Fast Lenny Life Pool Blog

It Has Been Awhile Since Posting in the Blog

2012-01-19T03:30:00.000-08:00

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.

My AZ One Pocket State Championship Experience

2011-07-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

Well its been 2 weeks since that great tournament went off at Kolby's but figured while I am on vacation right now I would take the time to do a little write up on it. It was a good run and a good deal of fun too.

I went out the night before the tournament with my girlfriend and a buddy of mine named Mike. We went out and had drinks and a good time on Mill Ave. in Tempe. It was a blast of a night and we were about to leave when we were walking down the street just laughing and hooting/hollering a bit when all of a sudden I am attacked!, yes I said attacked. The guy pushes and swings at me and I am kind of in awe because this is totally out of of left field.

I am with my girl and a buddy of mine who is not a fighter but I myself boxed for a couple years when I was younger but as you get older you move on to different things along with a bad car accident that really cooled my jets around 10 years back. I just felt I had to protect myself and my girl and friend so I fought back, the guys girlfriend or some girl tries to stop this lunatic and she ends up getting hit by him so all hell breaks loose.

The guy gets jumped by numerous other drunks who are not liking this women beater and his antics but then the cops arrive just in time and spray some pepper to disperse the crowd which they do except for me. The horse, yes I said a horse with a policeman on it falls slipping on the pepper spray that has drenched the sidewalk. I am stunned as the horse came out of nowhere and is like 2 feet from me and scrambling to get up but the lunatic is on his feet and I am unsure why but I go at the guy.

Here I am having a great night until this guy comes along, he hits a girl after coming after me and causes all this trouble along with the horse falling and I just had enough so I proceed to give him some combinations and down he falls out cold. How stupid can I be though to do this in front of the police, I should have just let them handle it. I get a good dose of pepper spray and a few hits with a baton as a toll for my poor judgement and my girl and friend lead me away.

I must have taken a half dozen showers and rubbed my face like a moron so the pepper spray got deep into my skins and over 2 weeks later I still have some chemical burns on my face. Well now lets get to the good stuff, the one pocket tournament.

It was 32 players who showed up at Kolbys for the One Pocket State Championships and this is the place to prove yourself, to step up and play the best guys in the state and some of the best in the world with Scott Frost and Jose Parica also playing in it. My goal is to beat one good player in the tournament, that is always my goal in open play where your playing even with top guys.

My first match is against AZ State Champion One Pocket player Mike Pankoff who I believe won it the year before. I am thinking I am toast especially after he is up 2-0 in a race to 3 but I have a good break and keep control winning my first game. Great for me as I wont be getting a donut to eat, I then grind hard for moving and moving trying to frustrate Mike, not leaving too much. I win another game and its hill-hill and I am breaking so I have a real chance now and the room is watching.

Me and Mike really have a great game with Mike needing 1 ball and myself needing 2 and he leaves me as diagrammed below. I shoot the striped ball and end up on the 1 ball for a bank, not near perfect but bankable with a touch of inside and a firm hit. I win the game and everyone is clapping and congratulating me on a great shot and match. Mission accomplished and it was great to beat someone like Mike, he is a great guy and shakes my hand saying great match. I really look up to guys like Mike who are gentleman and play so well, I was a huge underdog but got there after digging deep.

My next match was another very tough opponent who plays with Mike quite regularly and I also get to spar with him getting some weight, his name is Bernie Pettipiece who I really respect and enjoy playing against. We have a very good match and I played well winning 3-1, I also finished that match with a very nice two ball out. I am on cloud nine at this point because my great play is not a fluke, I am just digging deep and playing my best and boy is that a great feeling and confidence booster also.

I end up having to face Bobby Emmons as my 3rd opponent, he is a very good young player and has a good deal of confidence, almost comes off as cocky but you need to be positive thinking to win and bring your best game. Bobby chats it up that the window is open to the rail and why not, he is the big favorite as were the other players I had just played before him. I win the first game and am running out in the 2nd game where the old me pops in to say hello and I miss a simple shot which causes me to lose that game and ultimately the match as Bobby comes with the firepower and wins 3-1. I am not out of it yet as its double elimination.

I end up facing Pete Lohtka on the losers side and its the end of the night, a long day of one pocket, me and Pete go the distance in a hill to hill match, I think we were down to the last couple of balls also so it was a true sweaters delight. Pete is a very good player who shows up at the state tournaments but other then that is not around Phoenix too often. I was lucky to beat him, but you need a little luck and not always skill in this game.

So I end up beating 3 very good players who were big favorites over me, in day 2 I have to play Scott Frost and its no fairy tale match, I get beat 3 to donut I do believe. Bobby who beat me goes on to face Jose Parica in the finals of the event and loses but still played very well in that tough tournament. I hope next year to do well and beat some good players, I think this performance has given me some confidence to step it up and with some hard work, table time and drills a ball or 2 improvement before next year should not be out of the question.

My US Open One Pocket Road Trip

2011-05-19T15:08:00.001-07:00

My Road Trip to the US Open One Pocket

Well I have to say I did not know what to expect as this was the first one for me as this past year was my first Derby. Lucky for me I was in good company on this trip with the legendary San Jose Dick McMorran. I met up with Dick at his place
early in the morning so we could beat any traffic, we loaded up the car with a bunch of his pool cases and cues he wanted to unload in Vegas but its funny because that is where they stayed since we were too busy to ever move them when we got there.
I might list them online for him so look out for them.

Dick took the wheel of his big Buick and drove us up, we wanted to stop off for breakfast at an old road stop where he used to go on one of his 100 trips towards Vegas but it was 7am or so and they were closed, we would have to wait until Kingman. We got to Kingman and hit up a good spot called the Road Runner Cafe that served a good home style breakfast. I discovered some books at our table for us to preview and purchase if we liked, I could think of a few people on the forums and in real life who could have used those books as the titles were classic. The books were by
Ben Goode and titled, "How to Make People Think your Normal", "The Joys of Being Broke" and "How to Stay Humble when Your Smarter than Everybody Else".

On the road to Vegas, its about a 5 hour drive and Dick is good company with many stories from his old road days. I have to say that you fellas here on the net are missing out on these gems and I tried to get him to do some on camera for your enjoyment but to no avail, he is just too humble. Maybe if enough of you get on him he will write them or let me swing by and have him tell you them, its just pricesless stuff or a time that is long gone. I would love to tell the stories myself but I am not the best storyteller and do not want to ruin them.

We end up in Vegas and head to the Riviera where there are thousands of pool players who love the game as we do, if you have not been there then your missing out on something special. Whether you like bar table or big table games you will have stuff to watch or play, its all there, one pocket, 14.1 challenge, 10 ball, and so many bar table events I cannot name them all. I have only ever been to Vegas for pool, not really into the other things Vegas has to offer for the most part.

Dick and I get ready for our dinner at Kristoffer's with some of the members of the www.onepocket.org website, we are in good company as John Brumback, John Henderson, Steve Booth, Lou Figeroua, Roy Steffensen, Bernie Pettipiece and his friend Ramses. We have some pre dinner drinks (i love drinks)and BS a little bit, Mark Griffin swings by and its always a pleasure to talk to him and let him speak of his new ideas and ways of improving things in the industry and his events. We almost get our dinner crashed by Earl, a part of me would have been happy for him to join us but then we all might have ate our dinners a little quicker and not been able to have some good conversation amongst one another that we did. I enjoyed the dinner and hope we can do it again next year, its a shame though that there are not better places to eat in the Riv, Kristoffer's is way overrated but still convenient for what we were doing. Thanks Lou for putting it all together though, for a minute me and Lou
thought half the people might not show but they all did which was very cool.

I have to say my days were a bit of a blur as I had barely any sleep, from the morning at 9 am til around midnight or so I did the live scoring for the first day, I was spent and decided I could only do the first shift of the live scoring from 9am to 4pm from then on for the rest of the one pocket event. I was either half in the bag most of the time and sleep was not on the agenda. I did get to meet some forum members though and that is always a joy to me and pretty cool to shoot the shit with them, its too bad I am bad with names but never forget a face so if we met dont be bashful and jump in this thread.

I did not get to play much, a 3-4 hour practice session with Bernie Pettipiece before the first day of matches. I felt I played well especially since Bernie is a much better player than I, I held my own a bit and was pleased with how I played trading games back and forth. I think the warm up was good for Bernie too as he did well in the tournament and even beat Gabe Owen 3-0 and nearly beat Rafael Martinez also. Well done Bernie and I look forward to more practice sessions. My only action on the table was $50 sets of 8 ball and banks, I am not a banks player and never really have gambled on it but put together two 4's back to back which was cool, winning all four sets we played, I will leave the victims name out of it.

Lots of sidebetting for me though which was fun and after all the days of one pocket I think I finished a couple dollars down, the one that set me back was the match with Alex and Frost, Alex I felt was lucky to win that match when Scott needed 1 and he needed 3, Scott would have been up 2-0. I have never seen Scott miss as many off angle combinations which he is usually great at making as he has in the past 2 one pocket tournaments, it really cost him matches and possibly winning the tournies. He made a ball on his break hill-hill and has an off angle combo with not much distance but misses it and sells out, he did the same thing at California Billiard Club against Alex and it cost him the rack and possibly the match there too. I feel he is playing a ball under his speed a year ago which really shows up among the other top guys.

I was really impressed by a Canadian player named Brian Butler, he beat some top guys such as Jeremy Jones, Rafael Martinez and was running out hill-hill on Frost when he got tied up in the balls with them all open and he needing only 3 for the win. He was a dark horse for sure and does not miss too many shots, I would watch out for him in the future for sure.

I have a had some players who are into the gambling aspect make reference that the internet does not benefit the players, I have to differ and thinks its a very naive statement. Perhaps you cant sneek up and hustle anymore but these big events work on numbers especially for sponsors and promoters, the internet brings in big numbers and is obviously the way to spread the word for events and other happenings. Hopefully someone will let them know this and one of the reasons why tournaments and other events are successful is because of the internet and its something we all need to embrace because there is no going back.

Me and Dick were on a funky drinking, food and sleep schedule. Room service seemed to be the best bet, we would pitch quarters for it at around 5-6am, I think we were pretty even on them for the most part. If your ever at The Riv, my advice is to skip the buffet there as its not very good and no selection at all, I heard Circus-Circus across the way has a good buffet though. Sorry if I take a strong position about food but I love to eat and drink. Dick rented a scooter as he was not in for those long walks around the event especially being 2 1/2 times my age, he did not get pulled over or any tickets for scootering while intoxicated. I did tell him a funny story of a guy being drunk and riding one of them down the stairs one year.

The live scoring is a complete bore fest but the good things is I get to sweat a good deal of one pocket, more hours than mostly anyone I think. I saw some upsets and great outs, Earl raking the balls when Frost needed 5. If you guys missed out on Efren and Deuel, that was a nail biter especially for me giving up 2-1 on the money taking Efren when he was up 3-2 and then all of a sudden Corey is hill-hill needing 1 ball. I hope TAR gets that one out quick because its just an epic match. TAR has an awesome set up and it was just excellent being able to watch in the room, casino or on one of the huge projection screens in the tournament arena, one of these days I hope to get in the booth for Justin.

The Riv has to be on borrowed time I felt, its an aging casino that has seen better days. When I was there I guess they shut the doors on the Sahara too, with the overbuilding of Vegas and plenty of newer places to blow your dough its just a matter of time before the old horses get put down. I am not sure where the tournament goes if the Riv closes down, perhaps South Point would be a good place, nice clean affordable rooms and plenty of space nut the only downside is when your walk out of the casino there is not much around being on the far south end of the strip. I did enjoy seeing the Crazy Girls preview by the blackjack tables, its a nice touch when your playing some cards to have a nice view, probably the best thing about The Riviera. Here is a little video someone took to give you an idea of what you were missing out on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTQp3iePNQ8

I did finally get to meet the great Artie Bodendorfer and really enjoyed speaking with him, very cool guy and sharp too. I watched him watching one pocket and my thought was this, he does not sweat one pocket like you and I do. Your probably thinking what does that mean?, well he seems to watch every little subtle thing and analyzing the play for mistakes, he probably knows how many mistakes are made each match and where it all went wrong or right. It was a pleasure to meet Artie and I look forward to the next time I see him.

The 6 days in Vegas went by fast and it was time for me and Dick to take off, I had next to no sleep as usual. We hit the road and take a detour to Laughlin which is my first time there, was glad we did too because I needed the rest. Dick played some blackjack and I got a room and slept for about 14 hours or so. The place is pretty cool at the Riverside Casino and the story of Don Laughlin is impressive to say the least. We got some good food at the buffet there and Dick was not lying that it gave most places in Vegas the orange crush. I guess Laughlin is like how Vegas used to be, if that is the case then its too bad Vegas is not like that any longer because its on a smaller scale, not all Disney like and overbuilt with too much to take in.

