Buddy Hall in Action

Buddy Hall

If you would still like to see Buddy Hall compete, he has consistantly been playing in the Midwest Nineball tour in Olathe, Kansas at Shooters, owned by Dan Tull. He has been there at many of the tournaments in the past several years.
 
gulfportdoc said:
Not according to Rags To Rifleman, Then What?. Matlock did beat Buddy in an 18 hour barbox session, using the big cueball. Buddy then challenged him to a session using the regular cueball, but Matlock refused. Buddy did beat Matlock 7-1 in a barbox tournament which he won in Kansas City in 1985. The event was written about in "Pool and Billiard Magazine" by Mike Ives.

Matlock was generally regarded as the top barbox player. As far as the big track, I don't believe Matlock wanted any part of Buddy when he was beating everyone during the 1980's and early 90's.

Doc
Actually, Matlock beat buddy three separate times one time only on the bar table and in two sets on two different occasions. when they played the last two times they were playing one set on the bar table and one on the big table, and david beat him all three times. However, buddy is the overall better 9 foot player, his record speaks for itself.
 
buddy hall

well i played buddy 3 times in shreveport from 1970 to 1980. never beat him but did have him 7 to 4 in tourney in dallas at cj's billiards. racing to 9. i missed the 5 ball and he won that game and then ran 4 more to beat me 9 to 7. sparky webb i might ad buddy was the best player[9ball] i ever played beside st.louis louie which i broke even with in dallas at micky finns pool room on walnut hill. lizard[steve smith] can verify he was there along with robert newkirk. oh well!
 
SpiderWebComm said:
I remember about 6-7 years ago I first saw him at the U.S. Open 9-ball Championship. When I first laid eyes on him, I was completely star-struck. Buddy was the very first pro I watched on TV, and his long stroke with the trademark "pause" was the prettiest thing in the world.

I stared at him for nearly 5 minutes before I got the nerve to walk up and say hi.

So I go up and say, "Hey Buddy I'm a HUGE fan! Pleased to meet ya! I heard you used to play REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL good!" (In my mind, what I wanted to say was "I heard you were the best in the world for a long time" and it came out wrong)

Buddy gave me cross look and walked away.

It took me a few minutes to realize I made a TOTAL ass out of myself. After all, I just watched Buddy torch-in Efren either 11-5 or 11-6 and here I am saying "I heard you used to play real good."

Ah well, I guess we all get stage fright and makes asses of ourselves.



hahahaha, Buddy was probably like "who the hell is this jackass"

it would have been ten times sweeter if he said "get away from me be-hatch, I'm Buddy Hall, my game is undeniable"
 
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I played Buddy Hall some one pocket for the princely sum of $10 a game one year in Vegas. Before we started he asked me what kind of spot I wanted. I said Buddy we are just playing for $10 a game I don't want a spot. He said, "that's not fair what do you want?" I said well Cliff gives me 10:5 how about we do that? and he said "We certainly don't have to do that". He gave me 10:7 and of course robbed me. The thing is though that I actually played decent against him and put him in some good traps which he smooth stroked out of.

Buddy Hall has such a smooth stroke that it looks as if he is barely hitting the cueball and it just floats to position.

Anyway you asked for action stories so here is mine about Buddy, while we were playing that game I asked him about a game he had in Tampa a while before. The story was that one of Buddy's backers called him down to the pool room and had a game lined up for him.

When Buddy got there he asked what the game was and it was spotting something like 15:5 for multi-thousands. Buddy said he wasn't going to play so the backer grabbed the cue and headed for the table. Buddy asked him what he was doing and the backer said, 'the money is posted so someone has to play'. So Buddy takes the cue and runs three fifteen and outs.

I asked Buddy if this went down this way and he says, "naw John it didn't happen like that...................................................................... ...................... I ran a 15, a 16, and a 17."

How can you bet against this guy?

Another time we were driving down to Tampa and Buddy tells me that he has a standing offer to play Parica, Bustamante, and Efren for $10,000 each but they have to all three play him consecutively and so far no takers.

Buddy is my favorite player. As great and legendary as Efren is there is one player that he doesn't want to tangle with and that is Buddy Hall.
 
JB Cases said:
I played Buddy Hall some one pocket for the princely sum of $10 a game one year in Vegas. Before we started he asked me what kind of spot I wanted. I said Buddy we are just playing for $10 a game I don't want a spot. He said, "that's not fair what do you want?" I said well Cliff gives me 10:5 how about we do that? and he said "We certainly don't have to do that". He gave me 10:7 and of course robbed me. The thing is though that I actually played decent against him and put him in some good traps which he smooth stroked out of.

I'm all for playing champions cheap and letting them have the best of it but ALWAYS ask for the break. That way you get to see them get out of the break every game..... Playing 10-20 a game that alone is worth the price of admission.

Kirk
 
gulfportdoc said:
Not according to Rags To Rifleman, Then What?. Matlock did beat Buddy in an 18 hour barbox session, using the big cueball. Buddy then challenged him to a session using the regular cueball, but Matlock refused. Buddy did beat Matlock 7-1 in a barbox tournament which he won in Kansas City in 1985. The event was written about in "Pool and Billiard Magazine" by Mike Ives.

Matlock was generally regarded as the top barbox player. As far as the big track, I don't believe Matlock wanted any part of Buddy when he was beating everyone during the 1980's and early 90's.

Doc

I've stated this many times, but I was in Shreveport at Guys and Dolls when the Buddy Louie Roberts match took place.

