Best Player with a house cue

efirkey

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Who was the best gambler/hustler/pool player with a house cue? I was wondering if this is what seperates the great tournament players from the best gamblers.
 
All time best has to be Don Willis. He could pull any cue off the rack and beat you. He actually liked to play with a crooked cue, just to make everyone think he was a duck.
 
I was lucky enough to take a beating from Jimmy Wetch a long time ago with a crooked old house cue. It didn't seem to slow him down much.:(
 
jay helfert said:
All time best has to be Don Willis. He could pull any cue off the rack and beat you. He actually liked to play with a crooked cue, just to make everyone think he was a duck.
Danny Jones prefered a house cue, never saw him with a two piece cue unless it belonged to his stake horse. a lot of the old timers would grab a cue, not really look at the weight, look to see how it was warped, then bend it on the table to fix it as best they could. i've seen this done by Sarge McDonald, Eddie Taylor, Don Watson.
 
Pots and Pans came into Doyles pool hall many years ago and picked a stick off the wall and busted all the shortstops that was unlucky to be in there that rainy day. Later I found out that Bananas Rodriguez sent him in there.It is not easy being easy.
 
Pots and Pans came into Doyles pool hall many years ago and picked a stick off the wall and busted all the shortstops that was unlucky to be in there that rainy day. Later I found out that Bananas Rodriguez sent him in there.It is not easy being easy.
 
THE PICK said:
Pots and Pans came into Doyles pool hall many years ago and picked a stick off the wall and busted all the shortstops that was unlucky to be in there that rainy day. Later I found out that Bananas Rodriguez sent him in there.It is not easy being easy.
I always wonder about other unknowns who can do that too....:smile:
 
Wallabuschka

Pick any house cue, but take your scuffer. That turns it into a "Wallabuschka":cool:
 
The mighty BUGS RUCKER!

Seems like I've heard over and over that the MIGHTY BUGS RUCKER nearly always played off the wall... Freddy, is this true?
 
jay helfert said:
All time best has to be Don Willis. He could pull any cue off the rack and beat you. He actually liked to play with a crooked cue, just to make everyone think he was a duck.

You could easily be right, Jay, but in those days everyone played off the wall. Even in the 70s, if you think back, most played off the wall. Buddy Hall, before he became known, grabbed any house cue and destroyed who ever was at the table.

Jimmy "Flyboy" Spears, used to play off the wall in tournaments where everyone knew him. I beat Black Danny from Memphis playing off the wall while he used his Balabushka and people thought we were suppose to play even.

People have always put too much into, "What are you playing with", instead of what the final 18" of a cue looks and feels like.
 
Years ago, there was a guy on the Florida tour (I think Jeff Adams) that used to carry his personal one-piece house cue in the back seat of his car. Others hide their favorite house cue behind the bar, the jukebox, etc.

I can't image someone picking an house cue they knew was warped. How would the opponent know? I can see someone picking any cue, without checking it for straightness, to appear like he or she doesn't know any better.

Speaking of house cues: Al Romero said Efren would find a house cue with a great hitting tip and have one his entourage remove the tip for future use.

Take care,
Yukon Ed
 
Yukon Ed said:
Years ago, there was a guy on the Florida tour (I think Jeff Adams) that used to carry his personal one-piece house cue in the back seat of his car. Others hide their favorite house cue behind the bar, the jukebox, etc.

I can't image someone picking an house cue they knew was warped. How would the opponent know? I can see someone picking any cue, without checking it for straightness, to appear like he or she doesn't know any better.

Speaking of house cues: Al Romero said Efren would find a house cue with a great hitting tip and have one his entourage remove the tip for future use.

Take care,
Yukon Ed

Hippie Dave used a one piece, he carried it in a piece of PVC pipe.
 
ugotactionTX said:
Seems like I've heard over and over that the MIGHTY BUGS RUCKER nearly always played off the wall... Freddy, is this true?

I saw Bugs play many times. I never saw him with a house cue although I bet this is true as he was always using a borrowed/buddys cue.

I miss seeing that guy play, RIP Bugs. I'm sure glad that I got to see him in his prime!
 
While I have heard about many that played well with one I have not heard of any going back to one.

I am not sure if its the equipment or the ability to adjust one's game to the equipment that is more important. Some players can adapt faster and better.

I have seen guys literally deem to jump a ball or so just from a different cue.


With the different LD shafts out there I think those would make as much difference as using a hose cue vs custom.
 
Larry Barnes

A man named Larry Barnes had to have road players come in to give him a real challenge. I've never known him to use anything more than a house cue. He was a real tough dude.
 
hemicudas said:
You could easily be right, Jay, but in those days everyone played off the wall. Even in the 70s, if you think back, most played off the wall. Buddy Hall, before he became known, grabbed any house cue and destroyed who ever was at the table.

Jimmy "Flyboy" Spears, used to play off the wall in tournaments where everyone knew him. I beat Black Danny from Memphis playing off the wall while he used his Balabushka and people thought we were suppose to play even.

People have always put too much into, "What are you playing with", instead of what the final 18" of a cue looks and feels like.

I totally agree with those statements. Very few that made their money on the field of green used a two-piece until after the Hustler came out. After that, it didn't really matter...everyone was doing it. When I use to go bar hustling I'd always have a half dozen slip on tips of various sizes in my pocket or at least in my car or bike saddlebag. Johnnyt
 
efirkey said:
Who was the best gambler/hustler/pool player with a house cue? I was wondering if this is what seperates the great tournament players from the best gamblers.

"Mexican" Johnny Vasquez played with a house cue.
 
A young military fellow that lives around Charlotte NC when not deployed has for many years walked in to play in a tournament and grab one from the rack and never check the tip or roll the cue, and beat everyone in the joint. J Stewart has the cueball on a string no matter what cue he chooses and always outruns huge spots.--Leonard
 
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