Bobby Cotton

Fatboy

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
He is a great road player from the golden years of pool and has a great book about his adventures comming out very soon. I'm taking the liberty of making this public, I had a vote on the title here a while back.

The good news is his book is comming soon real soon. I havent read it(just a few out takes and they were great), I know for almost the past year he has worked on it dilligently and its going to be one heck of a book. Man does he have a great memory he is amazing that way. For example when we play pool together, 2 hours later we will be talking about a shot and set the balls up EXACTLY like they were, when I cant remember-but when he sets them it refreshes my mind.And he is right on the $$, man I wish I was that sharp. With a memory like that were gonna get a great glimpse into the past of one of greatest road men ever. Big $$$, guns, fights, girls, moves, and more. It isnt rated G. Its real.


Also sadly his kitty cat of 20 years passed away today, and he loved his kitty more than pool, more than anything I think. I know him well and I feel just terrible for him tonight.

Its been a tough day....

If you havent heard of him you will after this book, he posts here sometimes.
 
I cant wait ! Thanks for letting us know about this , if you can let us know when it is out and where to get it, I just love reading stories of how it used to be . Thanks again << ED
 
Knowing Cotton, he'll have plenty of stories that are sure to entertain. He was a well-traveled player who knew many of the great players going back to the 70's. I look forward to reading his book.
 
Cotton was a very well known pool hustler of the late 60's thru the 80's. He can still play too, don't worry about that. Bobby was a high level shortstop, who could play with the top players, if the game was right. And he knew how to make it right, and more importantly, take it off! He picked his spots pretty good and knew how to make money. There was little need to test himself against the big guns.

I played Cotton twice, once in Ohio and once in Bakersfield. I think we're 1-1, since I broke even the second time :cool:. He was a ball above me at all games except Banks. We played some Banks as recently as last year, with Mad Max and Eric. I got zeroed in pretty good that day. I was zingin' 'em, ain't that right Bobby boy? You always did bring out the best in me. I knew I had to play good around you, or I would get buried.
 
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8ballEinstein said:
Knowing Cotton, he'll have plenty of stories that are sure to entertain. He was a well-traveled player who knew many of the great players going back to the 70's. I look forward to reading his book.
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Bobby is great people. I travelled with him a couple of times years ago and had a blast. I have plenty of my own stories after scuffling around with him. A real unforgettable persona in a time where road players were still relatively unknown.

Best,
Mike
 
In Fatboy's thread about the book title earlier this year, Robert's sister posted a couple times, saying that Robert LeBlanc was a road player for 40 years but that he wasn't a hustler and did not want to give that impression. If that's true, I think it will be really interesting to read about life on the road playing straightforward money games rather than the scuffle of the hustle (to coin a phrase?).
 
Fatboy said:
He is a great road player from the golden years of pool and has a great book about his adventures comming out very soon. I'm taking the liberty of making this public, I had a vote on the title here a while back.

The good news is his book is comming soon real soon. I havent read it(just a few out takes and they were great), I know for almost the past year he has worked on it dilligently and its going to be one heck of a book. Man does he have a great memory he is amazing that way. For example when we play pool together, 2 hours later we will be talking about a shot and set the balls up EXACTLY like they were, when I cant remember-but when he sets them it refreshes my mind.And he is right on the $$, man I wish I was that sharp. With a memory like that were gonna get a great glimpse into the past of one of greatest road men ever. Big $$$, guns, fights, girls, moves, and more. It isnt rated G. Its real.


Also sadly his kitty cat of 20 years passed away today, and he loved his kitty more than pool, more than anything I think. I know him well and I feel just terrible for him tonight.

Its been a tough day....

If you havent heard of him you will after this book, he posts here sometimes.
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Thanks for letting us know. I'm looking forward to it.
 
Robert LeBlanc

Robert LeBlanc aka Bobby Cotton has a book coming out soon that is a no holds barred view of pool hustling in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Cotton spent some years in the cutthroat pool underworld that defined Chicago in those years. If you traveled the bar circuit in those days beating tough players wasnt all you had to worry about. There was a slew of killers and stick up men you had to deal with on a daily basis. Guys like Fat Chico would stick up an action spot one day, and then show up the next day staking somebody else to play. I was fortunate enough to have Bobby send me a few preview chapters.
It wasnt all horror back then. Bobby was a good lookin kid and those action bars provided other "action" also.


Beard
 
Sounds like it will be a cool read. Any idea of the publishing date? I'd be glad to pre-order it now. Johnnyt
 
Mikjary said:
Bobby is great people. I travelled with him a couple of times years ago and had a blast. I have plenty of my own stories after scuffling around with him. A real unforgettable persona in a time where road players were still relatively unknown.

Best,
Mike
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I'm sure he is. But how many of him are there?
 
