March 30, 2026
Mary Kenniston - Part 5 (Action, Tournaments, and the Road to Three WPBA Wins)
In Part 5 of the Legends of the Cue conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston, the road stories, rivalries, and tournament triumphs keep coming.
Mary takes listeners back to the mid-1980s pool scene in Los Angeles, where action, personalities, and opportunity collided in smoky poolrooms and late-night gambling sessions. From becoming the house pro at a bustling barroom to matching up with future stars like Kelly Simpson (later Kelly Oyama), Mary recounts the hustling culture that helped sharpen her competitive edge.
The conversation moves through legendary rooms like Hollywood Billiards, where Mary found pristine tables, tough weekly tournaments, and a chance to test herself against top male players—sometimes beating them along the way. These were the years when Mary balanced road action with tournament play, building a reputation as one of the most formidable women in the game.
A highlight of the episode is Mary’s unforgettable story from the 1984 McDermott Masters, featuring a dramatic hill-hill match against Lori Shampo that ended with one of the most hilarious and memorable moments ever witnessed in a pool tournament.
Along the way, Mary reflects on the rise of the women’s professional game, the dominance of Jean Balukas, and the competitive environment that pushed everyone to improve. She also shares her perspective on the era when women’s pool was striving for mainstream recognition—and the pivotal players who helped elevate the sport.
By 1987, all of Mary’s experience—action games, road matches, and relentless competition—came together as she captured three WPBA tournament victories in a single season, firmly establishing herself among the elite players of her generation.
It’s another entertaining and revealing chapter in the remarkable life story of one of pool’s true pioneers.
In this episode, Mary Kenniston proves once again that in the golden era of pool, every match came with a story.
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Music by Lyrium.
About
"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”
WEBVTT
00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:19.920
Let's fast forward if we can just a little bit to 1987.
00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:27.600
I look at this list of champions, WPBA champions in 1987, and this name starts popping up in a couple places.
00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.879
The Robbs Roost In Mary Arino.
00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:32.320
Yeah, that was my married name.
00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:38.719
WPBA National, what probably would have been Nine Ball Championship, Mary Garino.
00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:43.359
Yeah, well, I didn't be, I wasn't a Gorino until '93.
00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:44.560
Okay.
00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:47.200
That's that's what puts you down for.
00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:49.600
So we'll put you down for whatever you want to be.
00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:50.799
Yeah, Keniston.
00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:53.759
I should never have changed my name, let's put it that way.
00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:55.679
Yeah, I remember.
00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:59.920
I said that's the only way you can ever get his name in the billiard magazines.
00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:10.239
I moved back to LA after I left the Bay Area.
00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.719
And by this time, the stagger in had expanded.
00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:18.400
And now they had, you know, maybe 10, 12 bar tables.
00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:20.480
It was quite quite big.
00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:24.480
And Ray, the man that owned the place, he was excited to see me.
00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:27.519
And he had a pool league and the bar.
00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:32.239
And so I started giving lessons to some of his pooling people.
00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:36.239
And then I was uh, but I was never there.
00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:39.120
You know, I would just stop in so once in a while.
00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:43.439
And so one night when I stopped in, he said, How come you don't hang around here?
00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:45.680
He says, I want you to hang around here.
00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:47.760
I says, Well, you don't have a big table.
00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:50.879
I says, you know, I really prefer big tables.
00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:53.280
He says, Well, find me one.
00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:56.560
He says, if you find me a big table, I'll make you my house pro.
00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:58.319
I says, Okay.
00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:01.760
So I ended up calling Lou Buterra.
00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:07.120
He worked for Golden West out in the valley, and told him I needed a table.
00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:08.960
He said, I got just the one for you.
00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:12.639
And it wasn't a gold crown, but it was the one right underneath it.
00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:19.199
Ray gave me a blank check and I went out there, looked at it, and he hadn't even disassembled it yet.
