WAYNE - I'M NOT LOOKIN FOR EXCUSES - I'M LOOKIN FOR SUCKERS!
WC, never give a sucker an even break or wise up a chump, ah yes indeed my boy.
This is the story of black jack, who puts this up on the internet for all to see. He wants the young players to read this and learn from his mistakes. He now writes for AZ, has a column on poolchat.net, writes for the upa where he and I now play pro 9 ball together on tour. I call him a good friend and highly admire his courage and how he changed his life.
My name is David Sapolis, and I am a professional pool player, instructor, and author. I am also a former Police officer for the city of El Paso, Texas. If you know me from there, hopefully it isn't because you wore my handcuffs. Anyway, here is my life story in one page or less. I was born in New Jersey and lived there until I was 13. I began playing pool at a young age on a little toy table that was given to us. At the age of 8, I learned how to escape the world by shooting pool for hours and hours. This was great until pool started interfering with everything else. I started skipping school and going over to New York City to watch some of the great players. One day I saw Cisero Murphy shooting and not missing, and my life would never be the same. After meeting Mr. Murphy, he made a deal with me that stated that he would teach me the finer points of the game as long as I attended school when I was supposed to be there. He even checked up on me to make sure I kept up my end of the bargain. I owe most of what I know about the technical aspect of pool to Cisero Murphy.
When I was 13 we moved to Florida, and with the absence of my mentor, I slipped back over to the darkside. I crashed every pool room that would allow me to stay, and I started gambling and winning money, and lots of it. It was around this time that I also started using drugs and alcohol. By the age of 14 I decided that all I needed was a cue with a good tip, some cash in my pocket, and my choice of alcohol or amphetamines and I would be able to survive anywhere. My teenage years are an endless blurr of failed friendships, relationships, bad money deals, and heartbreak. The more that went wrong, the more ruthless I became in my gambling efforts. Somehow I managed to earn a high school diploma, don't ask me how.
I always hung with the people that would get me in trouble. My first pro level tournament, I met a man named Mike Carella. Mike and I came up with a plan that would eventually lead to Mike becoming a legend on the road. I made several trips across Florida and the Carolina's with Mike, and I learned how to operate on the road. Sadly, Mike was murdered one night. Stuff like that happened to a lot of my friends. For a brief time I went on the road with the legendary Louie "St. Louie-Louie" Roberts. Louis showed me everything that I didn't want to be, as a pool player and as a person. Louie died several years back mainly because he had many demons, none of which he was able to conquer.
I competed in tournaments, and became involved in some very sour relationships with women, as well my backers. One night I began drinking in Orlando, Florida and woke up 2 weeks later in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. If anyone out there knows how I got there, feel free to let me know. I sure haven't got a clue. While there I lived on the streets at first, playing pool and snooker for small amounts of cash, barely enough to get a room and half of a meal. While I was doing this, I met Dexter Roberts.
Dex and I went on a tour of North America. We criss-crossed back and forth across the US and Canada, sometimes Mexico, kicking tail and taking names. One night while crossing back into Canada at Sarnia, Michigan, I was detained. Seems that before I blacked out and went to Edmonton, I had enlisted in the Armed Forces. The problem was, they still wanted me. So I was eventually deported from Canada, and sent to Military Reception Station, where I was then shipped off to Fort Bliss, Texas for basic training.
Upon completing training, I stayed at Ft, Bliss (El Paso) for 6 months. During this time, Dex came and we started hitting some spots in the Southwest on the weekends. This got me in plenty of trouble when I would end up coming back on Tuesday instead of Monday. They count that as AWOL. Anyway, I went to Korea for a year where I learned how to disguise my talents well while at the smae time making huge amounts of money from every GI that would play me. I would also meet & marry my first wife in Korea. She became my hostage. My Alcohol and amphetamine abuse was way out of control, and she took the brunt of most of that. Upon returning to the States, I took off where I left off on the road with Dexter. Dex eventually moved to El Paso so that we could terrorize that city as well as Albuquerque, Tuscon and Phoenix. My marriage crumbled, and the Army got sick and tired of me being drunk all the time. Imagine that.
In December 1986, due to several low points in my life, I took my last drink and my last drug. The Army was in the process of throwing me out, but after I cleaned up my act, I was allowed to stay in. I concentrated on my tournament career, and started competing in several satellite events throughout the Southwest and West Coast. I was very successful during this time period, and competed in the US Open in 87-88. In 1989, I was shipped to Europe. While in Europe, I played all the great players, including Bustamante, Souqet, Eckert, Storm, etc. I returned Stateside in 1991, shortly after returning from the Gulf War. I hit the pro tour with a vengeance, traveling with the late great Tony Ellin. In 1992, my daughter passed away from diabetes. This would change my life forever. I also published my first book, Stroke of Genius. I competed on the pro tour, and all over the country until 1995, when I became a Police Officer. During this time period, I abandoned professional pool to dedicate myself full time as an author and an instructor.
