Who was the best pool player you ever played in your pool career?

Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer, Tommy Tokoph, Nick Tafoya, Mark Tafoya, Tom Riccobene, Jerry Johnson, Fred Chereti, Bob LePado, Gary Sze, Anna Kostanian. :)
 
A fellow AZB'er that gives me the wild 7 and out AND the breaks AND forced to play with a house cue and I can't ever recall winning a set against him.

I break very well and actually do what know what I'm doing, but this guy always makes me feel straight retarded whenever we play. He's probably having a hayday just reading this...you biaaatch haha, you know who you are! See you on Wed. :)
 
Hey Guys (and Girls), First time posting. From 1985 at 15 years old until the mid 90s, I lived and breathed pool. My home away from home was Blackstone Billiards in Fresno CA. During that time, I played alot of central valley greats from Rocky Antenucci to Bob Geels to Audi Perez. We used to call Bob Sir Geels due to us knuckle head teenagers worshipped him. He was the best I'd seen on a bar table but his vision failed him later on. Rocky taught me many things. He was definitely the kindest man in the world. So sorry to hear of his passing.

My clock has been cleaned by many, but three guys come to mind. Blackstone Billiards had a 9 ball tourney every Tuesday. Lot of the strong players came to town from Modesto to Merced on some nights. Audi Perez was one of the nicest guys and hardest breakers I ever met. Dave Ferroni Jr allowed me two shots (hooked me on both shots) in a race to 6 (9 Ball). I watched in awe as Kim Davenport gracefully spanked me allowing me the break to open our match. That was the only shot I got the entire match as he ran 6 straight racks. He shook my hand, which was something Dave Jr. refused to do, and said, "It must be one of those nights." It took me a good hour to get over the display of pool I watched that night.

The third guy left a memorable mark on me to this day. He went by the name Sterling. Black guy in his forties. A great guy who cleaned my clock in the final, but spent the next two hours with me teaching me english and cue ball control. What a lesson and great guy. That was the last time I saw him. I was 16 at the time and those memories have stayed with me.
 
Best player I ever played against was unquestionably Ray Martin - I left an awful lot of money in Clifton in the early 80s. I spent way more time playing with/against Tommy Brown, and I had a few really great games with Robin Bell Dodson, but Ray was (is) far and away the greatest I've played.
 
Hey Guys (and Girls), First time posting. From 1985 at 15 years old until the mid 90s, I lived and breathed pool. My home away from home was Blackstone Billiards in Fresno CA. During that time, I played alot of central valley greats from Rocky Antenucci to Bob Geels to Audi Perez. We used to call Bob Sir Geels due to us knuckle head teenagers worshipped him. He was the best I'd seen on a bar table but his vision failed him later on. Rocky taught me many things. He was definitely the kindest man in the world. So sorry to hear of his passing.

My clock has been cleaned by many, but three guys come to mind. Blackstone Billiards had a 9 ball tourney every Tuesday. Lot of the strong players came to town from Modesto to Merced on some nights. Audi Perez was one of the nicest guys and hardest breakers I ever met. Dave Ferroni Jr allowed me two shots (hooked me on both shots) in a race to 6 (9 Ball). I watched in awe as Kim Davenport gracefully spanked me allowing me the break to open our match. That was the only shot I got the entire match as he ran 6 straight racks. He shook my hand, which was something Dave Jr. refused to do, and said, "It must be one of those nights." It took me a good hour to get over the display of pool I watched that night.

The third guy left a memorable mark on me to this day. He went by the name Sterling. Black guy in his forties. A great guy who cleaned my clock in the final, but spent the next two hours with me teaching me english and cue ball control. What a lesson and great guy. That was the last time I saw him. I was 16 at the time and those memories have stayed with me.

Welcome to the board!
 
Hey Guys (and Girls), First time posting. From 1985 at 15 years old until the mid 90s, I lived and breathed pool. My home away from home was Blackstone Billiards in Fresno CA. During that time, I played alot of central valley greats from Rocky Antenucci to Bob Geels to Audi Perez. We used to call Bob Sir Geels due to us knuckle head teenagers worshipped him. He was the best I'd seen on a bar table but his vision failed him later on. Rocky taught me many things. He was definitely the kindest man in the world. So sorry to hear of his passing.

