This was posted in one of my Marine Facebook Groups by another Marine, Muhammad O Ali:
“WW2 Marine Vet and Pool Hustler of the Past”
(Enjoy the read and if you know of any Bud Hypes stories please share!)
Todays adventure brings me to the small mining town of Mullens WV and home of WW2 Marine veteran Buford E. "Bud" Hypes.
Bud, also known as the "Tiger", was a world champion nine ball player, winning his first pool tournament at age sixteen. He went all over the country as a representative for Brunswick. During his travels, he played Minnesota Fats and won every game. At one time Bud made 379 straight balls when he was interrupted. When word spread through town that Bud was shooting pool, people would flock to the pool hall from near and far. Bud was great at mathematics and he used geometry and physics to help him with his game. He enjoyed giving exhibitions at the Veteran's Hospitals and local schools. In addition to his love of pool, Bud enjoyed fishing, hunting, bowling, and visiting with his many friends.Bud was in the Marine Corps from 1942-1946 where he served his country proudly during World War II. He was wounded on Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the only time he was ever in the hospital until his death in 2010. Bud loved Mullens where he spent his entire life, except for his time in the service. He owned and operated the Sportsman Pool Room and Bud and Henry's Grill, a favorite gathering place for many years. Bud use to cook at his place and when all the world renowned pool players would come to town he would definitely put down his spatula and compete! Below is a story from Pluggers publishing, enjoy the recent pics I took, pool is still alive in the local Mullens moose lodge if you do stop in town!
“Folks are Talking”
1978
MULLENS, W. Va. – “Hello, boys.”
Buford (Bud) Hypes walks into the Sportsman, a poolroom he owns in this Wyoming County town, and takes his cue out of its fancy carrying case.
“Writer here wants to see me shoot,” Hypes says, pointing my way.
It’s a lucky day for the half dozen or so men in the place. Hypes doesn’t put his talent on display very often.
“Boys, ain’t no mortal gonna rob me at 9-ball,” the 58-year-old man says as he racks the balls. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”Somebody asks if an immortal could beat him.
“Hell, I’d rob those kind, too.”
Hypes bills himself as the country’s greatest 9-ball hustler.
“Have been since I was 16,” Hypes says as he makes one shot after another, pausing only instants in between. “I’d go to a town and ask who the best pool shooter was. If he wasn’t around, I’d wait on him. I’d rob the poor man and then go on to the next town.”
While the balding man with the bulldog face says his skills haven’t diminished, his restaurant and property holdings take up most of his time. Hypes and Henry Ball run Bud & Henry’s Grill. Hypes also owns the pool hall, a parking lot and some apartment houses on the same block.
“It’s just like winning at 9-ball. Why not own it all?”
He sometimes goes three or four months without picking up a cue.
“I’ve got me a little peephole at the Grill, though, and if I see somebody burning up the table, I might take a break from washing dishes to come over and rob the boy.”
Hypes says he’s a good businessman. So good that he passes up the $50,000 he says he could earn if he hustled year-‘round.
He used to play exhibition matches at VA hospitals. He and a set-up man would demonstrate trick shots and Hypes learned how to be a showman. He made shots both left- and right-handed and the crowds loved it.
I bring up a familiar name.
“Minnesota Fats? Man, he’s just an old boy named Rudolph. He was working for Brunswick and I never could get him to play me much. But when I did, I robbed him in 9-ball.”
Hypes generally passed up official championships, preferring to play the winner in a big-stakes game after the crowd left.
“The rules of 9-ball are frequently changed during coat-and-tie competitions to keep the audiences interested. They try to make it harder and harder on the good shotmaker. Sometimes they rig things until a lucky man will do as well as me.”
The master has shooting pool down to a fine science. Not even the weather escapes his scrutiny.
“If I’m playing on a cold day like today, I know the rails will be fast and the felt slow. You’d better adjust your game or you’ll lose.”
Hypes says he once ran 379 balls in a row in games of straight pool. A few years ago, he ran 13 racks in a row playing 9-ball.
The man with beef stew on his apron says there’s a schoolteacher in Williamson, W. Va., who’s been particularly benevolent to him.
“One time there was me and these two Class B players hanging around this pool hall where this teacher always showed up after school. Well, I spotted him first and he was heading for the bank. Now I didn’t want this good teacher to put all that good money away so I ran – only time I ever did that – up to him and talked him into a game. I robbed him good and those two Class B boys were pretty mad at me.”
Hypes finds he has to travel nowadays to find a good money game.
“Can’t get any action in Mullens or anywhere else in coal country. They know better.”
He says players have changed over the years.
“A lot of boys today are thugs and they get filled up with dope when they play. Don’t matter much to me, though. I’ll still rob them.”
As Bud Hypes leaves the room, a young boy looks up at him in awe.
“Hello, sonny,” Hypes says, shaking the little hand. “Now you can say you’ve seen the best.”"
