I’m not giving up on this yet....somebody has to know him.
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I swear he looks familiar to me, one of the local hustlers who used to be all over Ohio and Indiana back in the day. I never knew all their names. There must have been over a hundred shortstop level players running around the Midwest, gambling in bars and poolrooms back in the 60's and 70's. There was action everywhere back then! And a decent player could grind out a living if he was careful.
For all I know I may have played this guy myself. In a ten year period I gambled with hundreds of different guys, rarely ever turning down a game. I've had guys come up to me at tournaments years later and tell me about a game we played. They remembered where and when and how much we played for. Most of the time I didn't remember them or the game. I may have just remembered being in that town and playing a couple of people. I did remember the guys who beat me though!
P.S. I was nothing like Dean who posts on here. He would lay down and make sure he had a good game before showing any speed. He was much smarter than me! I wanted to play every day. And I'd just walk in, go right to the counter and ask if there was anyone who wanted to play. I got games quick that way!
P.P.S. He kind of reminds me of a guy who I used to see in the daily Ring game in Richmond, IN. They played $1 on the five and $2 on the nine. If you made one out of turn, it spotted back up and you kept on shooting. I had a job working nearby in the Leland hotel for a few months on the night shift (11PM to 7AM). I'd get up in the afternoon and go over to the poolroom and eat one of their Sloppy Joe beef sandwiches for lunch (so good!). Then I'd get in the game. I was maybe 21-22 then and had been playing for three or four years. I could play a little, good enough to beat that game for 20 or 30 bucks on most days. That is, until one day when someone stole my cue when I went to the bathroom. There were five or six guys there and no one saw anything! I knew that I was no longer welcome in that game and never went back, except to eat lunch. :wink: