Tell us your first big win??

crabbcatjohn said:

Yea, it was Andre. We ran around now and then. It was when Jimmy Gravil had the golf table in his Mexican bar. Man that place was rough at night... Andre didn't care about the money, he would just go next door to the strip club and reload. His dad had already passed by then and he and his mom were running it. You probably remember Jimmy's joint because we were all playing golf one time when Jimmy first opened and you came in, got in the game, ran the first game out from your shot and we all quit shortly after...lol

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Yep, a rough place for sure. I remember when Scott Smith and Mike Ives, the writer won a big score, and they pressed the bet because the guy put up the title to his car . Scott and Mike beat em out of that also, only later to find out the Vin # didn't match the car :lol. I was there and sent Jerry Brock a couple sets lighter, right before he went into the slammer for the twenty or so Kilos of coke he got caught with. Never forgot Dick Henry playing Brock at the Playpen/burlesque bar/on N. Nevada on a bar table, Brock got the dough, but it took all night.

Does poker count?

Does poker count?

It's 1997 and I'm sitting at the bar in the Horseshoe Hotel & Casino, having a drink when an old friend comes by and says hello, what are you doing in here, the tournament is about to start.
I tell him I don't have the price of admission ( $2070.00 ) to enter the event.
He hands me $500.00 and says I got 20% of you, now go get 3 more who will take a piece of you and you're in the tournament.
I had about 15 minutes to find 3 more investors or I don't get in so I take off and round up two investors in 10 minutes and got a maybe from another one, but the time is running out.
I had $700.00 to my name, but I didn't really want to invest any of my money in the tournament. I wanted another investor so I would have a 20% free roll at this event.
I couldn't wait any longer, so I go and pay my entry fee and as I'm going to take my seat at the table I see the maybe investor jumping up and down on the rail and saying is it to late to get that piece?
I have $130.00 left in my pocket, I'm in Vegas and that $500.00 he's waving at me looks pretty damn good. I tell him he's in for 20% just like all the others and take his $500.00
The tournament starts and I play solid for 14 hours have my fair share of good luck and make the final table.
We will start at noon the next day and play until there is a winner. In about 4 hours we are down to 4 players. Miami John Cernutto, Ron Stanley, Bill Gazes, & me. Bill asks if we wanna talk over a chop, ( split up the prize money ) and everyone agrees and we go to a private room and discuss it.
I say let's leave an even $100,000.00 in the pot to play for, 1st place gets 60%, 2nd place gets 30%, and 3rd place gets 10%. 4th place gets nothing except what his current chip count calls for. So we all lock up a really nice piece of cash right then according to our current chip count, then resume play for the $100,000.00.
It's extremely hard to make it to the final table at any WSOP event and when you do I figured you should have to play hard at the end. If we had just chopped the entire purse up we would have just went back out there and pushed all-in on the first hand dealt, no drama and certainly no skill.
They all agreed and we had the tournament director figure out the cash amount each of us had locked up. I think mine came to $110,000.00, I was second in chips to Miami John, his figured to about $115,000.00
So we played it out, and I came 2nd to John when he hit an 8 outer in the river for all the chips and the win.
I ended up with $140,000.00, my biggest single score so far.
We chopped it up 5 ways and I got $28,000.00 for my share, plus all the investors tipped me $1000.00 each. I now had $32,000.00 in pocket where just two days ago sat $700.00
I felt pretty good!
P.S. That late investor cost me an additional $28,000.00. I would have had 40% of myself if I didn't take that $500.00 from him!! The $500.00 looked good at the time though!

gulfportdoc said:

Well, I can sure relate. I was known to sample the leapers now and then in the L.A. of the 60's.....

~Doc

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Also me. Desoxyn was very strong. Especially the mf's. Remember how some folks would put them in water for a while to drain off about half of their power and inject it, and then sell you the soaked, weakened down tablet.??. Green Amps, Biphetamine, Preludin were in vogue around the southeast at the time. Strong medicine indeed. They sure made the difference in many a pool game. And some folks wouldn't go off for nothing unless they were taking them. So you had to make sure to make them available to certain scores aka Sharon Stone-Casino. Here's your Lucky Pill, Sir...

I was 19 so it must have been 1962. “The Hustler” had come out the year before and I was on my summer vacation from college and living at home with my mother still. I had bought a 7 foot Valley to put in the basement. I played on it every night for almost a year and then traded it in for a 9 foot AMF and practiced relentlessly on it.

