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jase1, I only knew you from the SAS sports betting thread before finding this goldmine and am fascinated. These stories are great and you tell them so well, please keep them coming. The Vegas ones from your last trip were probably my favorite so far, do you have any other Vegas stories from previous trips? Also I know this thread is about your time spent on the pool table but do you have some stories you can share of poker, sports betting or other prop bets you've made over the years? And if you have any others you can share of Uncle Frank back in the day those would be great too.
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Jul 3, 2012 19:53
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Bearnt! posted:These stories are great and you tell them so well, please keep them coming. This! I always get stoked when this thread gets bumped. I'm gonna stop posting and sidetracking the thread, but I really enjoy the stories.
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Jul 4, 2012 04:24
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I have a question for you. You've pointed out a few times that the guys you usually hustle are looking to rip *you* off, or are trying to look good in front of their buddies by putting you down, or are just outright douchenozzles. Has there ever been a time where you called off a hustle because the mark was just too naive or too nice and it made you feel bad? Or does any hustle kind of rely on the mark being a douchenozzle in the first place? In the same vein, have there been any times you hustled someone pretty hard and then felt bad about it?
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Jul 4, 2012 18:46
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Corridor posted:I have a question for you. You've pointed out a few times that the guys you usually hustle are looking to rip *you* off, or are trying to look good in front of their buddies by putting you down, or are just outright douchenozzles. Has there ever been a time where you called off a hustle because the mark was just too naive or too nice and it made you feel bad? Oooh good questions. Op, keep it the good work. This thread never seems to disappoint.
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Jul 4, 2012 20:07
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Bearnt! posted:jase1, I only knew you from the SAS sports betting thread before finding this goldmine and am fascinated. These stories are great and you tell them so well, please keep them coming. The Vegas ones from your last trip were probably my favorite so far, do you have any other Vegas stories from previous trips? Also I know this thread is about your time spent on the pool table but do you have some stories you can share of poker, sports betting or other prop bets you've made over the years? And if you have any others you can share of Uncle Frank back in the day those would be great too. I have a ton of other gambling stories and I will tell some of them and here is a quick one about a long standing prop bet I have had with the guys a play poker with. If you don't know what a prop bet is there are a couple different meanings but in this case it's basically a dare for money. I have so many prop bets going that I have to keep a list in my phone so I can remember them. This prop bet is the longest prop bet I have going right now because no one has coughed up the money for me to do it. Basically it goes like this for $25k I will bite the tip of my pinky off at the knuckle. The only rules to the bet are I can numb my hand, have my pinky tip put on ice and then I need to be taken to the hospital immediately after. If someone comes up with the money and I back out I have to pay 5k. Now I have no clue if I could really do it physically and if mentally I could do it but 25k is a good sum of money for about 10 seconds of work. I won't truly know if I will go through with it until the money is put in front of me and I actually have to attempt to do it. This prop bet was recorded on video and in front of 25 people and they are the only ones who can front the money for this.
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Jul 4, 2012 23:22
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I love prop bet stories. My favorite story of all time is Brian Zembic's Breast Bet It's too long to quote, but go to the link. Dude has followed through on some other awesome prop bets.
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Jul 5, 2012 03:55
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jase1 posted:I have a ton of other gambling stories and I will tell some of them and here is a quick one about a long standing prop bet I have had with the guys a play poker with. If you don't know what a prop bet is there are a couple different meanings but in this case it's basically a dare for money. I have so many prop bets going that I have to keep a list in my phone so I can remember them. I hope you realize we aren't going to put that back on. If it were something we would try to put back on, it's not like we just stick it back on and you go home, either. You'd be stuck in the hospital for a week or so with no guarantee, and a long recovery once you're out. You probably should have talked to a hand surgeon before making that bet. e: You sure as hell aren't going to turn a profit, either. You'd be much better off paying the 5k. squeakygeek fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Jul 5, 2012 |
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Jul 5, 2012 04:21
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squeakygeek posted:I hope you realize we aren't going to put that back on. If it were something we would try to put back on, it's not like we just stick it back on and you go home, either. You'd be stuck in the hospital for a week or so with no guarantee, and a long recovery once you're out. You probably should have talked to a hand surgeon before making that bet. Hey I never said it was a smart prop bet or that I was smart and to be quite honest is has been 4 years since that was first brought up and no one has even attempted to get the money together. I really don't think it will happen and like I said before I don't even know if I have the balls to attempt it. Thanks for the info though I will look into the cost of reattaching a finger with my insurance vs the cost of just paying 5k if this ever goes through. I don't know if it's okay for me to post other stories in here that aren't related to pool but if no one objects I will post them. I have played poker since I was 13 years old that was the age limit at my family functions. Every holiday or family get together ends in a nickel dime dealers choice poker game. I use to stand by the door way of the kitchen and just wish they would let me play because it looked so fun then my 13th birthday came around and me and my cousin are 1 year and a day apart and we always celebrated it together and I remember all day I didn't really care about the gifts or my friends being there or the food, all I cared about was I finally got to play poker at the big table. I brought My Mickey Mouse bank that was full of change that I had been saving for 2 years for this exact moment. The night before I took all the coins out and my dad helped me count it and I had $47.65 in it and I was ready to gamble and he had no clue thats what I was saving for he was just proud that I was saving money. I set it on the table and I remember my cousin Lou who was 5 years older than me making fun of me for it but I could care less it was poker time. I counted out 20 dollars in silver coins and I played until basically my parents had to drag me out of there. I will never forget this day because it was my first real gambling experience and I won $6.38 and one of my Uncles gave me a 5 dollar bill to give him change and I thought to myself I am freaking rich if these guys need to make change with my money. As we were driving home that night my dad stopped at Mcdonalds to get something to eat and when he asked me what I wanted I told him don't worry dad I got this and paid for my own meal out of my gambling winnings. That was the start of my gambling lifestyle and the rush I got was something that will probably never be repeated in my life. Flash forward to now and I still play poker at least twice a week and sometimes more depending on my schedule and since the casino has opened here I am there a lot more. Before the Casino came to Cleveland, along time ago I joined this poker group that I found on the internet and I started going to the games they had and this is basically where I met all the degenerates of Cleveland. We use to play in the back of this cigar store until 6 or 7 in the morning pushing around each others money each week and while I gambled like crazy with these guys they became some of my best friends. I knew all about their life and they knew about mine, we loaned each other money, bailed each other out of jail, beat up cheaters together I was in a couple of their weddings and was at the hospital for a few of their kids being born. It's a strong bond I have made with about 50 of these guys and people come and go in this group they go broke, some have got addicted to gambling and tried to steal from a game and they get banished but I wouldn't trade anything for this experience because I consider most of them my extended family. I am gonna name a list of stories and you guys tell me what you want to hear first because I have so many when it comes to just gambling and prop bets. Theo the thief who is addicted to gambling, Chan who lost a hilarious prop bet to me which includes a rickshaw (warning story may be racist or offensive to some people), the robbery that made me and a few friends semi famous for a few weeks, watching a guy literally spend his life savings on a game of poker that he really had no chance of winning and his spiral out of control life that ended in him being in jail, frank the drunk, or Wellington the homeless rich guy.