My clock has been cleaned by many, but three guys come to mind. Blackstone Billiards had a 9 ball tourney every Tuesday. Lot of the strong players came to town from Modesto to Merced on some nights. Audi Perez was one of the nicest guys and hardest breakers I ever met. Dave Ferroni Jr allowed me two shots (hooked me on both shots) in a race to 6 (9 Ball). I watched in awe as Kim Davenport gracefully spanked me allowing me the break to open our match. That was the only shot I got the entire match as he ran 6 straight racks. He shook my hand, which was something Dave Jr. refused to do, and said, "It must be one of those nights." It took me a good hour to get over the display of pool I watched that night.

The third guy left a memorable mark on me to this day. He went by the name Sterling. Black guy in his forties. A great guy who cleaned my clock in the final, but spent the next two hours with me teaching me english and cue ball control. What a lesson and great guy. That was the last time I saw him. I was 16 at the time and those memories have stayed with me.

Hello TYK,
It is a real pleasure to have your first post in one of my threads. I want to welcome you to the best pool site in the world. AZBilliards!! Period. I know you will like it here. Thanks again for your first post being in one of my threads.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
The first pro player I played was Marcus Chamat. I was 18, it was my first tournament with an entry fee over $50. All of the top players from western Canada were there. Marcus had just won his 3rd or 4th European 9-ball Championship and was in N. America for the first time. He rolled into this tourney in Edmonton, Alberta of all places. He was on the road with Ronnie Wiseman and Richie Richeson.

Of course I draw Marcus my first or second match, and of course they put us on the main table because there was quite a buzz about Marcus and everyone wanted to see him play. I was pretty nervous. Well, I played over my head, got a few rolls and somehow ran out a really tough table to end up breaking hill-hill. I break dry and the table is clustered up. He plays two great safeties and gets me on 2 fouls. He has a cinch 3rd foul but opts to try a tough runout instead. He runs out like a champ of course and wins 9-8. I know he saw the safety and I know he knew he could win on three fouls. I think he showed me some mercy since he could tell I was nervous and that all the locals were rooting for me and he didn't want to beat me that way. I have a lot of respect for Marcus for that.
 
I played Nguyen Phuc Long in a 9ball weekend tournament last year and lost 7-9, he was the best Vietnamese player for a few years, and was also highest ranked Vietnamese player in WPA ranking. He now retired from professional pool.

To be honest I got beaten much worse by amateur players lol
 
Sigal, JA, Varner, Kim, svb, hatch,max,,deschane, Morra,shuff, charlie williams,mike massey, tony watson, alex(ring game) shannon, broomback, and bartrum(he decided to play PERFECT on me, i kicked and racked) Ike Runnels, Freddy the beard, Boddy Cotton(he can play banks), Hunter Lombardo, And many other guys, All great racking practice, I played ok on Sigal however we were just being social.
 
I played Mike Segal, Allan Hopkins, Buddy Hall and Mike Zuglan and a list of others that can shoot the lights out.
Segal and Hopkins beat me, but Hall and Zuglan didn't.
 
Sigal, JA, Varner, Kim, svb, hatch,max,,deschane, Morra,shuff, charlie williams,mike massey, tony watson, alex(ring game) shannon, broomback, and bartrum(he decided to play PERFECT on me, i kicked and racked) Ike Runnels, Freddy the beard, Boddy Cotton(he can play banks), Hunter Lombardo, And many other guys, All great racking practice, I played ok on Sigal however we were just being social.

Hey Gold Fat Boy,
Congratulations on your making Gold. When I got off from work they had collected enough money to make you a Gold guy! I would have helped for sure. I saw the request on my lunch hour, but when I got off it was too late to help. I am glad to see you are Gold, Fat Boy. You look good wearing that Gold!
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
Stevie Moore, John Brumback and Gene Albrecht. Technically, I played against them. Realistically, I mostly watched and racked. Wait a minute, those three gentlemen were nice enough they most often racked. So I generally got at least one shot a rack. Lots of fun, all three of those guys were simply great people.
 
Hey Guys (and Girls), First time posting. From 1985 at 15 years old until the mid 90s, I lived and breathed pool. My home away from home was Blackstone Billiards in Fresno CA. During that time, I played alot of central valley greats from Rocky Antenucci to Bob Geels to Audi Perez. We used to call Bob Sir Geels due to us knuckle head teenagers worshipped him. He was the best I'd seen on a bar table but his vision failed him later on. Rocky taught me many things. He was definitely the kindest man in the world. So sorry to hear of his passing.

