If I were naming these stories, this one might be titled…"Adventures with Detroit Whitey"...Whitey being Eddie Beauchene, who, along with Cornbread Red, turned Detroit into one of the greatest high dollar pool action cities EVER !.. There are few names more recognizable in the nether world of 'pool hustling' than Whitey !...He would be a unique individual in any scenario, in the pool world, I guess you would call him an "icon" !
Detroit Whitey, was the epitome of the conniving, take no prisoners, type of con man that most consider a hard core hustler to be... The stories surrounding him, border on the unbelievable, but believe it or not, most of them are true ! (up to, and including, 'selling his kids' !!!)..I do not believe there is ANYTHING Whitey wouldn’t do for money...The more I got to know him, the more I came to believe, that very early on in his life, he had made a pact with the devil, and he certainly managed to keep it...:embarrassed2:
I first met Whitey, in the late 50's, in Salt Lake City... I was an an established pool player with some success by then, but still had a LOT to learn..However, I had no fear of anyone !..My first session with him, was a grueling, all night 9-ball session, during which his experience, overcame my youth...Fortunately, he hung around long enough for me to get even, and then some !..He seemed like a decent enough guy, and with his smiling con, he was not a whiner when he finally got broke...So I half-way befriended him, and even tried to help him make a few bucks, to get back on his feet.
He put the bite on every ‘bitable’ person in the pool room, (including me) and I did not find out his true character, until I found out one of the scores I had given him money and sent him out on, turned out to be very lucrative, like about $1000...This was probably about $950 more than Whitey had hit town with !..So, in the dead of night, he slipped out of the room I was letting him stay in at my house, and split town..Without even a phone call to say ‘Thanks’..
I did not see Whitey again, until several years later, after I had moved to California...I settled in San Jose, and on a rare trip to LA, I went into the old downtown joint, on 4th st., and lo and behold, there sits Whitey, sweating a game... After telling him what I thought of his rotten, SLC move, he laid a hardship story on me, that almost had me feeling sorry for him again... But, at least I had a better idea of what I was dealing with..So, we kind of hooked up, and started hitting the bars, in downtown LA..
I was never a great fan of bar hustling, (especially in downtown LA) but it was pretty obvious Whitey was in his element...One guy he beat out of a few bucks, pulled a knife on him, and he showed no fear whatsoever !..With only a pool table separating them, Whitey dared him to come on, and said he would shove that knife right up his ass !...The guy backed down, and split from the joint...I thought for a minute, Whitey, (who had no knife, or gun) was going to chase him down !
I had to get back to San Jose and Whitey wanted to ride up there with me..I told him I had a job, and would not be able to spend any time hustling pool with him. Plus, I knew he didn’t have enough money for food and a room, so we bid adieu !…I was finally starting to get some ‘smarts’!
A year or so after that, my wife and I had to go to my grandma’s funeral in Detroit... I had a spare evening to kill, so I wandered into the old “Rathole” pool room, near downtown on Woodward, just to see what was going on. (the famous 'Rac Cue Club’ was in the far distant future at that time).. Lo and behold there sits Whitey !..He was the only one in the joint that knew me, and he gave me the ‘office’ to meet him in the john.
First question,”Ya got any money kid” ?.. I told him I had a few hundred. (I actually had a lot more, but as I said, I was getting smarter)..He told me to get a table, and hit a few balls around…He said there would be a guy coming in soon, who would go off real good...“He plays a little, but you should beat him ‘easy’, I’ll steer him into you...You can’t miss him, he’s got wavy red hair, and talks in a kinda loud hillbilly drawl”.
That was the first time I saw (or even heard of) “Cornbread Red”. I’m sure Whitey called him down there, and I saw him pointing me out to him.. Red sidled up to me, and asked me if I was “lookin' ta play some” !..I said "Yeah, I’ll play some cheap nine ball" !..Red said, “Whad’ya all call cheap”. I said, "$5 or 10 a game"...Red said “Nah, I’ll play some for $20”…I said OK..flip it !
After a little see-sawing, I soon saw I had no room to stall with this guy. I did eventually manage to get 3 or 4 games up on him. During that time, I overheard him muttering to Whitey..”I thought you said this dang kid didn’t play too good” ?..I’m pretty sure Whitey was just looking for a ‘jelly’, from whoever came out winner !..Long story short, Red saw he had a real grind on his hands, to try and get even. So he tried to move me to the snooker table... I said the only game I played there, was golf. (which it was) He passed on the golf, so we agreed to play some $5/10 pay ball..After about an hour or so, he got most of his money back.
