Location: Göreme, Turkey
I was asked to go to a pool/billiard hall yesterday by the 17-year-old brother of the restaurant manager. If you don't know already, I have a special place in my heart for the game of pool. I love playing, even though I can be described at best as "good, for a girl". So of course I said yes.
Çarli (pronounced Charlie) asked if I could play 3 Ball. I said no. He asked about 4 Ball. I said no. 15 Ball? Yes, yes I can play that! Yay.
The pool hall was up some stairs in an unsigned hallway. The room itself was pretty standard, a bar area sectioned off from the tables by wooden trellis. The place seemed to only be patronised by teenage boys, but perhaps this changes at different times of the day.
I have never played 3 Ball (or billiards, apparently) before, and don't even remember seeing the tables without any pockets. Çarli explained how to play, but I misunderstood him, so for the first half of the game I was trying to do something that was entirely not the aim of the game. I got it in the end though, and I think with a bit of practice and help I might be able to do it well one day. It is an entirely different skill from playing regular pool.
We had two games of regular pool after a couple of ten-year-olds vacated a table. I am happy to say I won both games! I was a little worried that Çarli's proficiency at 3 Ball was going to transfer to pool and I was going to get annihilated. The other boys in the room applauded me, which was reassuring in a weird way.
After we got back to the restaurant, Diane asked me what the news was. I told her about the afternoon, and she was surprised that I had been to what she described as a sort of gentlemen's club. Apparently women never go in there, and I was none the wiser. Of course, I didn't really expect to see any headscarf-wearing Muslim women there, but I didn't think it'd be so unheard of.
No wonder the boys were watching me play so intently!
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2 comments:
Hi Wendy - There is a new pool room open in Takapuna, and lots of guys and gals play there. I have been an avid pool player for many years, I changed from the larger snooker tables to the pool table because when playing long shots couldn't see the other end of the table .. I put it down to poor eyesight and age .. my comrades begged to differ .. they said if I stopped getting drunk, my eyesight would improve at least 90% .. yeah right!
I've played very little 3 and 4 ball pool, but in my youth played a lot of pins. It's the same as billiards except there's 5 pins (like golf tees) on the table, 3 pins had a value if you knocked them over and 2 (black ones) rendered a penalty each if you knocked them over.
Also played "Kelly Pool" where the 15 numbered pool balls were used and each player draw a numbered ball and if you potted that ball, you scooped "Kelly's Pool" of the set amount of money paid by each player to enter the game. Haven't seen it for ages, probably some 20 years now.
Here's something to ask Charlie .. did he know that of the 16 balls on the pool table there is 1 white ball and 1 black ball;
- then 2 of each colour, one solid and one stripe ..
* Yellow
* Blue
* Red
* Purple
* Orange
* Green
* Maroon
- and if you subtract the lower value of each colour from its higher valued colour, the difference between each is the value of the black - just another trivial observation.
In the meantime, have a look at the following link, whose that lovely lady sitting between my brother Michael (left) and myself?
http://groups.msn.com/Taranaki-Threads/_whatsnew.msnw
I enjoy your commentaries, and the answer is "YES" to your mother's question, she asked, refering to this blog "Do you think she would make a good correspondent - writing for a newspaper?" .. - DEFINITELY!!!
Arohanui - Harvey
Good work Wendy! Who says girls can't play pool??
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