Jon Yarbrough (Billionaire) Taught me Foosball
Jon brags that he is personal friends with TN Gov Bill Haslam...
Jon tells me "you have to decide which is more valuable, that website or our friendship"...
Jon ends our friendship because I won't remove this website. He tells me I am disparaging his family...
I first met Jon in early 1988. If memory serves me correctly, my last phone conversation with Jon was in 1995. So for 7 years, I was friends with a man who would become a billionaire. Pretty interesting considering how poor I am.
In December 1987 I opened a very small computer store (Computers New & Used) in Madison TN with my partner George Lake. In early 1988 we hired our first employee (I don't remember his name). I told him that I enjoyed playing foosball. He said that I must meet his old boss because his old boss played foosball also. I agreed and within a week I got a phone call from Jon Yarbrough. Jon invited me to come to a local bar and play in a small foosball tournament (about 12 people). It was my first time to see a Tornado foosball table. I had been playing on million dollar tables.
In foosball I have a very unique and fast push shot. However, I had no skill at all to pass the ball from the center 5-man rod to the front 3-man rod. Jon took an interest in teaching me because it was a mission for him to promote the sport of foosball.
Because Jon and I both love foosball, we would meet many nights in bars playing foosball. Jon is a natural teacher and worked with me to improve my playing ability.
Sometimes, while we were playing, Jon would talk about his business. If I asked questions, he would get defensive and not say much. But if I just let him talk and was interested, he would say a lot more. It was intimidating talking to Jon because he is so sharp. Certainly the smartest man I have ever met. However, that goes without saying now days.
I asked Jon about what would happen if a player hit the Jackpot or some other big payout on the Poker machines he had in the bars and the bar didn't have the money to pay it. He smiled and said "that will never happen". I said that it must happen eventually unless you programmed it to never pay out. He repeated his statement again ("that will never happen") then he refused to talk about it anymore.
I found out where crop circles come from and it's not aliens... Crop circles are created by bored billionaires... lol
Jon came to me once and asked me if I wanted to come with him to make crop circles because he found out how to make them... I looked at him like he had lost his marbles and said "nooooo" (the real reason I said "no" was because it sounded like a lot of work).
While working for a computer store, I went to a seminar about "how to get rich". I was there handing out movie tickets promoting the computer store I worked at. I met Jon there. I didn't ask him but I assumed he was simply in the audience.
I learned not to say anything when Jon talked about his family. Jon told me that he and his father helped his brother Mike start a business (Laser One) reloading toner cartridges. He explained, Mike finally developed this business into a million dollar a year business. Jon asked me if I thought that Mike owed Jon and their father anything for putting him into this business now that it was successful. After I thought about it for a minute, I said "yes I do". Jon said "that's what we think (Jon and father)". I then made a negative statement about Mike (I don't remember the statement). Jon got very defensive very quickly. Then Jon laughed at himself. He said "I can talk about my brother but you cannot".
Rewinding a few years, Jon told me that he would like for us to be playing partners and travel to some tournaments together. I agreed and we did this a few times. Jon would ask me to drive. Of course I accepted to drive because Jon had a Porsche. However, it wasn't too fun because Jon would push me to drive very fast. I enjoyed driving up to 90mph but Jon wanted to drive much faster than that. I would get it up to 110mph then refuse to go any faster because it was scaring me. It would make Jon upset that I didn't want to drive as fast as he wanted me to. I thought in my head, if you want to drive so fast, why don't you drive. I was guessing he must have had too many speeding tickets but I never asked him that. Thinking back, I realize that I was walking on egg shells about what I could say to Jon and what I could not say. Instinctively, I knew I could not say certain things to him or it would ruin our relationship.
I tried several times to do business with Jon but he was always resistive. He made sure that our relationship was friendship and not business.