Louie strolled like he owned the place with a doll who could have given Vanna White the 7. Absolutely gorgeoous. Louie set hiss cue down and pulled apair of tennis shoes out of this bag, changed, and away they went. They played 7 ahead sets with Louie getting the call 7 for $2500. I sat there for a straight 27 hours and it was as near perfect pool as I have to this day ever seen. By BOTH.

I t didn't matter where Louie pushed, Buddy sliced it in and would get near perfect. By the last set Louie was so frustrated he was talking to himself and seemed near hysterical.

Buddy beat on him so badly, Louie let the girl go home and Louie stayed there in Shreveport for about 6 months.

Red Box the owner of Guys & Dolls was so happy that he told Buddy to keep all the money, he had done the impossible. I never saw Buddy get beat there or seriously challenged.
 
If you can find a copy of "Rags to Rifleman" it is full of Buddy Hall stories. Otherwise, sit down with Buddy at a tournament and just listen. He has hours and hours of great stories. Thanks Buddy!!!
 
Bigdogbret said:
If you can find a copy of "Rags to Rifleman" it is full of Buddy Hall stories. Otherwise, sit down with Buddy at a tournament and just listen. He has hours and hours of great stories. Thanks Buddy!!!

I agree. I have read that book many many times. I asked Buddy and Sherry about reprinting it and they don't seem to know where the original is or who owns the rights to it. I guess it would be Woody Woodworth, the author. No disrespect to Woody but the book needs to be edited quite a bit and after editing I think it would be a much better book.

For those that don't know it's like 300 pages of very small print. Lots of words in that book.

If there was a way to do a revised version of it then I think it could be a mainstream book as a slice of Americana.
 
JB Cases said:
I agree. I have read that book many many times. I asked Buddy and Sherry about reprinting it and they don't seem to know where the original is or who owns the rights to it. I guess it would be Woody Woodworth, the author. No disrespect to Woody but the book needs to be edited quite a bit and after editing I think it would be a much better book.

For those that don't know it's like 300 pages of very small print. Lots of words in that book.

If there was a way to do a revised version of it then I think it could be a mainstream book as a slice of Americana.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Bebob {sp?} Publishing holds the rights to it. The print is not only small, the type varies from signature to signature. Was definitely not a quality printing job.
Though I would like to see it, I seriously doubt it would be of interest to a mainstream publisher. I really don't see a market outside the pool playing community and even league players I have mentioned him to have never heard of him. I remember stopping in mid-sentence talking to a local room owner who had no idea who he was. I couldn't believe it.
 
Type of Work: Text

Registration Number / Date:
TXu000556350 / 1992-12-14

Title: Rags to rifleman, then what? : a biography of Buddy
Hall /
W. W. Woody.

Copyright Claimant:
LaBecx International

Date of Creation: 1992

Copyright Note: C.O. correspondence.

Names: Woody, W. W., 1944-
LaBecx International
 
My first trip to the Derby. Walked into the ballroom and the first person I recognized was Buddy. He was selling raffle tickets for a cue. My wife and I approached him and I asked him a question about one-pocket rules, which he answered graciously. After my wife and I thanked him and walked away, my wife said to me, "Why did you ask a stupid cue salesman about the rules?"
 
=)

Pushout said:
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Bebob {sp?} Publishing holds the rights to it. The print is not only small, the type varies from signature to signature. Was definitely not a quality printing job.
Though I would like to see it, I seriously doubt it would be of interest to a mainstream publisher. I really don't see a market outside the pool playing community and even league players I have mentioned him to have never heard of him. I remember stopping in mid-sentence talking to a local room owner who had no idea who he was. I couldn't believe it.

I bet I could get him action in my lil town..
 
better than advertised

if you had the good fortune to see buddy play back in the early 70's it was simply amazing what he could do. on a 9 footer & buddy breaking no spot was enough. an old carney from shreveport named topsy was watching him play and commented "he never gets out of line and he never gets on the rail". buddy made it look too easy.
 
in 1992 I went to the Willards event just outside Chicago. It was the largest pool tournament in history at the time and after hours the room was filled with action. This is where I saw a newly introduced Bustamente torture CJ wiley giving up the 8 for 5k. Anyways, so all these champions woofing at each other and Buddy was about the only one everyone seemed to be avoiding. There was talk about Efren playing him but it didnt go down and Efren had ALOT of people looking to stake him in other action. I still remember there were a number of corporation pow wows that discussed matching someone up and the word was always the same...Buddy Hall? ehhh PASS..how about we do this instead...! You really could tell, at least in 1992, that the pros considered him to be the top of the 9ball action mountain.
 
JB Cases said:
I agree. I have read that book many many times. I asked Buddy and Sherry about reprinting it and they don't seem to know where the original is or who owns the rights to it. I guess it would be Woody Woodworth, the author. No disrespect to Woody but the book needs to be edited quite a bit and after editing I think it would be a much better book.
JB, unless he's sold them very recently, the rights are owned by Bob Henning of Bebob Publishing, out of Livonia, Michigan. About 1-1/2 years ago I asked Bob why he wouldn't republish it, since I believe it would sell big. He said that he didn't think he'd be able to recoup the money it would take him to edit it and republish it. He guessed it would take 5000 copies sold to break even. Hopefully he'll reconsider one of these days!

Doc
 
shortstroke said:
if you had the good fortune to see buddy play back in the early 70's it was simply amazing what he could do. on a 9 footer & buddy breaking no spot was enough. an old carney from shreveport named topsy was watching him play and commented "he never gets out of line and he never gets on the rail". buddy made it look too easy.

Been a hundred years since I've heard anyone mention Topsy, Shortstroke. Do you know if he is still with us? Do you happen to remember Gene Goodman, the top dice mechanic on the planet at the time?
 
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