I gave a bit of a wrong impression about the ribbing, trash talking, slow-rolling from Pat Renfro. There was a very precise, ritualized way of teasing, joking among the professional gamblers. The general rule was that the better people were as friends, the more some trash talking and more ribbing and teasing took place. The older, experienced guys insulted the younger guys in a sort of teaching, friendly way. I was honored to have Pat tease me. Part of it is a Texas thing...or thang.

Part of it was that I started out as one of the youngest. Older guys teased you, made fun of you, hazed you, but without going over a certain line. You could say things to a friend that you would not say to a stranger or someone that was a bit of an enemy. In the old western movies, someone always said, "You better smile when you say that, partner." You wanted to make sure they knew you were kidding.

There were some bad, tough gamblers-bookmakers around. Their friends would rib them and tease them, but others better not. Often a new player would listen to the ribbing and think he was welcome to take part.

Ribbing and teasing had all these rules, most unspoken. You did not rib a loser or a big producer, except mildly and in a flattering way. Pat and others were somewhat like the insult comedian Don Rickles. They knew lots of insults. Part of this said that no one is a big wheel or more important than anyone else when we all have chips in front of us. Usually, the greeting was an insult, "You look good in cheap clothes." or hot clothes.

It's neat to be remembering Pat on W.C. Fields' Birthday.

Thanks to everyone who responded, especially the tl:dr folks and haters. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't get the good comments. I did work with an editor on my novel.

Again, thanks to one and all.

Johnny Hughes

if you were to write a book as just a compilation of old stories and people, i would buy it

Good read!

Sounds like Pat would have been the ultimate multi-table'r.

Great reading again, Johnny. Keep 'em coming!

Nicely put!

again, thanks. I may do a book of old stories and some short stories. Johnny Hughes

OK, I'll bite...what is a "John Wayne movement"?

Reminds me of the back end of the Cloutier PL/NLHE book (which, honestly, is my favorite part of the book).

A

Thanks johny

Making a John Wayne movement is to slap leather, meaning go for your billfold because you just got broke.

Johnny, Do you know Bob Hooks?

I don't know Bob Hooks. I think he plays in Oklahoma some now. I have heard the name over and over for decades.

Originally Posted by TylerD
A book would be a great read providing you hire a good editor.
Then Toro wrote:

If this isn't a level, Johnny has a book out right now called Texas Poker Wisdom. Thread on it in books forum.

Thanks to both. I did hire an editor, but I told her not to mess with the Texas sayings. Sometimes, my writing switches tenses or has old Texas sayings that just have to be said in a certain, precise way. If you restate old parables, you lose some of the bite and meaning. My dear friend, the Rooster, taught me about dichos, parables and sayings in Spanish that give advice, warnings, wisdom. He said my writing is full of them and I took it as the greatest compliment. When writing on here, everyone makes little spelling and other errors, me probably more than some. You don't have to be Texan to understand everything I write, easily.
Johnny Hughes

.

WOW

If the moon was made of spare ribs, would you eat it?

Just ran across this article about A. V. Renfro, really surprised me. Pat renfro was my uncle on my mothers side of the family. I used to go to Lubbock and stay with Uncle Pat and Marie during the summer. I was raised in Paducah, tx. Uncle Pat used to have a gambling hall in New Mexico until they shut it down, this was before they moved to Lubbock. He was quite a character. I met Amarillo Slim and some others that I can;t remember their names at his home.

I really enjoyed reading this, ty.

lol. Love that skit.

Good stuff as always, Johnny.

How about Pinkie Roden. Tell us about him Johnny.

Keep up the good work Johnny

I'm really confused. Is OP some sort of elaborate gimmick or what?

Thanks. I have written on here about Bill Smith, Johnny Moss, and Pat Renfro, as well as several other old gamblers that I knew. I heard from the nephews of Bill and Pat and the grandson of Johnny Moss. That's neat. I don't understand why you think it is a gimmic. It is what I remember.

Johnny Hughes

I guess im the only one who thinks these stories are ******ed and that any competant 2/4 player online could beat these "old texas road gamblers."

Without the road gamblers, there would be no competant 2/4 players online. You're comparing the Model T Ford to a Nissan Maxima and saying 'the Maxima's better, so talking about the Model T is ******ed'.

why did people ever give this guy action?