My clock has been cleaned by many, but three guys come to mind. Blackstone Billiards had a 9 ball tourney every Tuesday. Lot of the strong players came to town from Modesto to Merced on some nights. Audi Perez was one of the nicest guys and hardest breakers I ever met. Dave Ferroni Jr allowed me two shots (hooked me on both shots) in a race to 6 (9 Ball). I watched in awe as Kim Davenport gracefully spanked me allowing me the break to open our match. That was the only shot I got the entire match as he ran 6 straight racks. He shook my hand, which was something Dave Jr. refused to do, and said, "It must be one of those nights." It took me a good hour to get over the display of pool I watched that night.

The third guy left a memorable mark on me to this day. He went by the name Sterling. Black guy in his forties. A great guy who cleaned my clock in the final, but spent the next two hours with me teaching me english and cue ball control. What a lesson and great guy. That was the last time I saw him. I was 16 at the time and those memories have stayed with me.

i played in blackstone a few times, you ever play fresno geroge , i never played him but hung out with him in reno a few times, that was interesting. Dave Jr was cool i played him lots, i remember when jason couldnt make a ball, then a year later wow he was knocking them around real good i never got any action in fresno did in merced and modesto, that was my main spot for years.
 
Hey Fatboy, Of course I remember George. Cant remember his last name but the tats he had were wild. He was a great guy but had a past that could make most people cringe.

Jason was my age and he was very talented. I remember playing with him alot and watching him play both left and right handed. I think about him and wonder what became of him and his talent.
 
Hey Fatboy, Of course I remember George. Cant remember his last name but the tats he had were wild. He was a great guy but had a past that could make most people cringe.

Jason was my age and he was very talented. I remember playing with him alot and watching him play both left and right handed. I think about him and wonder what became of him and his talent.


for 2-3 years jason was running around with the merced crew and didnt care about pool, he hated it, liked to bet some on the rail, and hang out but didnt play. dave jr played good, i cant rememebr him not playing good. then one day jason picked up a cue-wow!!!

i'm 46, i started playing in modesto in 85-90 was in merced in 87-90 and fresno in 87-88,


I met geroge rght after he got out of the joint, he must have been out a week at the most when we met in reno, me him and dave sr got to hanging out one night-i cant tell the story here, its a dandy but its not rated PG, so i cant post it, the wind up is Sr got the pretty girl, the ugly girl liked me, i got drunk thinking i could drink her into being pretty, didnt work, up walks georgy and i said she is all yours, man was he happy, he said she is kinda ugy, i said i know thay why i'm drunk, but not drunk enough, i couldnt get drunk enough, i was 18 or 19 this is at the Sands tourney. I leave i'm rooming with mike mitchell, he asked why i was so drunk(I'm not a drinker) "i wanted to get laid" whats that have to do with drinking he asked me, i showed him the next day. i was puking all night and next morning-it was bad. a day later i run into geroge-i have no idea if it was day or night as that action was 24/7 back then, he said "thanks man, and she paid me $20!!!" he said i had to get something, i asked for my jelly or coco $$$, but on $20 aint nothing coming, Geroge looked at me hard and said "Would you have done it for less?" you had to be there- thats the best i can tell the story here. lol
 
for 2-3 years jason was running around with the merced crew and didnt care about pool, he hated it, liked to bet some on the rail, and hang out but didnt play. dave jr played good, i cant rememebr him not playing good. then one day jason picked up a cue-wow!!!

i'm 46, i started playing in modesto in 85-90 was in merced in 87-90 and fresno in 87-88,


I met geroge rght after he got out of the joint, he must have been out a week at the most when we met in reno, me him and dave sr got to hanging out one night-i cant tell the story here, its a dandy but its not rated PG, so i cant post it, the wind up is Sr got the pretty girl, the ugly girl liked me, i got drunk thinking i could drink her into being pretty, didnt work, up walks georgy and i said she is all yours, man was he happy, he said she is kinda ugy, i said i know thay why i'm drunk, but not drunk enough, i couldnt get drunk enough, i was 18 or 19 this is at the Sands tourney. I leave i'm rooming with mike mitchell, he asked why i was so drunk(I'm not a drinker) "i wanted to get laid" whats that have to do with drinking he asked me, i showed him the next day. i was puking all night and next morning-it was bad. a day later i run into geroge-i have no idea if it was day or night as that action was 24/7 back then, he said "thanks man, and she paid me $20!!!" he said i had to get something, i asked for my jelly or coco $$$, but on $20 aint nothing coming, Geroge looked at me hard and said "Would you have done it for less?" you had to be there- thats the best i can tell the story here. lol

Yeah that sounds about right. My buddy used to say, "Beauty was only a light switch away." You could see a mile away whether or not George was in his "right mind" he was a cool guy but many were probly scared of him. Lol.

What ever happened to Jason?
 
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