Hey everyone i was just curious seeing as we are all such die hard 14.1 enthusiasts here what everyone's background in the game was.
How did you get your start etc?
How did you get your start etc?
What is your background in 14.1 ?
- Thread starter ForumGhost516
- Start date
When I first started practicing, and before I had even heard about 14.1, my first instinct was to shoot the balls in any order I wanted. A few months later I found out it was actually a game, learned the rules and started practicing that. Didn't actually pay attention to high runs until I started posting here.
Hi there 
When i started in the early *80 s* instructors or so were *invisible* - so i ve searched for every book i could find. Then i found the book *Mastering Pool* from George Fels (500th time-kudos to Georgie^^). Practised usualy alone on a 8 ft table (with 4,25 pockets
) so it was a hard way to learn straight-pool the old-style way
Thin in the middle of the 80 s i begun to play a bit more often on 9ft tables. I tried to see guys playing like Ortmann, Souquet, Scharbach etc etc- they were for sure young....but already very good at their game.
Think i started for my self just to notice how many innings i needed to *clean* the table- remember good how proud i was when i cleaned the first time the *whole* table.....*let the good times roll "sing"*
The first straight-pool season i ended with an average of 1,85 *lol*
Next season i jumped to 4,75-- that felt really great
Was a great time^^
lg
Ingo
When i started in the early *80 s* instructors or so were *invisible* - so i ve searched for every book i could find. Then i found the book *Mastering Pool* from George Fels (500th time-kudos to Georgie^^). Practised usualy alone on a 8 ft table (with 4,25 pockets
) so it was a hard way to learn straight-pool the old-style way Thin in the middle of the 80 s i begun to play a bit more often on 9ft tables. I tried to see guys playing like Ortmann, Souquet, Scharbach etc etc- they were for sure young....but already very good at their game.
Think i started for my self just to notice how many innings i needed to *clean* the table- remember good how proud i was when i cleaned the first time the *whole* table.....*let the good times roll "sing"*
The first straight-pool season i ended with an average of 1,85 *lol*
Next season i jumped to 4,75-- that felt really great
Was a great time^^
lg
Ingo
Start
As a curious 13 year old in the late 1970's I developed a penchant for bugging my dad to take me to do different things. If I recall the order correctly, my first quest was to play golf as he was an avid golfer. Eventually he relented and took me to a par-3 course where he rented clubs for me and we played a round. It was fun. I enjoyed it and later in life would become an avid golfer myself. Next on my agenda was to learn how to bowl and I remember this more vividly. It was during the winter months - I remember it being cold. And I remember listening to The Cars self-titled cassette on our drive to Modern Lanes. It was fun, but apparently not as much fun as I anticipated because I never really got into bowling seriously later in life as I had with golf. My dad had also been a fairly good bowler so I'm unsure if these were my ideas or his.
My next introduction to a sport was pool. I remember I had to bug him for weeks before he relented and finally took me. On the fateful day we drove down to Charlie LaTorre's poolroom in Pittston, PA and walked in. Immediately I knew this wasn't going to be anything like bowling. The place was small. Dominating the front of the room was an old glass and oak counter, beyond that a pair of 6-card pinball machines and a joker poker machine and finally, 2 pool tables. I remember thinking the tables were HUGE, as I had never seen a 4.5 x 9 up to that point. And they were OLD. The first table was a Brunswick that I would later learn was made around 1959, but the back table was REALLY OLD. It was a 1929 Brunswick. Beyond the second table was a wall that was only about 7 feet high, which I found weird since the ceiling had to be 12 feet above the floor. All the walls were a light brown, imitation wood paneling; the grossly uneven and undulating floor was covered with a basic off-white floor tile. I can remember the people in the poolroom being composed of a much different demographic than I'd ever been before. They were all men, some middle-aged, but most much older - no women, no other kids my age. Most were smoking cigarettes or cigars and many were intently watching the small TV behind the counter which was playing a football game. Dad got the balls from the really short, really old guy behind the counter and guided me down to the second table. From the voices and laughs behind the short wall I can tell there were even more men in the back of the room. I had no idea why they would want to be back there when all the fun stuff was in the front of the room. Little did I know that they were playing Pinochle and Gin for money and having fun themselves. That day, as a fresh-faced 13 year old, shaped my future in ways neither my dad nor I could have ever foreseen. After pulling 2 cues off a rack mounted high on the wall, dad explained, this game is called straight pool and you can hit any ball you want in. I was hooked on pool from that day on. Dad took me several more times to Charlie's before I started going down by myself and playing other, older kids. The fact that you had to be 18 to be in there was lost on me and since I originally started going in with my dad, apparently the Charlie was fine with me coming in alone.
