Before I die, I should tell people about this - a bit of a vision into billiards

[DeepseekerADS]

It popped in to my brain as a laid down to sleep.

Many years ago, and for many years, I hustled pool, billiards. Still have a table in storage with no where to set it up = built September 3rd, 1918. I won a bunch of tournaments, and lost my share of them too.

The best run I had in straight pool was 58 balls straight.

Life happened, got old early. But I shot pool against Minnesota Fats, and separately with Willie Mosconi.

Fats was a loud butthole, constantly yapping - his way of putting his opponents off game - He got me, kicked my butt.

Mosconi was the real deal, the best I ever played against = certainly kicked my butt.

Those guys were legends - I REALLY DID NOT LIKE FATS - the damned guy never shut his mouth.

Mosconi was quiet and very serious, again the best I ever played against.

I guess I needed to say this, can't leave it behind without giving credit to legends...

 

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[Oregon Viking]

I have ruled the tables....town of 6600.
That story...brother is inspiring.

 

[Oregon Viking]

Let's start a "billiards" thread!!!!

 

[Rebel - KGC]

YEAH!

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Use "8 Ball" to "predict" OUTCOME! "Google" MAGIC 8-Ball (on-line).

 

[Garscale]

Great story. Mosconi was a class act in his time. There are hundreds of great pool shooters out there now. Its a totally different world though.

As a young man I too ruled my area. A bunch of messed up disc in my back ended that. Went many years without picking up a stick. Three years ago a t-netter named jim hopper(fogman) stayed several months with me. He is a player and talked me into finding a place to play. I humored him and tried playing left handed as I can't turn to my right. I was like a kid starting over. Nothing natural about the stroke off handed. It was a challenge though so I have spent the last couple years relearning the game as a lefty.

Then I broke my left arm. Lol. I'm almost over it. It there is anyone traveling around the lufkin Texas area that wants to play I have a quiet spot on some perfect diamond tables.

 

[Tpmetal]

in my small town college I would often run the table all night until I was literally so drunk I was falling face first onto the table/floor when I went to shoot, even then I still often won while that drunk(man did that piss people off). I don't play anymore as I can't afford a table of my own and I don't go to bars anymore(for obvious reasons of not drinking much anymore and work/kid/life took over). No pool halls near me either. I miss playing, the only reason I got any good was sneaking into a bar since I was 18 to play, they figured out pretty quick I was underage, but at that point I was not drinking and causing problems so they let me hang out. Only played for money when someone was an A**hat though, just to punish them for their behavior. ended up tending bar there for a few years as well getting lots of practice on my slow shifts.

 

[metrotec]

You sound like my old friend, Dempsy W*****. He too played against the above mentioned. Also my son-in-law is ranked in a large Southern City, never played U S ranked guys/gals.
Good story

 

[Mackaydon]

I would have considered it an honor to play against either one of them; notwithstanding the obvious outcome.
Don..........

 

[releventchair]

Mosconi!
I'd have offered to carry his stick. Playing him would have been nerve wracking while watching ,and embarrassing should I have had a shot. L.o.l..
Was great to watch on T.V. though!

I've held a table a couple times.
The rest of the time , I was reminded pool was not my forte...Something about geometry or something I was weak at.

We had a table when I was a kid. That helped get me started.
And there's always a table , somewhere.

Met some decent players on tables. No top notch/ranked ones. (That I know of....)
A former boss when I was a teen played for beers after work. Money if it was insisted upon.
I never lacked for beer to drink back then ,so he did alright.
If multiple players were wanted and he came up short I'd get dragged into it but he was certainly better on his own.

 

[smallfoot]

While I never ruled any halls, I love the game. I shoot a table made by Brunswick in the early teens. 9 footer. Our little group of 10-12 players dwindled over the years as life got real. We played Thursday nights...6- 10 cause everybody still worked. About 4 tables in our group so another hosted every week. In the last few years we haven't done anything but work on big projects like houses and barns for friends but I am thinking those chores are close enough to finished that we may get to shoot regularly again soon.
Would have loved the opportunity to play a great like either of those mentioned...

 

[Mackaydon]

I put my quarter on many tables but would run out of quarters by the end of the night; an indication of my level of skill.
Don......

 

[DeepseekerADS]

It's been years since I shot pool, still have my stick in a case over by my bed. But I did have the fever when in my 20's to 30's. I did get kinda cocky, play the wrong guy and it was fighting time. And, usually by the time I got to a table I'd have beer & Tequila in my system. Some people were sore losers, got mad when they lost repeatedly - popped in the head with cues a couple times, still got the scars.

