons of the game,who couldn't wait to take me off betting on a big name winner

again the knockers were only too happy to explain how Red beat me and I didn't have enough sense to quit

this is exactly the image a working man needs to cultivate

So you see ,it is not necessary to play good to win,nor is the race to the swiftest

A sucker on the road is still a sucker no matter how many racks he runs


he is just further from home with a high er cost of living that forces him to play
before the nut gets it all

kinda like the high blinds and antes in tournament poker

Wil PROUT

sorry to hear about our mutul friend,i didn't know until I
read your post
 
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Thanks Dean

and do keep them coming.
I'm afraid that good story telling is another thing that is going to be lost to the techno generations.
I grew up with a grandfather that could not read or write, but if he told a story everyone in the room would stop what they were doing to listen.
Tommy
 
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