Zerksies
Well-known member
Joe taught me so damn much it’s not funny. The biggest thing he taught me was the feel of a hit and that’s not in any book or video
Do you know of players who had such Natural Talent, that they could have been a World Champion?
- Thread starter 9ballscorpion
- Start date
Anthony has been pretty strong since his early 20s, maybe earlier. I haven't actually seen him play in years, but I doubt he has slacked any. I don't know Bobby McDonald, but would like to see a photo, as I might recognize him from the community.
Edit: I didn't realize how old this thread was, until I read the post that pointed out sjm's post from 2021!
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I'd say it is likely probably something that would be without a positive benefit, other than elimination of potentially negative consequences of the inability to produce it if needed.
Until further notice, all events and classes remain and Honda.
Not true at all
Absolutely. Brian.
Nathan Hadad out of Michigan was another great player - ran around with Jayme Goodwin and Porky. Got into the stuff and....Hope he's doing good
Agreed, Tyler Strawn from Broken Arrow Oklahoma (closer to Tulsa) played strong. I saw him play a few times.You mean besides me??Actually yes. A kid named Tyler Strawn from OkC. Had more talent/gift than the law allows. Sadly he was killed while trying cross a hwy after car ran out of gas. RIP kid.
It‘s always difficult to predict… in the game of pool, life (good & bad) easily gets in the way of expectations. Maybe if the money continues grows it will making it easier to be a “professional” pool player if the talent and or work ethic is there.
“Professional”
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Now that I think of it sometimes pool gets in the way of a good life.Agreed, Tyler Strawn from Broken Arrow Oklahoma (closer to Tulsa) played strong. I saw him play a few times.
It‘s always difficult to predict… in the game of pool, life (good & bad) easily gets in the way of expectations. Maybe if the money continues grows if will making it easier to be a “professional” pool player if the talent and or work ethic is there.
“Professional”
I grew up in Lansing, Michigan, and lucky enough to see Mark Bielfuss play. I didn't know what I was looking at back then, but the regulars at Velvet Rail, including Jimmy Mataya and Bob Hunter said he may end up being one of the greats. I think he won the US Open straight pool at 17. His dad would make him practice for hours, and I was told that's why he quit. They didn't have a good relationship.
Might have been a large local tournament, but it wasn't the US Open.
U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship - Wikipedia
Best "natural talent" I ever saw was Nick Vlahos, known as "Little Nicky" when he was a young teenager in the DC area. He mostly stuck to gambling around New England, invested his winnings in real estate, and died way too young in his early 40's. The only video evidence I've seen of him is an Accu-Stats DVD where he torched Earl in a Maine straight pool tournament, but his best game was one pocket. He was about the same age as Michael "Geese" Girace, another one pocket wizard who was also from the DC area, but from everything I saw of them, Nick was the better player.
He moved up to New England when he was in high school and except for that one DVD I never saw him again. Tom Wirth (AKA "Tom-Tom"), the one pocket guru, was also around at the time and would back me up about Nicky.
He moved up to New England when he was in high school and except for that one DVD I never saw him again. Tom Wirth (AKA "Tom-Tom"), the one pocket guru, was also around at the time and would back me up about Nicky.
Zerksies
Well-known member
Danny Basavich all that talent and he just got mixed up with the wrong people. We played in a lot of the same places. I don't know how many times, I've seen that man win some in 9 Ball or gave someone lessons and not even five minutes later he was losing it the card table and a few of the times it was the person he just got money from. Great pool player just bad gambler.
I'd probably blame on that scumbag that hung out with him on the road. I forget his name, I think it might have been "Mike" just real bad degenerate gambler. That guy was a real piece of work. I couldn't stand that guy, just shady as hell. Probably milked Danny for every nickel.
The last few months of his life was really sad. I was following him on Facebook, but it was his father running the page. He was complaining about how his son couldn't get a job at the local Wawa and that he didn't know how to work a computer or that he might start playing again or how he was living in a trailer park. Just real sad stuff. I just got so annoying I had to stop following him.
He definitely could have been better then what he was, he just got mixed in with some real scumbags.
I'd probably blame on that scumbag that hung out with him on the road. I forget his name, I think it might have been "Mike" just real bad degenerate gambler. That guy was a real piece of work. I couldn't stand that guy, just shady as hell. Probably milked Danny for every nickel.
The last few months of his life was really sad. I was following him on Facebook, but it was his father running the page. He was complaining about how his son couldn't get a job at the local Wawa and that he didn't know how to work a computer or that he might start playing again or how he was living in a trailer park. Just real sad stuff. I just got so annoying I had to stop following him.
He definitely could have been better then what he was, he just got mixed in with some real scumbags.
Here's a nice thread about Nick Vlahos: https://forums.azbilliards.com/threads/nick-the-indian-vlahos.315624/#post-4114889
love reading this stuff! My best personal example of seeing a champion come to fruition was John Schmidt. He came to Yucca Valley when I was stationed at 29 Palms in 1996, from Victorville, because he heard about me. He worked at domino's and rolled quarters to play. I beat him 4 sets in a row, and gave him gas money to get home! 2 years later, I saw him in Reno, and his game jumped 2 balls. We became friends when I got stationed in NY, and used to come stay with me regularly, and we ran around the northeast. We went to Philly, and he gave Jimmy Fusco tbe 9 playing 10 ball, and crushed him. Jimmy and I were close, and he told me he had never seen someone fire in balls like him. Great compliment. I haven't talked to John in years since I quit, but he told many people that story.
Thanks for posting this, AtLarge. Much appreciated.
Three distinct memories I have of "Little Nicky" (which is what he was called in the DC area):
First time I ever saw him was in 1967, at the old Brunswick Billiards at 14th & Irving Sts. in the Columbia Heights section of Washington. It was a medium level action room at that time, long past its peak, but there was a classic Brunswick 5' x 10' front table that still attracted some of the best local one pocket players.
Nick at the time came in with a couple of backers, who told us that this skinny little kid was 14 (he looked it), and made up some bullshit story about how they were just trying to teach him how to play. Problem was, he couldn't help himself, and just kept firing in one bank shot after another, scaring away all the possible suckers. He was treating that 5 x 10 as if it were a bleeping bar table.
Next time I saw him was at Roman Billiards in Silver Spring, where he was playing 30 no-count straight pool with another local prodigy, a 20ish carpenter named Jerry Stevens, who was spotting Nick the 8 playing some cheap 9 ball. Nick's game wasn't 9 ball, but Jerry Stevens was an absolute monster, although he never traveled much and once Roman closed I never saw him again.
But the last time I saw Nicky was what really opened my eyes, also at Roman's. There was a one pocket tournament that was heavily promoted, and brought out many of the best players in the area, including Geese. Nick not only won the tournament without losing a game, but in the finals against Johnny Deborrel, another 9 ball monster, he won every game while leaving Johnny with a negative ball count each time. In the final game he added insult to injury by playing one handed, laughing all the while. This was when he still couldn't have been more than 16. He was just toying with his opponents.
At some point in the late 70's or early 80's, he came back to Washington to visit, and I never saw him. But a mutual friend and very good player, the late Jerry Gruber (AKA Goober), told me that Nicky sidled up to him at Randolph Hills, smiled and said "Goobs, I ain't missed a ball in TEN YEARS". Obviously major hyperbole, but nobody wanted to try him out on it on the table, and Randolph Hills had some great players.
I never saw him after he left the Washington area, but in terms of one pocket, from everything I've heard he was every bit as good a money player as Cole Dickson was in 9 ball.
There's a local guy that basically robs all of the local tournaments he plays in and has been doing that for years. I'm not sure if he could have made it all the way since he did play A LOT in his youth and admittedly should have come pretty close to his peak level back then (which was pre-fargo) but he currently has a Fargo of 750 and it seems he has barely even broken a sweat the last decade or so playing pool.
Had he stayed committed and gotten the right training/uppertunities then, who knows, maybe he could be an 800+ player which would have at least given him a chance to do it.
Given the state of pool back then he is likely much better off now by chosing the day job instead.
Had he stayed committed and gotten the right training/uppertunities then, who knows, maybe he could be an 800+ player which would have at least given him a chance to do it.
Given the state of pool back then he is likely much better off now by chosing the day job instead.
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I did know such a person, but for reasons that will become clear, I won't name him.
He was a natural. An A player after about 6 months of practise. Never seen anything like it. He was destroying the top local talent like they were beginers and his game was almost completely developed too. It's hard to explain for those not in the know how rare this is, if I didn't see it myself, I'd say it was completely impossible to become that good and well rounded, so quickly. I've never even heard of such a thing. His game was steadily developing from there. Then he got into bad company, using pills, partying etc and threw his life away not just the pool talent but everything, and he became a bum. He's a shadow of what he once was now. You'd never know from watching him play, how much talent he once had. He's maybe an A player on a good day. I guess you can always debate that he didn't have the discipline and single-mindedness needed to be a world champ, but I don't think anyone can doubt the raw talent was there.
He was a natural. An A player after about 6 months of practise. Never seen anything like it. He was destroying the top local talent like they were beginers and his game was almost completely developed too. It's hard to explain for those not in the know how rare this is, if I didn't see it myself, I'd say it was completely impossible to become that good and well rounded, so quickly. I've never even heard of such a thing. His game was steadily developing from there. Then he got into bad company, using pills, partying etc and threw his life away not just the pool talent but everything, and he became a bum. He's a shadow of what he once was now. You'd never know from watching him play, how much talent he once had. He's maybe an A player on a good day. I guess you can always debate that he didn't have the discipline and single-mindedness needed to be a world champ, but I don't think anyone can doubt the raw talent was there.
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I came into this discussion late, and haven't read through this at all.
My take is,
I've seen plenty of people with talent that could possibly develop into a World Champion.
I've seen super talented players that beat most that came to town.
These players didn't have the ambition for a World Championship. They simply wanted to play the best game they had everyday.
A good friend of mine has a few 300 games in bowling. Is a PGA Pro. A top pool and billiards player in in my town.
He doesn't have time for the effort it would take to compete at a world class tournament.
He has to work for a living!!
My take is,
I've seen plenty of people with talent that could possibly develop into a World Champion.
I've seen super talented players that beat most that came to town.
These players didn't have the ambition for a World Championship. They simply wanted to play the best game they had everyday.
A good friend of mine has a few 300 games in bowling. Is a PGA Pro. A top pool and billiards player in in my town.
He doesn't have time for the effort it would take to compete at a world class tournament.
He has to work for a living!!
I remember meeting and playing Eric Durbin at Michaels at about 5 am when he was maybe 14 or 15, he played well enough even then to be giving a lot of the regular guys the 7 ball. The next time I saw him he played much better and was running with Jack Hines, the next year I saw him in Akron and he played great but he was always high. I always wondered what happened to him. I'm pretty sure even at 14 he was living on his own. hard road there.