As time passed my eyesight changed, didn't have the precision vision anymore. By that time too ---> was a heavy drinker, and got the shakes and still do. Also, along came the cataracts in both eyes. Had to have surgery to correct both, and afterwards my vision had completely changed.

So I haven't played in around 30 years now. Sometimes I miss it, but have no where to set up my table. Mine is a 9 foot, built September 3, 1918. 3 piece 1" slate. Got it in Midland, MI and it's disassembled in storage at my brother's house.

 

[outlaws15]

Cool thread. I ran the table in my neighborhood then went to bars where the people I ran into actually supplemented their income shooting pool. I then decided to stay in my neighborhood shooting.
Some pics of my table.
Couple more tidbits: this table was at my folks house when I was growing up. The folks gave it to me. In my basement now. I wrote to a few experts on tables. There replies was it was made in the 1890's. No one could put a name to it. The bottom line was it was probably bits and pieces of a couple of tables. The table did come from a pool hall. My grandfather had bought it. When my folks went to get it from grandpa's garage every pocket had a mouse nest in it. The underneath is capable of having ball return.
Later in life I was working at a country club in the hill country of Austin TX. One of my members was Bill Stroud and while the head pro and Bill were playing golf Bill got a call from I think Willie M to have him make a cue. If it wasn't Willie it was Fats, but I think the pro said Willie.
A little later in life I decide to have a cue repaired ( piece of crap cue) this is now in the out skirts of St. Louis, MO.
I went to a shop where I met Jim Buss. I walk in with the cue and said can u repair this and I'd like to buy a cue. He said your in the wrong place. I acted like no I'm not. He said your cue is not any good and it cost more to put a tip on it then the cue is worth. Then I said fine I'll buy one. I had to leave knowing I was in the wrong. His cheapest cue was 6 G's. I did end up going back to Jim's a few times. We actually had a few things in common. He knew Stroud could collaborate my story and he use to scuba dive. I did end up buying a $400.00 cue he made cause he liked the color of the piece of wood. The only reason he made that cue.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

NICE!

 

[outlaws15]

The slate on this table is in 3 sections. About 250 #'s per piece. Does one inch slate sound right? Or 2 3/4 inch? I cant remember how thick the pieces are.

 

[pepperj]

Oh the memories of the pool hall education basically being there 7 days a week when I only 13-16yrs old. (8 ball only) We weren't allowed in the billiards section (4 lrg. tables) of the hall as it was the "Men"-we could sit and watch as long as we kept it zipped. The upper section was for the young idiots/pushers that hung out, as it had 8 tables of various sizing.
Me and a buddy hustled for yrs supporting our habits.
Got to be pretty good by the time we got to the bar scene (16-18yrs old)
Then life's habits took a lot of the enjoyment-plus a major hand accident.
I've played a bit over the years-very rarely, and it's a lost art it seems to what we had at such a young age.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

The slate on this table is in 3 sections. About 250 #'s per piece. Does one inch slate sound right? Or 2 3/4 inch? I cant remember how thick the pieces are.

Yep, that's what mine is, 3 sections & about 250 # per section = 1" slate. As cataracts led to surgery in both eyes, artificial lenses in both eyes, I'll never see the same again - but I can drive at night and see clearly. But my vision will never be the same again. Yes, I see clearly now with no issues, but it is "different".I do wish I had space in my house to set the table up again.

Life happens to each of us, just hope the changes were for the better. It does however limit my drinking - and drinking was my second habit My Dad was a bootlegger - got busted hauling a load. Down here in podunk rural Virginia at that period of time, the only way to make good money was hauling liquor.

 

[chirper97]

I was always an average pool player. One afternoon in 1972 I took a medium dose of LSD with my wife, and played a friend who planned to relish his victory over my altered state. I was peaking and gazed at the ball distribution after my break, and proceeded to run the table. The geometry appeared perfect and the solutions to the needed angles of impact were transparent. The pockets appeared HUGE....it was fun. I recall Dock Ellis, the MLB pitcher who pitched a perfect game while tripping, and the episode of the Sopranos when Tony dropped acid and busted the casino bank! Not to mention Steve Jobs' revelations when tripping. Many years ago, but the memories are like today! https://nypost.com/2014/08/31/pitcher-dock-ellis-dropped-acid-then-threw-a-no-hitter/

 

[outlaws15]

Another short story. When the moving co. Came to folks house to move table to my house I told the dudes taking it apart how I would hide my drug paraphernalia under the table. He started laughing and said the wk b4 he was moving g a table and the parents were there and found a bag of weed underneath the table. That kid he said got busted by his folks