Well, hold the phone. There is an odd twist to this; this is a clear case of the hunter becoming the hunted.

I'm about as close to being an eight-ball pro as it gets. If I had to guess, I would have to honestly say I'm one of the toughest match-ups on a 9-foot table (proper table) in the state of Minnesota. I'm actually 3-3 with the Minnesota eight-ball BCA champion, as he says "Man, you just know to score." And, I still think I'm a better player than he is, better shot, to be sure...

I'm one of the few players I have run across who can hit any (and I mean any) angled-shot (with minimal study), banks, caroms, and yes, even the massé. And being 6'3" really helps, I can reach any shot on the table without using a 'pig-stick', a serious advantage, as my 5'8" associate would agree.

I know I'm being really braggart at this point, but I love the game and play it really well. Some people have come up with nicknames for me, like 'Minnesota Slim', other exceptional players have asked me to join their BCS team, some regular players will not play me because they know the outcome. People generally watch me play, and it's not unusual to hear people, even my opponents, screaming out loud at some the shots that I both call, then hit.

And then we have our animal from the other night. He plays me, for money, because if he can win, it's just so much sweeter than beating someone else. Mind you, it doesn't happen often, but if it does... And it did.

Normally, when I play for money I dominate the pool table. My winning percentage over the last 12 years has to be something ridiculous, something like 90%. I don't even bullshit people about it, I play to win, and I'm very serious about it, not to hustle or for money. Although having money on the game seems to fine-tune my concentration...

I was going to play two co-workers a while back. Co-worker 1 says "Let's play for $10/game." Co-worker 2 starts sweating, you could see it, and says "Er, have you seen Nate shoot pool before?" It was funny because I had never played him before/watched him shoot, but had watched me shoot before... In any event, co-worker 1 asks "Nate, are you a good pool player?" I said "To be honest, I am easilly the best pool player in this bar." We played for $0, and he thanked me two days later.

For some reason, beyond me, my game has been a little off since Christmas. So, here's how this went the other night:

Game 1: $20 - Win
Game 2: $40 - Win
Game 3: $60 - Lose
Game 4: $60 - Win
Game 5: $100 - Lose

So I didn't end up net-net down $100, but I did fubar the big game. There's some minor consolation in that. Overall, I'm way up on the house's money when I play pocket billiards for cash versus three specific players (one of which won't play me any more, which I think is a good idea), who are probably quite good, but no real match for yours truely.

Still, I lost and that's the rub. I just played a bad game at a time when loosing wasn't the proper thing to do, at all.

Can't win 'em all. I'll bounce back.