I had lost my draft card along with my wallet but that’s another story. Anyway, when I went to the draft board to get another draft card, I showed up on a Saturday morning and found only one employee working there that day. She was much older than I but I could tell she fancied me. When she made out my new draft card, she reached behind her chair to a shelf and picked a blank card off of a stack of them on the shelf behind her desk. One thing led to another and the next thing you know we were doing the horizontal mambo on her swivel chair—no mean feat. It was an easy reach for me to help myself to a handful of blank draft cards because she was distracted by me helping myself to all her goodies. Her name was Caroline.

When I got home I just filled out one of the blanks with age appropriate information that allowed me to get into bars from then on. Don’t ask any of my friends and classmates if I sold them blank or doctored draft cards after that because I’ll deny it.

So this one night I found myself at the New Service Bar, a little dive in downtown Flint with two 7 foot bar boxes with the legendary large-size cue ball we called the “Mud-ball.” Two guys were playing 9-ball and I soon found out that this was the famous “Little Harry” Sexton and his friend Gator. Little Harry was a legend in Flint and would later come to be known as ‘Poochie.” He was a top player and maybe the best 9-ball player anywhere. He almost never traveled but he had beaten enough top players to make the rest of them avoid him. He was later to become my good friend with whom I shared many an exploit but this night was the first time I had actually seen the legendary Little Harry in person and I was soon highly impressed.

As I watched Harry and Gator play 9-ball for $3.00 a game, I soon realized I was watching an exhibition of pool at it’s very highest level. Harry broke and ran 5 games right before my very eyes. It was no surprise when Gator pulled up complaining that he could not win if he never got to the table. For me, this was highly unsatisfying because the exhibition had just begun. I just wanted to watch him some more. This, no doubt, is what prompted me to challenge him. So there I sat watching the exhibition as he ran 4 more games of 9-ball at $3.00 a game against me.

In Michigan in those days the challenger, or ‘the quarter’, called the game. Number one, I had never played a game of 9-ball in my life. Number 2, I knew that in 8-ball ‘the quarter’ breaks. In other words, if you lose you have to pay for the next game but you get the break. So I knew that at least I would get a shot every other game or so and I would gladly stay with Harry for as long as my $20.00 held out. After watching Harry run 9 consecutive games of 9-ball, I switched the game to 8-ball.

Well, I had the first break and I had a couple of things in my favor that, as it turned out, served me well. First of all I had been watching Harry shoot for 9 games. Anyone who has ever seen Harry Sexton play pool knows that his fundamentals were impeccable. His rock-solid setup, his perfect practice strokes and the flawless tempo of his delivery were a school unto themselves. I simply tried to copy this. The other thing that played heavily in my favor was that I had no doubt that any and every time I missed, he would undoubtedly run out. This certain knowledge scared me straight, you might say. I was afraid to miss.

Since I had put up the quarter, I got the first break. I broke from right next to the head spot and made a solid. The cue ball and the seven were lined up straight into the corner pocket and I noticed that if I just drew the cue ball 5 and one half inches, it lined up with another ball in the opposite side pocket and I could see I had a stop shot run out from there. I shot the shot flawlessly and I then bathed in a feeling I had never experienced before—the feeling of dead stroke. I couldn’t miss and I knew it. I no longer had to worry about making the ball—only getting shape. I ran out like butta. He broke next and ran out. I broke and ran out. Back and forth we went game after game. Occasionally, one of us would break dry and the other would always run out. We did this for 3 and a half hours. During that time I had only missed once and this was intentional as it left him dead safe. Back then you had to fake safeties as you were playing ‘try to hit it’. He had missed maybe twice. The score at the end of our play was that I had recouped the original $12.00 I had lost to him and also a few more dollars for drinks I had consumed and the quarters I put in the table. I was dead even for the night. He had quit because by now his backer, a room owner named Halligan, and the backer’s bodyguard, a goon named Billy, had shown up and they were going to go find a bigger game.

