Bankers --- Spaeth or Bugs?

R

raemondo

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Guys,

I've been watching some videos of Spaeth and Bugs, and I think that both are amazing players with their own strengths.

I just wanna know, for all the bankers out there -- especially the midwesters -- who do you think had the better game?

For those who knew them and their games, who won more regularly when they matched up?
 
raemondo said:
Guys,

I've been watching some videos of Spaeth and Bugs, and I think that both are amazing players with their own strengths.

I just wanna know, for all the bankers out there -- especially the midwesters -- who do you think had the better game?

For those who knew them and their games, who won more regularly when they matched up?
Click to expand...

I used to watch Gary throw nineballs out and bank out alot. I took a piece of a Gary playing short racks not long before he died against a young Shannon Daulton The Lexington allstars around 99 or 2000. The whole room was betting on Shannon except Brumback, and Hogue. I figured they must know due to the level they play banks at. I put a 100 dollar per game rail bet on Gary and took 200 of the 1k per set bet. Gary won two sets 7-4, and 7-2 Gary only had 400 per set bet on himself he only netted 1400. I jellied him another 200 for playing like a machine. During the second set it went something like: Gary outbanked Shannon around 35 balls to 14 and he had three five and outs and three four and outs. during the set. I did hear no one was favored over Bugs for over 10 years.
 
What about Mark Jarvis? I heard he was the best bank pool player in the world not too long ago. I believe it was Grady Matthews who said that.
 
huckster said:
I used to watch Gary throw nineballs out and bank out alot. I took a piece of a Gary playing short racks not long before he died against a young Shannon Daulton The Lexington allstars around 99 or 2000. The whole room was betting on Shannon except Brumback, and Hogue. I figured they must know due to the level they play banks at. I put a 100 dollar per game rail bet on Gary and took 200 of the 1k per set bet. Gary won two sets 7-4, and 7-2 Gary only had 400 per set bet on himself he only netted 1400. I jellied him another 200 for playing like a machine. During the second set it went something like: Gary outbanked Shannon around 35 balls to 14 and he had three five and outs and three four and outs. during the set. I did hear no one was favored over Bugs for over 10 years.
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No kidding! I would have loved to watch that match! I don't suppose it's on tape is it. Yea if Brumback and Hogue betted on him they must have known something....I've seen Shannon play and I think he's awesome too but I just don't think he has the complete game that Gary had. Where was the pool hall you saw them at by the way?

I think Gary had a real weird stance especially how he cocked his head to one side....but he hits them banks REAL good. Bugs on the other hand, just seems so smooth with his banks and runs.

I think videos of Bugs might be hard to find...I might have a little more luck trying to find those of Gary. I did look on the accu-stats website though and they don't have tapes of either player. I sure wish that they had videos of the 2000 Derby and before!
 
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cuetechasaurus said:
What about Mark Jarvis? I heard he was the best bank pool player in the world not too long ago. I believe it was Grady Matthews who said that.
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Hmm I'm not too sure about that one....I only saw Mark Jarvis play some awesome 9-ball at the Derby this year, before being knocked out by Ralf Souquet. I'll see if I can find some of his bank videos!
 
You may have heard Freddie the Beard talk about Mark's bank game. It might be on a Jarvis/Mathews one pocket tape from accu-stats.

Freddie basically said Mark had played a lot of the top guys and could hold his own. Freddie has bet on him and respects his bank game. At the time, (maybe 6-8+ years ago ) Mark was right up there but apparently took a break from playing pro pool.

Didn't Mark start playing seriously again last year, possibly for the IPT?
 
raemondo said:
No kidding! I would have loved to watch that match! I don't suppose it's on tape is it. Yea if Brumback and Hogue betted on him they must have known something....I've seen Shannon play and I think he's awesome too but I just don't think he has the complete game that Gary does. Where was the pool hall you saw them at by the way?

I think Gary's got a real weird stance especially how he cocks his head to one side....but he hits them banks REAL good. Bugs on the other hand, just seems so smooth with his banks and runs.

