ya remember hearing about Bucky back in day. wish got to see him play. is JIMMY MATYA still in MI.? seams hear in vegas now?
Who The Hell Is Bucky Bell!!
- Thread starter 9BallBust-O
- Start date
ya remember hearing about Bucky back in day. wish got to see him play. is JIMMY MATYA still in MI.? seams hear in vegas now?
"Now lookie here"
Bucky is one of my favorite pool people. Took a lesson from him and he demonstrated a firehose of shots running around the table saying "now lookie here!" Don't remember any of the shots but still can't get the "now lookie here" out of my head.
One year circa 1997 or so I had the privilege of playing as a sub on one of those great Airway Vegas teams (Gary Spaeth, Frank Ruby, Jason Miller, Bucky Bell). It was in the VNEA Nationals I think and we were pounding the opposing team game after game. Shortly, we noticed the entire opposing team had disappeared, no where to be seen. Turned out they were out in the hall protesting to the Tournament Directors that there was no way we could be in the Open Division with Master players like Bucky Bell on our team. Then up comes Bucky Bell to argue our case in his typical woofing style. I'll never forget Bucky shouting how absurd these allegations were while wearing his black leather VNEA Masters jacket from the year before.
Thanks for jiggling that memory!
Bucky is one of my favorite pool people. Took a lesson from him and he demonstrated a firehose of shots running around the table saying "now lookie here!" Don't remember any of the shots but still can't get the "now lookie here" out of my head.
One year circa 1997 or so I had the privilege of playing as a sub on one of those great Airway Vegas teams (Gary Spaeth, Frank Ruby, Jason Miller, Bucky Bell). It was in the VNEA Nationals I think and we were pounding the opposing team game after game. Shortly, we noticed the entire opposing team had disappeared, no where to be seen. Turned out they were out in the hall protesting to the Tournament Directors that there was no way we could be in the Open Division with Master players like Bucky Bell on our team. Then up comes Bucky Bell to argue our case in his typical woofing style. I'll never forget Bucky shouting how absurd these allegations were while wearing his black leather VNEA Masters jacket from the year before.
Thanks for jiggling that memory!
I was there, no one really knew who Corey was, I bought him 1st in the calcutta and he won it. Unless this was another time. I only knew of him being there one time.
Was table-side one afternoon many years ago at the Hall of Fame in Lansing. He was offering $10 proposition shots to any taker. Years later I played in a 9 ball Calcutta in Cold Water Michigan, Bucky was in the field. Far as I can say, nice guy and a skilled player.
At the first BC Open in 1985 Bucky Bell was one of the people in the tournament room after the tournament was over for the day. He and a bunch of others, Grady, Beany, Cardone, etc. were all trying to make games. I sat in the seats with Mike Zuglan and we laughed our asses off. One of the funniest things I've ever seen, should have been on tape! Anyway, Beany is trying to get Bucky to play Straight Pool, Bucky says he don't even know the rules but if Beany with give him a spot, he'll play him some. They went back and forth, pretty much like everyone else in the room and finally Beany went to bed. Must have been around 2 am when I went home, one of my very favorite memories of that tournament.
I first played Bucky some One Pocket about 25 yrs. ago in St. Charles, IL - we broke even....then about 15 yrs. ago I ran into him in a poolroom in Cincinnati....well this poolroom had a billiard table, and so as Bucky and I were bs'ing with each other, somehow the idea of playing some 3cushion came up (neither of us knew if the other played the game at all)....now the funny part of the story is that we were both lying to each other big-time, saying that we couldn't play 3cushion worth a damn, and our high run was two...when the truth was we both played pretty sporty 3cushion - our high runs were more like 9 or 10, rather than two, lol...
End of story: turns out I was a little bit the bigger liar
= we played two games of 25 points for $100 a game, and I won both games - the first game by the score of 25 to 24.....we had a real good laugh together after the games re. how much we both lied about our 3cushion speed before we played...
Bucky was/is a great guy to gamble with.
