Would You Really Be a Road Player?

u12armresl said:
What do you do with the greyhounds when they are past their prime racing age?
Click to expand...

I had signed contracts with the NGA and the kennels that raced my dogs that they were NEVER to be put down, only adopted out. I put $200 in escrow when each was reg. as a pup with the NGA toward adoption cost. So at the end of their racing days they could be adopted for just about free. Johnnyt
 
That is really great of you to do that.

I would love to have a greyhound and am sad for the horror stories I hear about them.

Since you race them you would know, if they ever catch the rabbit, are they ruined for racing or whatever?
 
Jack Madden said:
Bill
I was a little guy at the time - maybe 130 lbs and 5'9". He was a big man and HE WAS SMOOTH!! He acted like a drunk construction worker (house painter) with no pool game (saw plenty of those characters in the pool room). He had all the local every day hustlers (we had a few in Phoenix - San Jose Dick, Pete Glenn, etc) fooled. You could smell the liqour on him 10 feet away (it sure wasn't in him!). He had me a little embarrassed so I looked down - and there were those $400 shoes. All the rest of his clothes were covered with paint. And he had a wad of money - tens of thousands!!! He didn't hustle me that day, but he walked out of the room richer after playing a few older-should-have-known-better players (they had no clue who they were playing). 25 years later, I saw him and to my amazement he remembered me, the year and the place. He said he remembered any player he didn't beat (I had some of his money - sure wish it was more of those thousands).
Click to expand...


Did you know a good shortstop player from Phoenix named Sam Bono, Jack? I was lucky enough to run into him in Vicksburg, MS one night and sent him back broke. I was in Phoenix about 6 months later and he wanted the break and the 7 ball. I only played probably the 8 over him and passed.
 
u12armresl said:
What do you do with the greyhounds when they are past their prime racing age?
Click to expand...

Or "What do you do with players/hustlers when they are past their prime playing age";) :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ;)

You become the best cuemaker you can be! You put all the knowledge you have gained over decades of playing straight pool, one pocket, nine ball, banks, eight ball, etc. on regulation tables and bar boxes into the balance, weight, butt size and shafts, etc for cues for other players who love the game as much as you do!.:D :D :D
 
u12armresl said:
That is really great of you to do that.

I would love to have a greyhound and am sad for the horror stories I hear about them.

Since you race them you would know, if they ever catch the rabbit, are they ruined for racing or whatever?
Click to expand...

They are not ruined if they catch the lure. If they catch a real rabbit that's a good thing. But training with live lures is ilegal.

We have the horror stories down to about 2% of all involved in Greyhound Racing now. But like pool, purses are small now a days because of bad press from animal rights groups there are no big sponsors. I sold out a few years ago. I just have one stud dog. Dogem By Design. He was an All American= 1 of 8 best in the country. Johnnyt
 
Sorry. Didn't mean to high jack your thread with Greyhound Racing. I'll shut up now. Johnnyt
 
????????????

With todays technology, high cost of living, an fuel if you played better than Efren it would be hard to make it period. In my day we used to look in the parking lot an check license plates to see where someone was from.
Now days you have cell phone cameras someone posts a players picture on AZB an presto the players knocked. If no one has a camera they just
post their description an their buddys an its over. In todays world we have 150 pool dectives to every player they can't play but they are all champion knockers. At DCC for instance you could probably guess 2 of the top 5 in every event an guess one or two of the top 3 in the all around. It
looks as though if you are going to make any money today its betting high with someone else's money in gambling rooms like at DCC. The reason I say someone else's money is: What if you go broke playing on your own?
There's a saying among gamblers (When your broke you're a joke) so all you guys that dream of being road players all I can tell you is gas up your 1991 Toyota an hit the road chances are before to long you'll be a joke.
Pinocchio
 
hemicudas said:
Did you know a good shortstop player from Phoenix named Sam Bono, Jack? I was lucky enough to run into him in Vicksburg, MS one night and sent him back broke. I was in Phoenix about 6 months later and he wanted the break and the 7 ball. I only played probably the 8 over him and passed.
Click to expand...

Bill,

I think you are talking about Sammy Bona (think its A). He played damned good on the 6x12 snooker table. He was thin on the tall side. If he had a cowboy hat on he looked sort of like Chuck Connors (you know the tv western the Rifleman?) so we called him the Rifleman. Last I heard was he was a tile setter living in Tucson, AZ. Haven't heard about him for years. When and where did you play him?

And JohnnyT - you did not high jack the thread - interesting info - any knowledge is worth the time spent
 
I cant say i have ever been on the road,but i find games and look for them,i play not just pool but also poker and do it all week long for the most part besides other things.I havent worked a real job in years due to it but there is no future in it,im young and just doing what im enjoying.It is a tough way to make an easy living,i wouldnt call it hustling but more like scuffling,just getting by and not getting ahead.If i were at Efrens level yes i would be on the road and give it a shot but like most people said its not what it used to be,its worse due to being found out fast because everyone knows everyone,small world with the internet.
 
Jack Madden said:
Bill,

I think you are talking about Sammy Bona (think its A). He played damned good on the 6x12 snooker table. He was thin on the tall side. If he had a cowboy hat on he looked sort of like Chuck Connors (you know the tv western the Rifleman?) so we called him the Rifleman. Last I heard was he was a tile setter living in Tucson, AZ. Haven't heard about him for years. When and where did you play him?

And JohnnyT - you did not high jack the thread - interesting info - any knowledge is worth the time spent
Click to expand...

