Lou Butera

9BallPaul

9BallPaul

Banned
We don't hear much about him any more, but "Machine Gun" Lou Butera once ran 150 balls against Allen Hopkins in just 21 minutes. That works out to roughly one ball every 10 seconds, with no time allotted for racking. If you think that's not impressive, try it yourself.

He was runner up to Irving Crane in the 1972 world championship in L.A.

Unsure if he's still living. But there's gotta be some stories out there. I tried a search of this forum, but got nothing.

Anyone?
 
Last edited:
9BallPaul said:
We don't hear much about him any more, but "Machine Gun" Lou Butera once ran 150 balls against Alan Hopkins in just 21 minutes. That works out to roughly one ball every 10 seconds, with no time allotted for racking. If you think that's not impressive, try it yourself.

He was runner up to Irving Crane in the 1972 world championship in L.A.

Unsure if he's still living. But there's gotta be some stories out there. Anyone?
Click to expand...

He's still alive and kicking, and not playing bad at all. I last saw him at the IPT World Open in Reno.....

A younger kid comes up to Lou and says, "Machine Gun, would you mind autographing my cue ball?"

Lou says, "Sure kid, but you have to get Eva Mataya Lawrence to sign your ball first... and then I'll sign it, OK? I promise."

The kid dashes off into the distance and disappears for a while. He scurries back and says, "*PANTING* Here ya go Mr. Butera, I got her to sign it!!!"

Lou looks at the ball and signs his name just above Eva's signature.

He turns to look at me and says, "That's the only way I'm ever gonna get on top of her."
 
SpiderWebComm said:
He's still alive and kicking, and not playing bad at all. I last saw him at the IPT World Open in Reno.....

A younger kid comes up to Lou and says, "Machine Gun, would you mind autographing my cue ball?"

Lou says, "Sure kid, but you have to get Eva Mataya Lawrence to sign your ball first... and then I'll sign it, OK? I promise."

The kid dashes off into the distance and disappears for a while. He scurries back and says, "*PANTING* Here ya go Mr. Butera, I got her to sign it!!!"

Lou looks at the ball and signs his name just above Eva's signature.

He turns to look at me and says, "That's the only way I'm ever gonna get on top of her."
Click to expand...

LMAO...good one. Johnnyt
 
I met Lou last year at the BCA event in Vegas - he was there attending the Hall of Fame dinner.

I told him that I was a big fan, and had seen him play straight pool in the mid-1970's in Pittsburgh at the Hawk's Nest. He happily recalled those events and said, "Yah, that was back when I could PLAY."

In the U.S. Open straight pool tournament (?2000?) they instituted a 45 second shot clock - the first time most of the competitors had ever played 14.1 with a shot clock. They asked Lou Butera what he thought of the shot clock issue, he said "I just wish it was a 5 second shot clock."
 
Lou autograph need

Williebetmore said:
I met Lou last year at the BCA event in Vegas - he was there attending the Hall of Fame dinner.

I told him that I was a big fan, and had seen him play straight pool in the mid-1970's in Pittsburgh at the Hawk's Nest. He happily recalled those events and said, "Yah, that was back when I could PLAY."

In the U.S. Open straight pool tournament (?2000?) they instituted a 45 second shot clock - the first time most of the competitors had ever played 14.1 with a shot clock. They asked Lou Butera what he thought of the shot clock issue, he said "I just wish it was a 5 second shot clock."
Click to expand...
Anyone know how I can contact Lou ,by phone or E-mail??
 
SpiderWebComm said:
He's still alive and kicking, and not playing bad at all. I last saw him at the IPT World Open in Reno.....

A younger kid comes up to Lou and says, "Machine Gun, would you mind autographing my cue ball?"

Lou says, "Sure kid, but you have to get Eva Mataya Lawrence to sign your ball first... and then I'll sign it, OK? I promise."

The kid dashes off into the distance and disappears for a while. He scurries back and says, "*PANTING* Here ya go Mr. Butera, I got her to sign it!!!"

Lou looks at the ball and signs his name just above Eva's signature.

He turns to look at me and says, "That's the only way I'm ever gonna get on top of her."
Click to expand...

Neat story. Has he slowed down? Is he only semi-automatic Butera now? :)
 
I took a lesson from his son Sal about 15 years ago at his shop in North Hollywood. As I recall (dimly) it was an unremarkable lesson, but I wonder what Sal's up to these days. Wasn't he competing with the pros back then?

pj
chgo
 
I used to play poker weekly with Lou in a home game at Bert Schrager's and Lou was fast even in THAT game....:) His son Sal also covered a table for my brother a zillion years ago and was a pretty good mechanic, and he is still gambling here in Los Angeles, his name came up a few days ago as a player in a local tournament. I know Lou is still alive and well, he had a room in Vegas but I believe he recently sold it.