I left the Police Department in 1999, distraught and confused about where my life was headed. Soon after, in a moment of darkness, I saw the light. It was then and there that I knew that there was a black hole in me that needed to be filled.
My name is David Sapolis, and I am a professional pool player, instructor, and author. I am also a former Police officer for the city of El Paso, Texas. If you know me from there, hopefully it isn't because you wore my handcuffs. Anyway, here is my life story in one page or less. I was born in New Jersey and lived there until I was 13. I began playing pool at a young age on a little toy table that was given to us. At the age of 8, I learned how to escape the world by shooting pool for hours and hours. This was great until pool started interfering with everything else. I started skipping school and going over to New York City to watch some of the great players. One day I saw Cisero Murphy shooting and not missing, and my life would never be the same. After meeting Mr. Murphy, he made a deal with me that stated that he would teach me the finer points of the game as long as I attended school when I was supposed to be there. He even checked up on me to make sure I kept up my end of the bargain. I owe most of what I know about the technical aspect of pool to Cisero Murphy.
When I was 13 we moved to Florida, and with the absence of my mentor, I slipped back over to the darkside. I crashed every pool room that would allow me to stay, and I started gambling and winning money, and lots of it. It was around this time that I also started using drugs and alcohol. By the age of 14 I decided that all I needed was a cue with a good tip, some cash in my pocket, and my choice of alcohol or amphetamines and I would be able to survive anywhere. My teenage years are an endless blurr of failed friendships, relationships, bad money deals, and heartbreak. The more that went wrong, the more ruthless I became in my gambling efforts. Somehow I managed to earn a high school diploma, don't ask me how.
I always hung with the people that would get me in trouble. My first pro level tournament, I met a man named Mike Carella. Mike and I came up with a plan that would eventually lead to Mike becoming a legend on the road. I made several trips across Florida and the Carolina's with Mike, and I learned how to operate on the road. Sadly, Mike was murdered one night. Stuff like that happened to a lot of my friends. For a brief time I went on the road with the legendary Louie "St. Louie-Louie" Roberts. Louis showed me everything that I didn't want to be, as a pool player and as a person. Louie died several years back mainly because he had many demons, none of which he was able to conquer.
I competed in tournaments, and became involved in some very sour relationships with women, as well my backers. One night I began drinking in Orlando, Florida and woke up 2 weeks later in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. If anyone out there knows how I got there, feel free to let me know. I sure haven't got a clue. While there I lived on the streets at first, playing pool and snooker for small amounts of cash, barely enough to get a room and half of a meal. While I was doing this, I met Dexter Roberts.
Dex and I went on a tour of North America. We criss-crossed back and forth across the US and Canada, sometimes Mexico, kicking tail and taking names. One night while crossing back into Canada at Sarnia, Michigan, I was detained. Seems that before I blacked out and went to Edmonton, I had enlisted in the Armed Forces. The problem was, they still wanted me. So I was eventually deported from Canada, and sent to Military Reception Station, where I was then shipped off to Fort Bliss, Texas for basic training.
Upon completing training, I stayed at Ft, Bliss (El Paso) for 6 months. During this time, Dex came and we started hitting some spots in the Southwest on the weekends. This got me in plenty of trouble when I would end up coming back on Tuesday instead of Monday. They count that as AWOL. Anyway, I went to Korea for a year where I learned how to disguise my talents well while at the smae time making huge amounts of money from every GI that would play me. I would also meet & marry my first wife in Korea. She became my hostage. My Alcohol and amphetamine abuse was way out of control, and she took the brunt of most of that. Upon returning to the States, I took off where I left off on the road with Dexter. Dex eventually moved to El Paso so that we could terrorize that city as well as Albuquerque, Tuscon and Phoenix. My marriage crumbled, and the Army got sick and tired of me being drunk all the time. Imagine that.
In December 1986, due to several low points in my life, I took my last drink and my last drug. The Army was in the process of throwing me out, but after I cleaned up my act, I was allowed to stay in. I concentrated on my tournament career, and started competing in several satellite events throughout the Southwest and West Coast. I was very successful during this time period, and competed in the US Open in 87-88. In 1989, I was shipped to Europe. While in Europe, I played all the great players, including Bustamante, Souqet, Eckert, Storm, etc. I returned Stateside in 1991, shortly after returning from the Gulf War. I hit the pro tour with a vengeance, traveling with the late great Tony Ellin. In 1992, my daughter passed away from diabetes. This would change my life forever. I also published my first book, Stroke of Genius. I competed on the pro tour, and all over the country until 1995, when I became a Police Officer. During this time period, I abandoned professional pool to dedicate myself full time as an author and an instructor.
I left the Police Department in 1999, distraught and confused about where my life was headed. Soon after, in a moment of darkness, I saw the light. It was then and there that I knew that there was a black hole in me that needed to be filled.