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Jul 5, 2012 18:54
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We're going to need them all, but I vote for hot rickshaw action first. EDIT: vvvv So double or nothing? 
Midjack fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Jul 5, 2012 |
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Jul 5, 2012 19:12
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jase1 posted:This prop bet is the longest prop bet I have going right now because no one has coughed up the money for me to do it. Basically it goes like this for $25k I will bite the tip of my pinky off at the knuckle. The only rules to the bet are I can numb my hand, have my pinky tip put on ice and then I need to be taken to the hospital immediately after. Just an FYI, current medical guidelines recommend AGAINST attempting to reattach a single amputated finger. Basically the blood flow is very poor at the tips of the fingers, and the chances of a significant recovery of function are minimal to none. So you might be in for a bit of a shock when you arrive at the ER and the hand surgeon goes "welp..." Edit: If you somehow manage to bite off two or more fingers, then the guidelines recommend reattachment. INTJ Mastermind fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Jul 5, 2012 |
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Jul 5, 2012 19:59
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Wellington the homeless rich guy sounds good.
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Jul 5, 2012 21:13
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Seconding the need to hear them all  I'm a sucker for at good heist story though, so my vote goes to the one about the robbery that made you semi-famous.
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Jul 5, 2012 22:29
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Hulebr00670065006e posted:Seconding the need to hear them all I will start with the Chan story first but I can't post it right now I am getting ready to leave work and eventually I will post them all. To clarify things it wasn't me and my friends that robbed someone we were the ones that got robbed but it is quite an interesting story.
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Jul 5, 2012 22:49
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Was that place in Des Moines Shooter's Hideaway or was it closer to the South side?
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Jul 6, 2012 07:38
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Jastiger posted:Was that place in Des Moines Shooter's Hideaway or was it closer to the South side? Shooters Hideaway sounds familiar but for the life of me I can't remember it or where it was. So I decided I will tell the Chan and the Rickshaw story and it might be a little offensive, but I am not sure to be honest just putting that warning out there. Lets start with some back story on Chan. We use to play poker out of this Cigar Store all the time and we would order Chinese food from this place around the corner and Chan was our delivery guy. He would always walk in and he had the worst English because he just moved here from China but we could always tell he was fascinated by all these guys playing poker and smoking cigars. He would ask questions about what we are doing and how do you play and things like that. After about a year we all became friendly with him and told him to stop by anytime and play thinking he was going to be a fish and cough up lots of money. He shows up and brings a pocket full of money and just pushes everyone around. He is a very aggressive poker player and not afraid to risk it all at anytime so some nights he would walk out of there with a couple grand or be into the game for a couple grand. Some of the guys actually became a little scared of him and would fold to him a lot because of how crazy he plays. There are a couple of other Asian players that we play with and they play similar to Chan so we dubbed their style of play the Asian aggression style because they are some loving crazy aggressive card players. Chan and I became pretty close he was fascinated with America and had only been in the country for about a year and he started coming to the bars with us, I introduced him to his first strip club and he actually kept getting in trouble and yelled at by the strippers because he couldn't understand that you can't touch the girls in his mind he had paid so he could do what he wanted. He would always ask me about how to get women and how to get laid and things like that. We sometimes would give him the worst advice but he always took things in stride. I think I have mentioned that I smoke weed in this thread before so one day I am high as poo poo and I walk into the card game and Chan comes up to me and says every time I talk to you, your eyes are slanted like mine and we all get a big laugh about it and I take him outside to enjoy his first joint. He hated it and never touched the stuff again as far as I know. You always knew when Chan was broke because he would disappear for awhile from the games or he would borrow money then not pay it back right away. So after a few weeks of not seeing him people started asking about him, and then one day he just showed back up and he was trying to use the excuse that he broke his wrist but he told other people he hurt his waist and someone how us making fun of the way he speaks we turned that into wraist. We decided to have a tourney at friends house and we called it the Change for Chan benefit were 1 cent from every dollar spent in the tourney would go to help Chan get his Wraist fixed. Flash forward a few years and Chan is a regular and at the time I had moved to Cincinnati for my job for a few years and with the popularity of poker the group went from something like 25 regulars to about 100 regulars at every game. It was crazy we had to put a waiting list on tourneys and the cash games were just out of control. They decided to have this series called the POY tourney which was the player of the year and every tourney you would get points based on how much money you won in the tourney. Chan won the first year