14.1 Running a 100 without Qball touching a rail?

thebighurt said:
Dont know if this is who you are thinking of but Johnny Ervolino used to run the 100 balls without cueball hitting a rail. About 14 years ago Johnny stayed with me for 2 months, he really improved my one pocket game. Voodoo Daddy will alo verify watching him run the 100 without cueball hitting the rail. I have met and played ALOT of great players but Ervolino had more knowledge than them all.
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I witnessed Johnny do this twice.

I would argue that George Mecula and Gene Nagy were both much better in straight pool...but neither had an appetite for gambling or high pressure. George and Gene were complete gentlemen compared to Johnny Ervalino who was more of a street smart pool hustling self proclaimed mafia stakehorse who was a master at sharking his opponent who would gladly dump if there was more money in it for him.

And for the record I lived in Midtown Manhattan and he stayed over at my place a few times when there were stretches of all night gambling over at Amsterdam Billiards (Upper West Side). He was always happy to talk about his life, old pool stories, and was very honest about how he had to make his decisions based on money, not on integrity.
 
uh huh

I vote with dakraljic in that it is a good drill much like any drill that focuses on a particular aspect of the game. He did not state that it was the best drill one could use. It wouldn't help much in 1P preparation, but suitable for 14.1.
 
Bob Jewett said:
What, exactly, did Johnny do? That part is unclear.
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Sounds like to me that this man plus two others have seen Johnny E run over 100 balls without the qball ever touching any rails and he did it more then once, that has to be the hardest thing in any sport to do, i sure wish someone had it on video.
 
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richiebalto said:
Sounds like to me that this man plus two others have seen Johnny E run over 100 balls without the qball ever touching any rails and he did it more then once, that has to big the hardest thing in any sport to do, i sure wish someone had it on video.
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I will add that he didnt bet he would do this when i was around him, he did it practicing. Still awesome to watch. Then again Johnny was about 63 when he was staying with me. I was friends with Mizerak, I am friends with Buddy Hall and Danny Diliberto. I would pick their brains all the time when I was getting better and Johnny Ervolino had more knowledge than all of them. As poolmouse pointed out Johnny did what he had to do including dumping(I never condoned this and have never taken part in anything like that and never will) however he was always nice to me and my wife and he really helped my game. Alot of people will have bad stories about johnny(and most are probably true) but nobody can take away his knowledge and ability.
P.S. Johnny would also run 100 balls left handed practicing (using the rails of course) and that was when he was 63!!
 
Bob Jewett said:
What, exactly, did Johnny do? That part is unclear.
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I saw him win money running ONE RACK without the cue ball hitting the rail. He would start with ball in hand for the break and was allowed to leave one ball on the table.

Dyslexia? I saw "14 years" and thought...LOL...no it was 14 balls (not 100).The break ball and the rest except for one.

I saw Johnny win $100 one time and not sure what the second bet was for (not the same day). I remember he LOST the bet several dozen times as well. Good thing he never had any money to bet; too bad for his backers. ;)

Poolmouse
 
Yeah right...I knew Johnny.
He can't and no one else can run 100 without playing a rail.
Your a non player if you think otherwise.
 
I know Poolmouse & you can bet what he states is right on.

I stated earlier that no one can run 100 with the c/b not touching a rail.
Now.... when someone states "runs" to a 14.1 player they think of running a rack and taking a break shot where the cue ball is located & so on. rack after rack like during a match.
Now, if a player as great as Johnny E. would roll out all 15 balls, making sure that no balls were on a rail and taking ball in hand on the first shot. Then, Yes running 100 balls might be very well possible. Doing the same thing to each rack. All adding up to 100. I could see it, that a great player such as he might be able to do
 
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Well I haven't read the whole thread but I did hear on an online stream once that Jose Parica used to gamble in 9ball that he could run out without touching a rail and won repeatedly. Granted its 9 ball and not straight pool, I would bet that if you put up a significant dollar amount to the winner this could be resolved pretty quickly.
 
