LSJohn
Verified Member
My road partner Pat and I -- neither one of us knew shit or had any money, so I should have said "the guy with me on vacation," but he played strong 9 ball and 14:1 -- had gotten a "maybe" lead from my friend "The Captain" in Shreveport. The suggestion sent us toward Baton Rouge, and it was on the way to New Orleans, where we were planning to go anyway.
The place was an upscale bar near the LSU campus, frequented mostly by college kids. Several of the better local players would dip in and out putting a light hustle on the beer-drinking college boys on the bar boxes. We wouldn't make much from the beer drinkers, but there was the possibility of out-hustling the hustlers and making a score.
When we got there after Pat's lifetime first crawfish dinner, there was a $2 challenge game in progress. We grabbed beers and sat down to watch. Nothing changed for 30-45 minutes and I said we might as well pick up some expense money before we left, but Pat said, "Better not. We don't know who might be watching," and he tilted his head toward a couple of guys who'd also been watching and didn't look a good fit for the environment.
After a few more minutes Pat said, "I want to hit some balls. Lets go find a pool hall."
We drove around a while and after no luck asking a couple of pedestrians we finally got directions. The directions weren't quite right, but we thought we were in the right neighborhood so we circled around a while and found it. I think the name was "Green-[something]."
Only a couple of tables were occupied; the table that looked the best was by the cashier's counter, and we asked for it to the guy who was sitting behind the counter reading a newspaper. When he stood up I saw that I knew him. It was Jess, a fellow I had played no-limit "Pistol" with a couple of times in Shreveport. I had never realized he was from Baton Rouge or that he had a pool room.
I said, "Well I'll be damned Jess. I didn't know you lived down here."
He said, "Oh, hey, how ya doin'?" The way he said it looked like he didn't remember my name, so I said "John, from Shreveport."
"Oh, yeah. I couldn't place you for a minute. What are you doin' down here?"
I didn't know what to say. Pat was one of those rare people who didn't lie, and he didn't think much of those who did. I, on the other hand...
"My girlfriend is at LSU and I just dragged Pat with me to come see her."
"You fellows wanna play some pool?"
"Yeah, can we have this table here?"
"I usually reserve it for the gamblers, but be my guest. Or," he said, "I'll play you some."
I said, "Fine with me if Pat wants to play you some, but I don't play worth a shit."
"Wanna try some, Pat," Jess asked, and Pat said, "How much?"
"How about some $10 9-ball."
Pat looked at me as though he was looking for my approval. I said, "Don't look at me, it's your money. But I will say this: Jess wantin' to play for $10/game doesn't necessarily mean he's a world-beater; he's got more gamble in his little finger than... you get the idea."
Pat said OK, and off they went.
Jess played a little better than I expected, but Pat had no trouble with him and following his loss of a few games after they raised the bet to 20, Jess said, "Damn, son. You can really play this game. I'm gonna have to give you a hoppin'.
"I need a drink," he said, "and I'm buyin," so we all sat down with beers.
Jess said, "I know how I can get even if you'll give me half of your action."
Pat said, "Sure, whatcha got?"
"My friend Billy -- well, he is a friend -- but we're gamblin' enemies, and we'd f**k each other in a heartbeat as long as serious money wasn't involved. Billy comes in almost every day around 6:00 and plays for a couple of hours when it's not a poker night. Oh, hey, John, you'd like my poker game. We play $5 Pistol on Thursday night and Wheel lowball on Saturday. The game is good."
I would have inquired further but Pat jumped in (if he and I were 50/50, he didn't want to hear anything about me playing poker. I probably played a little better than he thought at that time, but not well enough.) Pat said, "Tell me about Billy."
Jess said, "Do you play one pocket?"
Pat laughed and said, "Play Whaaaat?"
"OK," Jess said smiling. "Billy plays good one pocket, and he'll gamble with you at 9 ball, but he'll try to switch you over. Just so you know, if you get 9 ball action with him I want in, but if you play him any one-pocket you're on your own."
