[Leftoverchinese]

Thursday night began like most nights for me, I began working the streets trying to earn a decent living driving a cab in one of America's tourist hot spots, Orlando, when I get a call from one of my regulars customers that I play pool with pretty often. He tells me that the pro player is back at his pool hall and is simply amazing to watch. As I understood it, he was only playing people that were willing to gamble at least $5 per game and he was presently making an APA 8 look like he didn't know how to hold a cue. Without hesitation, I drop everything I'm doing and drive across town to get a shot to play him.

I arrive at the pool hall and find my friend, he points to a very tall slender man playing pool at the table in front of him. Now I'm no small dude, standing roughly 6'3" or 4", but this guy towered above me at a good 6'9" or 10", maybe more. He was presently playing one pocket with the APA 8 that I had mentioned earlier. Adam had to pocket 15 balls prior to the 8 sinking 5. Adam had won far more games than he had lost at this point.

At first glance, it didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, however, if you watched long enough, you would see Adam begin to pull out some tricks from his arsenal; a 5 rail bank shot that missed the pocket by an inch after being left with a safety by the 8 for instance. Or, seeing Adam play near perfect position with every shot with **** near perfect cue ball control was simply impressive. Watching them play one pocket like a game of chess was simply amazing. It is definitely a game that I am going to have to try.

So I stepped up and asked Adam if I could play him a game or two. He agreed, but politely requested that he finish the last few racks with the 8, which although they were playing one pocket didn't take long and Adam soon gestured that it was my turn to step up to the table. I told him that I had never played one pocket before, if that is what he wanted to play. He said, "we'll play whatever you want." When I asked to play 8 ball he said we would have to play ball in hand rules and I was fine with that as I prefer that as well. I shook his hand and introduced myself as Adam to which he grinned and said his name was also Adam.

So off we went, he racked and I grabbed a cue off the rack and broke sinking one ball. I proceeded to make one more and then miss. What can I say, I was surprisingly nervous. I mean, how often do you get the opportunity to play a pro? He stepped up to the table and proceeded to run what, at first glance, didn't seem like a runnable table.

So, here I stood, doing precisely what I had expected, racking the balls. I walked back to stand at my table with cue in hand and wait, I noticed I was unable to find it. I looked up and, to my surprise, Adam was breaking with it. It wasn't my Meucci mind you, it was just a cue off the rack at the hall. The balls exploded and as I was watching with my mouth agape watching these balls fall left and right, he walked by in one swift motion and handed me the cue whilst grabbing his and leaning in for his next shot. He proceeded to run the table on me and I walked back over to rack the balls again.

My brother exclaimed, "nice job, Adam... no, not you Adam, I mean that Adam"
I replied, "Yeah, I thought I did rather well that rack."

He broke, again with an explosion sinking the one ball in the corner pocket to his left. Once again, he ran the table like nothing and I walked up to rack the table again.

This time he broke, yet, without the familiar sound of balls falling left and right. Just as the balls started to come to rest, one finally fell. Adam looked up, his worried look returned to a smile and he said, "whoa, for a second there I thought you were going to run out on me." This game he let me on the table twice and I couldn't do any better than a 2 ball run, it was sad, but again, I ask you, how often do you get to play a pro? I was so nervous I couldn't make the easiest shot. It was sad, but I had a blast. At this point it was 1:30 and I had been there since midnight. I needed to get back to downtown to carry the drunks home and try to salvage what was left of my night so go home with a profit, lol.

All in all, it was a blast. I think tomorrow I'll go looking for him to see if I can't find him and play him again. His name, you may be asking yourself, is Adam Wheeler. Here is a blurb about him I was able to find in short order with a simple google search. http://www.internationalpooltour.com/ipt_c...heeler_Adam.asp He was a very nice guy. Confident in his skills, yet quiet and reserved.

Again, I ask you, how often do you get the opportunity to play a pro? He was also kind enough to play me for free. I suppose it was when I walked up to him and told him that I would more than likely be no challenge to him, but that I would like to play him anyway if he wouldn't mind.

[Pelican]

I payed Candy the other night, she's a pro. Oh, you said play

Never mind, Pel

[Leftoverchinese]

PoolSleuth, on Nov 18 2007, 05:41 PM, said:

What do you call a Pro, or professional?

