Gene wrote:
"He taught me to lose at pool to the right person at the right time."

Andy wrote:
"The best road players from all over the country would pass through there at one time or another. Even when there were no road players in action, there was still a lot of money being bet."

The best road players had that (lose at pool to the right person at the right time) down to a tee. Knowing where to play low stakes that would attract higher stakes action was also an art form, something amazing to watch unfold, even if one (me) happened to be the first fish in the bowl. A road player that I was later informed to be known as "Stevie Wonder" or "Little Stevie Wonder" (or something like that) showed up at Scotty Smith's Bank Shot pool hall in the Springs in the late 70's or early 80's. I played him some $2 9-ball. I won a few games and I lost a few games, all of them close. I quit $10 loser. Some better players were watching, and one asked Stevie if he wanted to play for $5 or $10 a game. Duh! Stevie played him close too, but picked his pocket for a couple hundred. Other rail birds were making phone calls, and I'm pretty sure that Stevie hooked up with some much deeper pockets across town at Grady Matthews' pool hall later that day. I am/was an average player going by typical pool league standards -- IOW I could beat most players in an average neighborhood bar table situation, but I never was close to being a road player. I wanted to be, but since I only look out of one eye, my depth perception is very flawed (I can see out of both eyes, but they aren't aligned, so my brain keeps things simple by not forcing me to have double-vision all of the time). I could play shape, but not well enough to overcome my depth perception limitations. Play pool with one eye closed, and you'll understand.

I miss "the good old days" in pool playing....