In closing I would just like to say that we are lucky to have people in the industry like Mark Griffin, he is really doing something special for pool and we are all in debt to him, I hope each year it grows and gets even better. If I had to choose between the events I have been too such as Derby, BCA or Valley Forge then I would be in Vegas with no question at all. Perhaps next year I might even play in it but I have much practice to do if I want to make a run like Henderson did in it, good job John, you earned it! Thanks to Steve Booth with www.onepocket.org also for all he has done for one pocket and I really hope more people get signed up on his site, if you love one pocket then its a great place to be.

My Trip to California Billiard Club

2011-05-19T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well I am home and trying to get caught up on stuff, I figured I would drop a few lines here to all of you out there who supported the stream and I want to say thanks for chipping in to the cause. I hope the next stream I do will be even better, sorry for the poor audio.

I dogged it as I was using a new set up and thought nothing of using some old mics I had laying around instead of the usual Shure mics I use. I appreciate Kentucky Bill and Alex Bradley for helping me out in the booth, it is rough being in the box for 12-16 hours a day I assure you of that. With the players being right in front of us and the mic set up it made it tough for them to give it their best but I still was happy to have them help me out. See you guys down the road I hope, both are good guys.

Without Chris at California Billiard Club it would have never happened as he got me out there and put me up so those who enjoyed the stream owe him a big thanks. I really love that room, I have been to quite a few and its one of the best in many ways, no complaints besides cutting me off at 2am, haha. People do not realize what it takes to do what Chris did, to get everyone in place to make the whole event what it was, a packed house and full fields, a success.

The place has lots of tables, snooker, billiard table, lots of tvs and space around the table, great staff, sweet menu, and the list goes on and on. If your ever close to Mountain View then check it out, some good action there too. I hope this becomes an annual event and I get out there to do it again and bring all of you some great one pocket, it will be even better next time!

P.S. I will be listing the matches I recorded later and others might be available that were recorded to my hard drive with no commentary, just great one pocket. Will take some time though, really busy right now after being away for a week. If you have an order with me then its going out tomorrow? If I owe you any money for betting then send me a PM if you were not paid yet and I will get it out right away, if you owe me money then ship it , haha , thanks.

An After Derby Update

2011-02-18T07:03:00.000-08:00

Well its been over a month since my last blog. I forgot how much I enjoy writing on here but I have been super busy. Things have been going fairly well besides my pool game at the moment which is kind of in a slump.

Power One Pocket has been doing well and I deem it a success. We sold out the 125 copies we brought to the Derby City Classic. We promoted it well with posters all over the place and it being announced on the TV table by Ken Shuman. The next big venue for the DVD will be the Super Billiards Expo in Valley Forge which I have not been to in many years, it was about 5 or more years ago since I went there with my friend who passed, Joe Sabia. I have about 100 DVDs in the hands of some vendors who will be there as I am not sure if I will make it in person but if I do then I will bring another 100 because this is the place where people are buying. The Derby is good but there was not a good deal of vendors, around 20 maybe, SBE has hundreds.

So my pool game and gambling have not been doing so hot, been in a bit of slump and have been losing some games I should win or have a shot at. I also have not been doing too hot on my side betting, already losing about the same amount I since the beginning of the year as I have in the whole year of 2010! The past 2 years I have been about 80%+ winner gambling which is great, I am okay with being even but right now I am couple hundred short of being even gambling so that is not good but the plus side is the year is early so we shall see.

I plan on practicing hard and coming back stronger which I usually do after a slump. I have been making breakthroughs and playing fairly well. At the Derby I finished higher then any Arizona player besides Scott Frost obviously, I made it to the 4th round but had a chance to make it to the 5th but I was leaving the next morning and I was just not into it knowing I was leaving even if I won but then I heard 5th round was money so I felt a little stupid.

I found a great cue to play with, nothing wrong with my Crown but its wrapless and I prefer a leather wrap. I got a cue from Joel Dadivas and its a bad mofo, anyone who has hit with it thinks its one of the best they have hit with and are amazed by it. I had to ship it back though as Joel is replacing the shafts due to some issues and I cannot wait for it to get back. I am playing with my Crown as of now and booked a good winner the other night with it playing some one pocket and did well in a 9 ball tournament so I will be just fine.

We did release another DVD recently, Scott Frost vs Cliff Joyner, it is 15 of the best racks from there match in Mobile Alabama last year. It really is some good one pocket and people have been enjoying it.

I plan on getting into shape also, been putting it off for a while, healthy body and mind will improve anyone's game, just a free tip. I might get back into the boxing gym because its great for conditioning and stamina. I am going to check out one tonight that is not too far from me.

Well time to get off of here and do some work, thanks for all the support fans of OTR, by the way the newsletter is back up so sign up for it if you have not at , its in the top right corner. Enjoy this pic of my Joel Dadivas JD cue.

It Has Been Awhile

2011-01-08T02:43:00.001-08:00

Well let me ramble for a bit as I cant sleep and much has been going on. Power One Pocket is done and my big shipment will be here in a few days. We did a pre-order sale with a free tee shirt for the first 50 people and it filled up in less than 2 days! I am heading to Derby with a 100 of them and look for them to sell out. I really hope it all goes well and we sell them out and then I will consider it successful, the goal is to sell 300 in the next couple of months and I think we will.

This is my first year at the Derby City Classic so it should be a fun experience especially with Scott Frost playing Efren Reyes for $10,000 racing to 11 over 2 days. I am really excited about it and have got some bets in also so I am sweating it which is always fun. I look forward to seeing my buddy George from Mobile who is a heck of a nice guy. My friend Jimmy is coming along, he is the one who beat Grady Mathews, not sure if they will play again but it should be interesting to see how they are around one another.

I am not sure if I am bringing my cue or not since I will be sweating and betting and doubt I will play anyone but it might not hurt. I am already going to be loaded with my clothes, DVD's and shirts to sell for POP. I am also going to bring a camera with me so I can record some stuff and do a little documentary of sorts for me going to Derby.

I finished off 2010 with over $10,000 in pool related wins and about $1,400 in losses which was nice. I am unsure if I will top it or not this year but it all depends on how it starts, I am a couple hundred up and hope to make a couple thousand at Derby. Well time to get off here and get some rest. Happy New Year everyone!

Doing Well in Tournament Play

2010-10-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

Well as of late I have been playing okay and doing well in tournaments, getting to the finals in 5 out the last 7 tournaments I have played in. I really feel like my game is become a bit more consistent and solid but I still have a way to go to get where I would like to be but regardless the progress is showing which is why I think most of diehards play pool. I think I would not enjoy the game as much if I were not making progress, I know in pool learning never stops either.

I still am working on Power One Pocket so hopefully that will be done soon like before the year is over. I just want it to be done well and for the one pocket players out there to get the most for there money. I am excited because I know there is just so much knowledge in it for people to learn from.

Update on My Return

2010-10-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well it has been interesting to get back in the game with a fresh outlook on it all. I am streaming again and its pretty enjoyable even though the following is not what it was primarily because people might not know I am back and streaming but still getting a few hundred viewers is cool. I do have some plans to make improvements on the stream if I can find the funding, perhaps an HD camera would help a bit but mainly the connection for the net at Kolbys needs to be improved, it is terrible.

As for playing pool it has been going okay, some wins and losses, as of late I am a slight winner including my last 3 tournaments getting into the finals besides one yesterday where I stunk it up playing terribly. I have realized I need to get physically in better shape and raise my stamina. With my infant daughter it is tough to be rested because I am up early and also in the middle of the night so good sleep is tough to come by and your mind and body needs that. I am looking to see how I come together with some rest and getting fit, I think my game will go up and I can avenge my losses because Lenny the Lock does not like to lose.

One thing that I really need to get going is Power One Pocket. We have hit some hurdles in trying to get it finished unfortunately. We did all the shooting which was half the battle and the other half of it is to have it edited. I had an editor but he had some issues and had to leave the country, the editing was unfinished, I do not have the time line I gave him which is used for the editing so the editor knows what to use and where everything goes. I have to do the time line which is time consuming but I should have it done soon and hopefully the new editor can put it together and get it out to the masses who are looking forward to it. Well gotta run. Watch, play and support pool my friends.

I'm Back!

2010-08-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well it was a short break but it was much needed. I took some time with my family and to get caught back up with things. I still am a bit unsure of what my plans are and if I will be streaming on Tuesday nights but I will be playing when I want and streaming the one pocket the last Saturday of the month also. I do have plans on streaming the $6000 added BCAPL Sept.1st-5th that is taken place at Ft. McDowell Hotel and Casino here in AZ. I do hope many players come out for this also.

I got my cue back from Richard Hsu and he did a great job on the engraving in the butt of my Jerry Rauenzahn and it sparked me to want to play some more too. Here are some pics of it, enjoy and see you on the stream this Saturday.

Taking a Hiatus

2010-08-10T03:20:00.001-07:00

Well after months of thinking about it I have done it, I am taking a break from pool for a bit, perhaps a couple of weeks or who knows. I have realized I am burnt out and need to get my mind and body in better shape along with spending more time with my family. I have lost the desire and stamina mentally and physically to win and am just kind of tapping balls around which is no good. I recently have been on a bit of a losing streak also as I said with no real desire to win and no focus but I hate to lose also, the games are tougher with tougher players too. I am doing good money wise this year playing pool because I keep tabs on it, I am up more then last year too which I did not think would happen.

My plans are to mountain bike, swim, and try to get in shape along with some meditation. I plan on spending quality time with my family and getting things in order that have kind of gotten out of order with my time being taken up so much by pool and streaming. I was becoming a bit overwhelmed really with it all. I would like to continue streaming perhaps a bit less and also would like to upgrade to HD but right now the camera is not in the budget. Perhaps when Power One Pocket is released and makes some money I can put it into OTR and make some upgrades.

Well just wanted to sign off for now but I will be back my friends, later.

Lots of Action to Report

2010-06-30T04:29:00.001-07:00

Well guys I have been in and around action, the blog post below was from when I went to Alabama and Vegas, well I went back to Vegas again. I played Jude though before I left giving 9-7 playing one pocket for $2,000 in the middle.

Me and Jude did our usual barking, we decided to play couple weeks back for $1000 each with me giving 9-7 in a 5 ahead one pocket battle. He won the first 2 games and when I got settled in I won 7 in a row to take it down. After that I went to Vegas to watch Scott playing Dippy Dave aka Viffer aka David Peat who is a pro poker player some high dollar 9 ball. I also wanted to bet a bit on the side.

I went to Vegas with my mentor as I call him, Jimmy Langston who owns Kolby's Corner Pocket in Tempe AZ. He has taught me a good deal about one pocket and I enjoy his company and life stories. We went on the road to Vegas and got up there with Scott and Dippy already in the pit at Pool Sharks ready to get it on. The first set I believe was for $30,000, Scott giving up the 5 ball, the breaks and ball in hand after the break, 15 ahead, Dippy also got 2 games on the wire.

Scott wins that set and then it goes to about $50,000 a set which Scott wins, then I think $55,000 is in the middle for the 3rd set. Scott gets there again but with some drama that only a writer for a Hollywood movie could have composed, it was unreal and one of the craziest things I have ever seen. I got to get together and have dinner after being trapped up in the poolroom for about 18 hours or so for the 3 sets. It was a memorable dinner with me, Jimmy, Scott, Billy Incadona, Ed Kelly, Ronnie Wiseman, Jack Cooney and a few others at the table breaking bread, I will never forget it. It was me and these legends chopping up some cash and having a good time.

I got back and got more action with a guy from Ohio, he offers 9-8 for $40 a game with Jimmy betting $20 a game on the side, I end up playing even eventually at a $100 a game and win about $600 and Jimmy wins $200. The guy was not the nicest guy, perhaps it was the alcohol but I did not care for it and refused to play him again even though we were going to play the next night for $5000. He stalled on me as I waited to play so I just said to hell with it and did not bother, I am not waiting 3 hours to play anyone when they say 1 hour. I am sure we will play again down the road as long as he is a gentleman.

I am almost done with Power One Pocket, got delayed with all the action and being out of town along with recently moving. Life is funny like that but I will be relieved when its done, lots of people have been asking me when it will be done. I would say late in July just to be safe. Well gotta run and get some rest. Hope you guys enjoy this.

My Little Streaming Adventure from Phoenix to Alabama and Vegas w/ the Freezer

2010-05-25T01:44:00.000-07:00

Phoenix

Well it was a fun past couple weeks of streaming at www.ontherailtv.com and I got to meet quite a few people on the way from here at AZB. I will start off on May 1st with Preacher Ronn and Scott Frost playing the 7 ahead for $2,000, Scott gave up 11-4 and got all the breaks. It took 30 hours and some encouragement but Scott got there and played some great pool towards the end and Ronn played well to hold him off and get to +5 at one point.