Well, by definition it is someone that makes money at the activity, however, I consider a pro anyone who is on a pro tour and is ranked. I would think their skill level would be higher as well.

[FASTLARRY]

Leftoverchinese, on Nov 19 2007, 03:19 PM, said:

Well, by definition it is someone that makes money at the activity, however, I consider a pro anyone who is on a pro tour and is ranked. I would think their skill level would be higher as well.

If a person makes his living playing pool, has no other job, he is a pro, even if he is not on tour. My teachers Minnesota Fats and the Fast Eddy, never played in any tournaments, and who would question their being a pool professional.

[imax]

Once and once only. In the late '60s I played Joe Balsis in an straight pool exhibition to fifty balls. I made two balls, one of which he commented "nice shot" and that was my time at the table. Heck I was shaking so bad I'm surprised I didn't scratch. Nice memory though. And the good shot WAS a good shot btw.

[FASTLARRY]

imax, on Nov 20 2007, 11:47 PM, said:

Once and once only. In the late '60s I played Joe Balsis in an straight pool exhibition to fifty balls. I made two balls, one of which he commented "nice shot" and that was my time at the table. Heck I was shaking so bad I'm surprised I didn't scratch. Nice memory though. And the good shot WAS a good shot btw.

The meat man was one hell of a fine player. Everybody loved the big olf. He ran over 300 once. He could play.

[Leftoverchinese]

So the question I have now is, how does one get that good at pool? Surely it is not purely innate. Can it be attained through a series of repeated drills or does it require a tutor?

[Leftoverchinese]

Well, I guess the answer to the question posed is at least twice in a month. I was out working last night and it was a dead night when I got a call from a friend that lives next door to the pool hall asking if I wanted to play a game or two. I said sure and took an opportunity to take a break for an hour or so and play. Whilst I was playing I noticed Adam sitting at the bar talking with someone. I couldn't resist asking him to play another game. Funny enough, he remembered who I was and greeted me with a , "Hello, Adam" clearly remembering that we were both named Adam. He graciously agreed to play a few more games with me and came over to the table a few minutes later.

The trouble was, as soon as he came over to play me, my friend that I was with tore into him because Adam played in a local tournament here causing his mom to place second behind Adam. Even though it was a handicapped tournament, my friend was upset that they allowed a pro to play. I'm certain the argument put him off his game, as it didn't seem like he was playing as well as he did the first time. Although, after my shotty performance the first time around he may not have seen me as a skilled player and may not have been trying. Once again, I seemed to be missing easy shots even after making difficult ones. I did manage to win a game of 9 ball or two.

We moved on to 8-ball only because I wanted to see his break again. I broke the first game and , although given the opportunity to win, I failed to close the deal and lost. That trend continued for the next two games or so. I started to get comfortable since it began to seem like I was playing with just one of the guys and my game began to improve. I managed to pull it out and win a game only because he scratched leaving me ball in hand.

The next game was exactly what I had been wanting, though. I broke and managed to sink a ball or two leaving the cue center table and the balls spread well. I then managed to run one, two, three, eventually six balls until I left myself seemingly safe on the 7th ball. I took some time to look at it and called a rail, then the object ball , followed by it traveling the length of the table into the opposite corner pocket. I figured I had about a 40% chance of actually making the shot, but I had nothing else to try. Funny enough, I actually made the shot!!! I had broke and run 7 balls in a row at this point. The problem is I left myself a similarly improbable shot on the 8 and missed. I was elated to have at least shown that I could, in fact, play pool. At that point I didn't care if I won or lost because I had played a great game. I did end up winning the game though. Adam sank one ball and then missed by a hair on the next shot leaving me with a near straight in shot on the 8 leaving him with 6 balls still on the table.

I told him that I was just excited that I was able to play at least one good game well against him to make up for the terrible display the first time that I played with him. He then said that this next game would have to be his last game which was perfect for me as I had to get back to work. He ran that game out as soon as I let him on the table. It was simply great to play against a player of his caliber and to actually play well against him. That was definitely a treat for me. I got his card since he gives lessons in the area and I would love to improve my game. Hard to believe that I live that close to one of the top players out there. He said he is 8th in Florida and ranked 80 in the world.

I couldn't be happier. Christmas came early for me. :D