Okay, What are you thankful for (pool)

jackpot · Nov 23, 2017

I know this has been done but let's do it again, what else you got to do.
I'm thankful that I watched in person multiple times the greatest (IMO)
player ever, Efren Reyes. I played many of best players to ever play
the game , Buddy, Louie, Greg Stevens, etc. many times, and was friends
with most of them. I am thankful to have been great friends with the
tremendous straight pool player Dick Lane, and to have been best man
at one of very best friends and great player Bob Vanover's wedding,
I miss them both.
I'm also very thankful Deanoc got back into pool. I have to admit, I
was more than a little hurt when he said he was through. I'm thankful
that I've mellowed, and instead of lashing out " well, that's great for
you, but what about me". I kept my feelings too myself and sure enough
he's back, and even called to say he has a couple of new cues for me
to borrow. I've been lucky and I am Thankful.
jack

Cuebuddy · Nov 23, 2017

jackpot said:
I know this has been done but let's do it again, what else you got to do.
I'm thankful that I watched in person multiple times the greatest (IMO)
player ever, Efren Reyes. I played many of best players to ever play
the game , Buddy, Louie, Greg Stevens, etc. many times, and was friends
with most of them. I am thankful to have been great friends with the
tremendous straight pool player Dick Lane, and to have been best man
at one of very best friends and great player Bob Vanover's wedding,
I miss them both.
I'm also very thankful Deanoc got back into pool. I have to admit, I
was more than a little hurt when he said he was through. I'm thankful
that I've mellowed, and instead of lashing out " well, that's great for
you, but what about me". I kept my feelings too myself and sure enough
he's back, and even called to say he has a couple of new cues for me
to borrow. I've been lucky and I am Thankful.
jack

I'm thankful that my kids have turned out well 3 of the 4 have made their way through a very tough college and have great jobs my last child is a senior in High school and will be off to college soon.
I am also glad we have a few members on the board like you and Deanoc who spice things up now and then.

book collector · Nov 23, 2017

I'm thankful I got to watch Efren play live so many times over the years.
We hear and read about all the great players who played the game but as far as I am concerned, there has never been a better, all around master of the game like Efren.
I have also never heard anyone say a bad word about Efren, which makes him even more amazing.

jay helfert · Nov 23, 2017

jackpot said:
I know this has been done but let's do it again, what else you got to do.
I'm thankful that I watched in person multiple times the greatest (IMO)
player ever, Efren Reyes. I played many of best players to ever play
the game , Buddy, Louie, Greg Stevens, etc. many times, and was friends
with most of them. I am thankful to have been great friends with the
tremendous straight pool player Dick Lane, and to have been best man
at one of very best friends and great player Bob Vanover's wedding,
I miss them both.
I'm also very thankful Deanoc got back into pool. I have to admit, I
was more than a little hurt when he said he was through. I'm thankful
that I've mellowed, and instead of lashing out " well, that's great for
you, but what about me". I kept my feelings too myself and sure enough
he's back, and even called to say he has a couple of new cues for me
to borrow. I've been lucky and I am Thankful.
jack

Very cool Jackpot. I'm also thankful for the time I spent around the greatest players of the last half century. Traveling at different times with Ronnie, Richie Florence, Jimmy Reid, Danny Medina, Tang Hoa, Keith and Louie was quite an experience to say the least. Thankfully, there were more good times then bad anyway. We always made money and I was smart enough to get home with my share almost every time.

Ronnie was the smartest guy I ever saw work a poolroom or bar. He would get guys betting ten times as much as they ever had before, bust them, and have them asking when he's coming back. He was a lovable con! Richie had no quit in him. He could be stuck twenty games and he would still find a way to come out on top. After he made a score Richie would put $1,000 in a couple of envelopes and mail it home to himself! Medina was a cold blooded killer for the cash. Nothing and nobody could get in his way! Tang was a the nicest pool assassin I ever saw. He beat everyone he played for money, including Alex, Santos, Marcus Chamat and Morro Paez among others. Jimmy Reid was the cockiest guy who ever walked in a poolroom. He scared me more than once with his bravado. Even as a youngster he would take on anyone. And after it was over he always wanted to gamble with me to try to get my share. :smile:

Keith and Louie were the two funniest guys to watch play. They both had this spontaneous humor that was hilarious. Anywhere they played the place came to a halt and everyone wanted to watch them in action. Keith could play any game, right or left handed and he was fearless for the cash. He could be playing for all his dough and it still looked like he was practicing. No one ever shot a big shot under pressure any better than the Ether! Louie had a little too much gamble in him, offering spots to good players and always having to outrun the nuts. But when he found that high gear it didn't matter. The only thing that got him was time. He played until he was either exhausted or broke, kind of like Greg Stevens. I had to quit on him many times because I knew he was ready to go off. I would take my end and leave. He would find his way back to the motel hours later, busted every time!

But I wouldn't trade my years in the poolroom for anything. All I remember is the laughter and the fun we had. The bad times are like water under the bridge.

cueman · Nov 23, 2017

I am most thankful for all the great friends I have made during the 30 years I have been in the the billiard business.

HereWeGo · Nov 23, 2017

Like Cueman I am thankful for the people I have met along the way. I have lived all over the country and my passion for pool has always made it easy to connect with like minded people.

AnitoKid · Nov 24, 2017

"But I wouldn't trade my years in the poolroom for anything.
All I remember is the laughter and the fun we had.
The bad times are like water under the bridge." summed it well.

I have always loved your stories and anecdotes, Jay.

AnitoKid

jay helfert said:
Very cool Jackpot. I'm also thankful for the time I spent around the greatest players of the last half century. Traveling at different times with Ronnie, Richie Florence, Jimmy Reid, Danny Medina, Tang Hoa, Keith and Louie was quite an experience to say the least. Thankfully, there were more good times then bad anyway. We always made money and I was smart enough to get home with my share almost every time.

Ronnie was the smartest guy I ever saw work a poolroom or bar. He would get guys betting ten times as much as they ever had before, bust them, and have them asking when he's coming back. He was a lovable con! Richie had no quit in him. We could be stuck twenty games and he would still find a way to come out on top. After he made a score Richie would put $1,000 in a couple of envelopes and mail it home to himself! Medina was a cold blooded killer for the cash. Nothing and nobody could get in his way! Tang was a the nicest pool assassin I ever saw. He beat everyone he played for money, including Alex, Santos, Marcus Chamat and Morro Paez among others. Jimmy Reid was the cockiest guy who ever walked in a poolroom. He scared me more than once with his bravado. Even as a youngster he would take on anyone. And after it was over he always wanted to gamble with me to try to get my share. :smile:

Keith and Louie were the two funniest guys to watch play. They both had this spontaneous humor that was hilarious. Anywhere they played the place came to a halt and everyone wanted to watch them in action. Keith could play any game, right or left handed and he was fearless for the cash. He could be playing for all his dough and it still looked like he was practicing. No one ever shot a big shot under pressure any better than the Ether! Louie had a little too much gamble in him, offering spots to good players and always having to outrun the nuts. But when he found that high gear it didn't matter. The only thing that got him was time. He played until he was either exhausted or broke, kind of like Greg Stevens. I had to quit on him many times because I knew he was ready to go off. I would take my end and leave. He would find his way back to the motel hours later, busted every time!

But I wouldn't trade my years in the poolroom for anything. All I remember is the laughter and the fun we had. The bad times are like water under the bridge.

deanoc · Nov 24, 2017

Putting my name in the same thread

with Buddy,Greg Stevens, Louie Roberts,Bob Van Over and Dick Lane

is a big surprise,I am figuring that Jackpot has decided to ask me to play even again

NO WAY

I did get to play with Greg Stevens right before he quit playing pool and went to Wichita
and opened a pool room,I played St Louie Louie and last saw him in Dallas at a pool room in
dallas,he was buying guitars and sold me his Balabushka,I also got Greg Stevens Balabushka
intrade for a 1973 blue mustang convertible ,

Remember Vernon Litton,he had Gregs cue and traded with me,

Jackpot aka Oak Cliff Shorty aka Jack Dean Potter holds the distinction
of getting the last Balabushka ever shipped and one of 3 of the last Gus Szamboti
cues shipped

