Don Willis

From the interview with "patcheye"

If you’re not a good player you can’t be a hustler across the country and survive; you can’t do it. There are too many good players around. I guarantee you that if any of these players was to venture across the country playing 9-Ball or Straight Ball, they are going to be beat by people they have never seen in their life or never heard of. There are a lot of good pool players out there. I’ll give you a good example. The pool player from Canton, Ohio.

OnePocket.org: You mean Don Willis?
Jaffar Basheer: Don Willis. He played 9-Ball better than Wimpy.

OnePocket.org: Did you bump into Don Willis?
Jaffar Basheer: Yes, I did. He beat me in Cleveland when I first met him. I think they sent for him because I was beating so many people there. How many pool players have been around the world that you can’t beat? For instance, Don Willis and Wimpy Lassiter both went to Honolulu to play a man that I used to play every Sunday because I couldn’t believe what he was doing. I was stationed in Honolulu at the time and I used to go there every Sunday and play that man, a Chinaman. And Don Willis and Wimpy went there and couldn’t beat him. That’s back in the 60’s.

OnePocket.org: Do you know who that was?
Jaffar Basheer: I don’t know his name. But he owned a poolroom in downtown Honolulu. It was one of the few poolrooms I could go into because Hawaii at that particular time was as segregated as Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

OnePocket.org: In the 50’s?
Jaffar Basheer: Yes.

OnePocket.org: So he was called ‘The Chinaman’?
Jaffar Basheer: No, he was a Chinese man. He was a Chinese fellow. What his name was escapes me; I don’t remember. But I used to go there every Sunday and watch the band play and play him. I would play him 9-Ball for $2 and straight pool for $5. I just used to watch and see what he does on the pool table. It was amazing. Then, while we were traveling on the road, when I told him about that man, Rotation Slim told me how Wimpy and Willis went over there and couldn’t beat that man. So there are people all over the country that you might not be able to beat. There are a lot of good players. I know I’ve been beat by more strangers than I have by people I know.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Brian Hashimoto, I'm guessing....aka Hawiian Brian.
...by the 60s, he was also 'the man' at Cochran's in Frisco.

Brian was of Japanese descent
 
Low500 said:
[/COLOR]BULL....!!!

It didn't happen and it will never happen. (unless someone who's in on it is out on the street and does something)
Were any of the opposing bettors out there on the street WATCHING that so-called object ball....?
You pool room suckers will believe any of that old timey garbage because "so and so" said so..........
I watched Don Willis play Joe Cosgrove for some heavy money. Cosgrove busted him and sent him out begging for a walking stick. Lassiter was in with Willis and gave Willis hell for making the game in the first place.
How can you people BELIEVE in such nonsense....
:shakehead:
Click to expand...

Its just a story, it may or may not have been made. If it was made it might not have been on the up and up, who knows. It wouldn't be the first time a prop shot hasn't been on the square. Just like in a smooth parking lot water always gathers in the low spot, you can take a golf ball, baseball, or any kind of round object and with good speed control get similar results on each roll. He might have gotten 10-50 tries. Byrne's Treasury of Trick Shots in Pool and Billiards mentions a similar shot alleged to have been made by one of the Navarro brothers. As far as the match you claim to have watched where Willis lost, big deal, he lost a session. Who hasn't?
 
JB Cases said:
I have always loved the one where he played in a tournament and the promoter insisted he fill out a bio for the announcements and he didn't want to. The promoter said no bio no playing. So Don says give me the stack of bios and picks out one with a well-known champion's name that has a long list of tournament wins and scrawls across the top, "I beat him."
Click to expand...

John,

This was a true story but as usual you have your facts wrong.

When I started to make cues in Balt. and was still playing a lot of pool I went over to Beanie's Pool room to play in a tournament. Most of the best players of the day were there including Lassiter, Balsis, Crane and many others. At the players meeting Beanie passed out some forms for the players to fill out with the tournaments and titles they had won.

I of course had very little to fill out.

We all sent the forms to the front of the room and Beanie went through them.
At one point he stopped and said " Don, you didn't fill out your form". "Come up here and fill it out".

Willis was seated in front of me and reluctantly walked to the front of the room. Beanie handed him his form and Willis wrote a few words and placed it on the top of the pile.

