Have you ever watched someone get laughed at all night, then win without trying? #redditstories — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Have you ever watched someone get
2. 0:01laughed at all night, then win without
3. 0:02trying? Every December, Sully's bar
4. 0:04throws a pool tournament that basically
5. 0:05shuts down the whole block. 50 bucks to
6. 0:07enter, winner takes the pot and gets
7. 0:08their name carved into this wooden
8. 0:09plaque that's been hanging over the bar
9. 0:11since the 70s. People take it insanely
10. 0:12seriously. Grown men actually train for
11. 0:14it. For 4 years running, the same guy
12. 0:16won, Brock. Construction worker, arms
13. 0:17like a cartoon character, and the kind
14. 0:19of personality that reminds you he's
15. 0:20undefeated every 20 seconds. His whole
16. 0:22obsession was the name at the very top
17. 0:24of that plaque. Some legend who'd won 6
18. 0:25years straight back in the day. Brock
19. 0:27was one title away from tying that
20. 0:28record, and he wanted it bad. is,
21. 0:30everybody knew his hustle, but knowing
22. 0:31it didn't help. He'd buy a newcomer a
23. 0:33round, talk them into a friendly game,
24. 0:34then clean them out before the beer got
25. 0:36warm. Last spring, he took a college kid
26. 0:37for 300 bucks, the kid's rent money, and
27. 0:39bragged about it for a month. Sully
28. 0:40wanted him gone, but couldn't exactly
29. 0:41ban the guy who packed the bar every
30. 0:43December. I wasn't even supposed to be
31. 0:44there. My buddy Owen dragged me out
32. 0:45because his girlfriend bailed and he
33. 0:47hated drinking alone. I'm not a pool
34. 0:48person. I'm barely a bar person. I'm the
35. 0:50one who nurses a single drink in the
36. 0:51corner and leaves before karaoke starts.
37. 0:53So, when the bracket came up two players
38. 0:54short and Sully, the owner, pointed his
39. 0:56marker straight at me, I actually turned
40. 0:57around to see who he was looking at.
41. 0:59"You," Sully said. "50 bucks, you're
42. 1:00in." The whole bar laughed. Owen laughed
43. 1:02the hardest. Brock looked me up and
44. 1:03down, hoodie, sneakers, not an ounce of
45. 1:05muscle, and grinned like it was his
46. 1:06birthday. "Easy money," he said to the
47. 1:07guy next to him, loud enough for
48. 1:08everyone to hear. "Sully's feeling
49. 1:10charitable this year." First round, I
50. 1:11drew some guy from the auto shop who'd
51. 1:12clearly had six beers. I sank a couple
52. 1:14balls, he scratched on the eight, and I
53. 1:16won without really doing anything.
54. 1:17"Lucky break," Brock called from across
55. 1:19the room. Second round, same thing. The
56. 1:20ball just kept finding the pocket.
57. 1:22People started watching, but mostly to
58. 1:23see when the joke would end. "Cute,"
59. 1:24Brock said, chalking his cue. "Enjoy it
60. 1:26while it lasts." By the semis, I'd
61. 1:27knocked out a guy who actually practiced
62. 1:29and the room got a little quieter. Not
63. 1:30impressed yet, just confused. I'd line
64. 1:32one up, sink it, then shrug like even I
65. 1:34was surprised. Honestly, I let them
66. 1:35think that. It was easier than
67. 1:36explaining. Then, it was the final, me
68. 1:38and Brock. The pot was sitting at 800
69. 1:40bucks and the bar was packed three deep
70. 1:42around the table. Brock cracked his
71. 1:43knuckles and smirked. "Last chance to
72. 1:45forfeit, kid. No shame in it." That's
73. 1:46when something in me just clicked. I
74. 1:47stopped pretending to be surprised. I
75. 1:49stopped shrinking. I stepped up and
76. 1:50played the way I actually knew how. I
77. 1:52won the break. The balls scattered and I
78. 1:53called my first shot before or cue even
79. 1:55stopped rolling. Stripe, corner pocket,
80. 1:57then another, then a bank shot off the
81. 1:58far rail that dropped so clean the whole
82. 2:00bar went "Oh!" Brock smirk started
83. 2:02slipping. I lined up a combo most people
84. 2:03wouldn't even attempt. Two balls, one
85. 2:05stroke, and both dropped. Brock was
86. 2:06still standing there with chalk in his
87. 2:07hand. He never got a turn, not one. When
88. 2:09only the eight was left, Brock leaned in
89. 2:11close as I lined it up, voice low so
90. 2:12only I could hear. "You'll choke. Your
91. 2:14type always chokes." I didn't even
92. 2:16blink. I walked around the table slow,
93. 2:17the way I'd done it a thousand times,
94. 2:19and pointed at the corner pocket. The
95. 2:20bar went dead silent. I tapped the cue
96. 2:22ball soft. The eight rolled the entire
97. 2:24length of the table, paused on the lip
98. 2:25like it was deciding, and dropped. The
99. 2:26place exploded. People were screaming,
100. 2:28banging on tables, spilling drinks. Owen
101. 2:30was losing his mind. Brock just stared
102. 2:32at the table like it had personally
103. 2:33betrayed him. Four years of undefeated
104. 2:34gone in one game he never got to play.
105. 2:36Sully climbed onto a stool with a fresh
106. 2:37beer and waited for the noise to die
107. 2:39down. "Some of you don't know who you
108. 2:40just watched," he said, grinning. He
109. 2:41pointed his marker at the very top of
110. 2:43the plaque, the six-time legend Brock
111. 2:45had spent four years chasing, Ray
112. 2:46Delgado. Best player this bar ever had.
113. 2:48Closed up his pool hall on East Side
114. 2:49about ten years back. He looked at me,
115. 2:50then back at the crowd. "That's Ray's
116. 2:52kid. Who do you think taught Brock how
117. 2:53to hold a cue?"