Jacpot also was the cue maker Libra,along with Johnny Sanchez

He was also an amateur baseball player of some note who was not above bringing in a ringer
to play in the championship game,just to win the game

I was there when he made me wear a size medium uniform,I felt like
girl at the Jack la lane workout show,

but did not he let me play shortstop like he promised?!!!

no,he put me so far out in right field so I couldn't see the game
Them when i got a hit he took me out of the game
afraid I would be recognized,
dd i complain? No

After the game when I asked for my cut,
he said there was no money,it was for a trophy.
No cut? Me playing for fun?

A trophy?

I explained I was not a trophy player,but my pleas fell
on mute ears

So I took him for a partner in some high stakes golf
He did not show up till the back nine,
didn't help a single hole

So when I collected a couple of grand and offered him half

He demurred,looked sheepiskhy at the ground and said "he didn't deserve the dough
that he had not even helped"

told me to keep the cash,he was just glad I didn't lose

I was never so ashamed of Jackpot,refusing good money

I think he recovered quickly saying "AW shucks"

I am expecting Shorty over to borrow my only cue
sometime soon

You think ,he might offer me the money back?

Don't bet on it.

deanoc · Nov 24, 2017

One last Jackpot story

He had just met the future love of his life
The future Pam Potter

So he wanted to make a big impression

Jackpot takes us all to a fancy french place

on the menu it says "Famous for our French Cuisine"

Jack puts the menus aside and says he will order for everyone

This fancy waiter dressed in a Tuxedo comes by

Jack orders"That's exactly what we will have"Cuisine for 4"

But he doesn't stop there"Make mine with ketchup"

You had to see the look on the face of this dandy!!

He didn't know what to say,looked like he just swallowed
a canary

bstroud · Nov 24, 2017

jackpot said:
I know this has been done but let's do it again, what else you got to do.
I'm thankful that I watched in person multiple times the greatest (IMO)
player ever, Efren Reyes. I played many of best players to ever play
the game , Buddy, Louie, Greg Stevens, etc. many times, and was friends
with most of them. I am thankful to have been great friends with the
tremendous straight pool player Dick Lane, and to have been best man
at one of very best friends and great player Bob Vanover's wedding,
I miss them both.
I'm also very thankful Deanoc got back into pool. I have to admit, I
was more than a little hurt when he said he was through. I'm thankful
that I've mellowed, and instead of lashing out " well, that's great for
you, but what about me". I kept my feelings too myself and sure enough
he's back, and even called to say he has a couple of new cues for me
to borrow. I've been lucky and I am Thankful.
jack

Jack,

I will always be thankful for the Cotton Bowling Palace. The experiences I had there changed my life forever.

Bill S.

ceebee · Nov 24, 2017

I have been blessed very much. I'm still here after my 75th Birthday, I have a beautiful wife, my Mother is just about 100 years old, a big home (5600 sq ft), 3 nice cars, some money in the bank, a good business, lots of friends & a great family & I live in America. Thank You LORD...

deanoc · Nov 24, 2017

billy stroud

i am surprised jack didn't mention
your name in this group

i have heard him praise your game often
dean

franko · Nov 24, 2017

Thankful

Thankful for guys like Jay Helfert and all the rest of the Road Hustlers like Danny Dilerberto , Grady Mathews etc. who put their experiences down on paper to keep the real History of Pool in America alive.

bstroud · Nov 24, 2017

deanoc said:
billy stroud

i am surprised jack didn't mention
your name in this group

i have heard him praise your game often
dean

Dean,

While I played all the players Jack mentioned even many times, I think he considers me mostly a cue maker.

The friendship that Jack, Bill Porter and Alf Taylor formed with me at the Palace have remained with me for more than 50 years.

Bill S.

