Who is Jack Hines?

Lucky John

Registered
I have seen Jack at small tournaments in the L.A. / O.C. area, several times in the last 12 months. I would describe his play as very solid. And of course he's got great stories to tell.
 

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
I have seen Jack at small tournaments in the L.A. / O.C. area, several times in the last 12 months. I would describe his play as very solid. And of course he's got great stories to tell.

Any chance of getting Jack on here?
 

ElKabong

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
From post #20 in this thread by Mike Janis - a classic.

Wow, what a memory. I was the director at that event. I remember arguing with Jack about the pet Iguana on his back/shoulder. He was playing with it on him during his matches. Personally I thought was more of a distraction to Jack than anyone else. Anyway, during a shot the Iguana jumped off Jacks shoulder and chased the 9-ball into the pocket. It was the wildest thing I ever saw. At that time I told Jack no more Iguana. The owner told him he also needed the Iguana out of the location for health code reasons. So Jack takes the Iguana and the 2 or 3 others his GF had with her and put them in the car. This was a Summertime event and it was pretty hot outside. Subsequently the Iguanas died in the heat of the car, Jack was almost in tears. I was sooo funny and sad at the same time I couldn't help but laugh.

Anyway, Jack wins the event. During the payouts I always pay the players their money and the auction buyers their money separate. While doing this Jack and the buyer start arguing. It appears that the guy bought Jack for about $500 in the auction and during the 2nd match (I only learned of this much later) Jack tells the guy he has to give him 1/2 of the winning from the auction or he was dumping his next 2 matches. The guy agreed and now we are at the payout table with these guys arguing. The guy doesn't mind giving Jack the 1/2 of the Auction monies but he wants Jack to combine the whole shabang Tourney +Auction monies and split it 50/50. Jack argues for a while then agrees. Now here's the beautiful part. Jack convinces the guy to give Jack all the money to do the chop. What a mistake on the other guys part. Jack distracts the other guy for a second by yelling at somebody behind the other guy, when he turns around to look at who Jack is yelling at Jack BOLTS out the door with all the cash.

Jack has never played in another Viking Tour event since then. He was the 1st player to earn a lifetime ban from my tour.

Prior to that he played in the 2 previous events and also won both of them. The win in Huntington was his 3rd in a row on the Viking tour that month.

I was at that tournament in Huntington, didn't see Jack miss a ball he was shooting at the hole all day.
 

Lucky John

Registered
Originally posted by Tate
"Any chance of getting Jack on here? "

I will mention it to him, next time I see him.
 
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westcoast

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have seen Jack at small tournaments in the L.A. / O.C. area, several times in the last 12 months. I would describe his play as very solid. And of course he's got great stories to tell.

in the past 12 months hardly any pool rooms have been open. Where have you seen him play? If it is against local codes about covid don't say in order to protect the location.
 

pacain

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Jack Hynes

Jack Hynes, well no he didn't get killed at a halfway house during hurricane katrina.

I've personally known Jack Hynes for about 12 years. I think I got to know him better than anyone on the planet.

The first time I saw him he was playing my brother Country Calvin (Harcrow) , and beating Calvin races to 9 even on the bar box, at that time Calvin was still a World Beater!

Most all the things posted on this thread about Jack are true, he did have this thing with (perfection), hated to lose a game, or make a bad position play, he would lose his temper very easily, but usually at just him self.

Jack had a very serious motor cycle accident in New Orleans about 5 years ago, broke his leg in half, well him being with no insurance the hospital wanted to amputate his leg, tore his rotor cup in his shoulder, but he somehow talked them into trying to save his leg, they operated on him and put his leg into a cast , did nothing with his shoulder, wrote off the bill, and sent him on his way.

He came limping to my house in Texarkana, Texas (at the time I let all the Road Players stay at my house when they passed thru town)

Jack stayed about 6 weeks then left town, he eventuly got to where he could walk ok, but his shoulder never did get much better, couldn't straighten out his arm, it was kinda limpy. So I guess you could say his pool playin days were gone.

He would stop by from time to time but never really tried to play pool at all anymore.

The last time I saw Jack Hynes was December,2006......he was on his way to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. About 6 months ago a friend of mine from Houston, was told by (Good Time Charley) from Louisiana that Jack had gotten killed! Where at or how , I don't know.

Jack was a really good person at heart! , but was a loner and wouldn't let someone get close to him, he wouldn't give most people the time of day, you either had to put up or shut up!