00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:21.680
Oh, no, we had just put it together, that's what it was.
00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:26.639
And so now we had to disassemble it and take it out to Belfire, but he didn't care.
00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:38.639
So now I put the word out because, you know, a lot of the players weren't coming there because we didn't have a big table, you know, for them to gamble on, you know, to play one pocket or whatever.
00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:44.639
So I put the word out that we had, you know, a big table.
00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:53.759
So now Ray would stake me to play people, whether on the bar tables or the big tables, and I'd get to keep all the money, so that was good.
00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.879
And so I ended up staying there most of the time.
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:14.319
And so now one night, this I'm sitting at the bar talking to Ray, and this girl walks up, this little tiny girl walks up straight up to me, and she says, Is your name Mary?
00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:15.520
I said, Yeah.
00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:17.759
She says, I want to play some.
00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:18.879
I said, Okay.
00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:21.680
And so I pointed at the big table.
00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:23.759
I says, play there?
00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:25.039
She says, Yeah, that's fine.
00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:28.800
So we ended up playing races to seven for a hundred bucks.
00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:33.520
Well, anyway, so it turned out her name was Kelly.
00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:40.879
And so she played, you know, well, she lost, she had a steakhorse with us, so she lost three or four sets.
00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:42.560
She says, I'll be back tomorrow night.
00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:43.360
I said, Okay.
00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.879
And so she came back the next night with a different steak horse.
00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:50.319
So I want another three or four hundred dollars, never asked for weight.
00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:53.520
And anyway, third night she comes back, same thing.
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:55.840
She lost three or four hundred with the steak horse.
00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.400
Next night she comes in, no steakhorse.
00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:12.240
Now, over the by this time, you know, we'd gotten to be like half-ass friendly, you know, because uh Kelly was a little bit of a smart ass, and I I've been known to, you know, be able to talk some smack myself.
00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:14.240
And but it was good natured, you know.
00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:16.079
And we got to be kind of friendly.
00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.920
And so anyway, she lost her banker all that fourth night.
00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:21.920
And she says, Well, the hell with this.
00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.240
She says, I got a bunch of spots.
00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:25.680
You want to go with me tomorrow night?
00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:27.120
Tomorrow night was Friday.
00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:29.439
Uh, she says, I'll take you around, we'll make some money.
00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:30.560
I says, sure.
00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:34.560
Her name was Kelly Simpson at that time.
00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:38.160
Later on, she got married and she became Kelly Oyama.
00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:43.120
So we were like Mutt and Jeff running all over LA together.
00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:56.720
And so then it boiled down to where we'd meet on Tuesday night and just she and I would play, and we'd play$25 sets, races to seven, and she'd lose 200.
00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:02.079
And uh, but we'd always go to eat first, and I'd make her, I'd make her pay for it.
00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:04.000
I told I'm not going out to eat.
00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.160
She wanted to try all these real night restaurants.
00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:07.279
I said, I can't afford that.
00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:08.959
She don't worry about it, I'll pay for it.
00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:13.120
I said, okay, so we tried all the real good restaurants in LA.
00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:23.199
And uh so one night she comes in and she says, she told me that she'd she mentioned this boyfriend that she had, and he had money, you know.
00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:29.199
Well, it turned out the guy was a plumbing contractor for developments that they were building.
00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:40.639
So in other words, he wasn't just a regular plumber, he was the, you know, the guy that sat behind the desk and, you know, signed the contracts and send his plumbers out to do all the houses.
00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:42.160
So he had plenty of money.
00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:43.680
Also married.
00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.079
And I told her, why are you fooling around with him?
00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:46.720
He's married.
00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:48.319
She said, I don't care, he's got money.
00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:49.680
I said, okay.
00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:52.319
We're meeting at Hollywood Billiards.
00:05:52.480 --> 00:06:07.040
Now, by this time, I had met Lou the houseman, and he told me he was he was the houseman at Six and Western in LA, and told me to come down and he had some people I could play.
