Tom, for the short time that you have been posting you have shown me that you have an excellent mind for one pocket. I have noticed that you have come up with many good shots and have rebutted what many thought were good options. Who did you learn from if anyone? You also mentioned that you play 3 cushion as well, another game that would be beneficial as well playing one pocket. You were very quick to point out the three cushion around the table options for both offense and defensive shots. I also like when you accepted my critiquing of the Frost billiard with the 2ball as not being a conservative option, and totally understood my logic when I rebutted. I would really enjoy playing you some one pocket, hopefully one day we can play.
Dr. Bill
Dr. Bill,
It is interesting you asked where I learned the game of One Pocket. I lived in MD. just outside Washington D.C. When I first stepped into the local pool room for the first time I was about sixteen and was as green as the grass on a golf course. I had the good fortune of having a good player teach me a few fundamentals and I went from there. The players in this room all played One Pocket far more than any other game. D.C. was a great One Pocket town from early on. There was Earl Shriver, Gracey, Strawberry, Jackie Robinson aka "the mailman" and so on and so on. The number of road players who came through town couldn't be counted. Many of them left broke.
I learned the hard way how to play the game. I lost my money every week for years but I never gave up because I saw that I was learning the game, and the players who were beating me weren't beating me as easily as before.
Also, there was Jack & Jill Cue Club, Beenie's place in Shirlington, Va. Another top spot was Guys & Dolls in Silverhill, MD. At the time this place had the highest dollar action in the country. Baltimore was just up the street and more wonderful players hailed from that area. Cigar Tom (not much of a One Pocket player but a great 9ball player. Greg Regie (sp) Richard Regie's son was a super player. He was a little nuts but wow, what a player. His dad wouldn't let him out of the basement until he ran a hundred balls in straight pool. This was every day! For those who don't know, Greg was subject to beat anyone. Pick your game.
Man! The players I got to watch were awe inspiring. Every great player in the world played there at one point or another. I know you know that. I watched and learned like my mind was a sponge for knowledge. I lived and breathed One Pocket. Misspent youth? You know it.
I got to where I could compete with a few of the better players and kept getting more solid with every match I played. I developed that killer instinct every top player has in their arsenal. That is the intangable difference between players in my estimation. Learning how to win against fine players when NOT playing your best is the most important lesson a professional can learn.
What I'm tellling you is nothing new to you or to many others who may be reading this, but in writing this it dawned on me that there are others who frequent this site who are eagar to learn and improve their game. I hope to inspire others to join us who have been playing One Pocket for our lifetimes and love it as we do.
Bill, I would consider it a privledge to play some One Pocket with you. I rarely get a chance to play much anymore. I cannot go in a smoking room at all. I suffer from some COPD and though many rooms are now nonsmoking that factor has come a little late for me. I've lost a lot of my shot making skills and my priorities have changed. The NEED to win isn't as strong as it once was. I have most of what is important to me, thank God.
Now I mostly wish to share what I know about this game. I want to give something back to the game I think is the best game ever invented.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to those folks who constructed this site.
Yikes, I didn't know I carried on this long.
Tom