and I remember coming back and basically all everyone did was talk about how Chan was this amazing poker player and no one could read him and they were afraid of him. So I come back from Cincinnati at the start of the second POY tourney series and all the buzz is about Chan and I am thinking to myself this guy is a horrible poker player why are they so scared. It was the Asian aggression he was just so crazy that people avoided him instead of adapting their style to his play. So me being me I started poo poo talking Chan to take him out of his game. We would be in a cash game and I would tell him please push all in Chan I am not afraid of you and things like that. I would bust his balls about having a tiny penis (bad Asian stereotype I know) but it annoyed the poo poo out of him and he started making bad decisions against me in the cash game and every hand we were involved in I would somehow win. It was a a combination of luck and skill and this went on for a few weeks until he started telling a few people that I was crazy and he was scared of me. I use to make fun of him so much for being scared of me that we nicknamed him Chan the Chicken. I use to make fun of him so much for being scared of me that we nicknamed him Chan the Chicken and just started hammering him telling he was afraid of me and that he could never beat me until one night we are playing a 1/2 no limit game and I get pocket 10's. I have about $500 in front of me and Chan has about $300. Chan raises it to $25 preflop and I call the flop comes down 10 A K all clubs. Chan starts thinking and I start telling him go ahead Chan push all in because I am going to push all in if you don't. He pushes I call and Chan has Q high flush and I have a set of 10's. Chan jumps up and says I finally got you and of course the almighty river card is a 10 to give me 4 of a kind and I win the hand. As soon as the ten hit the table Chan threw cards and screamed "What the gently caress" while the rest of the room just exploded in laughter and craziness. We have a saying in the group when you hit quads you have to say "quads bitches" and so I say it and Chan is pissed telling me I always get lucky against him and I am a bad poker player and all that. We start discussing about playing heads up for a grand 1/2 no limit until one of us stacks the other. I tell him I don't really care about the money lets add some stipulations to this. At the time I was planning on playing in a $1500 event in the WSOP in Vegas and Chan said if he beats me heads up I have to go full on drag as long as I am playing in the tourney and I agreed as long as if I beat him he had to put on one of those straw hats and robes and pull me on a rickshaw down Euclid ave in Cleveland on a day of my choosing and he agreed. So this becomes a huge event we had a guy in the group who at the time was making these tables with cameras on them like in the WSOP and then having games at his house then playing them back and people would evaluate the play. So we set it up and we streamed the whole thing on the internet so people who couldn't come to his house to watch could watch it online. The game lasted just 67 hands when I got AA I raised it to $25 preflop, Chan raised it to $100 and I pushed all in and Chan thought about it for at least 10 minutes before he decided to call. He had KK and I held up and won the match and the prop bet. I couldn't find any place in the area where I could get a rickshaw so I paid a buddy 100 bucks to make one for me. I made sure to pick a night when the live theaters in the area were all having shows and the bars were packed which happened to be a Friday night. There is also Cleveland State right down there so there is a bunch of people always walking around. I let everyone know in the group when we would be doing it so they could lineup outside on Euclid avenue and watch. I went to Chan's old Chinese restaurant he worked at and told them what was going on and I bought a hundred egg rolls to bring with me in box. Chan showed up in the robe that his mom picked out for him and the straw hat the Chinese people wear and my buddy pulled up with the homemade rickshaw which was awesome by the way. I didn't have a camera phone back then so I don't have a pic but he did an amazing job with it. Chan was a trooper got in right at the beginning of Euclid ave and started his long embarrassing trek down Euclid Ave while I handed free egg rolls to people on the street. I never laughed so hard in my life and when we finally got the Cigar store we were treated to about a 75 people on the sidewalk cheering and yelling for us. I remember going through the theater district and a ton of old people were giving us the stinkeye and really pissed off because I was yelling and throwing out egg rolls to people. Chan moved to Macau 2 years ago with the poker boom over there and I really miss him he was a good guy who loved to gamble and he always knew how to laugh and have fun even at his own expense. Last I heard he was cleaning up taking all the rich buisness guys money at the casinos in Macau.
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Jul 6, 2012 20:05
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I think the Chan story was one of the best yet. I love this thread as much as I love pool and movies about pool. I'm interested in knowing if you've ever played carom billiards? The first time I ever heard of it was in that kick rear end scene in "The Hustler" and then watched some of it on youtube and think it's pretty cool. Never came close to seeing a table for it though. Nimrod's Son fucked around with this message at 07:21 on Jul 7, 2012 |
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Jul 7, 2012 07:14
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I want to see a video of the rickshaw so bad. Please tell me you have one somewhere.
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Jul 7, 2012 08:33
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Yeah or at least a photo. What a hilarious image, that must have been a fun conversation with the guy who built the rickshaw for you. When you asked him to build you it did he just burst out laughing at the absurdity of it?
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Jul 7, 2012 08:40
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Nimrod's Son posted:I think the Chan story was one of the best yet. I love this thread as much as I love pool and movies about pool. I have never played it and I have not seen anyone play it, I had heard about before but I don't think it's a big type of game played in pool halls. The rickshaw story happened a long time ago and the only picture we had was a guy who moved to Virginia who had a camera phone and took the pic and I lost touch with him a long time ago. Wellington the rich homeless guy is probably one of the most foul, vile, disgusting human beings I know. Ever since I have know him he looks the exact same way he has white balding hair that he never washes, always scruff, he smells like poo poo not like a bad smell, he literally smells like poo poo, his glasses have always been broken with white tape on the sides to help keep them together, he always wears a t shirt with holes in it, green dirty sweatpants that he cutoff himself and made them into shorts that he wears even in the winter. His legs have these disgusting red scabs all over them and he always smokes these green lovely cheap cigars that smell like stale tobacco soaked in urine. I loving hate this guy and so does every one else in the group but he always seems to just show up at every game or get together. He talks like Edward G. Robinson and he has a huge investment in gold. He has been telling the group for years to replace all our money with gold. He was banned from the cigar store because he stole a .99 lighter and they caught him on camera. The guy who ran the games in the cigar store was having a game at his home and Wellington showed up. We joke around and call him the godfather because he was the center point of the poker scene in Cleveland. He has this deep voice and he draws out all his words and is such a nice guy but if you piss him off he just loses his poo poo. So wellington comes strolling into the store one day and this hilarious exchange happened that had us all in tears. The conversation got progressive louder and louder until it was a full on screaming match. Godfather: What the gently caress are you doing here? Wellington: I came to play poker. Godfather: You have the balls to show your face around here after you stole something worse less than a dollar? Wellington: I never stole a drat thing from you! Godfather: (wheels over a TV and plays a video that shows wellington stealing the lighter) Wellington: That's not me! Godfather: Of course it's you I can smell you through the TV. Wellington: gently caress YOU! Godfather: gently caress ME, gently caress YOU NOW GET THE gently caress OUT OF MY STORE BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE! Wellington: YOU'LL RUE THE DAY YOU EVER CROSSED ME YOU SON OF A BITCH! GODFATHER: I RUE THE DAY EVERY TIME I WAKE UP AND FIND OUT YOUR STILL ALIVE! Wellington walked out of the store and he never came back to it. So I talked about earlier how I played in the WSOP $1500 event and I went with about 20 people. We all got rooms at the Bellagio and now that I think about it I have a couple of stories from that trip that I will tell later but this is about Wellington. So we are partying and playing poker for a few days and out of no where Wellington just shows up in Vegas and walks into the poker room with his face all filled with dry crusty blood. I couldn't beleive he followed us to Vegas and then found us. SO he comes up to me and I ask him what the gently caress happened to you? He says in his best Edward G. Robinson voice "I am staying at the Imperial Palace and I was loving this hooker when out of nowhere she hit me in the head with a black jack knocked me out and stole my wallet." When the hotel staff found out they kicked him out and no he had no place to stay in Vegas. So he asks me can I stay in your room and I tell him to gently caress off and so does everyone else that we are with. He leaves the poker room and as we are leaving later on that night we see him at a table playing $100 a hand blackjack with a bout 5k in front of him. I ask a buddy how the gently caress did he get that money I thought he was homeless and the godfather says he is richer than all of us combined he is just a smelly piece of poo poo. We leave and don't see him the rest of the trip. He has had several strokes in the last few years and even showed up to a poker game in the hospital nightgown with the hospital bracelet still on his arm. When we asked him what happened he said my heart stopped but gently caress they doctors they don't know poo poo they just want to keep me there and take my money. He has no family that I know of and I am pretty sure when he dies he wont have a single person at his funeral because he is such and rear end in a top hat.
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Jul 7, 2012 17:52
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Wow, I didn't know those miser types actually existed in real life. I used to read tons of stories with gross old dudes who lived worse than dogs and ate gruel and had obscene amounts of gold stashed away in the basement. The fact that Wellington is nuts about literal gold is just the icing.
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Jul 7, 2012 20:14
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Thanks for these awesome stories and please never stop telling them. The Chan story is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
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Jul 7, 2012 20:36
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Your stories got me watching Rounders again. Could you clear something up for a guy who doesn't know much about poker? What exactly is the advantage of dealing off the bottom of the deck in that scene at the police union game?
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Jul 10, 2012 08:31
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Animal-Mother posted:Your stories got me watching Rounders again. Could you clear something up for a guy who doesn't know much about poker? What exactly is the advantage of dealing off the bottom of the deck in that scene at the police union game? That guy is cheating. He false-shuffles the cards he wants to the bottom and then deals it to his buddy (or whatever, it's been a long time since I watched it). By manipulating the cards a seasoned cheater can give his opponent a good hand so that he'll bet big, and give his friend a better hand so that he can win the pot.
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Jul 10, 2012 11:18
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Animal-Mother posted:Your stories got me watching Rounders again. Could you clear something up for a guy who doesn't know much about poker? What exactly is the advantage of dealing off the bottom of the deck in that scene at the police union game? You prepare\shuffle the deck so that the bottom few cards are the hand you want your buddy to get. The top is just random. Then you deal as normal holding your hand in the "mechanical grip" so you can use your thumb to pull out the bottom card when you deal to your buddy, but your fingers for the top card to anyone else and it looks like the same action if you're good. If you want to get really fancy you give an opponent a really good but slightly worse hand to ensure action.
