Expelled at age 13
 

"In Bellflower in '68, here's this skinny pimple-faced kid thirteen years old, that two weeks in a row busted the ring pay-ball game on the Snooker table with the best players in California – and road players – it was Keith McCready. He would sleep under the tables, on the bench – he was thirteen. So I said, don't think I'm butting in your business, but don't you go to school? He said, ‘Nah, I got thrown out of school. They threw me out.' So I said, for what? He said, ‘For having too much money.' So I said, you want to elaborate on that? He said, ‘Elaborate, what's that mean?' I said, tell more about it. So now he says he went to Phys-Ed and goes up to the Phys-Ed teacher and says, ‘Would you hold my money? I don't wanna put it in my locker; someone might steal it. Would you hold my money?' The teacher said, ‘Yeah, I'll hold it. How much?' Keith says, ‘Twelve thousand. So they threw me out for having too much money.' "

-Danny Deliberto

Wonder if this young man is related to my good friend San Deliberto? 13 k can buy a house in those days and then some.


Today, the school or cop will hold that money and never give it back. Civic forfeiture?

spelled the name wrong...my bad. Danny DiLiberto is old now..but is in both Boxing and Pool halls of fame.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_DiLiberto

Keith McCready is wayyy past 13 now...just another old guy walking his dog in Washington D.C. You can see him in the movie Color of Money. In his time one hell of a player. Easily found on youtube pool videos. Here he is in the movie, using a line he wrote after telling the director than no pool hustler would use the script's original line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IUXEWVH9BQ

My grandparents bought a house at the edge of town in the very early 60s. Town quickly moved that way and suddenly it was a busy area. A bank went in next door, and strip shopping center went in across the street. One of the business was a pool hall. Of course my brother and I wanted to go play pool. Granddad went ballistic, and it was clear we would each get a pet dragon before he allowed us to play pool. My grandad was born in 1902 and had lived through the tough times, and been in some pool halls that were a bit unsavory. I learned later in life that he was in a lot of fights from playing pool. He did not want us to have any part of that life. In his mind, pool halls were at the same level as whore houses and seedy bars.

Aye, that's the reason pool will never reach "mainstream" status like golf. Bobby Riggs was spot on though...when he said the first time he laid eyes on a golf course he knew he was looking at a big beautiful outdoor pool hall.

The reality is quite different than you see in the movies. I've never seen a fight over a pool game, even when money involved. Generally very quiet affairs, few rules disputes when top players are involved. The loser pays up. Kind of a code of honor thing. Nobody wants to be known as an airballer, one who doesn't pay on a bet. When things get noisy in the hall I go to, it's usually young unskilled kids who believe the tripe they've seen on film. In top level tournament play with a referee watching every shot? The play itself is amazing in the skill shown...I sit mesmerized, knowing enough to know what they're doing and why, but also knowing I'll never reach that level.

(edit) Watch beginning at the 21 minute mark here. Dechaine breaks, left with a terrible position. Playing 8 ball on 7' "bar tables" made by Diamond. So, Dechaine shoots a safety play, leaving Bergman nothing...or so thought both Dechaine and the announcers. I love the way Bergman uses his cue to determine where he plans on leaving the cue ball...his speed control to that end is top notch. The numbers on the screen are their "fargo ratings"...then percentage of their odds of winning change as the match goes on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=348Zyyax1as

i got expelled out of 13 schools
Didn't have 12 grand tho, it was generally because I was working hard at being annoying.

Me to, I was sent home from High School a few times but it was never about money.

Long ago when I still lived in Alabama, I ended up in a pickup with a friend of my brother's (Shelby) coming back from the lake. He decided he needed, or we needed to stop at a dive bar called Charlie Brown's and it was a smoke filled, honky tonk with 6 pool tables in the back. Shelby started playing pool with a couple of rough looking pulp truck drivers. He is naturally left handed, and he was playing right handed. He kept beating the opponent by just a hair. They agreed on a final game, but only if Shelby would play left handed.

I was convinced we were going to get killed, but shy of walking home I was stuck. He managed to clean the guy out of cash, and we got out of there before the sucker realized had been hustled. I never rode with him again. Charlie Brown's was the model for the run down redneck bar. I was totally out of place.