Scott came over to me at one point when they were even and Ronn offered for them to quit about 25 hours, he asked if he should or not, I said no because Ronn asked to quit which showed weakness plus he said his feet were hurting. Scott got fired up and played some great one pocket to take it off running 8s, 9s, 10s, and 11s like most people run 2-3 balls. I included a video of some of the stuff, got so much footage to go through from that and will post up more of his runs.

After a couple days I had recouped and later on in the week on Thursday Scott calls me and says he wants me to go to Alabama because he is going to play Cliff. I have like 2 hours to make up my mind, I am not one who likes to make plans like that last minute because I would be streaming and have other obligations too. I decide to go to the Billiard Club in Mobile and bring all the action to everyone and go on the road with Scott for the first time. I am glad I did.

Alabama

So now its the 8th, a week after playing Ronn, Scott is playing Cliff 8 ahead one pocket for $6,000 a man. The room owner Bear is staking Cliff. I am there until Tuesday because who knows how long 8 ahead will take, I mean last time I sweated for 30 hours straight. This was the first time Scott has ever spotted Cliff so he was a little nervous but confident. Cliff played decent but could not fend off Scott who was pocketing much better and would make Cliff pay for mistakes. Scott wins in around 8 hours and takes it down. I have the videos of the match and will post up the links to it also.

For those who were saying Cliff was dumping are just wrong plain and simple. Cliff thought he could win as he was playing better including coming off a win the night before in a one pocket tournament. Me and Scott wanted to get action online and iusedtoberich posted a line of 6-4 and would take $1000 worth of action, I thought that was too much and offered 6-5 for the whole thing but he got his fill so I made a line of 7-5. Now use your head dump theorist, if there was business I would have known and gave the several people who wanted action the 7-4 that they asked me for and could have won a couple thousand but 7-4 is too close to 2-1 so I declined along with Scott.

We moved onto another room as The Billiard Club owner Bear kicked Cliff out thinking he had dumped him which was a bad move IMO but Cliff does have a bad rep. I thought we were not treated too good there so we went on to Breakers Billiards which is owned by Ricky Byrd. He is a real good action guy and a very nice guy to boot. Scott and him set up a game, 9-4 and the breaks for Ricky! The action was 500 a game with me and Jimmy betting 100 each on the side, Scott finished 7 games up after playing like God on him to get there.

The next day they play again but not the same way, this time Ricky gets the hit and 4 picks, pretty tough game for Scott, Scott finished up 2 games at $1000 each before they called it quits. I had to leave Scott in Mobile to get back home, he still stayed and got into some more action, I believe him and Cliff played again perhaps 8-7 and Ricky and Scott played more also. I got to see some decent one pocket with a young gun David Tress playing another young guy, those bama boys like one pocket, shoot straight and bet it. I look forward to my next trip out there.

It was fun to meet Gulfport Doc and George (gbru), both are very nice guys. George even drove me and Kolby's room owner Jimmy Langston who came with me and Scott on the trip to the airport, was very nice of him to do that considering it was over an hour drive. I also got to meet his pooch at his home and play some one pocket too. I cant forget stopping at a seafood place which was on the Mobile Bay, great stuff and thanks to George for taking us there. The only downside of the trip was we could not get a rental car anyplace, that stunk so we just got a hotel close to the poolroom.

I get home and have 3 days to get caught up with my work along with other things in life and spend sometime with my family also. My beautiful and understanding wife who I am lucky to have and lets me go overboard with my hobby, my 8 year old going on 18 son and my 1 year old princess were all happy to see me along with my dog Kolby.

Las Vegas

So early on Saturday the 15th I head to Vegas all by myself. Its a 5 hour drive that leads you over the Hoover Dam which is an okay drive but really the only highlight of the drive is the dam and bridge they are building there, otherwise its a bore. I show up to Pool Sharks and there is action going on in the pit 24-7 with some good betting. I sweated Jean-Robert Bellande playing Archie the Greek some 500 then 700 a game and got some footage of that too.

I hook up with the owner John to get myself set up, he is a very nice guy who is sharp and loves the game and action. Katie who works there who most everyone knows who has been there is awesome, she does a hell of a job there. I got to meet up with Borana and her partner Thomas right away as soon as I walked in. Dropped them off at the Riv to save them cab fare as that stuff always adds up.

I am setup and streaming at around 7pm or so, we are supposed to go off at 9pm depending on the ladies schedules but they both end up starting at around 1130 or so and it last around 8 hours for the race to 21 for $2000 9 ball.

It was a good close match with both of the girls with Borana being up 5-1 at one point I believe and then Melinda got up 17-14, she stayed at 17 as Borana got to the hill, OMGWTF could have taken it double hill but she missed a fairly easy 7 ball which sealed her fate and Borana won 21-19. Borana took down the $2000 and the Crown Cue which is pictured below along with links to the match.

OMGWTF challenged Borana right after to play in NY for $4000, so we shall see what becomes of that, I would not mind streaming that match either if the ladies will have me again. I have to say they both have a ton of heart and determination, they played their matches all day and then played until the morning with their match, kudos to both. I know they both were not happy with their play but as I said they had been playing on bar tables all day and were certainly fatigued, would like to see them both fresh.

It was a pleasure to meet many of the people in Vegas, so many I cant list them all, Eric Crisp, Eric, the KOD team, Megan Smith, Pool Addict (Chris), John Schmidt and Thorsten who jumped in the booth also and especially Tina Pawloski who spent a good deal of time in there along with Jay Helfert. The diehard who closed out the match was Bobby Dickerson, he hung in with me til the end and helped commentate the last couple hours, saved him some cab fare too.

I also did get to meet Amanda Lampert, she is a real gem and looks even prettier in person, who could not love the polish viking. Meeting the boys from Runout Media was cool, both real cool guys whose future in the industry looks bright and its refreshing too. I did not get to hook up with Fatboy or Trigger which was a little disappointing though. I did get to meet John Morra, a nice young guy who loves to play pool, saved his some cab fare too and drove him to the Riv. If I left anyone out I am sorry, I was just overloaded with people and its almost 3am now.

I picked up Scott on Monday from the airport, saved him some cab fare, so far the cab fare I saved people has to be around $100, haha. We go to the Riv where we meet up with Billy and then have dinner, meeting Billy was awesome and I was glad I had a few beers to keep myself relaxed because I was very excited to meet him.

We had dinner and then went to Pool Sharks where the action is in full swing, Jeremy Jones giving Dippy 19-5 in one pocket, I saw Ronnie Allen in the house too. It was time for me to go so I left Scott and Billy and headed back home, got about 100 miles away from home and just could not drive much more so I crashed out at a rest stop, was glad to finally get home though, might head back up there this weekend perhaps though.

Enjoy the videos and thanks again to all the people who supported me on this trip and also my sponsors who help me to bring the pool to you all. It is a great game which I love and I am sure you do too. Next for OTR is Grady Mathews vs John Henderson on June 7th at Kolby's in Tempe AZ, 4 ahead one pocket for $3000 each, hope to see you all there.

The Crown Cue awarded to Borana Andoni, what a nice cue this is, hated to part ways with it.

Scott vs Preacher Ronn, not complete but a ton of Footage!

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6592732
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6597508
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6602040
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6602652
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6618645
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6623382
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6628238
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6631003

Frost Youtube Runout Video, not the best but I still have much to go through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKKEfkRHXCw

Scott vs Cliff

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6780354
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6782153
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6786282
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6790329
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6791646

Jean-Robert Bellande vs Archie the Greek

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6959078

OMGWTF vs Borana

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6962258
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6963036
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6965076
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6967985

Enjoying Pool Lately and Working Hard!

2010-04-12T03:27:00.001-07:00

I have been really enjoying pool lately. I have been playing well winning some gambling and also took 2nd to Scott Frost at Kolby's One Pocket tournament 2 weeks back and a few days later split with Ashea Erdahl in the finals of the Tuesday night 9 ball. I think things are starting to really click and come together, got 2 videos to show recently that I shot, one is a 12 & out in one pocket and a break and run in 8 ball.

The Power One Pocket with Scott Frost is coming along and hope to have it released in May sometime, cant wait but want it to be right. I also am working on some other things to in and out of pool, gotta keep moving forward and making progress. I really love this game but I do find myself spending a little too much time in it for it to be just a hobby. Here are the vids and enjoy!

Getting Started on Power One Pocket

2010-03-17T16:20:00.001-07:00

Well finally we are getting started, we did a test shoot before Scott Frost went to Reno for the USBTC. I am looking forward to getting it done and out there for everyone, should be the best one pocket DVD ever made if I can help it. I love one pocket and want everyone who gets it to learn something from it regardless of the skill level they have. I think it should be done in a month or so and it will be something no one has ever seen before, something new and fresh. Here is the trailer, enjoy it.

It Has Been Awhile...

2010-03-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

It certainly has been a bit since I updated this but I figured I should and I am coming off a loss tonight so I thought I might ramble a bit. As of late my game is improving and growing which means I am moving ahead of the guys I have played and matched up with and have to give more weight. These tough games are challenging me and it is good in some ways but I have to do what I need to do as far as improving and I am not sure if all this tough action is good or bad for my game.

If I am winning it builds confidence but the close/tough loss can really put me in a bad state of mind. I think the best thing I can do is practice and just play more for the love of the game and not the money because then you lose sight of why you began playing in the first place. Are you playing pool for the action or the love of the game?, I think the action has been controlling me in some aspects.

I love pool and just want to improve and I know gambling comes into play as does tournaments but practicing and enjoying it is what really matters. Well time to hit the sack, can be tough sleeping after a loss but tomorrow is a new day with a clean slate.

I Took 2nd in Preacher Ronn's One Pocket Tournament

2009-12-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

Well the last Saturday of the month is Ronn's one pocket tournament at Kolby's. I decided to play and was lucky to have help from Mitch Ellerman, Bernie Pettipiece and Preacher Ronn in the booth to do commentary while I played my matches. I had wins over Scott Frost, Mitch Ellerman, Bret Huth, Prescott Tom, and a couple other players.

I did do well, me and Scott played 3 sets in the tournament, he knocked me to the losers side hill-hill, we met in the finals and I won the first set 2-0 and the next set I lost hill-hill so we both won 5 games that day.

Regardless I was happy and Scott did think I was going to win at one point but I fired at a combo and made it but did not get a shot unluckily, I should have played out 2 rails to the center for a shot but I had a long day of one pocket and was fried and gave it my all.

I do plan on playing again at the end of this month, it should be fun. I just hope I get some help from the players with the commentary, made things much easier. Bernie actually is a very good commentator. I have been playing much better as of late and hope to continue improving in the game I love so much.

Results from The King of AZ 8's Match!

2009-11-23T03:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks Carlos for the good games we had, it was not an easy match and the closest and toughest I have had, boy am I spent after that. We both showcased some good pool and gave away some games too.

The final scores were 4-2 Lenny in the one pocket, 8-6 Carlos in the bar table 8 ball and 100-98 Lenny in the 14.1. It was a nail biter at the end with me getting my high run in 14.1 also.

I was down 98 to 79 and ran the remaining 5 balls in a rack setting up for a good breakshot and it was 98-84, I ran that rack to make it 98-98 with another good break shot and got the remaining 2 for 21 and out. I continued to pocket balls after we were finished and ran another rack setting up for a break shot but got too straight with no break shot, the run ended at 35, my previous was 31.

I do feel Carlos is a better player then I am and I just squeaked it out, he played one pocket very well and did not leave much, I had to make some very tough shots and many banks. In the 8 ball we both gave eachother alot of games and also played some decent games too with safes and runouts.

The 14.1 win or lose for me was interesting since neither of us really play it. 14.1 was decided by Sarah at Kolby's drawing it out of a pitcher. Carlos wrote 9 ball on one piece of paper and 10 ball on another, I wrote 14.1 and banks, wanted to pick golf instead of 14.1 but I guess its not in the BCA rule book. It was fun and I am glad to have my crown back with a 4-0 record.

Challenge Match in a Few Hours...

2009-11-21T01:35:00.000-08:00

Well I was King of the 8's beating 3 guys to have it and when I got bumped to a 9 I had to surrender it but now the whole state has been lowered and I want it back. I am playing Carlos Avalos who is back2good1 on AZ Billiard and really am looking forward to this match. He is a very good player and will be my toughest opponent for sure. He beat Jerry Stuckart in there challenge pretty good so it should be interesting.

I picked one pocket for my game of choice, he picked bar box 8 ball, we will each pick 2 games put them in a hot if a 3rd game is needed. I hope I win the one pocket so I can take a shot in the 8 ball which I am an underdog in. I was going to live stream it but I just really want to play, no dealing with equipment and whatever else. I just want to play well win or lose, cant lie I am a bit nervous because I know I am probably the underdog.

Well in 10 hours I will find out so I will post up what happens, stay tuned.