- Ghost
End of story: turns out I was a little bit the bigger liar
= we played two games of 25 points for $100 a game, and I won both games - the first game by the score of 25 to 24.....we had a real good laugh together after the games re. how much we both lied about our 3cushion speed before we played...Bucky was/is a great guy to gamble with.
- Ghost
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Really? It's amazing how often some of us fanatics cross paths and never know each other.
Corey was put out of the tourney by Dallas West I think. Dallas made one of the best jump shots I've ever seen after Corey played a safe that was just as strong as the jump. I was standing 6-7 from the table on both shots. It was crazy and one of the things the drew me even closer to the game. When corey lost a couple guys were ribbing him over it as he was breaking his cue down. Corey shouted a couple things at them and said he would be back. And he won the next tourney. So, in hindsight I may be talking about the next to last tourney steepletons had.
Denver Barger won the tourney iirc as I think he won the year before too. This same tourney was the first time I saw and met Cornbread Red. I knew little about him other than he was an old player. Didn't know how legendary he actually was.
What's more of a shame is that Red lived 20 miles from me and I never took the time to ask for lessons and such. I really regret that...
Another thing that sticks out in my mind about that tourney is I think everyone besides me was wearing Joop cologne. To say it polluted the air would be an understatement...it was overwhelming! hahaha
Good times and wish I had gotten in the game much earlier than I did...some classic moments.
His bar table break is insane I had him 4-1 in race to 5 he found a spot and broke 4 9 balls in a row I never got back to table lost 5-4 one of the greatest pool characters I've ever met use to see him weekly in Cincinnati ohio area a ton about 6 yrs ago
i met bucky about 5 years ago, right when i first started playing pool. a few weeks later we talked agian, ended up taking a short lesson from him. supposed to be for 2 hours for $50. he promised if i didn't feel i learned anything, not to pay him a nickle. ended up working with me for about 3 1/2 hours. the last 30 minutes or so he started "showing off" a little, with some of his trick shots, i didn't mind a bit. one shot was a masse off the long left rail around a ball, center of end rail, blocking the object ball in right corner pocket. honestly, i was thinking to myself, now when in the hell will i ever get that shot.
about one year later when i got brave enough to enter some local tournaments, that exact shot came up, i made it, won the tournament.
thanks bucky!!!!
and yes, he certainly is a character and a pure pleasure to talk with.
he's been frequenting bk billiards in sharonville lately, so i run into him quite often.
I guess I'll be making a trip to BK billiards. I havent heard that name in 15 years and to be honest i had to think about it for about 3 seconds... "Damn... I know that name...." what a character. He needs a movie made about him. Thats all i can say...
That was the tournament where "Piggy" took the calcutta money and said he wasn't giving it back because he swore the finals match was fixed.
corey came down to one of the steepleton tourneys with an alias and won it all. forget who he said he was but it did come out who he was. probably 93-95 or so.
been closed for years
Maybe I shouldn't post this...sometimes people don't want their whereabouts known.
He is a regular in the 3 n out tourney on Friday's at my local league bar, Mickey's in DeWitt.
Still a formidable player.
He is a regular in the 3 n out tourney on Friday's at my local league bar, Mickey's in DeWitt.
Still a formidable player.
Here's a story from Freddy 'The Beard's' book about Bucky Belll, told by, Sherm 'Cuesmith.'
About a week later I was back in Cincinnati at my poolroom, Beechmont Billiards. Bucky Bell has been a friend of mine, and a player rep for my cues, for many years. Bucky happened to be in that morning, and he was hitting balls around on my old Brunswick Anniversary carom table. He made the casual statement that he wished there was someone he could gamble with at Three-cushion. Bucky said, “Those damn billiard players are a bunch of stuffed shirts. They won't bet that they're alive!”
I said, “Bucky, I can get you a game with Bill Smith.” I thought it was generic enough of a name that he'd probably not recognize it. To my surprise, Bucky's face kind of exploded, and he spewed his coffee out and all down the front of my shirt.
When he was able to talk, he asked “What kind of a trap are you trying to put me in? That damn Billy Smith is probably the best American Three-cushion player on the planet, and he will gamble!”