The words were " I beat all these guys".

That was good enough for Beanie and everyone else in the room.

Lassiter once told me that Willis was the best 9 ball player he had ever seen play or played.

Kind of like when a reporter asked Eric Clapton what it felt like to be the best Guitar player in the World?

Clapton replied. " I wouldn't know. Ask Prince".

Bill S.
 
Low500 said:
[/COLOR]BULL....!!!

It didn't happen and it will never happen. (unless someone who's in on it is out on the street and does something)
Were any of the opposing bettors out there on the street WATCHING that so-called object ball....?
You pool room suckers will believe any of that old timey garbage because "so and so" said so..........
I watched Don Willis play Joe Cosgrove for some heavy money. Cosgrove busted him and sent him out begging for a walking stick. Lassiter was in with Willis and gave Willis hell for making the game in the first place.
How can you people BELIEVE in such nonsense....
:shakehead:
Click to expand...

So Willis was giving weight is what it sounds like too me. That's not losing even.
 
True story about Don Willis

I was a college kid, hanging out at Paddy's 7-11 Pool Hall on Broadway, above the Metropole Cafe near 51st Street in NYC.
Walter Tevis' book, "The Hustler," had just been made into a movie and pool was hot in NYC. It was a late Spring Friday night, I believe, in 1965 when Don Willis and Dean Chance strode into Paddy's. They were both wearing white linen suits and cowboy hats. I never saw anything like it. Johnny Ervolino, Pots 'n Pans, Brooklyn Jimmy, Fast Eddie, Slim, New York Blackie, Deano....they were all there. The entire room turned their attention to Willis and Chance, who were fooling around on a 5x10 billiard table.
After joking around and missing most of their shots, Willis worked the crowd, masterfully, into a proposition bet: he said that he could play a billiard by hitting the cue ball into the red ball, then jumping it off the table, running the cue ball across the floor and then completing the billiard on the floor by touching the other cue ball, which was about thirty feet away, nestled next to the foot of a Brunswick Gold Crown across the room. Willis and Chance were laughing and joking about how impossible such a shot really was, as if anyone was stupid enough try even try it. Dean Chance, who had already won the Cy Young Award in the American League, tried to shoot it and couldn't even jump the table with the cue ball. He "paid" Willis some money and then said that nobody could make that shot. Willis played the crowd some more and drew them in for the kill. He "bet" Chance, I think it was $1000, that he could make it if he got three tries. On the first shot, he almost miscued, missed by a mile, and there were snickers heard all over the room. Now, Don moved in for the kill. He side bet with anybody for any amount before the second shot. A few guys in the room were holding the stakes. I don't know what the total bet was, but it was a couple of thousand at least. Now, Don Willis chalked up, jacked up, and struck the cue ball perfectly. It jumped the table, ran along the uneven and worn out floor boards of Paddy's, and slowly came to rest as it struck the other cue ball, which Willis had "casually" placed against one of the feet of the old Gold Crown.
The entire room erupted. Men were almost falling down, laughing, gasping, pointing and shouting. Don collected the money and he offered to bet again because he said that it was a lucky shot and he wanted to give everyone a chance to get their money back. There were no takers. Then Willis and Dean Chance left Paddy's.
I never saw either of them again. I didn't even learn Don Willis' name until years later when I recounted this story to George Fels. George told me that Willis played the same con in Chicago at Bensinger's, where the cue ran down a flight of stairs. The gimmick, of course, is that Willis would go into the room when nobody was there several days before and figure out where the cue ball would naturally come to rest on the uneven floor.
The rest was simply taking candy from a baby. This story is true, although I don't know who was on the "in" and who was on the "out" of the con.

I was there and I saw it.

Karl Kantrowitz,
New Jersey
 
bstroud said:
John,

This was a true story but as usual you have your facts wrong.

When I started to make cues in Balt. and was still playing a lot of pool I went over to Beanie's Pool room to play in a tournament. Most of the best players of the day were there including Lassiter, Balsis, Crane and many others. At the players meeting Beanie passed out some forms for the players to fill out with the tournaments and titles they had won.

I of course had very little to fill out.

We all sent the forms to the front of the room and Beanie went through them.
At one point he stopped and said " Don, you didn't fill out your form". "Come up here and fill it out".