00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:12.560
And so that's where I started going, but the equipment was just horrible.
00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:14.959
And I really I didn't like going there.
00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:16.639
And he'd say, How come you're not coming by?
00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:19.519
And so I didn't want to tell him his equipment stunk, you know.
00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:33.600
And uh I'd go down like once a week, and uh by this time I knew some of the guys, and so I said, you know, there are any other pool rooms around here that have good tables?
00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:39.120
And they said, Yeah, Hollywood billiards tables are perfect, but the guys are real, he's a real beauty.
00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:41.120
I says, Well, I don't care.
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:52.160
And so now Allison, you probably know this and Mark, you know, as a professional courtesy, you know, if you're a player, you don't pay time unless you're gambling.
00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:57.360
And so one of them says, Well, Arnie's not going to give you free time.
00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.360
He doesn't give anybody free time.
00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:00.800
And I says, Well, that's all right.
00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:03.040
I said, Okay, I'm gonna go down there anyway.
00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:08.560
Hollywood Billiards was on the corner of Hollywood and Western, and you went down the stairs.
00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:20.000
It was downstairs in the basement, and when you got down to the bottom of the stairs, there was, I don't know, eight, six, eight, ten, five by ten billiard tables, three cushioned billiards, immaculate, perfect condition.
00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:24.240
On the other side, there was eight or ten gold crowns, perfect condition.
00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:31.600
And place was a dump, but the tables were perfect, you know, or at least looked perfect.
00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:43.600
So anyway, place was pretty much empty because I went down in the afternoon and hit some balls for a while, and I gotta tell you, it was the best table I played on since I'd been back to LA.
00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:46.480
And uh, so I brought the balls up.
00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:53.360
And so the owner had been watching me, and he said, uh you play pretty good for a girl.
00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:58.240
Yeah, that's what they all used to say, right?
00:07:58.319 --> 00:07:58.879
Yeah, yeah.
00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:00.879
We cured him of that, didn't we?
00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:01.839
Yeah.
00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:08.000
He said, You play pretty good for a girl.
00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.560
I says, yeah, I says, I I play okay.
00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:13.279
He says, How come I haven't seen you around?
00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:14.879
He says, Are you new to the area?
00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:17.279
I says, No, I says, I've been here around for a while.
00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:20.639
I says, uh, he said, Well, where do you normally play?
00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:24.399
So I said, I says, House of Billiards.
00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.560
He's all they got terrible tables.
00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:28.560
He says, Why do you go there?
00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:30.800
I says, Well, they give me free time.
00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:34.000
He says, Well, I'll give you free time if you come here.
00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:36.639
I said, Well, okay, thank you.
00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:47.279
I couldn't wait to get back to the pool room and tell them that Arnie gave me free time, and they told me I was the only probably the only living human that ever got free time out of Arnie.
00:08:48.159 --> 00:09:11.039
It turned out that Arnie Satin used to run tournaments with Freddie Whalen, who was a mobster back in the 60s and early 70s, and all the you know, the real good players would come through and play at them, Marie Martin and Larry Lascotti and Miserak and Eddie Kelly and all those guys, but of course they played straight pole.
00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:13.679
But nobody liked Arnie.
00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:18.639
He was such but I ended up getting free time.
00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:23.759
Robin and I were the two best girl players down in LA at that time.
00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:29.039
And every tournament we played, we'd one of us would win, the other one would be second.
00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:31.200
Anytime they'd have a women's tournament.
00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:35.120
So we both wanted more women's tournaments, you know.
00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:49.440
And so I told her, I says, well, they're I said, why don't you see if you can get some pool rooms in Orange County to run around Robin tournament on Sundays for women, get them to add, you know, a couple of hundred.
00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:51.919
I says, and I'll do the same thing on my end.
00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:56.480
Put together like an eight-tournament, eight-room tour.