AtLarge said:
In Fatboy's thread about the book title earlier this year, Robert's sister posted a couple times, saying that Robert LeBlanc was a road player for 40 years but that he wasn't a hustler and did not want to give that impression. If that's true, I think it will be really interesting to read about life on the road playing straightforward money games rather than the scuffle of the hustle (to coin a phrase?).
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She wasn't there! Bobby was a hustler and a good one at that! If he tries to tell us otherwise he's lying. Yes, he played good players, lots of them. But did he hustle pool - Most definitely!
You can ask Little Joe or Freddie about that and a couple of other guys (Island Drive) who post on here.
 
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Fatboy said:
...a great glimpse into the past of one of greatest road men ever. Big $$$, guns, fights, girls, moves, and more. It isnt rated G. Its real.


Also sadly his kitty cat of 20 years passed away today,

Its been a tough day....

.
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That strikes me as significantly giggly, for some reason.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing the book

I talked to Robert several times about his book and sent him a bunch of old pool pics for his use in the book. Even though he was only a teenager back in the 1960s, he came to know several people in the Dallas pool scene of the 1960s whom I also knew, so we traded stories about several of them in several phone calls.

I think he uses a story or two that involve a tush hog named Vernon Litton. When Robert asked if I had a photo of Vernon, I told him I didn't have one but I knew that Vernon had some old photos of himself and I'd try to secure one for him. Mike Haines, who lives in Dallas, drove over to Vernon's house and borrowed a couple of his old photos of himself. Mike took the photos to Fed Ex/Kinkos and had them scanned. The scanned images were emailed to me and I sent them along to Robert. I sure hope he was able to put the photos in the book! This is just an example of the lengths Robert went to in order to gather material for his book.

As for his cat dying, I know this was a real blow for Robert. The cat, Bootsie, had been his pet for 20 years and he was really attached to the animal. Any of us pet owners know how distraught you can become when your pet is ill and dying.

I hope Robert is able to get to the DCC this year to promote the book and maybe play a little pool as well.:wink:
 
Class act

freddy the beard said:
Robert LeBlanc aka Bobby Cotton has a book coming out soon that is a no holds barred view of pool hustling in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Cotton spent some years in the cutthroat pool underworld that defined Chicago in those years. If you traveled the bar circuit in those days beating tough players wasnt all you had to worry about. There was a slew of killers and stick up men you had to deal with on a daily basis. Guys like Fat Chico would stick up an action spot one day, and then show up the next day staking somebody else to play. I was fortunate enough to have Bobby send me a few preview chapters.
It wasnt all horror back then. Bobby was a good lookin kid and those action bars provided other "action" also.


Beard
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Robert LeBlanc, has always been a class act that hustled as well as anyone, i'm sure that if there was anyone that could write about the 60's through the 80's it would have to be Cotton. Can't wait to reminisce with someone that really knew how it really was.:yeah:

Billy I.
 
wincardona said:
Robert LeBlanc, has always been a class act that hustled as well as anyone, i'm sure that if there was anyone that could write about the 60's through the 80's it would have to be Cotton. Can't wait to reminisce with someone that really knew how it really was.:yeah:

Billy I.
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Hey, what do you know about the subject? :p

Honestly, Billy, you should do the same thing (book). At very least, wouldn't it be great to have a few of the ol timers collaborate on a book?


Eric
 
Eric. said:
Hey, what do you know about the subject? :p

Honestly, Billy, you should do the same thing (book). At very least, wouldn't it be great to have a few of the ol timers collaborate on a book?


Eric
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As good as Cotton was, Billy was a couple of speeds above him, and everyone else for that matter. Billy was a legendary hustler and gambler in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Now he's just another old bum who likes to reminisce about the good ole days! :thumbup:
I don't want Billy to get a big head or anything.
 
jay helfert said:
As good as Cotton was, Billy was a couple of speeds above him, and everyone else for that matter. Billy was a legendary hustler and gambler in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Now he's just another old bum who likes to reminisce about the good ole days! :thumbup:
I don't want Billy to get a big head or anything.
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You have some great road stories too, young fella. Speakin' of books, I'm waiting for your second one. Chop, chop, dammit.


Eric
 
jay helfert said:
As good as Cotton was, Billy was a couple of speeds above him, and everyone else for that matter. Billy was a legendary hustler and gambler in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Now he's just another old bum who likes to reminisce about the good ole days! :thumbup:
I don't want Billy to get a big head or anything.
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I wasnt there to judge any of this, but I have been around for the last 25 years and Billy is more high profile than Cotton forsure, But that isnt awalys a good thing as being unknown has big advantages when being a hustler in its purest form-which is impossible now with cel phones that have cameras etc. So with that in mind being high profile dosent make you a good hustler-it works against you. I dont think there is a compairson here anyways, Billy and Cotton were both doing two different things during their respective careers at or near the hightest level. Just like JA he is done a completely different thing than either Billy, or Cotton. Three guys doing 3 different things within the same game.

As Far as who played better? Billy played 9 Ball better, thats all i'm gonna say. The other games banks, big CB bar-box, one hole. I'm not going to start that pissing contest-they both played real good. Better than most not as good as few.
 
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