Harold Worst

Low500

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sow Low500 is Harold Worst?
j/k :) I was commenting on how negative Low500 is about Willis.
*sigh*.....I suppose I must comment (usually I ignore your kind of remark....and that's where you're headed after this post of mine. To the ignore corner)
Don Willis was one helluva pool player.....but he was not unbeatable.
Joe Cosgrove spotted him the break and busted Willis. Lassiter was in on the bet and had a fit. Willis didn't dog it...tall slim Joe just shot him down. That was the same day Wimpy wiped the floor with Danny Jones...giving Danny the 8. (Of course back then they all did so much business you never which way the river was flowing or how deep it was.)
Willis wanted to race somebody backward. One of the loafers sent over to Georgia Tech for anyone who was fast and wanted to try this out. Two guys showed up in their shorts, ready to go. Willis squirmed, hemmed and hawed, talking about "I meant the usual kind of people...not athletes". The race never came off.
I don't know a thing about Ping-Pong except what one of those Chinese experts said about that "using the coke bottle for a paddle" stuff. The Chinese guy said it's crap because a real player needs a paddle with a surface that will counter the spin put on the ball by the opponent...otherwise the ball flies off the table and a loss of a point. If Willis gaffed a coke bottle, I guess it's possible. But, I don't think any high betting Ping-Pong player could be taken in by that silly ruse.
That garbage about 'so and so' saw him shoot a ball downstairs, rolling under a steam heater, and hitting a ball placed there is about as absurd as that shooting out of an upstairs window and the ball rolled down the street in the gutter to make contact with another ball, etc.etc.etc.
Willis knew, collectively speaking, that pool room loafers are the most gullible saps on the planet....yet they THINK they're the smartest people alive. He knew exactly how to rob them.
Repeat: Don Willis was a fantastic pool player. Willis was a wonderful pool player....but not in the league of Pagalayan, SVB, Scott Frost, Don Watson, Billy Johnson, and certainly not Harold Worst.
Now...you may go to the "ignore corner".
Bye.
:thumbup:
 

sixpack

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
*sigh*.....I suppose I must comment (usually I ignore your kind of remark....and that's where you're headed after this post of mine. To the ignore corner)
Don Willis was one helluva pool player.....but he was not unbeatable.
Joe Cosgrove spotted him the break and busted Willis. Lassiter was in on the bet and had a fit. Willis didn't dog it...tall slim Joe just shot him down. That was the same day Wimpy wiped the floor with Danny Jones...giving Danny the 8. (Of course back then they all did so much business you never which way the river was flowing or how deep it was.)
Willis wanted to race somebody backward. One of the loafers sent over to Georgia Tech for anyone who was fast and wanted to try this out. Two guys showed up in their shorts, ready to go. Willis squirmed, hemmed and hawed, talking about "I meant the usual kind of people...not athletes". The race never came off.
I don't know a thing about Ping-Pong except what one of those Chinese experts said about that "using the coke bottle for a paddle" stuff. The Chinese guy said it's crap because a real player needs a paddle with a surface that will counter the spin put on the ball by the opponent...otherwise the ball flies off the table and a loss of a point. If Willis gaffed a coke bottle, I guess it's possible. But, I don't think any high betting Ping-Pong player could be taken in by that silly ruse.
That garbage about 'so and so' saw him shoot a ball downstairs, rolling under a steam heater, and hitting a ball placed there is about as absurd as that shooting out of an upstairs window and the ball rolled down the street in the gutter to make contact with another ball, etc.etc.etc.
Willis knew, collectively speaking, that pool room loafers are the most gullible saps on the planet....yet they THINK they're the smartest people alive. He knew exactly how to rob them.
Repeat: Don Willis was a fantastic pool player. Willis was a wonderful pool player....but not in the league of Pagalayan, SVB, Scott Frost, Don Watson, Billy Johnson, and certainly not Harold Worst.
Now...you may go to the "ignore corner".
Bye.
:thumbup:

Oh come on! We're all just having fun here. No need for the dramatic sigh and putting me on ignore. :)
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
*sigh*.....I suppose I must comment (usually I ignore your kind of remark....and that's where you're headed after this post of mine. To the ignore corner)
Don Willis was one helluva pool player.....but he was not unbeatable.
Joe Cosgrove spotted him the break and busted Willis. Lassiter was in on the bet and had a fit. Willis didn't dog it...tall slim Joe just shot him down. That was the same day Wimpy wiped the floor with Danny Jones...giving Danny the 8. (Of course back then they all did so much business you never which way the river was flowing or how deep it was.)
Willis wanted to race somebody backward. One of the loafers sent over to Georgia Tech for anyone who was fast and wanted to try this out. Two guys showed up in their shorts, ready to go. Willis squirmed, hemmed and hawed, talking about "I meant the usual kind of people...not athletes". The race never came off.
I don't know a thing about Ping-Pong except what one of those Chinese experts said about that "using the coke bottle for a paddle" stuff. The Chinese guy said it's crap because a real player needs a paddle with a surface that will counter the spin put on the ball by the opponent...otherwise the ball flies off the table and a loss of a point. If Willis gaffed a coke bottle, I guess it's possible. But, I don't think any high betting Ping-Pong player could be taken in by that silly ruse.
That garbage about 'so and so' saw him shoot a ball downstairs, rolling under a steam heater, and hitting a ball placed there is about as absurd as that shooting out of an upstairs window and the ball rolled down the street in the gutter to make contact with another ball, etc.etc.etc.
Willis knew, collectively speaking, that pool room loafers are the most gullible saps on the planet....yet they THINK they're the smartest people alive. He knew exactly how to rob them.
Repeat: Don Willis was a fantastic pool player. Willis was a wonderful pool player....but not in the league of Pagalayan, SVB, Scott Frost, Don Watson, Billy Johnson, and certainly not Harold Worst.
Now...you may go to the "ignore corner".
Bye.
:thumbup:

