Does anyone know whatever happened to Jack Cooney? Has he quit playing? At one time, he was one of the best one pocket players in the country -- and perhaps one of the best hustlers ever.
"California Jack" Cooney
- Thread starter BackPocket9Ball
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I saw Jack in Vegas last May. He claims he didn't even know there was a pool tournament going on at the Riviera at the time. He was at the StarDust playing poker. He told me that he has since quit playing pool for almost 2 yeras and was just enjoying life. He had a few quick questions about a few players and then was itching to go back to his poker game. He looked good & sounded happy. One of the greats of all time.
San Francisco Jack
I have been lucky to know and watch Jack playing pool. I have not spoken to or seen Jack around Hard Times in awhile. He moves as good as anyone I have ever seen playing one pocket. And he might be the best hustler the game has ever seen. Little Al said you never really know how good he could play because he never showed you his full game, he never had to. I watched John Schmidt become the one pocket player he is now by playing Jack for hours at a time. I watched Jack play Toby 7 or 8 ahead for some very big money. It looked like Toby was going to win in just a few hours, but a few days later Jack had all the money in his pocket.
I know someone who talked to him a few months a go and he said he was moving somewhere around Palm Springs and was going to start playing again. So if you are in a poolroom in that area and you see a tall guy with glasses on that wants to play you some one hole, be carefull, you have been warned.
I hope he starts to play again, he is one of the great players of the game and a good person to.
Steve
I have been lucky to know and watch Jack playing pool. I have not spoken to or seen Jack around Hard Times in awhile. He moves as good as anyone I have ever seen playing one pocket. And he might be the best hustler the game has ever seen. Little Al said you never really know how good he could play because he never showed you his full game, he never had to. I watched John Schmidt become the one pocket player he is now by playing Jack for hours at a time. I watched Jack play Toby 7 or 8 ahead for some very big money. It looked like Toby was going to win in just a few hours, but a few days later Jack had all the money in his pocket.
I know someone who talked to him a few months a go and he said he was moving somewhere around Palm Springs and was going to start playing again. So if you are in a poolroom in that area and you see a tall guy with glasses on that wants to play you some one hole, be carefull, you have been warned.
I hope he starts to play again, he is one of the great players of the game and a good person to.
Steve
Fashin Jack
I agree, Jack was or is one of the best hustlers of all time and is the most patient person I ever saw.
He would sit in a pool room for weeks on end waiting for the right game. All he would do is sit there and drink coffee. If the game he was waiting on didn't materialize, he would move on down the road.
I agree, Jack was or is one of the best hustlers of all time and is the most patient person I ever saw.
He would sit in a pool room for weeks on end waiting for the right game. All he would do is sit there and drink coffee. If the game he was waiting on didn't materialize, he would move on down the road.
Devil said:
I saw him play 9 ball one pocket in Baton Rouge maybe 8-9 years ago-$300 game and he was spotting 'Hooker'? one ball. At one time he was down $17k- 30 hours later he was even and they quit a short time later.
Quite a marathon for two guys who were not youngsters and Jack finally wore him downand clawed his way back.
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I took him home with me.
I'm going to toot my own horn a little (not too unusual for me). I'm one of the few guys to ever trap Frisco Jack. It was in Detroit at the "Rack." Jack had a bad game with Wolfie, playing him 2 to 1, 1pocket on the snooker table. They played for about 48 hrs. straight and Jack finally got even and quit. It was a very draining game. Meanwhile, I was laying in the weeds waiting for the game to end. My timing was perfect, as I just completed a full nights sleep an hour before the game ended. It was then that I asked Jack to play our game (10 to 8). Barbara smelled the trap, and frantically tried to get Jack home and into bed -- to no avail. Jack was, as I figured, still "jellied up" and no way wanted to go to bed. (For those of you who don't know what "jellied up" means, start another thread!) The outcome was predictable, (the right game was 9 to 8 anyway) and I broke Jack and won some thousands. With Jack and Barb now broke, rather than loan them a substantial sum to get them started again, I took them to Chicago to live with me and my wife for a few months. Naturally, we went out hustling. Jack was unknown in Chi, and with his patented "lemon stall" we won big money. It was great times together, as Barb and Jack are wonderful people, and Jack is the greatest hustler who ever lived. Barb still sends us xmas cards every year even though she is Jewish. I love them both.
the Beard
Bank on, brothers! Old school pool.
