EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,089 words- 0:00 – 2:07
Pool obsession, intelligence, and starting late
- JJJeremy Jones
(drum roll) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.
- NANarrator
The Joe Rogan Experience.
- JRJoe Rogan
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (rock music plays) Jeremy Jones, what's happening, baby?
- JJJeremy Jones
Not much, not much.
- JRJoe Rogan
We finally did this.
- JJJeremy Jones
Trying to r- yeah, trying to run out, you know. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, man, uh, playing you was a very humbling experience. I should tell everybody, Jeremy Jones, professional pool player, um, the team captain of the Mosconi Cup, which is the most prestigious international team tournament in all the world of pool. But, what, what I r- really enjoyed about talking with you for the last couple days is you're just- you're a very smart guy, very interesting guy. There's a lot of, y- you know, like, a lot of interests in all kinds of different things. You're a very fascinating guy.
- JJJeremy Jones
Y-
- JRJoe Rogan
That's why you're so good at commentary.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, I guess so. Maybe just growing up watching all that stuff and, uh, I think my parents, you know, they- they had pretty vast interest, even though maybe didn't afford it all the time to be able to, you know, kinda go with it. But, yeah, number five of six kids, you learn a lot of stuff.
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, it's just always been fascinating to me, the people that are really good at pool are some of the fucking smartest people I've ever met in my life. There's just- they just got that bug. They got that bug to chase this one thing, geometry and pockets and balls and collisions, and, you know, they got that bug to chase it, but some of the best players that I- I've talked to, they're some of the smartest people I've ever met.
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, absolutely. I mean, that just tells you about the game, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
How much there is to it, and, uh, yeah, I mean, it's just- it- it grabs you and- and, you know, if you're watch- paying attention to what goes on, it's, like, hardly ever the same thing.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know, you- you don't realize how much control you have. I thought- I thought pool was kinda like a game you played waiting on a bowling alley lane. You know, prior to playing it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
I didn't know you could play it well. I didn't know you could play it for a living. You know, there's movies out there and stuff, but, I mean, ph- it just didn't seem real.
- JRJoe Rogan
When you- wh- what- how old were you when you first started playing?
- JJJeremy Jones
Uh, really playing, 17. I was 17 years old. Yeah, I started late.
- JRJoe Rogan
I started really late. I was 25, I think. Somewhere around 24. 24 or 25, yeah.
- 2:07 – 4:00
First hustles: game-room job, chasing a rival, and getting addicted
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I worked two jobs, and one of them, uh, we'd, you know, have a few beers on the weekends at a pizza restaurant and play poker with our money, our tip money, and one of the guys would go to the game room and play pool. And he, uh, took me down there one day and kinda hustled me (laughs) a little bit, you know. We kinda knew each other like that, and, uh, the only thing I wanted to do was be able to beat him, Joe. That's, uh- like, that's what I wanted to do.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, right.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, and that's- so I quit one of the jobs. I quit the pizza restaurant, went and got a job at the game room so I could play for free, and, uh, you know, kinda the rest is history from there.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow. It's a game that just sucks you in. I remember, uh, I used to go and play with my friend John, and we would go to this place, Executive Billiards in White Plains, and, uh, when we got there, you know, it was an interesting time because there was a lot of gambling going on in that place. And the guy- the- the owner was a wild man. The owner of the- the pool hall was this really eccentric musician. Yeah, his name was Guy Azzariti, but he would use the- the name Guy Hamilton when he performed. He was this, uh, musician, like a piano player, g- g- like, really good musician. And he had some money from, you know, his career as a piano player, and he was really into pool. He loved the culture of it. And so he was the owner of this joint, and we were all just hanging out with him, having fun, and I would go there and it would be filled with people gambling. And I was like, "This place is wild." And then I was watching, like, really good players play when I was, you know, just starting out, didn't know what I was doing, and I was like, "That looks so different than anybody else I've ever seen play pool." Like, the way they hit the ball is so soft and they're in such control, and you're watching the ball spin off the cushions and get perfect on the next ball, and everybody's, like, shaking their head, "Wow." I'm like, that- that got me hooked.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, absolutely.