I have many stories about my friendship with Jon in those early days. However, I want to be careful how many I tell because I don't want to embarrass Jon. Jon and I haven't spoken in 18 years. The richer he got, the less he hung out in bars playing foosball. I understood why because the rumors were spreading about his wealth and I saw women throwing themselves at him. I guess extreme wealth is not always a great thing. Jon was definitely a lot more fun when the poker machines he was building were illegal. Back then he was more of a reckless maverick. When he made the decision to build legal, legitimate poker machines for Indian reservations, he got a lot more serious and I stopped seeing as much of him around foosball tables.
One story that makes me chuckle every time I thing about it is: Jon had hurt his wrist playing foosball (many foosball players get hurt like this). So he changed his shot and was shooting a push-kick. I could not stop this push-kick shot not matter how hard I tried. So Jon, being the natural teacher he is, taught me how to block his shot. Within a year of him teaching me that, I played against him in a tournament in Columbus Ohio and blocked his shots. He looked at me angrily and said "I should never have taught you to how to block it".
Jon, you deserve everything you have. I hope you will slow down now and enjoy your success. I never understood why you were so driven. Obviously, it worked out extremely well for you. I hope you enjoyed the ride and I wish you a very happy retirement. Maybe I’ll see you on a table again and give you a schooling you haven’t gotten in a while. I play as well now as I ever did. I just can’t play very long without my arm going out (no fun getting old is it…???).
Bradley E. Daniel
(615)945-9792
This is a picture of Jon attending my going away party in 1994. I was moving to Romania becau)se my wife was from there. At this point, Jon and I have plans of opening a Casino in Romania together. When I found a location for our casino in Romania, Jon lost interest and never compensated me for my losses. In my way of thinking, this remains an unpaid debt. When I asked Jon to repay me this debt in 2015, He said "I hope you got something in writing" (he wasn't joking).
Father and son business venture
Jon often told me that he was in business with his father in the early days of making poker machines that went into bars. At the time, it seemed very normal to me that a father and son would run a business together. However, now that I have grown children of my own, I can't imagine running a business with one of my children that is on the edge of the law and takes advantage of people with gambling sickness!
Jon pulls money out of my hand
I think the year was 1994. Henry, the man who owned the Villager Tavern on 21st Ave, had opened a bar in Mt. Juliet, TN. He put a new foosball table in it for us. So, we had a small gathering and had a small tournament. Jon and his partner were much better players than my partner and I were. Jon asked me how I was doing and I told him I wasn't playing very well. So, Jon being Jon, he lowered his level of play to give us a chance. However, for some reason, I played an extremely good game. By the time they realized they were in trouble, it was too late and my partner and I won the game and tournament. I was handed my part of the prize money. However, Jon's partner was very upset and Jon saw that. He wouldn't say it, but he was probably upset that Jon didn't play to the best of his ability. Jon got upset also and reached over and pulled the prize money out of my hand. His partner told him to give it back to me so Jon did. Then Jon said to me "it's a good thing you weren't playing well tonight". I was still in shock that Jon had reached over and pulled the prize money from my hand.
Statements I remember from Jon:
1. "I want the BEST" Jon said this to me when I was trying to choose between several job applicants and I was reluctant to hire the most qualified.
2. "Wanted: people who come in late to work because they stayed up half the night" (I'm paraphrasing a little). Jon was explaining that the best employees have the worst habits. I think he was thinking of programmers with this statement.
3. "Really the only thing holding me back is my family" Jon said this to me driving to a foosball tournament
4. "This is a little too healthy for me" We were considering eating at a Subway restaurant.
5. "Women don't forget about things like that" Jon was talking about his wife holding it against him that he did not go to the hospital for the birth of his child.
6. "Men have always gotten rich with gambling" Jon was explaining why his business path was sound.
7. "He's going to pay for that with future bonuses or something like that. That's a lot of money for a young man". Jon was upset about a new, young programmer that he hired. He was upset because the programmer negotiated a higher salary than Jon wanted to pay.
8. "The haves and the have nots" This was Jon's view of politics.
9. "Basically I've been doing business with a bunch of idiots" Jon was making fun of the people he was taking advantage of in business.
10. "Never underestimate an income". Jon said this during a time he was struggling after the police put pressure on his business for making poker machines.
