October 28, 2009 by admin.

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October 26, 2009 by admin.

Let’s see let’s see, Friday I went to practice at Bankshots after picking John Ring up from work since he didn’t have his truck handy. Ran into a casual friend that initially wanted me to gamble with his boss since his boss loves to play pool, doesn’t play very well and has more money than he knows what to do with. As if that wasn’t enough good news he also introduced me to his immediate boss and we played a few games together while drinking some beer.

It seems that not only do they work in a group but they hang out and do many things socially together and they want to bring me into that group. They make a VERY good living selling Solar power equipment and service which my friend said he would recomment to his boss about hiring me onto the sales force. So what started as just running into a friend by coincidence ended up being a lead on a good score gambling and a potential position making fantastic money.  Sweet!!

Saturday I headed to the Top Hat’s tournament and I won that event undefeated, it was a small turnout but every little bit helps. Was supposed to go to the stip club for a friend’s bachelor party but didn’t want to spend any money so I ended up going to Butch and Sarah Croft’s house and jumping into the hot tub after eating a very juicy steak. They cook out quite a bit and I don’t know how I didn’t gain any weight this weekend, the food was so delicious and very plentiful!!

Sunday we began the early morning trek to Gainesville , okay it was like 10am but that’s pretty early for some of us,  to play the KF Cue Tour event at the Art of Billiards. It’s a very nice and clean little pool hall, Diamond tables with a full bar and focused on making players welcome. Art and Dana run it well and are very gracious hosts, it gets a little pricey there but it’s well worth it since they give back to people by hosting a variety of events for any level of player.

They got 33 players for the Open division and the day before they got 42 players in the Amateur event, when we walked in Mike Delawder and Matt B. from Daytona where playing the finals from the day before. Mike won the event and ended up being my first round matchup, we made a mistake though and played the whole match winner breaks instead of alternating the break like we were supposed to. He didn’t play that well in our match as I am sure he was tired and happy from winning the Amateur event, it’s his biggest win to date and it’s a nice payoff for the hard work he has been putting in for the last few months.

The next match my opponent played well and I lost 5-7, alternating breaks in this match proved to be a huge factor and it seems to level out the playing field pretty well. It puts  a lot of pressure on you to “hold” your break by not losing that game, it brings a certain taste of Tennis to the game which is interesting and some people don’t like this format. Anyways, I won the next 3 matches easily barely losing a game till I ran into Richie Richeson and our match went the full distance. He really did get some lucky rolls at the end but ultimately it was my fault I lost in the final game, I got out of shape as the rack progressed and scratched after making a nice jump shot leaving only 3 balls on the table.

To say he got lucky is the truth and that got me thinking, some people will find it funny and that it’s what everyone who loses says. But in all honesty a person who wins an event or even some matches will definitely have some good luck along the way, how much you attribute your winning or losing is what people have an issue with. We will all get good rolls and some bad ones too, timing plays a huge factor but you can’t deny that we will receive both positive and negative factors outside of our direct control. Love it or hate it, it’s part of the game so don’t act like it’s something new and that you didn’t see it coming. People laugh at me when I say “I got lucky” when reporting a win and I truly believe it, you can’t win a match without having some sort of good luck and I choose to recognize it.

Ended up finishing in 8th place I believe and was disappointed for sure, but I accepted my fate and opened my eyes to what I can improve on which is what is fueling my practice session for today. Am playing really well but of course it can be better, lately I have been working on something specific during my preshot routine and it’s paying off but like anything else worth doing it takes time to burn it into my brain to make it second nature. It’s nice to see progress with my game and teaching others really helps out a lot, tomorrow I have a new student and can’t wait to do what I can to help develop his game further.

On another positive note I received the sponsorship needed to attend the Seminole Tour finale at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Last year I made it to the final 4 on the winner’s side but lost the next two matches to finish in 5th place, if I could do that again I would be very happy since I know I am playing better and could possibly do better from that point. Either way I am thankful to have such great people supporting and believing in my game, without them I wouldn’t get very far in events or in life.

Off to Bankshots to get some practice in, need to iron out some issues on my break that the alternate breaking format this weekend revealed.

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October 20, 2009 by admin.

One of the best things I have ever seen on TV, please watch it.

