What got you interested in pool in the beginning?
- Thread starter nyjoe14.1
- Start date
The sleezy women. And the fact the only guy I know that is Filipino in American culture and has a reputation is a pool player. Out of the millions of years I've spent doing nothing the only time I ever came across a filipino was in pool and it wasnt some street punk. It was a pretty decent guy. Its a shame I met him on the terms I did.
When I was around 19 years old I started playing in a pool room that was in a bowling alley, so there was no shortage of low-level scofflaws, but no one I considered "dangerous". (i.e. crazy)
I practiced and got more interested mostly because just wanted to beat my buddies, then I got hooked on the more intoxicating intricacies of the game - english and position play. There's something about the precision of the game that gets in your blood, as well as the feeling you get when you start to rise in status in the room. I had never played anything that was so accessible, so challenging and so much fun all wrapped into one.
There was always some "cheap" gambling going on, but the real treat was watching the occasional road player match up with the best locals. I was fascinated by the head-to-head competition, and amazed by some of the "scores". Fascinating stuff.
Ken
I practiced and got more interested mostly because just wanted to beat my buddies, then I got hooked on the more intoxicating intricacies of the game - english and position play. There's something about the precision of the game that gets in your blood, as well as the feeling you get when you start to rise in status in the room. I had never played anything that was so accessible, so challenging and so much fun all wrapped into one.
There was always some "cheap" gambling going on, but the real treat was watching the occasional road player match up with the best locals. I was fascinated by the head-to-head competition, and amazed by some of the "scores". Fascinating stuff.
Ken
In the late 50's is when i started to play some pool at a boys club..then in 1961 the Hustler movie came out..but we were poor so i didn't see it.pool halls and pool playing were becoming popular...about in 1963 approx.i heard that a guy by the name of Minnesota Fats was coming to a local Montgomery Ward store to give an exhibition on pool playing and to promote their line of pool tables.it was free and i lived only 2 blocks away so i walked down and there were about 40 people standing around a pool table in the basement of the Wards store listening intently to the man himself Minnesota Fats..being a young kid i never heard such a good speaker.he was NON stop talking,joking and shooting..that day was one of the most memorable days in my life..after that i played somemore pool till i went into the ARMY.worked for about 30 years and didn't do anything but work 2 jobs then retired .then started to play again about in 2002..i love straight pool..but i really love learning one pocket..
Good evening all!
When I was about sixteen, I started playing in an old second floor pool hall here in Cincinnati. The room had been around since the 1920s and the sense of nostalgia just walking into the place was almost tangible. It seemed to me at that time that history practically seeped out of the walls. (Painted black halfway up by the way) Original beads hanging overhead to keep score with, original ball racks on the walls, even some of the original tables were still there. Combine all this with a few old timers telling stories of the road and you can see why I was hooked for life.
Have a great night!
Paul
When I was about sixteen, I started playing in an old second floor pool hall here in Cincinnati. The room had been around since the 1920s and the sense of nostalgia just walking into the place was almost tangible. It seemed to me at that time that history practically seeped out of the walls. (Painted black halfway up by the way) Original beads hanging overhead to keep score with, original ball racks on the walls, even some of the original tables were still there. Combine all this with a few old timers telling stories of the road and you can see why I was hooked for life.
Have a great night!
Paul
babysitting
it started out as a babysitting technique my dad used for my brother and myself in the 50s.
there were times when he would give us a roll of dimes for a coin op and come back and pick us up later.
then a year or two later they built a pool room near the grocery store where we shopped, and they would drop us off there til they finished shopping.
it was all down hill from there.
M.C.
it started out as a babysitting technique my dad used for my brother and myself in the 50s.
there were times when he would give us a roll of dimes for a coin op and come back and pick us up later.
then a year or two later they built a pool room near the grocery store where we shopped, and they would drop us off there til they finished shopping.
it was all down hill from there.
M.C.
Both my folks worked, so my grandparents watched me during the day before I started school. Well, they were pretty bad drunks, and spent most of their awake hours drinking at the bar. A pool table was my babysitter at age 5 in a bar called the Oasis in southern Ohio. As I showed some promise, my granddad who played fairly well, started showing me some things. After mom found out I spent most of my time in a bar, other arrangements were made for someone to watch me. So in the evenings and on weekends, dear old Dad would take me to the bars he frequented and taught me more and more. About the time I was in 4th-5th grade, I was playing the local bar crowd and beating them more often than not. 