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Jul 10, 2012 11:36
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Animal-Mother posted:Your stories got me watching Rounders again. Could you clear something up for a guy who doesn't know much about poker? What exactly is the advantage of dealing off the bottom of the deck in that scene at the police union game? "gently caress, I can't believe I caught a hanger!" I just noticed the other day that movie was on netflix and even though I own the DVD I still watched it again. I have never seen anyone with a mechanics grip like that in a real poker game. The only type of cheating I have seen is shorting stacks, swiping chips out of a pot, and swapping cards from the muck. Basically he is setting the deck and putting the best cards at the bottom to deal to a player he chooses. Supposedly you can hear a distinct snap when someone deals off the bottom of the deck but I have never seen it or heard it, which brings this to my next story. Theo the thief. I have known Theo for a really long time he was always at games spewing chips and re buying several times a night. He is the nephew of one of the older poker players and he actually banned him from his home game because he was playing poker there instead of taking care of his family. He is addicted to gambling I have watched him make some really bonehead plays just because he wanted to feel that rush of adrenaline. With the group of guys I play with there is always a debate about what to do with guys who are addicted to gambling and need help. Some feel they should be banned from games and some feel let them do whatever they want and if they go broke it's their own problem. My feeling is if the guy is really addicted to gambling and he is suing rent, food or bill money to gamble and his wife is showing up to the games making a scene and things like that just ban the guy. Now you may never really know who is or isn't addicted to gambling but when people start showing up to the game and beg you to come home that's a good sign he is in a bad place. He started hosting some of his own games and every time I went things went smoothly but a few times the money came up short and it was fixed every time by other players covering for him or he used his own money to cover up what he was doing. Desperate people do desperate things and that can lead to a lot of trouble I have seen it happen more than I like to admit and it can turn ugly. This guy had a game outside of Cleveland that everyone was attending and he would start of with a tourney then as people where knocked out of the tourney they would get a cash game going. Usually when a cash game starts the players decide who is going to be the bank and handle the money and that person handles buy ins until they leave and transfer it to another player. When that happens they usually stop play and count the stacks on the table and count the money so there is no issue. There is a responsibility of handling the bank in the cash game that if it is short you have to cover the money. There have been a few times that I have cashed out last and had a lot of money in front of me and it comes up short 20 bucks or so and just to be nice I take it out of my winnings. If it ever is serious amount of money then things get serious and they try to trace their steps back and find out how we lost the money. There have been several honest players who have come back the next week and said hey I was overpaid by this much here is the money. So Theo is the first person knocked out of the tourney and gets ready to start a cash game which is an awful idea in the first place. There were multiple discussions of him never being the bank because he couldn't be trusted but it just so happened he was the only regular at the cash game and no one paid attention to him being the bank. Theo gets in deep to the cash game and decides he is done for the night without a word he stands up hands the bank to another player and leaves. One of the more attentive players in the group speaks up right away and says "you are not gonna check the bank after it changed hands?" the player says he will in a minute but forgets and play goes on. The attentive player has a decent amount of money in him and decides to cash out early because he just doesn't trust Theo and wants to make sure he is paid. He cashes out and walks over the host and lets him know what happened and if the bank comes up short Theo might have taken money. They stop play and count the stacks and the money and realize they are about 1k short in the bank. The host who is such a nice guy and really got poo poo on in the situation steps up and covers the 1k right away and says he will deal with it later. After the game is over about 4am or 5am we all leave and Theo shows up back at the house with some scratches on his face and a bloody lip. He says he was floating the bank which basically means putting chips on the table for himself without putting money in the bank. He says he left in a hurry so he could go to the ATM and get the money out then come back repay what he owed. He said he was using an ATM by this McDonalds and he got robbed at knife point and they stole the money. He claimed to make a police report and that he would pay the money back as soon as possible. The host knowing that I have some connections with law enforcement gives me a call explains the situation and asks me to see if I can find out if a police report was made. I make a few calls and find out there was never a report of any robbery in the area at all on that night. I explain it the host and the next day we go to Theo's house to confront him about it. Theo's story is bullshit for a few reasons first he always carried a gun and has several times been almost robbed but he pulled his gun out and they fled. He is not afraid of anything and would have no problem using force if needed to. Second there is no McDonalds in the area that is even close to an ATM the only Mcdonalds by the hosts house has a police station and city hall next to it. So we go to confront Theo about what he was doing and when we get to his house he is not there. His wife says she doesn't know where he is he is not answering his phone and she hasn't seen him all day. We start calling everyone in the group and letting them know what he did and don't let him play at your game he is a thief and he owes money. We find out he is at a small cash game and we go there to speak to him. We confront him and let him know that he is banned from all games forever and if we see him at any game he will be called out. He swears up and down he is not lying I tell him we know there is no police report to come clean or things will be worse. He admits it finally after he realizes that the game he is at everyone already knows what he did. He makes a deal with the host to pay him back on a schedule and stay away from any game in the area. We alert everyone that we know the next day about what he did and he was banished from the group. I see him at a local new game about 3 months later and he acts like nothing is wrong. I flat out tell everyone he owes a debt from stealing money form the bank and as long as he is here I wont be playing and I will make sure people know that a thief is allowed at this game. They ban him and he gets pissed and I let him know if I see him anywhere I will always call him out. It took him over a year to pay back the money and he is still playing poker. I saw him at the casino the first weekend it opened and he sat at my table. The minute he sat at my table I let everyone know what he had done to watch your chips and I am requesting a table change because I don't sit at a table with a thief. They call the floor over I explain I want a table change and the rest of the table follows with me he asks why and we tell him. They ask Theo to change tables and we can all stay put. I was surprised they allowed him to stay in the casino but he had not done anything wrong and to them its all hearsay and I am sure the eye in the sky will catch him if he does.
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Jul 10, 2012 18:20
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Did he bring a gun to the poker games?
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Jul 10, 2012 22:09
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Infinotize posted:Did he bring a gun to the poker games? Yes and a lot of the people I play poker with carry guns, some legally and some not. The godfather who I mentioned in the Wellington story would sometimes do a gun check at the cigar store if a new player who was vouched for showed up or he was holding a huge amount of money. I remember him being drunk on scotch one night, which is his drink of choice, and he put a player all in. As a joke he reached into his friends coat pocket next to him pulled out his gun pulled the trigger back and laid it on the table kind of joking and trying to intimidate the other player. I have never seen so many people freak out at once and just spread out running away from the table until the gun was taken back by it's owner. It's a funny story at the time but he could have killed someone and he received a huge stern lecture about it.
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Jul 10, 2012 22:19
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jase1 posted:Supposedly you can hear a distinct snap when someone deals off the bottom of the deck but I have never seen it or heard it, which brings this to my next story. Dealing seconds is what makes the really distinctive noise because you're pulling the card sandwiched between two cards instead of off a single one. I don't believe bottom dealing will make a noise at all any different than top dealing. Any weird deals look at the dealer's hands, the motion is what gives it away more than anything else. jase1 posted:Yes and a lot of the people I play poker with carry guns, some legally and some not. The godfather who I mentioned in the Wellington story would sometimes do a gun check at the cigar store if a new player who was vouched for showed up or he was holding a huge amount of money. I remember him being drunk on scotch one night, which is his drink of choice, and he put a player all in. As a joke he reached into his friends coat pocket next to him pulled out his gun pulled the trigger back and laid it on the table kind of joking and trying to intimidate the other player. I have never seen so many people freak out at once and just spread out running away from the table until the gun was taken back by it's owner. It's a funny story at the time but he could have killed someone and he received a huge stern lecture about it.  There are several reasons why that whole anecdote is hosed but I'm glad nobody got shot. That time.
