One shot, two shots and that’s it! Finally, the game is in my hands and it’s up to me and my instincts to win the pool game. The after celebration toast is to our friends and family who are forever at heart and always together in party times now as we start afresh into 2010 with no reason to derail at work.

2009 being a year of the credit crunch got us wondering what the economic decline was really about as our stakes at the bar gradually fell every weekend in the mid-year.

My boys and I found ourselves so concerned like rats when it started down here in Rwanda.

Luckily, we discovered that ours is a cash economy which absorbed most of the crisis. Lesson well learnt the one thing one should always be ready for is an unplanned financial crisis.

The pool-table seems to be the place where we meet and discuss these issues. It is very easy to get a grudge with someone for denying me the chance of meeting with the boys.

I get so nervous on Friday afternoons at work wondering when the clock’s short-hand will tick on the 4 O’clock hour mark. Reaching the much awaited for joint gets me so joyed up that I made it one of my resolutions this new year to toil much harder at the work place and hang out with my boys to the fullest.

What if I lose my number one spot at the table? I’d be stressed! It takes a lot of skill to conquer at that table.

A close pal told me of how he was beaten by a young lady and it wasn’t by chance. She took all points of the game and it was like my friend was in a pool-room teaching session.

One thing that amuses me is that the moment my now-traumatized friend learnt how to play the game, he went on blowing his trumpet ready to challenge anyone not knowing that there are some players who are not joked around with.

It was so sad he couldn’t bear the shame after the lost match that he immediately left for his home. With that in mind, I have my game strategy I laid out in the office yesterday morning; play cool and lay low for most of the game as the opponent tries his best to squander his chances and rise towards the end like a professional who has been in the game for a lifetime.

There is always a plan B if A is to fail to be efficient at all instances; play with no forgiveness at all, all the balls have to go in with the best ‘cuts’ in those ‘cutting’ situations.

I don’t mind at all whether it is a man or woman I am playing with. Who says women can’t make those unsure ‘cuts’?

Save for the times they try to pull their blouses down their backs, they tend to lose focus. My love for the pool-table, love at seventh sight.

Contact: Benjis07@yahoo.co.uk