Sherm Abramson, Custom Cues
About a week later I was back in Cincinnati at my poolroom, Beechmont Billiards. Bucky Bell has been a friend of mine, and a player rep for my cues, for many years. Bucky happened to be in that morning, and he was hitting balls around on my old Brunswick Anniversary carom table. He made the casual statement that he wished there was someone he could gamble with at Three-cushion. Bucky said, “Those damn billiard players are a bunch of stuffed shirts. They won't bet that they're alive!”
I said, “Bucky, I can get you a game with Bill Smith.” I thought it was generic enough of a name that he'd probably not recognize it. To my surprise, Bucky's face kind of exploded, and he spewed his coffee out and all down the front of my shirt.
When he was able to talk, he asked “What kind of a trap are you trying to put me in? That damn Billy Smith is probably the best American Three-cushion player on the planet, and he will gamble!”
Sherm Abramson, Custom Cues
Maybe I shouldn't post this...sometimes people don't want their whereabouts known.
He is a regular in the 3 n out tourney on Friday's at my local league bar, Mickey's in DeWitt.
Still a formidable player.
Unlikely anybody's looking for him anymore. He's a legend. You would be doing a service for billiards railbird history and Bucky's legend to give us a pic (while we can get it).
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I've been sneaking out of the basement a bit more often here lately, but this past weekend my wife was out of town so I had figured I would get to put some quality time in with the kiddos. Well, they had other plans and wanted to spend their time elsewhere -- so after spending a few seconds considering if I should try to convince them to stay with me or not, I got them ready to go and began escorting them around town. Then I went home and grabbed my cues and headed for the Comstock Cue Club right outside of Kalamazoo, Michigan for their Friday night 8 ball tournament.
I called ahead and told them I was running a bit behind so they put my name down and I drove the hour long ride excited for a chance to compete. They say beggars can't be choosers and this describes me perfectly when it comes to competing at pool. Give me at least a race to three and I don't care what the game is or what type of table I'm playing on -- you can sign me up!
So I finally get there and I hustle to the back as they are finishing up the calcutta in order to hit a few balls and I see an older guy finishing up a rack and I figure I'll be able to jump on the table once he's done. He's wearing a winter hat, a plaid shirt, and an old pair of jeans. In other words, the typical midwestern pool player's outfit that could and should be sold right out of the pool hall's front counter display case.
So he sees me coming over and proceeds to fire the final 3 balls into the rails of this teeny tiny bar table and turns to me and says, "What kind of spot would you give an old feller like me?" I was just beginning to utter out my response when he cuts me off and says, "How many tries will you give me to get out from here for 20?" So he puts the 8 smack dab in the middle of the table and freezes the cue ball right behind it with the 9 down table on the rail about a diamond from the corner pocket. He's getting ready to shoot the shot just assuming I'm going to accept the bet. I'm trying to slow him down but by this time he's off and running. He fires right through the 8 and pockets the nine. "What about this one?" he says as he sets up another one. "Or this one?" as the balls are being positioned just so. I couldn't slow the guy down. "So how about that spot? What will you give an old feller like me?"
"Ahh, how about we just start with your name" I said. He sort of just whispers "Bucky" and I say "You wouldn't happen to be Bucky Bell would you?" I imagine there was probably a time in his life when he didn't want people to know his name but it was obvious by the way he perked up that those days where long gone and at this point being known of by a complete stranger just brought a little joy to his life. As if I needed proof of who he was he quickly flipped his cue around and showed me his name on the butt end of his cue to prove it!
He quickly proceeded to give me a complete rundown of his 60 plus years in pool, having started at 11 years old and now being over 70. To say this guy has a few stories to tell is more of an understatement than saying Shane Van Boening has pocketed a lot of balls in his lifetime.
...cont
I called ahead and told them I was running a bit behind so they put my name down and I drove the hour long ride excited for a chance to compete. They say beggars can't be choosers and this describes me perfectly when it comes to competing at pool. Give me at least a race to three and I don't care what the game is or what type of table I'm playing on -- you can sign me up!