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Jul 11, 2012 01:35
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Midjack posted:Dealing seconds is what makes the really distinctive noise because you're pulling the card sandwiched between two cards instead of off a single one. I don't believe bottom dealing will make a noise at all any different than top dealing. Any weird deals look at the dealer's hands, the motion is what gives it away more than anything else. That is accurate - one of my best friends from college had a brother who was an accomplished mechanic, and I had him teach me the mechanic tricks so I know what to watch for. Mechanic dealing is awkward, but is usually hidden by the general magician sleight of hand - it helps if you are very charismatic (which this guy was), practiced (ditto), and just generally smooth (ditto again), but if you have it shown to you, it is detectable... As long as you look at the hands only. Proving it is a different story from seeing it, though. That's why we always have the guy in the big position (even in a dealers choice game where there may be no big) make the cards in the hand prior to his small position and hand them directly to the next game's CO to cut prior to the deal. CO then cuts, puts the top on the table in front of dealer and hands him the bottom. That pretty much prevents all the bullshit. And jase1 is dead on about cash game banker etiquette. That's the only way to do it.
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Jul 11, 2012 04:48
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jackyl posted:That is accurate - one of my best friends from college had a brother who was an accomplished mechanic, and I had him teach me the mechanic tricks so I know what to watch for. Mechanic dealing is awkward, but is usually hidden by the general magician sleight of hand - it helps if you are very charismatic (which this guy was), practiced (ditto), and just generally smooth (ditto again), but if you have it shown to you, it is detectable... As long as you look at the hands only. It took me until the end of your post to realize you were talking about cards and not automobiles. 
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Jul 11, 2012 16:11
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Slopehead posted:What are some good basic strategies for a casual pool player? Can you describe the forces needed for a proper break and what kind of dispersal pattern you should be looking for? A proper break should generally be from off-center, aimed at the center of the head ball, unless you have a strategy which you rely on. I have a spot where I break from which generally gaurantees a strong break, strong dispersal, and which has netted me three 8 ball breaks in the past 6 years. I drink tons of beer, but I don't recommend it, once you become an alcoholic it's hard to shoot wall without having a couple to steady your hands, and the window is pretty small before your game goes downhill.. That said, I've fleeced quite a few fratbros around campus by getting (literally) falling-down drunk and then betting a pitcher or 20 bucks against the dude with the most popped collars.
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Jul 12, 2012 22:14
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Jase1, I've been trying to do some reading on how to select my first pool cue and really haven't been able to find any really helpful information. Mainly it's stuff like the tip size and type that's throwing me off. I always play with bar cues, but I am getting to the point where I can notice the difference in cues, which are warped etc and how they affect my play. I know it's drat near impossible to help without seeing me play, but I was wondering what a general recommendation would be for someone who normally plays with a 18 or 19oz stick, is just starting to learn how to use english, and doesn't hammer the gently caress out of my shots. Ideally it'll be something for 100$ tops, and off of Amazon(yes, I know, I should try out the stick first and amazon can be a crap shoot but I got a gift card for my birthday and am low on cash). The big thing for me is getting a reliable cue since at one of the bars I play on the tip on the 19oz is hosed, and almost all the other cues are 21oz. Nothing fancy, just something I can rely on so I don't have to get used to the lovely sticks at some of the bars.
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Jul 13, 2012 03:18
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Cantskate43 posted:Jase1, I've been trying to do some reading on how to select my first pool cue and really haven't been able to find any really helpful information. Mainly it's stuff like the tip size and type that's throwing me off. I always play with bar cues, but I am getting to the point where I can notice the difference in cues, which are warped etc and how they affect my play. I know it's drat near impossible to help without seeing me play, but I was wondering what a general recommendation would be for someone who normally plays with a 18 or 19oz stick, is just starting to learn how to use english, and doesn't hammer the gently caress out of my shots. Ideally it'll be something for 100$ tops, and off of Amazon(yes, I know, I should try out the stick first and amazon can be a crap shoot but I got a gift card for my birthday and am low on cash). McDermott has their Lucky cue line that's within your price range, and you can get them from Amazon. I have a buddy that has one, I've shot with it before and it's a good cue. You get a 13mm Triangle tip (what I use on my McDermott), which is medium-hard and won't require replacing often, but you can still get plenty of english out of it. Most of the cues I checked on there were 19oz, you can start with that and if you decide you'd prefer it to be lighter or heavier, you can buy a new weight bolt from McDermott and change it yourself. The only downside to them is that they aren't inlaid, the designs are all stickers. Some people give a poo poo about that, some don't. In my opinion, it's a perfectly fine first cue. Not too shabby for $100. Oh, and remember to budget for a decent case as well. I sold my old Joss cue to a buddy of mine and every time I see him walk into the bar with it, it has more scratches and dents than it did before from bouncing around in the back seat of his car. Takes a lot of effort not to smack him upside the head for being a dumbass and ruining what used to be a really nice cue. EDIT: Some other poo poo you may want to pick up at some point... Tip tool: good for shaping your tip (nickel or dime radius, I stick with nickel), burnishing your tip (keeps it from mushrooming as much), and you can use the tapper to keep the tip rough (holds chalk better). Pick up an extra pack of abrasives for it as well, they're cheap and you'll need them eventually. Tip Pik: works way better than the tapper on the tip tool. Chalk the tip first, then roll the pick over the tip to rough it up. Do not be a retard like the one guy at the bar that borrowed it from me, then proceeded to grind it into the tip. That ends in tears and a ruined tip. It's also useful for stabbing your friends in the hands when they try to borrow your cue. Shaft polisher: good for cleaning and burnishing the shaft. Expect people to laugh at you while you jack off your cue. The upside is that it'll be glass smooth, and you won't have to put talc on your hands, which is the big reason why bar cues always feel rough and grabby. And the most important thing to remember is not to let anyone else use your cue. Eventually, one of your buddies will be a loving idiot and either drop it or bang it against the table in anger after missing a shot. Then you'll have a dent in it, and you'll want to punch said buddy every time you feel that dent. Better to avoid that altogether. Boogeyman fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Jul 13, 2012 |
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Jul 13, 2012 19:40
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coyo7e posted:"If you can't shoot good, shoot hard." This is good advice in general when you are relatively new at the game. If you don't have a good shot ('good' being one you feel you can pocket and hopefully end up with shape on your next shot) just knock the balls around. Odds are good that your opponent has his next 2-3 shots planned out already based on what he thinks you're going to do, so disturbing the current pattern of the balls on the table may throw him off, or at least make him reevaluate. Just don't do this if you're playing 8-ball and it's anywhere near a pocket.  But, if you CAN make the shot, you want as light of a touch as you can handle. It took me a long time to learn this, and I still forget sometimes. But shooting hard is a very situational thing. You want to put only enough force into the cue ball to pocket the object ball and then shape the cue ball for your next shot. You do NOT want to send the cue ball off of 3 rails and all the way around the table if you can help it because then it becomes much harder to predict where it will end up (nb: this is for new players, I've seen experienced players do some amazing stuff with this).