I spent much of my time over the next 6 years or so playing on those 2 old Brunswicks. It was where I learned how to draw the cue ball, how to play a safe, and how to leave the last ball and the cue ball in positions that offered a break shot. Straight pool was all we played for a few years, but then 9 ball began creeping into the room until most of the games played were 9 ball. 9 ball sets, 9 ball partner games, ring 9 ball (quarter on the 5, 50 cents on the 9). It wasn't until about 2 years ago that I returned to straight pool in earnest and it's mainly the game I play exclusively now. Thankfully there is no shortage of interest or of straight pool players in this area and a game is always just a phone call away.
Ron F
As a curious 13 year old in the late 1970's I developed a penchant for bugging my dad to take me to do different things. If I recall the order correctly, my first quest was to play golf as he was an avid golfer. Eventually he relented and took me to a par-3 course where he rented clubs for me and we played a round. It was fun. I enjoyed it and later in life would become an avid golfer myself. Next on my agenda was to learn how to bowl and I remember this more vividly. It was during the winter months - I remember it being cold. And I remember listening to The Cars self-titled cassette on our drive to Modern Lanes. It was fun, but apparently not as much fun as I anticipated because I never really got into bowling seriously later in life as I had with golf. My dad had also been a fairly good bowler so I'm unsure if these were my ideas or his.
My next introduction to a sport was pool. I remember I had to bug him for weeks before he relented and finally took me. On the fateful day we drove down to Charlie LaTorre's poolroom in Pittston, PA and walked in. Immediately I knew this wasn't going to be anything like bowling. The place was small. Dominating the front of the room was an old glass and oak counter, beyond that a pair of 6-card pinball machines and a joker poker machine and finally, 2 pool tables. I remember thinking the tables were HUGE, as I had never seen a 4.5 x 9 up to that point. And they were OLD. The first table was a Brunswick that I would later learn was made around 1959, but the back table was REALLY OLD. It was a 1929 Brunswick. Beyond the second table was a wall that was only about 7 feet high, which I found weird since the ceiling had to be 12 feet above the floor. All the walls were a light brown, imitation wood paneling; the grossly uneven and undulating floor was covered with a basic off-white floor tile. I can remember the people in the poolroom being composed of a much different demographic than I'd ever been before. They were all men, some middle-aged, but most much older - no women, no other kids my age. Most were smoking cigarettes or cigars and many were intently watching the small TV behind the counter which was playing a football game. Dad got the balls from the really short, really old guy behind the counter and guided me down to the second table. From the voices and laughs behind the short wall I can tell there were even more men in the back of the room. I had no idea why they would want to be back there when all the fun stuff was in the front of the room. Little did I know that they were playing Pinochle and Gin for money and having fun themselves. That day, as a fresh-faced 13 year old, shaped my future in ways neither my dad nor I could have ever foreseen. After pulling 2 cues off a rack mounted high on the wall, dad explained, this game is called straight pool and you can hit any ball you want in. I was hooked on pool from that day on. Dad took me several more times to Charlie's before I started going down by myself and playing other, older kids. The fact that you had to be 18 to be in there was lost on me and since I originally started going in with my dad, apparently the Charlie was fine with me coming in alone.
I spent much of my time over the next 6 years or so playing on those 2 old Brunswicks. It was where I learned how to draw the cue ball, how to play a safe, and how to leave the last ball and the cue ball in positions that offered a break shot. Straight pool was all we played for a few years, but then 9 ball began creeping into the room until most of the games played were 9 ball. 9 ball sets, 9 ball partner games, ring 9 ball (quarter on the 5, 50 cents on the 9). It wasn't until about 2 years ago that I returned to straight pool in earnest and it's mainly the game I play exclusively now. Thankfully there is no shortage of interest or of straight pool players in this area and a game is always just a phone call away.
Ron F
When at the University of Colorado's MBA program I met an old timer from New York who told me that the only real game worth playing was straight pool. I would spend probably 5 hours a day playing Howard as I learned the nuances of the game. What followed was a 15 year obsession with 14.1.