I had told him I couldn’t play too long when we started, as I really did have an early flight home !..He was cool about it, we shook hands, and said we’d play again some time... And we did..but not ‘til about 35 years later, in a small LA tournament.. I won the tournament match, and we played some head-up $100 one pocket afterwards...Red got emptied out, but he took it like a gentleman... We parted on a pretty good note, and I invited him to come to Phoenix, if he wanted to play some more.. He did stop through a few weeks later, on his way home, with a backer in tow...We had another long one pocket session,...same end result !
Back to Whitey… I did not see him again, until quite a few years later...I was with my wife, on our way to visit our son in Placerville, Ca...We stopped for lunch in the small town of Folsum...There, on the window of the café, was a colorful flyer proclaiming that "World Champion Pool Player, Detroit Whitey”…Would be giving an exhibition that evening, at a local hardware store in town !
I guess curiosity got the best of me, and I drove by the hardware store to check it out... Sure enough, there was a new Gold Crown table in the entryway to the store, and inside sat our hero, just chilling out... He was minding the store for the owner, who he he introduced me to, when he came back from lunch. Apparently the owner was a real pool nut, and Whitey had got him to rent the table, so he could put on a few shows.
After about a 6 day visit with my son, we headed back home, and stopped again in Folsom... Just for kicks, I stopped by the hardware store... I noticed the pool table was gone, and as soon as the owner spotted me..He jumped up and started screaming “Where is he ? Where is that SOB” ! After a little convincing, that I was just a casual acquaintance of Whitey, and had no idea where he was, he told me what had transpired, in only ONE week !
It seems Whitey had gained his confidence, enough to let him run the store while he and his wife took a short vacation to Seattle ! He didn’t need to say much more, but the poor bastard felt the need to elaborate. It seems Whitey not only absconded with every dime the place took in, he also sold expensive items (power tools, compressors, etc.) for like half off !..The poor guy had not even finished an inventory to determine how much was gone ! I’m sure it was a VERY expensive vacation !.. I tip-toed out the door, with my most profound sympathy...That was the last time I saw Whitey.. It is hard to believe he may still be alive ???
SJD
PS..I have a few more stories about Whitey, that are NOT fit for print on a public forum...But, this should count as three stories !...Hope you enjoyed them !
Detroit Whitey, was the epitome of the conniving, take no prisoners, type of con man that most consider a hard core hustler to be... The stories surrounding him, border on the unbelievable, but believe it or not, most of them are true ! (up to, and including, 'selling his kids' !!!)..I do not believe there is ANYTHING Whitey wouldn’t do for money...The more I got to know him, the more I came to believe, that very early on in his life, he had made a pact with the devil, and he certainly managed to keep it...:embarrassed2:
I first met Whitey, in the late 50's, in Salt Lake City... I was an an established pool player with some success by then, but still had a LOT to learn..However, I had no fear of anyone !..My first session with him, was a grueling, all night 9-ball session, during which his experience, overcame my youth...Fortunately, he hung around long enough for me to get even, and then some !..He seemed like a decent enough guy, and with his smiling con, he was not a whiner when he finally got broke...So I half-way befriended him, and even tried to help him make a few bucks, to get back on his feet.
He put the bite on every ‘bitable’ person in the pool room, (including me) and I did not find out his true character, until I found out one of the scores I had given him money and sent him out on, turned out to be very lucrative, like about $1000...This was probably about $950 more than Whitey had hit town with !..So, in the dead of night, he slipped out of the room I was letting him stay in at my house, and split town..Without even a phone call to say ‘Thanks’..
I did not see Whitey again, until several years later, after I had moved to California...I settled in San Jose, and on a rare trip to LA, I went into the old downtown joint, on 4th st., and lo and behold, there sits Whitey, sweating a game... After telling him what I thought of his rotten, SLC move, he laid a hardship story on me, that almost had me feeling sorry for him again... But, at least I had a better idea of what I was dealing with..So, we kind of hooked up, and started hitting the bars, in downtown LA..
I was never a great fan of bar hustling, (especially in downtown LA) but it was pretty obvious Whitey was in his element...One guy he beat out of a few bucks, pulled a knife on him, and he showed no fear whatsoever !..With only a pool table separating them, Whitey dared him to come on, and said he would shove that knife right up his ass !...The guy backed down, and split from the joint...I thought for a minute, Whitey, (who had no knife, or gun) was going to chase him down !
I had to get back to San Jose and Whitey wanted to ride up there with me..I told him I had a job, and would not be able to spend any time hustling pool with him. Plus, I knew he didn’t have enough money for food and a room, so we bid adieu !…I was finally starting to get some ‘smarts’!
A year or so after that, my wife and I had to go to my grandma’s funeral in Detroit... I had a spare evening to kill, so I wandered into the old “Rathole” pool room, near downtown on Woodward, just to see what was going on. (the famous 'Rac Cue Club’ was in the far distant future at that time).. Lo and behold there sits Whitey !..He was the only one in the joint that knew me, and he gave me the ‘office’ to meet him in the john.
First question,”Ya got any money kid” ?.. I told him I had a few hundred. (I actually had a lot more, but as I said, I was getting smarter)..He told me to get a table, and hit a few balls around…He said there would be a guy coming in soon, who would go off real good...“He plays a little, but you should beat him ‘easy’, I’ll steer him into you...You can’t miss him, he’s got wavy red hair, and talks in a kinda loud hillbilly drawl”.
That was the first time I saw (or even heard of) “Cornbread Red”. I’m sure Whitey called him down there, and I saw him pointing me out to him.. Red sidled up to me, and asked me if I was “lookin' ta play some” !..I said "Yeah, I’ll play some cheap nine ball" !..Red said, “Whad’ya all call cheap”. I said, "$5 or 10 a game"...Red said “Nah, I’ll play some for $20”…I said OK..flip it !
After a little see-sawing, I soon saw I had no room to stall with this guy. I did eventually manage to get 3 or 4 games up on him. During that time, I overheard him muttering to Whitey..”I thought you said this dang kid didn’t play too good” ?..I’m pretty sure Whitey was just looking for a ‘jelly’, from whoever came out winner !..Long story short, Red saw he had a real grind on his hands, to try and get even. So he tried to move me to the snooker table... I said the only game I played there, was golf. (which it was) He passed on the golf, so we agreed to play some $5/10 pay ball..After about an hour or so, he got most of his money back.
I had told him I couldn’t play too long when we started, as I really did have an early flight home !..He was cool about it, we shook hands, and said we’d play again some time... And we did..but not ‘til about 35 years later, in a small LA tournament.. I won the tournament match, and we played some head-up $100 one pocket afterwards...Red got emptied out, but he took it like a gentleman... We parted on a pretty good note, and I invited him to come to Phoenix, if he wanted to play some more.. He did stop through a few weeks later, on his way home, with a backer in tow...We had another long one pocket session,...same end result !
Back to Whitey… I did not see him again, until quite a few years later...I was with my wife, on our way to visit our son in Placerville, Ca...We stopped for lunch in the small town of Folsum...There, on the window of the café, was a colorful flyer proclaiming that "World Champion Pool Player, Detroit Whitey”…Would be giving an exhibition that evening, at a local hardware store in town !
I guess curiosity got the best of me, and I drove by the hardware store to check it out... Sure enough, there was a new Gold Crown table in the entryway to the store, and inside sat our hero, just chilling out... He was minding the store for the owner, who he he introduced me to, when he came back from lunch. Apparently the owner was a real pool nut, and Whitey had got him to rent the table, so he could put on a few shows.
After about a 6 day visit with my son, we headed back home, and stopped again in Folsom... Just for kicks, I stopped by the hardware store... I noticed the pool table was gone, and as soon as the owner spotted me..He jumped up and started screaming “Where is he ? Where is that SOB” ! After a little convincing, that I was just a casual acquaintance of Whitey, and had no idea where he was, he told me what had transpired, in only ONE week !
It seems Whitey had gained his confidence, enough to let him run the store while he and his wife took a short vacation to Seattle ! He didn’t need to say much more, but the poor bastard felt the need to elaborate. It seems Whitey not only absconded with every dime the place took in, he also sold expensive items (power tools, compressors, etc.) for like half off !..The poor guy had not even finished an inventory to determine how much was gone ! I’m sure it was a VERY expensive vacation !.. I tip-toed out the door, with my most profound sympathy...That was the last time I saw Whitey.. It is hard to believe he may still be alive ???
SJD
PS..I have a few more stories about Whitey, that are NOT fit for print on a public forum...But, this should count as three stories !...Hope you enjoyed them !
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(he used to post here, didn't he ?)