Lou is a GREAT guy and a legend to boot.

Joe
 
catscradle said:
Shame the CD is no longer available.
Click to expand...
I believe that Mike Haines (smhaines@sbcglobal.net) has a few copies of a DVD we used to sell and the DVD has all the interviews on in in the form of MP3 files.
 
BillPorter said:
I believe that Mike Haines (smhaines@sbcglobal.net) has a few copies of a DVD we used to sell and the DVD has all the interviews on in in the form of MP3 files.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. MP3 means that they would be playable on the computer rather than through a cd player, right?
Anybody, not just Bill. Can these be loaded onto an IPod? They'd be great to listen to during a long ride.
 
Lou is still around. Plays real sporty. I played him in the BCA Open a few years back and he gave me a real run for my money. Real nice guy and nobody seems to have mentioned that Lou holds a 14.1 World Championship Title and is himself an inductee in the BCA Hall of Fame!!! :eek:

His son Sal plays real strong! He and I were sparring parterns while the IPT tournaments were around. He was stringing five packs of 8-ball like it was no big deal. I have not seen him around much lately. Though he was in the billiards business for probably 20 years, I understand that he recently joined another industry. More power to him!
 
catscradle said:
Thanks for the info. MP3 means that they would be playable on the computer rather than through a cd player, right?
Anybody, not just Bill. Can these be loaded onto an IPod? They'd be great to listen to during a long ride.
Click to expand...
I don't have an iPod, but a quick Google search suggests that iPods play MP3 files just fine. They'll play on a computer, of course, and you can probably find a way to convert them to just about any format you choose.
 
ghostball said:
LOU BUTERA lives in VEGAS and has a billiard room there.
Click to expand...

I think he sold it, if memory serves me right!

Here's a little Butera smut I found when I was researching him for another project: Lou Butera appeared in several films as an actor and technical advisor. He had a cameo appearance, as himself, in the pool hustling comedy film The Baltimore Bullet and as a pool player in Police Academy 6: City Under Siege. Butera was the technical advisor in the 1984 film Racing to the Moon, starring Sean Penn.

Here is my one and only Lou Butera picture taken in December 2005 at the IPT King of the Hill Shootout in Orlando, Florida. He seemed like a jolly man! :)

JAM
 

Attachments

  • 450px-Lou_Butera[1].jpg
    450px-Lou_Butera[1].jpg
    46 KB · Views: 536
A Class Act

Lou Butera is a fine man and great player. In the mid 80's I met Lou as he was playing at the Akron Open. He took the time to talk to me; he made me feel appreciated as a fan. 20 years later, his temperment was no different...he took time again as a hall of famer to remember some stories of old. Truly a class act!

My first mentor in pool, Greg Ford, painted a picture of Lou (based on the classic photo) that Lou signed for him at a tournament.

MVC-017F.jpg


Here is one of Lou's best shots, recalled for an article in Billiard Digest Magazine in 1986.

MVC-018F.jpg


Here is a much more contemporary picture of Lou. He is next to Ed Kelly and still looks ready to play!

MVC-001F.jpg
 
Last edited:
Williebetmore said:
I told him that I was a big fan, and had seen him play straight pool in the mid-1970's in Pittsburgh at the Hawk's Nest. He happily recalled those events and said, "Yah, that was back when I could PLAY."
Click to expand...
WBM, where in Pittsburgh was the Hawk's Nest? I'm originally from Pittsburgh (South Hills), and used to play downtown at McGann's in the early 1960's.

Art
 
I saw Mr. Butera put on an exhibition in Austin, Texas, sometime around 1976. It was at a poolroom called In the Pocket on Guadalupe(the drag), right across from the UT campus. An icecream shop, call The Nothing Strikes Back Icecream Parlor adjoined the poolroom (complete with black-light lighting). Any of you Austinites remember this?

Lou was very impressive and after his exhibition, asked if anyone had questions. I asked him what his opinion was concerning Minnesota Fats, because I had heard varying comments about his level of play. He said something like 'Fats only played in one pro tournament and he came in dead last, and I have the newspaper clipping at home to prove it.' I have since learned on this forum that many others have much more respect for Fats' game. I don't know why Lou felt that way, but that's what he said.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top