Yesterdays romance with pool

D

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It was around 1961 and I just graduated from high school
faced with the choice of college or work,i went to college

but then one day i went to the cotton bowling palace in dallas
i watched the movie"The hustler" and suddenly I saw another career path open up

I loved the action,high dollar games and famous players
I saw the real Fats,I played him pool and others too

I met Titanic Thompson and played one pocket with him
Suddenly I was having fun

Alligator shoes,fancy slacks,a bank roll of my own

Never mind the fact that I was the worse player in town

I could match up I took pool players to the golf course,
I bought a book on poker and started winning from pool players and golfers

I went to school in the daytime,I played something every night

I had cash,I bought a car for cash,a 1958 Corvette
I lost it in a card game and won it back

I met gangsters and won their money,actual cold blooded killers

Ask Billy if he ever heard of Charlie Boyd

He robbed Corn Bred Red and Boston Shorty in the rest room at the Cotton Palace
when they came out,Charlie introduced them to R D Matthews

He did not run out,he stayed around to gamble

I started running with Titanic,he taught me how to win money with propositions

He took me for a caddy and made me wear PF Flyers and look stupid
Then when his opponents asked for a stroke or 2 a hole,Titanic would laugh and
say"my caddy can beat you with a stroke pr hole"
and if they didn't like that Ti would say"give him 2 strokes and he can play with only one hand"

I shot a 78 with one hand one day on 18 holes,so you can see how easy money was to win

I thought it would last forever,you would probably not believe the stories.

At college they made me a member of the fraternity,where my reputation for gambling
impressed the college boys,One year we had RD MATTHEWS get us a big Italian Restaurant in Downtown Dallas
for a New Years eve party

We had so many college kids the Fire Marshall threatened to shut us down,
but we had Bubbles Cash dancing some exotic number and they agreed to leave us alone



Now a days i go into the pool room and all I see is players betting $10 or maybe a little more,complaining that
I am standing in their field of vision.When a player is worried about having quiet library conditions to play,
I know he is a loser

Look at Efren playing in the cock fight arena,that's the way it was when I was a kid You wanna know why these American players lose

just look at the Philipine pool rooms with 100s of people crowding the table

In fact I played Harry Platis in the practice room at the world championship with about 400 loud patrons surrounding the table
$1000 a game in the center and lots of side bets covered by confederates, I had to look like I was scared but i had several
assistants covering bets on the side.,usually blond females,when they anted to bet $500 on me,who could turn them down
Sometimes I had the girls bet the other way on cue,not dumping just feeding the pigeons to keep them happy

A player should always ask permission to bet on me,but if he doesn't,if he tries to steal from my birds nest
well no where does it say i have to win every game

And why sholdn't I let these petty thieves bet with the girls on the games that i am lemoning off.

Oh what fun it is to be a 100% pool sucker when a plan comes together
 
Last edited:
Dean,

Those were the best of times.

It was the beginning of the summer between my Junior and Senior years in high school. I was living with my sister near Synder Plaza in Dallas. We were paying $100. a month for our apartment.

She asked me when I was going to get a Summer job? I reached in my pocket and pulled out $500. that I had won playing pool. She was flabbergasted.

Needless to say I didn't go to work that summer.

At the Cotton Bowl I many times had a $10,000 bill in my pocket along with numerous $1000's. Had a new XKE and a new Corvette that I parked right at the entrance.

Everyone had CASH and they bet it.

Where has all the Money gone?

Bill S.
 
Hard to believe now

bstroud said:
Dean,

Those were the best of times.

It was the beginning of the summer between my Junior and Senior years in high school. I was living with my sister near Synder Plaza in Dallas. We were paying $100. a month for our apartment.

She asked me when I was going to get a Summer job? I reached in my pocket and pulled out $500. that I had won playing pool. She was flabbergasted.

Needless to say I didn't go to work that summer.

At the Cotton Bowl I many times had a $10,000 bill in my pocket along with numerous $1000's. Had a new XKE and a new Corvette that I parked right at the entrance.



Everyone had CASH and they bet it.

Where has all the Money gone?

Bill S.
Click to expand...

Billy,I saw those big bills, and thought, hey wait a minute, all my friends were
working for $3 an hour and this guy is tipping the Cotton Palace waitress's
more than they make in a week. The place was jammed with people, I
remember one of the first times I came in, there were so many people
around this one table you couldn't even see the players. They were standing
on chairs and the other tables to see, everyone was waving money, like
at a cock fight. I scoot under a bunch of people and there's Billy playing
(Billy, correct me here if I get his name wrong) Al Obsler. It was like a movie.
At my parents insistence I enrolled in college. Worst 3 weeks of my life.
It was great, Billy's Corvette gets stolen with his cue in it, "oh no, he says
I can get another Corvette, but not another cue like that". That's the way it
was.
jack
 
jackpot said:
Billy,I saw those big bills, and thought, hey wait a minute, all my friends were
working for $3 an hour and this guy is tipping the Cotton Palace waitress's
more than they make in a week. The place was jammed with people, I
remember one of the first times I came in, there were so many people
around this one table you couldn't even see the players. They were standing
on chairs and the other tables to see, everyone was waving money, like
at a cock fight. I scoot under a bunch of people and there's Billy playing
(Billy, correct me here if I get his name wrong) Al Obsler. It was like a movie.
At my parents insistence I enrolled in college. Worst 3 weeks of my life.
It was great, Billy's Corvette gets stolen with his cue in it, "oh no, he says
I can get another Corvette, but not another cue like that". That's the way it
was.
jack
Click to expand...

Jack,

You are right about the car. I could get another. I bought an XKE while the police were looking for it. They found it in the Trinity River. Now I had two.

No cue though.

That cue was my Rambo that I bought from Boots Maples at Johnson City.
Loved that cue.

You are also correct about Al O. He had a great stroke but like Jerry Trig couldn't control the cue ball.

Bill S.
 
Great post! I'd have to see you shoot a one-handed 78 on the golf course to believe it. I don't see how that can be possible. Unless you're talking about 9 holes...
 
I could not doi it today
but on short ,easy tracks
usually from ladies tees or front tees i did 18 holes like this many times

Mo Brooks,a friend of mine from Oak cliff could shoot par from the front tees on many cues with one hand

In some ways it was easier,I could hit wedge shots that jumped up and landed like a butterfly with sore feet
 
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