Regarding who was and still is the...
Ronnie "Fast Eddie" Allen has gone public, saying in a recording made in June, 2006 that Harold Worst was the greatest pool player he ever saw. According to Fast Eddie, there is no doubt that Mosconi was the best at straight pool, and no one in his opinion could have beaten Buddy Hall or Richie Florence at nine-ball when they were in stroke. But Mosconi, Hall and Florence were one-game specialists. Even the great Efren Reyes plays primarily two games: nine-ball and one-pocket. Within the last 50 years there has been only one player who was a world champion at three-cushion billiards, nine-ball, one-pocket, straight pool and snooker: Harold Worst. Allen goes on to tell an amusing and illustrative story. It was around 1965 and the world's greatest pool hustlers were in Jacksonville for a tournament. They included Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter, Eddie "The Knoxville Bear" Taylor, "Cowboy" Jimmy Moore, Weenie Beanie, Squirrel, Joe "The Meatman" Balsis, "Handsome" Danny Jones, and a young, larcenous Fast Eddie. Suddenly a Western Union messenger delivers a singing telegram, saying that someone named Harold Worst is at the Biltmore Hotel and will play any taker a session for $1,000. It was "the damndest thing," according to Allen. So he called Worst's room and told him to "bring plenty of money" because there were twenty people lined up to play him. When Worst showed up, he was "the essence of a gentleman," wearing a suit and tie. He didn't bother to practice, and "never hit a ball." He just tossed $1,000 on the table and asked who he was playing. The hustlers decided to put up Moore, and Worst beat him 11-6. Then Allen suggested that they put up Wimpy, because "Lassiter ain't never lost playing nine-ball to nobody." But Worst beat Lassiter, 11-9 and 11-10. At this point, according to Allen, "This guy has not missed a ball, so we don't know what to do." They decide to resort to begging and stealing. The hustlers only get their money back by persuading Worst to spot Allen the seven ball. From that point forward, they either dodge Worst (as Lassiter and Taylor did), or demand the mortal nuts (as Allen did more than once), or they send "undercover" players to his home room in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and try to trick him into bad games. But from what I have been able to gather, Worst always won playing head-up, and even when giving up the mortal nuts, he sometimes still managed to win.
Ronnie Allen: "In my professional opinion, Harold Worst was the greatest pool player who ever lived, or ever will live ... He's got my vote."
Artie Bodendorfer again: "The two best nine-ball players would be Wimpy and Efren. Harold Worst would be the underdog against both players playing nine-ball. But he could still win. And playing three cushion billiards or snooker it would be all Harold Worst. And balkline and straight rail and so on. But if Harold Worst would have keep playing, he would have been number one. And Worst was a great shooter ... Worst was a complete monster. And he was fearless to go with it. And Everlino had a good opinion of players. And I think Ronnie would have taken Worst to. You can ask him if he is at the Hall of Fame dinner."
Artie Bodendorfer: "The players back then were better and Efren would not have won 5 in a row. We have to give him credit for his great accomplishment. But even back then a lot of the best one-pocket players did not play in the tournaments. And I would like to ask just for myself. Did Efren win 5 one-pocket tournaments in a row? And it's always hard to pick out the best player and people go by their record and their performance. Did Efren bet his own money against the top player and why not? And Harold Worst was way more talented in all the pool games and billiard games and snooker; he played everything world class. It sure would have been great to watch Harold Worst and Efren play all those games against each other. And if they both had to bet their own money, I would make Harold Worst a 2 to1 favorite."
Artie Bodendorfer: "Harold Worst was the greatest all around player in life, playing nine-ball, one-pocket, cushion billiards and snooker."