- JRJoe Rogan
That- that's what got me.
- 4:00 – 7:05
Gambling culture: etiquette, long sessions, and why people don’t quit
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, I think the culture of it is a big- big part of it. I mean-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
... just being able to gamble and not take it personal.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know, like, you hate the casino when you go lose, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
I mean, t- they're like cussing the casino, they're cheating, they're doing this, right? But, I mean, where I was at, we could gamble and then we could hang out.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know what I mean? And then we're on teams the next day, and we're not on- and, you know, it was so-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
That, to me, was pretty fascinating overall, you know.
- JRJoe Rogan
There's a culture that encourages more gambling, and the best way to encourage more gambling is to not have fisticuffs every time somebody loses. Like, some guys just get too pers- uh, like, it's a natural feeling. The guy just beat you. You feel bad- you're- you're angry at him, but really you should be angry at yourself.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, absolutely.
- JRJoe Rogan
You know, and-
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And it's just- that's what you're both trying to do. It's an agreement. Like, you- you figure it out.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, I mean, you know, you beat a guy, you don't bust his chops too often, right? (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
You let him cool off, and then all is good, but, uh ...
- JRJoe Rogan
Everybody goes back to, like, MacReady's character in The Color of Money, which is- apparently, from what everybody tells me from those days, really- MacReady was probably, like, wilder than that when he was playing.
- JJJeremy Jones
No, I think- I've sweated it 100%.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, I, uh- I, uh, was in with a player playing Keith, and I think they played something like four days or five days with, like, a eight-hour break or 10-hour break in- in the middle.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know, and if you say- stay there and sweat that kinda pool with those guys, you see stuff that you're just not gonna see, you know what I mean? They get a little rum-dum. They get a little (laughs) agitated, then they're hugging, you know, uh, an hour later.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, yeah, it's crazy, yeah, but- but Keith-
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- 7:05 – 9:43
Modern pool is global—and fundamentally different than the ’80s
- JRJoe Rogan
Well, everyone seems... I- it, it's interesting 'cause, uh, it seems like pool is just like every other thing in that the guys today are as good if not better than anybody that's ever existed.
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, absolutely.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
And there's more of 'em, that's the problem.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know?
- JRJoe Rogan
There's so many of 'em.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, exactly, and-
- JRJoe Rogan
I'm so impressed.
- JJJeremy Jones
... and more common.
- JRJoe Rogan
Espe- I mean, Europe, Asia, you know, guys from Taiwan, guys from China, guys from Japan, guys from Spain. It's like, whoa. Killers.
- JJJeremy Jones
The most, the most global-
- JRJoe Rogan
Killas.
- JJJeremy Jones
... sport there is, I think.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's, it's amazing how much talent there is out there. Like, uh, I'm, I'm just so impressed with, uh, how, what the level is now. 'Cause if you... Like, no disrespect to anybody who played back in the day, but if you go back and you watch a tournament from, like, the '80s versus you watch how these guys are playing now, it's, it's almost like it's a completely different game.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, I mean, they-
- JRJoe Rogan
Different style, rather.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah. The... I think-
- JRJoe Rogan
It's like-
- JJJeremy Jones
... the equipment allows for that, too, though.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know what I mean? So...
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
And the training. I mean, the, the... These guys... You know, you had Fedor Gost. I'm sure y'all talked about his regimen, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
(smacks lips) He's my p- my perfect example of he's almost playing, like, a totally different style of pool. Like, his style of pool is, like, it's so perfect. Like, his position, the way he stands with his body, the... how rigid it is. It's like people that don't understand that are just seeing a guy just make something look easy, but people that do understand, it's like, "That looks, that's like a work of art." Like, "Look what he's doing."
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, absolutely.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's like artwork.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah. He's kinda like, you know, back in the day, you'd kinda... You know, I used to say to a lot of guys that go on the road, "Hey, if, if they don't beat me in the first couple of hours, we're all right." You know what I mean?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
'Cause I'd get better and better and better and he kinda doesn't even look for that. You know, he doesn't even wanna gear. He just has... It's just steady gear the whole-
- 9:43 – 12:17
Nine-ball excitement, pressure physiology, and heart-rate stories
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, it's a great game. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, I th- I think nine ball's a little better looking for today's people. I th- I... You know what I mean? Like, snooker has done really well, and it's got a great following, and it should, but I don't know.