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Jul 13, 2012 20:05
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coyo7e posted:I drink tons of beer, but I don't recommend it, once you become an alcoholic it's hard to shoot wall without having a couple to steady your hands, and the window is pretty small before your game goes downhill.. That said, I've fleeced quite a few fratbros around campus by getting (literally) falling-down drunk and then betting a pitcher or 20 bucks against the dude with the most popped collars. I have won more money when I am drunk then when I am sober which is really weird to me now that I think about it. I am not a regular beer drinker except for certain kinds of micro brews especially Great Lakes, I would drink their Christmas Ale every day if they made it. They also make this stuff called blackout stout which is aged in bourbon barrels that is fantastic too. I use to go to Akron university back in the day and play pool in their little common area and it was unbelievable how many of those douches would lose money to me. They knew I was drunk and couldn't resist trying to take my money and there would be a line of dudes waiting to play me. Sometimes it was for $10 or $20 bucks or $100 but they all thought they were king poo poo and failed miserably every time. Cantskate43 posted:Jase1, I've been trying to do some reading on how to select my first pool cue and really haven't been able to find any really helpful information. Mainly it's stuff like the tip size and type that's throwing me off. I always play with bar cues, but I am getting to the point where I can notice the difference in cues, which are warped etc and how they affect my play. I know it's drat near impossible to help without seeing me play, but I was wondering what a general recommendation would be for someone who normally plays with a 18 or 19oz stick, is just starting to learn how to use english, and doesn't hammer the gently caress out of my shots. Ideally it'll be something for 100$ tops, and off of Amazon(yes, I know, I should try out the stick first and amazon can be a crap shoot but I got a gift card for my birthday and am low on cash). Everything that Boogeyman said in the post below yours is spot on. Follow that advice and the thing is eventually you might want to change cues again so it's a perfect starting point to get something around that price range and go from there. I know a couple of really good pool shots who just buy good priced sticks like that every few years and it doesn't seem to affect their game. I love my stick and hope I never have to buy another one which I know I will eventually but it's almost as we have this connection and whatever you do just don't let anyone use your stick. It's yours and it needs to be treated that way whether its $100 or $1000 still treat it with respect. I know it sounds corny but your stick is your most valuable tool when shooting pool and if you are not comfortable with your stick you won't be comfortable shooting pool. WarLocke posted:This is good advice in general when you are relatively new at the game. If you don't have a good shot ('good' being one you feel you can pocket and hopefully end up with shape on your next shot) just knock the balls around. Odds are good that your opponent has his next 2-3 shots planned out already based on what he thinks you're going to do, so disturbing the current pattern of the balls on the table may throw him off, or at least make him reevaluate. This, this and more of this. The biggest mistake I see new players make is hitting the cue ball very hard. For one you have no clue where the cue ball is going to end up, 2nd hitting it hard also can screw up your shot there is nothing wrong with hitting it soft, but the best advice I can give you is hit a nice even stroke just enough to have the ball reach the pocket. The thing about hitting it soft is even if it doesn't go in more than likely it will cover the pocket or leave it very close to the pocket and it could block on of your opponents balls and prevent him from running out. Sure I can go up there and hammer the ball every time and control the cue ball but I don't want to do that because if I miss then the not only is the cue ball going somewhere that I don't know but the ball you were shooting at will go all over the table and that could be trouble. If you don't have a shot find one of your balls on the table that is in trouble and get it out of trouble. That way you are not just wasting your turn. I have talked about my Uncle Frank a lot in this thread and he is basically responsible for the man I am today whether people think that is good or bad I like who I am so gently caress them. Talk to my dad and he will tell you Frank made me an awful person, talk to my friends and they think Frank did a good job so who knows. Frank is a hot tempered son of a bitch and it's pretty enjoyable getting him pissed off his face gets red, his bald head gets red, and he is short and fat and it's funny when he is yelling. So many times he was disciplining his daughter and if I was around I would have to leave the room from laughing at him because of how funny he acts when he is mad. The thing about pissing Frank off is it makes him a better pool player. He goes into this zone and can't be stopped and it's an amazing sight. So We are at Frank's pool hall shooting pool one night and a pretty well known road player came into the hall looking for action. He wasn't looking for just any action he wanted Franks action, apparently Frank took him for a couple Thousand dollars a few years ago and he wanted revenge. I remember when the guy walked in it was like a school lunchroom or something because everyone got quiet and started whispering. I walked up to this older guy and asked who that was and he said he was a real good road player named Tic. Tic walked right over to Frank said wanna shoot and frank grabbed his stick, locked the doors, kicked me of his favorite table and told me to run and grab him and Tic some food and drink. It was like a schoolyard bully was getting ready to fight someone everyone was grabbing chairs and setting them up around the main table. I left grabbed a case of bud light and a couple of pizzas and came back and they were already in game 2 and Frank was losing 0-2 they decided to play $100 a game until one person was out of money or just quit. Tic reminds me of Ben Afflecks character in Dazed and confused especially the scene where he is shooting pool and just talking non stop poo poo about how he is playing the worst pool player ever. Quick comebacks, never shuts up, always has to have the last say and that was Tic and from the time I left to get food and came back I swear it seemed like he never stopped talking. He was talking poo poo about being up 2-0 and he was not going to lose this time. None of this really seemed to daze Frank he sat in his chair eating pizza and drinking and smoking a cigarette all at the same time. After Tic got up 5-0 on him Tic started poo poo talking even more and started calling Frank cue ball because he was bald. Frank hates people talking about him being bald and I noticed right away he started to get red in the face and he was getting pissed. I remember a friend of mine at the time said that Frank looked like he literally wanted to kill this guy. Frank goes into the zone and in no time has tied it up 5-5 and Tic is just endlessly ripping on Franks bald head. Frank wins the next 3 making it 8-3 and it starts to rattle Tic. Frank is already just royally pissed off and there is a huge amount of tension in the room and tic starts up poo poo talking again and Frank tells him to knock it off or he is not only going to take his money he is going to kick the poo poo out of him too. Tic lets this nervous laughter out but kind of cools the poo poo talking for a few games. Frank is now up 12-5 and Tic starts in with some more poo poo talking but this time he takes to far. After Frank misses a shot Tic walks over and takes his towel and starts shining Franks bald spot. Frank stands up grabs the guys arm flips him over his back and while Tic is laying on the ground he grabs him by the throat lifts him up and slams him on the pool table with an enormous thud. A couple of regulars run over grab Frank who is is just furious and basically spitting and cursing the guy yelling "I told you to stop", looking at everyone saying "didn't I tell him to stop." The chaos finally calms down and Tic gets up gathers himself grabs his stick and walks right out without saying a word. No money ever changed hands and Frank said he didn't even care about the money he just wanted that rear end in a top hat out of there. I remember a few weeks later Frank sat me down and talked to me about how that was the worse thing to do in the situation. He said he had no clue who was with the guy and could have also been arrested for assault. I needled him a little bit but got the general idea that you should never lose your temper at the table. While it may help you to focus you still make bad decisions and eventually cost you money in the long run. Just a little side note the only time I ever got my uncle that pissed was when we decided to use his name as if it was the word gently caress. So I was walking around the pool hall yelling "Frank you, you mother Franker". He hated that and eventually got so fed up with it that he chased me around with a pool stick saying he was gonna beat me with it. I stopped of course but now every once in a while I use that term Frank you just to needle him because he gets really mad and it's funny.
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Jul 13, 2012 21:58
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jase1 posted:Just a little side note the only time I ever got my uncle that pissed was when we decided to use his name as if it was the word gently caress. So I was walking around the pool hall yelling "Frank you, you mother Franker". He hated that and eventually got so fed up with it that he chased me around with a pool stick saying he was gonna beat me with it. I stopped of course but now every once in a while I use that term Frank you just to needle him because he gets really mad and it's funny. This got a chuckle out of me because my dad used to be on a team with a guy named Frank who was just incapable of shooting softly. All he EVER did was these big power hits. To this day we tell people to 'Frank 'em' and just hit poo poo hard and roll balls around when you don't really have a good shot or are hooked. Also for other new players, #3 rule is to learn how to play defense. You can seriously mess with some peoples' heads simply by denying them easy shots. Make them work for their balls by having to bank or kick the cue ball a couple times; sooner or later they'll screw up and give you ball in hand (well, in APA rules, dunno about bar pool) #1: Take the easy shots first #2: Shoot with a light touch #3: Learn to play defense
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Jul 13, 2012 22:28
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Thanks for the advice. Just ordered the cue and a case. Looking forward to trying it out in a few days. I'll let you guys know how well it works for me once I try it out some. And keep up the stories jase1, they're just awesome.
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Jul 14, 2012 02:22
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Do you have cousins who live the lifestyle you do to a certain degree or do Uncle Frank and Mike only have daughters? Do you have any siblings? If so what are their thoughts and/or your girl cousin(s) thoughts on all this hustlin'? Just interested to hear a female perspective on it from inside your family. Can any of the women play or do they just think you're all ridiculous? Great Uncle Frank story, they way you described him physically and then how he gets mad I just couldn't help myself but picture Frank Sobotka on the pool table. Loving all of this thread 
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Jul 14, 2012 05:33
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jase1 posted:The thing about pissing Frank off is it makes him a better pool player. He goes into this zone and can't be stopped and it's an amazing sight. I personally have a lot of trouble keeping my temper in games, but I have trained myself to deal with getting angry.. When I get pissed or frustrated or annoyed, I have learned a little mental trick, though: every time something distracts me, I stop, chalk my cue, and walk around the table one time to re-center myself and refocus on the game, rather than my opponent, the hot chick that walked by, my bad day at the office, or someone's smart-rear end comment. When I get into games where this becomes necessary, I do not talk during the game. Playing cold angry is good, playing hot angry is very, very bad. Also, as a person who specializes in dickhead defensive moves and head games, DO NOT loving try to play head games while your opponent is taking a shot. I make a point to respect my opponent when he's taking a shot, and attempt to not stand in his line of sight if possible, and if not, I try to stand statue-still. Respecting your opponent is always the best thing you can do, because there're few things worse than trying to gently caress with your opponent's shot and having them win - except for getting your rear end kicked by him and his friends for tapping your fingers on the table directly in line with his shot, etc.
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Jul 15, 2012 03:53
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This is a great thread. Never stop with these stories, they are fantastic. Also I don't think you replied to this question by Corridor and I'd like to know the answer too. Corridor posted:In the same vein, have there been any times you hustled someone pretty hard and then felt bad about it?
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Jul 15, 2012 13:27
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