With all due respect Low, were you there to witness all this or is it hearsay?
 

Dave714

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
medallio if you like reading about guys like Don Willis and Harold Worst and other hustlers/players of that era you should check out Freddy the Beard's Encyclopedia of Pool hustlers. Its almost 400 pages and a great read. He aired a lot of stuff about the greats of the game. R.A. Dyers book is great too but mostly centers around Fats, Lassiter, and Jersey Red. In Freddys book he mentions that Worst showed up in Tampa at the All Around in 64' when he was still pretty much unknown and beat Cowboy Jimmy Moore, Marshall Carpentrt, Eddie Taylor, and Danny Jones gambling 9-ball. He had never even played by the rules they made him play by. He mentioned Weenie Beenie later wanted to stake Lassiter for 5k playing him 9ball but lassiter flat out refused. Lassiter was considered the world champion nineball player at that time too. Worst beat Willis playing 9ball so Lassiter didn't want to risk losing while he was considered the champ. Eddie Taylor who was considered the the champ of one pocket at the time ducked him playing one pocket. Anyways its a good book and worth the read.

Really is a good book.
 

obe1

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Worst

Jay

Is it true Worst took on the snooker pros while in England and beat them on the 6x 12"s?

Thank you for your post's Jay..They are the best



I've commented many times on here about Harold Worst. IMO he is the greatest player I ever saw in my lifetime. Harold was a Man's Man! He carried himself with dignity at all times and spoke softly and carried a big stick. He had a presence about him that was hard to define and was respected by ALL the players, hustlers and tournament pros alike. He was similar to Shane in that he could win the tournament and then get out there and gamble with all comers. Bet what you want!

I saw Harold overcome gaff games and get the money. Quite simply he did what needed to be done on a pool table, making shots and playing position, over and over again until the match was over. There was no big fanfare to his game or his style. He just went about it methodically and shot your nuts off in the process. Kind of like the way Hoppe played Three Cushions.

Harold was prepared to play any player at any game, be it pool, snooker or billiards. He had no equal in that respect. He was a precursor to Efren, in that if he wanted to learn a new game (like One Pocket), give him a month and he was a world beater. He was preparing himself to take on Ronnie at One Pocket when the Big C got him. He had already challenged Lassiter to a $10,000 9-Ball match and was rebuffed.

I never saw another man quite like Worst in all the years I've followed this game.

P.S. Harold was powerful built for a man probably under 6' tall (maybe he was 5'11"). I would guess his weight at well over 200 pounds. His stance was the most solid I've ever seen along with the great Ceulemans.
It was sad to see Harold in Vegas at his last tournament in 1967. He was frail and looked weak, but he never complained or said anything to anyone. He went ahead and won the tournament anyway (what a testament to his greatness) and was dead less than six months later. I was in shock when I heard that news.
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Jay

Is it true Worst took on the snooker pros while in England and beat them on the 6x 12"s?

Thank you for your post's Jay..They are the best

I never heard that story, although he did play great snooker. I only saw him play Cornbread Red in the finals of the snooker division in Detroit in 1963. Red was a great snooker player also and it went down to the last game with Harold winning. They also played in the 9-Ball finals (Worst won again) and the One Pocket finals (Red got that one). There were a lot of good players in those events and Red and Harold were the two best of the bunch. I don't think they let Harold play in the Three Cushion division. Either it conflicted with the pool events or he was barred for some reason. No one could have beaten him at that game for certain.

I heard that Worst played Jimmy Moore a big money snooker match during Johnston City and won but I was not there for that one. The Canadian, George Chenier, was the best snooker player in North American at that time, but I have no idea if they ever met or played each other.
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
I never heard that story, although he did play great snooker. I only saw him play Cornbread Red in the finals of the snooker division in Detroit in 1963. Red was a great snooker player also and it went down to the last game with Harold winning. They also played in the 9-Ball finals (Worst won again) and the One Pocket finals (Red got that one). There were a lot of good players in those events and Red and Harold were the two best of the bunch. I don't think they let Harold play in the Three Cushion division. Either it conflicted with the pool events or he was barred for some reason. No one could have beaten him at that game for certain.