So my first big win was exactly zero. I’ll never forget it. For months afterwards I would run into someone who had been there that night. I got more than one offer to go on the road all expenses paid with someone. I didn’t do it. I guess I’m really just a straight John.

good

good

story he he

over 20 years ago now, a chemically and alcohol enhanced miller caught the zone.

in a fraternity house at eastern illinois university, i won a game of foosball, cricket, and 8 ball simultaneously.

down to the last point in foos, i caught the ball with my two man, walked a few strides away from the table and threw three bulls - hat trick. without a pause walked over to the 8' table and ran out quicker than ronnie o'sullivan shoots, then proceeded back to the foosball table and fired one in from the back row.

true story, believe it if you want.

nasty trap not first big win

nasty trap not first big win

I was 16 years old and believed with out doubt that I was the best 16 year old player that was playing in the U.S.A at this time in the late sixties. I had just walked into the LeCue Club in downtown Houston Texas and almost immediately this guy everyone new as 10% Denny gave me 10 bucks and said play this guy some 5 dollar nine ball and I'll take half of it. Well every body that new Denny new he wouldn't bet 2 big dogs could whip a little one unless the little one had three legs! LOL. So to say I was wary of Denny putting me on a action game was an understatement. But considering how bold an curious I was I did offer to play this youngster like myself some 5 dollar nine ball. After 4 games of nine ball winning 2 apiece I quit this young man due to the fact that Denny had put me on to the game. The kid I played had long blonde hair to his shoulders was dressed in hippie attire and was only 18 years old and I could see in just 4 games he had a nice stroke. It was none other than Cole Dickson. Not knowing who he was I convinced him to spot me the 8, call eight which I jumped on and was licking my chops. Kicked it off for ten a game and watched that hippie play a caliber of nine ball that only the big boys play. I watched in awe as this Cole guy ran more racks on me than I had ran in my life. 19 games down to Cole Dickson at ten a game and I said this can't happen. I went into a gear that this day I wasn't sure I had. I only had to run to the 8 every game but the call eight wasn't much of a spot among good players and I did the same thing to Cole as he did to me. As I ran the last balls in our final game to get even, Cole unscrewed his cue and we both walked. I Knew I had just escaped the ultimate trap and felt good about it! Denny didn't win shot! Cole and myself became great friends and played just once more in the 9 ball division in Johnston City.

Ross Keith Thompson said:

I was 16 years old and believed with out doubt that I was the best 16 year old player that was playing in the U.S.A at this time in the late sixties. I had just walked into the LeCue Club in downtown Houston Texas and almost immediately this guy everyone new as 10% Denny gave me 10 bucks and said play this guy some 5 dollar nine ball and I'll take half of it. Well every body that new Denny new he wouldn't bet 2 big dogs could whip a little one unless the little one had three legs! LOL. So to say I was wary of Denny putting me on a action game was an understatement. But considering how bold an curious I was I did offer to play this youngster like myself some 5 dollar nine ball. After 4 games of nine ball winning 2 apiece I quit this young man due to the fact that Denny had put me on to the game. The kid I played had long blonde hair to his shoulders was dressed in hippie attire and was only 18 years old and I could see in just 4 games he had a nice stroke. It was none other than Cole Dickson. Not knowing who he was I convinced him to spot me the 8, call eight which I jumped on and was licking my chops. Kicked it off for ten a game and watched that hippie play a caliber of nine ball that only the big boys play. I watched in awe as this Cole guy ran more racks on me than I had ran in my life. 19 games down to Cole Dickson at ten a game and I said this can't happen. I went into a gear that this day I wasn't sure I had. I only had to run to the 8 every game but the call eight wasn't much of a spot among good players and I did the same thing to Cole as he did to me. As I ran the last balls in our final game to get even, Cole unscrewed his cue and we both walked. I Knew I had just escaped the ultimate trap and felt good about it! Denny didn't win shot! Cole and myself became great friends and played just once more in the 9 ball division in Johnston City.

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I remember when Hippie Cole and David Sizemore came thru SIU, Carbondale during the late sixties. He did dress sharp, and like the Beard had said before, when you see em from the back side with his gorgeous blonde hair and outfits, you thought for sure, during those hippie days it musta been a gal, I think Cole also had blue eyes. Anywho, it had to be sixty nine or 70 because I talked em into a game on a certain nine foot table, that had four rails that were all different and had completely different speeds. I got em to spot me the wild seven/eight....and played em for twenty a game, and that was allot for a broke/dick college student. Anywho after about an hour plus I got em for four games, and he quit. Thereafter I got to see him play in Johnson city and enjoyed his Ronnie Allen type style and his aggressive high powered pocketing game, almost like a mini Sigel with a bark that was even better than Mikes. Keith, what cue did you have during your win at Janscos? Boy the hippie chicks from Carbondale sure talked about you allot back then .