00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:06.879
And uh, and so every Sunday we were going somewhere, and Robin and I got to split the money, you know, it was a little round robin tournament.
00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:12.080
And the top, we broke the players down into four brackets and the top two.
00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:17.039
And at that time, there weren't that many girls, so we'd get 16 girls.
00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:21.759
And so we'd make it so the top two from each bracket would get into the finals.
00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:28.480
So at least, you know, they'd feel like, you know, they'd they'd win a little something, you know, to keep them coming.
00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.559
But Robert and I got most of the money.
00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:31.840
So that worked out all right.
00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:37.519
But so Arnie couldn't stand having to come up with a couple of hundred every other month, right?
00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:39.200
Because he was so tight.
00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:40.559
So he says, Well, I'll do that.
00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:48.399
He says, but you've got to, he said, I've been thinking for a while, I want to have a$10 tournament here once a week.
00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.480
In those days, you know, that was a pretty good deal, a$10 tournament.
00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.200
He says, uh, I said, Well, what night do you want to do it?
00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:57.360
He says, Tuesday, that's my slowest night.
00:10:57.440 --> 00:10:58.080
I said, Okay.
00:10:58.240 --> 00:10:59.279
So I put the word out.
00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:04.240
Well, anyway, within a month or so, we'd fill the field.
00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:11.600
And we had 32 was the most we could do in one night, because it was longer races.
00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:13.600
And I was the only girl that played in it.
00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:19.360
But, you know, Keith would come and Dickie, and you know, all the real good players, you know, from LA.
00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:23.039
And I'd play in it every week, and one time I won it.
00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.159
And I beat Dickie in the hot seat.
00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:31.440
Dickie was, you know, he was playing really good, you know, not as good as Keith, but you know, he played really good.
00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:32.799
He was just steaming.
00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:35.120
And he said, Oh, I'll beat you in the finals.
00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:36.080
I says, Yeah, okay.
00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:38.720
And so anyway, I dusted him off in the finals too.
00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:44.879
And uh, so anyway, Keith told me later, he says, Dickie pitched and moaned all the way home, whining.
00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:46.399
He says, And of course, I stuck it in.
00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:48.320
Man, she played good though, didn't she, Dickie?
00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:53.120
That's funny.
00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:55.759
But you know, I was proud of that because that was a tough tournament.
00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:59.039
I mean, everybody ran out in that tournament.
00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:08.080
By this time, I had also met a guy named Fred Garino, Freddie Garino, and we ended up being becoming a couple.
00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:10.320
So what what year are we in now?
00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:12.480
We're in like 84, 85.
00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:13.360
Okay.
00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:17.679
So you were a Guerino when you won three tournaments in 1987.
00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:18.879
No, I was not.
00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:21.200
We didn't get married until 93.
00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:24.559
Well, see, somebody thought you were married, I guess.
00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:30.480
I it's just a misprint because I only won a couple of tournaments under Gorino.
00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:32.080
Gotcha.
00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:36.000
By this time, I was getting tired of LA.
00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:39.600
And Freddie was a bookie.
00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:49.360
He had a regular job where he ran the, he went and got an AA degree at one of the local community colleges in computer science.
00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.080
This is when computers were first coming out.
00:12:52.480 --> 00:13:04.960
And so a small aerospace company hired him, and they had three companies, and so he was running the computers, and they were paying him like$80 an hour to run the computers for him.
00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:09.279
So, I mean, you know,$80 an hour in 1985, that was good money, you know.
00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:10.639
But he hated it.
00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:18.080
You know, he wanted to be a poor room guy, and he was he worked for a bookie, and then he had his own action book.
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:23.519
So after the Super Bowl, every year we would go to Vegas.
00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.960
The guy that he worked for was an old-time mobster, and so his name was also Freddie.
00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:32.480
We called him the old man.
00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:37.840
The old man would call me up and say, Okay, Freddie says you're going to Vegas.