- JRJoe Rogan
Just, there's nothing like breaking and running down.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, the different balls-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
... you know, the, you know?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
You feel a little more aggression, I think.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know, which in sports you usually wanna feel that aggression, right? So.
- JRJoe Rogan
And if you fuck up and leave the nine in front of the hole, it's an easy victory for your opponent. There's something beautiful about luck, the luck aspect in nine ball. Balls bounce all over the place, and when you're down, and then all of a sudden, boom, the guy shits a nine ball in. You're like, "Goddamn it."
- JJJeremy Jones
And you can change it around.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know what I mean?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
You can turn things around.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's such an exciting game, and it never stops being exciting. When it's played at a good level, it's just never stops being exciting. It's, like, it's one of the most engaging physical games that I've ever participated in.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, and you would think for a non-contact sport it... The adrenaline gets way up there.
- JRJoe Rogan
I know.
- JJJeremy Jones
I mean, it's, it's pretty intense.
- JRJoe Rogan
They've done heart rate monitors on guys, right?
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. What's, like, the highest anybody got jacked to?
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, my God. Uh, you know, a guy you know, a couple years ago, uh, Max Eberl was trying to make the team, so we traveled to, to Moscow, uh, uh, actually to play, uh, the Russian team. And we put him on there. I think it was Garmin that was the, uh, sponsor or whatever. And Max... I mean, some guys were 130, 125. Max was, like, 180 or 175.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
I mean, it was unreal. Yeah. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, my God. (laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, and he, and he couldn't play position at all. It was just one of those things.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, my God.
- JJJeremy Jones
But he knocked in every shot.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- 12:17 – 19:43
Road life in the pre-cellphone era: Yellow Pages, payphones, and traps
- JJJeremy Jones
Okay, so me and my high school buddy, Doug Donovan, then we went and played, uh, we played a lot of pool together. We decided we're gonna do this, and his was more of an experi- uh, experiment kind of thing, you know. He was going on to UT and, you know, doing his thing, and, and, uh... So, we went to New Orleans first. We were gonna go visit my grandparents in Florida. Knew Florida was a good spot. So, we went Florida, we went New Orleans first, Mississippi second, Alabama third. You know, we hit all these spots, you know. And back in the day... Now, I didn't know this as of yet, 'cause it was my first road trip, but on a normal road trip, because no cellphones, right? You'd go to, like, Waffle House when you drive in to get you some food, and you go get the Yellow Pages. And you literally go to where it says "Billiards" in the Yellow Pages, you know? (laughs) And you just start going to the payphone and calling. Uh, and normally the bartender or whoever answers will divulge a little more information than they probably should.
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
You know, like if the players knew, "Oh, yeah." She's telling them, "Yeah, Joe's a good player. He likes to gamble with nine-ball. This guy likes to play one-pocket," you know. So, you get a lot of information over the phone, and then you just go to those pool rooms and, you know, start trying to get down.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow. And how good of a player were you fresh out of high school?
- JJJeremy Jones
Well, you know, a year, and I was real lucky. I had, uh, some really good players just kind of like come to the pool room and play me pool and do things with me and show me things, and, and I was a pretty good athlete anyways, so I kind of picked up things quick. Um, but I played good enough to beat them on the way to Florida, Joe. But they were way too smart, and we were way too dumb to stop at the same pool rooms on the way back, 'cause they got us on the way b-... They kinda knew how we played, you know what I mean? Brought some pla-
- JRJoe Rogan
Uh-huh.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got us on a few gaff games, you know?
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm.
- JJJeremy Jones
So, we kind of went empty on the way home pretty much, but, but it-
- JRJoe Rogan
Explain a gaff game to the uninitiated.