The Lock

My Latest Cue and Latest Happenings

2009-11-19T00:49:00.000-08:00

Well I picked up this cue recently and really like it, I was lucky enough to have a buddy of mine Steve work out a cash/trade deal to get this bad boy. I have wanted a cue from Jerry Rauenzahn for some time now and this one is just perfect. All the white is ivory besides the buttcap which is delrin. The cue is the best stainless jointed cue I have played with.

My game as of late has picked up a bit, playing about a ball better then I was a couple months ago which is nice to be improving. Something just clicked and I am pocketing balls and playing shape much better which makes it easier to keep pocketing balls. I took 2nd in the Kolbys Wild Ball this past Tuesday and played okay, getting up with my daughter at 7am each day makes it tough as the matches run late, finals was at about 2am and I had no gas left.

I played my first night of league pool tonight, it was okay, its UPA and its 8 ball on the big tables. I like 8 ball and the big tables sold me on it along with my good friend Jimmy Langston from Kolby's twisting my arm a bit. I played 2 guys practice matches to learn the scoring system. The 1st guy had to go to 2 games and myself since they rated me a 5 unseen going to 3, won that 3-0. The 2nd guy is a 6 so I have to go to 3 and he has to go to 4, I win 3-1.

I noticed most of the league players do not play well on the big tables especially the one we played on with 4 1/8 inch pockets, hanging and missing too many balls. I think it will be fun and we have a strong team, the strongest there and I think we are a lock to win this 16 week session. I am not a league player and kind of laugh at the league stuff and how serious they take it when I see them playing but its 8 ball on big tables and its a change of pace.

Well here are some pics of my Jerry R to drool over, take care.

NY Trip & My Return

2009-11-05T12:59:00.000-08:00

Well last week I was in NY for 10 days and it kind of stunk, rain and more rain. I did not get to play my old friend Charlie which I was hoping to do, but I did get to stop by Gallery Billiards. I saw alot of my old friends there and got into some small action, side betting on games, played some 9 ball and broke even playing some one pocket. I hope to get Gallery live streaming out on Newburgh as it would be nice to watch them play, good shooters there and just great people.

I am glad to be back home with my family, I did get to go play on Tuesday and live stream the Kolbys tournament. I did get to pick the chip that adds money to the Kolbys tourney, $900 the day before I went to NY. Basically a chip is drawn every Tuesday and if it matches the day of the month the money is added to the tourney. I got into some action with Jude aka Bad Company finally, he stopped by to pay off some sweat bets and the woofing went on with Scott Frost offering to play him 5 ahead giving 11-2 for $2000 but he did not want to play the freezeman.

He said he would play me so we got to talking about a game and agreed $50 a game and me giving 8-7 and the first break and play winner breaks but I wont the first game and he pulled up stating he needed the breaks the whole time so I agreed, fastest adjustment I ever seen. We went back and forth for a bit and then we agreed on a race to 3 for $100, Scott had a piece of my action as he sometimes gives me a piece of his, he told me to bare down and stop playing so loose. I did and won 3-0, sometimes having a champion in your corner helps out because I had an hour sleep and was sick so I found myself not performing.

Neither one of us played well but Jude said to stop by his room which is Clicks in Phoenix and play some and we would play even doing the same thing. Perhaps I will make the trip when I feel better, home court advantage is big though so it will be interesting to see what happens. I do respect his gamble and atleast he stepped up and played, more then I can say for many who bark and talk but never play. I have had a few people make games with me and never show or back out, you either need gamble or heart, dig deep and play hard to win.

3 Out of 5 Isn't Bad...

2009-10-12T14:48:00.001-07:00

Well I played a really good set of 9 ball today in a tournament, not perfect but it was just a day where I was getting out well. I was playing a guy and he missed a routine shot, I run 4 balls and I am out as he remarks how he should never miss and how he used to play snooker. The table we are on has 4 1/8 inch pockets so its no bargain. I break and run out the 2nd rack and feel pretty good about it.

I am getting out in the 3rd and scratch going from the 8 to the 9. 2-1 is the score, we have a safety battle and I get out 3-1. He makes a comment that its not over yet, I break and run out and make it 4-1, then I break and run out again to close out the set. I wanted to say its over now but chose not to be a smart ass, it just felt good to play well. Breaking and running 3 out of the 5 racks I ran was the best I have done in those short races to 5, I have had 2 before but not 3, I know some people here do it everyday but I am not that good.

OTR Sponsors the Freezer in Galveston

2009-09-29T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well we were happy to help Scott out in his trip to Galveston for the World Classic, he did okay in the tournament placing 13-16th in the 8 ball with losses to Orcollo and Archer hill-hill. He did beat Gabe Owen in a challenge match for the cash though and was wearing the OTR polo to show his support for us. Here is a picture of him with Christina De La Garza and also the video of that match.

Lots of Hours in Action

2009-09-08T05:36:00.001-07:00

Well lately I have been in a ton of action as I have stated and in a few days time I won about $700 playing. I am getting a little worn down but battled hardened. I had a session with Preacher Ronn where we started out at $20 a game and when I got up 5 we jacked it to $50 a game. About 10 hours later we broke even at 7am in the morning! I do not look at it as breaking even, I took away some stuff from it. One thing I learned is to control the action which I knew but did not stand by. I know I am good for 4-5 hours usually but got tired and lazy. If you feel this way whether your up or not it might be best to quit winner and make a game for the next day or another time as to not let time overtake your ability from being fatigued.

I hope I can take a few days to just practice and perhaps not play anyone whether it is friendly or otherwise and do just drills. I am not much of a drill or practice guy but I need to do it. I have been making some simple mistakes when I beat a guy to the shot and that is not running the balls the way I should and instead of getting out I get 1 or 2 balls and that is just sickening to me. I have lost a few games against better movers who I beat to a shot and then do not get out then letting them back to the table and losing when you just need a few balls can be torture. Well I am now up over $5000 in wins for the year playing pool, hopefully I can add a couple more thousands to the tally before the year is over.

Here is a picture of me in action in a little roadhouse bar in Orange County NY.

Chopped Up a 9 Ball Tourney

2009-08-28T14:52:00.001-07:00

Well yesterday I got a call from my friend Southern Jay and we decided to go play some pool. I tell him let's hit this small tournament at Groggy's which is in Mesa AZ, we have been there before and it is a tough tournament in a tough part of town. One time my girl stopped by to pick me up and she looked at me and said "Why would you play here in this dump?".

Jay said he would never go back there because the format of alternating breaks and snapped 9 balls. Jay would break and run out on his break and his opponent would break and drop the 9, the races are 5,4,3 depending on your in state AZ rating, we both go to 4. I beat a guy by snapping in 9 balls myself every time I had broke before and felt kind of bad as it was a cheap win but what can you do, some of us players agree they wont count on the snap.

We roll in and it does not look like there will be many players but then the count gets to 20 players so we have a decent little bar table 9 ball tourney. My first draw is Dave who is a big older guy and the highest rated player in the tourney, he has a crazy haircut like a mohawk. I break and scratch, he runs out, he breaks dry and I push out, he makes a great shot and runs out, the next thing I know he is up 3-1 in the race to 4, I put some stuff together with a 9 ball snap and nice run, to win hill-hill I broke and made 4 balls, the 9 ball hangs but I play a nice carom off the 3 ball for the win.

My next opponent is Andy who is from the Philippines and you can tell he plays very well. He is only going to 3 games, he runs out the first rack with ease, I miss a routine shot in the next rack and he is up 2-0. I get it back to 2-2, he misses a shot and leaves me dead hooked with only 3 balls on the table. I kick at the ball and leave him a tough shot and he gets out and I lose the match 3-2. Now I have to go through the losers side.

I play a bunch of players in the losers side and one of them was my buddy Jay whom I beat 4-1, then a nice lady who I see around named Claudia and win that 4-1 also. I play Dave again and he is saying I am trying to rack him which pisses me off because I am getting them as tight as I can with the equipment we are using, crappy wood racks and beat up bar tables are not easy to rack on. I win that match 4-1 also with two 9 ball combos. I play Layton next who is a nice guy who does not get out and play match, we both do not play great and he dogged some balls, I win again 4-1.

Now I am in the finals with Andy, I think we are even players on the small track but I have to spot him a game and he goes to 3. I play well and he missed a routine out and I capitalized to take the set after some nice safety play and shots. Guess what the score was?, 4-1 again! Well me and Andy are both tired and decide to split as we both were in the side pot. Jay did well in action when I knocked him out of the tourney beating a guy who beat him in the tourney for a quick race to 5 for $50. All in all it was a good night out and I was happy with my play.

I have been doing very well in the bar table tournaments, mainly 8 ball, cashing in 4 out of 5 of them. I will most likely play tomorrow in Preacher Ronn's Monthly One Pocket at Kolby's, I really love one pocket and it is a good tournament. Last month I did beat Preacher Ronn 2-0 so that was a victory within itself as he plays hard, he actually took 4th this year in the One Pocket State Championship that took place last weekend. Well wish me luck, I need it!

One Pocket Weekend

2009-08-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well OTR decided to sponsor Scott Frost in the AZ State One Pocket Championship at Kolby's this weekend. The tourney drew 36 players I believe and some good talent out of Cali came to play. Scott was not who he normally is, seeming to be too relaxed and not killing the other guys like he usually does. He took 3rd losing twice to Mitch Ellerman who went on to win 5-2 against Mike Pankoff. I really like Mikes game and his style, really plays the game well. Mitch played very well also and it is nice to see a young guy like himself who is a real good guy win it. I cannot deny I was rooting for Scott in this as I took him against the field when it got down to about 7 or 8 players left and he was on the losers side but no one is invincible. I do think Scott played poorly both times he lost and even in other matches where he won but I am sure he knows this. I do hope that he does well in Galveston and takes down the $25,000 first place prize, that would be awesome for him.

As for me my action this weekend was limited, I played one guy 10-6 and won 3 games in a row and he quit. I played a tourney that was an 8 and under and cashed coming in 4th place along with splitting the side pots. Got to beat Jude aka badcompany in the tourney 5-2 which is always nice since the last 2 times in tournament play he beat me badly but I am still 3-0 gambling with him. I was hoping we could match up for some $50 a game one pocket but he did not have his cue and its understandable not to play without your weapon, I have done it and it really can be a handicap. I backed Bobby E in some one pocket action at $50 a game and he broke even, if that kid develops some patience he will be a very good one pocket player. All in all it was a fun weekend with some great one pocket played, the DCT put on a good tourney and I am really shocked more players did not come out and play for this, last year had a dozen more players in it.

My New Player

2009-08-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Well this just came in the mail from Crown Cues! I cant wait to put it through its paces tonight and see how it plays but I am sure it plays great. The cue is made from one piece of curly maple so it and flows perfectly. This is my first cue with a joint that matches the ring work, always wanted that and think it is a nice touch. Let me know what you think. The maker Gene La Viness did and awesome job on this and is highly recommended, customer service is top notch along with workmanship. The pics do not do it justice IMO. Go to www.crowncues.biz ! I had to sell my Huebler before being able to get this one and keep it and I am so happy I did.

Report on the Game

2009-08-14T05:32:00.001-07:00

Well the game with the guy I was meeting up with at Kolby's went pretty good. I did not play well and the first set went hill-hill and the second set I won 5-2. I did end up playing later against another guy who has been jumping in action throwing his money around. I gave up 9-6 playing one pocket and finished up 3 games and then we played some $10 a rack 9 ball with me giving the 8. I am not much of a 9 baller and hate to give up ball weight. He is up 3-4 games most of the time but I make a run back and get up 3 games but I have to eat so we take a break.

He gets a bit impatient so I offer to stake numerous players in the room against him in various games. We agree on me putting this kid in against him who has not been playing very long but plays decent some even 9 ball. The kid and him are even for hours but the guy gets up about 6 games and I pull the kid out, he is tired and worn out, not a big deal as I am up decent for the night and I will put the kid in against him next time when he is fresh. So far for the year I am over $4000 in wins and at about $800 in losses, not too bad really at all. I am glad I am keeping track this year as I have been curious as to how I do each year and it sure beat guessing.

Gambling a Bunch!

2009-08-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well as of late I have been in good tourney and action mode and making some good little scores. I have been doing very well on Sunday night at Kolby's playing bar table 8 ball. I have cashed 3 times there out of the 4 or 5 that I have played in it which is nice as it is one of my better games. I have been mixing it up gambling and my winning for the year are just about $4,000 which is not bad for not being a pro or short stop player. I keep track of my wins and losses for the year and do not book too many losers but in the end it all adds up, my losses are at about $800 so basically for every $50 I win I lose $10, not too shabby IMO.

I really would like to focus on playing better in the Tuesday night tournament but with streaming it getting focused is tough because you have to handle the stream and make sure everything is running okay. I have had a few times where the stream goes down but I am in a match so it has to wait because I cannot do that to my opponent. I plan on doing some upgrades to the stream audio wise which is great as I have been waiting for awhile to do it.

