Does anyone remember?

jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
The year was 1976 and Ronnie Allen, Ben Tracy and Bob Lambert promoted something called the WOENA Championships in Bend, Oregon at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain resort. What a beautiful locale! Probably the nicest place I ever went to for a Pool tournament. The purse was $33,000 guaranteed and there were two divisions, Eight Ball and 9-Ball. Almost all the top players were there! Mike Sigel won the 9-Ball and Dan Louie won the Eight Ball. Then they had a play-off for an extra $3,000, where someone had to win both to be the champion.

The interesting thins is that in the play-off Louie won the 9-Ball and Sigel won the Eight Ball. Now they played a second time with shorter races and the same thing happened. Finally on the third go-round Dan Louie won both matches and was declared the All Around champion. What made all this the more interesting was that we broadcast it all live on radio, and I was doing commentary with a local sportscaster from a station in Portland. Our program could be heard all over the Northwest and it last for several hours, due to the long match.

To date it is the only time I ever did a radio broadcast of a pool tournament. It was challenging to say the least, but I was told afterwards that they had a large audience who stayed tuned in throughout the show. What I'm wondering is there anyone out there who remembers this besides me?
 
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Black-Balled

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
The year was 1976 and Ronnie Allen, Ben Tracy and Bob Lambert promoted something called the WOENA Championships in Bend, Oregon at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain resort. What a beautiful locale! Probably the nicest place I ever went to for a Pool tournament. The purse was $33,000 guaranteed and there were two divisions, Eight Ball and 9-Ball. Almost all the top players were there! Mike Sigel won the 9-Ball and Dan Louie won the Eight Ball. Then they had a play-off for an extra $3,000, where someone had to win both to be the champion.

The interesting thins is that in the play-off Louie won the 9-Ball and Sigel won the Eight Ball. Now they played a second time with shorter races and the same thing happened. Finally on the third go-round Dan Louie won both matches and was declared the All Around champion. What made all this the more interesting was that we broadcast it all live on radio, and I was doing commentary with a local sportscaster from a station in Portland. Our program could be heard all over the Northwest and it last for several hours, due to the long match.

To date it is the only time I ever did a radio broadcast of a pool tournament. It was challenging to say the least, but I was told afterwards that they had a large audience who stayed tuned in throughout the show. What I'm wondering is there anyone out there who remembers this besides me?
Click to expand...
Dan louie and Mike siegel, jay..
:shrug:
 
Michael Andros

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
The year was 1976 and Ronnie Allen, Ben Tracy and Bob Lambert promoted something called the WOENA Championships in Bend, Oregon at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain resort. What a beautiful locale! Probably the nicest place I ever went to for a Pool tournament. The purse was $33,000 guaranteed and there were two divisions, Eight Ball and 9-Ball. Almost all the top players were there! Mike Sigel won the 9-Ball and Dan Louie won the Eight Ball. Then they had a play-off for an extra $3,000, where someone had to win both to be the champion.

The interesting thins is that in the play-off Louie won the 9-Ball and Sigel won the Eight Ball. Now they played a second time with shorter races and the same thing happened. Finally on the third go-round Dan Louie won both matches and was declared the All Around champion. What made all this the more interesting was that we broadcast it all live on radio, and I was doing commentary with a local sportscaster from a station in Portland. Our program could be heard all over the Northwest and it last for several hours, due to the long match.

To date it is the only time I ever did a radio broadcast of a pool tournament. It was challenging to say the least, but I was told afterwards that they had a large audience who stayed tuned in throughout the show. What I'm wondering is there anyone out there who remembers this besides me?
Click to expand...


Oregon is one of the few states I've not been at least through if not "to". And I've heard from friends who do or have live/d there it's one of the most beautiful states in the country, *especially* along the coast. I DO recall hearing about the tournament though. At the Citrus Open in January 77, I heard it mentioned more than a few times.
 
CuesDirectly

CuesDirectly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
The year was 1976 and Ronnie Allen, Ben Tracy and Bob Lambert promoted something called the WOENA Championships in Bend, Oregon at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain resort. What a beautiful locale! Probably the nicest place I ever went to for a Pool tournament. The purse was $33,000 guaranteed and there were two divisions, Eight Ball and 9-Ball. Almost all the top players were there! Mike Sigel won the 9-Ball and Dan Louie won the Eight Ball. Then they had a play-off for an extra $3,000, where someone had to win both to be the champion.

