Los Angeles area players from the past

Andy Hughes

Andy Hughes

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Great post,Tony! It brought back a lot of memories. I am the same Andy Hughes you mention. I too worked at Dodger Stadium for a while & also Santa Anita. John Weissen was one of my best friends. Do you remember Dave Stalmac? As you mentioned, I grew up in Eagle Rock & lived right across the street from Eagle Rock High School. Use to go into the Chalk n Cue a lot once I got out of High School in ‘69. The downstairs room in Glendale was indeed Jensen’s. I have lived here in Las Vegas for 38 years now. I do remember Mike & Donna Sanders, but never ran across them here. I vaguely remember John might have hooked up with them once on a visit here to see me in the early 80’s. I use to own the Southern Nevada ‘9’ Ball Tavern Owners Associatiion Pool League here. At the time the only league here in Las Vegas with about 400 teams out of 100 taverns across the valley. Been retired for a few years now & just started playing pool again after a 16 year layoff.

Andy - Las Vegas
 
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jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
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Silver Member
Baby Huey said:
Jay, how could you forget Baby Huey? Still playing and still in action at 70 years old.
Click to expand...

Damn Jerry, how did that happen. Actually someone else put your name on this thread. You've probably aged better as a pool player then almost all these guys. Many are gone now, others have quit playing and the rest can't make two balls any more (like me). You and I used to have some pretty good tussles back in the day. I could hang with you at One Pocket then but those days are long gone. Your road buddy (Pepe?) was a helluva player himself. I think he was Jimmy Mendoza's (another good player from L.A., now in Phoenix) dad.

I love watching you play and give all those big name guys trouble. Makes me feel like there's still hope for our older generation. :thumbup:
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
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rexus31 said:
I remember the place in Glendale on Colorado, Jay. I think it was called Golden Billiards or Golden Cue, can't remember. I booked you for a lesson when I was just starting to play. I didn't know it, but you were watching me knock balls around before the lesson. I broke and ran a rack of 9B and you walked up and said, "After watching you, I'm not sure I can teach you much." LOL! I did in fact, learn from you though. The room you are talking about on Colorado in Pasadena was Jake's Billiards; my home room in my 20's. Sal was the House Pro there for a bit. Sadly, it deteriorated over the years with the tables (16 GC III's) in disrepair. It closed a couple years ago.

You also mentioned Tim Padgett in your opening post. He's still making cues and can still play. He and I play together weekly; usually Ring Games at poolhustler's place or mine.
Click to expand...

It was the Golden Cue. I remember you now. I didn't want to mess with your stroke. I just showed you some tricks/strategy on how to win games, right! After I got divorced in 1995 I moved to a little house in Atwater Village, just outside of Glendale, and used to go into the Golden Cue to practice, and to the place on Los Feliz Blvd. By then there was no one who I could play around there. Even in that big room (Charles) on Brand Blvd. I couldn't get a game. I gave up trying after a while.

I really didn't play much pool until I opened my room at Hollywood Park in 2001. Then it was non stop action for the next four years. I had a great little room (sixteen 9' GC's and two Valley 7') until Churchill Downs bought the track and kicked me out. I still had three years left on my lease and they paid me off to go. My lawyer said I couldn't fight them, they were too powerful. That was in 2005 and I haven't played much pool since then.
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
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jrhendy said:
I guess I am chopped liver too at 78.:grin-square:
Click to expand...

You're from Northern Cal so you can start a thread about all those guys who played up there. There were a lot of them that's for sure. And some damn good ones at that. I mean Cole and Searcy! Try fading that duo and you did.

John, you may be the best best player your age in the country! And that ain't no joke. I've been asking you for weight all my life and that's embarrassing to admit it. :yes:

I don't know how you and Jerry still get motivated to play so much. I've got the most beautiful Diamond table sitting in my home that I just walk past it every day. I always say tomorrow I'm going to practice. :smile:
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
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tc in l a said:
Hi guys,

Could the downstairs room in Glendale have been Jensen's?