Artie Bodendorfer: "Playing nine-ball, three cushion billiards and snooker, Harold Worst would be stealing. Nobody in the world would have a chance at those three games. Harold Worst would be in a class by himself. And he would have robed Efren. And Harold Worst played good enough nine-ball to win at all three games. He was my favorite. And he could shoot and even all those great players like Taylor, Bugs and Ronnie, they all feared him, and for the coup de grace he bet his own money. Harold Worst was all by himself number ONE. And he was an intelligent classy man. And he won the all-around at the Star Dust the last two years of his life. With Cancer. And he is the most talented player I ever seen. World champion class player in all games. Even straight pool. And he would have been the best in one-pocket. If you don't believe me ask that little rascal Ronnie. No player ever got the respect that Harold Worst got from the top players. He could make the balls talk. Nobody is close to him. And if he would have been around in today's world, he would have been another Tiger Woods. And he would have played 7 or 8 games world class. And there is no debating. Harold Worst was like Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Robinson. And He had enough balls for 20 people. He is the best ever in life!"
Jay Helfert: "I have a lot of respect for Artie when he talks about Harold Worst. I've always said when asked who the best player I ever saw was, that it was HAROLD WORST! My stock answer all these years was Worst was Best! Everything Artie says is true. No top player of his era wanted to even discuss playing a money game with him. Even Lassiter drew the line playing Worst 9-Ball for money. He was afraid that he might lose his rep as the best 9-Ball player. Worst was unique, kind of like Efren in a way. If you showed him a game with sticks and balls, he would master it fairly quickly. If he wanted to be the best one-pocket player in the world, Ronnie would have been in trouble. And you know how strong I think Ronnie was. Harold Worst was a unique man, a real man's man. Courteous, humble but proud. And like Artie said, he wasn't afraid to bet his own money. In fact, he wouldn't consider having a backer. That would have been demeaning to him. Probably the closest to Worst was Rags Fitzpatrick from the 50's. ALL the players said he was unbeatable. I'll never forget the final year (1965 I believe) that Worst won the Stardust tourney. He looked anemic to me, having lost so much weight from his once healthy and robust frame. No one knew how sick he was. He was not one to complain or make excuses. He won anyway. And only a few months later he was gone."
This might be a testament to who the, 'Greatest All Around Player of All time' is!
Ronnie "Fast Eddie" Allen has gone public, saying in a recording made in June, 2006 that Harold Worst was the greatest pool player he ever saw. According to Fast Eddie, there is no doubt that Mosconi was the best at straight pool, and no one in his opinion could have beaten Buddy Hall or Richie Florence at nine-ball when they were in stroke. But Mosconi, Hall and Florence were one-game specialists. Even the great Efren Reyes plays primarily two games: nine-ball and one-pocket. Within the last 50 years there has been only one player who was a world champion at three-cushion billiards, nine-ball, one-pocket, straight pool and snooker: Harold Worst. Allen goes on to tell an amusing and illustrative story. It was around 1965 and the world's greatest pool hustlers were in Jacksonville for a tournament. They included Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter, Eddie "The Knoxville Bear" Taylor, "Cowboy" Jimmy Moore, Weenie Beanie, Squirrel, Joe "The Meatman" Balsis, "Handsome" Danny Jones, and a young, larcenous Fast Eddie. Suddenly a Western Union messenger delivers a singing telegram, saying that someone named Harold Worst is at the Biltmore Hotel and will play any taker a session for $1,000. It was "the damndest thing," according to Allen. So he called Worst's room and told him to "bring plenty of money" because there were twenty people lined up to play him. When Worst showed up, he was "the essence of a gentleman," wearing a suit and tie. He didn't bother to practice, and "never hit a ball." He just tossed $1,000 on the table and asked who he was playing. The hustlers decided to put up Moore, and Worst beat him 11-6. Then Allen suggested that they put up Wimpy, because "Lassiter ain't never lost playing nine-ball to nobody." But Worst beat Lassiter, 11-9 and 11-10. At this point, according to Allen, "This guy has not missed a ball, so we don't know what to do." They decide to resort to begging and stealing. The hustlers only get their money back by persuading Worst to spot Allen the seven ball. From that point forward, they either dodge Worst (as Lassiter and Taylor did), or demand the mortal nuts (as Allen did more than once), or they send "undercover" players to his home room in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and try to trick him into bad games. But from what I have been able to gather, Worst always won playing head-up, and even when giving up the mortal nuts, he sometimes still managed to win.