Most all of the Top Players, and anyone in general hated his guts, you know why? because they were envious of him, because they couldn't win!......well tell it like it is , its true.

Jack went to the Super Bowl Tournament in Memphis, Tn. about 7 yrears ago, won it handily, went to JOB tourney the next week, won it, then went to Tunica,Miss. and won it too.......all in a 3 week span.........and you all know that the caliber of players at those tournaments were something fierce.


Jack Hynes did strive to be the best, but in the end he got a bad roll!!!!!!
He let the alure of drugs get him!, so if any of you younger players are reading this and your doing drugs , or around drugs, there NO GOOD! it will eat you up like a CANCER!, and take away everything you ever dreamed of!, run from anyone that has anything to do will drugs!

I liked Jack, didn't like what he became.

.......don't know if Jack is alive or dead?...but he'll aways be my friend and have my respect for being one of the Greatest Pool Players I ever met, and watched play the game!

.......I've known and know a lot of um'........and he was one of um'!!!!:)

.......thats my 2 cents!

David Harcrow
Can be found at Buffalos as we speak
 

pacain

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The Secret





YOU, David Harcrow are a man that I can and do respect.

This is one of the most awesome posts I have ever read. I think you did know Jack better than anyone. I think you are a guy who stands tall and that you do not require the approval of other men to walk this earth. I hold that quality in high esteem. You are a man, a real man and I salute you for it.

I admire you because there are many stories of Jack's despicable behavior and there are those who relish in telling them but with every one of those stories, there is another that many would fear to tell. You were man enough to share one of those stories before the world without fear of criticism, condemnation or ridicule.

I got a glimpse of who Jack Hynes was and it wasn't very pretty. While I had seen him at a couple of tournaments over the years, I didn't really talk to him. Most of the scuttlebutt was, "Don't mess with Jack, he's bad news".

The horror stories of what he did and what he might do flourished in our underworld den of iniquity and were as much revered as they were vilified.

I even met Jack when he was racing around New Orleans prior to the motorcycle accident with his fast bike. He brought it into the pool hall one day and was spinning the tires racing around the pool table. It was kind of funny, like that old TV movie/show where the two cowboys played a game of eight ball on horseback for a woman and $10,000 in gold. :D He too was a peculiar sight but he had great agility and manuevered the bike safely in an around the tables until the manager ran him off.

Much later maybe as much as several months, one day Jack showed up at Pickle's Pool Hall after his motorcylce accident and told me the story of his going in the hospital and basically word for word what you said. He said he had been living on the street for a couple of weeks, said he hadn't eaten in days and was hungry. I don't care who you are, if you tell me you are hungry I am going to make sure you eat unless I think you have evil things on your mind. I asked Jack what would he like to eat and he asked what did I have. I asked the bartender for the Chinese restaurant's menu which was just around the corner. I don't like being made a fool of, so I told Jack he could order anything on the menu that he could eat and I would have them deliver it to the pool hall. He ordered a lot of food and ate it all so I know he was very hungry. I couldn't have eaten all that he had ordered if I was hungry and I can put the food away pretty good. :)

After he had eaten I asked him if he could show me a pool secret that no one else knew and he said he could and he would. Before he showed me, he asked me to promise not to show it to anyone unless the person did something very special for me and that the person was deserving. I smiled and said sure and I meant it. I kind of like that. He didn't say I couldn't tell anyone but if I ever did tell someone they had to do something special and be a special person. He showed me something important that I have never read in a book or seen discussed by any pool player or teacher. It was valuable and still serves me today. I have only shared the secret with one person in all these years. I have my own criteria for a person earning the right to the secret and don't share that either. :)

He and I talked about his drug dependency and I told him that I was very sorry that I couldn't be kinder to him and open my home or provide him with money but his reputation preceded him. He acknowledged that if he knew him and met him, he wouldn't let him get close to him. (If any of that made any sense to you). Jack realized that people backed away from him because of the things he had done and what he had become and did not hold that against those who held him in lo9 esteem.

I broke my rule of lending money and gave him pocket money and we parted ways. I never saw him again and like you, I believe he created a lot of the turmoil around himself but some people were definitely afraid of his pool game and envious as well. I could tell that they feared his game because of the manner in which they vilified him. His ability to "LIGHT UP THE TABLE" on occasion was what the players feared most. Unfortunately, I never witnessed this legendary ability and only saw him at the end of his career a shadow of his former self.