I grew up a few miles east of Glendale in Highland Park, graduated from high school in '69 and we had a family billiards room called Chalk and Cue. At that time the room was pristine, 14 9' gc's and a 10' Brunswick snooker table, The room later became Highland Park Billiards and finally closed just last year.

Back then table time was $.75 per hour per player (max $1.50 per hour if more than two players) with a free half hour for every two hours played.

I worked there for several years on and off after graduating...used to brush the tables, clean the rails and empty the ash trays after each group finished playing.

Before it was a pool hall it was a Thrifty drug store. The owner/proprietor was Mike Sanders and his wife was a very pretty woman named Donna. For a period of time they lived in the converted offices that were upstairs but they moved out after the Sylmar earthquake. She said the place was swaying like a roller coaster and refused to sleep there again.

By that time I was working the desk, vacuuming the place at noon when it opened and checking customers in and out and they rented the upstairs room to me. I was on top of the world, the key to my apartment was the key to the front door of the pool room.

Of course i screwed up after just a few months and they kicked me out after I had an old girlfriend (underage by just a few short months) spend the night and her sister was waiting for her when Mike arrived that day. She gave him, me and the sister hell and Mike told me he couldn't afford any problems like that and I had to move.

Mike liked to gamble at pool and cards but overall Chalk and Cue had more characters than high stakes players. Back then you could get around Los Angeles pretty easily and many of the guys from Glendale visited Chalk and Cue as well.

Ginacues and Tads were the cues of the day and around 1971 I bought a beat up '64 Gina from a tall guy named Cam, still have the cue and had Ernie restore it a few years ago.

Mike and Donna treated me very well and they moved to Vegas in '71 or '72 and I'm curious if any of you ran into them or know what became of them. When they left L. A. he had one of the first Dodge Challengers, lime green and a sweet barbells and gunsights Ginacue.

After they left the room went through a couple of management changes. At some point one of the guys that had a few bucks (John Weissen) put up a few bucks and we were renting the room. He was the money man and I was the lackey but i was on top of the world again. We both also worked at Dodger Stadium because the room really wasn't paying for itself.

We had a falling out and he left me on my own. He was a good guy but we were both probably too young and headstrong. The room wasn't making any money and I was on my last legs without him and one night a buddy who watching the room for me stayed past 2:00 am as there was some action going on. I remember it was Johnny McGill and a guy named Cal, maybe the same California Cal that Andy mentioned from Pete's.

The room had big picture windows in the front but had some nice blackout curtains and although they had pulled the curtains, no one moved their cars and there were about 10 cars parked right in front of the building. This attracted the attention of the local police car that patrolled the local business district they busted the game up and sent everyone home.

Before this I already had two run in's with the local LAPD for having a little pot and even though neither one stuck I wasn't in the mood for more contact with the judicial department so I walked out the next day and turned in the keys to the local realtor that owned the place.

The next proprietor was a young man called San Diego Bill, tall and thin, looked like a rock star, and another beautiful wife that rode horses and always came in with those riding pants and boots.

I realized then i need to get myself together and my girl persuaded me to enroll in a junior college and for all intents and purposes my pool days were done.

Just retired last year and miss the old rooms. Been checking them out but haven't found the one that feels right yet but the search continues.

By the way, I used to hang with a guy named Andy Hughes who lived across the street from ERHS, you the same guy Andy? From what I can remember we had some good times, although a little crazy. If that's you it seems like you're doing well and I'm glad to hear it.

For those of you still reading, my apology for the long post, but the topic brought up some old memories of days gone by.

Best to all of you
Tony Centi
Click to expand...

Thanks Tony for that. I don't know why but I just didn't make it out that way very often. I did get action at Highland Park Billiards one time many Moons ago, and stopped by there one or two other times and that's about it. I vaguely remember a poolroom on Foothill Blvd. Maybe that was the Chalk and Cue. I was only in there once or twice.
 
