Ever watched a money match?

[pwd72s]

Just got a heads up. No idea of the score. Guess I'll know when the last 10 ball falls.
Warning..don't bet against the old man. Looks like Sandcastle billiards in NY....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XKGC9E3pKc

[pwd72s]

Finally can see the score. Old man needs 3 games...kid needs 6. Winner breaks format, so still anybody's match.

[Nostril Cheese]

[pwd72s]

LOL! Watching the big rules dispite/dispute on the final game. I thought the kid failed to call the combo, as per the rules...but glad I'm not there. Getting pretty heated. Thinking it will finally end up being called a draw.

The old man...none other than Efren Reyes. Rotation pool's equal to A.J. Foyt. Smart of him to just put his cue on the table and walk away. For sure he doesn't need the money. Don't let his looks fool you, he's a very wealthy man. Always a treat to watch him play.

[Jeff Higgins]

Looks like the video got blocked.

When I was a young man, and still under age, we used to ride motorcycles to a place called The Lynnwood Tavern, affectionately known as the "Lynnwood Knife and Gun Club". Absolute schitthole dive bar, but we could get in... They had the usual crappy coin operated pool tables, on which we would play.

Well, life, school, career, family got in the way as I got a little older, and I had not been in the place for probably ten years. Then I got stuck doing my time on swing shift, as all younger guys did, and we decided to stop in on the way home after work.

Much to my surprise, the old building was gone, replaced by a really nice pool hall, with "real" pool tables. It had definitely gentrified. There were, however, three tables that were always covered, which we were not allowed to use. Then one night one was uncovered, with a crowd of people around it.

Turns out there were only two actually playing. For a couple of hours. Everyone else around the table was, um, "just watching"... Until we tried to approach, to watch, at which point they kind of stood in the way. Hmm... There were stacks of bills two to three inches high along the edges of the table. The one you could see on top of each stack was a Benjamin...

Never did find out who they were. They showed up, sporadically, until I got back on days and was no longer able to be there that time of night. They looked pretty serious...

[Jims5543]

When I was 18-20 years old I used to meet a few of the boys at the pool hall to play $5 games on Sunday evening. We would meet up every other Sunday and play.

One Sunday this cute girl in black leather pants and a low cut top came in and was goofing around with another cute girl a few tables down. they had our attention because they were pretty. They were not playing well.

We played a couple more games, and the leather pants chick came over and asked who was winning. Heath was on top that night. It was not much, $25.

She challenged him to a game for $25, slightly buzzed and feeling like we was on his a game, he accepted.

Paul can finish this story for me.

[pwd72s]

LOL! The "gentrified" place may have been the old Golden Fleece Billiards. It's moved to Everett now. I've never been there, but have heard about it. Yes, money games still happen. Usually the $ are out of sight, with a chosen neutral party holding the posted money. With the internet, the hustler/road player has died off. Players are too well known these days to hide their true speed. Sort of like during the old stoplight gran prix days, everybody knew who had the town's fastest car.

The "old man" in the match I briefly had a link to was "The magician" Efren Reyes...no longer the best. In the 80's and 90's, name the national or world tournament...odds are he's won it. Well into his 60's, he still plays well. He comes to the states from time to time, often plays young players. Sort of a charity/fun thing for him. His playing skills, combined with his marrying a financially savvy woman, have made him a multi millionaire. He owns a sizeable chunk of Manila commercial properties these days. In the Philippines, he's as highly regarded as Manny Pacio...both nationally loved. In this match, he was dressed in his usual style...looking like a homeless who'd wandered in off the street. Universally loved and recognized in the pool world. Treated much the same in a pool hall as Mario Andretti at a race track.

Anyway, should you wish to check it out in your neck of the woods:

https://gfleece.com/

Here's Efren's Wikapedia:

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

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

When I was 18-20 years old I used to meet a few of the boys at the pool hall to play $5 games on Sunday evening. We would meet up every other Sunday and play.

One Sunday this cute girl in black leather pants and a low cut top came in and was goofing around with another cute girl a few tables down. they had our attention because they were pretty. They were not playing well.

We played a couple more games, and the leather pants chick came over and asked who was winning. Heath was on top that night. It was not much, $25.

She challenged him to a game for $25, slightly buzzed and feeling like we was on his a game, he accepted.

Paul can finish this story for me.

HOOT!! Your buddy wasn't the only guy to have been hustled by the black widow...
Wonder who the other girl was? Maybe Gerda H.? Yeah, Jeanette loved messing with male egos. Sadly, she's in a battle with the gig C these days.

[Ayles]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Looks like the video got blocked.

When I was a young man, and still under age, we used to ride motorcycles to a place called The Lynnwood Tavern, affectionately known as the "Lynnwood Knife and Gun Club". Absolute schitthole dive bar, but we could get in... They had the usual crappy coin operated pool tables, on which we would play.

Well, life, school, career, family got in the way as I got a little older, and I had not been in the place for probably ten years. Then I got stuck doing my time on swing shift, as all younger guys did, and we decided to stop in on the way home after work.