"OK, you got it. We'll see you tomorrow evening."
"Be here before 6:00. We don't want him to get in action without you."
As we headed toward the door, Jess said, "Oh, by the way, John, how's that LSU girlfriend?"
I said, "I'll have to let you know later. I know she goes to school here, I just haven't picked her out yet."
"That's about what I thought," Jess said. "I wish I'd thought of it a couple of hundred ago."
==========
Next evening we rolled in about 5:00 after we both slept very late and had a mid-afternoon breakfast that introduced Pat to grits. ("Not as bad as I expected" was the best recommendation Pat would give.)
Billy came in at his usual time and Pat and I both spotted him before Jess even gave us the high sign. Jess had described him the night before, and Billy was carrying a beautiful cue case that looked hand-tooled.
Pat said, "Now there's a pool player. I'll play you some 3-rail billiards for $10 a point."
Billy said, "OK, but we'll have to find out where there's a table."
Pat said, "Dammit. I was already countin' the money."
"Billy said, "I'll try you some one pocket."
Pat said, "Some whaaaat?"
Billy said, "Don't worry, I'll explain the rules as we go along."
I said, "Hey Pat, can I have half your action? That sounds like a pretty good deal," and we all laughed.
We introduced ourselves around and Billy said, "I'll play you some cheap 9 ball."
Pat said, "What's cheap?"
Billy said, "Ten or twenty a game should be OK."
Pat said, "I'll try you some for 10, but you have to promise not to tell my wife."
Billy says, "Dammit, wrong again. I would have guessed that you aren't married."
"I'm not," Pat said, and the game was on.
Pat fired right out, they raised the bet to 20 and later to 30 before Billy gave in, stuck about $300.
Jess immediately came over to get his half. He gave Billy a big smile as he was collecting his share, and Billy said, "You son-of-a-bitch."
"What did I do?" asked Jess. "I only invited them to come play about 6:00 and told them there was a tall, dark-headed sucker that would probably be in about then," and Billy laughed as he said, "You rotten bastard."
==========
The next night was Thursday, "Pistol" night. More about that later.
The place was an upscale bar near the LSU campus, frequented mostly by college kids. Several of the better local players would dip in and out putting a light hustle on the beer-drinking college boys on the bar boxes. We wouldn't make much from the beer drinkers, but there was the possibility of out-hustling the hustlers and making a score.
When we got there after Pat's lifetime first crawfish dinner, there was a $2 challenge game in progress. We grabbed beers and sat down to watch. Nothing changed for 30-45 minutes and I said we might as well pick up some expense money before we left, but Pat said, "Better not. We don't know who might be watching," and he tilted his head toward a couple of guys who'd also been watching and didn't look a good fit for the environment.
After a few more minutes Pat said, "I want to hit some balls. Lets go find a pool hall."
We drove around a while and after no luck asking a couple of pedestrians we finally got directions. The directions weren't quite right, but we thought we were in the right neighborhood so we circled around a while and found it. I think the name was "Green-[something]."
Only a couple of tables were occupied; the table that looked the best was by the cashier's counter, and we asked for it to the guy who was sitting behind the counter reading a newspaper. When he stood up I saw that I knew him. It was Jess, a fellow I had played no-limit "Pistol" with a couple of times in Shreveport. I had never realized he was from Baton Rouge or that he had a pool room.
I said, "Well I'll be damned Jess. I didn't know you lived down here."
He said, "Oh, hey, how ya doin'?" The way he said it looked like he didn't remember my name, so I said "John, from Shreveport."
"Oh, yeah. I couldn't place you for a minute. What are you doin' down here?"
I didn't know what to say. Pat was one of those rare people who didn't lie, and he didn't think much of those who did. I, on the other hand...
"My girlfriend is at LSU and I just dragged Pat with me to come see her."
"You fellows wanna play some pool?"
"Yeah, can we have this table here?"
