Best Player that Quit Early on

Cole Dickson, Mark Tadd, Artie Bodendorfer

Jean Balukis,
perhaps?

Good Rolls,
Rasta

And don't forget . . .

"Fast" Eddie Felson

Good Rolls,
Rasta

Coletrain, I can't rember his first name. Mike I think.
Some players should've made it big but didn't, because of personal problems attitude etc. but that's another thread sometime.

DawgAndy said:

Coletrain, I can't rember his first name. Mike I think.
Some players should've made it big but didn't, because of personal problems attitude etc. but that's another thread sometime.

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Mike Coltrain did quit early on, but because of a medical condition.

John "Cornflakes" Hennagan was a player with tremendous potential who quit early on for poker.

CJ Wiley and Roger Griffis were also two top players that quit early.

BackPocket9Ball said:

John "Cornflakes" Hennagan was a player with tremendous potential who quit early on for poker.

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Is the same going to be said for Alex Pagulayan?

Tang Hoa seems to taken this route as well. And Nick Schulman. I think out west, Ian Costello is doing more cards than pool these days too.

mosconiac said:

Is the same going to be said for Alex Pagulayan?

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Mark Tadd ............

BackPocket9Ball said:

John "Cornflakes" Hennagan was a player with tremendous potential who quit early on for poker.

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Amen to "tremendous" player! I had the pleasure to watch him in Philly a few times. The guy bet high, and had a real HIGH gear, then I saw him on TV playing poker and almost jumped out of my seat.

Gerry

Keith "Little Squirrel" Thompson

It's going to take some of you old scuffs to remember this name but today in Houston, TX they still remember the name, Keith "Little Squirrel" Thompson. Keith at the ripe age of 17 won the one pocket division and all around at one of, if not the, last Johnston City tournament. Quit playing all together shortly afterwards. A great loss to the game.

StevenPWaldon said:

And Nick Schulman.

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Damn, that's the guy I was going to add.

Nick 'the TakeOver' Schulman was probably going to be good at whatever he did, I'm glad to see him so successful at poker. Great kid.

Does anyone remember Johnny Drain (Draino)? - hustled around Phoenix in mid - late 60's. Played out of the Golden Cue and Golden Eight Ball. Last I heard his girlfriend got his stick.

hemicudas said:

Keith "Little Squirrel" Thompson. Keith at the ripe age of 17 won the one pocket division and all around at one of, if not the, last Johnston City tournament.

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1970 Johnston City winners:

One-pocket: Ronnie Allen
Nine ball: Keith Thompson
Straight pool: Luther Lassiter
All-Around: Keith Thompson

Mark tadd
Mark Tadd
and Mark Tadd.........Guy was unbelievable!!
Never saw anybody that FearLESS.
He was the only player that had TOO much heart for his own good

The two players that come to mind in the New York area are:

George "Ginky" SanSouci who is arguably the most accomplished player in history to vow never to actively tour again. Many people will refer to Efren Reyes as being one of 9-ball's most influential players and representative of the "Filipino-Style" but it's players like Hall of Famer Nick Varner and Ginky who have also shown that Americans can play at a higher level, as well. I honestly believe had he continued to compete, Ginky would typically be mentioned in the same breath as any of the game's best.

Richard Peck who is the most talented cueist I have ever seen and he refuses to play in anything. I've seen him run-off 10 points in 3-cushion. On triple-shim tables (his opinion, a "real" player's table) he's run 6-packs and over 150 balls in 14.1. To add to his reputation, his best game is 1-pocket. Every player in New York City who has seen this guy shoot will attest he's done things amongst friends that you may never see in a professional event.

Jude Rosenstock said:

The two players that come to mind in the New York area are:

George "Ginky" SanSouci who is arguably the most accomplished player in history to vow never to actively tour again. Many people will refer to Efren Reyes as being one of 9-ball's most influential players and representative of the "Filipino-Style" but it's players like Hall of Famer Nick Varner and Ginky who have also shown that Americans can play at a higher level, as well. I honestly believe had he continued to compete, Ginky would typically be mentioned in the same breath as any of the game's best.

Richard Peck who is the most talented cueist I have ever seen and he refuses to play in anything. I've seen him run-off 10 points in 3-cushion. On triple-shim tables (his opinion, a "real" player's table) he's run 6-packs and over 150 balls in 14.1. To add to his reputation, his best game is 1-pocket. Every player in New York City who has seen this guy shoot will attest he's done things amongst friends that you may never see in a professional event.

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Jude, who is Richard Peck? And who have you seen him beat at one pocket?

BackPocket9Ball said:

Jude, who is Richard Peck? And who have you seen him beat at one pocket?

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Although this is not the greatest story for one-pocket fans, the one I love most is after Mika won the World Championship. At the time, Mika was dating Helen Chiang who was a good friend of Peck's when Peck owned City Hall Billiards in lower Manhattan.

Well, after Mika won, Helen suggested to him that they go to Long Island to visit Peck. Peck just opened a new room out there and as I stated in my previous post, never played in any tournaments. Mika must have been surprised by such a notion. Here he was, the World Champion of 9-ball and his girlfriend thought it would impress her if he went to a little room in Long Island to play the room-owner.

Well, Mika obliged and the following day, we called Peck to get a report. The conversation went something like this:

"Hey Peck, how'd you do?"
"Wow, that kid is amazing!"
"How'd you do?"
"He doesn't miss a ball!"
"How'd you do?"
"Oh well, all we played was one-pocket."
"How'd you do?"
"He won a game."
"Wait, what? I don't understand. What was the race? How long did you play?"
"We played all night. I think he only won one game. Yeah, that kid is amazing! Never missed a shot!!"


Now, I know you're immediately going to remind me that Mika is not regarded as a one-pocket player and at that time, he really was just learning how to play the game. However, he was still World Champion at 9-ball and had run 15 balls in one-pocket at Corner Billiards. No matter, it is my favorite story about Peck.