00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.840
Where do you want to stay this time?
00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:42.480
And so I'd pick a different hotel.
00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:44.639
And it would be room, food, and beverage.
00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:46.799
Everything was free, you know, except for the gambling.
00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:49.120
And we'd always get a suite, you know.
00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:51.600
So we stayed at all the best hotels.
00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:56.000
And if I wanted to go to a show, you know, I would just call the old man and he'd arrange for tickets.
00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:57.759
And uh, so those were good years.
00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:00.000
Well, anyway, I loved Vegas.
00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:04.720
You know, LA rolled up around nine o'clock, and you know, Vegas, you know, I've always been a night person.
00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:06.159
Vegas never closed.
00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:08.720
So I was wanting to move to Vegas.
00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:16.480
So finally, and Freddie, Freddie didn't want to leave LA because you know, he'd he'd he was from back east too.
00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:21.120
He was from Connecticut, right across the Long Island Sound from where I grew up.
00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:23.840
So culturally, we were very similar.
00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:26.240
And and then he was Italian.
00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:37.279
I'm half Italian, or my mother was half Italian, but we grew up culturally, culturally Italian, and uh so we had a lot in common.
00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:46.960
He didn't want to leave because you know he had a sports book, and he had come to LA right after the air, he got out of the Air Force, and so that was his home.
00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:53.279
He really didn't he loved Vegas, but I says, Well, I'm moving to Vegas whether you're coming or not.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:56.960
He says, All right, I'll come, I'll come.
00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:00.960
He says, but uh, he says, You're gonna have to get a job, you know, if we move there.
00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:02.000
I says, Yeah, okay.
00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:04.159
So he didn't expect me to do that.
00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:13.679
He said, Well, I'm also, you know, he says, I'm gonna come back in August, you know, and and yeah, I'm I'm only gonna be there a couple days a week, but I'm gonna be running back and forth.
00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:16.720
Might even stay in LA during football season, you know.
00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:18.720
I says, Yeah, okay, that's fine.
00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:21.519
I really didn't care whether you came or not.
00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:25.840
And uh pretty tight, huh?
00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:31.600
Well, like I said, I mean, it just, you know, he says, you gotta wait until after the Super Bowl is over.
00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:37.679
He says, and then we'll go to Vegas like usual, and and uh we'll find a place to live.
00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:38.799
I said, All right.
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.960
So we go up to Vegas and we found a place to live.
00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:56.639
And over the time that we had gone up there, he had introduced me to uh his friend that he'd grown up with back east, and his name was Gabe Girardi, and his pool nickname was the mailman.
00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:59.919
Gabe was a poker dealer at the Stardust.
00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:14.080
So when we went back to Vegas after after the football season was over, before we moved there, I told I told Gabe, I says, I want to learn how to deal poker.
00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:22.000
Each day he would show me something, and I would practice in front of the mirror until I looked like the other dealers.
00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:31.039
So he came home from work one day, and I says, After about a month and a half, and you know, I mean, I'm practicing my fingers are raw, I'm practicing so hard, you know.
00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.840
And so he was amazed.
00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:34.639
He says, All right.
00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:38.000
So he comes home the next night with a couple guys from the pool room.
00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:42.799
We pull the table out from the wall, put the mirror back, and the guys sit down.
00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:47.120
And Gabe had brought a bunch of chips with him.
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:52.000
And I said, Okay, he says, now we're gonna let you deal, you know, to real people.
00:16:54.159 --> 00:17:01.120
Dealing to real people was a lot different than uh dealing, you know, especially because I was nervous.
00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:05.599
And you're about as good as you're gonna get without dealing in a real game.
00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:11.759
So I he said, uh, I said, where should I go?
00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:16.400
He says, well, he said, uh, let me I'll I'll let you know.
00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:22.960
So by this time I had been going down to the pool room, and there was this one guy that I had beaten several times.
00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.799
His name was Kenny Lambert.
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