Willis was seated in front of me and reluctantly walked to the front of the room. Beanie handed him his form and Willis wrote a few words and placed it on the top of the pile.

The words were " I beat all these guys".

That was good enough for Beanie and everyone else in the room.

Lassiter once told me that Willis was the best 9 ball player he had ever seen play or played.

Kind of like when a reporter asked Eric Clapton what it felt like to be the best Guitar player in the World?

Clapton replied. " I wouldn't know. Ask Prince".

Bill S.
Click to expand...
As usual? I was telling an anecdotal story I read which has it substantially as I told it. Who cares about the exact details? The facts? As if you are the keeper of the facts.

Here is a fact then that you have forgotten. You ran a major contest promising to build a dream cue for the selected winner of designs submitted. You selected a winner and then stiffed him out of cue and then have the audacity to just completely ignore him and everyone else on the subject.

That you even dare to post here after stealing the time and effort of so many is really a slap in the face to this community. Where I once looked up to you, respected you and held you in high regard for both superb craftsmanship and honor I no longer do.

So with as much respect as I have left, Don Willis stories are about the legend not so much about the exact facts. Thank for your version though. It will go into the blender and add to the legend of the great Don Willis.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

Edited to Add: Someone else posted the story verbatim from Robert Byrne's book. It was written there as I stated it. Guess my memory isn't that bad after all and you Bill Stroud look like an even bigger fool than you already do.
 
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kkdanamatt said:
I was a college kid, hanging out at Paddy's 7-11 Pool Hall on Broadway, above the Metropole Cafe near 51st Street in NYC.
Walter Tevis' book, "The Hustler," had just been made into a movie and pool was hot in NYC. It was a late Spring Friday night, I believe, in 1965 when Don Willis and Dean Chance strode into Paddy's. They were both wearing white linen suits and cowboy hats. I never saw anything like it. Johnny Ervolino, Pots 'n Pans, Brooklyn Jimmy, Fast Eddie, Slim, New York Blackie, Deano....they were all there. The entire room turned their attention to Willis and Chance, who were fooling around on a 5x10 billiard table.
After joking around and missing most of their shots, Willis worked the crowd, masterfully, into a proposition bet: he said that he could play a billiard by hitting the cue ball into the red ball, then jumping it off the table, running the cue ball across the floor and then completing the billiard on the floor by touching the other cue ball, which was about thirty feet away, nestled next to the foot of a Brunswick Gold Crown across the room. Willis and Chance were laughing and joking about how impossible such a shot really was, as if anyone was stupid enough try even try it. Dean Chance, who had already won the Cy Young Award in the American League, tried to shoot it and couldn't even jump the table with the cue ball. He "paid" Willis some money and then said that nobody could make that shot. Willis played the crowd some more and drew them in for the kill. He "bet" Chance, I think it was $1000, that he could make it if he got three tries. On the first shot, he almost miscued, missed by a mile, and there were snickers heard all over the room. Now, Don moved in for the kill. He side bet with anybody for any amount before the second shot. A few guys in the room were holding the stakes. I don't know what the total bet was, but it was a couple of thousand at least. Now, Don Willis chalked up, jacked up, and struck the cue ball perfectly. It jumped the table, ran along the uneven and worn out floor boards of Paddy's, and slowly came to rest as it struck the other cue ball, which Willis had "casually" placed against one of the feet of the old Gold Crown.
The entire room erupted. Men were almost falling down, laughing, gasping, pointing and shouting. Don collected the money and he offered to bet again because he said that it was a lucky shot and he wanted to give everyone a chance to get their money back. There were no takers. Then Willis and Dean Chance left Paddy's.
I never saw either of them again. I didn't even learn Don Willis' name until years later when I recounted this story to George Fels. George told me that Willis played the same con in Chicago at Bensinger's, where the cue ran down a flight of stairs. The gimmick, of course, is that Willis would go into the room when nobody was there several days before and figure out where the cue ball would naturally come to rest on the uneven floor.
The rest was simply taking candy from a baby. This story is true, although I don't know who was on the "in" and who was on the "out" of the con.

I was there and I saw it.

Karl Kantrowitz,
New Jersey
Click to expand...

