When did you start?

JAM said:
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
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Thank you JAM. I doubt that I know this gentleman that you speak of as I was born in the late 70's, LOL, but you never know...I think I'm gonna ask around.
 
whitewolf said:
To JAM: I am 55 years old and haven't lived in this area but 30 years...I am impressed and we come from similar schools in liking to visit the seedy side of life, but me only up to a point. My friends drug me into Diettle's and I drank beer while they played shuffle board. I went there only a few times, but that was enough....
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Whitewolf, Hank Dietle's Tavern on Rockville Pike (Route 355) has never had a shuffleboard in it. The one-room building barely has enough room for the 7-foot bar box, pinball and video machines, and juke box! (LOL).

whitewolf said:
...I moved to Frederick where you can smoke in resturants, pool halls...and I still practice in the freezing ass cold (temporarily until next year). Living in heaven at least for the time being...
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All-Star Billiards is kind of a cool place in Frederick. I've only been there a few times, but the place was packed, and the regulars there seemed like they were all having a grand old time.

Traveling home from tournament trail on several occasions, I was shocked out of my gord to see Route 270 in Frederick a parking-lot traffic jam at 5:30 a.m. in the morning. Has D.C. urbanization spread that far now? What a pity!

I always liked Myersville area until they found the D.C. Sniper taking a nap in the rest area!

whitewolf said:
I thought that maybe you were going with Keith because this side of life was new to you LOL. BTW, I haven't thanked you yet for all of your great posts, so now is the time.
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Thanks for the compliment, I think! :p

JAM
 
whitewolf said:
so I will have to meet Fred somewhere (Bluewolf permitting with the cash) and play a little bit of nine ball. .
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Hey Ray

I remember the last time you set out to "show some people a thing or two about shooting Pool" at the Planet Pool stop in Rockville. You really showed them! ;)

BTW, have you figured out which ball to shoot after the one ball? :p


Eric
 
I first played at age 13, 1956. Tried to play every day until age 16 when I got a car and pretty much lost interest in pool. Didn't play from 1960 until 1972 when I played for a few months after my divorce before I started using drugs. Did the hippy thing for a few years. Got a bigger house in 99, bought a table and have been pretty much addicted since. Wish I'd played some those 40 or so years when I didn't.
 
I started playing at around age 10. Had a newspaper route in the small town I lived in in SW PA. A little dumpy convenience store on my route (1964 or so) had a single table, wood surface, crooked as hell. The owner intentionally planed down the table surface at the pocket entrances to make them slope toward the pocket. Sly devil. Gave himself the edge in money games for a while. Started playing for dimes & quarters with the teenagers that hung out there. Beat them almost immediately. A couple of years later started playing at a pool room "Modern Cue" in California PA. Had about 15 9' GC's, all colors, and a billiard table. No booze or food. Hustled college kids that hung out there and hustled in other pool rooms in nearby towns where nobody knew me. Played mostly 6-ball back then (around 1970), $5 & $10 a game. Had an older stakehorse that took me around. Joined the Navy at 17. Got married. Had kids. Didn't play at all for over 30 years until about 18 mos ago, when I bought a new 8' Brunswick for a new house. (Live in Sacramento, CA now.) Got hooked. Ended up tearing out a wall after a year to make room for a new 9' Brunswick Gibson. Kicking myself for losing all those years. But it's kind of like reconnecting with an old friend. Better late than never. And I'm playing better now than I did back then (except that I don't gamble nowadays).
 
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I grew up on a small island off the coast of Massachusettes, called Gloucester, had a newspaper route and a little money. There were two pool halls in town Bill's & Nick's. You were supposed to be 16 to get into either place but I started sneaking into Bill's at about 14'. Played there for a year or so after school and on weekends. Then I made the move to Nick's were the real players were. The place was run by Nick Denikas and his son Artie. Just happens to be the place Jimmy Reid learned to play in, on his website under stories he pays his respects to the now closed pool hall. Learned to play carom pool there from an old timer named Lefty it was the only game he played, he was awesome..It was a terrific place and had MANY great memories of playing loads of straight pool and also the great game of shitty eight. That was what we called it, the same as nine ball but because they charged by the rack we used all the solid for one game and then the stripes for the second game. Sort of a two for one deal. It was real dark and had an old wooden creaky floor but we had a hell of a time there, sure do miss the place.
Dan
 
drivermaker said:
Where was that...anywhere near the Uniontown, Masontown, Carmichaels area?
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California, PA is about 20 miles or so from Uniontown, a couple of miles from Brownsville, Charleroi, Donora, and a bunch of other towns along the Monongahaela River with populations of only a couple hundred people. The town that had the dumpy convenience store with the lone, crooked (in more ways than one) pool table was called Coal Center. Population 215. One stop sign, three churches, one bar. And the pool room I grew up in, the Modern Cue in California, PA (which was just a block down the street from another hang-out, the Golden Cue), is also long gone. Golden Cue's long gone, too. Not a pool room left for all those college kids to lose their money in anymore.

(A highlight of my early pool-playing years was participating in an exhibition that Joe Balsis put on at the Modern Cue. I played him a game of 9-ball (sort of: I got one shot, which I dogged). Heck, I was only 15 or so. He played another older guy (the best in the room) a game of 14.1 to 150. Beat him something like 150-5, ran a bunch of racks.)
 
whitewolf said:
I never said anything about showing some people at Planet Pool a thing or two. It's like Yapping Wolf said, I am probably a C- player. I don't disagree with that one iota. Hell, yesterday, after 2 hours, I hadn't run one rack of 9 ball. That is my speed and I don't mind telling others that and have repeated this many times. I don't mind loosing to Fred - Fred is okay. But after Fred, you can be next chump. Think you can even step up to the table?

Sure Ray. Pick a room half way between NYC and Frederick and you're on. I don't mind if you want to bet high. BTW, what the hell is "loosing"?! You trying to get the lid off a jar or something? :p

Eric, you live in a big glass house, and according to rumors mostly spread by WW

that is exactly the problem I have; RUMORS spread by WW(you)

, you and Barbara are the missing others to the trio that forms Yapping Wolf.

you are losing your freakin mind. Remember, big brother is watching, don't drink the water and Elvis still lives. :rolleyes:

Barbara is the computer expert who can take over when Dave is sleeping. Yapping Wolf never sleeps does he/she/it Eric? Heh?
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You are a real piece of work, Ray.


Eric
 
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