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October 19, 2009 by admin.

Over the weekend while talking with a couple of friends the topic of conversation drifted to how we got started playing pool, my first real job  was of course at a pool hall. The first time we went to Varsity Billiards was due to a rather unfortunate story, we had just met a young Jeff Ham as he had come to our local pool hall “Andy’s” looking for a game and by the end of the night we learned that his ride had inexplicably stranded him there. We ended up giving him a ride back to his truck  even though we had only known Jeff for a couple of hours, a friendship was born and to this day Jeff and I keep in touch some 20 years later.

Varsity Billiards was a nice little pool hall in Norwalk, California with 16 9′ tables and 2 bar tables, maybe 20 video games with a decent burger and fries meal for a few dollars. Jeff worked as Assistant Manager at the time and it was known to be a decent action spot,  since the 80’s the clientele changed drastically but money never stopped changing hands there. Over the years many a great player, including Keith McCready, would grace the Gold Crown tables at Varsity Billiards and only when Hard Times opened up did the action slow down slightly. Though most of the big names and road players went to Hard Times for tournaments and action, there was still a fair amount of talent residing on the tables of Varsity Billiards waiting for their next unassuming victim.

Names like Yung, Young, Lee, Charlie, Jason Kang, Gay Boy, Dave Tien, Steve Pham, Matthew Tran, Julius, Tony Torres, Jeff Ham, Han Yoo, Todd Minobe and Paris Edwards will never be in the history books but will always be remembered in my book as those who were heroes to me. Each player had  a particular strength and everyone gambled, surprisingly all of the above named players played within a ball or two of each other……all capable of runout pool. There were ring games, a stiff weekly tournament and low dollar matchups to keep the senses sharp and cause a young up-and-coming player like me to learn from the best in the area.

A week before my 18th birthday in 1991 I started working there and it was a dream come true, we stayed late to play pool and Street Fighter, it was a simple time and we were simple people having the times of our lives. Great friendships were made and even though it’s closed now, Varsity Billiards brought together a diverse group of people over many years and was a notable stepping stone in Southern California pool.

The owners of Varsity also funded the famous Hard Times in nearby Bellflower, from there they also built the Hard Times in San Diego, La Habra and finally the Sacramento location. The Markulis’ were smart business people and prospered from The Color of Money as no others did, their passion, vision and drive pretty much single-handedly make pool thrive on the 34th lattitude on the West Coast. They eventually sold all of the pool halls with the exception of Sacramento with all of the pool halls failing within a few short years showing their business acumen, only the Bellflower location has survived after leaving the caring hands of Chuck and Mike Markulis.

Anyways, my job at Varsity Billiards was a simple one which entailed making pizzas, shuffling sodas across the counter and of course handing out table after table to welcome customers. The pool hall was consistently busy with a waiting list on most nights and in a short time I had shown promise as an employee, moving up the ranks to Manager in just a couple of short years. Hard Times in Bellflower was booming, they held many Pro events and every chance I could I was over there in the stands watching and learning, then coming back to practice for hours on end at my sanctuary. Great players from across the country and even as far as Japan used to congregate there and battle it out for their bankrolls, Hard Times has thee best layout I have ever seen for tournament play with more money matches in the 1990’s than anywhere.

Even though I call Varsity Billiards a sanctuary it was sometimes a violent place, Hispanic and Asian gangs from neighboring areas would come and try to make it “theirs” we had more than a couple of drive-by shootings and countless fights. My duty was to run day to day operations which included breaking up fights and coordinate the armed security guards we had on the weekends, pretty rough standards for being a dry (no alcohol) pool hall. To this day I can list at least 15 gangs off of the top of my head that used to come through, it was a melting pot of Chinese, Korean, Mexican, Filipino, Caucasian and others at any given time. Shortly after one drive-by shooting I realized a bullet had gone through the glass door, the wall, a cabinet door and another cabinet door before stopping in a Snickers bar about two feet from where I was ducked behind the counter. A little close for comfort to say the least.

At one point in time I think we all tried to attend Cerritos College across the street, it’s a super busy college that’s hard to get in to and the siren call of the pool tables close by contributed to many a failed class I’m sure. We received an education though, we learned about life, friendship, business and survival, over the years there were many fresh faces that came and went, some old faces that would pop in after a long break to attend college or attend other priorities.