I really have to say that I enjoy gambling and tournament play, not sure which I enjoy more but the competition and seeing how I will do under the pressure is what it is all about. I played last night and lost to a guy I should beat if I am right. Being hungry and not really feeling my opponent as he just was not a pleasure to gamble with really just did not have my mind right along with the crap table we played on. I think if you need to eat or anything you should before getting into a session with someone because when you play for hours it can really be tough on you. I could not get food at the place as it was late so it took its toll, yes I know every pool player has an excuse, haha, but on the square I was disgusted with how I played. Me and the guy might match up again today and I hope to avenge my loss to him and play my game.

Well play well and be lucky my friends and hopefully I am today, will follow up on the action if it goes down.

Waiting on My Newest Toy

2009-07-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

So as most know I am a cue junky, I buy more cues in a year then I do shoes, so far this year I have had 9 or 10 I am guessing if not more and over 50-60 in the past 5 years. I am waiting on a pretty rare cue, I have always like Dufferin cues and Hueblers, so I get both of them in one cue! I really like this cue as it is pretty rare and about 15 years old or so, most likely wont see one of these around as it is from Canada where the original owner had it. I should have it in a few days and hope that it plays well, I really think it will as most Hueblers and Dufferins I have owned play very good. Maybe I could use that piece of brown sea snake and have it wrapped with it, but I kind of like the light colored wraps but if it is a player it will get filthy. Here are some pics of the newest addition.

Where's Bob?

2009-07-24T13:27:00.001-07:00

Well months have went by and I still have no idea what has happened to Bob, for you who are on AZ Billiards and come on OTR or other stream Bob aka CMBWSU is always a welcomed presence. I do hope he is doing well and business is good for him. He helped us tremendously donating a good deal for our camera which was a class act and has improved the quality of OTR tremendously. Our next move is to finish the audio, we should have that all done in a month or so as we are going to scrap the old set up and go with a direct camera hookup. I look forward to his return and plus he is the best moderator I have ever had! Bob if your reading this then give me a ring brother and let me know what is going on.

Haters, Biters and Morons Oh My!

2009-07-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

I just figured I would take some time to rant a little bit in my blog. I know many people read this all over the country and the world as OTR has become quite a popular broadcast. I seem to have a handful of haters literally 5 people or so who really have some issue with me and to be honest it is kind of entertaining at times and bothersome at others. I am unsure why they come on the live stream at all but they will no longer be welcome as it is an annoyance and eyesore for me and the fans. I cant imagine what it would be like to be a famous person when your exposed to millions of people as opposed to thousands, I guess haters and idiots would be at every turn.

On last weeks show we had a couple stop by and I should have known when they arrived it would turn out like it always does, some woofing, insults, threats of violence and me banning them and them being pissed about it. If you have lost to me every time we have matched up then why come on line to bark at me when we most likely will never play and to say I suck which I guess compared to pros I do but compared to them I certainly do not as I have taken down the cash and do not object to playing them. I mean one moron goes out of his way to make a game with me and woof about it and then we never play, months go by and since he has no chance and he probably came to realize that, instead of playing he chooses to insult and woof online, kind of pathetic really.

I have had people ask my after they have overheard this little group of people talking about me negatively as to why they had such an axe to grind and I do not really have an answer for them. I know I am a decent person who tries to look out for others instead of just myself, perhaps that is why I am not money hungry and take my extra time for my hobby of OTR. The people who come to me laugh at these people anyway because those who know me like me and know that I am a stand up guy.

I have no problem with friendly online woofing and even some ribbing. But when you curse at someone in a chat room when my sponsors are possibly watching you are hurting my site and all the time and money that has been invested to make it successful and the benefit to the fans and the sport. Where I come from if you threaten someone or call them a name challenging their manhood well your usually going to get what is coming to you. It is easy to say these things behind a keyboard instead of face to face, most people I have met out here have been decent people but some talk the talk and don't have a leg to stand on.

I certainly feel that OTR has been very good for pool and fans, especially locally in Arizona but you will have the haters who will bash you for putting time and money into something where the monetary gain is little to none, its for the game and the fans. I am uncertain why they do it but I chalk it up to being haters, little drama queens who like to stir stuff up because they have no lives. All I can say to the haters is get a life and I am sorry you have done nothing for the pool, go spend your time doing something constructive instead of being a turd on the internet.

Now we can move on to the biters, these are people I am equally not fond of who will take ideas and designs and use it without asking or pick your brain and then run with it and not even say thank you. We have had people take sponsor banners we custom made and just take them off our site and use them on their site without the sponsor nor them asking us to use the design. Getting people riding your coat tails is not flattering, it is quite of an annoyance really.

On a better note it has been about a year since we officially have had OTR the website streaming and the new website that my partner Steve is designing is about to be launched I am hoping tomorrow for our Tuesday night broadcast. I was speaking to the owner of Kolby's the other day and a funny thing is we were the first pool room in the country to have a regularly broadcast tournament every Tuesday and probably the most broadcast from one room I am guessing.

I have plans to grow OTR and make it a place where people can watch pool more then just the 5-6 times a month we broadcast. With nearly 1600 people signed up for our newsletter and growing I am sure it will keep getting bigger. We average 2000-3000 viewers every stream with the most in one stream being 18,000 on a Tuesday night at Kolby's. I have seen other streams in AZ getting about 30 viewers because they do not have the following or quality we provide.

I would like to thank all our fans who have supported us and helped us grow and to the dedicated sponsors we have on board with us. Your appreciation and support far outweighs the occasional haters we get. To those who wish ill will and are reading this, why are you reading this right now?, get a life and lay off the Hatorade, most are here because they are fans and love the game.

Funny Video of a Trickshot Gone Wrong!

2009-07-02T03:37:00.000-07:00

Just a short clip, enjoy!

New OTR Tshirts!

2009-07-02T03:35:00.001-07:00

Well we have had a lot of people inquire on when we would do some new shirts so we came up with these, the slogan is one submitted from our contest we had on our site. Here is an image of what the shirts look like front and back. We have large, XL, and XXL for you guys, all are black with silver gray print, Gildan 6.1 shirts. If you were signed up for our newsletter then you got to take advantage of saving a few bucks just like when we released the Frost/Efren dvd. Just go to www.ontherailtv.com and go to the store and pick up one, here is what they look like.

My New Baby Girl

2009-04-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well for most of you out there you all knew that me and my girl were expecting a daughter, her name is Alexis Jade, she is gorgeous. We had her on April 18th and I am not sure if I have ever been happier before. Here are a few pics.

Cuetable Contest

2009-04-23T15:51:00.001-07:00

Just had to make a video running this layout, go to www.cuetable.com to see what it is all about.

Letting the Fish off the Hook

2009-04-09T05:37:00.001-07:00

Well I was out for a night of drinking with a buddy and he had to go home early as it was a weeknight and he had to be up early. I am feeling pretty good and get dropped off at Kolbys to play some pool and just hang out. A guy is in there from Virginia, I have never met him before. He wants to hit some and I am just banging them around. He goes outside for a smoke and proceeds to come in and say he will give me the last 3 for $10 a game. We go back and forth with me just smacking balls around, I get up 4 games and he ask to play a race to 5 for $50 which I win 5-0. He think the place is going to close but we get the okay to play for another hour. I beat him the next set 5-3 so we agree on one last set for $100. I know that I dont even have to play to win, the guy is a decent player, probably plays a touch better then me even though he claimed he was an A player, but I am getting the last 3 so its utter thievery.

The kicker is he tells me that he just got back from Afghanistan so I start to feel some guilt, the guy is just in town visiting family. I lose the last set so the guy is only down $40 but I pay his time so its not like he lost anything. I felt bad because the guy is in the military risking his ass for me and our country so I know I was buzzed and playing on the lemon with him so it just did not feel good. I have no problem with hustling because when people gamble they are just trying to win the cash, that is what counts when you are in action. It is not always how good you play its how well you match up. Some people detest hustling and locksmiths, to me the greats like Ervolino from NY who layed it down so good, getting the 5 ball when they could give the 5 ball, it is really an art IMO. I do think that you should have to use judgement and sometimes realize that the cash is not worth the fact of feeling badly or guilt. The funny thing is that the guy said he does not care if he loses money and likes to gamble, he had no clue that he got a pass and got to keep his cash.

I will leave you with a picture of the great Brooklyn Johnny, Ervolino was a great hustler and pool player who even at the age of 65 still ran over 300 balls. Until the next time friends and foes, play well and be lucky.

Lenny the Lock

Played My First Race to 50

2009-03-17T16:45:00.001-07:00

Well I got the bright idea a few nights ago to ask another player at Kolbys to play a race to 50 in 9 ball so we ended up playing it last night,just for good practice and because neither of us have done it before.I have to say it was more then I bargained for,it took 6 1/2 hours,we did have about 30 minutes worth of breaks though.I had some good runs and streaks but also some very bad play towards the middle and the end also.We are both 9 rated players in the state of AZ and 9 ball is his best game,its my weakest game I believe.I did end up winning 50-37,I do plan on doing it again perhaps once a month but I could only imagine how much it would improve my game if I did it everyday for a month.

9 Ball Run Out Video

2009-03-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

Just a video of me breaking and running at Kolby's Corner Pockets in Tempe AZ during a tourney,table is a Gold Crown III with 860 Simonis,4 1/8 inch pockets.My opponent is Angel Paglia a female pro on the WPBA,she went on to win the match hill-hill.

OTR's First DVD~ Reyes Vs Frost

2009-03-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce we have obtained this footage and are releasing it to everyone.The footage was recorded at Kolbys last May in Tempe AZ by Carlos Avalos who is on the forums as BACK2GOOD1.This is 100% action,no commentary and no fancy frills just some great one pocket.The promoter of this awesome event was Mark Cantrill also known on the forums as BFDLAD and runs the Champions and Legends Tour with Earl Strickland,Johnny Archer,and Nick Varner.This match was much talked about and people have asked about this footage being released so we are getting it out there to everyone so my partner Steven Hofstetter took on the task.Down the road perhaps we might offer another DVD of this match with a player review by The Freezer,bonus footage and all the frills but at the moment we dont have time to do it nor can we give a date for that DVD,at the moment its just an idea.The DVD is 4 hours and a 2 disc DVD,click on this link to purchase,price is $24.99.Thank you. :smile:
http://ontherailtv.com/subpages/azbilliardsdvdorder.html
View the teaser here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c2A6vqQjk4

Thanks To Our New Sponsor!

2009-03-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

We have a new sponsor on board with us,Crown Cues.We did have Albrecht Custom Cues but Dave is not taking anymore orders so him having a banner is pointless for him right now,we appreciated all the support Dave gave us from the start.We also have Eye Shafts who came on board with us last month,really glad they did,I myself play with a birdseye shaft and it plays excellent.We also are looking for more sponsors and can certainly say our website will give alot of exposure to the product your trying to promote.Thanks to all you viewers,drop a note to our sponsors and tell them that you appreciate them sponsoring us,thank you!

Video of Me Breaking and Running in 8 Ball

2009-02-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

DCT Finale

2009-01-21T14:21:00.001-08:00

Well the Arizona Desert Classic Tour Finale was a great event at The Mazatzal Casino in Payson AZ.We had 8 Diamond bar tables and the game was 10 ball,Big Bull came by to deliver and setup the tables which was great.We had over 50 players for the $6000 added finale and there was some really great play.I enjoyed the setup there,we had a 60 inch flat screen to watch the action on in the broadcast booth,a T1 internet connection which made the internet stream very smooth,the only thing that was missing was my new camera which I got the following Monday,a few days too late unfortunately.

I did enjoy the trip and won all bets made during the trip outside of the casino of course and on pool,I think I won about $400 playing and another couple hundred on other bets for matches.My goal was to beat one good player during the tourney and I did,I beat another fellow New Yorker named Paul who was known for winning $19,000 on a bar table.We had a great match on the losers side,racing to 9 I got up 8-5 before I missed a thin cut on the 8 ball with the 9 and 10 balls hanging in the pockets,I knew it was going hill-hill.At hill to hill he breaks and scratches,the 3-10 is lined up fairly well,the one goes but the 2 ball does not so I play shape for a safe,get bad shape and play a bank,it shortened up but I got lucky and Paul was safe.Paul kicks at the ball instead of messing up the 3-10 combo,he hits it and almost makes a ball but it hangs,I make a shot on the 2 ball and get perfect on the 3-10 to take the win.Paul remarked later he should have messed up the 3-10 but he said I was running out so good he felt I would be out anyway and if he could get lucky and make a ball he could win so he went for it.I told Paul early in the tournament that the only thing I wanted to do was beat a good player,so he remarked "Well you got to beat a good player like you wanted.",Paul was a real gentleman and a hell of a player with a win over Nick DeLeon 10-0 and a hill-hill match with Jimmy Mendoza.

