First played at 18. Playe until about 24 and then stopped until I was about 28 then I played on and off untiil about 33. Now it is 36 and I am lots more grounded and aware of what I can do and am playimg the best I ever did.
When did you start?
- Thread starter Muxy
- Start date
mjantti said:Started playing when I was 13 at a youth evening club... they had a table there. Then proceeded to play in one bar at 14 (8-footer table) and played the local 8-ball bar league for 1-2 years, then started going to a real pool room with 9' tables and started going to national junior and open tournaments at 16. I'm now 27 so it was... my gosh... 14 years ago since I first picked up a cue ! Wow, time flies when you're having fun
umm.... that's exactly my story as well!!! (replace youth evening club with church rec center)
At age 7 or 8, I think, I used to sneak into my neighbor's house when they were sleeping.
I'd tip-toe down to their basement, where they had an 8-footer. I'd get some socks out of their laundry room and jam them into the pockets so the noise wouldn't wake them up, while I banged balls around.
I should've known right then that I was hooked.
Jeff Livingston
I'd tip-toe down to their basement, where they had an 8-footer. I'd get some socks out of their laundry room and jam them into the pockets so the noise wouldn't wake them up, while I banged balls around.
I should've known right then that I was hooked.
Jeff Livingston
Got sent to a Catholic boarding school at age 12 to get "straightened out". They had two full size pool tables and a snooker table in the rec room and I played every day, except summers, for two years. Some of the Christian Brothers were really good players and punished me on the table as well as off. Been hooked on pool ever since. That was 45 years ago. Am finally starting to straighten out.
rayjay
rayjay
about 20 years too late, i'm afraid.
started in September of 1998. that summer was watching an ESPN show from the C of C, and the announcer (Lon McChearen-sp?) said something about Kung Fang Lee solving the "Riddle of that Rack", and that got my attention.
shortly thereafter i got my first table, a 7' Brunswick from Orners in Indpls.
3 months later bought an 8' Steepleton.
a year and a half later a 9' E.A. Burgin table.
January of 2003 got my 9' Gold Crown IV.
just cant seem to get to that next level. hoping Mark Wilson can help get me going in the right direction this weekend.
regards,
DCP
started in September of 1998. that summer was watching an ESPN show from the C of C, and the announcer (Lon McChearen-sp?) said something about Kung Fang Lee solving the "Riddle of that Rack", and that got my attention.
shortly thereafter i got my first table, a 7' Brunswick from Orners in Indpls.
3 months later bought an 8' Steepleton.
a year and a half later a 9' E.A. Burgin table.
January of 2003 got my 9' Gold Crown IV.
just cant seem to get to that next level. hoping Mark Wilson can help get me going in the right direction this weekend.
regards,
DCP
I banged balls around a little when I was 17, started really playing when I was 18 and could get into the local bar. I discovered I had alot of natural talent so I started going to pool halls for real competition and bought my own table six months ago. I'm 20 now and shoot everyday two practice sessions a day.
I started playing this game right after seeing The Color Of Money. I was a bowler up until that time, bowling in leagues and pot games since I was about 10 years old. Then, I had a motorcycle accident and had to take time off from bowling. Me and a friend walked into Varsity Billiards in California and got right into the mix of things, playing for small amounts with the regulars or for a dollar a game with each other. I couldn't beat anyone but my bowling and gambling instincts took over and I was determined to learn the game. Soon after, I was winning the weekly tournaments and beating all of the regulars, including my friend, David. Then, this guy named Keith comes in and the place goes nuts with action! So, us regulars, being so naive at the time, now knew that we could still play each other but the weaker player got a spot, lol. Jeez, that sure wasn't good for my bankroll 
Then, Hard Times opened up a year later, 1988, and my game went up in no time. I learned so much in that first year that people thought I had been playing for 10 years or more, but I had just started less than 2 years before. Hard Times was an incredible place, action day and night, for all caliber of players, and I was never broke. The tournaments they had there brought all of the champions in and I was like a sponge, gathering information and practicing until my game shot up to where I was giving the 7 to guys that gave me the 7, two months earlier. Oh, and the bowling, that was just a kicker for the traps, because I don't need to practice to bowl well. I once beat a kid in 9 ball, then he gave me 5-2 on the money, plus 10 pins a game, for 500 a game. Wow, those were the days! So, 1987 I started playing, quit in 94 or 95, started again in 03. This is a great thread, brought back lots of memories for me, glad I could share. Peace!
