8 Ball Pool Lessons From Reggie The River

When I was 18, I joined my first 8 ball pool league. I didn’t know anybody at the time so I was teamed up with 3 crotchety, yet likable, old men and one middle-aged woman. I still remember their names: Reggie, the brothers Jack & Don, and Tia. We made an unusual group, but got along quite well. From these 4 teammates I learned a lot about how to play pool, and plenty of valuable 8-ball lessons. Today I’ll start with Reggie.

Reggie was perhaps the craftiest, and oldest, of the lot. He was a sharp old coot who was limited mainly by his aging and frail limbs, and his large thick glasses. He was very dangerous in his sweet spot, which was dissecting short-to-mid-range patterns. Now, you might think to yourself “Hey, anybody can be dangerous in that area!” and you’d be right, but until you settled down to watch Reggie in action, you’d fail to understand quite what I’m getting at.

Reggie’s game could sort of… build up potential, like a river held back by a dam. Leave him long and green and he’d swing away without much accuracy or gusto. His vision was bad enough, and those huge glasses awkward enough, that he had quite a bit of trouble locking in on any long-range targets. And he never, ever (well ok, maybe once in hundred times) chose to play safe. That meant that he suffered dearly if his opponent managed to keep him down table from all his shots. Yet all the while he waited for a good shot, that river boiled and churned behind its dam waiting for a chink to appear.

He never really wasted much energy hemming and hawing over the long-ball. He’d just step up and fire, and sit down again if he missed. He saved up all that energy, all that massive potential, for the times when his opponent finally slipped up enough to give him some daylight (and mind you this happened plenty! I mean we were in a friendly, non-handicapped amateur league, even the players trying to play smart and safe made frequent mistakes). And then, well let me tell you it was something to see.

The first time I got to witness Reggie hitting his stride, well how the heck can you describe a tottering elderly man transforming into a force of nature? I had already spent most of the night feeling bad for the fella. He had lost his first 2 games because his opponent had run a few balls each time before choosing, or accidentally, leaving Reggie long-and-on-the-rail for his turns at the table. Each time, Reggie would shuffle over to the cue-ball, hunch over his shot, and with just a quick 2-stroke he’d fire away… and miss, which left his opponent to clean up a few easy shots plus the 8 both times.

Yup, that first night was something of an eye-opener. I was a bit bummed out to be teamed up with this old codger who couldn’t lay a safe or put 2 shots together. I was actually moping just a bit, waiting for my next game when IT happened: Reggie got his shot.
I’m not sure if his opponent just got lazy, or was no longer frightened of that tottering old-timer who couldn’t be bothered to take the time to aim-up a long shot or think of a possible defensive play to save his hide. Either way, his opponent missed and at the same time let Reggie into that particular pool game.

The shot was nothing special. It was just on the edge of half a table-length, but this time Reggie had plenty of room to settle down with a solid bridge. This time he took his time, shuffled slowly around the table eying things up, idly whisking chalk across the tip of his stick. His first shot was the toughest he would have on the table. Crack! It fell center pocket, and the cue-ball scooted gently along its slight tangent line to settle into position for the next ball.

Slowly at first, like a trickle through a new chink in the dam, Reggie began to warm up to the table. The next ball, and the next, dropped in. The chink gave way to a geyser which blasted outwards and soon obliterated the whole damn dam. From that point on he was never further than half a table-length from a shot, his cue ball never got out of position, he never even jarred a ball as it dropped. That cue-ball hardly moved at all around the table. If a raging river can be economical… well, Reggie suddenly seemed just as unstoppable as the river, yet he also seemed never to waste distance or energy on unnecessary action. He did just enough to get where he needed to go, and he never left himself agonizing over a longer-than-comfortable shot or a difficult cut.

In just a few short minutes Reggie had run out the table, and then with his same elderly walk, scooped out the balls for the next rack before shuffling back to his seat. My mind was screaming at me “What the heck was that??” I’m sure my jaw was gaping wide open. It had happened so quickly and smoothly that I could barely register it before I was being called over for my next game.
Later, Reggie broke for his fourth game. Nothing spectacular or powerful, but he sunk a ball and had a few clear shots to chose from. Working in quick succession from one length of the table to the other, he chewed up all the shots and chipped in the 8 with a raspy “Corner pocket.” I was ready for him this time, perched on the edge of my chair throughout the run. It was amazing. And he’d managed his positional choices so well that he never left the side of the table he started on. He just sort of ticked around like a wiry old minute hand on a watch. Pop-pop-pop, some stop-shots, center-hit slides, couple of snippy short draw shots and he was out. I was left with a lot to think about concerning my own game!

I didn’t get to see Reggie’s final game of the night, but I gathered that his opponent had gotten a little rattled, and a botched safety had failed to lock Reggie down. It took him 2 turns to win that game, but he sealed up his 5-game match at 3-to-2, which was enough to keep him happy.

So what did I learn?

Well, I already knew by then that getting position was integral to a successful run-out, but my definition of ‘position’ needed a serious overhaul. At that point in my ‘career’ as an amateur player I was just happy to have a clean shot, no matter how long, and my biggest worry was for those steep angles that never seemed to work out just the way you’d hoped for when you’re far, far away! Position to me meant have a relatively friendly angle, or better yet a straight in shot.

What Reggie showed me was that keeping my shots under the half-table mark (for total distance from cue-ball to target pocket) would drastically improve my chances of making a ball, and for getting position on the next ball. He also showed me the value of choosing simple and efficient shot-patterns. Early on (and still to this day sometimes!) I moved the cue-ball around all over the table with unruly draw, follow, sidespin… I loved to see the cue-ball dance! Yet at the same time I also believed it was necessary. I’d go two, three rails just to line up for that ‘easy shot’ that could let me dance a couple more rails over to the next ‘easy shot’. From Reggie I learned economy and ‘good angles’, even if I was too young and stubborn to apply it! Those hours playing with Reggie and watching his style stayed with me through the years, and I was slowly able to understand the value of that knowledge and utilize it more and more effectively as I developed into my own.

Does anyone have similar stories, or ‘eurika’ moments from your first experiences playing in a pool league? Please feel free to share them with us!

Now, if you liked this posting, you’d best go check out my great featured series designed to help amateur players learn how to play pool better than ever!

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