Scott Frost lost his first match but came through the losers side to win 11 matches and beat Dennis Orender,then Jimmy Mendoza,he met Mitch in the Finals and played awesome to take the win and $2700 or so in prize money.I hoped my jump cue came in handy for Scott and helped him on his way to the win.Scott was stunned that I only slept 4 hours in the 3 days there as he was rooming with me but I just cant sleep in those casinos,pool and gambling action is too much to resist I suppose.Congrats to Scott Frost and Mitch Ellerman for playing great as they always do and Jimmy and Dennis for putting on a hell of an event.I was glad to have George Teyechea and Lisa there to help commentate for me as I was in really bad shape because of lacking sleep,it was one fun long weekend with great pool.

I hope this year the DCT continues to grow and prosper and new members continue to join,I believe they are over 150 members.I think my presence there attracts people to play and also they enjoy getting viewed by people all over the world on my website too.Well I hope those of you who have tuned in enjoyed watching it and this year should be awesome and only will get better then the last.

Lenny the Lock

Desert Classic Tour 8 Ball at Bullshooters

2008-12-11T16:45:00.000-08:00

Well it was a good event with Mitch Ellerman taking the win over Gus Briseno convincingly.I went 2 and out and played horribly,lost both matches I believe 8-4.I played well the day before which is what really bothered me because I expected to do okay but then again in 8 ball if you dont break and run out or get out when the other guy misses your toast.I also did not play safes very well at all,actually I did not play smart,usually I think to lock the guy up and play safe getting ball in hand and running out but I just played bad.I enjoyed the event at Bullshooters and they do take care of us there.George Teyechea provided some great commentary for the event and I am glad he did,its a pleasure to work with George.Well the next event will be at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino in Payson Arizona on January 9-11,it is the finale for the season and will be 10 ball on Diamond 7 footers,I will be playing!
Fast Lenny

Tucson DCT Event at Pockets

2008-11-24T04:01:00.000-08:00

Well it was a great event that took place and I really enjoyed it.The room pockets had a great staff and food,the equipment was good,alittle on the loose side but played good.I have to say that it had a great turn out as far as fans with well over 100 in attendance and 66 players entered into the 10 ball event.I wish I could have played but it is tough with running the stream,just too much distraction.It was a great battle in the finals between Mitch Ellerman and Scott Frost,Scott prevailed for the win but Mitch was a real animal tearing up the field.I look forward to next DCT tourney at Bullshooters in Phoenix,it will be big table 8 ball and I might actually play in it.Well I will see you all there and tune in at www.ontherailtv.com to see it live,we had nearly 16,000 unique viewers for the last one!
Fast Lenny

Went to Tucson for the First time...

2008-11-11T06:07:00.001-08:00

San Jose Dick and I went to Tucson for Dick to give some lessons in one pocket to a few of the guys in Tucson.Dick picked me up needing a road partner so to speak which I was honored to be,well he mainly needed me to drive at night on the way back but we will just say I was his road partner,okay.....Great!We take the long drive to Tucson which is an hour and half from my home in Chandler and arrive at George Teyechea's home uneventfully and are greeted by a good group of guys.We all meet and exchange names which I do remember them all,Dick signed George's Winning One Pocket book which Dick is featured in more then any other player.George has a Diamond table that has been newly felted in tournament blue,very nice setup at his home,if I lived close by I would be there everyday.

The guys want to learn the break,mainly the 3 lower rated players as George and Chris are okay with their breaks.The players then matched up playing partners with Dick instructing,I was amazed they were following direction well and moving back and forth without giving up much for awhile.After Dick showed some banks to the guys we all ate some of George's awesome cooking was quite good,I mean quite excellent,again if I lived close by I would be there everyday to eat,haha.After me and Chris played some,he is a 10 speed player and me just an 8,I end up winning the game mainly to my moving as I was up since 2 am and was not making balls.Then me and Dick faced off against George and Chris in some partners but me and Dick could not perform since we were both tired,yes I know I am giving excuses,we will get them next time.

I have to say it was a fun little trip which I will be doing again this weekend for the Desert Classic Tour stop which is 10 ball at Pockets,should be a great event and I look forward to meeting more guys from Tucson.Dick asked me if I was going to Derby City in Kentucky,would like to be his road partner for that trip,I will fly the plane.I am going to work on seeing if I can get the funds for the trip there as I already have a room with either Dick or Scott Frost,would be a good time I am thinking.Well if I do go I will let you know here about it.Here is a picture of the legend and I,if you want lessons you can contact Dick on www.onepocket.org or www.azbilliards.com in the forums or email me at ontherail@live.com and I will get him in touch with you.

Fast Lenny

My New Case From On Q Cases!

2008-11-11T05:52:00.000-08:00

Well here is my new case that Garth Bair made me,I am the proud owner of this alligator print leather 2 by 4 gem.It has my name inlayed into the leather of the case,Fast Lenny of course.I have gotten a lot of great comments on it.I have to say Garth is a great guy to deal with and very honest and personable,he does not make many cases and if your lucky to get one you wont be disappointed.Go to www.onqcases.com and see all the cases he has there,absolutely beautiful.Click on the images to make them bigger.

Fast Lenny

My Upcoming Match with Fatboy

2008-11-04T04:35:00.000-08:00

Well the Fatman is coming from Las Vegas to play me sometime this month,I hope he is ready to play because I am.I am going to work extra hard this month and dedicated myself to making less errors and to really focus.I dont know what to expect as I have never seen Fatboy play but I am sure it will pass as we play and I wont be nervous.See the idea is to get in to stroke and its tough to do if your nervous and rigid,you have to be relaxed and fluid.I think this will be a good match,we will be playing 8 ball,one pocket and banks,should be alot of fun and I look forward to it.I just need to keep finding the time to practice.One good thing is I have become used to my new cue that Dave made me,he sent me a birdseye shaft that I will most likely use primarily for one pocket as it is 31 inches long and helps to reach certain shots,here is a pic of it at the bottom of the post,click on it to make it bigger.I hope that I play well,alot of my friends and most importantly my family will be tuning in for sure,my mom told me last night she would be watching,that makes me nervous.
Lenny the Lock

AZ 1 Pocket State Championship

2008-10-28T16:39:00.001-07:00

This was a great event and I enjoyed it very much.I got to play in the tourney thanks to Charles from California who is a good friend of San Jose Dick.I was tired with only 2 hours sleep as usual because before these things go off I dont seem to get any sleep.
The event had 46 players I believe some coming from California and all over the state of Arizona.I made it to the 4th round and lost,my last match was with Martin Bick from California who shot very well.I met alot of good one pocket players and enthusiast of the game at the event.Scott Frost finished 1st place at the event undefeated with Gus Briseno taking 2nd,Leil Gay the 1997 US Open One Pocket Champion took 3rd.Carlos Avalos and myself took the 8 and Under side pot for the tournament.I look forward to playing and streaming this event again,we got alot of good footage and had 8000 viewers just on Sunday alone.The next event is 10 ball up in Tucson,I have never been to Tucson but look forward to it.
Fast Lenny

My New Cue!

2008-10-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

Well it is finally finished and is on its way to me,should have it any day now,here are some pics of my Albrecht Custom,it is ebony and tulipwood,handle is cored with purpleheart.This also has a G10 pin which is a glass based phenolic,very light and strong material,in the J/B you can see it is a clear whitish color,the one in my player is black,very cool.Here are pics of both my J/B and player made by Dave Albrecht,also a video of me using my J/B,click on the pics to make them bigger.Make sure to check out www.albrechtcustomcues.com
Fast Lenny

Outcome of Me and Justin AKA Justabangers Match

2008-10-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

Well it was a bad match for both of us,neither of us played very good.I won the one pocket fairly easily 5-2,was dissapointed I did not play better though.I won the 9 ball 11-6 and it was emabarrassing how badly we both played in 9 ball.I think that we both play much better but neither of us showed up to play.I am happy that I won and still have my title but look forward to my next match with whatever 8 rated player is put in front of me.I have a few guys I would be interested in playing so we will see,maybe at the end of this month I will have another opponent.That was the 3rd time I won one of these challenge matches,will I lose?,anything is possible but I wont go quietly.
Lenny the Lock

Justabanger & I Matchup!

2008-10-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well today is the day we matchup for the King of AZ 8's Crown and some cash.We will be playing 1 pocket,9 ball and 8 ball.I have to say I am nervous,he seems to be the opponent with the most firepower out of the other guys I have faced and has a monster break.I do think it will be a good matchup,I do consider Justin a good aquaintance and we have played before in tournaments where we were 1 for 1.I think I will win the one pocket with ease and he might take down the 9 ball,8 ball will be a toss up but you never know,someone could sweep all 3.I will play smart because right now I am not playing well at all.I did take 4th place last night out of 28 players so I feel better then I did before.Well I will put up the results after I play today if your not tuning in to www.ontherailtv.com to watch,either way it will be a good match.

Preacher Ronn's One Pocket Tourney this Past Weekend

2008-09-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

Well it was a good tourney and I went 2 for 2 in it,both matches I lost were hill-hill so I played ok.Ronn and Muaz Arshad faced off in the finals with Muaz winning,they both played well.I have to say I enjoy this tournament but it is usually the last Saturday of the month but this month it was a week earlier because the AWBT will be there playing an event the last weekend of the month.I hope to play better for next months event and try to top my 3rd place finish from last month.

AZ Desert Classic Stop #6 at Bullshooters

2008-09-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

This was bar box 8 ball and it was a great event as always by the tour.Bullshooters recovered and leveled all the bar tables to make the event perfect.We were unable to broadcast Saturday due to some technical problems beyond my control but Sunday had a good viewship with nearly 500 people tuning in to watch the 7 hours of bar table action.I really enjoy doing the tour and it was alot of fun to watch.Rudy Alameda won over Jimmy Mendoza and Nick DeLeon too 3rd,congrats to all the players including Jack Scerca who took 4th place.Here are some pics of the top 3 finishers from Rixx Images,check out his site at www.rixximages.com .

Jude Vs Justin AKA Bad Company Vs justabanger

2008-09-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

These guys both matched up in a much barked about gambling matchup for $150 a set,they ended up breaking even after many hours of play.I have to say it was interesting to see them play,I have never saw Jude play before and was impressed with his game only being rated an 8 like myself.I do plan on playing Justin sometime soon in a Shootout format,should be a good match.I do believe me and Jude will also play too and look forward to that also.I thank both guys for coming out and playing,it was 4 sets of some good gambling action by 2 decent players.
Fast Lenny

Preacher Ronn's One Pocket Invitational

2008-09-01T05:25:00.000-07:00

This is an event I have thought of streaming and when I spoke with Ronn the weekend prior at Bullshooter he was happy to have me there and thought it was great idea.I was uncertain whether I would play in the event as I have to stream it and streaming takes alot to do and keep an eye on,big distraction when your trying to play,plus I had one hour of sleep since I got home at 7am from a 10 hour session at the poolhall of gambling.San Jose Dick stopped by and said he was putting me in and could not turn down his offer.

I played my first match against a guy named Mike and beat him in 2-1 in the race to 2 double elimination format,he was not too happy and said I was lucky mainly because he got bad rolls and scratched,the only thing I could think was he was lucky I only had an hour sleep and didn't make him pay for his mistakes like I should have.My next opponent was Rick Cosman and he played great,it was tough match and after Rick scratched I ran the 6 balls I needed for the win and took the set 2-1.

The next match I had was with Preacher Ronn himself,this guy is a great one pocket player and gives alot of A players 2 balls in one hole.He had to give me a spot in the tourney of 10-8,the previous 2 matches were even but I knew the 2 ball spot wasn't going to be huge and he could outrun it.He beat me the first game on his break and I beat him the 2nd rack,they were both down to the wire.The 3rd rack I started putting balls by my pocket when the score was 5-4 in his favor,I set a trap and got some good rolls,he made a mistake and I got the score to 6-5 in my favor.With the ball in my pocket that I banked he tried to jump the ball off the table while making my ball at the same time so the balls would spot,he miscued and conceded the game to me.I felt great to win and played solid to win against one of AZ's top one hole players.

My next match was for the hot seat against Arizona 14.1 State Champion Bernie Pettipiece,he just got back from the World's 14.1 in NJ.He had to give me 11-8 and I lost the match 2-0 ,the first rack was a grind but then I saw a dead ball if I kicked the stack right it would give me the ball and the win but I hit the stack wrong lost.The second rack I played badly and gave him an easy win.He is a great player and a real gentleman,we talked and I think I have someone to get some knowledge from and we will be playing once a week.

I was guaranteed 3rd at this point and was happy with how I performed but had no energy to beat Rick Cosman to get into the finals with Bernie and played horribly so Rick coasted to the finals where he lost 2-1 against Bernie.Both of these players I enjoyed playing and they play great and are true gentleman who praised my play.I did get to play Bernie,Ronn and others while we were waiting for some matches and one some games against these players even which showed me I can play with them even though I am the underdog,but I wont go into my pocket thinking I have a chance at gambling with them.