Then, this guy named Keith comes in and the place goes nuts with action! So, us regulars, being so naive at the time, now knew that we could still play each other but the weaker player got a spot, lol. Jeez, that sure wasn't good for my bankroll Then, Hard Times opened up a year later, 1988, and my game went up in no time. I learned so much in that first year that people thought I had been playing for 10 years or more, but I had just started less than 2 years before. Hard Times was an incredible place, action day and night, for all caliber of players, and I was never broke. The tournaments they had there brought all of the champions in and I was like a sponge, gathering information and practicing until my game shot up to where I was giving the 7 to guys that gave me the 7, two months earlier. Oh, and the bowling, that was just a kicker for the traps, because I don't need to practice to bowl well. I once beat a kid in 9 ball, then he gave me 5-2 on the money, plus 10 pins a game, for 500 a game. Wow, those were the days! So, 1987 I started playing, quit in 94 or 95, started again in 03. This is a great thread, brought back lots of memories for me, glad I could share. Peace!Started seriously at age 22 while in the service. Thought I was good until a buddy of mine showed me how the game is supposed to be played. I was as bad as you could get and he was a B+ / A- player, so needless to say I lost a few bucks in the learning process but we played 5 nights a week for a few months. We were both in the service so he never took me for everything I had thankfully. Now at 33 I just don't have the time to put in so I have basically leveled off somewhere between a really good APA6 and a so-so APA7. I'm happy with it though considering I play once a week, twice if I'm lucky, and have earned the respect of my fellow league players. At least I think I have 
Dave
Dave
Always wanted to play since childhood. We played every sport possible, and one of my friends father had a BEAUTIFUL table in the basement; immaculate felt and balls; NEVER let any of the kids touch it (we could only watch). Soon as I got my drivers license at 16, I was off to the pool hall almost every day. Played through high school and college (late 60's, early 70's); listening to great rock and roll, banging balls, consuming large quantities of various substances. No good instructional books at all, no good players to show me how = ball banger.
Quit pool for professional school, job, wife, kids, golf. Three years ago FINALLY got the 9 foot table in the basement that my wife had promised me 23 years before (she's a little slow). Bought every book on pool (much better quality nowadays) and memorized them, practiced 2 hours a day, thought I was improving, but really just a ball banger. 2 1/2 years ago I fell in with some professionals (Lord works in mysterious ways) who for some unknown reason took pity on me, started working on my game (maybe they like Herculean challenges?), and my game has just exploded (same amount of practice as before). I have a pro that works on my stroke, a pro that works on my strategy and fund of shots, and 2 pro's that help me with my straight pool. I just cannot believe how I'm playing right now (age 51); better than I ever expected, but still room for improvement. Playing pool was ALWAYS great fun, but playing pool well is so much fun it ought to be illegal. I look at myself in the mirror every morning, and just feel like the luckiest schmuck on the planet.
Quit pool for professional school, job, wife, kids, golf. Three years ago FINALLY got the 9 foot table in the basement that my wife had promised me 23 years before (she's a little slow). Bought every book on pool (much better quality nowadays) and memorized them, practiced 2 hours a day, thought I was improving, but really just a ball banger. 2 1/2 years ago I fell in with some professionals (Lord works in mysterious ways) who for some unknown reason took pity on me, started working on my game (maybe they like Herculean challenges?), and my game has just exploded (same amount of practice as before). I have a pro that works on my stroke, a pro that works on my strategy and fund of shots, and 2 pro's that help me with my straight pool. I just cannot believe how I'm playing right now (age 51); better than I ever expected, but still room for improvement. Playing pool was ALWAYS great fun, but playing pool well is so much fun it ought to be illegal. I look at myself in the mirror every morning, and just feel like the luckiest schmuck on the planet.