"I usually reserve it for the gamblers, but be my guest. Or," he said, "I'll play you some."
I said, "Fine with me if Pat wants to play you some, but I don't play worth a shit."
"Wanna try some, Pat," Jess asked, and Pat said, "How much?"
"How about some $10 9-ball."
Pat looked at me as though he was looking for my approval. I said, "Don't look at me, it's your money. But I will say this: Jess wantin' to play for $10/game doesn't necessarily mean he's a world-beater; he's got more gamble in his little finger than... you get the idea."
Pat said OK, and off they went.
Jess played a little better than I expected, but Pat had no trouble with him and following his loss of a few games after they raised the bet to 20, Jess said, "Damn, son. You can really play this game. I'm gonna have to give you a hoppin'.
"I need a drink," he said, "and I'm buyin," so we all sat down with beers.
Jess said, "I know how I can get even if you'll give me half of your action."
Pat said, "Sure, whatcha got?"
"My friend Billy -- well, he is a friend -- but we're gamblin' enemies, and we'd f**k each other in a heartbeat as long as serious money wasn't involved. Billy comes in almost every day around 6:00 and plays for a couple of hours when it's not a poker night. Oh, hey, John, you'd like my poker game. We play $5 Pistol on Thursday night and Wheel lowball on Saturday. The game is good."
I would have inquired further but Pat jumped in (if he and I were 50/50, he didn't want to hear anything about me playing poker. I probably played a little better than he thought at that time, but not well enough.) Pat said, "Tell me about Billy."
Jess said, "Do you play one pocket?"
Pat laughed and said, "Play Whaaaat?"
"OK," Jess said smiling. "Billy plays good one pocket, and he'll gamble with you at 9 ball, but he'll try to switch you over. Just so you know, if you get 9 ball action with him I want in, but if you play him any one-pocket you're on your own."
"OK, you got it. We'll see you tomorrow evening."
"Be here before 6:00. We don't want him to get in action without you."
As we headed toward the door, Jess said, "Oh, by the way, John, how's that LSU girlfriend?"
I said, "I'll have to let you know later. I know she goes to school here, I just haven't picked her out yet."
"That's about what I thought," Jess said. "I wish I'd thought of it a couple of hundred ago."
==========
Next evening we rolled in about 5:00 after we both slept very late and had a mid-afternoon breakfast that introduced Pat to grits. ("Not as bad as I expected" was the best recommendation Pat would give.)
Billy came in at his usual time and Pat and I both spotted him before Jess even gave us the high sign. Jess had described him the night before, and Billy was carrying a beautiful cue case that looked hand-tooled.
Pat said, "Now there's a pool player. I'll play you some 3-rail billiards for $10 a point."
Billy said, "OK, but we'll have to find out where there's a table."
Pat said, "Dammit. I was already countin' the money."
"Billy said, "I'll try you some one pocket."
Pat said, "Some whaaaat?"
Billy said, "Don't worry, I'll explain the rules as we go along."
I said, "Hey Pat, can I have half your action? That sounds like a pretty good deal," and we all laughed.
We introduced ourselves around and Billy said, "I'll play you some cheap 9 ball."
Pat said, "What's cheap?"
Billy said, "Ten or twenty a game should be OK."
Pat said, "I'll try you some for 10, but you have to promise not to tell my wife."
Billy says, "Dammit, wrong again. I would have guessed that you aren't married."
"I'm not," Pat said, and the game was on.
Pat fired right out, they raised the bet to 20 and later to 30 before Billy gave in, stuck about $300.
Jess immediately came over to get his half. He gave Billy a big smile as he was collecting his share, and Billy said, "You son-of-a-bitch."
"What did I do?" asked Jess. "I only invited them to come play about 6:00 and told them there was a tall, dark-headed sucker that would probably be in about then," and Billy laughed as he said, "You rotten bastard."
==========
The next night was Thursday, "Pistol" night. More about that later.
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