All in all I worked there for about 4 years and experienced at least a decade of knowledge and learning. It was a great experience and my first taste of responsibility and the running of a business, it was a simple place yet consistently profitable and I was heartbroken to hear it was closed down some years ago. To this day there are a few of us that keep in touch and if you were a teenager in the area it’s an even money bet that you had stopped in at least once. Most remember the location because of it’s proximity to the Chinese restaurant on the corner that used to run commercials on late night TV.

As this post is named just “Varsity Billiards” I struggled for many minutes with a plethora of emotions washing over me, so many words that came to mind that would aptly fit but wouldn’t encompass all that I would want to say. It was more than a pool hall for me, it was home and the people there were my family. And to think, if Jeff’s ride had not been such a flake and stranded him in Monterey Park all of those years ago I might not have ever met any of the people I call friends to this day or worked at the pool hall that contributed so much to my passion for playing pool.

Life seems to be a collision of random happenings that somehow form a cohesive path for loving, living and learning from those around you, don’t blink or you might miss it.

Edit: Here is a Facebook link that got some great responses from some of the friends that made Varsity a home away from home as well.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/note.php?note_id=173125343912

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October 16, 2009 by admin.

The most cruel prank I have ever seen on TV, whether it be Japanese or American, I hope they didn’t do this to too many people or they might just give someone a heart attack!!
Terrifying Sniper Prank on Japanese TV - Watch more Funny Videos“>

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October 15, 2009 by admin.

Here is a possible flyer that I am thinking about circulating about offering lessons in the Jacksonville area, please comment (positive and negative) about it so that I can make it better. Thank you!!

learn-how-to-beat-your-friends-playing-8.doc

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October 12, 2009 by admin.

Just really getting up and back to the swing of things, for some reason the trip last night wore me out even though I’ve traversed it many times with no issues. Maybe it was all of the talking and playing that I did which is new for me, normally I don’t play mini tournaments nor talk to friends and hang out. It was a great time and need to do it more often when I can afford it, having fun gets expensive!!

Friday: I rolled in and got changed at the hotel before cruising to Stroker’s to see what was up, ended up playing a mini tournament since they didn’t get many players (37 to be exact) and I ended up winning that which was really cool. I wasn’t even going to play but Butch put me in an fed me mucho beer so we had a blast and even split the finals so it worked out perfectly…….thank you Butch!!

Saturday: Play started nice and early after I received a bye in the 1st round, beat John DiToro 7-2 then Trebor Braymore 7-0, played well and got decently lucky against Trevor since we normally have a battle on our hands. Went to the room and came back at 7pm to lose my match to Justin Hall, I didn’t play great and lost 6-8 which made me kind of angry since I didn’t make many errors but of course could have avoided those errors. Oh well, that’s what competing is for right?

Sunday: Played Jerry Calderon and lost 6-8 which again I played decently but not great, we always have a close match and this was no exception. There were very few mistakes made but of course indicated by the score I made just one more mistake than I should have. Bleh!! Hung around for a bit talking to Turk and ended up having a great conversation about reading material, ego, personalities, people and future plans. It’s always nice to find someone you genuinely enjoy sharing a conversation with and we found out we even read some of the same books. That reminds me, need to do some research and send some info to him.

Even though there were only 37 players the field was stacked, Marlon won the event but there were 12-15 real threats to win. I was very surprised to see the lack of players considering it’s right before the US Open but then again that may be the exact reason there weren’t many entries this weekend. Who knows, I was hoping for a jam packed tournament full of talent with great matches and I wasn’t disappointed but there were definitely not as many players as expected.

Even got to do some commentary with Matt Highsmith from www.cuesportsvideo.com which was very enjoyable, need to send him some stuff too man I need to write this down!! Went to eat with James Roberts, Donnie Mills and their girls as I sat there like a 5th wheel Saturday night, we had a great time and shared many laughs which is always good for the soul. Need to get some practice in this week and see if I can drum up some sponsorship for the US Open, haven’t been successful so far but you never know!!

Clicky for link to article on www.azbilliards.com for the event:

http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?storynum=7033

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October 8, 2009 by admin.

Isn’t this just a little misleading?