I started banging balls when at University in the late 70's, and played a bit at the bars for many years. I was fortunate to have friends who could play, too bad I couldn't ...
After moving back to Saskatoon in the early 90s, got married, and bought a table to fill a large basement in 95 or so, and have been trying to get better and play 'properly' ever since. Now, at 46, I can play a bit, but not to the level of folks like Joey Basaraba, Darryl Wauters, Quinten Doell (some of our best Saskatoon players that some western Canadians may recognize).
Dave
After moving back to Saskatoon in the early 90s, got married, and bought a table to fill a large basement in 95 or so, and have been trying to get better and play 'properly' ever since. Now, at 46, I can play a bit, but not to the level of folks like Joey Basaraba, Darryl Wauters, Quinten Doell (some of our best Saskatoon players that some western Canadians may recognize).
Dave
I first picked up a cue stick at the tender age of 14, when I followed my brother to a local record store that had 7' pool tables (but please don't ask me how long I've been playing - although a hint is this was back when women DID NOT go to pool rooms!! LOL). Banged balls mostly in bars until my mid-20s, particularly a very rough bar in Auburn, AL called Tucker's which was practically identical to JAM's and Whitewolf's dens of inequity. Then I started going to the local pool room, Tiger Recreation, and at 26 played my first pro tournament; and although I was nowhere near good enough for the pro tour, back then all you had to do was show up with your entry fee and you were in (no qualifying - and THIS was so long ago it was back when the men and women played together!). Got lots of advice from the men pros and watched lots of action in the Southeast during this time. Unfortunately, I was a very lazy player and never truly practiced, just played and played and played..... Somewhere in the midst of all this fun I managed to graduate from college and subsequently worked off and on as a radiology transcriptionist until I had my first child, when I quit work AND pool for four years. Now I am playing again, perhaps to play pro again (if luck permits). The wisdom of age has taught me to appreciate the sport and I now hope that, although my practice time has dwindled to almost nothing, I can spend that time more wisely and actually bring my game to a new level (in spite of motherhood).
(Oops, I'm sorry - you didn't ask for my life story, did you??!!)
(Oops, I'm sorry - you didn't ask for my life story, did you??!!)
whitewolf said:
Yep, I'm a Dietle-ite, and proud of it! Of course, when I was going to Dietle's, there was no White Flint Mall across the street. It was all woods. As far as being a hole in the wall, what made Hank Dietle's Tavern unique was its convenient on-again/off-again access, enjoyed by many commuters because of its excellent location and folk from all walks of life, a very motley crew, no ethnic or racial barriers either. Just one big happy family!
Hank Dietle's Tavern used to be a meeting place back in the 1920's for church goers on Sunday. The huge wooden bar, which is still in the place, used to be converted to a church alter. When the urbanization spread from D.C., they couldn't tear old Dietle's down because of a building moratorium, and it still sits there today in the midst of highrise cement buildings. With the threat of the smoking ban in Montgomery County, its days are numbered.
Relating to the cast of regulars, in my heyday there definitely were the rednecks, greasers, bikers, firemen, bullies, construction workers, Ph.D.'s from NIH, hippies, yuppies, lawyers, stone and brick masons, roofers, taxicab drivers, Federal Government civil servants, Navy boys from Navy Medical, the grinders and pool greats from Randolph Hills Billiards. Each day, it was just like walking into the home of an old friend, and although we used to have our little spiffs among ourselves, when push came to shove, nobody messed with a Dietle-ite. We were a united front and protected our own!
It's been bought and sold three times since Henry Dietle died, and those days are long gone. Lost a lot of good friends from Dietle's. The best pool players in the area at that time were Steve Gumphreys, Mike "Geese" Gerace, Tom-Tom Wirth, Quick Vic and Bobby Hawk, West Virginia Frank, the Boggs brothers, and Fat Mike.