My first big score was ;
Got a call to come to the bar as a friend was playing some 5&5 9 ball with a

stranger who wanted more players. I had to work in 2 hours but I got right down.We started to play and I caught a gear,ran 3 or 4 tables with extra balls.

When I finally missed of course the stranger was hooked! he bumped the game to 10&10. I won a little more and he wanted to play 10 on the 3,5,7,9. I ran a couple racks like that and my friend said he was going to quit.

I reminded the guy that I had to go soon,and he said well lets play for 15 on all the odd#s. After about 45 min. I was up only another 75 or so . We shook hands and agreed to play again.

My score was about 400,which was almost 2 weeks take home. Not bad for a 1 1/2 play.

Thank god for house cues

Thank god for house cues

Hello Bill Meachem, When I played the 9 ball division at Johnston City I used mostly house cues. Most hustlers back in the day used house cues or at least that was the sensible thing to do when hustling strange places but not in the world tournament. No doubt having your own custom cue brings your game up or assures your consistency in your pool game. I played a black fellow name Red that played very well in my first match at Johnston City. I asked him the next day if he would loan me his cue for my next match against Blackie Laseur and he did but it cost me 60 dollars. I think I played the rest of the 9 ball with house cues which I was used to. Eddie Burton (top player back in the day) did loan me his cue maybe once in the 9 ball tourney and it was heavy. Finest feeling cue I ever used, elevated my game to my highest level. I did play Erving Crane in the semi-final with a house cue and never missed a ball. Irving had just knocked Lassiter to losers bracket beating him 11 to 3. Watched him run 7 racks in a row against Lassiter. I thought how in the world am I going to beat this guy and I had never ran 7 in a row myself but I never counted, LOL. So as the show goes I won the 9 ball and played the all-around a week later after hanging with Cole Dickson for a week in Atlanta. Went back to Janscos and played the All-around mostly with a house cue but I did use Freddie THE Beard cue for one match and didn,t like the cue that much. In my final match against Ronnie Allen for all the marbles Eddie Burton stepped to the plate and offered his cue which was like heaven to play with. After I knew why he was so tough to beat,haha. Eddies deal was I had to beat that freaking prick or he would never have anything to do with me again. LOL. After Johnston City I bought a new National cue from Alf taylor for 40 dollars (cost) and played Buddy Hall 4 hours of even 9 ball in early 71 and that cue was all the difference. But my final cue in the tourney was Eddie Burton's and it was sweet. Would have played him with his own cue,LOL.

Ross Keith Thompson said:

Hello Bill Meachem, When I played the 9 ball division at Johnston City I used mostly house cues. Most hustlers back in the day used house cues or at least that was the sensible thing to do when hustling strange places but not in the world tournament. No doubt having your own custom cue brings your game up or assures your consistency in your pool game. I played a black fellow name Red that played very well in my first match at Johnston City. I asked him the next day if he would loan me his cue for my next match against Blackie Laseur and he did but it cost me 60 dollars. I think I played the rest of the 9 ball with house cues which I was used to. Eddie Burton (top player back in the day) did loan me his cue maybe once in the 9 ball tourney and it was heavy. Finest feeling cue I ever used, elevated my game to my highest level. I did play Erving Crane in the semi-final with a house cue and never missed a ball. Irving had just knocked Lassiter to losers bracket beating him 11 to 3. Watched him run 7 racks in a row against Lassiter. I thought how in the world am I going to beat this guy and I had never ran 7 in a row myself but I never counted, LOL. So as the show goes I won the 9 ball and played the all-around a week later after hanging with Cole Dickson for a week in Atlanta. Went back to Janscos and played the All-around mostly with a house cue but I did use Freddie THE Beard cue for one match and didn,t like the cue that much. In my final match against Ronnie Allen for all the marbles Eddie Burton stepped to the plate and offered his cue which was like heaven to play with. After I knew why he was so tough to beat,haha. Eddies deal was I had to beat that freaking prick or he would never have anything to do with me again. LOL. After Johnston City I bought a new National cue from Alf taylor for 40 dollars (cost) and played Buddy Hall 4 hours of even 9 ball in early 71 and that cue was all the difference. But my final cue in the tourney was Eddie Burton's and it was sweet. Would have played him with his own cue,LOL.

