Pool Party

"I got out of the service at 21, and I didn't have a job for the next twenty years. I earned my living playing pool. I went from bar to bar; I was the top-rated bar player in the country. I've played for a dollar; I've played for a beer; I've played for $2,000. Some of it's not so fun -- if you're a thousand miles from home and nothin' in your pockets.... But then I'd always go up to the bartender and say, 'I'm broke, but I play a pretty good game of pool.' And he'd set up some games."

Charlie pauses and remembers. "It was quite a life," he says.

Mike Gorman

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• Colorado Springs
• Dave Anglum
• Billiard Congress of America
• Ernie Paicopolos
• Eddie Felson

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"Charlie," Arch's assistant yells. "You're on!"

"I gotta get a cigarette," says Charlie.