- JJJeremy Jones
(clears throat) So, so a gaff game is kind of like, you know, three-card, right? The shell game, any of those games. You know, you're gonna lose, and even if you're going to pick the right one, they start the, you know, the song and dance again. That's how the shell game goes, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm.
- JJJeremy Jones
So, it's basically a game that you're just not gonna win at. It's-
- JRJoe Rogan
Like give me an example.
- JJJeremy Jones
It sounds good, kind of like... Oh, like this might sound good to you, but you know better now, like...
- JRJoe Rogan
Eight-ball, taking balls off.
- JJJeremy Jones
That kind of thing, or say we're playing nine-ball, right? And I might say to you, Joe, "All you gotta do is drive a ball to the rail, but I get break ball in hand." Playing nine-ball, you understand?
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
So, so I mean if... I'm basically playing the ghost, meaning-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, right.
- JJJeremy Jones
... I'm gonna try and run out every time, but until you start to see it happening, you're not gonna believe it. You might go for that.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
You ain't even gotta pocket a ball. You just gotta drive one to a rail.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know, there's tons of them, so.
- JRJoe Rogan
That's an interesting game to play with someone who can't play, 'cause that would get them thinking, "I can do that."
- JJJeremy Jones
Or, or naive pool rooms.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
Like if there's naive pool rooms with a good player, that just really ain't running out. I mean, that just sounds like the world.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- 19:43 – 37:00
Regional action, game selection, and the wildest pool rooms
- JRJoe Rogan
And you, so you were telling me, we were talking about it earlier, that there's parts of the country that are not good to go to for gambling.
- JJJeremy Jones
Back in the day at least, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Back in the day.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
But the South is overwhelmingly good to go to for gambling.
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, it's just like tournaments with calcuttas or auctions.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know, a good auction in New York, if they even have one, might be, like, 5,000 in there, you know, where Buffalo's, I think they had, I don't know, 320,000 in... or something like that in, in May.
- JRJoe Rogan
Are we getting at-
- JJJeremy Jones
A- and that's in New Orleans.
- JRJoe Rogan
So are we gonna get in trouble with the IRS because of this conversation?
- JJJeremy Jones
Well, no, it's legal in Louisiana.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, okay. (laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
So they don't take anything out of the m- out of the purse or anything, so there's, there's no med-... You know what I mean.
- JRJoe Rogan
So for people that d- don't know what a calcutta is, so, uh, if Jeremy was in a tournament, you could actually buy him in the tournament, and you're gambling against all the other people that are picking different players.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, they auction everyone off-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
... on the side part.
- JRJoe Rogan
So everybody gets auctioned.
- JJJeremy Jones
S- exactly, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
And if there's a lot of gamblers, it can get pretty high, and it gets fun.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, o- like at-
- JRJoe Rogan
Sometimes-
- JJJeremy Jones
... you know.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
Like at your country club, like, uh, tournament, like your club tournament or whatever, they usually do a, a calcutta for each team.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh, do they do that too?
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, yeah, they do that in golf a lot.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah, so when you were first, like, j- just trying to go out and get games, d- you're just calling people in the Yellow Pages, showing up at places, and how do you know your speed in comparison to, like... Are you just g- guessing?
- JJJeremy Jones
Uh, a little-
- 37:00 – 53:28
From gambler to pro: tournaments, nerves, and leveling up
- JJJeremy Jones
Well, it kind ... Yeah, it kind of made steps for me. I mean, I kind of, like I said, I never knew you could make a living or play good pool. And then it kind of, "All right, I can make good pool. I, I'm, I'm actually making, you know, cash money, you know, pretty good overall for the year." And, and then I started playing some smaller ... I never really had a clue of playing professionally still. It kind of crept up on me.
- JRJoe Rogan
When did that happen?