Thank you for posting this. It really is something special to have members here like yourself, Jay, Incardona, Hendy etc that can help preserve the history of the game and the exploits of the rogue characters that inhabited it. I only wish we could have had more time with guys like Freddy the beard and Grady Mathews, thier knowledge, experience, storytelling, and understanding of the nuances of the game is nothing to take for granted.It really is a shame that today's culture suffocates that way of life. Guys like Cornbread, Tony Fargo, Mathews, Jerry Prado,Allen, McCready and others are a dying breed.

It amazes me that people on this forum are so quick to jump up and call bullsh@t like they are triple smart or something on a prop like the staircase shot. You can jump on YouTube and see countless videos of 8 year olds bouncing ping pong and tennis balls downs stairs and off all kinds of other objects into cups way off in the distance but don't think the greats of the game couldnt jump a ball of a table and hit another object in the distance. But after all you have to appreciate them to, because without the people who think they know everything guys like Willis would'nt have been able to make a living.https://youtu.be/mmmJ_bsM1IQ
 
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A different version of the same story is that Willis shot the CB out of the upstairs window, and it bounced into the street and rolled down the gutter to make the hit on the OB. Just one of MANY proposition shots that Willis knew and could shoot for the cash!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

 
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Scott Lee said:
A different version of the same story is that Willis shot the CB out of the upstairs window, and it bounced into the street and rolled down the gutter to make the hit on the OB. Just one of MANY proposition shots that Willis knew and could shoot for the cash! Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...
BULL.......
Didn't happen and never will happen.
How can anyone be so gullible as to believe such preposterous nonsense.
Maybe he was a relative to that other famous pool player who had a book about "he never lost a match for the cash in his life".
Man oh man...:shakehead:
 
Mr. Low500...This is the 2nd time you've called me a liar about a Don Willis story that I know to be true. I told you last time, and I'll tell you again, if you want to bet a LOT ($5K?), I will get Don's nephew to verify the story. Now...how's that for BS? You got any gamble? The fact that you know absolutely nothing about Don Willis speaks volumes in itself!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Low500 said:
BULL.......
Didn't happen and never will happen.
How can anyone be so gullible as to believe such preposterous nonsense.
Maybe he was a relative to that other famous pool player who had a book about "he never lost a match for the cash in his life".
Man oh man...:shakehead:
Click to expand...
 
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J SCHWARZ said:
Thank you for posting this. It really is something special to have members here like yourself, Jay, Incardona, Hendy etc that can help preserve the history of the game and the exploits of the rogue characters that inhabited it. I only wish we could have had more time with guys like Freddy the beard and Grady Mathews, thier knowledge, experience, storytelling, and understanding of the nuances of the game is nothing to take for granted.It really is a shame that today's culture suffocates that way of life. Guys like Cornbread, Tony Fargo, Mathews, Jerry Prado,Allen, McCready and others are a dying breed.

It amazes me that people on this forum are so quick to jump up and call bullsh@t like they are triple smart or something on a prop like the staircase shot. You can jump on YouTube and see countless videos of 8 year olds bouncing ping pong and tennis balls downs stairs and off all kinds of other objects into cups way off in the distance but don't think the greats of the game couldnt jump a ball of a table and hit another object in the distance. But after all you have to appreciate them to, because without the people who think they know everything guys like Willis would'nt have been able to make a living.https://youtu.be/mmmJ_bsM1IQ
Click to expand...

FYI, I used to shoot a proposition shot from one table to the next and make two balls. If anyone doubts me, they can try the old man out sometime. I only want three tries for the cheese. It's definitely no gimme. :smile:
 
jay helfert said:
... I only want three tries for the cheese. It's definitely no gimme. :smile:
Click to expand...
For those who don't know how this stuff works, this means that Jay is probably 80% on the shot when he's had a couple of tries on the table and he will miraculously miss the first two tries and make it on the third. Traditionally he will ask for more bets after the first miss, refuse bets after the second miss, and bet a lot higher on the next three tries.

Now you know.:grin:

People who enjoy the Willis stories should get one of the books about Titanic Thompson. I think many of the stories about him are mostly true.
 