The fun had just begun though as we were at Kolbys in Tempe which always has action going and I got to see San Jose Dick,Jimmy the owner,Jeff Thomas and Ronn play some partners golf on the pool table.Ronn and Jimmy stepped out after several hour of play but the die hards stayed in,74 year old Dick stayed in playing Jeff Thomas $100 a game $10 a hicky.He played for 25 hours total as he came in for the one hole at about 11am and and was there til noon the next day playing Jeff!I was there until about 8 am and got 3 sets of action playing a 9 some ever 9 ball,I am rated an 8,he quit after I wont 3 sets.

All in all it was alot of fun and for my birthday weekend as mine is today,Monday September 1st it was all I could have wanted,a good finish in my first one pocket tournament and alot of action!My next stream will most likely be some action challenge matches,perhaps my best friend and gambling/tourney partner Jay Smith Aka Southern Jay/Jay Burner.Well I am off to enjoy my birthday today and have alot of fun I hope,29 years young!

Fast Lenny

Arizona Desert Classic Tour Stop #5

2008-09-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

It was 9 ball on the big table at Bullshooters in PHX and I streamed it both days on the 23rd and 24th.Mitch Ellerman beat Chuck Evans in the finals,Mitch played some great 9 ball that weekend running through the field with relative ease.I enjoyed the weekend and thanks to Bullshooters for accomadating us so well in there very nice room which is the largest I believe in the state of Arizona.

While I was there I got to play some one pocket with Bull and it was alot of fun,look forward to playing with him again.I also had the chance to play with a TAD cue,not one but with 2 for the first time ever and both in one day.One was owned by Ray Robles Aka Big Cat on AZ Billiards, his was a traditional maple cue with a phenolic joint,it hit very nicely.

The other was owned by JR Aka Getnbzy on AZ Billiards and his was a 4 point TAD with windows in the butt of the cue,this cue was gorgeous and was stainless steel jointed.It is my dream cue by far,you have to be lucky to own one of these $4,000 beauties.I got to play a race to 7 with JR and won luckily hill-hill,he played great breaking and running the first 2 racks.Here are pictures below of JR's TAD and then Rays TAD,click on the images to make them larger.

Fast Lenny

Runout Video

2008-08-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

Well someone asked me since they haven't seen me play 9 ball yet if I could run out.I am a B player when I am playing right so the answer is yes and when I was playing regularly I would break and run once in a race to 6 quite often in tournament play but with the stream I have not been playing as much as I would like.After the break when the balls stop,the runout was under a minute,that is why I am Fast Lenny.

Fast Lenny Vs Tim Demaagd Aka Grindz

2008-08-22T20:24:00.001-07:00

I was challenged by Tim in a Shootout this past Wednesday at Kolbys and we agreed on Rotation,One Pocket and 8 ball.I have never seen Tim play so I didn't know his speed or style of play,on top of it I have never played Rotation before.We decided to play a 1000 points of Rotation and we both regretted playing that long,he beat me 1000-758 I believe.I think absorbing all the rules while I was playing affected my game there but for my first time playing it I really felt I held my own.

The one pocket is where I felt I would dominate,I broke first and won that game easily.We both kept winning on our breaks and it was 3-3 and my break and I went up 5-0 in that rack,I end up losing that rack and Tim ends up on the hill first.The next game is a long one and a real nail biter,Tim needs one and I need them both,I bank a ball 2 rails and in and have a long straight in shot but I am on the rail,I commit and make it to have a hill-hill match.Tim takes a risky bank at speed and sells out my out ball for me to win the one pocket and snatch victory from him,you can see the nail biting ending in the video below.

The last game to decide it all was race to 5 in 8 ball,we both played badly as neither of us ate for the whole 8 hour session,no breaks either,I won 5-2 and still am King of Az 8's as of now.My next match wont be until the end of September,I hope I play better then I did in the last one.I have to say thanks to Grindz for coming out and playing,he is a good player and I enjoyed the match and the grind,he lived up to his name.You can see the Rotation and One Pocket in the Video section at www.ontherailtv.com ,we have alot more challenge matches to come.The next event is tomorrow at Bullshooters in Phoenix,should be a great event taking 2 days,9 ball on the big table,this is the Arizona Desert Classic Tours event and it should be a good one.See you there.

Fast Lenny

Roger Long Vs Ray Robles Match

2008-08-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

This match was very interesting as I have never seen Roger Long play but heard he was a decent player and a BCA instructor.Everyone said Roger didn't have a chance and it would be a blow out but he held his own very well and did win one of the three sets.

Ray played well and won the straight pool by a score of 150-72.The 10 ball had Ray up 18-14 and it looked like Roger was finished but he came back and won 6 games in a row to win 20-18.The one pocket was the decider,it was supposed to be a race to 5 but both guys were very tired after playing for 9 hours already so they agreed to play a race to 3 which Ray won 3-0.

I thought Roger played quite well and Ray is a very good 10 in the state of Arizona which translates to an A speed player.They both struggled in the middle of the 10 ball set and it seemed both ran out of gas as neither ate the whole time.I appreciate both players coming on and matching up,they are good competitors and love the game.You can watch videos in the Video section at www.ontherailtv.com and also check out Roger Long's site at http://www.maestrosproshop.com/

My Challenge Match Vs Brady aka BVal

2008-08-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

So for those of you who watched I won as I predicted,we didn't play the 10 ball as I had already won the first 2 out of 3 giving me the crown.I have to say I had alot of anxiety going in and was nervous but as I started making balls I felt pretty good.I had some good outs in one pocket but felt too comfortable and played pretty loose,almost had a nice 8 and out but on my last ball that I got perfect on I missed.

The 14.1 I was uncertain I would win,he was up 30 some balls to my 20 something and I then made my charge winning 150-84,my high run was 16 or something like that,I got perfect on the break shot and bobbled it though and I think I might have ran 25-30 as I felt pretty good.I had lot of runs of 10s and 12s in the match,I wasn't looking for a big run but to just get the majority each rack and just win.I would shoot the break ball if I had a tough shot because I didn't want to leave him the balls if I missed and then I would duck when I didn't have shots,that was my game plan since he doesn't run alot of balls.

I really was happy to play Brady win or lose though as he is a gentleman and has good sportsmanship.I have a few other challenge matches lined up,3 people are interested in playing me,one at a time and I hope to continue a good run and play well.This weekend Saturday at 3pm I will be streaming a challenge match between Ray Robles and Roger Long,they are doing an all around format similar to me and Brady.

One thing I learned from watching the footage you can see in the Video section at www.ontherailtv.com is that my mechanics are so bad but yet I still play pretty good,people could look at me and mistake me for a D player very easily,haha,maybe I will work on it or just strive to be A speed and have people pounce on me who I can give the 5 ball to.I had alot of good players tell me that I will make alot of money gambling with mechanics like that if my game does go to A speed,I already have made a few bucks because guys approach me after watching me shoot because I dont look like a player,a few of those guys dont play pool anymore and I busted them,not bad for just a B player.Well see you Saturday for our next stream.
Fast Lenny

Joe Sabia

2008-08-02T12:36:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking alot of my friend Joe who passed a few months back,he was my mentor,best friend and the closest I have ever had to a father figure.He taught me how to play pool,bringing me from a D player to a B player in what seemed like 6 months.We would run around to tourneys together playing pool and poker in all types of places.He passed at 62 years old but didn't act a day over 25,he was alot of fun to be around with tons of energy,he was alive!

I was so stunned when I got the call of his passing,I talked to him on a Friday letting him know I would be coming to NY to visit and would see him in a week and that Sunday I got the call and just couldn't believe it.The man who had given so much to me was gone,he sounded fine so I still do not get it and it still seems very unreal to me.I flew to NY early to go to his wake where there were so many people there and all the pictures from his past when he was in his 20s and 30s,it was cool to see the pictures of him back in his day during the 60s and 70s.I can only wish that one day me and him will meet again for one more pool game,one more heads up poker game,and one more conversation,til we meet again Joe.

Challenge Match

2008-07-31T14:51:00.000-07:00

So I am about to play Brady aka BVal on AZ Billiards this Sunday at 7pm on the live stream.Its going to be a race to 150 in straight pool,race to 5 in one pocket and a race to 20 in 10 ball,should be alot of fun.I havent been playing much because of the site and live stream keeping me so busy and taking up so much of my time.I got to play last night and I can say I was not playing great or bad,just mediocre,win or lose I want to play well.

I feel we are both favorites in our respective games of straight pool and one pocket.I do think I will take the one pocket down for sure,the straight pool I dont play enough but I still have a chance to win I feel,we will see in a few days.I think the fans will get a kick out of it,just 2 average B players battling it out,we are both 8s in Arizona rating system and are pretty evenly matched.I am going to make a prediction I will win the whole thing without losing any set,but you never know,check it out this Sunday at www.ontherailtv.com
Fast Lenny

Arizona Desert Classic Tours 4th Stop!

2008-07-28T14:39:00.001-07:00

This weekend of July 26 and 27th was a good event that was held at Metro Sports Bar in Phoenix with 38 players,the winner was Jimmy Mendoza who shot awesome to win the event and the runner up was young gun Mitch Ellerman.I am always impressed with the both these players and the focus they have at the table,Mitch is bound to be a great player as he gets more and more seasoned,he has no fear it seems when he is on the green.We had some tech problems in day one at the beginning,Ustream was down and then when it came back up the internet went down,wanna guess why?Someone had turned the jukebox off which is also wired to the internet,we got it back and running fairly quickly though and got to broadcast many hours of good 9 ball on the bar table.

Our total of unique viewers who came and went was over 1200,not too bad,glad to see people stopping in and checking us out.The more viewers the more it attracts sponsors and that enables me to do more live streams and also improve the quality of the stream.I appreciate all the people signing up for the newsletter on our new site www.ontherailtv.com which was just recently put together by my new partner in the is venture and fellow pool junky Steve Hofstetter.I think with the site and the exposure we have been getting this will lead to good things for the sport and fans.

I have to give thanks to the Arizona Desert Classic Tour and you can check out there website at www.desertclassictour.com for more info,the events they have are ran very well.If you can play in one do it,its worth it and perhaps you will be on the internet table and broadcast live for everyone to see.I have to thank all the fans out there for their support with contributing and buying tshirts,your helping the cause of bringing live free pool to everyone.See you all soon at our next schedueled event at Main Street Billiards here in Arizona for the Arizona Desert Classics 5th stop and its going to be 9 ball on the big table.We might be having a challenge match live on the net with me Fast Lenny vs AZ Billiards BVal aka Brady this weekend,will keep you posted,it will be an all around challenge match.
Fast Lenny

Live Stream This Past Weekend

2008-07-16T14:39:00.001-07:00

The live stream went well and was glad to bring to the appreciative 14.1 fans around the world,the page got over 3000 hits this past weekend.I am excited that the website is being built by my new partner Steve,its almost done and looks good.I am also working on getting a new camera for the stream to improve it,there is room for lots of improvement I feel for the stream.The next event will be at Metros Sports Bar and is the Arizona Desert Classic Tours,it will be 9 ball on the bar table,its on the 26th and 27th of July and should be a good event as the Tour is ran by Jimmy Mendoza and Dennis Orender,these guys are really running a great tour.I hope to see you all online for that event,its going to be a good one.
Fast Lenny

Next Events

2008-07-01T16:08:00.001-07:00

Well the next event I am doing is on July 12th and it is the qualifier for the World Straight Pool Championships in New Jersey.I think its going to be some great 14.1 to be viewed for all to see and I can wait for it to happen.It will be at Kolbys so I am comfortable and know what to expect there so it should go well.I am hoping to have a new cam before then so I can improve the stream,if not I will use the same stuff I have been using but one thing I did accomplish was fixing the audio.I have to take this week to get another sponsor or two on board,it will help with the cost of the new camera along with other stuff.

The next event after the one on the 12th is on the 26th and 27th of July and will be at Metros in Phoenix,its a 9 ball bar box tourney.I dont know how good there internet is there and also how easy it is going to be to set up in there,I think its going to be tough to do because of how tight it is in there.This should be a good event though as I believe it is $1500 added to the prize fund so it should bring out some good players.Well make sure to tune in if you reading this on those dates at www.ustream.tv/channel/ontherail

Fast Lenny

Live Stream Went Well!

2008-06-25T03:21:00.000-07:00

Well I am happy to say the 2 day event over the weekend went pretty well and I was happy with it.I had several hundred viewers who tuned in here and there,60-100 were the steady numbers but look forward to increasing them.I do have some stuff in the works and I am thinking of doing a one pocket tourney this weekend,I will know this week whether that is going to happen.I got the ok to do the 14.1 World Championship qualifier here in AZ,its the only qualifier on the west coast for the event so it should have some very good players.