brainbyte said:
Yeah right...I knew Johnny.
He can't and no one else can run 100 without playing a rail.
Your a non player if you think otherwise.
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Obviously you didnt know him too well. Although I dont play straight pool, I used to play a little one pocket. Perhaps you can show me what a great player you are. I always like to play "great" players like yourself. I would even be willing to donate to you, maybe $ 100 or $ 200 game one pocket. Let me know
 
thebighurt said:
Obviously you didnt know him too well. Although I dont play straight pool, I used to play a little one pocket. Perhaps you can show me what a great player you are. I always like to play "great" players like yourself. I would even be willing to donate to you, maybe $ 100 or $ 200 game one pocket. Let me know
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You know Hurt it dont matter what you say on here sometimes, there will always be some ignorant ass calling one wrong, even know you stated very clearly that you seen Johnny E run 100 balls without qball ever touching a rail not once but twice and another man on here seen him do it also, it must feel good to some to just disagree no matter what!
 
No Rail

I know i'm veering off a bit here but this thread has me flashin' back a bit. In the early to mid '80s, Randy Wallace,aka Fat Randy, was best bar table player in Ok. At his downtown,underground spot,Boulder Billiards, one of his favorite "get 'em up" spots was if he(Randy) touched a rail with whitey,he lost. He was probably 70-30 doing this. Impressive
 
Scott Lee said:
Why? Learning to play well (in all games, not just 14.1) is all about learning how to USE the rails. That's why they're on the table. Practice things that come up in actual play...not some gaff game.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
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Scott, it's just a drill, like so many others. It helps with speed control and using the center of the CB to move it around.

Practice things that come up in actual play? Can't remember the last time I saw the balls line up in a perfect L, or line, or circle :-)

Lou Figueroa
 
Just as a general comment: as big a fan as I am of Mosconi, I doubt he (IOW anyone) could run 100 without hitting a rail. In the case of Ervolino, a player I had the pleasure of playing cheap 1pocket with in Vegas a few years back, he certainly struck me as a player that could reel off a rack, or maybe even two, w/o the CB contacting a rail. And THAT is a big compliment.

Lou Figueroa
 
richiebalto said:
You know Hurt it dont matter what you say on here sometimes, there will always be some ignorant ass calling one wrong, even know you stated very clearly that you seen Johnny E run 100 balls without qball ever touching a rail not once but twice and another man on here seen him do it also, it must feel good to some to just disagree no matter what!
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Richie, I tend to be a believer...or at least hopeful that marvelous things
can be done.
I had heard of Vern Elliot's 'impossible bank' so when I finally met him, I
offered to pay him to see it...he used to ask for 30 tries and the rumor
was that he only had one cue he could do it with.
He wouldn't do it for my modest price, he would only bet $10,000.

Well, I feel the same way about this 14.1 proposition....I would pay $500
to see it, and the man has all day...but it has to be a 'RUN', not cue-ball
in hand every rack.
(that $500 is a salary, not a bet)
 
pt109 said:
Richie, I tend to be a believer...or at least hopeful that marvelous things
can be done.
I had heard of Vern Elliot's 'impossible bank' so when I finally met him, I
offered to pay him to see it...he used to ask for 30 tries and the rumor
was that he only had one cue he could do it with.
He wouldn't do it for my modest price, he would only bet $10,000.

Well, I feel the same way about this 14.1 proposition....I would pay $500
to see it, and the man has all day...but it has to be a 'RUN', not cue-ball
in hand every rack.
(that $500 is a salary, not a bet)
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109 that is very understandable thank you very much.
 
Never heard of the claim of 100 before, but I definitely know each rack is possible. The man who taught me to play was a 14.1 player from back in the day in Chicago named Leon Ledford, and he taught all of us as a practice/warmup drill to spread all 15 out , and run out without touching a ball or a rail. You definitely learn complete cueball control. And we play on 4 by 8 Gandy's so there is even less room to maneuver. He could do it repeatedly when he was playing everyday. I still do it, and there are a few others here who do it now and then.
So if you take the breakshot out of the equation, i definitely believe 100 is possible!
 
You sure about that? I'm thinking of someone quite a bit better in OK playing the bar table.

garczar said:
I know i'm veering off a bit here but this thread has me flashin' back a bit. In the early to mid '80s, Randy Wallace,aka Fat Randy, was best bar table player in Ok. At his downtown,underground spot,Boulder Billiards, one of his favorite "get 'em up" spots was if he(Randy) touched a rail with whitey,he lost. He was probably 70-30 doing this. Impressive
Click to expand...
 
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