Some players I miss....

Terry Ardeno

Terry Ardeno

I still love my wife
Silver Member
Gary Spaeth....He passed on at the far too young age of 46. Man, could he fire in those banks! He was one of the most, if not THE most, aggressive bank players I ever saw. One of my all time favorite bankers, I regret that I never had the privilege of meeting him in person. I re-watch his Accu-Stats appearances often. What a talent!

Larry Lisciotti....Feb 9 will mark the 5 year anniversay of his death.
Even though he had been sick for a while, I remember how sad I was when I heard he died. I especially liked Larry. The very first time I met him, I congratulated him on winning the 1976 World 14.1 Championship. Since I wanted to ask him some more questions, I wanted to see if he was going to be a straight shooter with me or not. So I also said "And didn't you win the World 8 Ball Championship also?" He said "Not that I recall...." Then I knew he was telling the truth, so we kept talking. Very funny guy with lots of good stories. We got a picture together and it's one of the ones that hang in my pool room, along with pics of Billy, Grady, Shannon, Earl, Nick, etc. Saw him only another time after that. Gone way too soon.

Bill "Weenie Beanie" Staton....What a smooth, soothing graceful southern gentleman style of talking and commentating. What a stone cold killer style of gambling! It's best that Freddy chime in here on The Bean's gambling persona....I want him to rest in peace! I talked with him on the telephone a few times to get some of his pool info and stats. At the end of our first call, he thanked me for being interested in his career! Just such a nice man. Reminds me of JoeyA a lot.

Johnny Ervolino....the "Anti-Beanie!" The beloved "Velvet Foghorn" had a voice that sounded like a cartoon character, but he had as much pool knowledge as anyone. Especially "crafty" as a gambler, was sometimes not exactly "loyal" to his backer at the moment....When the term PHD (Pool Hall degree) was coined, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the inspiration for the phrase was Johnny. A more street savy player will be hard to find. I really think he liked the horses better than he did pool, but he was gifted at pool. He ran 361 balls in his late 60's! Despite his seemingly tough exterior, he had an exceptionally soft heart, IF he liked you!

I appreciate that Accu-Stats has helped preserve the memory of these great players.
 
The first time I really talked to Gary Spaeth was in Akron Ohio at Stracher's. I knew he could play but I didn't know he was such an elite banker. Earl was there and about 6-7 people were watching him warm up (Earl was a lot more chill then). Gary was warming up at the table beside him and after about 15 minutes Earl sat down and we all watched Gary warm up by breaking and then trying to bank all 9 balls on the table in. After Gary broke and banked out one rack Earl commented out loud If anybody ever wants to see a true bank champion just watch Gary for an hour, and then Earl said I don't know what it is about Ohio but there are more great players here then anywhere the tournaments are like trying to get through a mine field. Gary smiled and you could see that being reconized by the best 9ball player in the world was a great compliment.
 
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Wow...Hard to belive it's been that long. I remember Larry at VF the year before he passed away. He was still the hard drinker, and just as Willie Jopling and I were headed out of the Scanticon Hotel, to get some dinner, Larry passed out in the lobby, and the hotel desk called 911. We waited a couple of minutes, and the ambulance showed up to cart him off to the hospital. I heard later he was okay, but was over-imbibed, to say the least!
He sure was a great player!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Terry Ardeno said:
Larry Lisciotti....Feb 9 will mark the 5 year anniversay of his death. Even though he had been sick for a while, I remember how sad I was when I heard he died. I especially liked Larry. The very first time I met him, I congratulated him on winning the 1976 World 14.1 Championship. Since I wanted to ask him some more questions, I wanted to see if he was going to be a straight shooter with me or not. So I also said "And didn't you win the World 8 Ball Championship also?" He said "Not that I recall...." Then I knew he was telling the truth, so we kept talking. Very funny guy with lots of good stories. We got a picture together and it's one of the ones that hang in my pool room, along with pics of Billy, Grady, Shannon, Earl, Nick, etc. Saw him only another time after that. Gone way too soon.
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Leonard "Bugs" Rucker...another wold champion banker and 1P player that was a joy to watch. RIP Bugs.
 
To one of the finest people to ever grace this community, OHB. Tom may be gone but will not be forgotten. He was a gentleman and a class act!!
Rip
Tom Ferry
 
When I was much younger man, I had the pleasure of watching Gabby (Larry Hill) play. Among the older Houston area players, he was certainly a gem. Some say he played the 8 under Buddy... in his prime!!!.

While working at the 24 HR pool room, I saw Gabby play many champions for high stakes. His stroke was soooo smooth. I miss watching him play. Win or lose, he always made it look very natural.

