My Southern California Fun Trip

Well I went to visit a good friend of mine Jay Smith, sounds like a made up name considering it is one of the most popular names in the country but I assure you its real, haha. I needed a break from the Arizona heat so I packed a bag and hit the road headed for Long Beach.

It was an uneventful journey along the I-10 West, the scenery is just wide open desert until you see the wind power generators in Palm Springs along with the mountains there. I did enjoy the time along just driving listening to The Doors and some Nine Inch Nails along the way.

I make it to my friend Jays place which is the guest house at his aunt's home in Long Beach, a fairly big place close to the ocean. We went out for some cook your own Korean BBQ which was interesting, I ate some octopus for the first time and it was a good albeit a bit chewy.

We went out later that night for some pool and brews on 1st street hitting up some pubs and ended up at a place called the Reno Room. To our surprise there was two Diamond bar tables in there with quarters lined up and people having good times. We got our quarters down and could not be beat the whole night, playing for drinks and having a blast. We won a few drinks at the previous bar but this place was bigger and more people so usually that is more fun too. We left that night being owed drinks so we might go back and collect one day.

I realized pool is more than gambling and the pressure of tournaments, the social fun aspect is great in the game. For myself this is what drew me into pool in the first place, the friendly social competition with strangers who you make fast friends with. Its really what the game has been for so long and will be for as long as we are alive, a game we all can enjoy.

We went the next day to Huntington Beach and just relaxed, a good day in the sun. My dream is to one day live by the ocean with a big pool table and a nice view. Imagine hitting the balls around and watching the waves roll in, that is a pool players paradise.

I am heading out on a road trip cross country soon, and no its not the road trip your thinking of with pool gambling, its the see the country type road trip. I think it will be fun to just head out and drive, seeing places I have heard, read about or saw on TV. I will try and keep people informed on my times in these places and hopefully I can find some hidden treasures like the Reno Room. Here is a picture of me and my good friend Jay at the Reno Room from that night. Later and be well my friends.

Latest Updates - Lenny Has Been Busy

Well it has been a bit as usual and I have been slacking on the blog. So for the past few months what is there to say, its been busy. I have been streaming twice a month doing the one pocket and a little over a week ago I did a 5 day stream from California Billiard Club in Mountain View with many top players such as Bustamante, Sambajon, Ulrich, Deuel, Frost, Parica and many others for the $4000 Added one pocket and $10,000 Added 10 ball events.

I am glad the owner Chris Swart had me out once again and hope to return again next year. It really kicked my butt though streaming 12 plus hours a day for 5 days but it was worth it and the viewership was around 30,000 people for the days I streamed total. I have been working on making some improvements on the stream, going to get a new laptop soon and try to stream going through and HDMI box, hopefully it works because the cost is going to be a bit pricey. I know people enjoy the streams so I soldier on with it, seeing where it may lead. I have no delusions though, its a hobby and I love the game, its my way of giving back. I am lucky to have fan support because that is what really keeps the ball rolling is the contributions I have gotten to help with cost and equipment upgrades, if I had to dig into my pocket for it all it would be a tough deal.

I was thinking of going to Vegas for the US Open One Pocket like I did last year but its not in the cards or budget so I will just take the days and get some good practice. I have been hitting the balls well in practice but for some reason my competition game is not so hot, just been so busy with everything else so maybe just keep practicing and take a break from tournaments and gambling for a bit. One thing I realized is a good couple weeks out of the hot seat can be helpful and I always come back better than ever. As of late I have been practicing at Skip and Jans which is closer to me as opposed to Kolbys, a month pass at Skips is only $50 to play until you drop so that is the best bargain for playing pool in Arizona I think along with the good equipment and staff there.

Scott Frost and I have been talking about doing a second DVD, Power One Pocket Part 2 or something. Might be worthwhile, the last one was pretty successful and well received so its possible that we will give it a go. I know this time it will be much better than the first one since I have better equipment and knowledge now to create a better product. At the moment I am working on some match DVDs from the CBC events where I recorded some stuff, they are so time consuming though, taking a good full day for one DVD. The funny thing is the match DVDs do not sell well so they are almost pointless to an extent but people do enjoy them and its good to just get things out there.

On another note my daughter Alexis just turned 3 years old, how the time has flown by, I remember her just being born and how great of an experience that was. I thank the Lord that I have her in my life along with my son, sometime I lose sight of things and my children put it all into perspective. I love pool but in reality family is more important and if its not for you then you got some problems, haha. Well time for me get back to working on some stuff. Will try and keep this updated as I can with different things. Here is a link to Angelina Paglia's recent appearance on Road Warriors from CNN, she did a great job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U6dDH6uI-E

It Has Been Awhile Since Posting in the Blog

It has been a bit since I have posted in here but figured I would take a few minutes to post some updates on the past 6-7 months, time flies when your busy with life and pool. I have been playing regularly and pretty well, finished 1st twice and 2nd once in the past 4-5 months in the monthly one pocket tournaments and was one out of the money this past weekend.

I also cashed in my first two 9 ball tournaments of 2012, trying to play a bit more 9 ball as its a game that I have really not dedicated myself too. It does not really hold my attention like one pocket does and I just do not stay focused and that game sure does take a good deal of it. I did buy a break jump cue, all purple heart wood which is great for break cues, even the shaft is purple heart and its all dyed black, Samsara tip and G-10 pin, it breaks well and that is one thing I need to keep working on to play better 9 ball.

I did also play 2 challenge matches for the King of 8s and won both without losing a set which was nice but I really do not have the desire to play these challenges anymore. IMO I would rather just play tournaments, gamble or practice, the challenges were a fun thing to do but recently a guy I was supposed to play got a little too serious about it and I am not interested in playing big ego people. I am playing pretty good as of now but I am still not satisfied with where my game is, but then again most people are not, we all are trying to reach that high place and have the respect of the other guys we are playing out there.

As of late my daughter has not been well and we were in and out of the hospital around the holidays but thankfully at the moment things are better but boy can it be scary and put things into perspective also. I have been trying to give my family a bit more attention and have that healthy balance between, pool, family, life and work, its better that way. I also have been working out more and believe its helping my pool game, it cannot hurt IMO to be in good shape.

Well let me get going and get back to work, thanks for stopping by my friends and hope to see you at www.ontherailtv.com during our live stream on the 28th from Kolby's in Tempe AZ.