Dan Gartner...Stories, how good was he?

deadnutz

AzB Silver Member
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I recently aquired an old cue that was originally owned by Dan Gartner. After some searches I found a little info on him but not much. Seems as if he was a player...... just wondering if anyone here has any info or stories in the man to share. I'm thinking Jay might chime in on this one.

Thanks in advance.
 

ghostball

AzB Silver Member
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Dan was a good man, he was in insurance, we would play straight pool at the Clifton Billiard Lounge where he was part owner, years down the road I bought the place.
Danny was N.J. State Champion in 14.1 and he may have been i pocket champ from the Stardust Casino i do not no the year. hope this helps you.
Ray Martin
 

Bob Jewett

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Staff member
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I saw him play in the 1969 US Open in Las Vegas. He was recovering from cataract surgery but still played pretty well. He had a two-inning game, 70 and 80.
 

pdcue

AzB Silver Member
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Dan was a good man, he was in insurance, we would play straight pool at the Clifton Billiard Lounge where he was part owner, years down the road I bought the place.
Danny was N.J. State Champion in 14.1 and he may have been i pocket champ from the Stardust Casino i do not no the year. hope this helps you.
Ray Martin

Thanx for the memories.

For all you young whippersnappers out there who probably don 'know,
being New Jersey state champion in those days meant you were likely the 12th best
Straight Pool player in the world:).

As I recall, his nickname in his early days was 'Young Greenleaf'. Pretty high praise.

Dale
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
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Danny Gartner was a very good player. His prime was in the 40's thru 60's. Probably a few years older than Lassiter. He played in Johnston City and was a contender at 14.1 each year. He had a gaff/skill game that he won at quite regularly. He would bet that he could run 50 balls at Straight Pool within half an hour. I never heard of him losing at that game.

They did call him Young Greenleaf when he was starting out in the late 30's, he was that highly skilled as a young man to be compared with the great Greenleaf. He was a typical East Coast hustler who had the smarmy con going all the time. Guys like him were always paranoid about everything and everybody and constantly on the hustle. Every time I ever saw him he was looking for a mark, or a piece of the action in someone else's gaff game.

Just one more character populating the pool scene in the 60's.
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Thanx for the memories.

For all you young whippersnappers out there who probably don 'know,
being New Jersey state champion in those days meant you were likely the 12th best
Straight Pool player in the world:).

As I recall, his nickname in his early days was 'Young Greenleaf'. Pretty high praise.

Dale

A lot better than top 12 back then. All the greatest East Coast players (pretty much all the best 14.1 players came from the East Coast) of that era played in championships like this.
 
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