Watchez is here.....busy day at work.
Anyways, and I have posted many of this before....but here is what I know and don't know: (sorry for the long read but I have been accused by one person on here over and over that I don't know what I am talking about so I feel the need to post a lot of what I know to justify myself).
The first time I saw Louie was 1987. I went to the pool room as a customer that knew nothing about pool but banging balls with my friends. I saw the roped off pit table, Louie wearing some World Championship 9 ball hoodie, drilling some guy and beating him out of his cash and his pool stick. Afterwards, Louie turned to a guy to pay him $10 for a ride home. I had no idea what I was actually watching or how good Louie was compared to the rest of the world but was thinking, this guy plays this good and has to pay for a ride home.
Louie was the greatest 9 ball player that I ever saw. He was still playing great and making shots that no one else could at the time of his death. A year before he died I saw him give Joe Woolford (probably rated the best 9 ball player besides Louie in St Louis at the time) the 6 ball and rob him out of 3 sets. It was a joke and the best 9 ball that I ever saw played - even til this day. Joe's backer got up on a chair, hooting and hollering at one point while Louie was shooting. Louie turned to him and said, 'Dave - I don't care what you do. You can yell, scream, jump up and down, just don't touch me or the table. I am hypnotized and can't be sharked'. Dave proceeded to get up on a chair screaming and waving his arms then ran around the table like a mad man as Louie ran out. Louie didn't need clean balls or perfect conditions to play good.
Louie's main hang outs in St Louis in the early years were Affton Billiards, Grand and Olive Billiards (the big pool room that Manwon mentioned) and Saratoga Bowling lanes (also mentioned). Later on he was the house pro at both what is now The Break in Cahokia Il and the Sportscenter in South County.
The Sportscenter was owned by Mark Obrien and Larry Labarbera at the time. Larry is still one of the owners. Larry was Louie's best friend. There was no other best friend - Larry was it. Larry still has his US Open trophy, pictures and posters signed by Louie are hung up in his pool room, and has a few of Louie's cues. He mainly played with a Meucci, as far as I know.
I never heard of Louie ever running with Danny Harriman. Not saying that this is 100% not true, but I again have never heard of this. And if he did, I would think it would have been for one short trip.
Louie ran with Rusty Brandemeier, Tom 'OldHasBeen' Ferry, Jimmy Brooks, Roger Reel (sp?), Larry Labarbera, and Lil Ricky Van Uum.
Louie was also an 'owner' with Larry Hubbard and Terry Bell in what is now the APA. They bought Louie out for some small sum - like less than $5000 and Louie was in the process of trying to sue the APA at the time of his death. He was claiming that he wasn't given all the facts of the league/business.
Louie had his issues. As many of the pool rooms back then were no alcohol, he would hide bottles under the tables up in the workings of the table. He would pretend to go to sleep and get the bottle to take a swig.
Louie could do a flawless impression of Al Pacino in Scarface. He would do a whole scene, reciting the words exactly for 10 minutes. It was hilarious and good.
Louie was scared of his own shadow and never a tough guy or fighter. The first time I ever went anywhere with Louie, Larry warned me not to give him any money. Of course Louie talked me into giving him $60 to play a poker machine. When he was up $200, I asked him for my $60 back (at the time $60 was about 10% of my bank roll), and Louie started to stall. I told Louie (and wasn't serious) that I would go to my car, get a baseball bat and take my money back. Louie broked down in almost tears and gave me the money.
This is what makes me say - NO WAY did Louie kill himself. He wouldn't have had the guts to do it, no matter how messed up he was at the time. It was a gun not a shot gun. I was told that there were no powder burns on his hands, meaning he could not have fired the gun. He was found in a house, I believe dining room, of the house in Arizona that he was staying at - owned by his girlfriend (some say wife) at the time who was a rich, older lady. I am not sure what really happened with any investigation. Louie called The Sportscenter the night he died a few times. Cliff Joyner was playing Mark Jarvis one pocket on the pit table. I talked to him. He was on a cordless phone, walking in the street outside his house where he was staying. He was not drunk, he was not on anything. He was relaying how he just got back from the tournament, tried to gamble after the tournament and no one would play him. He burned $200 in fifty dollar bills trying to get a game. He had hit a slot machine for $50K or something like that. A few hours later, the call came in that Louie was dead.
Louie is buried in Jefferson Baracks in South St Louis, as he was an Air Force veteran.
It is a shame that Louie left us so early. If he was still around, I think I would have even better stories to tell.
