Many match-ups come to mind but for me none of them are as sweet as the "first timer" situations. For example, I was just getting into pool at a young age. I had watched hours and hours of Accustats, listened to commentary from Billy and Grady. Such good stories have been told on some of those archived tapes. I was lucky enough to get around some good players and learned a lot. But had never took any major road trips. I played local players 5, 10 a game 9 ball, some 50 dollar sets maybe. Finally, I was 18 and out of High School. I took my first road trip to North Carolina. I was just starting to get to where I could run out a bit here and there. We went to Mother's Billiards and there was a Gypsy fella that hung out there, and everybody tried to get him down. I tried for days and couldn't get him down to gamble. It was like a race everyday to get to the poolroom and try to get this guy down. He played terrible and wouldn't play anybody without a minimum spot of the 8, the break, and the first shot after the break. Finally, one day a gentleman with me had a huge bankroll maybe 40k or so, and he was in the bathroom. I said.."hey give me that bankroll and I'm gonna flash it to Jeff (the gypsy) and maybe that will get him down." This was sort of a last resort, as I had been schooled about the "flash" and when it is safe versus unsafe. It was about 1 in the afternoon and the Gypsy was in there sitting on the rail. I had bankroll in pocket and I sat next to him for a few minutes. Finally, I ordered a coke and said..."Hey Jeff you want something to drink?" he looked at me (we were probably no more than 3 feet apart) and I had that huge bankroll of 100s in my hand. His eyes got bigger than silver dollars. Within 10 minutes we were negotiating a game and withing 20 minutes he broke the first rack. We started betting 50 a game with me spotting him the 7,8 break and first shot after the break. Also, there was no 3 foul rule (obviously to my disadvantage) and he was allowed to "scoop jump." Striking his ferrule under the cue ball. Long story short we played all night with a couple raises in there. Then we played for the next 3 or 4 days. The highest we bet was 200 a game and I ended up beating him out of a little over 10k. He was quite the character. He had a wife that came in with him a couple of days and sometimes he would get disgusted and let her sub in and play for him. She actually played better! But, it came with the territory and I just had to fade a little barrage here and there.
So, to me that "first time" high of betting big money (i had never bet this much up to that point) and making a score takes the cake. It's really sort of like drug addicts and how they are always searching to get that first time high back. Sure, 14 years later I've played lots and lots of money games many of them for bigger money, but none of them quite seem to get me as high as that first time. That was a trip I'll always remember. That is just one story. I played several other people there. It was one hell of an action spot for a short time. Sadly, it is now closed.
Thanks for the thread Artie. I haven't been playing much pool nor following much as of late. This thread got my attention and now it has got that fire and desire sparked a bit inside of me. I guess I better start hitting some balls!