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Now there's a name out of the past, Eddie Burton, aka, "The Hat" I used to call him flea, boy he hated it too, would get fighting mad about it. We used to play keno tickets in Vegas whenever we went to dinner. We always played a $1.00
8 spot, I think it paid $25,000.00 if you hit all 8. One time we hit 7 outta the first 15 #'s called and really embarrassed ourselves screaming for our last # to be called! with 5 #'s to go, we had a good chance to hit it, but it didn't show, we musta looked like we were at the track, screaming for our horse to win it!
Hello Keith,
You quit at 19 years old??
Why???? you had real talent, and surely you would only have gotten better!
Didn't it bother you, walking away so soon?? you were a real life "Moonlight Graham", only you made it to the show and won it all! It's plain enough for me to see, you did love the game, you couldn't possibly got to your level of play without really caring about the game. It's really a shame, because many players devoted their entire lives to playing and never got where you were at 19!!

Jeff sparks said:

Hello Keith,
You quit at 19 years old??
Why???? you had real talent, and surely you would only have gotten better!
Didn't it bother you, walking away so soon?? you were a real life "Moonlight Graham", only you made it to the show and won it all! It's plain enough for me to see, you did love the game, you couldn't possibly got to your level of play without really caring about the game. It's really a shame, because many players devoted their entire lives to playing and never got where you were at 19!!

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Irwin Davis and I went to Pasadena Tx. to visit his friend Carl Johnson.
Carl had recently bought a pool room there.

There was this skinny scrawny young kid (Keith) hitting balls, he either miscued or jumped the table every other shot.

Carl said he loved to play so much, he had his mom come in and talk to him and get permission for the kid to come in.

About six months or less later the young man came to the LeCue, got the 5/6 ? out from King Curtis and won.

Thats how I remember it.
Rod.

Back in the day

Back in the day

Hello Rodney from Squirrel, you may be the only person left that new about me as a kid and playing Curtis, LOL. I sure did love the game. You guys at the LeCUE broke me of sucking eggs a few times, LOL, but educated me well also. I took my game to the highest level watching all you good players play each other and I made a front row seat. My goal was to be the best player in the world but that is close to impossible to do and consumes your life. But what great times I had in the pool rooms around Houston. One of my last big games was against Greg Stevens at the LeCUE, played Freddie The Beard in 71, played Tall Jeff in 71, played Buddy Hall 9 ball in 71, so who thinks they could make a living playing these guys, LOL. Quiting the game as a pro was not a tough choice! Been working on a book for 2 years and have a rough draft almost complete, by the time I publish it we'll probably all be gone, LOL.

Ross Keith Thompson said:

Hello Rodney from Squirrel, you may be the only person left that new about me as a kid and playing Curtis, LOL. I sure did love the game. You guys at the LeCUE broke me of sucking eggs a few times, LOL, but educated me well also. I took my game to the highest level watching all you good players play each other and I made a front row seat. My goal was to be the best player in the world but that is close to impossible to do and consumes your life. But what great times I had in the pool rooms around Houston. One of my last big games was against Greg Stevens at the LeCUE, played Freddie The Beard in 71, played Tall Jeff in 71, played Buddy Hall 9 ball in 71, so who thinks they could make a living playing these guys, LOL. Quiting the game as a pro was not a tough choice! Been working on a book for 2 years and have a rough draft almost complete, by the time I publish it we'll probably all be gone, LOL.

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Hi Keith, I don't believe we've ever met, as I was long gone from the Houston/Lecue scene by '71 !..But, I did battle with King Curtis, and Stevens, and about everyone else you've mentioned..I did hear later, of your great win in Johnston City, and I often wondered what happened to you !

I understand your reasons for quiting the pool racket, as I did the exact same thing for about 20 years !..I hope your decision was as gratifying as mine was..But obviously, once pool gets in your blood, you can't forget it..thats why we are here on this forum now !..Hope things worked out well for you, and good to hear from you !

PS.. I do agree with you..A pool cue is just something to hit the cue ball with, it will NOT make you a winner, if you don't have the rest of the game !

My first big win in 1P came after I first moved to Michigan in 1996. I snapped off California John at Snookers in Livonia for $1200. Of course I only collected $600. I got a few cue repairs, tips, and BS about how he doesn't owe me the rest of the money.