Scott Lee said:
Mr. Low500...This is the 2nd time you've called me a liar about a Dpn Willis story that I know to be true. I told you last time, and I'll tell you again, if you want to bet a LOT ($5K?), I will get Don's nephew to verify the story. Now...how's that for BS? You got any gamble? The fact that you know absolutely nothing about Don Willis speaks volumes in itself! Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...
:o
1. Me?? Call you a liar??? So sorry....I don't do name calling. No need to get all stirred up, my man.
I will say you handle the truth a little carelessly...that's about it. I am surprised that grown men can be so gullible though.
2. I have no gamble and I am a broke, struggling on a small pension...so much for that.
3. A verification from anyone you uncover without a movie or visual support means zip and is meaningless. I can locate 43 people who will swear they were there at the time and it did not happen as stated and never did happen. (That little tidbit of wisdom comes straight from one of the esteemed posters on this forum.)
4. I will repeat what I've said before around here somewhere. In Jewish history, there are recorded over 300 witnesses who saw the resurrected Jesus Christ after he was crucified on that cross and buried. Yet, today, most people believe it is a bunch of stuff. :shrug: (just like I don't believe any cue ball shooting out the upstairs window of a pool room, rolling down the street in the gutter and hitting a previously placed object ball)
No video, no movie...........and it didn't happen.
You old timer pool hall dwellers need to realize that the new breed doesn't buy into just any type of tale merely because one of you said it happened. I realize that's hard to face for you, but life goes on.
Keep on truckin'
:thumbup:
 
You are a dumbass.

Low500 said:
:o
1. Me?? Call you a liar??? So sorry....I don't do name calling. No need to get all stirred up, my man.
I will say you handle the truth a little carelessly...that's about it. I am surprised that grown men can be so gullible though.
2. I have no gamble and I am a broke, struggling on a small pension...so much for that.
3. A verification from anyone you uncover without a movie or visual support means zip and is meaningless. I can locate 43 people who will swear they were there at the time and it did not happen as stated and never did happen. (That little tidbit of wisdom comes straight from one of the esteemed posters on this forum.)
4. I will repeat what I've said before around here somewhere. In Jewish history, there are recorded over 300 witnesses who saw the resurrected Jesus Christ after he was crucified on that cross and buried. Yet, today, most people believe it is a bunch of stuff. :shrug: (just like I don't believe any cue ball shooting out the upstairs window of a pool room, rolling down the street in the gutter and hitting a previously placed object ball)
No video, no movie...........and it didn't happen.
You old timer pool hall dwellers need to realize that the new breed doesn't buy into just any type of tale merely because one of you said it happened. I realize that's hard to face for you, but life goes on.
Keep on truckin'
:thumbup:
Click to expand...
 
jay helfert said:
FYI, I used to shoot a proposition shot from one table to the next and make two balls. If anyone doubts me, they can try the old man out sometime. I only want three tries for the cheese. It's definitely no gimme. :smile:
Click to expand...
That's nothing.
There is an old guy on the Youtube who does that and makes 4-5 balls all at the same time.
"Two Table Trick Shot" they call it. I looked it up.
:thumbup:
 
Low500 said:
:o
1. Me?? Call you a liar??? So sorry....I don't do name calling. No need to get all stirred up, my man.
I will say you handle the truth a little carelessly...that's about it. I am surprised that grown men can be so gullible though.
2. I have no gamble and I am a broke, struggling on a small pension...so much for that.
3. A verification from anyone you uncover without a movie or visual support means zip and is meaningless. I can locate 43 people who will swear they were there at the time and it did not happen as stated and never did happen. (That little tidbit of wisdom comes straight from one of the esteemed posters on this forum.)
4. I will repeat what I've said before around here somewhere. In Jewish history, there are recorded over 300 witnesses who saw the resurrected Jesus Christ after he was crucified on that cross and buried. Yet, today, most people believe it is a bunch of stuff. :shrug: (just like I don't believe any cue ball shooting out the upstairs window of a pool room, rolling down the street in the gutter and hitting a previously placed object ball)
No video, no movie...........and it didn't happen.
You old timer pool hall dwellers need to realize that the new breed doesn't buy into just any type of tale merely because one of you said it happened. I realize that's hard to face for you, but life goes on.
Keep on truckin'
:thumbup:
Click to expand...

How about jumping the cue ball off the table and into a boot about twenty feet away? On the fly no less. Would you believe that?
 
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