Chuck
Chuck
My motivation for playing pool.....
two words:
Sylver Ochoa
two words:
Sylver Ochoa
I used to love watching snooker on TV as a kid, and when my dad & his friends played it. The places they played wouldn't let kids play but pool was more accessible, as soon as I could get on a table I just wanted to try all the stuff I'd seen on TV, the way they held the cue, how they'd make the CB move around the table, etc.
It was just something that appealed to me & still does. Almost as if it were calling to me. "Here's a game that looks like fun, a game you won't get bored of, a game you could be good at. A game that get's better the more you play it."
It was just something that appealed to me & still does. Almost as if it were calling to me. "Here's a game that looks like fun, a game you won't get bored of, a game you could be good at. A game that get's better the more you play it."
nyjoe14.1 said:
I was 6 years old when the Hustler first came out, that movie made a lasting impression me.
Later, my father owned and operated a Bar in South St. Louis, and I was allowed to play pool. The old timers began to teach me about the different games, and that is all it took.
Now, I own and operate my own pool room in Lakewood, Wa and I can think of nothing else I would want to do!!!!!
I was playing football and sustained a pretty serious knee injury. The rehab was pretty intense and took a long time and I got prety bored.
Just down the street was a pool room called AAA Billiards in Aurora Colo. Each day I would go in and practice or bang em around for a couple of hours.
There was an older ffella named Norm who made the cue ball seemingly float around the table and I really admired it.
One day Norm was thre and I asked him to play. We played 9-ball for $1 per game and I lost $52.00 to him. I was devastated and went to work on the game.
Two months later Norm walked in and I felt I was ready for my revenge. After 6 hours, I had won a shopping $12.00 and was hooked.
Just down the street was a pool room called AAA Billiards in Aurora Colo. Each day I would go in and practice or bang em around for a couple of hours.
There was an older ffella named Norm who made the cue ball seemingly float around the table and I really admired it.
One day Norm was thre and I asked him to play. We played 9-ball for $1 per game and I lost $52.00 to him. I was devastated and went to work on the game.
Two months later Norm walked in and I felt I was ready for my revenge. After 6 hours, I had won a shopping $12.00 and was hooked.
jstcfleming
Registered User
We use to gather at my Grandfathers for family events. He had a table and all would play for hours. When I finally could see over the table he would let me ban the balls around. And started to like the game. Never got hooked cause we did'nt go there as often as I would like. Then they sold the table when they moved. For years after I would play now and then. The pool hall in town was never an interest do to other sports. Took up allot of my time. Back in college I started to play a bit again. And then work and family came so it was less often I played. Then got a deal on a table out of garage. Wife told husband, sell it or she burns it before they move. So couple hundred bucks, add a new cloth and moving it. I am now learning the game again. Always loved it. Just now I have the option to play everyday in my own house. And teach my sons. And when family comes we can play pool as a family just like at Grandpa's.
My summer school/daycare held a tournament for kids age 4-12. I was 4 at the time, and I won. Had the bug ever since!
I had a should injury. The movement and any kind of activity was good for me. Then I became a regular at a bar and was asked to join a league. Now I'm hooked.
I had played every now and again through life, but never knew or understood the game. Then one day this dude comes into our squadron from Virginia and we become friends. He plays pool and starts to show me a thing or two about the game and explain to me why the ball does what it does. Being the information junkie that I am, I was amazed by the complexity and thereby dedicated my existence to perfecting the sport. Somewhere along the line I became actually addicted...
...any girls I'm with physically stand between me and any pool table we happen to walk by on our nights on the town.
...any girls I'm with physically stand between me and any pool table we happen to walk by on our nights on the town.
It was 1956 and I was 13 and a "hood". (short for hoodlum.. I thought it was cool to be a hoodlum... carried a switchblade and everything! Just like Sal Mineo in the movies )
I was into skipping school and needed a place to hide. That's it.
Oh... I got caught but they couldn't get me to go to school all the time. I wouldn't listen to any adult.. too p*ssed off at all of them. Then reform school was threatened and that got my attention.
)I was into skipping school and needed a place to hide. That's it.
Oh... I got caught but they couldn't get me to go to school all the time. I wouldn't listen to any adult.. too p*ssed off at all of them. Then reform school was threatened and that got my attention.