Cole Dickson: Livin' large off the fat of the land

Keith's description matches Vince perfectly so RIP Vince. Sorry I wasn't the score you were looking for. ;)

Nuther guy from that era said he "play's" Cole Dickson with the 8. Meant nothing to me. I only knew the name.

Same guy, James - house painter by trade said Cotton ran 36 racks of 6 ball and no mention of Cole. Straight pool is harder but 96 racks is a lotta balls...
 
maha said:
i was good friends with cole for many years(decades). and gambled with him many times but not in pool. that was off for both of us.
and also played richie and broke him for over a good 5 figures twice, in a trick game.
i guarantee both were about equal on their best days . cole had less best days, and occasionally made big mistakes from being lackadaisical when playing.
but only a very few of having any chance when he was on. cole got to drinking too often and went downhill from there. changed him.

no one should have ever gone or even talked to sizemore. he was the prime example of a complete creep. and even worse than joe veasy,
and the steve the whale, who at least was funny.
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If you don't mind telling us, what name did you play under? Maybe we can find a video of you so we can get an idea of your pocket billiards abilities. Thanks.
 
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straightline said:
so RIP Vince
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Perhaps I missed an earlier reference to Vince. This does trigger some fond memories of Vince Frain. He was the odds maker at the 211 in Seattle and always brought Lila in piggy back.
Rerun or retelling alert 😉:
At the team tournament in Kelso Longview Cole borrowed $300 against his cues.....3 times from 3 different people and still held his cues at the end of the day. Vince held one marker and picked up the other 2. Cole was deep into the Stolies and I drove him in his nice big pick up back to Tacoma, where we stopped at the truck stop in Fife, It had a 24 hour western union.
As Cole and I loaded up Vince was getting in my wife's car to follow us. Cole had called a person that lived in a Las Vegas casino/hotel. The money was to be at the truck stop. As we departed Vince said, "we are going to western union ". When the doors were closed Cole said, "let's find a bar. I just left a message. I don't know if the money will be there."
When we got there a thousand was there. Cole paid Vince the 900 and bought us all breakfast. After breakfast he and Vince loaded up in his truck and drove on, the rest of the way to Seattle with the rising sun.
It was 6 months before we saw Cole again. The next time was at Harry's place on a Friday night. Cole had come to play Harry and the weekend tournament as well. Cole was a little short with a $800 bank and hooked up with Wirtiman playing $20 nine ball. At stuck a hundred they went to $100 one pocket and Don got the rest of his bank roll.
Cole had arranged to play more against his pool rig, which included 2 Joss butts and 6 shafts in a nice multi cue case. Cole had gone to the men's room to splash cold water on his face as the bar had closed at 2 and he was too deep in the vodka. Upon returning to the table Don declined the game against the cues. He had heard that the one butt had been broken and repaired. Cole was despondent, I got him aside and said, "I don't feel like I am doing you a favor but......if you want to continue.....I will Loan 500 against the cues. He wanted to and lost that too. As we ended the evening Cole had loaded his cue in the case and said, "I will see you tomorrow. " My right hand intercepted the case just before the strap touched his shoulder. I replied with okay.
The next day he had the 500 only and was going to meet Mike Doolie for a promise of a fence building job. I enquired as to purchase of the repaired butt and 1 shaft. He said Doolie had offered 150 for the same. My offer was 200 and he accepted and left with his walking bean.
 
gregcantrall said:
Perhaps I missed an earlier reference to Vince.
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I was introduced to the the guy in the Cole pics as someone's brother Vince - McCinturf I presumed since they were siblings. Surfer type with a southern accent. He would come around, we'd knock 'em around. That's all that became of that. The pic with Ronnie Allen is the closest resemblance.
 
jay helfert said:
Thanks Jam. Keith nailed it there. Cole had that strong powerful voice and his words were always right on to capture the moment. He could put you in your place if you weren't careful and he never backed away from anyone in a verbal confrontation. Keith was different there too. His spontaneous comments were creative and usually very humorous. But like Cole he never held anything back. Even when he poked fun at his opponent you had to love him. He was that funny. In this respect Ronnie was the leader of the pack and I'm sure even Keith would admit that. Ronnie had a gift of gab that would entertain the crowd as well as any celebrity ever did. He drew the biggest crowds for all his matches. Standing room only!