That's him, Jack. Blonde headed guy. I was running with Bill Stack at the time and he said the guy's name was the same as Sonny Bono. Could easily be Bona. Like I said, we only played in my home state in Vicksburg, Miss. and it was on a bar box, which was my long suit then. Can't remember the name of the bar in Phoenix we ran into him after that. Stack was with me in Phoenix and Bill had beaten him a year earlier there. This happened in the mid 70s. I think it was 76. The only 6X12 snooker table in Miss. then was at the VFW in Vicksburg and you had to be a member to get in.
 
hemicudas said:
That's him, Jack. Blonde headed guy. I was running with Bill Stack at the time and he said the guy's name was the same as Sonny Bono. Could easily be Bona. Like I said, we only played in my home state in Vicksburg, Miss. and it was on a bar box, which was my long suit then. Can't remember the name of the bar in Phoenix we ran into him after that. Stack was with me in Phoenix and Bill had beaten him a year earlier there. This happened in the mid 70s. I think it was 76. The only 6X12 snooker table in Miss. then was at the VFW in Vicksburg and you had to be a member to get in.
Click to expand...

Very popular pool playing bar with bar boxes in Phoenix in mid seventies was the Camelback Lounge.

I knew he went on the road hustling about that time, heard he went to OK and South. Looked like he got beat up when he got back to AZ. He used to hang out in JR. Rodgers (Weldon Rodgers) pool room in Tucson - he didn't have the heart Junior had. Heard Weldon went to Kentucky and opened or managed a room there - maybe in the 80's.
 
A major factor for a road player is salesmanship and being able to entertain people. The gift of gab is worth its weight in gold.

A road player has to not only play well but also has to sell himself with an out going personality. Not only does this help in getting strangers to the table to gamble but it helps immensely after the money has changed hands.

I've known some road players who could go into a monastery and in 20 minutes have the monks gamblin' it up and when it was over, they would ask him to come back. They just sold themselves and got a lot of repeat business.

Buying your opponent, the rail or the whole bar a beer or drink DURING the match can quell some trouble later on. It shows you're willing to share the wealth and not be out just to rob them.

I was on the road in the early 80's for three years and only had a couple of situations that could have turned nasty and nothing happened because of the golden tongue.

Also, having a road partner who was the strongest human I ever met didn't hurt things either. LOL
 
Stones said:
A major factor for a road player is salesmanship and being able to entertain people. The gift of gab is worth its weight in gold.

--- situations that could have turned nasty and nothing happened because of the golden tongue.

Also, having a road partner who was the strongest human I ever met didn't hurt things either. LOL
Click to expand...

So true. A good road partner sure helps - only as long as he is watching your back - had a guy who went along to watch my back for awhile - at the local hang outs. He loved to go since my winnings (I played on my own money) paid for his drinks and drinks weekend after weekend. Started watching out for myself and "gift of gab" had to go into overtime.
 
Jack Madden said:
Bill,

I think you are talking about Sammy Bona (think its A). He played damned good on the 6x12 snooker table. He was thin on the tall side. If he had a cowboy hat on he looked sort of like Chuck Connors (you know the tv western the Rifleman?) so we called him the Rifleman. Last I heard was he was a tile setter living in Tucson, AZ. Haven't heard about him for years. When and where did you play him?

And JohnnyT - you did not high jack the thread - interesting info - any knowledge is worth the time spent
Click to expand...

Hemicudas was right, his name is Sam Bono, with an o, and although he has lived all over the state, he is from and still lives in Tucson. He doesn't play pool anymore, but he still stops in the pool hall every now and then. Come to think of it, I haven't seen him in several months, which is odd. He installs carpet and vinyl, so you were pretty close with tile setter. You are right about his abilities on the 6x12, and his favorite game was golf on a snooker table. The first time I met him I was sitting at a table eating a sandwich, and he sat down next to me, lit up a cigar, and blew the smoke right in my face. We had an unpleasant confrontation, and haven't much liked each other since. Not much of a person, but a pretty good player in his day.
 
The first thing i would do, if i played like efren reyes, is go by the goodwill store and buy me some either ups or u.s.postal service uniforms. This way you can come in under the radar. I mean most gamblers would know that those guys make pretty good money and would be chompin at the bit to get some of it. Probably would need to buy a few drinks and make a friend or 2, would'nt hurt either. Then go and have some "you just got hustled by the best" t-shirts and hand them out when you leave for your next town. LOL!!
 
Hustler Days

Read "Hustler Days". After that, if you still want to go on the road, then I don't know what to say for you.
 
Maybe I should read it again... ?

I bought that book about a year ago and read it then. I'm not
sure what you are referring to in the book, perhaps I'll read
it again. It sounded like you read something in there that
turned you off. Was it just because very high caliber players
are out there also?
 
its a tough gig, i did it a little and was awalys the weaker player, so we would do the switch move, it well.
 
Road life

whitey2 said:
I bought that book about a year ago and read it then. I'm not
sure what you are referring to in the book, perhaps I'll read
it again. It sounded like you read something in there that
turned you off. Was it just because very high caliber players
are out there also?
Click to expand...

No. To me it seemed like a sad and miserable life.
 
Ohplayer said:
No. To me it seemed like a sad and miserable life.
Click to expand...
I agree,i think all of them died broke and with no family(kids),thats the sacrifice i guess.If you read McGoortys book its the same story as it is for alot of players and hustlers known and unknown,its a tough way to make an easy living with no future and no retirement plan either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top