I would like you guys to check out my page for clips and also my sponsors along with the Arizona Desert Classic Tour,they are a good group of guys.I thought Jimmy,Dennis and Bull are a good team and do good tourneys,42 players showed up for their 14.1 event this weekend,now that is cool.I like that I am doing something good for pool and giving something back to the sport which has given me so much.I believe good things will come out of this for the sponsors,myself,the fans and places I am streaming at and for.

Well its late as always and I need to catch some ZZZs as I am sleepy and need a recharge for my busy week.Thanks for stopping in and enjoy the straight pool match below with Gus Briseno and Scott Frost.

Fast Lenny

Got The Sponsorship!

2008-06-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

Well I just got back from playing some pool and I have all 3 sponsors in.I have my friend Jason Smith who does insurance here in Arizona,Dave Albrecht who is a custom cuemaker,and Don Ackerlow from The Break is also sponsoring me,they have a great paper and site,you can see it at http://www.onthebreaknews.com/ ,good to have them on board.

I am really excited and have to pick up a few things for the stream,I am glad I have the funding to get it done better now.My cue is about to be raffled off soon,one more spot left and perhaps tomorrow night a lucky winner will get it.I have to pick up the items I need this weekend for the stream,I cant wait to do this and bring the fans some great pool.

Check out the page which is all ready to go at www.ustream.tv/channel/ontherail

Take Care,
Fast Lenny

Sponsor Search

2008-06-06T01:27:00.001-07:00

Well I am on the search for sponsors,got bad news today that the guy who contacted me just wants to trade services.I need money to do the stream not exposure or PR,so I am going to start emailing and calling billiard businesses locally that have websites and perhaps bring them people and also business through the exposure of the live stream because it is not just statewide that this is going to be popular but nationwide along with some people overseas also.

So I am alittle bummed out about the bad news but now I get to contact people,I was waiting on him as he was the first guy to contact me and I was hoping to build a foundation and business relationship.I also decided to raffle a cue of mine off for money to get equipment that I need,I am not too bummed about it,I go through cues like crazy anyway and havent been playing as much as I would like to.Well enough rambling and being a flatliner,tomorrow is a new day and we will see what can be done.

Fast Lenny

On The Rail

2008-05-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

Well I have decided to start doing the live streaming for whomever is in need of my services and trying to get sponsorship to do so.So far it looks like I do and I should know for certain within a week.I am really excited and want to improve the streams as I do more and more events.

I decided it was best to make a new name for my little venture and decided to call in On The Rail instead of using Eclipse Pool.The reason why I decided this is to have it be 100% my own because Eclipse Pool even though it was my doing it was called that because of Eclipse Media which is promoter Mark Cantrill.When I do Mark's events I will do it under the Eclipse Pool name I am thinking perhaps but Im not sure yet,would like to just go with On The Rail but we shall see when the next event happens.

So I have gotten started on the page and am waiting to put the sponsors names up along with pictures from Rixx Images,he sure takes some good action shots.I do believe this is going to be a good start for me doing this and getting it structured with sponsors.The sponsors are going to benefit along with the fans,the sponsors get cheap advertising,the room gets recognition along with whatever promoter or tour has put on the event,and most of all the fans who I am doing this for get free pool.

On The Rail has its first gig and it will be the Arizona Desert Classic Tour's 14.1 State Championship which I will be broadcasting on June 21 and 22.Here is the link www.ustream.tv/channel/ontherail ,I hope you stop by and check it out,it should be a great event with some awesome pool for you to see.

See ya,

Fast Lenny

Blast from the Past: The Mercury Grill

2008-05-25T05:10:00.000-07:00

Well I was thinking of something very small time that I missed from about a year and half ago.It was a bar touney I would go to at this roadhouse bar in Sullivan County NY which was named The Mercury Grill but the regulars just called it the Merc.In that area alot of bars are what they call roadhouses,they were once someones home and they turned the first floor into a bar.This place had 2 tables in it and was a decent place with some good locals who would hang out there and have some fun.

I must have played at this place in that tourney about 20 times and won it about 15 times,the other 5 times I would say were just where flukey stuff would happen like breaking a cluster and dropping the 8 ball.It was a tough tourney because the one table played bad and the other was ok but even though it was a double elimination it was a race to one with about 25 players.I had a few locals who thought I was a hustler,it wasnt that I was that good it was just that they were that bad really and the good ones were pretty much weekend warriors and bangers.I made friends with some of them and when I would win I would buy a few pitchers and drink with them.One thing I learned when on foreign territory is to make friends fast and with the right people,one of them was Brian,he was 6ft 3 and close to 300 pounds Im guessing and he loved pool.Brian was a young guy and a firefighter,I used to mess with him when we would play and tell him to be useful and go save a cat in a tree and he would get red.

I ended up meeting up with another fellow traveler who went in search of alittle action and an easy score at The Merc.He shot with a Robinson cue and it was the first time I saw one and it was the type of cue with the pin in the shaft,he told me he paid about $2000 for it and I was in disbelief never hearing of the guy but it was valued at that I later found out.The guy played well and I met him in the finals coming from the one loss side and I had to beat him twice.I won the first game after some safety play and both of us trying to outmove eachother on 2 of our balls that were tied up,trying to gain an advantage to setup a shot.The rules we were playing by werent BCA or APA,it was straight bar table rules with no ball in hand and you dont have to even hit your ball so its a strange game at times and laughable also.The whole bar is rooting for me to win even though every other week they are pulling against me as I am winning most times.The guy beat alot of people and they werent happy,2 guys were ready to beat him up,one of those deals where they feel they are getting hustled and the guy is just a good player not holding back speed so how can he be a hustler?,I never can understand that.I end up losing to the guy and he left without incident and never returned,cant remember his name as Im bad with them but I will never forget his face,thats just how I am.

The owner was a character and would make pizzas at the bar for the players alot of times so it was worth it to go there just for that.He liked to play in the tourney but alot of times he would get drunk and I mean drunk to where he would be sleeping on the bar,to me when your the owner its just bad business.After I went there for about 6 months the place ended up losing its liquor license due to serving minors.

I enjoyed beating a good local player who is an APA 7 whatever that means and his name was Rich Manny,I met him in the finals and had to beat him twice.Now he is a local bartable legend and alot of players in that area and the 3 surrounding counties know him as a bar table specialist.I knew when he was there he was trying to rob the tourney and why not,I counted on the money everytime I went too,it just seemed too easy.He is there with another player named Zook who owned a room in Middletown NY for a short time and now operates a room in Chester.So he is there with Zook who is pulling for him and his young pretty daughter who I had known for years and plays pretty sporty too,all his kids who I know play good as he taught them well.When I first got into the game I heard alot about Rich and really thought alot of his game,word of mouth can build legends alot of times.I beat him the first game pretty handidly but the second game took some maneuvering and he took a sell out shot after I played safe trying to thin cut a ball short rail to short rail.Zook was just shaking his head and asking Rich what was he thinking and that he shouldve respected my game and played safe.It felt good to beat Rich and validate that I could play and beat the best in my area on the bar table,sorry Rich no brew for you that night!

So I miss that place,it was one heck of alittle roadhouse,one of many I have been in and gambled at.The place is vacant when I drove past about a month or so ago on my trip to NY.I looked at the parking lot as I drove by where me and a dozen of my buddies faced off with another group of guys from another town who were starting trouble in a full out brawl which we won defending out turf so to speak.I thought of the wannabe drug dealers who would go in there on a Friday night from neighboring towns playing the big shot and taking $50 to $100 a game off of them and then getting that bad feeling because you know if you have a problem it wont be one on one.I had good times with a girl there who was a complete lunatic which alot of broads are who hang out in places like those and seemed to be that bar fly girl that you know at the local pub who is like a stray dog looking for some scraps or attention.She would just walk into the mens bathroom and slam me up against the wall and have her way with me,I wasnt complaining one bit,but it was not so good when she would take me by the hand and drag me into the girls bathroom,that will get you thrown out of a place!Just reflecting on the place and the people makes me miss it,some unique characters there of all walks of life but most were good people who loved to play pool.

Well this is my tribute to The Mercury Grill and the pool I played there,another place I scuffled around in and improved my game.I will have more stories of people and places,stay tuned.

8 Ball Tourney

2008-05-24T03:50:00.000-07:00

So I went out with my buddy Jay Burner tonight to play some pool at Alexanders but they werent having a tourney for some reason,funny how that happens,anyways we went to Metro up the street instead.They were having a bar box 8 ball tourney and it filled up quick with 32 players and what a grind.I won my first 2 matches and then lost my 3rd,won about 4 or so on the losers side and had the guy hill to donut,then we were hill-hill only to miss a cross corner bank on the 8 ball.I hit the banks I had all night too,it was the most important one and the only one I missed.

I was happy to beat one player who was a tall black guy and took the game real serious,I could tell me and him wouldnt mix.I played him and he wins the first game on me after a botched shot by me,he also tried to play safe and fouled by not getting a rail.I ask him if its ball in hand and he wont answer me and then says "You know the rules.",so I take ball in hand and he says that its gamesmanship and Im trying to get to him mentally since I asked that knowing the answer and the rules,the only thing I could think was what a jerk this guy is.I win the next one after he and I have a safety battle,the next rack I brake and run out beautifully and now he is shot.So on the last rack I run out on the guy again and I go to shake his hand and he wont even shake my hand,to me he deserved the drilling he got for being a jerk.

All in all I played pretty sporty and if I made that bank perhaps I could have taken the thing down,my buddy Jay thought for sure I was going to get there especially after playing as well as I did and all those damn matches I had to play.I so far in AZ since I moved here 9 months ago have about 7 cashes out the 14 tourneys I have entered so 50% to cash is pretty sporty.I plan on getting a table eventually,to be honest its the only way Im going to get to the next level with my game,playing once a week and going into tourneys stone cold just is not going to cut it and is doing more harm then good.

Well thanks for listening to my little vent on my night out and I guess it was better coming in 4th then going 2 and out.Take care and see you in the fast lane.

Fast Lenny

Live Stream of Eclipse Pool

2008-05-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

Well i have been up and thinking about my plans for the future with the live streaming.The success of the Earl exhibition and the Reyes and Frost one pocket were really good,it wasnt an easy thing to do but it was certainly worthwhile not just for me but the fans and people involved.I wish I would have had the funding to do it better but I did quite well for the money I had to do it with.

I do believe that I will continue to do it,I already have another stream in the works and this time it will be the game of 14.1 that I will be bringing to the fans.I have been in contact with a few people about getting some sponsorship for the streams,it will be so helpful to get better stuff to work with and slowly improve the stream at each event I do.I havent sought out sponsorship,I have been hanging back and a few people have came forward and there have been some talks.I do believe people who want some cheap exposure of their products and business will get on board.I would like to do more streams from the state of Arizona as there are events and tournaments going on that are worthy about once a month or so.

Another avenue I was thinking of persuing with this is for room owners who have tourneys and want to have there own little page and a tourney live streamed from there a cheap way to get exposure and advertise.I believe I can help pool in my area on a small scale by doing this,its great for the fans too,as for the money,well there is no money in it!Most people who have any sense know there isnt much money in pool and for me thats not my motivation.I just want to get this going smoothly and have the equipment to do a good job,cover any expenses while I am doing it like gas,food,and whatever else so I dont have to go into my pocket to bring fans,promoters,room owners and whomever else something that is beneficial to them.I know that the best way to do this from my point of view is sponsorship,the sponsor gets very cheap advertising and exposure all over the place since the internet is worldwide and the fans get to see some pool,the room gets airtime and the players too!

I think this is the way of the future for pool,ESPN isnt doing anything so the IPT is doing there streaming with there money behind it and doing pretty nice stuff.The Action Report is awesome because its bringing fans straight up gambling with top players and you get to see the players gamble on all games.I do think they have a bright future and as sponsors realize the following is growing they will grow and grow and then be in the green and perhaps have something televised which would be cool.I wont ever be on the level of TAR and dont want to be honestly,its alot of work doing it and I am glad to just do it locally instead of driving all over the country and dealing with all the business stuff.

I just want to get a few sponsors and do stuff in my state, keep the stream nice,simple and smooth,maybe eventually have people commentate if they would like whom have knowledge.So I am waiting to hear back on one sponsor to see if he is going to come through,it might help both of us alot in what we are trying to do and it will be awesome to get a few things I need to improve the stream.I was so shocked to have 750 people watching and the stream go as well as it did with what I had to work with,the night before when I streamed Earl Strickland it went smoother and the quality was better,it was all about the internet connection and also lighting too.

Well enough rambling but I thought I would keep people informed on what I have been doing pool wise and will let you know whats coming down the pipe when its all definate.So take it easy and check out the link to the stream I was referring to that Im providing below,there are some videos on there too,enjoy.

Fast Lenny

http://www.ustreamt.tv/channel/eclipsepool