All three were icons of that era in pool. None like them today, with only Alex being close.
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At 19 seeing Ronnie Allen/play/shoot/talk/walk/and the way he dressed, I compared em to Jack Nicklaus.
Nice smile, engaging, good looking had a great character.... also he liked to play $ome golf in the day, of course pool and night at Janscos.
 
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straightline said:
I was introduced to the the guy in the Cole pics as someone's brother Vince - McCinturf I presumed since they were siblings. Surfer type with a southern accent. He would come around, we'd knock 'em around. That's all that became of that. The pic with Ronnie Allen is the closest resemblance.
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Ah, I see. Well Vince Frain was a feature of the Northwest (Northwet) pool playing community. He was the one I went to to learn the betting line. Well Race Track Rick would have been the first I asked.
Race Track gave me the line on Ronnie Allen. It was, "if you're not In On It, don't bet." I rubbed shoulders with Ronnie in Chico for a brief period when he was on the decline. He asked me, "what can you and I do?" My response was "bar box 8 ball for 10 a game." Crickets. He later watched me harvest 300 off a card player and immediately put the bite on for a "Loan". My reply was "here's 40, it's A Gift". As his presence had got the gambling juices flowing. 🤷‍♂️
 
jay helfert said:
He could put you in your place if you weren't careful and he never backed away from anyone in a verbal confrontation.
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Uh oh a triggered memory 😉:
Cole and Race Track Rick had a serious discussion in the parking lot after hours.
I was the lone witness. Rick was a gold gloves quality boxer. Coles grip on his bud Weiser bottle was changed as he lowered it to behind his trailing leg. Toe to toe. It was a stand off ....thankfully. 😉
 
ronnie was one of the best ever pool hustlers and golf also. but couldnt keep in money from paying family bills( which he did and give him credit for that) and going broke at the horses.
so had to, in his mind screw everyone that he could. almost no exceptions whenever he had a chance.
 
maha said:
ronnie was one of the best ever pool hustlers
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My 411 source for the time Ronnie made a one handed spot shot where nothing touched a rail, on a 9 foot gold crown. Whiteys Place in Tacoma.
The booked bets filled the pockets of the table and of course he did it. 🤷‍♂️
My other 411 source told of a time in Arizona where they took down The Rail. Ronnie & I can't remember Who. Bets were booked and signals given. 🤷‍♂️ They did put on a hell of a show. Playing one handed one ball one pocket in Chico saw the owners wallet lighter. The witness accounts spoke of incredible shots that included a scratch! My giggles and relation of , "If you're not in on it don't bet ". Had them running to the owner and exclaiming, "Greg says You got dumped." 🤷‍♂️
 
that is a tough shot but lots of dummies bet against making it.

some put in a lightweight cue ball to cinch the bet.
 
Mike Massey was taking requests at an exhibition and some guy kept yelling out, "one hand spot shot" . He did it in one take. I never even imagined anything like it.
 
maha said:
ronnie was one of the best ever pool hustlers and golf also. but couldnt keep in money from paying family bills( which he did and give him credit for that) and going broke at the horses.
so had to, in his mind screw everyone that he could. almost no exceptions whenever he had a chance.
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“so had to, in his mind“

Not arguing the point - just trying to make sure I’m understanding? What exactly are you saying? That was his mindset or any gambler’s mindset?
 
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The only time I saw Cole gamble I had no idea who he was. 1970, Brass Rail, Durham, NC, playing $10 nine ball with a local shortstop, Mike Wynn. Mike was a very good player but arrogant and obnoxious, and Cole just flat out tortured him, playing with a beat up house cue and an infamous cue ball that was barely bigger than a snooker ball and pockmarked all around. Cole had long, stringy blond hair, and was wearing ratty jeans and a dirty white T-shirt, and his posse consisted of a lesser player and their girlfriends. Could've easily been mistaken for a quartet of Deadheads. The next day when I came in, I was told that Mike's torturer was Cole Dickson, though even then I still had no idea who that was. I honestly don't remember him missing a single makeable ball in that entire session. I wish he'd showed up at Joe Burns' Dayton tournament in 1974, which had the strongest field of players and action games I'd ever seen until the international players started showing up en masse.

For anyone who saw him play at his peak, how would he have fared against the likes of Buddy or Mike?
 
Taxi said:
The only time I saw Cole gamble I had no idea who he was. 1970, Brass Rail, Durham, NC, playing $10 nine ball with a local shortstop, Mike Wynn. Mike was a very good player but arrogant and obnoxious, and Cole just flat out tortured him, playing with a beat up house cue and an infamous cue ball that was barely bigger than a snooker ball and pockmarked all around. Cole had long, stringy blond hair, and was wearing ratty jeans and a dirty white T-shirt, and his posse consisted of a lesser player and their girlfriends. Could've easily been mistaken for a quartet of Deadheads. The next day when I came in, I was told that Mike's torturer was Cole Dickson, though even then I still had no idea who that was. I honestly don't remember him missing a single makeable ball in that entire session. I wish he'd showed up at Joe Burns' Dayton tournament in 1974, which had the strongest field of players and action games I'd ever seen until the international players started showing up en masse.

For anyone who saw him play at his peak, how would he have fared against the likes of Buddy or Mike?
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That's the only doubt I have about Cole. The young suave pics and the older unsuave pics. Like Luat Dickson - who TF is that guy?

Just took a look at the twist banks and I suppose the face is the same. Must be the scruffy brown haired look.
 
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Taxi said:
The only time I saw Cole gamble I had no idea who he was. 1970, Brass Rail, Durham, NC, playing $10 nine ball with a local shortstop, Mike Wynn. Mike was a very good player but arrogant and obnoxious, and Cole just flat out tortured him, playing with a beat up house cue and an infamous cue ball that was barely bigger than a snooker ball and pockmarked all around. Cole had long, stringy blond hair, and was wearing ratty jeans and a dirty white T-shirt, and his posse consisted of a lesser player and their girlfriends. Could've easily been mistaken for a quartet of Deadheads. The next day when I came in, I was told that Mike's torturer was Cole Dickson, though even then I still had no idea who that was. I honestly don't remember him missing a single makeable ball in that entire session. I wish he'd showed up at Joe Burns' Dayton tournament in 1974, which had the strongest field of players and action games I'd ever seen until the international players started showing up en masse.

For anyone who saw him play at his peak, how would he have fared against the likes of Buddy or Mike?
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That's Cole, T-Shirt and jeans all day long. At his peak in his late teens and early 20's Cole could hold his own (or better) against anyone. NO ONE sought him out to play if they knew him! Without a spot that is. For Buddy or Mike to play Cole 9-Ball the conditions had to be just right, like home court on a table they knew. Even then it was iffy. Back in those days the very best players for the most part avoided each other, afraid to kill their action just by playing another top player, win or lose. Only a few guys didn't care and would play anybody. Richie Florence, Wade Crane, Ed Kelly, Norman Hitchcock, Richie Ambrose, Bernie Schwartz, Denny Searcy and Greg Stevens are some I can think of that wanted to play the best players possible. Jimmy Reid too had no back down, especially at Ten Ball where he was considered one of the top two along with Buddy.
 
jay helfert said:
Cole was probably playing at about 60-70% his top speed then, if that. The Cole of the early 70's was a killer! He was probably only the Call Eight under Richie Florence and maybe the same over young Keith. He ran over just about everybody who crossed his path back then. Hustlers beware, Cole was a King Cobra. I played him in my poolroom a couple of times because no one else would play him. He gave me the seven, eight and nine and 9-6 in One Pocket. A couple of times I won a set and broke even. He was just too tough. The only hustler who ever came thru Cali that I know of that beat Cole was Jimmy Marino. And later on Jimmy didn't want to play him again.

Cole was a beauty to watch. He had big hands and just generated so much power with his stroke. Totally different game than Keith. Cole overpowered the balls and Keith finessed them. Richie was another different animal. On the pool table Richie was relentless, a fire breathing dragon who you couldn't kill. He could be down twenty games, go get more money, come back and bust you! A couple of times I saw very good players get Richie stuck and start chattering a little bit to him. Big mistake, he got that fire in his eyes and he wouldn't miss a ball until you were broke! Numero Uno on the West Coast for a good ten years, and probably in the top three or four in the country. I remember when Dean Chance tried to sneak Jimmy Moore in on Richie at Inglewood Bowl. They disguised him pretty good using a Hollywood make-up artist. Richie beat him anyway and afterward said he knew who he was all the time. Didn't matter to him.
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Maybe a bit off topic, but is there a way to get your book via. digital copy?
Would love to read it, but am unsure about postage to where I am.
 
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