I'm going to toot my own horn a little (not too unusual for me). I'm one of the few guys to ever trap Frisco Jack. It was in Detroit at the "Rack." Jack had a bad game with Wolfie, playing him 2 to 1, 1pocket on the snooker table. They played for about 48 hrs. straight and Jack finally got even and quit. It was a very draining game. Meanwhile, I was laying in the weeds waiting for the game to end. My timing was perfect, as I just completed a full nights sleep an hour before the game ended. It was then that I asked Jack to play our game (10 to 8). Barbara smelled the trap, and frantically tried to get Jack home and into bed -- to no avail. Jack was, as I figured, still "jellied up" and no way wanted to go to bed. (For those of you who don't know what "jellied up" means, start another thread!) The outcome was predictable, (the right game was 9 to 8 anyway) and I broke Jack and won some thousands. With Jack and Barb now broke, rather than loan them a substantial sum to get them started again, I took them to Chicago to live with me and my wife for a few months. Naturally, we went out hustling. Jack was unknown in Chi, and with his patented "lemon stall" we won big money. It was great times together, as Barb and Jack are wonderful people, and Jack is the greatest hustler who ever lived. Barb still sends us xmas cards every year even though she is Jewish. I love them both.
the Beard
Bank on, brothers! Old school pool.
Brilliant story!freddy the beard said:
Please expand on Jack and your adventures in Chicago.
And spare a line on two with a description of what "Jellied Up" means. I guess it refers to the adrenaline of competition still pumping through the veins. It's hardly off topic.
Jellied up
There will be adrenaline pumping, but it wont be from competition, it will come from a chemical blast. "Jelly" comes from the physical similarity Jelly Beans have to various upper and downer pills. So when you "Jelly up" you are preparing chemically for a match. In my story with Jack, he was still flying from the speed "Jelly Beans" he had taken for his 48 hr match with Wolfie. He wasnt due to come down for many more hours, sleep was not an option. The negative side of Jelly comes when you have been performing for several days behind it. You want to play, you feel like you can play, and you are physically able to keep playing, but after 2 days your play deteriorates badly. You can only function against a player who has been doing the same thing as you, and has been up the same amount of time. When I stepped in to play him, fresh and non-chemically altered, it was no contest.
Now, after all that bragging about how smart I am, I must confess
that I have been on the other side of that move, and have gone off like a rocket behind Jelly many times. A classic example of why knowledge is not necessarily power.
the Beard
Bank on, brothers!
Old school pool.
Colin Colenso said:Brilliant story!
Please expand on Jack and your adventures in Chicago.
And spare a line on two with a description of what "Jellied Up" means. I guess it refers to the adrenaline of competition still pumping through the veins. It's hardly off topic.
There will be adrenaline pumping, but it wont be from competition, it will come from a chemical blast. "Jelly" comes from the physical similarity Jelly Beans have to various upper and downer pills. So when you "Jelly up" you are preparing chemically for a match. In my story with Jack, he was still flying from the speed "Jelly Beans" he had taken for his 48 hr match with Wolfie. He wasnt due to come down for many more hours, sleep was not an option. The negative side of Jelly comes when you have been performing for several days behind it. You want to play, you feel like you can play, and you are physically able to keep playing, but after 2 days your play deteriorates badly. You can only function against a player who has been doing the same thing as you, and has been up the same amount of time. When I stepped in to play him, fresh and non-chemically altered, it was no contest.
Now, after all that bragging about how smart I am, I must confess
that I have been on the other side of that move, and have gone off like a rocket behind Jelly many times. A classic example of why knowledge is not necessarily power.
the Beard
Bank on, brothers!
Old school pool.
OldHasBeen
Tom Ferry
I think Jack has a bad back!
At last years DCC, Jack told me his back is bothering him and keeping him from playing much.
The best quote about good hustling came from Jack -
"Show me a guy (with lots of money) that plays pool and believes what he sees & I'll get him"!
TY & GL
BackPocket9Ball said:
At last years DCC, Jack told me his back is bothering him and keeping him from playing much.
The best quote about good hustling came from Jack -
"Show me a guy (with lots of money) that plays pool and believes what he sees & I'll get him"!
TY & GL