- JJJeremy Jones
Uh, well, 1995 and '6 is w- I was ... Johnny Archer kind of just told me, he said, "Hey, you need to start playing the next level." He said, "You're the ... A good enough player. It's where you should be. It just depends on if that's what you want to do." You know? And so I still gambled afterwards. Kind of slowed down a little more of the gambling, started going to tournaments, traveling all over the world and the, you know, country playing tournaments. But I started to realize I really liked the tournaments. That's a different pressure only, knowing you can't, you know, just flip the coin again.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know? So ... Especially because the first year, I think I played seven tournaments and I might've won one match.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- JJJeremy Jones
And I could beat most of the guys I was losing to. Now, the first draw was hard because I wasn't a seeded player. So that was Efren, you know, Luat, you know-
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- JJJeremy Jones
... Johnny, you know (laughs) -
- JRJoe Rogan
Right, right, right.
- JJJeremy Jones
... Kim Davenport, all those guys. But, um, but on the losing side, I'd lose matches to guys I'm supposed to beat a lot of times, but I was a different nervous.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- JJJeremy Jones
So I was really intrigued on getting through that. You know, like getting-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
... to where that wasn't a problem, whether I won or not.
- JRJoe Rogan
It's a different nervousness than gambling?
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, 100%. Yeah. Gambling, I don't recall ever starting off nervous. Only, I only ... No, take that back. Now, if I only had a couple of barrels and I was on the road, you know what I mean? Like-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
And that's happened several times where, you know, let's just, just imagine now, this is true story, even smaller probably, but let's just say I had 100 bucks, and that sounds crazy to be 1,000 miles away and you only got 100 bucks. And the guy's trying to say, "Come on, I'll play you some 100 a game, one pocket," right? And I'm trying to get him to play for 50 so I can have two barrels (laughs) , you know? And he's just insisting we play for 100.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
So now I'll start off a little nervous knowing I got one barrel, and if I-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
... if I quit after one game, it looks real bad as far as the action, and-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
... you know? So, but I've had to do that a few times because percentages say I'm, I'm supposed to beat this guy, you know, and pump up.
- JRJoe Rogan
Oh.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah. (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Percentages say.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah. But I mean, you know, that's the difference. That ... But I mean, overall gambling, I played races to five for 5,000. I played ... The biggest set I ever played was like 38Gs. Um, but I wasn't nervous at all.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- 53:28 – 1:02:14
Stakehorses, buried money, and the strange economics of action
- JRJoe Rogan
That's one of the fun parts of American pool culture, those stake horses.
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, absolutely. They're some of the biggest characters.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes, wild, crazy people with tons of money.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, and how they got it.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. (laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah. And, uh, they're interested in gambling on pool?
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, I've, uh, been paid in, uh, buried money quite a few times.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
You had to dig it up?
- JJJeremy Jones
It stinks. It stinks usually.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, yeah. Not nice.
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JJJeremy Jones
The whole car stunk. Yeah.
- JRJoe Rogan
Really?
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh, yeah. Real bad.
- JRJoe Rogan
Do you think there was like bodies next to the money or something?
- JJJeremy Jones
I don't think so. I don't-
- JRJoe Rogan
Why did it smell? Just mildew and shit?
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I'm talking about...
- JRJoe Rogan
Wow.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, I think this has been there a long time.
- JRJoe Rogan
Buried money.
- JJJeremy Jones
30, 30 years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was a guy one time where South Carolina is, another place that, uh, I frequented in the summers, especially 'cause we gambled at golf, but, um...... this guy, Frank, and he was a great, great guy. And, uh, he used to come in in overalls, didn't know he had a penny, but he staked a lot of players and he did a lot for the pool community. So he comes in one morning ... 'cause we'd all meet at the pool room about 10:00 AM and we'd all make a golf game, then we'd go out to the golf course, gamble golf, come back to the pool room and make pool games, right? It was a, it was awesome. I mean, the whole summer was like this. So this Frank comes in one morning and, uh, he looked real upset. And he never looked upset. Always happy. Even if he lost, he was happy. And so I said, "Frank, what's wrong? You okay?" He said, "Oh, I come out my back door and I saw one of my bushes dug up today."
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
(laughs) So-
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
... one of his sons that is kind of a, was, you know, a little detached at times from the family-
- 1:02:14 – 1:16:11
High-stakes chaos: Morristown comeback, injuries, and a murder twist
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs) Give me a crazy one. What's the craziest one?
