My Story
In 1965, I was first introduced to pool. I was 12 years old and growing up in the coastal Maine fishing town Rockland. That year my friend’s father was competing in the State of Maine 14.1 straight pool event in Waterville, ME. Turns out his father, Oscar “Oski” Johnson, was a multi time champion throughout New England. Our local town had 2 pool rooms with 4 tables (9′ Brunswick 60’s edition). By the age of 14 I was playing and winning against older guys with more experience. I started playing rotation, Kelly pool, and bottle pool with my older brother and his friends. In no time, I was beating them out of their money. I had an instinctive aiming skill and great visualization of angles at a young age…because of this my kicking skills were phenomenal!
During the 70’s and 80’s I messed around in the pool and bar room tournaments until I started seeing the ESPN coverage of pool and billiards! Alan Hopkins was the guy I looked up to. So after a stint with the Miller World Series of Tavern Pool, I entered into the “Last Call for 9-ball” in Atlantic City at Resorts Casino. Paul Newman happened to be filming “The Color of Money” that same weekend and we coincidentally ended up in the elevator together.
From all the years of playing pool, my interest in trick shots and artistic pool grew. I enjoyed the novelty of some shots, but what I find most intriguing is the use of english in shots. The ability to shoot angles around the table and pocket balls is a fundamental concept of pool…I love it!
For me, a more memorable trick shot exhibition was one I did on Christmas Eve for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maine. After showing the kids some shots, I returned the following year and these same kids were showing me the shots I taught them; it was so rewarding!
Now, I’m currently ranked on the APTSA US/Ranking Artistic Pool Tour. I’ve had some great times playing in those events and met some outstanding people.
The most important element of pool is focus and for me it has been my biggest challenge. I have been dealing with ADHD my whole life…making focus my other opponent. While trying to concentrate on the layout of the table, I am constantly bouncing around emotionally from distractions. My goal is to be in the zone that day, so my distractions won’t bother me as much. Imagine how much better of a player I would be if my focus was 100% ON the table…and not around it! Most of all, though, my passion gets me through, and it’s my passion that has me still playing and loving the game. This I discovered over 45 years ago.
Recent Accomplishments
- 2013 New England Pool & Billiards Hall of Fame inductee
- 2014 Artistic Cup Champion
- 2014 National Jump Champion
- Presented the “Sportsmanship Award” at the 2012 US Open Artistic Pool (Voted on by all the players)
- 5th place @ Master’s Championship
- Boys & Girls Club Exhibitions throughout California
- Innovator & Creator of the NEW MARTY CAREY JUMP Q!
Memorable Moments
- Top 16 finish Eastern States 9-ball (lost to Dirty Danny Jones) New Bedford, Mass.
- 1st place finish at Busters Billiards (New England “A”) New Haven, CT.
- 1st place finish at Players Billiards (New England “A”) S. Boston, Mass.
- Held 1st Ranking “All About Pool” from 1996 – 97 New England Tour
- Runner-up at the Maine State 9-ball in 1997 (lost to Dave Hall in finals 9-7)
- Semi-final finish Maine State 14.1 (straight pool) at Spot Shot Billiards Portland, Maine
- 2 time, back-to-back winner of the VNEA Team 9-ball New England Champions (1st year beat the Quebec Team, 2nd year beat Connecticut Team)
- BCA Certified Instructor under Jerry Breiseth
- Wrote a billiard article for monthly “The Fun Times” pool and dart league magazine for Portland, ME.
- Performed several trick shot exhibitions with Norm Webber at Fraternity houses, bars, pool rooms etc.
- 13th place finish Artistic Pool US Open in Tunica, MS. 2012
- Other Pro events played in:
2 – BC Open, Binghamton, NY with Gary Pinkowski (9-ball events)
2 – US Open 9-Ball events at Chesapeake, VA.
2 – Reno/Sands 9-ball Open events Reno, NV.
2 – Valley Forge Super Billiards Expo
- Finished top 32 of 128 players at the Reno Bar Table Championship
