The Whoole Joint Got Hustled !
An oldie, but a goodie, posted by me almost 12 years ago in RSB. This is for the young uns:
I made up the name SONRA (using an 8 ball as the 'O') when Billy Songy and Billy Rainey were preparing to open a lounge/poolroom in New Orleans (Kenner).
On any given night, you might find a who's who of pool in the joint, such as Buddy Hall, Benny "The Goose", Bill Stack, New York Blackie, Cliff Brown, Whoppie, Painter, Dan Louie and me and my running buddies and anyone that played pool in New Orleans.
From 1997:
Subject: Bar Bets (Hoist On Your Own Petard)
One night I was hanging out at the Sonra Lounge (tucked in behind the cinema and on a canal) on Vets Hwy. in New Orleans,it was THE action spot from the mid 70's to the mid 80's and EVERY form of hustle was run
AND bet on in this bar.
On this particular night a stranger says to everyone and no-one in particular," I can KNOCK DOWN the headpin in a bowling alley with a playing card." Twenty heads swiveled at the same time to see who had made this claim.
The stranger says," I'll stand at the foul line and I get to throw the complete deck and I'll knock the front pin over." So, right away I pipe up with ,"yeah,you'll leave all the cards in the box and throw the whole box."(Which would still be a pretty neat trick) The stranger says," no,I'm going to throw the cards ONE card at a time and I get to use the whole deck." So, once again I butt in and say," sure,you're going to tape one of the cards to a bowling ball or some other object and then throw it and knock over the pin." He says,"Nope,it will be knocked over with only one card or else I lose."
Well, it just so happens that there's a bowling alley about 3-4 blocks up the street, which is closed,BUT,the manager comes to this bar every night after closing and is willing to re-open for all of us to make this bet (plus he wants some of the action too).
Well, everybody in the bar puts up all the cash they can afford and Billy takes some cash from the register and since no-one will stay and keep an eye on the bar,they close up and 25-30 people (poolplayers mostly and a few degenerate gamblers) empty the parking lot and drive down to the bowling alley. Since there's thirty of
us and only two of them and WE'RE holding the money,we aren't about to lose because of the "wording" of this bet. After all, there's over a $1000 riding on this.
Well, what none of us knew then (but we do now) is that a bowling pin is not completely FLAT on the bottom and this stranger,squatted down low and slung the 1st card out of a brand new deck AND lo & behold, it slid UNDER the front edge of that pin. And as he continued to throw,each subsequent card slid at what looked like a
hundred miles an hour and landed under the pin OR a previously thrown card. After a few more throws,you could see the light dawning on the faces of thirty very unhappy campers (including my total net worth betting ass) The pin started to lean and while still holding a few cards the next throw toppled the pin.You could have heard a pin drop ( I just COULDN'T resist the pun) as the banker handed over all our cash. I mean , he did what he claimed and he got paid.
That night was one of the saddest nights ever back at the Sonra Lounge as everyone sat around bumming drinks and blaming each other for taking the bet. I'd like to say that it was the last time I went tapped betting on someone's hustle,but I'd be lying. Once a sucker,always a
sucker. Oh, and long before he was on TV, Harry Anderson came in on the hustle and snagged quite a few of us (he shot pretty good pool too). I believe that he was arrested while he was in N.O.
Also, Waylon Flowers came in and got drunk after his last local performance and then sent a gofer back to his hotel room for his puppet "MADAME" (the old-broad puppet,from Hollywood Squares) and put on the FUNNIEST most risque' show that I've ever seen in my life. What a dirty mouth on that old broad.
Someday,I'll tell you about the guy that swallowed the pool stick.
Doug
(*<~ Big Fish EAT Little Fish ~>*)
