Almost a “Karate Kid” story, but this one began in 1982, when a young maintenance mechanic apprentice met an older Chinese man (Mr. Kim) in a billiard café. While 17-year old Ralph was struggling with the balls, two parties were making a bet in the background. When another customer opined that the boy had no talent at all and would come to nothing, Mr. Kim proposed a wager, betting that he could make a great player out of Ralph! The story unfolded…

Along with technical instruction from Mr. Kim, which Ralph has already covered in his training manuals, there were also quite general instructions about winning and losing, about smiling and poker faces, about good and bad habits, about freedom and fame without money. Ralph is sharing these instructions in collected form for the first time in this book.