I think videos of Bugs might be hard to find...I might have a little more luck trying to find those of Gary. I did look on the accu-stats website though and they don't have tapes of either player. I sure wish that they had videos of the 2000 Derby and before!
Click to expand...

As much as I hate to do it. We must refer to Gary in the past tense since he is no longer with us.
 
bugs with out a doubt

bugs with out a doubt in his prime........................
 
raemondo said:
Guys,

I've been watching some videos of Spaeth and Bugs, and I think that both are amazing players with their own strengths.

I just wanna know, for all the bankers out there -- especially the midwesters -- who do you think had the better game?

For those who knew them and their games, who won more regularly when they matched up?
Click to expand...

From what I have seen, Gary Spaeth was more impressive.
 
bells said:
bugs with out a doubt in his prime........................
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Although Gary was a pretty close friend of mine and a phenominal banker I must agree with you. Gary and Bugs matched up a few times at One-hole and Gary came out ahead but he was getting a spot from Bugs because of his banking ability. I watched Gary practicing with some fellow one night playing full-rack banks. He banked 28 balls in a row which has to be some kind of record. What he did was to bank out what balls were left from a rack, threw out the 15 balls and banked them all and then threw out 15 balls again and finally missed after running 28. Also in the mid eighties, either 86 or 87, Gary won the Clyde Childress banks tournament in Lexington KY. In the semi-finals Gary played Truman Hogue. They played short rack banks with a race to five games. They were playing on a tight pocketed gold crown and Gary broke and ran the first two racks and hung up the fifth bank in the third rack. Truman only got to shoot a couple of times in the match and if I remember right he never pocketed a ball. The match only lasted a little over eight minutes.

Dick
 
rhncue said:
Although Gary was a pretty close friend of mine and a phenominal banker I must agree with you. Gary and Bugs matched up a few times at One-hole and Gary came out ahead but he was getting a spot from Bugs because of his banking ability. I watched Gary practicing with some fellow one night playing full-rack banks. He banked 28 balls in a row which has to be some kind of record. What he did was to bank out what balls were left from a rack, threw out the 15 balls and banked them all and then threw out 15 balls again and finally missed after running 28. Also in the mid eighties, either 86 or 87, Gary won the Clyde Childress banks tournament in Lexington KY. In the semi-finals Gary played Truman Hogue. They played short rack banks with a race to five games. They were playing on a tight pocketed gold crown and Gary broke and ran the first two racks and hung up the fifth bank in the third rack. Truman only got to shoot a couple of times in the match and if I remember right he never pocketed a ball. The match only lasted a little over eight minutes.

Dick
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:eek: :eek: :p ;) :D ;) :D :eek: :eek: !!!!!!!
 
Mark could play some bank

cuetechasaurus said:
What about Mark Jarvis? I heard he was the best bank pool player in the world not too long ago. I believe it was Grady Matthews who said that.
Click to expand...
I saw Mark and Gary play full rack bank in Indianapolis when both were close to being at their best. I didn't watch much as I was in action. But Mark beat Gary that day. They were both incredible players. Mark is back out playing again and he told me at DCC he was not quite back in full gear. He was still playing pretty good and is always capable of beating anyone.
Gary had an offensive game that was hard to stop playing short rack. He could run 5 and out at just about anytime he got a shot.
I didn't see Bugs play but have friends who learned a lot from him. I would put him at the top of the heap. No disrespect intended to anyone else. Sam
 
The knoxville bear banked liked 37 in a row. My Grandfather siad no one ever banked balls like Eddie Taylor. He would only get action with someone once unless you were one of the truely gifted bank players. My grandfather told me there was a short list of players that no one seeked out.

1. Eddie Taylor at banks.
2. Rags at 1pkt
3. My Grandfather and Wimpy at 9ball
4. Willie at straight pool
 
Bugs or Gary Spaeth

raemondo said:
Guys,

I've been watching some videos of Spaeth and Bugs, and I think that both are amazing players with their own strengths.

I just wanna know, for all the bankers out there -- especially the midwesters -- who do you think had the better game?

For those who knew them and their games, who won more regularly when they matched up?
Click to expand...