So I finally get there and I hustle to the back as they are finishing up the calcutta in order to hit a few balls and I see an older guy finishing up a rack and I figure I'll be able to jump on the table once he's done. He's wearing a winter hat, a plaid shirt, and an old pair of jeans. In other words, the typical midwestern pool player's outfit that could and should be sold right out of the pool hall's front counter display case.
So he sees me coming over and proceeds to fire the final 3 balls into the rails of this teeny tiny bar table and turns to me and says, "What kind of spot would you give an old feller like me?" I was just beginning to utter out my response when he cuts me off and says, "How many tries will you give me to get out from here for 20?" So he puts the 8 smack dab in the middle of the table and freezes the cue ball right behind it with the 9 down table on the rail about a diamond from the corner pocket. He's getting ready to shoot the shot just assuming I'm going to accept the bet. I'm trying to slow him down but by this time he's off and running. He fires right through the 8 and pockets the nine. "What about this one?" he says as he sets up another one. "Or this one?" as the balls are being positioned just so. I couldn't slow the guy down. "So how about that spot? What will you give an old feller like me?"
"Ahh, how about we just start with your name" I said. He sort of just whispers "Bucky" and I say "You wouldn't happen to be Bucky Bell would you?" I imagine there was probably a time in his life when he didn't want people to know his name but it was obvious by the way he perked up that those days where long gone and at this point being known of by a complete stranger just brought a little joy to his life. As if I needed proof of who he was he quickly flipped his cue around and showed me his name on the butt end of his cue to prove it!
He quickly proceeded to give me a complete rundown of his 60 plus years in pool, having started at 11 years old and now being over 70. To say this guy has a few stories to tell is more of an understatement than saying Shane Van Boening has pocketed a lot of balls in his lifetime.
...cont
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Well it was tourney time so we parted ways but in between rounds I would wander back over his way and continue listening to his tales. Like most old school pool hustlers, he told me about how he beat them all! At one point I asked him if he could recall the most horrific missed ball he had ever experienced and he looked puzzled. I said, "You know, there had to be that one time you dogged it and it really stuck with you." So he paused and thought for a moment and he honestly couldn't think of a single ball he dogged in all his years. He said yeah he missed his fair share of balls just like everybody but none of them stuck with him long. He would just start over fresh the next day. He viewed working a pool room as his job and the previous day's performance didn't slow him down one bit.
Now as far as the tourney was concerned, Bucky and I met in the rocking chair match but before the match I asked him if he would mind if I snapped a picture of him and of course he obliged. In the match we both made a couple of mistakes and it ended up going hill-hill. He was running out the last rack and made his biggest mistake of the match while trying to bump the 8 ball free. On this final rack he moved the 8 ball into a spot where he could clearly see it but he had no pocket to send it into. So what did he do? That son of a gun two rail kicked a visible 8 ball in on me for the win! Nothing I could do there but shake the man's hand and wish him well. After the match, he looked at me and said, "Can we still be friends?"
I worked my way through and played him again in the finals where I won a late night match and we ended up splitting 1st, which isn't too shabby for a 74 year old man. It was obvious to everyone in attendance that the guy could really play. As for me, I can now say I split first with Bucky Bell and when I tell the story in the future I'll just leave out the year it happened.
Now as far as the tourney was concerned, Bucky and I met in the rocking chair match but before the match I asked him if he would mind if I snapped a picture of him and of course he obliged. In the match we both made a couple of mistakes and it ended up going hill-hill. He was running out the last rack and made his biggest mistake of the match while trying to bump the 8 ball free. On this final rack he moved the 8 ball into a spot where he could clearly see it but he had no pocket to send it into. So what did he do? That son of a gun two rail kicked a visible 8 ball in on me for the win! Nothing I could do there but shake the man's hand and wish him well. After the match, he looked at me and said, "Can we still be friends?"
I worked my way through and played him again in the finals where I won a late night match and we ended up splitting 1st, which isn't too shabby for a 74 year old man. It was obvious to everyone in attendance that the guy could really play. As for me, I can now say I split first with Bucky Bell and when I tell the story in the future I'll just leave out the year it happened.
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thx for sharing this great story.
where's the pic he allowed you to take?
best,
brian kc