Whitewolf said:
Hank Dietle's on the Pike has always had only one table, a 7-foot bar box with the big cue ball, a quarter a game. I never heard about the fight relating to a pregnant lady's presence, and if it had of happened in the decade or more I went there, I'd remember it, but I do recall a few brouhahas!
Whitewolf said:
A little bit of all the above!
Whitewolf said:
I'm not sure how old you are, Whitewolf, but judging by the sounds of the place on Route 1, you're talking about the old B&E's which is now the Sportsman's Lounge. Route 1 used to be THE pool player's dream ride, and one could find a 9-ball ring game just about any day of the week, from Town Hall in College Park, Colonial Kitchen in Riverdale, Phil's Bar & Grill in Beltsville, B&E's, the Trotters, and Robinson's in Laurel. This is when action was prevalent. After midnight, it was ALWAYS the old Bill & Billie's in Glen Burnie for the high-stakes gambling, which is now Jack and Jill's. First time I ever saw Efren Reyes was at the old Bill & Billie's. Nobody knew what to make of this guy, but his level of play commanded our attention, and respect.
I miss the old days from Dietle's. There aren't too many of us Dietle's alumni left, but the ones who are left, we share a common bond and happy memories that no one can ever take away from us, even when they tear down the building, which is on the horizon. You can take JAM out of Hank Dietle's, but no one can ever take the Dietle's out of JAM. I am a Dietle-ite alumni, a dinosaur in some circles, and proud of it!
JAM
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Purdman
Banned
Long Time Ago
Alexandria Boys Club, 1960. Every Moose Lodge my step father could sneak me into to show me off 60-64. Beaumont School for Boys, Richmond, juvinile reform school, 1964-65. Little place at the corner of Hume Ave. and Jeff Davis uwy, Alexandria, 65-68. Ran a pool hall called Golden Cue, Calvert apartments, 68-69. Quit for 30 years. 1999 to present, anywhere and everywhere I can. 9 ft. Gandy Big "G" in basement. Recognized BCA Instructor 99-2000. Certified BCA Instructor, 2000 to present. Have Cue, Will Travel.
Purdman
Alexandria Boys Club, 1960. Every Moose Lodge my step father could sneak me into to show me off 60-64. Beaumont School for Boys, Richmond, juvinile reform school, 1964-65. Little place at the corner of Hume Ave. and Jeff Davis uwy, Alexandria, 65-68. Ran a pool hall called Golden Cue, Calvert apartments, 68-69. Quit for 30 years. 1999 to present, anywhere and everywhere I can. 9 ft. Gandy Big "G" in basement. Recognized BCA Instructor 99-2000. Certified BCA Instructor, 2000 to present. Have Cue, Will Travel.
Purdman
JAM said:
JAM,
Could you tell me more about this West Virginia Frank? I live in WV near the Loudoun Co, VA; Frederick Co, MD; Montgomery Co. MD area. Where at in WV was he from and is he still around? Just tryin to figure out if we know him 'round my parts.
Thanx for any info.
Donald A. Purdy said:Alexandria Boys Club, 1960. Every Moose Lodge my step father could sneak me into to show me off 60-64. Beaumont School for Boys, Richmond, juvinile reform school, 1964-65. Little place at the corner of Hume Ave. and Jeff Davis uwy, Alexandria, 65-68. Ran a pool hall called Golden Cue, Calvert apartments, 68-69. Quit for 30 years. 1999 to present, anywhere and everywhere I can. 9 ft. Gandy Big "G" in basement. Recognized BCA Instructor 99-2000. Certified BCA Instructor, 2000 to present. Have Cue, Will Travel.
Purdman
Boy's Club,,,,,,,,,,RIGHT. I had forgotten about that, Don. Beat you by 2 years though. It was 1958 in Jackson, Miss. Played rotation. You had to call no, Ram Rod, or the other guy could run his cue through the balls and rake as many in as he could, LOL. Too damn funny. I was 10 then. At 14 I was racking balls for a living.
landshark77 said:JAM,
Could you tell me more about this West Virginia Frank? I live in WV near the Loudoun Co, VA; Frederick Co, MD; Montgomery Co. MD area. Where at in WV was he from and is he still around? Just tryin to figure out if we know him 'round my parts.