Andy Hughes

Andy Hughes

Registered
Chalk n Cue was not on Foothill Blvd, Jay it was on York Blvd. Funny that you & I are both from Los Angeles & ran in the same circles, but did not meet until the early 80’s if I remember correctly, here in Las Vegas.

Andy - Las Vegas
 
jrhendy

jrhendy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
tc in l a said:
Hi guys,

Could the downstairs room in Glendale have been Jensen's?

I grew up a few miles east of Glendale in Highland Park, graduated from high school in '69 and we had a family billiards room called Chalk and Cue. At that time the room was pristine, 14 9' gc's and a 10' Brunswick snooker table, The room later became Highland Park Billiards and finally closed just last year.

Back then table time was $.75 per hour per player (max $1.50 per hour if more than two players) with a free half hour for every two hours played.

I worked there for several years on and off after graduating...used to brush the tables, clean the rails and empty the ash trays after each group finished playing.

Before it was a pool hall it was a Thrifty drug store. The owner/proprietor was Mike Sanders and his wife was a very pretty woman named Donna. For a period of time they lived in the converted offices that were upstairs but they moved out after the Sylmar earthquake. She said the place was swaying like a roller coaster and refused to sleep there again.

By that time I was working the desk, vacuuming the place at noon when it opened and checking customers in and out and they rented the upstairs room to me. I was on top of the world, the key to my apartment was the key to the front door of the pool room.

Of course i screwed up after just a few months and they kicked me out after I had an old girlfriend (underage by just a few short months) spend the night and her sister was waiting for her when Mike arrived that day. She gave him, me and the sister hell and Mike told me he couldn't afford any problems like that and I had to move.

Mike liked to gamble at pool and cards but overall Chalk and Cue had more characters than high stakes players. Back then you could get around Los Angeles pretty easily and many of the guys from Glendale visited Chalk and Cue as well.

Ginacues and Tads were the cues of the day and around 1971 I bought a beat up '64 Gina from a tall guy named Cam, still have the cue and had Ernie restore it a few years ago.

Mike and Donna treated me very well and they moved to Vegas in '71 or '72 and I'm curious if any of you ran into them or know what became of them. When they left L. A. he had one of the first Dodge Challengers, lime green and a sweet barbells and gunsights Ginacue.

After they left the room went through a couple of management changes. At some point one of the guys that had a few bucks (John Weissen) put up a few bucks and we were renting the room. He was the money man and I was the lackey but i was on top of the world again. We both also worked at Dodger Stadium because the room really wasn't paying for itself.

We had a falling out and he left me on my own. He was a good guy but we were both probably too young and headstrong. The room wasn't making any money and I was on my last legs without him and one night a buddy who watching the room for me stayed past 2:00 am as there was some action going on. I remember it was Johnny McGill and a guy named Cal, maybe the same California Cal that Andy mentioned from Pete's.

The room had big picture windows in the front but had some nice blackout curtains and although they had pulled the curtains, no one moved their cars and there were about 10 cars parked right in front of the building. This attracted the attention of the local police car that patrolled the local business district they busted the game up and sent everyone home.

Before this I already had two run in's with the local LAPD for having a little pot and even though neither one stuck I wasn't in the mood for more contact with the judicial department so I walked out the next day and turned in the keys to the local realtor that owned the place.

The next proprietor was a young man called San Diego Bill, tall and thin, looked like a rock star, and another beautiful wife that rode horses and always came in with those riding pants and boots.

I realized then i need to get myself together and my girl persuaded me to enroll in a junior college and for all intents and purposes my pool days were done.

Just retired last year and miss the old rooms. Been checking them out but haven't found the one that feels right yet but the search continues.

By the way, I used to hang with a guy named Andy Hughes who lived across the street from ERHS, you the same guy Andy? From what I can remember we had some good times, although a little crazy. If that's you it seems like you're doing well and I'm glad to hear it.