11. "People will start to treat you different". Jon was explaining why to make people think your rich when your not yet.
12. "In a couple of years she will be in the same position as I am". Jon was making fun of someone he knew that just bought a new car (he bought his Porsche used and it was the cheap model). He said, buying a new car is the worst financial mistake you can make.
13. "Does anybody else have to work in the morning" Jon would often say this when he wanted us to finish up and not stay too late. However, he would say it in a very prideful way. I don't know how he can have so much pride getting extremely rich off of peoples gambling sickness.
This is a modern picture of Jon attending a foosball tournament January 6th 2015... Jon is standing all the way on the left... I am 2nd on the right wearing a tie... The competition was a dyp (draw your partner)... Jon is just as competitive as I remember and he was doing his best to win the $200 1st place prize... lol I was also reminded at this tournament that Jon is a gentleman...
UPDATE...!!! On 07/17/2015, Jon told me that I must choose between our friendship and keeping this website up. Therefor, I no longer feel obligated to withhold the following stories. The following stories are not old. These stories are from conversations that I have had with Jon while playing foosball this year (2015).
JON ALMOST SERVES PRISON TIME: Jon told me that he was arrested for illegal gambling. He told me that the grand jury did not indict him by returning no-true-bill... Jon did not give me any more details such as when this happened. Jon told me that he was surprised by the arrest and criminal charge because his lawyers believed that they had enough case law pertaining to what they were doing.
JON TEACHES ME HOW TO GAMBLE IN TENNESSEE LEGALLY: Jon says, before we start playing, I'm going to tell you that they only way you can win is if I deal you a Jack and an Ace. So Jon deals me 2 imaginary cards. The cards are dealt face up. The cards are a Jack and an Ace. Jon asks me if I want to bet on that hand. I say, Yes because it is a winning hand. So I bet $2 and Jon pays me a $2 win. On the next hand, Jon deals me a Queen and a King. Jon asks me if I want to bet on that hand. I say, No because it is a losing hand. Jon says, "then we are done playing". I asked Jon to explain. He said that to keep playing, I must bet on the losing hand. So, I asked him to explain the meaning of all of this. He said, because you are betting on a hand that you already know the outcome of, we are not legally gambling. Therefor, WE FOUND A WAY TO GAMBLE IN A STATE THAT DOES NOT ALLOW GAMBLING.
JON TEACHES ME HOW TO GET RICH GAMBLING IN TN LEGALLY WHILE SELLING CELL PHONE TIME. You simply copy McDonald's games. You put stickers on your product you sell just like McDonald's does. It's as simple as that. If you ever get charged with illegal gambling you simply use McDonald's as your defense.
JON ONLY PAYS KEY PROGRAMMER MINIMUM WAGE: Jon told me "I worked for this man" until the year 2000. In the year 2000 he was at a convention and saw a new type of gambling machine being sold to Indian reservations that had multiple players and one of the players would always win (like bingo). Jon said that this machine was being sold for $75,000. He said to himself that he could build this machine for $10,000. He did and he immediately got orders for it. He bragged to me that he only paid his programmer minimum wage to design the machine that put him back in business. Jon owns multiple U.S. patens on this gambling machine. So, I was left with the impression that Jon took advantage of the employees that put him where he's at.
AFTER I TELL JON THAT I DRIVE FOR UBER, JON TOLD ME HE IS HEAVILY INVESTED IN UBER. Jon asked me what I am doing for a living now (Jon and I were peers 27 years ago). I told him that I drive for Lyft and Uber (simultaneously). Jon then told me that he is invested in Uber. He said he gave Uber a loan on a balloon and that he gets a discount on the IPO when Uber goes public.
JON BRAGS TO ME THAT HE IS FRIENDS WITH TN GOV BILL HASLAM: Jon told me that because of his friendship with Gov Haslam, he has the opportunity to give his opinion on pending bills. He said he is especially vocal on bills that pertain to UBER. He looked surprised that I was not impressed. I was actually disappointed that someone with money had so much influence on laws that apply to all of us.