I lost afreind yesterday. post a story if you knew him.

So sorry to hear about Tony. He was quite the poolroom character, but always a good stake horse, so he helped create action. What happened to him?

I'm very sorry you lost a friend. Please post some stories about him, would love to hear them !

Tony?

is this the Tony associated with the ballroom down in toms river?

A terrible loss

I first met Tony in LA about the mid 60's. He would stake Hawaiian Brian against me. Anyway we became good friends and in the early 80's we'd make trips around the east coast. When we'd go to Philly there was always at least a $5,000 win or loss.
Tony bought a Zambodi every year til' Gus died. He treated his players awfully well.I guess most recently "Kid Delicious" was in his stable.
He was a sharp guy. His beautiful room in Tom' s River, NJ had a 100 year lease. He used to offer this deal to other rooms who had up and coming players: Come to my place and play my guy for a thousand or two and we'll come to your place and do the same.
We developed a ritual, a routine if you will. Every year at the US Open he'd bum a Camel regular from me.I sometimes would call Tony and seek his sage advice, which was always freely given.
Lastly allow me to say that Tony was sometimes obstreperous but once the game began he was quiet as a mouse.
I'll miss you, my old friend,
Grady

tony c

just asked you about tony a week ago . . .
quite a character, and a very nice fellow!
he'll be missed!

I will miss Tony

I started playing pool at age 15 at the "Old BallRoom". I am thankful for the great memories and funny stories that will stay with me forever. 90% of them have something to do with Tony. He took pride in his business and ran his poolhall better than any other that I have been to. When Tony was around, which was most of the time, there was action and plenty of entertainment. What I loved most was how he could get anyone up to the table and into a game or into some sort of crazy bet. When I look back now and as a teen then, I know Tony enjoyed matching us up with one another and then barking at us from the rail while we were playing. He would not gamble with us, or actually he would, but never for money. There were many nights, where you might see us cleaning up or taking out the garbage as payment for losing to him. I have a friend who walked in one night after buying a new pair of Sneakers - Tony got him into a friendly game and sent my friend home in his socks - it was the dead of winter, snow on the ground and it was hilarious. Of course he gave back the sneakers the next night when we came back.

Grady said:

I first met Tony in LA about the mid 60's. He would stake Hawaiian Brian against me. Anyway we became good friends and in the early 80's we'd make trips around the east coast. When we'd go to Philly there was always at least a $5,000 win or loss.
Tony bought a Zambodi every year til' Gus died. He treated his players awfully well.I guess most recently "Kid Delicious" was in his stable.
He was a sharp guy. His beautiful room in Tom' s River, NJ had a 100 year lease. He used to offer this deal to other rooms who had up and coming players: Come to my place and play my guy for a thousand or two and we'll come to your place and do the same.
We developed a ritual, a routine if you will. Every year at the US Open he'd bum a Camel regular from me.I sometimes would call Tony and seek his sage advice, which was always freely given.
Lastly allow me to say that Tony was sometimes obstreperous but once the game began he was quiet as a mouse.
I'll miss you, my old friend,
Grady

Click to expand...

Great story, Grady...but I think you're overestimating the vocabulary of your audience.

I'm the guy who helped arrange your exhibition at Jamaica Joe's in OKC a couple years back...I'd love to play you some more one pocket; I play a lot better now than I did then. Please PM or call me the next time you head this way. If you've lost my phone number, I'm one only PM away...

-Michael

:frown::frown::frown:

Tony used to come to Binghamton, NY every year for the New York State 9 Ball Championship, usually in company with Alan Hopkins. He was a pool room character for sure and I liked him.

I knew Tony very well. I started hanging out in the original Ballroom that had about 12 or so tables.After a couple of years of packing the room every night he leased an old vacant bowling alley next door and created a spectacular 36 table room with a large game room full of video and other games and a kitchen that served up great fast food.The place was packed every night with a waiting list 20 or so deep to get a table. I would estimate on a Fri or Sat night there would be several hundred or so in the room. He was a hard but fair man that under the sometimes gruff exterior could have a heart of gold.I had some money problems once and he loaned me $3000 on just a "could you help me out".
In the rear of the room there was some open space (this place was huge)and he set up some poker tables and he played for 3 days straight.Tony was a collector of Gus Szamboti cues and Gus would come to the room every so often.I worked the counter for awhile and he let me use the lathe in the backroom to do tips on pool cues.I charged $10 to put on a tip and all he charged me was $1 to buy the tip from him so i could make a little money.I played a lot of pool with Tony. He was a pretty good player but no match for me in 9 ball or straight pool and i did not have the kind of money to bet that interested him. So we played even one pocket cheap although i played better he knew one pocket much better then i so it was a fair game.I would be sitting there and he would come up and say to me "Do you know anybody that plays cheap one pocket?" I would reply "Go get one of your Szamboti"s and lets see what you got!" He was a pool character that will be missed by those that liked him and those that did not.If there is a pool room in the after life you can bet Tony is in the thick of the action RIP my friend.
Any of you that hung out in his room in the '80s will know me.

I believe I met this Tony at a poolroom near Sarasota Race track in the 1970's. If it was him, he was a cool guy. Johnnyt

I'm saddened to hear this news...
The Billiard community lost one of their own..
Best,
Ken Kerner

This needs a bump for tony's sake and for people that knew him and might not look on page 3.

Tony was 1 in a million...

Many years ago, I remember Tony came into an L.A. poolroom and I asked him to borrow a $100 to stay in a $25 nine-ball game. He peeled off a c-note and I quickly got even but the guy quit and tried to stear his buddy into a game with me. Tony saw an opportunity to make a game and
arranged for me to play this guy a 100 point game of straight pool for $500. Everybody in the room seemed to know that the guy would drill me
in nine ball but nobody in the room, except Tony, new that I was mainly a
straight pool player. I won the toss, the guy broke the balls, and I got to the table and ran 100 and out. Tony was a genius and a world-class stakehorse. Although I am deeply sadened by his passing, I am thankfull
that I had the opportunity for our last conversation not long ago. He will
be missed but never forgotten.

C!!!!!!CK S!!!!!!!!!CKER!!!!!
That was a familiar sound when Catucci came walking through the doors of his pool haul.
I worked for Tony for a number of years and learned alot about the ways people can get screwed in the pool business and in general. There was never a dull moment hanging around Tony, like someone said, you either loved him or you hated him. I hated working for him but enjoyed being around him after I was done working, the knowledge that he had for the business was second to none and also for life in general..
Couple of the endless stories I could share.
There were two women to came walking into the pool haul one day and were hanging around the counter by the cash register and there were a bunch of us "regulars" hanging around the counter and there was a conversation, don't exactly remember what was being said but Tony tried to retract one of his statements by back pedaling and one of the women goes " yeah, just stick your foot in your mouth" Tony was sitting next to the register and she had no idea about his leg, as quick as she got her statement out he took his leg off and stuck his foot in his mouth and started smiling at her, classic catucci....He lived hard and played hard and had a way of just demanding respect from anyone and everyone.

Some quotes I could share that I have never forgot that he as said to me, "knowledge is power, money is freedom" when I was having issues after my grandfather passed away, he said to me " people aren't dead because they are no longer here, people are dead when you forget about them"
I believe Tony has left a nice scar on the pool community and will never be forgotten... His love for Gus and Barry Zyamboti cues; he probably has the biggest collection of Gus and Barry cues in the world. I hope they go to someone who enjoys playing with them as much as he enjoyed speaking about them collecting them and playing with them..

If it wasn't for him hiring me and his pool haul I would have never have met my wife while I was working there...He always looked out for my personal well being while I was young and stupid; pain in the ass then, I appreciate it now...

Never to be screwed over!!!!
RIP Catucci....

He seems like a heck of a character ,Im sure he will be missed. How can you not like a guy that announces his presence in the room by yelling c@ck sucker !! lol. ! gotta love it :grin: <<ED

Sorry to hear about your loss.