The interesting thins is that in the play-off Louie won the 9-Ball and Sigel won the Eight Ball. Now they played a second time with shorter races and the same thing happened. Finally on the third go-round Dan Louie won both matches and was declared the All Around champion. What made all this the more interesting was that we broadcast it all live on radio, and I was doing commentary with a local sportscaster from a station in Portland. Our program could be heard all over the Northwest and it last for several hours, due to the long match.

To date it is the only time I ever did a radio broadcast of a pool tournament. It was challenging to say the least, but I was told afterwards that they had a large audience who stayed tuned in throughout the show. What I'm wondering is there anyone out there who remembers this besides me?
Click to expand...


You're right, it's a real nice place. Great place to stay while skiing at Mt Bachelor (where the US Ski team practices) or hiking the Three Sisters area.

Would be a great place for more tournaments because the airport is much better now, you don't have to fly into Poorland and then drive there.

Great post Jay, in the summer is 76 I hiked on South Sister mountain, I was 12 and have always enjoyed the area.
 
M

maha

from way back when
Silver Member
i was there jay. remember it fairly well. richie was involved with ronnie, supposedly the two ran it.
i remember bobby lambert when he was around before he got killed in a supermarket robbery. bobby was a friend.
he was from texas when i knew him.
the side action was incredible then at all tournaments by weak players rather than just the champs.

and billy staton gambled a ton at cards on the side.
 
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Michael Andros

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
I don't know any Mike Siegel?
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I do, Jay. Mike Siegel was a friend of my old man's, a plumber here in Clearwater. I think he's long gone by now, though. He'd be in his late 90s by now, maybe older. Of course, the world champion pool player, Mike Sigel, is only in his mid 60s, bless his heart. With luck, he'll still be "The Mouth", 20 years from now! Hopefully at least! :D
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
maha said:
i was there jay. remember it fairly well. richie was involved with ronnie, supposedly the two ran it.
i remember bobby lambert when he was around before he got killed in a supermarket robbery. bobby was a friend.
he was from texas when i knew him.
the side action was incredible then at all tournaments by weak players rather than just the champs.

and billy staton gambled a ton at cards on the side.
Click to expand...

That's true. But I can tell you definitely that Richie had nothing to do with producing this event, other than watching carefully how they put it together. I went up there with Ronnie about six weeks ahead of time to help him prepare and to put together the souvenir program (I have exactly one copy left).

I gambled with Bob Lambert shooting free throws on the B-Ball court at the resort. We would each take ten free throws and the one who made the most would win $20. Usually it took an eight or a nine to win. We played all afternoon one day and broke even. Bob had the misfortune to be walking into a 7/11 when the gunman/robber was rushing out. He bumped into Bob who said something to the guy not knowing he was armed and just like that he shot him.

Billy liked me for whatever reason and he ran a Blackjack game every night in the practice room. To make it fair, the rule was that if you got a Black Jack you could take the deal, but you then had to cover all bets. People could bet up to $100 a hand, a big bet at the time. I got a BJ and hesitated to take the deal (like most others did also). Billy asked me how much money I had and I told him $600 and he said he would put $600 in with me and I could deal. Long story short, we won over $6,000 in the next 45 minutes or so. After I finally lost the deal, I quit the game. That was the biggest pay check I got the whole time I was up there! Thank you Billy. :smile:

P.S. He still hustled me to play Gin Rummy the next time I saw him and he fleeced me for a few hundred before I pulled up. I feel fortunate to have known such interesting characters as Weenie Beenie. He was smooth talking, smart and humorous all at the same time. I think he got on the Johnny Carson show a couple of times.
 
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Cuebuddy

Cuebuddy

Mini cues
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
That's true. But I can tell you definitely that Richie had nothing to do with producing this event, other than watching carefully how they put it together. I went up there with Ronnie about six weeks ahead of time to help him prepare and to put together the souvenir program (I have exactly one copy left).