The matches that stand out are as follows:

1). Gabby v. Medina (9-ball, even)
2). Gabby v. Rodolfo (9-ball, Gabby gets the 8)
3). Gabby v. Scotty T. (9-ball, even)

In the first match, Gabby loses to Danny. The fireworks were many, as Danny was on a roll. Mr. Medina won about 10K and quit. Gabby was hot, but let it slide as Danny told him in advance he had a time limit to play. Mr. Medina also added that he had just hit the number he owed his bookie anyway. Gabby laughed it off.

In the second match, Luat played flawlessly...AND WON HILL TO HILL 3 sets in a row. They played over a few days and Gabby lost between 5K and 10K. A local shortstop (Na-Na) was in with Gabby and added that "Luat took Gabby's pride." His comment rang true, as I later overheard Gabby say Luat "was going to make a wh*re out of him at this game." Needless to say, this match was unreal. Both men played extremely well (over .900 Acu-Stats easily) for three days. I was just glad I had a ringside seat.

In the third match, Gabby just straight smoked Scotty. Mr. Townsend came in off the road looking for action. Some of the local boys brought in Gabby and they got it on. Big money sets for hours and hours. In the end, Gabby got the cash... but not without a knock-down, drag out dog fight. This night was the first night I saw an 8 pack for big money. And the guy who brought it lost!!!

All in all, Gabby was a great, somewhat unknown, player. He played them all at one time or another. He went away on a long vacation 7 or 8 years ago. It sure is a shame because with that stroke of his, he sure had some game.

By the way, he played one hole better that he played 9-ball...and very few knew it! I am sure Jay or Terry have heard of this guy. He sure could dab it.
 
Terry Ardeno said:
Gary Spaeth....He passed on at the far too young age of 46. Man, could he fire in those banks! He was one of the most, if not THE most, aggressive bank players I ever saw. One of my all time favorite bankers, I regret that I never had the privilege of meeting him in person. I re-watch his Accu-Stats appearances often. What a talent!

Larry Lisciotti....Feb 9 will mark the 5 year anniversay of his death.
Even though he had been sick for a while, I remember how sad I was when I heard he died. I especially liked Larry. The very first time I met him, I congratulated him on winning the 1976 World 14.1 Championship. Since I wanted to ask him some more questions, I wanted to see if he was going to be a straight shooter with me or not. So I also said "And didn't you win the World 8 Ball Championship also?" He said "Not that I recall...." Then I knew he was telling the truth, so we kept talking. Very funny guy with lots of good stories. We got a picture together and it's one of the ones that hang in my pool room, along with pics of Billy, Grady, Shannon, Earl, Nick, etc. Saw him only another time after that. Gone way too soon.

Bill "Weenie Beanie" Staton....What a smooth, soothing graceful southern gentleman style of talking and commentating. What a stone cold killer style of gambling! It's best that Freddy chime in here on The Bean's gambling persona....I want him to rest in peace! I talked with him on the telephone a few times to get some of his pool info and stats. At the end of our first call, he thanked me for being interested in his career! Just such a nice man. Reminds me of JoeyA a lot.

Johnny Ervolino....the "Anti-Beanie!" The beloved "Velvet Foghorn" had a voice that sounded like a cartoon character, but he had as much pool knowledge as anyone. Especially "crafty" as a gambler, was sometimes not exactly "loyal" to his backer at the moment....When the term PHD (Pool Hall degree) was coined, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the inspiration for the phrase was Johnny. A more street savy player will be hard to find. I really think he liked the horses better than he did pool, but he was gifted at pool. He ran 361 balls in his late 60's! Despite his seemingly tough exterior, he had an exceptionally soft heart, IF he liked you!

I appreciate that Accu-Stats has helped preserve the memory of these great players.
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My memories of the above greats:
Gary spaeth: I was with jimmy Mataya in the bar at radisson hotel in kalamazoo,MI at US open One pocket tournament.Gary came and chit chatted with Jimmy.After few weeks he passed away.


larry Lisciotti: He is a very funny guy.we were not introduced to each other.It was in the bar in Holiday inn in Worcester, MA.He was sitting next to me talking talking to his friend about the match he played earlier in pro Billiard tour.he was telling his friend that he was able to win that match because of his excellant breaks.Every time he came to the table to break the rack he was seeing his wife`s face on the one ball and he started hitting the one ball very hard.By the way I heard that he was madly in love with his wife.


weeni Beani:I don`t remember the year.I was in a pool hall in Myrtle beach.He had a friend with him.they were laying a trap on me.I thought that was funny because they were trying to hustle a hustler.I told weeni beeni that he and his friend were wasting their time.


