YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollections  His 'Soft Hustle' Is a Living
for Rags Woods, 64 : Sweet Stroke Etches Pool Hall Legend
February 10, 1985|MILES CORWIN | Times Staff Writer  The pool
hall regulars gather by the railing, a few gamblers make side
bets, the bartender turns down the television and the old man
and the Gypsy begin shooting pool.  The games are close at
first, and the two players seem evenly matched. But their style
is decidedly different. The Gypsy, wearing designer jeans, white
shirt unbuttoned to the navel and a purple vest, is cocky,
effusive and frequently winks to his "stake horse" to let him
know the game is under control. The old man is conservatively
dressed in slacks, brown loafers, tweed hat and is poker-faced
throughout the game.  As the match drags on into the second and
third hour, the Gypsy, almost imperceptibly, alters his game. He
grows slightly impatient and occasionally loses concentration
and rushes his shots.  But the old man is an inexorable force,
growing stronger as the ho