The Kids Detroit Whitey (Eddie Beauchene) Sold

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AzB Gold Member
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I'm currently reading 'The Encyclopedia of Pool Hustlers' by Freddy Bentivenga (The Beard).

One story he relates, in a manner that convinces me that he, at least, believes it to be true, is that Detroit Whitey sold his two children to black marketeers to finance a pool game he thought was a lock. He apparently lost the game and the children.

I'm slightly shook - the story has stayed in my head for a couple of days, because the worst case scenario of what could have happened to the guy's kids is pretty chilling. (The best case scenario is they were adopted by a decent parent who for whatever reason couldn't adopt by the legal route. But realistically?)

Was it ever known what happened to the kids?
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
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I feel the story about his kids is hyperbole...the tales just kept getting wilder.
I recall Whitey at the Rack in the late 70s....he had 5 top cues for sale...low prices.
...nobody would buy them...we figured he stole them off players.
 

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AzB Gold Member
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I hope you're right!

Oh well, I suppose one way or another we know that awful things happen to some people...
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
I hope you're right!

Oh well, I suppose one way or another we know that awful things happen to some people...

I never had anything to do with him....but Eddie Robin told about when Whitey was at a
tournament Down South...one of the players saw Whitey lowering a suitcase from a
second story hotel window to his old lady on the sidewalk...
...he calls “What are you doing, Whitey?”
Whitey says “Just checkin’ out.”
 

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AzB Gold Member
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I've never been involved in any violent or criminal cultures, and if I was I'm sure I'd find it all very alarming. But reading Freddie's book you acclimatise to the comparatively minor stealing and fighting, which all looks harmless compared to the really nasty stuff. What's dodging your hotel bill when you've sold your own children to the mob, who'll do god knows what with them? What's stealing someone's money when you've been robbed at gunpoint or drugged?

I love the straightforward way he writes about it all too, you get an understanding of how somebody comfortable in that world thinks and feels about different types of actions, and it's eye-opening to get that honest, rational perspective from somebody who comes across as likeable and a good person.
 

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've never been involved in any violent or criminal cultures, and if I was I'm sure I'd find it all very alarming. But reading Freddie's book you acclimatise to the comparatively minor stealing and fighting, which all looks harmless compared to the really nasty stuff. What's dodging your hotel bill when you've sold your own children to the mob, who'll do god knows what with them? What's stealing someone's money when you've been robbed at gunpoint or drugged?

I love the straightforward way he writes about it all too, you get an understanding of how somebody comfortable in that world thinks and feels about different types of actions, and it's eye-opening to get that honest, rational perspective from somebody who comes across as likeable and a good person.

Ever heard the expression "In for a penny, in for a pound"?
 
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