I believe it would be Bugs taking the money over Gary. I knew Gary's father, Joey Spaeth and his grandfather, Eddie Spaeth, both from Cincinnati, Ohio. I do not know Bugs personnaly but have researched his history and have his three DVD's. They are very hard to come by. Unless Freddie
The Beard" over rules me on this one, I would have to put Bugs one notch up on Gary and at least two notches up on everyone else except the Knoxville Bear, Eddie Taylor. There is only one old timer who deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Eddie Taylor and Bugs Rucker, and that would be Harry "Poochy" Sexton. Harry once banked thirty five consecutive balls without a miss. He played in only one national tournament and that was the 1988 BCA Open eight ball. He won it! Ask Truman Hogue about Poochy Sexton!

Cross Side Larry

"Learn from the best, and beat the rest"
 
huckster said:
The knoxville bear banked liked 37 in a row. My Grandfather siad no one ever banked balls like Eddie Taylor. He would only get action with someone once unless you were one of the truely gifted bank players. My grandfather told me there was a short list of players that no one seeked out.

1. Eddie Taylor at banks.
2. Rags at 1pkt
3. My Grandfather and Wimpy at 9ball
4. Willie at straight pool
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I probably won't be familiar, but what was your grandfather's name btw?
 
CrossSideLarry said:
I believe it would be Bugs taking the money over Gary. I knew Gary's father, Joey Spaeth and his grandfather, Eddie Spaeth, both from Cincinnati, Ohio. I do not know Bugs personnaly but have researched his history and have his three DVD's. They are very hard to come by. Unless Freddie
The Beard" over rules me on this one, I would have to put Bugs one notch up on Gary and at least two notches up on everyone else except the Knoxville Bear, Eddie Taylor. There is only one old timer who deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Eddie Taylor and Bugs Rucker, and that would be Harry "Poochy" Sexton. Harry once banked thirty five consecutive balls without a miss. He played in only one national tournament and that was the 1988 BCA Open eight ball. He won it! Ask Truman Hogue about Poochy Sexton!

Cross Side Larry

"Learn from the best, and beat the rest"
Click to expand...


Yea I think someone else also said that Eddie Taylor banked like 30+ balls in a session too.....too bad we don't have these on tape!

Personally, I think the most I've ever seen recorded is Truman Hogue's blitz of 13 consecutive banks vs. Shannon Daulton at the DCC, and I believe Jason Miller had a 5-5-3 run on Piggy Banks at the DCC too. Truman's streak though did not have any break-and-runs.
 
Running banks

raemondo said:
Yea I think someone else also said that Eddie Taylor banked like 30+ balls in a session too.....too bad we don't have these on tape!

Personally, I think the most I've ever seen recorded is Truman Hogue's blitz of 13 consecutive banks vs. Shannon Daulton at the DCC, and I believe Jason Miller had a 5-5-3 run on Piggy Banks at the DCC too. Truman's streak though did not have any break-and-runs.
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I'm not a bank player and don't know for sure, but don't you think it would be much more difficult to run 15 banks playing full-rack bank pool than 15 banks playing short rack.? I think most experts on bank pool put Eddie Taylor as not just the best, but the best by far.
 
BillPorter said:
I'm not a bank player and don't know for sure, but don't you think it would be much more difficult to run 15 banks playing full-rack bank pool than 15 banks playing short rack.? I think most experts on bank pool put Eddie Taylor as not just the best, but the best by far.
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I agree with this totally....with the full rack there is A LOT more traffic to nagivate the banks --- the most treacherous thing really is that sometimes the pockets will be blocked as well, hence reducing the possibility of bank shots, even if they might be lined up nicely.

Going by your observation, I am assuming that Eddie Taylor and people of his time only played full rack banks.
 
Ken Anderson?

I noticed alot of guys from the Cinci area are posting here and was wondering if any of them knew how strong Ken Anderson's bank game was. I saw him one time when he was just knocking some banks around and he seemed pretty good. Don't know anything about how good he was for the money or when playing against other good bankers.

Curly
 
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