Much to my surprise, the old building was gone, replaced by a really nice pool hall, with "real" pool tables. It had definitely gentrified. There were, however, three tables that were always covered, which we were not allowed to use. Then one night one was uncovered, with a crowd of people around it.

Turns out there were only two actually playing. For a couple of hours. Everyone else around the table was, um, "just watching"... Until we tried to approach, to watch, at which point they kind of stood in the way. Hmm... There were stacks of bills two to three inches high along the edges of the table. The one you could see on top of each stack was a Benjamin...

Never did find out who they were. They showed up, sporadically, until I got back on days and was no longer able to be there that time of night. They looked pretty serious...

Since I am from your neck of the woods, albeit much younger where would this place have been now?

[Ayles]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

LOL! Watching the big rules dispite/dispute on the final game. I thought the kid failed to call the combo, as per the rules...but glad I'm not there. Getting pretty heated. Thinking it will finally end up being called a draw.

The old man...none other than Efren Reyes. Rotation pool's equal to A.J. Foyt. Smart of him to just put his cue on the table and walk away. For sure he doesn't need the money. Don't let his looks fool you, he's a very wealthy man. Always a treat to watch him play.

I actually watched this last night after you posted it. They were interesting to watch and appear to rarely miss.

What was rule that was broken? Seemed like a LOT of heated people. Where was it streaming from? Didn't seem to be an English speaker in the crowd.

[pwd72s]

10 ball is a call shot rotation game. Not like 9 ball where "slop counts". At this skill level, when a shot is obvious, no real need to call. But when the kid knocked in the 6 with the 3, he should have called it. The rules say all combination shots must be called. My personal judgement is that he was actually shooting to pocket the 3, considering he was jacked up over an obstructing ball for the shot, which makes a shot a lot tougher. I didn't see him call the combo or the three...a foul. I believe he tried to bluff his way through and continued shooting..another foul. All the barking was him claiming he called the shot...I sure didn't see it. The conversation on a pool board I visit was the same consensus. After that foul shot, Efren should have been given ball in hand, placing the cue ball anywhere he wished before shooting. Would have been pretty much a match victory for Efren, since it was hill-hill at 14 games each in a race to 15 games...player winning 15 games first wins the match.

The match was held in New York or New Jersey...I'm not sure. A heavy Philippines and Puerto Rico contingent there. Gambling big is a way of life to many in the pool world. When there's money involved, not necessarily the match bet itself, but side bets, yeah, things can get heated.

Efren was smart to walk away from the barking. No need for him to get involved. He plays for the love of the game these days. His net worth is estimated to be several million in US dollars. That makes him a very wealthy man in his home country, the Philippines.

Did I explain it enough? Hope so...

[Ayles]

Oh no, thats a great explanation! Appreciate it, had never seen that version of the game being played.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Ayles

Since I am from your neck of the woods, albeit much younger where would this place have been now?

It was on the corner of 196th and 99.

The "Lynnwood Knife and Gun Club" was just one of a few infamous bars in the late '70's that would allow us in, so long as we were on our motorcycles with some older guys.

There was also the Silver Dollar in Kirkland, right at the base of Highway 908 (aka Kirkland-Redmond Road). We were there, drinking beer and shooting pool, the night of the infamous Moss Bay Days "riot". Authorities blamed us "dirty bikers" for having started it, but all we were doing was standing on the sidewalk drinking beer and spectating.

Then there was the Duvall Tavern, still there, in the same location right where the Woodenville-Duvall Road enters Duvall. My buddy and I were there one day, drinking beer and shooting pool, when some "club" guys walked in. One grabbed our pitcher right off of our table. Ass Hole... The barmaid saw the whole thing, never said a word, and made us pay for our next one. Byttch... Well, about half an hour later, some guys from a different "club" walked in, and it started getting pretty busy in there. I took that opportunity to steal the first Ass Hole's pitcher, which my buddy and I started pouring out of. When Ass Hole noticed it was gone, he came straight for us...

"No, we didn't take it. We would never do that. Your friend over there took it. We thought you were all together...." Pointing at some poor unsuspecting guy from the other club... Needless to say, it was "on" as soon as the Ass Hole confronted the guy, who obviously had no idea what he was talking about and denied everything. John and I made it out the side door as the chairs and pool balls started flying, hoping to God our kick start only Sportsters would cooperate before Ass Hole, his club, the innocent party and his club, figured it out. Luckily we got them lit and got the hell outa there.

This little altercation wound up making the news. Lots of them wound up in the hospital with knife wounds and the like, and the bar was essentially destroyed. John and I never went back. We were actually fairly concerned, and quit going to the Lynnwood Knife and Gun Club, the Silver Dollar, and the Spar Tree out in Granite Falls as well. The same crowd rode that "loop" pretty regularly. We did, however, go on the very first ever Oyster Run a few years after that, but that's a whole different story...

[Ayles]

I wonder if that became The Corner(Corners?) Tavern in the 90s? Roughly the same location, just S of the intersection on the West side of 99.

Great story on the other joints!

[Jeff Higgins]

This one was on the southeast corner of the intersection, right where the America's Best Motor Inn sits today. It was just south of the old 76 station that used to be right on the corner. I remember the Corner Tavern, it was right across the street.