For those of you still reading, my apology for the long post, but the topic brought up some old memories of days gone by.

Best to all of you
Tony Centi
Click to expand...

Jensen’s in Glendale was under a hotel if I remember correctly. The resident champion there was Glendale Johnny Camarillo, quite a character and old time hustler. I thought I could play a little golf on the snooker table in those days until I made a trip or two to Jensen’s and tried Johnny. This would be sometime in the 60’s.

He had a son I met years later at the race track who looked just like him. He played a little pool, but not like his dad.
 
jrhendy

jrhendy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
You're from Northern Cal so you can start a thread about all those guys who played up there. There were a lot of them that's for sure. And some damn good ones at that. I mean Cole and Searcy! Try fading that duo and you did.

John, you may be the best best player your age in the country! And that ain't no joke. I've been asking you for weight all my life and that's embarrassing to admit it. :yes:

I don't know how you and Jerry still get motivated to play so much. I've got the most beautiful Diamond table sitting in my home that I just walk past it every day. I always say tomorrow I'm going to practice. :smile:
Click to expand...

Thanks Jay, and while I have lived up north for over 30 years, I started out on the other side of Los Angeles and lived in the San Gabriel Valley before I came up north in the early 80's. I did move south to San Diego in 87 but came back up north in 91.

Here is a thread from onepocket.org a few years back about many of the rooms and players back in the days you are talking about.

http://www.onepocket.org/forum/showthread.php?t=9444
 
rexus31

rexus31

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
It was the Golden Cue. I remember you now. I didn't want to mess with your stroke. I just showed you some tricks/strategy on how to win games, right! After I got divorced in 1995 I moved to a little house in Atwater Village, just outside of Glendale, and used to go into the Golden Cue to practice, and to the place on Los Feliz Blvd. By then there was no one who I could play around there. Even in that big room (Charles) on Brand Blvd. I couldn't get a game. I gave up trying after a while.

I really didn't play much pool until I opened my room at Hollywood Park in 2001. Then it was non stop action for the next four years. I had a great little room (sixteen 9' GC's and two Valley 7') until Churchill Downs bought the track and kicked me out. I still had three years left on my lease and they paid me off to go. My lawyer said I couldn't fight them, they were too powerful. That was in 2005 and I haven't played much pool since then.
Click to expand...

Yessir. We talked about the mental side of the game which is just as important as the stroke, IMO. It's a shame that room (and others) closed as it was very nice with great equipment.
 
BmoreMoney

BmoreMoney

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
You're from Northern Cal so you can start a thread about all those guys who played up there. There were a lot of them that's for sure. And some damn good ones at that. I mean Cole and Searcy! Try fading that duo and you did.

John, you may be the best best player your age in the country! And that ain't no joke. I've been asking you for weight all my life and that's embarrassing to admit it. :yes:

I don't know how you and Jerry still get motivated to play so much. I've got the most beautiful Diamond table sitting in my home that I just walk past it every day. I always say tomorrow I'm going to practice. :smile:
Click to expand...

I was just hang in out with Cigar Tom ( 77 ) the other night. I feel the same about Tom - putting him up against ANYONE his age. Bet him and jrhendy would be a good match!
 
W

wayne

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The best action place in LA in the late 90's was Players in the valley. It was a non stop action place and a lot of talented players hung out there. On the snooker table a player named "Smitty" ruled the liability game. Tang, Santos, Eileen Pippen, Jennifer Chen were in action a lot. Keith McCready would show up for some big action matches. Jack Cooney came in undercover and was setting up a big match with Jean Robert Bellande when someone blew his cover by shouting out in surprise "You're Jack Cooney!!!"
Marcus Chamat was a regular there and was not quite pro level, he would gamble with Santos getting the wild 8. Someone asked why he didn't play pro events and he said he wasn't ready. A couple of years later he was beating everyone no matter what weight he was giving up. Suddenly he was a great player.
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
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Silver Member
wayne said:
The best action place in LA in the late 90's was Players in the valley. It was a non stop action place and a lot of talented players hung out there. On the snooker table a player named "Smitty" ruled the liability game. Tang, Santos, Eileen Pippen, Jennifer Chen were in action a lot. Keith McCready would show up for some big action matches. Jack Cooney came in undercover and was setting up a big match with Jean Robert Bellande when someone blew his cover by shouting out in surprise "You're Jack Cooney!!!"
Marcus Chamat was a regular there and was not quite pro level, he would gamble with Santos getting the wild 8. Someone asked why he didn't play pro events and he said he wasn't ready. A couple of years later he was beating everyone no matter what weight he was giving up. Suddenly he was a great player.
Click to expand...