I heard that Worst played Jimmy Moore a big money snooker match during Johnston City and won but I was not there for that one. The Canadian, George Chenier, was the best snooker player in North American at that time, but I have no idea if they ever met or played each other.
Harold must have played Jimmy on a 5x10...Jimmy told me once that he had never
lost to an American on a 6x12.
...but he lost to George Chenier more than once.

George Chenier died undefeated for his North American Snooker title...the terms were
a minimum bet of two thousand...he successfully defended it twice in the last three
years of his life.
And I'm pretty sure that George was the only player to beat Sam Blumenthal on his
own table in Jacksonville...Russ Maddox flew him in.
 

PoolBum

Ace in the side.
Silver Member
I never heard that story, although he did play great snooker. I only saw him play Cornbread Red in the finals of the snooker division in Detroit in 1963. Red was a great snooker player also and it went down to the last game with Harold winning. They also played in the 9-Ball finals (Worst won again) and the One Pocket finals (Red got that one). There were a lot of good players in those events and Red and Harold were the two best of the bunch. I don't think they let Harold play in the Three Cushion division. Either it conflicted with the pool events or he was barred for some reason. No one could have beaten him at that game for certain.

I heard that Worst played Jimmy Moore a big money snooker match during Johnston City and won but I was not there for that one. The Canadian, George Chenier, was the best snooker player in North American at that time, but I have no idea if they ever met or played each other.

Jay, since you're one of the only people still around who was at the Last Supper and who also actually saw all four of these guys play, I'm wondering how you would rank the following four players in terms of their all-around game:

Efren Reyes
Nick Varner
Harold Worst
Luther Lassiter
 

bbb

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Jay, since you're one of the only people still around who was at the Last Supper and who also actually saw all four of these guys play, I'm wondering how you would rank the following four players in terms of their all-around game:

Efren Reyes
Nick Varner
Harold Worst
Luther Lassiter

i know you didnt ask me
( i dont blame you...:grin: )
but i would say worst efren
based on their pool AND 3c /balkline prowess
lassiter is such a legend i have to put him above varner but its tough
icbw
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Jay, since you're one of the only people still around who was at the Last Supper and who also actually saw all four of these guys play, I'm wondering how you would rank the following four players in terms of their all-around game:

Efren Reyes
Nick Varner
Harold Worst
Luther Lassiter

Worst, Efren, Varner and Lassiter. Luther did not like to play One Pocket or Banks. Varner excelled at both those games. If you stick to 9-Ball and 14.1 then Lassiter might be first or second.

Including ALL billiard games (pool, snooker and billiards) then Worst is an easy choice, with Efren next. They are clearly a notch above the other two overall. I'm not aware of Nick's prowess at Snooker or Billiards. Never saw him play either game. Same goes for Lassiter.
 
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medallio

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Jay, given time on today's equipment who would you bet on getting the cash with a prime Worst vs SVB, Dennis etc etc. ?
 

Chopdoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Worst, Efren, Varner and Lassiter. Luther did not like to play One Pocket or Banks. Varner excelled at both those games. If you stick to 9-Ball and 14.1 then Lassiter might be first or second.

Including ALL billiard games (pool, snooker and billiards) then Worst is an easy choice, with Efren next. They are clearly a notch above the other two overall. I'm not aware of Nick's prowess at Snooker or Billiards. Never saw him play either game. Same goes for Lassiter.

Thank you for your posts.

I was always a major Varner fan, Worst fan...and Reyes...and Lassiter....

I am just thrilled to see them all discussed. And I dig the old films so much.

I have one of those old Worst cues, perfect decal, mint...with the original case and an original second snooker shaft. Why? Just because it has his name on it.



.
 

HawaiianEye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have one of those old Worst cues, perfect decal, mint...with the original case and an original second snooker shaft. Why? Just because it has his name on it.

.

I know you have a lot of cues, but would you consider it to be your Worst cue or one of your better ones?

:)
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Jay, given time on today's equipment who would you bet on getting the cash with a prime Worst vs SVB, Dennis etc etc. ?

It's pretty much impossible to match these guys up. All three gamble good! That said, mentally Worst has the edge over anybody he would play. He never let up or let down, even for a moment. He is actually a closer match for Dennis, with similar type games - big shotmakers and excellent cue ball control. Shane has that monster break, much more like Earl in his prime. Pretty hard to contend with that when he is on. But neither of these guys could hang with Worst in an all-around consisting of all billiard disciplines. Not even close if you take into account snooker and billiards. Worst excelled at all cue games, not just pool.
 

medallio

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What is scary is you never hear anybody try to dispute the accolades directed towards Worst. I've never heard anyone discredit how good he was. That's triple strong
 

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What is scary is you never hear anybody try to dispute the accolades directed towards Worst. I've never heard anyone discredit how good he was. That's triple strong

Let me be the first to dispute the accolades.
While i did not play pool as good as he did,I could give him weight in hair style.:thumbup:
 

Baby Huey

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I only have one Harold Worst story and it occurred at Johnson City. There were nine ball ring games and Harold was barred from playing. But, anyone could hire him out for one shot during the game. So, he just sat around and waited until he was called upon to shoot for them. I heard he never missed a ball where he could see both edges.
 
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