Bankers --- Spaeth or Bugs?
- Thread starter raemondo
- Start date
Gorst, Thorpe, SVB, j. Hall probably tops now. You can never answer those old 'could they beat so-n-so' questions.
A.E Schmidt 3C tables from ST. Louis. The weren't bad.
The best today imo are whoever tops the 9 ball list.
On table 13 (5'x10') table in Bensingers in front of the lunch counter, I personally have seen Bugs run '8 & out' playing full rack banks two dozen times. Once on the tournament table (Gold Crown 1), this table always played a little wet. Bugs ran a 15 followed up by a 12 and 8 practicing.
In my lifetime, No Pool player was a more 'Natural' talent then Lenard 'Bugs' Rucker! Played pool 'Off the Rack' 98% of the time.
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Add Joshua Filler. He plays banks once a year. Aside from J. Hall this year and Jason Miller (who learned to bank from Gary) his first year that he won DCC banks, I haven’t seen any other player bank on Diamonds at Joshua’s level as he did this year. I remember the first time I saw Filler play banks. I remarked back then that it wouldn’t be long before he was the best at this game. That doesn’t speak to multi-rail banks and bank ring games, however.
I think if the DCC had started ten years earlier, Gary would have won 5 championships and brought everyone’s bank game up earlier As it was, it was Jason Miller who turned the switch on banking on Diamonds.
Your Grandfather was probably right.
Saw JM play once, damn impressive for a guy that didn't play a ton. How could he make all those banks on those ' shitty short bankin' Diamonds?????
Some adjust, some bitch. Champions adjust.Of course, we will never have an answer to "who was the best in their prime" in anything. That's what keeps the subject alive.....and well. Maybe on a given day, everyone is right when picking their choice. However, I worked doing research for two years to get Vernon Elliott on the ballot for the Bank Pool Hall of Fame. Vernon was my friend and I had heard about all of his "impossible bank shots". So I called Freddy "The Beard" for his opinion and validation of Vernon's banking skills. Vernon and Freddy were close friends and Freddy was voted into the "Banks Hall of Fame the preceding year. I asked Vernon if Freddy had ever beaten him in banks. He said "never". I called Freddy and asked him if he had ever beaten Vernon. He said "never". He said he had never seen anyone beat Vernon playing banks. Not many beat him at 9 ball or one pocket. He said they had name recognition because they played tournaments plus high stakes games they played were talked about and published. Longer story short, with Freddy's help, Vernon was inducted into the Bank Pool Hall of Fame. I kept all my notes of the people I talked to and all the stories Vernon told me about his life growing up and a book full of stories of the World Champion players of his era he played and beat at high stakes gambling. He never played a tournament. Arguably, he may have been best of them all!