Jack did play a big $$$ 9-Ball match against Sal Butera back then. 10K a side.
 
CrownCityCorey

CrownCityCorey

Sock it to 'em!
Silver Member
Some more L.A mentions...

From my formative years:

Orange County Area & Hard Times:

Aloha Wayne, Aggie, Mexican Eddie, Little Jeff, Mark McCready (Ether’s brother), Ante Rosini, aforementioned Jimmy Mendoza, “Sledge,” Little Manny (RIP), Frank Robutz, Mark Chapman, Earl Wilhite, Alex Lao, Cuban Joe, Billy Wade, Marty USMC Sawinski, Aya Ishi, Don Pham, Don Percy, Mark Betor...

Hollywood area:

Bankin’ Bill, Ross (snooker), Thai Bob, Smitty, Black Ron, Lucky, Pete Hess, Wally the Weasel (& Moose), Bob Burnet, Rich Ralf (mis-named in another post), J.J. Jenkins (RIP), Baltimore John, Brett (HAC)...

Other area guys:

Lefty Luis, Elias Valles, Steve Ito...

It was all timing for sure, but they all were action - some cheap and some very big.
 
rexus31

rexus31

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
CrownCityCorey said:
From my formative years:

Orange County Area & Hard Times:

Aloha Wayne, Aggie, Mexican Eddie, Little Jeff, Mark McCready (Ether’s brother), Ante Rosini, aforementioned Jimmy Mendoza, “Sledge,” Little Manny (RIP), Frank Robutz, Mark Chapman, Earl Wilhite, Alex Lao, Cuban Joe, Billy Wade, Marty USMC Sawinski, Aya Ishi, Don Pham, Don Percy, Mark Betor...

Hollywood area:

Bankin’ Bill, Ross (snooker), Thai Bob, Smitty, Black Ron, Lucky, Pete Hess, Wally the Weasel (& Moose), Bob Burnet, Rich Ralf (mis-named in another post), J.J. Jenkins (RIP), Baltimore John, Brett (HAC)...

Other area guys:

Lefty Luis, Elias Valles, Steve Ito...

It was all timing for sure, but they all were action - some cheap and some very big.
Click to expand...

I love the nick names. Straight out of central casting.
 
frankw

frankw

Semi Retired Bodybuilder
Silver Member
You're right Jay...Marvin Henderson was from Pittsburgh, heard a few stories about him
 
jrhendy

jrhendy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
BmoreMoney said:
I was just hang in out with Cigar Tom ( 77 ) the other night. I feel the same about Tom - putting him up against ANYONE his age. Bet him and jrhendy would be a good match!
Click to expand...

If is Tom Vanover, we can only play one pocket.:grin: Ran into him in Vegas at the BCA Seniors several years back and realized I was outclassed.
 
jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
maha said:
rudy oliver, ronnie roper, swannee,.
Click to expand...

Wow, someone remembered Ronnie Roper. I wonder if anyone remembers Arizona Sean Walsh, the Warren Beatty lookalike. He actually doubled for Warren in a couple of movies. Shampoo was one of them. Sean was the Arizona State champion at age 15! He became best friends with Don Johnson and was a notorious cat burglar on the side. :rolleyes:
 
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