I returned the favor and taught him one pocket, my latest "other" obsession these last few years.
Lately, I find myself grimacing when asked to play 9 ball.
I returned the favor and taught him one pocket, my latest "other" obsession these last few years.
Lately, I find myself grimacing when asked to play 9 ball.
Growing up my father had a table, that only him and my uncle were allowed to play on. My uncle also had a table, and the same rules applied. My father and uncle would play 14.1, i would sneek down from time to time just to watch. i was fascinated at the games beauty back then. My best friend down the block had a table as well and it seemed that the same rules applied as well there too :frown: but once in a while when the cats where away we got to play.
then i grew up, and i found my way over to East Meadow Billiards Club. where i was emediatly drawn to the action table, i would go up there for hours on end watching Jerry "The Bus Driver" Nacovsky. i watched numerous times as he ran some beautiful 100s.
In later years i converted like the rest of us over to 9 ball, which i got pretty good at. played in some local tours, and placed in them as well. i always seemed to bring back what i have learned at the tours to my local room. Whiched happened to be the same room where our own Steve Lipsky played and where he scored his first ever 100 ball run :thumbup:
Some time later i took a timely break about 5 years or so.
But when i returned, i tried the 9 Ball route and it just wasnt there for me.so i decided to make a stand and return to my roots and the rest is history ! and boy am i glad :wink:
-Steve
-Steve
then i grew up, and i found my way over to East Meadow Billiards Club. where i was emediatly drawn to the action table, i would go up there for hours on end watching Jerry "The Bus Driver" Nacovsky. i watched numerous times as he ran some beautiful 100s.
In later years i converted like the rest of us over to 9 ball, which i got pretty good at. played in some local tours, and placed in them as well. i always seemed to bring back what i have learned at the tours to my local room. Whiched happened to be the same room where our own Steve Lipsky played and where he scored his first ever 100 ball run :thumbup:
Some time later i took a timely break about 5 years or so.
But when i returned, i tried the 9 Ball route and it just wasnt there for me.so i decided to make a stand and return to my roots and the rest is history ! and boy am i glad :wink:
-Steve
-Steve
My father took me to a pool hall one day to show me how to play, and we played straight pool but he didn't call it straight pool, he just said "these are the rules of the game".
I had no idea there was any other kind of pool until quite awhile later I saw a few local players playing 9 ball and I was like "What the hell are they doing?"
I had no idea there was any other kind of pool until quite awhile later I saw a few local players playing 9 ball and I was like "What the hell are they doing?"
Straight Pool
I started playing straight pool at the age of 13 when my older brother John bought a 9' Sears plywood table and put it in our basement on Long Island.
When playing against other kids from school who had tables. Straight pool was the only game we played.
Later at the age of 15. My friend Alan & I would play 14-1 every day.
Alan's father owned a big company and along with his partner. They received two invites to join a high dollar country club on Long Island.
Willie Mosconi was there to promote people into joining. Alan & I went and I said I was the son of the business partner. We had lunch with Willie and he treated us like Gold. Really talked to us a lot, maybe b/c we were the only kids there. At one point he said "now I am going to run 150 balls in a row without missing". Everyone was watching and he ran 150 and then put down his cue. It was unbelievable. Also at that time there was a beer commercial on Tv that Willie did trick shots as they talked about the beer. The last shot Willie hits the cue ball down the table, it hits the bottom rail, jumps up in the air and comes back at him like someone threw it at him and he catches it. My first question to him was how did you do that. He showed me how and I can do it but not like him with such speed.
I asked him how did you become so good. He told me that he lived in pool rooms everyday of his Life. He then stated that I should not do what he had done and it was best to go to school and get a good job. He told me that he never knew a pool player that was rich from playing pool. I never forgot what he told me and it did help in my Life. I will always have respect for men like that.
I then stopped playing pool at the end of high school when I mom had passed, joining the Army. I did not start playing again until I was 30 yrs old when I got married and got a home of my own.
I started playing straight pool at the age of 13 when my older brother John bought a 9' Sears plywood table and put it in our basement on Long Island.
When playing against other kids from school who had tables. Straight pool was the only game we played.
Later at the age of 15. My friend Alan & I would play 14-1 every day.
Alan's father owned a big company and along with his partner. They received two invites to join a high dollar country club on Long Island.
Willie Mosconi was there to promote people into joining. Alan & I went and I said I was the son of the business partner. We had lunch with Willie and he treated us like Gold. Really talked to us a lot, maybe b/c we were the only kids there. At one point he said "now I am going to run 150 balls in a row without missing". Everyone was watching and he ran 150 and then put down his cue. It was unbelievable. Also at that time there was a beer commercial on Tv that Willie did trick shots as they talked about the beer. The last shot Willie hits the cue ball down the table, it hits the bottom rail, jumps up in the air and comes back at him like someone threw it at him and he catches it. My first question to him was how did you do that. He showed me how and I can do it but not like him with such speed.
I asked him how did you become so good. He told me that he lived in pool rooms everyday of his Life. He then stated that I should not do what he had done and it was best to go to school and get a good job. He told me that he never knew a pool player that was rich from playing pool. I never forgot what he told me and it did help in my Life. I will always have respect for men like that.
I then stopped playing pool at the end of high school when I mom had passed, joining the Army. I did not start playing again until I was 30 yrs old when I got married and got a home of my own.
When I was a small child my dad gave me one of those toy pool tables, about 4' with the small balls and fold up legs. In grade school we would go to the YMCA on Tuesday nights and play pool in the billiard room after his volleyball game.
When the pool hall opened up in my area was when I gave up the slot cars for good. At that time (in the 60's) straight pool was THE game. We gambled at 9 Ball also, but this was back before the concept of racing to X number of games became popular - we bet so much per game.
But straight pool was always the main game. It was the game that the big money was bet on and it was also the game that settled grudge matches and determined one's place in the pecking order of the room. It was always the best straight pool player that stood at the top of the food chain.
When the pool hall opened up in my area was when I gave up the slot cars for good. At that time (in the 60's) straight pool was THE game. We gambled at 9 Ball also, but this was back before the concept of racing to X number of games became popular - we bet so much per game.
But straight pool was always the main game. It was the game that the big money was bet on and it was also the game that settled grudge matches and determined one's place in the pecking order of the room. It was always the best straight pool player that stood at the top of the food chain.
My turn
When I was 10 yrs old I went to the firehouse with my dad, it was his turn for janitor dutys.
I walked around looking in all the rooms until I went down the stairs to the dining room and entered a room to my left, there sat the biggest and only pool table I had ever seen, it was a 5 x 10 1940`s Brunswick, I found the balls in a wall rack and all the cues in another wall rack.
As soon as I hit my first ball I was hooked for life.
I would later join the firehouse as a junior member just to be sable to play pool, had my own key and everything.
Boy what memories, I had the given talent and beat all my friend regularly.
highrun55
When I was 10 yrs old I went to the firehouse with my dad, it was his turn for janitor dutys.
I walked around looking in all the rooms until I went down the stairs to the dining room and entered a room to my left, there sat the biggest and only pool table I had ever seen, it was a 5 x 10 1940`s Brunswick, I found the balls in a wall rack and all the cues in another wall rack.
As soon as I hit my first ball I was hooked for life.
I would later join the firehouse as a junior member just to be sable to play pool, had my own key and everything.
Boy what memories, I had the given talent and beat all my friend regularly.
highrun55
When I was a teenager, in the late 60's, 14-1 was "The Game". At least it was in my area of NE Pa. I hung around, and later worked at, a poolroom owned by yet to be HOF'er Lou Butera. You couldn't watch Lou play without forming a love for straight pool. After a 30+ year hiatus from pool, due to life in general, it is still my favorite game, even though I can't play it worth a lick.
one of the first instructional books I bought were titles by George Fels. He devoted pretty much to 14.1 there. One of them, I don't remember which, either Mastering Pool or Advanced Pool (I stand by the latter) was 50 percent about 14.1, the rest 8-ball and some 9-ball. That's where I started to be interested. Then I got Ray Martin's 99 Critical Shots in Pool, and there again most situations were about straight pool.
Next, years after, my instructor (who is one of the PAT creators) told us students during the class that 14.1 is superior to other games and can teach to play all of them. From there 14.1 is my only true love at the table.
Next, years after, my instructor (who is one of the PAT creators) told us students during the class that 14.1 is superior to other games and can teach to play all of them. From there 14.1 is my only true love at the table.
DogsPlayingPool
"When I was a small child my dad gave me one of those toy pool tables, about 4' with the small balls and fold up legs."
We had one too. Then I saw the movie, The Hustler with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason and I was hooked at age 11. By age 13 after working odd jobs I bought my first table. :thumbup:
"When I was a small child my dad gave me one of those toy pool tables, about 4' with the small balls and fold up legs."
We had one too. Then I saw the movie, The Hustler with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason and I was hooked at age 11. By age 13 after working odd jobs I bought my first table. :thumbup:
It was the early '60 in N.J. A time of many good and great pool players.
I first started playing at a YMCA then learned there was a real pool hall nearby and that is where I learned the rules of straight pool.
I started watching some very good players and got the idea of patterns.
Now living in Jersey at that time period when there were a ton of good players around I got to watch people such as Ervilino,Cisero Murphy,Joe Balsis,Irving Crane,Joe Russo,Ernie Lager,Jack Colavita,Pete Margo,Mizerak,Willie Mosconi and in later years Jimmy Fusco,Allen Hopkins,Neptune Joe Frady and probably a bunch more that I have forgotten
But anyway back in the early '60s straight pool was the main gambling game with 9 ball played a lot as a ring game.I can remember as a teenager watching some great players match up for a $100 or so which was a stout bet for the times.
So that is how I learned the game spending hours watching good and great players.It seemed a magical time back then.
I first started playing at a YMCA then learned there was a real pool hall nearby and that is where I learned the rules of straight pool.
I started watching some very good players and got the idea of patterns.
Now living in Jersey at that time period when there were a ton of good players around I got to watch people such as Ervilino,Cisero Murphy,Joe Balsis,Irving Crane,Joe Russo,Ernie Lager,Jack Colavita,Pete Margo,Mizerak,Willie Mosconi and in later years Jimmy Fusco,Allen Hopkins,Neptune Joe Frady and probably a bunch more that I have forgotten
But anyway back in the early '60s straight pool was the main gambling game with 9 ball played a lot as a ring game.I can remember as a teenager watching some great players match up for a $100 or so which was a stout bet for the times.
So that is how I learned the game spending hours watching good and great players.It seemed a magical time back then.
Like many on here, I was introduced to the game at a young age (5) by my father, who was a 2-bit gambler in his day. He claimed to have run over 100 in 14.1 in his service days, but he was the type that you never knew if he was telling the truth or not. I do know that no one could beat him at the local bowling alley where I bowled in the pee wee leagues, and that was where he taught me the game in the early-mid 70's. It was $1.50 an hour back then, and the tables were old 9' Brunswicks (one from the 50s and the other dates back to the 20s - they are still there to this day). The very first game I learned was 14.1. I guess at that age, it was the easiest game to grasp - shoot any ball, score 1 point for every ball you made, re-rack the balls when you were down to the last one, and play until you reach a certain amount of points. By the time I was 9 years old I was the talk of the bowling alley for having run 17 balls. We used to play games to 50, and my father had on occasion ran 50-and-out. So did he run 100 in his service days? Maybe. But the only time I really played 14.1 was with my father. At the age of 10, my father would take me to his softball games and afterwards in the bar (since no one would play him for any money), he'd have me take on anyone who wanted to play. I made him money (at age 10, I could run out a rack of 8-ball if the layout was decent enough), and pretty soon a lot of the guys wouldn't play me, either. I think that was just out of embarrassment to losing to a 10-year-old. The most important thing my father taught me at that age was that the most important shot wasn't the one you were shooting, but the one you were going to shoot next. I learned the concept of position play at an early age. When I was 14 (1980), I played in the Sunday morning ring 9-ball game at the bowling alley (adult players). By that time 14.1 had died there and 9-ball was the game. It was a friendly game played with the pills for .25 and .50, and it was not uncommon for me to leave the game $25-$30 ahead. But after beating one of the guys in a race to 5 for $20 (he challenged me), he politely asked me not to play in the ring game anymore. Then came high school, when I really didn't pick up a cue at all until my senior year when I realized RonF also played and I started going down LaTorre's with him. We'd play 14.1 between us, but again, the dominant game was 9-ball. I continued to play through the 80's - only playing 14.1 occasionally, and had stopped playing altogether after college for 17 years. I did not pick up a cue again until 3 years ago, but that is when I really got into 14.1. Rotation games just do not appeal to me the way they did 25 years ago.