Johny Ervolino:It was oct/nov 1986 golden 8 Ball on queens Blvd,queens,NY.he agreed to play me but he stalled and did not play me.later he played another guy because it was a higher stake than the one I offered to play.

They were all greats.players from yester years are a different breed.:cool:
 
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Great post Terry as per normal, diseased or not it is good to here stories about these great players.
 
I miss Jimmy Caras and Tony Ellin. Tony played jam up and was a good friend to SO many people. Jimmy Caras was a Champion on and off the table. Great guy with a big heart who was very knowledgeable about the game. He had great stories that he told all the time, too!
 
I grew up with the old hustlers and there are not many of them left.

I miss Fountain Inn Red Willis. He always stirred action and was funnier than hell, mostly when he wasn't trying to be.

Eddie Burton is another one. Hard to get to know, but very likeable when you finally got to know him.

Mike
 
Pancho

Mike Templeton said:
I grew up with the old hustlers and there are not many of them left.

I miss Fountain Inn Red Willis. He always stirred action and was funnier than hell, mostly when he wasn't trying to be.

Eddie Burton is another one. Hard to get to know, but very likeable when you finally got to know him.

Mike
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I loved and dearly miss, Vince Brooklyn Pancho Carelli (not his real name, but that's the one they buried him with). A total hard-core, turned-out, merciless hustler just like Eddie The Hat Burton whom I also loved and was almost as treacherous as Pancho. Next to them, todays hustlers are sissies.

the Beard
 
freddy the beard said:
I loved and dearly miss, Vince Brooklyn Pancho Carelli (not his real name, but that's the one they buried him with). A total hard-core, turned-out, merciless hustler just like Eddie The Hat Burton whom I also loved and was almost as treacherous as Pancho. Next to them, todays hustlers are sissies.

the Beard
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I can't help it, as I gotta mention Loiue Roberts. Still one of the most entertaining players of all time and from one day to the next, you just never knew how great he was going to play or what he might say.
 
freddy the beard said:
I loved and dearly miss, Vince Brooklyn Pancho Carelli (not his real name, but that's the one they buried him with). A total hard-core, turned-out, merciless hustler just like Eddie The Hat Burton whom I also loved and was almost as treacherous as Pancho. Next to them, todays hustlers are sissies.

the Beard
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Pancho Carelli?
Vince Furio?

He was a character for sure, jacked up one-handed or not!!
 
Jack Colavita.

Great old time player from NJ. Jack nvr had a cross word about anybody, nor did anyone about him.


Eric
 
Mike Templeton said:
I grew up with the old hustlers and there are not many of them left.

I miss Fountain Inn Red Willis. He always stirred action and was funnier than hell, mostly when he wasn't trying to be.

Eddie Burton is another one. Hard to get to know, but very likeable when you finally got to know him.

Mike
Click to expand...
I really respected Fountain Inn Red. When I was first coming into being able to put a rack together, I found him in Greenville, SC. I played him on the bartable for $20 a game. I lost $200. He actually bought a Schon I had to ease the pain. That was in or around '90?
 
That's him

Voodoo Daddy said:
Pancho Carelli?
Vince Furio?

He was a character for sure, jacked up one-handed or not!!
Click to expand...

That's also him. That was his first alias. Neither name was his real monicker. He was actually Jewish and his real first name was Harvey.


the Beard
 
Terry Ardeno said:
Gary Spaeth....He passed on at the far too young age of 46. Man, could he fire in those banks! He was one of the most, if not THE most, aggressive bank players I ever saw. One of my all time favorite bankers, I regret that I never had the privilege of meeting him in person. I re-watch his Accu-Stats appearances often. What a talent!
Click to expand...


When I first got into pool I played in the same room as Gary. I got to get to know him fairly well over the years. Not only was he a fantastic banker he could play one pocket, straight pool and 9-ball with the best of them. On top of that he was a genuinely nice guy. I can't remember him even once shooing some younger up and coming player away when asked for advice. He always took the time to help out.
Rest in peace, Gary.
MULLY
 
crawfish said:
I really respected Fountain Inn Red. When I was first coming into being able to put a rack together, I found him in Greenville, SC. I played him on the bartable for $20 a game. I lost $200. He actually bought a Schon I had to ease the pain. That was in or around '90?
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I wonder if that's the same Schon he used until he died. He used that same cue for at least the last 12 years or swo that I knew him. It had red boxes I believe in the butt sleeve and points with a diamond in each point with red and other colored veneers.

Mike
 
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