West Virginia Frank used to frequent Randolph Hills Billiards in Rockville before it closed (late '70s). He was a strong player, and a teacher by trade in West Virginia. The first time I ever saw a game played for a C-note was Frank K. Last I heard, he left pool and went to poker full time.
JAM
poolplayingtips
Registered
"The Balls Were Ringing In My Ears!"
That's exactly what I told my dad when I was only 8 years old.
We had gone bowling with family and being just a little kid, I found bowling to be a lot of fun because of the "I get to throw a big heavy ball" aspect of the game.
However after the first frame, I became a little bored with bowling and started wandering around looking for some other kids to play with.
I then heard the infamous clack of pool balls and it caught my attention as if I was a dear caught in a mack-truck's headlights.
There they were.
These 2 old farts banging around these tiny little red balls with long skiny poles on this GIGANTIC table covered in astro turf.
I heard another clack and came to the table and asked what they were doing.
"Get out of hear you little brat, we're playing for money"
I was stunned by the tone of voice, but hung around the corner hunched over the railing and tried to peer below the smoke cloud to watch those little red balls get hit by the white queen ball (I liked chess too, and the cue ball acted exactly like the queen in chess... eating up everything in site).
After we got back home, my dad asked me what I was doing over at the other end of the room, and I said "I was watching these 2 older guys hitting balls with long sticks. I couldn't leave, the sound of the balls was ringing in my ears."
For years after that I had never picked up a cue or even approached another pool table again, but that sound.... That beautiful sound of clacking balls. Man.
I'd see snooker on TV, hear balls crashing into each other on radio commercials and it always brought me back to when I was real young. When I saw those 2 old farts playing snooker.
Then one day, when I was 17 I finally decided to go to the local arcade, pop a dollar in the old beat up coin op and banged some balls around.
I played one game that seemed to take 3 hours to finish.
But I was hooked. I needed to play more. I needed to get better.
12 years later... I'm still hooked. I still need to play more and I'm definately better
And that sound... Oh That Beautiful Sound, Still Ringing in my ears ;-)
That's exactly what I told my dad when I was only 8 years old.
We had gone bowling with family and being just a little kid, I found bowling to be a lot of fun because of the "I get to throw a big heavy ball" aspect of the game.
However after the first frame, I became a little bored with bowling and started wandering around looking for some other kids to play with.
I then heard the infamous clack of pool balls and it caught my attention as if I was a dear caught in a mack-truck's headlights.
There they were.
These 2 old farts banging around these tiny little red balls with long skiny poles on this GIGANTIC table covered in astro turf.
I heard another clack and came to the table and asked what they were doing.
"Get out of hear you little brat, we're playing for money"
I was stunned by the tone of voice, but hung around the corner hunched over the railing and tried to peer below the smoke cloud to watch those little red balls get hit by the white queen ball (I liked chess too, and the cue ball acted exactly like the queen in chess... eating up everything in site).
After we got back home, my dad asked me what I was doing over at the other end of the room, and I said "I was watching these 2 older guys hitting balls with long sticks. I couldn't leave, the sound of the balls was ringing in my ears."
For years after that I had never picked up a cue or even approached another pool table again, but that sound.... That beautiful sound of clacking balls. Man.
I'd see snooker on TV, hear balls crashing into each other on radio commercials and it always brought me back to when I was real young. When I saw those 2 old farts playing snooker.
Then one day, when I was 17 I finally decided to go to the local arcade, pop a dollar in the old beat up coin op and banged some balls around.
I played one game that seemed to take 3 hours to finish.
But I was hooked. I needed to play more. I needed to get better.
12 years later... I'm still hooked. I still need to play more and I'm definately better
And that sound... Oh That Beautiful Sound, Still Ringing in my ears ;-)