- JJJeremy Jones
Oh. Uh, oh, there- I can't tell you probably maybe the craziest. I'll tell you later on the craziest ones-
- JRJoe Rogan
Okay.
- JJJeremy Jones
... on here. But, uh, uh, let's see, uh ... So, so, so one time I was at a tournament in, in, uh, Mississippi, and to get on with this, I won the tournament, uh, tough tournament, Johnny Archer, all the great players and, and there was a bar table. So I won like 8,000. So by the time I won the tournament, I think I was about 25,000 losers in the casino. Okay? Like, terrible trip. I mean, I wasn't even trying. You, you remember Tony Ellen?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yes.
- JJJeremy Jones
So he was 20 minutes late to get a steak dinner at the Horseshoe, cost me about $12,000. (laughs) I went down there and said, "Oh, let me just, let me just pitch 300," you know? And they just pounded me, right? So I got the tournament money after winning, it was 8,000. Went straight to the cage and cashed in, went straight to the blackjack.
- JRJoe Rogan
(sighs)
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah. I had it about 10 minutes. So the 8,000 was gone. And so this guy that was playing there, his name was Frank Seals, and he was a legendary stakehorse, and he used to take CJ when he was a kid and a lot of players throughout the years, and he said, "Hey, if you're ever bored, you wanna come up to Morristown, Tennessee? I got a kid. I'll let you play if you still wanna play, you know. I like the way you gamble," is what he said. He watched me play blackjack, blow all my money, right?
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah. (laughs) So ...
- JRJoe Rogan
(laughs)
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah. So I had- yeah, I told him, messed with him, I said, "You ain't dealing with me no blackjack up there if I go up there." So anyways, I go up there. So he's got this guy, Mark Owens was his name, good player, and, uh, real high gear. Maybe not the most steady player, but real high gear. So we're playing, we start off playing raises to nine or 10 or something for 1,000. So long story short, I got him 10,000 loser, okay? And it's 'cause we raised it and whatnot, and, uh, so now the whole town ... This is a small town, okay? Just up in the northeast corner of Tennessee. So the whole town starts coming in, and this is their hero. So my buddy starts taking bets on the side, you know? So now we- I got him 10,000 loser, and, uh, he says, "We wanna play a set for 10,000." This is what Frank says, the, the stakehorse. He says, "But we need to call eight." You know what the call eight is-
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
... of course, right? So, uh, so I said, "Okay, yeah." So we're gonna race to ele- uh, no, race to 15. So we're betting about 10,000 on the side. Okay? So we're playing a set for like 20, all right, 'cause my buddy's got a list of bets this long with all the town people. You know what I mean?
- JRJoe Rogan
Yeah.
- JJJeremy Jones
So it's nine to eight me.
- JRJoe Rogan
(clears throat)
- JJJeremy Jones
Instead of playing safe on the eight, I try to jack up off the end rail and stab it in and draw my ball, you know what I mean? (laughs)
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
And I, I bobble it. He makes it, he breaks and runs five racks. He's up 14 to nine. So now he breaks going to 15 and the four nine is wired over the spot. He makes an incredible shot on the one, he's got the three down the rail and he's just got a cupcake on the four nine. So I turned to my buddy and I said, "Man, we ain't got but like 8,000 left." You know? 'Cause we were-
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
... in winner, we start off 1,000 a set. I said, "We can't lower the bet. You can't do that."
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
Then, then they know you're short.
- JRJoe Rogan
Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
You know what I'm saying?
- JRJoe Rogan
Right. Right.
- JJJeremy Jones
Yeah, yeah. So I'm like, "What are we gonna do?" You know, we'll get more money tomorrow and whatever, right? So the pool table's here, right? He's shooting at this corner. Now, Frank is the only guy, he's sitting right here on a stool chair, right? Like a little school chair.
- JRJoe Rogan
Mm-hmm.
- JJJeremy Jones
Everyone else is way back over here besides me and my buddies over here, right? All the people watching. So he knocks a three in, Mark does, and he comes down. He was kind of one of those guys that would fire the nine in. You know what I'm saying?
Episode duration: 2:16:13
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Transcript of episode FBpFt3FupdY