Ronnie Allen: "In my professional opinion, Harold Worst was the greatest pool player who ever lived, or ever will live ... He's got my vote."
Artie Bodendorfer again: "The two best nine-ball players would be Wimpy and Efren. Harold Worst would be the underdog against both players playing nine-ball. But he could still win. And playing three cushion billiards or snooker it would be all Harold Worst. And balkline and straight rail and so on. But if Harold Worst would have keep playing, he would have been number one. And Worst was a great shooter ... Worst was a complete monster. And he was fearless to go with it. And Everlino had a good opinion of players. And I think Ronnie would have taken Worst to. You can ask him if he is at the Hall of Fame dinner."
Artie Bodendorfer: "The players back then were better and Efren would not have won 5 in a row. We have to give him credit for his great accomplishment. But even back then a lot of the best one-pocket players did not play in the tournaments. And I would like to ask just for myself. Did Efren win 5 one-pocket tournaments in a row? And it's always hard to pick out the best player and people go by their record and their performance. Did Efren bet his own money against the top player and why not? And Harold Worst was way more talented in all the pool games and billiard games and snooker; he played everything world class. It sure would have been great to watch Harold Worst and Efren play all those games against each other. And if they both had to bet their own money, I would make Harold Worst a 2 to1 favorite."
Artie Bodendorfer: "Harold Worst was the greatest all around player in life, playing nine-ball, one-pocket, cushion billiards and snooker."
Artie Bodendorfer: "Playing nine-ball, three cushion billiards and snooker, Harold Worst would be stealing. Nobody in the world would have a chance at those three games. Harold Worst would be in a class by himself. And he would have robed Efren. And Harold Worst played good enough nine-ball to win at all three games. He was my favorite. And he could shoot and even all those great players like Taylor, Bugs and Ronnie, they all feared him, and for the coup de grace he bet his own money. Harold Worst was all by himself number ONE. And he was an intelligent classy man. And he won the all-around at the Star Dust the last two years of his life. With Cancer. And he is the most talented player I ever seen. World champion class player in all games. Even straight pool. And he would have been the best in one-pocket. If you don't believe me ask that little rascal Ronnie. No player ever got the respect that Harold Worst got from the top players. He could make the balls talk. Nobody is close to him. And if he would have been around in today's world, he would have been another Tiger Woods. And he would have played 7 or 8 games world class. And there is no debating. Harold Worst was like Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Robinson. And He had enough balls for 20 people. He is the best ever in life!"
Jay Helfert: "I have a lot of respect for Artie when he talks about Harold Worst. I've always said when asked who the best player I ever saw was, that it was HAROLD WORST! My stock answer all these years was Worst was Best! Everything Artie says is true. No top player of his era wanted to even discuss playing a money game with him. Even Lassiter drew the line playing Worst 9-Ball for money. He was afraid that he might lose his rep as the best 9-Ball player. Worst was unique, kind of like Efren in a way. If you showed him a game with sticks and balls, he would master it fairly quickly. If he wanted to be the best one-pocket player in the world, Ronnie would have been in trouble. And you know how strong I think Ronnie was. Harold Worst was a unique man, a real man's man. Courteous, humble but proud. And like Artie said, he wasn't afraid to bet his own money. In fact, he wouldn't consider having a backer. That would have been demeaning to him. Probably the closest to Worst was Rags Fitzpatrick from the 50's. ALL the players said he was unbeatable. I'll never forget the final year (1965 I believe) that Worst won the Stardust tourney. He looked anemic to me, having lost so much weight from his once healthy and robust frame. No one knew how sick he was. He was not one to complain or make excuses. He won anyway. And only a few months later he was gone."
This might be a testament to who the, 'Greatest All Around Player of All time' is!
Last edited: