QUOTE=bud green;2542014]For a player with the credentials he has, it seems like I almost never hear any good Allen Gilbert stories, especially since he seems to be one of the few billiard players with a gambling history. I realize Sang Lee dominated US billiards for quite a while, but before that, Allen was one of the old time legends keeping it alive in the US.
I like his instructional book, and his commentary on 3-C videos is excellent.
I'm sure Bill has some stories, anyone else here have any good ones?
I really feel it worth the time for someone who really knew him to document his life before the details fade away
Bud; Here's an article written by George Fels of Billiards Digest, I'ts a story which will represent the relationship with AL and myself. Al and I were very good friends since 1980. I respected his style of game and his desire to compete and WIN, even in his latter years.
View attachment 146962
He won and came in 2nd in more ABA,BFUSA and USBA Championships other than Sang Lee in the past 40 years. Many times in tournaments AL didn't have the highest average, but he knew how to do the most important thing when you play a match,
WIN THE GAME! He chose to do this usually by
DEFENCE, I chose the method of
POSITION PLAY.
In Al's personal life, he was a much more generous person than most people gave him credit for, he helped out some people financially for many years.
I surely miss Al, I thought of him somewhat as a older brother, naturally on occasions we would argue about billiards, but I think that happens with all top players that have respect for each other's game and are friends.
I'm sure Al is teaching one of his diamond systems to someone, somewhere.
http://mr3cushion.com
Bill Smith "Mr3Cushion"
P.S. Ill try to figure out how to enlarge the page for the article, and reattach.