David, I appreciate you sharing your story with us. If I ever cross your path, I hope you will tell me hello. It would be my honor.

Best Regards,

Joey Aguzin
I was at Players in Beaumont back in the day & he tried to enter the tournament under another name ( not that uncommon back in those days) .It didn't float . After the tourny he was immediately in actin. I can't remember who he was playing , but when i left that nite Jack was getting the 8 ball , and I stopped by the pool hall the next day before leaving , & Jack was giving the 8 ball to the same guy who had started out giving him the 8. Probably some of you know who he was playing. Jack put rack after rack on the guy , & half the pros in the event were still there , all betting Jack & getting well. And he was still sweeping balls on a miss. We had to leave when they were still playing so the guy w/me could catch his flight. Never heard how much changed hands in the end.
PS Cole Dixon was there , & I was told he had JUST got out of prison weeks before. Wish I could have seen him in his prime.
 
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Elmo

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Jack was a great player! He played Earl Strickland in the finals in several tournaments in the Ohio area! Got to see him up close and personal on several occasions. His attitude was well, how do I put it? Worse than Earl Stricklands. 😂🤣
 

Taxi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
PS Cole Dixon was there , & I was told he had JUST got out of prison weeks before. Wish I could have seen him in his prime.
I only saw Cole Dickson twice. The first time, in 1970 at the Brass Rail in Durham, NC, he must have been around 18 or 19 tops, sporting dirty blond hair down to his butt and wearing a dirty white T-shirt, with his girlfriend holding the money and his road partner (IIRC his name was "Popcorn") taking side bets. He was playing a shortstop named Mike Wynn, who back then was far and away the best local player in the Triangle area, and Cole was simply TORTURING him. Got out from everywhere, strung racks one after the other, never missed a ball that I can remember, and by the time Mike pulled up he was missing shots he ordinarily wouldn't have missed in a hundred years. Who was this guy?

The second time was a few years later, in Jack 'n' Jill's in Arlington, VA, AKA Weenie Beanie's. I was just banging around balls and he comes up and asks me to play some 9 ball, not realizing that I knew who he was. So I strung him along for a bit, saying "I think I've seen you before. Where are you from?" But when he said "Durham, North Carolina" and I started laughing out loud, I think he knew his little game was over.

Of course I'm not suicidal, and I would've needed the ghost and the seven to step up to the table against Cole. Of all the road players I've run across who never seemed to show up in tournaments or (now) on YouTube, Denny Searcy is the only one I would put as Cole Dickson's equal. Has there ever been a better payball player than Searcy?
 

DaWizard

Well-known member
Im just a guy from Holland who had a couple drinks and bbq at my friends boat house. Im in the train on my way home and I read about Jack Hynes, a name I never heard, and I see an entire movie about his life. Just youtubed him and i'm going to watch his match against Earl and fantasize what it was like back in those days being on the road playing pool.
 

brunswick1901

Active member
For the longest time I have been thinking about telling some of my pool stories and it is amazing how many players never reached their potential because of drugs.

In the late 1960s or the early 1970s at the Billiard Palace that Vern's Peterson opened, Richie Florence played Billy Johnson three days without stopping. I just started going to the pool room and I didn't realize both of them must have been using Benzedrine aka Bennies to stay awake.

Richie lost three sets for about $8,000 per set. A huge amount of money at the time.
 

DeadStick

i like turtles
Gold Member
Silver Member
For the longest time I have been thinking about telling some of my pool stories and it is amazing how many players never reached their potential because of drugs.

In the late 1960s or the early 1970s at the Billiard Palace that Vern's Peterson opened, Richie Florence played Billy Johnson three days without stopping. I just started going to the pool room and I didn't realize both of them must have been using Benzedrine aka Bennies to stay awake.

Richie lost three sets for about $8,000 per set. A huge amount of money at the time.
Adderall has virtually the same effects as Benzadrine, and is easily available if you tell your doctor you have symptoms of ADHD.

I can think of at least a couple Mosconi Cup players who probably have a prescription.
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Adderall has virtually the same effects as Benzadrine, and is easily available if you tell your doctor you have symptoms of ADHD.

I can think of at least a couple Mosconi Cup players who probably have a prescription.
Yrs back i got talked into a Sun. nite tourn. I was tired and one of the wait's had ADHD. She gave me a addy. I didn't blink for 4hrs. Came in 2nd too. ;)
 
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