This interview with Tony Robles took place approximately two weeks after his second place finish at the BCA Open 9-Ball Championships in 2002.

AZB: For the fans online who may not know much about Tony Robles, can you tell me a little about Tony Robles?

Tony: Wow, I have never been asked this question before. I was born at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens NY. My mom lived in Brooklyn at the time and I was raised in Brooklyn for most of my life. My parents came from Puerto Rico.

AZB: How long have you been playing pool?

Tony: I have been playing pool since the age of thirteen. What happened is that my dad used to play a lot and was actually a pretty decent player. I would say he was at about the A level. He took me to a pool room when I was thirteen years old and gave me a chance to hit some balls. An old guy with glasses came up to me, who used to be one of the best players in the pool room, and asked me if I was interested in learning. He gave me this old Steve Mizerak book. It was either the first or second book that Steve had made. I read the whole book that night and the next day I practiced for about eight hours straight. I was already practicing left hand spin and right hand spin. I got addicted to the game right there when I saw how the ball reacted off the rail depending on where you hit the cue ball.

AZB: So you have been playing since your were thirteen. How old are you now?

Tony: I am thirty six.

AZB: What accomplishment are you the proudest of as a player?

Tony: I would say it was when I ran 148 balls in the US Open Straight Pool Tournament against Johnny Archer. It was tied at -2 each and I ran 148 and needed four more. He ran twenty something and then I ran four and out.

AZB: How did you do in that tournament?

Tony: I ended up seventh in that tournament. I missed a break shot against Oliver Ortmann that I felt cost me the match. I was on a run of seventy something and I needed 101. That would have been the third match in a row that I had ran 100 or more. I ran 140 on Mika in the first round. Straight pool is actually my best game. A lot of people don't know that. Only the people who live in the New York area know that.

AZB: You don't see a lot of straight pool being played anymore.

Tony: I enjoy that game more than I enjoy any other game.

AZB: Why is that?

Tony: The only thing I dislike about 9-ball is that you can be more skillful than a player but if he can blast the balls harder than you can, he can beat you. Straight pool isn't like that. I'm not saying that I play 9-ball bad. I think I'm a great 9-ball player. I just think Straight Pool is my best game. I have a high run of 267 in Straight Pool. I have ran 200 or more at least seven times. The first time I ran 200, I got stuck at 211. I ran 200 five more times after that and I could never get past 211. The seventh time I finally got to 267.

AZB: Why do you think Straight Pool is not played that much anymore?

Tony: I think that people find it very boring because of how long it takes for a game to finish. That is why it is not a popular game. Nine ball is a very quick game. They changed to Texas Express rules so that the game could go more quickly.

AZB: Well, you know Barry and Brady Behrman are putting together an event next year that is supposed to have Straight Pool as part of it.

Tony: I didn't know that. You will definitely see me there, because ever since I finished second in Vegas, I seem to have my fire back. I actually had my fire back before Vegas. It is actually a funny story. Fran Crimi wrote about it on the Billiards Digest message board. Some guy started talking bad about me saying that I couldn't handle pressure. It was a guy that was always jealous of me. He is really a great player but I would rather not say his name. I never say anything bad about anyone but he started saying some things. I had beaten him 9-0 in one of the Joss Tour events and he got upset about it and started saying a lot of things. My father got involved somehow, so I really took it personal. I got this desire to beat him so badly the next time I saw him in a tournament. It just lit up a fire inside that I haven't had lit up in a long time. The tournament I played in was a Tri-State tour event and I had to play Frankie (Hernandez) and I beat him. I had to play Ginky and I beat him. I had to play Mika and I beat him. Had he won his next match, I would have had to play the guy that I am talking about but he ended up losing. But I was willing to go through whatever I had to go through to get to him.

AZB: So, you took second in Vegas. You played amazing pool.

Tony: The funny thing about that is this. I was talking to a couple of my friends about this. When I was playing in the pro tour from 96 to 99, I was very excited. I finished ranked 12th in 96 and ranked 14th in 97. I actually felt it was a bigger accomplishment for me to finish 14th in 97. In 96 Strickland, CJ Wiley, Parica and few other players had a problem with Don Mackey and a lot of them didn't play on the tour. There was a point in time when I was playing that I felt invincible. But that is how you always feel when you are in the zone. It doesn't matter who you are playing. It is just you and yourself. That is how I have always looked at it. It is really just a battle between you and yourself.

When I played in the BCA tournament, even though I was playing very well, at no point in time did I ever feel that I was on my game 100%. I never felt 100% comfortable.

AZB: If that was your game at less than 100%, I am not sure a lot of players want to see your game at 100%.