Ched · Nov 24, 2017

As mentioned before me -
1. I'm really grateful for some of the fantastic folks I've met through the game.
2. Some really great players willing to help me improve a bit. (yea - I prefer to play folks who shoot better than I do.)
3. Some of the great people who share what they know: Jay Helfert, Dr. Dave, Dr. Cue, Tor Lowry, Robert Byrne, Chopdoc, and many others who have posted quality help.
4. and folks who have really provided me good equipment with great advice. Dan Janes, The Schmelke family, Paul Huebler, "Hippie" Jimmy Marino, Heath Manning, and some good folks at Seyberts and PoolDawg.

As much as I do love a great cue, great shaft, wonderful table, quality balls - in the end it's all about the people. Sure there are a few jerks, but most of the ones I've met are good people.

deanoc · Nov 24, 2017

Jack thinks you were one great player

How you play today is one thing

Back at the Cotton Bowling Palace,many a great player came and went

Exactly how you rated with the Fox,San Jose Dick,Puckett, Fats,Alfie,
Jack or Potter is not for me to say

All I know is you were a really great player first and a cue maker second in my opinion

Those that thought different seldom won the money

plus I was afraid to play you 8 to 4

please forgive my knocking

Dean

garczar · Nov 24, 2017

I was a regular at the Tulsa Billiard Palace in its glory days. This was pre-casino and the action was non-stop. Got to see Buddy,Matlock, CJ, Dick Lane, Bill Stroud, George Brunt, The Goose and many others get down for the $$$. It was like pool fantasy-land. I'm glad i got to be there and miss it every day.

jay helfert · Nov 24, 2017

garczar said:
I was a regular at the Tulsa Billiard Palace in its glory days. This was pre-casino and the action was non-stop. Got to see Buddy,Matlock, CJ, Dick Lane, Bill Stroud, George Brunt, The Goose and many others get down for the $$$. It was like pool fantasy-land. I'm glad i got to be there and miss it every day.

You forgot one guy who may have been the best of them all when the bet got sky high and he was betting his own - James Walden!

Fat Randy was always good action around Tulsa as well. He would match up with anybody!

P.S. I got to see the generation before them as well, highlighted by Little Hand from Muskogee and Eufala. Two of the best hustlers I ever saw. Little Hand wouldn't get on the table for less than $25 a game in the 60's and he never hit a ball in practice. Eufala liked to start you out at $50 a game and work his way up! He (and Clem) were the best One Pocket players until Ronnie came along. Way back when.......

garczar · Nov 24, 2017

jay helfert said:
You forgot one guy who may have been the best of them all when the bet got sky high and he was betting his own - James Walden!

Fat Randy was always good action around Tulsa as well. He would match up with anybody!

P.S. I got to see the generation before them as well, highlighted by Little Hand from Muskogee and Eufala. Two of the best hustlers I ever saw. Little Hand wouldn't get on the table for less than $25 a game in the 60's and he never hit a ball in practice. Eufala liked to start you out at $50 a game and work his way up! He (and Clem) were the best One Pocket players until Ronnie came along. Way back when.......

Jay i don't know how i left out Walden. Saw him the other day. He's doin' ok and playin' a little. In '96 he played Coltrane 10-ahead for 10grand giving Mike the 8ball. Coltrane had James on the hill TWICE and got beat. James was a MONSTER in those days. Fatboy's health isn't great but he still comes in to sweat. A true character if there ever was one.

jackpot · Nov 24, 2017

Billy was my first pool idol

I first saw Billy Stroud at the Cotton Bowling Palace when I was about
15,or 16. I had to sneak in and hide in the crowd because you had to
be 18 to get in the pool room. I loved watching him play. His game was
so simple, so controlled, and solid. The best center ball player ever.
He let the cue ball take the natural angle, spinning the ball only when
absolutely necessary. I think that is why he didn't care what size or
condition the table was, bar table, 4x8, 41/2xx9 new cloth old cloth
no cloth, didn't matter to him. I have to admit I was proud to hang out
and become good friends with him and Alf Taylor at the Cotton Palace.
jack

Okay, What are you thankful for (pool)

AzB Silver Member

Mini cues

AzB Silver Member

Shoot Pool, not people

AzB Gold Member

♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫♬·¯·♩

And I kid you not!

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member

Deceased

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member

Deceased

"Hey ... I'm back"!

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member

Shoot Pool, not people

AzB Silver Member

AzB Silver Member