I gambled with Bob Lambert shooting free throws on the B-Ball court at the resort. We would each take ten free throws and the one who made the most would win $20. Usually it took an eight or a nine to win. We played all afternoon one day and broke even. Bob had the misfortune to be walking into a 7/11 when the gunman/robber was rushing out. He bumped into Bob who said something to the guy not knowing he was armed and just like that he shot him.

Billy liked me for whatever reason and he ran a Blackjack game every night in the practice room. To make it fair, the rule was that if you got a Black Jack you could take the deal, but you then had to cover all bets. People could bet up to $100 a hand, a big bet at the time. I got a BJ and hesitated to take the deal (like most others did also). Billy asked me how much money I had and I told him $600 and he said he would put $600 in with me and I could deal. Long story short, we won over $6,000 in the next 45 minutes or so. After I finally lost the deal, I quit the game. That was the biggest pay check I got the whole time I was up there! Thank you Billy. :smile:

P.S. He still hustled me to play Gin Rummy the next time I saw him and he fleeced me for a few hundred before I pulled up. I feel fortunate to have known such interesting characters as Weenie Beenie. He was smooth talking, smart and humorous all at the same time. I think he got on the Johnny Carson show a couple of times.
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I have heard that before Jay although I have never found an video of the show. Bill had been on a few other shows also if memory serves me. Bill was also a accomplished golfer and enjoyed fishing too.
 
alstl

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Who left town with the money after the tournament ended and the action happened?
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
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Silver Member
alstl said:
Who left town with the money after the tournament ended and the action happened?
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Denny Searcy showed up right after the Finals were over. It was like a scene from the Old West, with Denny standing in the doorway and challenging anyone in the room to play for $10,000! He looked right at Sigel and no one said boo! After standing there glaring at all the tournament players for a couple of minutes, Searcy just shrugged his shoulders and looked like he was ready to leave.

Louie Roberts was the first to speak. He said he would play if he could get a backer. A buzz went around the room and several people chipped in money until Louie had 5,000. Searcy agreed to play him for the 5K. It must have taken him all of 2-3 hours to win that money playing Ten Ahead 9-Ball. Denny collected his winnings and turned and walked out. I didn't see him again for another year or two after that. He was on the road with Cliff Thorburn as I recall.
 
alstl

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
Denny Searcy showed up right after the Finals were over. It was like a scene from the Old West, with Denny standing in the doorway and challenging anyone in the room to play for $10,000! He looked right at Sigel and no one said boo! After standing there glaring at all the tournament players for a couple of minutes, Searcy just shrugged his shoulders and looked like he was ready to leave.

Louie Roberts was the first to speak. He said he would play if he could get a backer. A buzz went around the room and several people chipped in money until Louie had 5,000. Searcy agreed to play him for the 5K. It must have taken him all of 2-3 hours to win that money playing Ten Ahead 9-Ball. Denny collected his winnings and turned and walked out. I didn't see him again for another year or two after that. He was on the road with Cliff Thorburn as I recall.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the story.

I'm not surprised Louie would step up - with a backer. I am a bit surprised Sigel didn't.
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
alstl said:
Thanks for the story.

I'm not surprised Louie would step up - with a backer. I am a bit surprised Sigel didn't.
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Mike was a lot more careful about who he gambled with, and usually it was when his partner Larry Hubbart was willing to put him in action. My most memorable match I saw Mike play for money was with Efren in Houston back in the mid 80's. First he tried to play him Rotation and that didn't work out so well for Mike. Then he played him some 9-Ball with equally bad results. Finally Mike resorted to Bank Pool as I recall and may have broken even with Efren. Mike played damn good Banks! But so did Efren. :smile:
 
Gerry

Gerry

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
Mike was a lot more careful about who he gambled with, and usually it was when his partner Larry Hubbart was willing to put him in action. My most memorable match I saw Mike play for money was with Efren in Houston back in the mid 80's. First he tried to play him Rotation and that didn't work out so well for Mike. Then he played him some 9-Ball with equally bad results. Finally Mike resorted to Bank Pool as I recall and may have broken even with Efren. Mike played damn good Banks! But so did Efren. :smile:
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We need to learn how to plug into Jay's head for a live feed of stories! THAT would be awesome! :)
G.
 
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