Tony: I can't wait until I get to 100%, because when I am completely comfortable out there I am going to miss less balls and come up with some bigger shots. I felt like I missed some balls in that tournament that I shouldn't have. I am hard on myself. I have always been the type of player that even if I played a great event, I always want better. When I beat Johnny Archer in the second round, I went to eat something with some friends and when I got there, they were all giving me a standing ovation. I told them that I appreciated it but that I had to forget about that match. Throw it out the window and focus on my next match. What I used to do was win a match against a great player and then kind of forget what it was that gave me the chance to beat them and the next thing I knew I was looking at the beads in the next match and wondering why I was down 5-1. One thing I did this tournament that I haven't done in a long time was that I really stayed focused. A lot of it had to do with the practice I had with Mika (Immonen). Mika and I had been talking about practicing together for a long time. Mika, Charlie Williams and myself are like three brothers. We are really close friends and we are always trying to do whatever we can to help each other out. Mika was willing to practice with me a week before the event so I went down to Amsterdam Billiards and we played three straight days and I think it helped me a lot.

AZB: I saw something online about some friends of yours trying to get you an invitation to the World Pool Championship in Cardiff. Now I understand that you are going to go play in a qualifier for that event.

Tony: Yes, that is going to be in Bristol. It is not too far from Cardiff Wales. I think I will be leaving here July 5th and the World Pool Championship is from July 13th through the 21st. It is kind of funny because I never expected this. I never asked for it. People started asking if I was going to the tournament and I said no because I didn't get an invitation. I didn't really expect it because there are people out there that are playing better pool than I am. I just played in one tournament and did well. I really haven't been playing. A lot of friends got together and gave me the support. I was really overwhelmed by it. I just wrote a thank you letter yesterday for everyone that was trying to support me. They are actually trying to raise the money to send me out to the qualifier.

AZB: Overwhelming is a word that could be used when it comes to you. I have never heard a crowd go off like they did when you were introduced in Vegas. When I talk to people about you, no one describes you as simply a nice guy or an alright guy. Everyone describes you one of the nicest people in the world. Why is that?

Tony: I have had people ask me that question over the years and I think the sole reason is because I look at all human beings equally. I have been like that all of my life. I don't think of myself as a superstar or as someone that is better than someone else because I play pool at a certain level. I always felt that if I play pool at a certain level, they might play guitar or video games or a million other things better than I do. That has always been my way of thinking. I just love human beings and I love them all equally. I love talking to people. I have always been a people person. After this tournament, I would like to think of myself as the people's champion.

AZB: That is a refreshing attitude and there aren't many people in the game with that attitude.

Tony: I am going to tell you something. The reason I quit playing is that I was disgusted with the politics of pool. I felt that at certain points in time, there were too many people that were being too selfish and looking out more for themselves than they were for the sport. I think that I have got that fire back and I want to play more for two reasons. One is that I excited again. I am an extremely good friend of Charlie's and I think he is doing something good. I think he knows what it is that needs to be done to get the game going in the right direction. The other reason is that I don't want to get to be 50 years old and think that I should have won a major title but never did. I never felt that I really gave it my all. I think I should have won a major tournament years ago. I have always been one of those that you can call very sensitive. Whenever I saw that the game wasn't going in the right direction, I would start wondering if this is what I had been spending my life since the age of thirteen for.

AZB: When did you stop playing?

Tony: At the end of 99 when Camel got out of the tour.

AZB: Didn't you win a special award from Camel?

Tony: In 1998, they game me the Sportsman of the Year Award. To be honest with you, I almost cried when they announced my name because I was shocked. I felt that there so many other players that were deserving of that award. JR Calvert, George San Souci, Ernesto Dominguez. Ernesto ended up winning it the next year. In order for you to receive that award, you have to be chosen by the players as well. You are talking about legends like Buddy Hall, Nick Varner and Earl Strickland. For me to think that they voted for me was such an honor. I was happy but at the same time it hurt me because I didn't expect the award. My family wasn't there with me and they did not get to see it when I accepted the award. At the same time, I don't ever expect to be rewarded for my kindness. That is just the way I am as a person. If I feel that I can make a difference in someone's life, then that had made my day right there. That is what means a lot to me. More than anything else. I have always felt that if I could get my game to the level that I know I am capable of and win a lot of tournament, I feel that I can do a lot for the sport.

AZB: You were talking about your family being with you at the time. I called earlier and we couldn't do the interview because you were going to the movies with your son. Can you tell us about your son?

Tony: His name is Jonathan Robles and I am with him every weekend because I am not with his mother anymore unfortunately. His mother and I are probably closer now that we were when we were together. We were close when we were together but it is a different thing now. We get along great and she lets me see him whenever I want to. With the summer coming, if I asked to have him for a month, she would be more than willing to do it. I basically pick him up every Friday after school. I teach at Corner Billiards. I give private lessons every Monday through Thursday and then I take the weekend off and spend it with Jonathan. We go to the movies, the park, Coney Island. Really wherever he wants to go. We are so close it is unbelievable. I love him to death. I am his hero but then again, every dad is a hero to their child.

AZB: You give lessons at Corner Billiards. Where is that at?

Tony: It is at 11th Street and Fourth Avenue in New York. If someone wanted to reach me for lessons, they can reach me at 917-202-2750.

AZB: So, where did the nickname 'The Silent Assassin' come from?

Tony: One day I was playing a match against a top player and I beat him 11-2. A fan came to me for an autograph after the match and said "Wow, you played like a silent assassin. You kill but you don't say a word." At that time I was with another girl and she went and told Scott Smith what the fan said and he announced my next match as 'The Silent Assassin' and it stuck with me.

AZB: So besides the lessons, do you have sponsors out there?

Tony: I have a friend by the name of Harold Sigel and his wife Marilyn who I met through pool. They are members at the Friars Club in New York City. I was given his name and number and I have been giving him lessons for three or four years. They sent me to the US Open 9-ball tournament two years. They sent me to the BCA Open the last two years and I never won a match. Last year, they got there on Wednesday and I had gotten knocked out 15 minutes before they got there. I felt so terrible. I just kept asking myself what was wrong with me. Why couldn't I win like I used to do. Then I just started to realize little by little that I didn't have the desire in me that I used to have anymore. For some reason, with me getting the fire back in my belly, it seems like I can't get enough of pool anymore. I think about it a lot. For the past 2-3 year, I can honestly tell you that I would go for months without ever thinking about pool. When you are at the top of your game, you have to eat, breathe and live pool.

AZB: Now you were on a television commercial recently. Can you tell us about that?

Tony: It was for a pharmaceutical company that is promoting a new smart drug coming out to fight illnesses like Arthritis and Heart Disease. I am the official House Pro at Blatt Billiards in New York City. They called me and asked if I was interested in going to an audition for a commercial. They had an audition at The Amsterdam Billiard Club on the East Side. There were over 50 people that showed up and they narrowed it down to 10. Then they had another audition with the director there and they chose me and Jennifer Barretta who has been a student of mine for the last three years. I am very proud of her. I was teaching her every Friday for about three years and she has gotten very good.

AZB: You mentioned Charlie Williams earlier and what he is trying to do with the game. Tell me where you think the game is going now with Charlie involved. What do you think has changed from 1999?

Tony: What I see changing is that Charlie is a straight shooter. I know him well enough to know once he makes up his mind about something, he is just going to go for it. I think he has seen a lot of the things that can go wrong and he is the type of guy that is not really going to favor someone and bend the rules. I think that is why a lot of people are excited that Charlie is doing something like this because he is not going to let anyone corrupt him.

AZB: You and Charlie are good friends. I understand you played against him a few months ago. A bunch of guys from New York against a bunch of guys from Florida. What happened there?

Tony: We played in the Patriot Cup. To be honest with you, I made it to the Finals of the BCA Open and I had more fun playing the Patriot Cup then I did playing in the finals. It was so much fun having guys to cheer for besides yourself. You are so used to playing in an individual tournament and I have always enjoyed playing in team events. Frankie Hernandez and I played for Team Puerto Rico years ago. We always wanted to play for Team USA but since they didn't have any spots available, they ended up putting us on Team Puerto Rico. That was a lot of fun. I don't know if you ever heard about that tournament where we beat Team Europe, Team Mexico and Team USA to advance to the finals against Team Philippines. Team Philippines beat Team Puerto Rico in the finals. It was $50,000 for first. Listen to this line up. It was Efren Reyes, Jose Parica, Francisco Bustamante, Leonardo Andam and Rodolfo Luat. That's pretty strong. They beat us by seven or eight games.

Getting back to the Patriot Cup, as far as the events that I have played in, that is probably the most fun I have ever had. Charlie made it interesting by adding different games and stuff like that. Unfortunately, we didn't win but it was very close. It wasn't a blow out by either team.

AZB: I have one last question. What sort of advice would you give to someone who was in the position that you were in a few months ago and was kind of burnt out on the game or didn't have the fire anymore?

Tony: I would tell them to take a deep look inside their heart and really ask themselves what they want to do with the rest of their lives. And, to just be true to their heart. It is important to do what you love. I love this sport and I know that I am never going to become a millionaire, but as long as I can make a living and pay my bills and get by. Eventually I want to own a house and I think I will get to that point, I am going to continue to play pool because this is what I love to do. I have been doing it since I was thirteen years old and my love for it has never really died. I just got a little discouraged for a couple of years. I feel like I have got the desire to compete again. It has a lot to do with believing in yourself. I seem to believe in myself more now than I ever have in my entire career. I think that is going to help my game as well.

All photos courtesy of Pool Pics by Hoppe.