Cigar Tom

dirtypool40

dirtypool40

I love this freakin' game
Silver Member
Yes, I did a search. I got nothing, but then I can never get that thing to give me any joy.



A buddy tells stories about seeing this guy "Cigar Tom" who is, or was unstoppable on his home table.

Says he witnessed him run over Archer for the cash in the early 90's.

There have to be some more stories and knowledge on this guy out there.
 
Are you referring to Tom Vanover aka Cigar Tom from Dundalk, Baltimore area?

If so,I can give you some stories about him and a friend of mine who played him during the 90's.
 
Cigar Tom used to play in the open events at Diamond Billiards in Lancaster. He was quite a player... to say the least. He would make a shot (with a fat cigar hanging out of his mouth) and run around the table and wait for the CB to get to where he was....with it stopping where his feet were planted... and he would repeat this process until he was out. I've never really seen anything like it since. He played REALLY strong.

So one day, I packed up my cue and drove down to Running Out Billiards in Dundalk, MD which was about an hour and a half drive for me. I wanted to see if this guy would show me a thing or two. Hell, I'm not shy and certainly not afraid to ask.

So I get to his pool room which was pretty easy to find...just off I-95 above Baltimore. I get there in the hopes he was there - I didn't call ahead or anything.

Fortunately, he was there....sitting behind the counter, sucking on a huge cigar. I was a little nervous, so I say, "Mr. Cigar, would you like to hit a few games???" He recognized me from Lancaster and asked if I came down just to play him. I was like, "Uh huh."

He stood off his stool and walked over to the house cues and picked a random cue off the rack and grabbed some balls and headed over to the first table. He gave me the first break. I screwed together my $50 cue and gave it my all, but I didn't make a ball.

Tom walks around the table and pushed out to a hooked position. I was like, "WTF? Go ahead, you can have it."

Without missing a beat, he jacks up and jumps the ball in and sucked the CB back about 5' to perfect position. He ran out so quick I didn't know what the F just happened. He repeated this for about 30 mins before he said he had to get back to working.

I shook his hand, thanking him for the trouncing - it was why I drove an hour and a half! That was the very, very first time I ever saw someone play at a top speed in person. I always kept that day in my mind as a measure of "strong."

I haven't seen him in over a decade, but he was a REALLY classy guy. He really wanted to make sure my trip was worth it.
 
He is/ was the real deal.

His brother, Bob Vanover has been cutting them down in TX for many years as well.

Bayawak! Out with it!!:smile:
 
My Buddy says he saw Cigar Tom run OUT vs. Archer for the cash back in the early 90's.

I'll check up on the story for details, but it went something like, Archer loses the toss, and Tom runs the set, then half the next one. Plays safe, gets ball in hand and runs out the set. Like 2 races (9 or 11 I don't remember) in two innings.

Something about on his own table he's unstoppable.
 
Bring on the stories!

Bayawak said:
Are you referring to Tom Vanover aka Cigar Tom from Dundalk, Baltimore area?

If so,I can give you some stories about him and a friend of mine who played him during the 90's.
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Bring on the stories please! I have heard that he was an amazing player and would like to hear more about him.
 
He still hangs at Running Out in Dundalk, Maryland. Seen him there about a couple months ago. Still plays lights out too.

Spiderweb, you should come down and shoot some sometime, get Matt to come along with us, just for fun and stuff. Could always go to running out some saturday, chances are Tom will be there.
 
Icon of Sin said:
He still hangs at Running Out in Dundalk, Maryland. Seen him there about a couple months ago. Still plays lights out too.

Spiderweb, you should come down and shoot some sometime, get Matt to come along with us, just for fun and stuff. Could always go to running out some saturday, chances are Tom will be there.
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Would love to. Will talk to Matt.
 
Black-Balled said:
I might be in too. PM me if you firm something up, plz.
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Will do. Will let you guys know in the next few days. Will have to be next weekend or something.
 
dirtypool40 said:
Yes, I did a search. I got nothing, but then I can never get that thing to give me any joy.



A buddy tells stories about seeing this guy "Cigar Tom" who is, or was unstoppable on his home table.

Says he witnessed him run over Archer for the cash in the early 90's.

There have to be some more stories and knowledge on this guy out there.
Click to expand...

Article about D.C. area legendary players: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=10694&highlight=Cigar

Snippet about Cigar Tom Vanover's brother who also plays pool in Texas: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?p=170107&highlight=Cigar#post170107

Today, Cigar Tom still enjoys action, especially on his home table in Dundalk. Sometimes he will venture out of Dundalk and engage in games of stake at other Maryland pool rooms within the vicinity, but only by appointment. In Baltimore, he has quite a large fan club who will provide side action to any and all takers. Quite a few road players have come to his pool room with dollar signs in their eyes, only to leave with empty pockets.

Cigar Tom's shaft is quite unusual. It is about as large as the size of a pencil, and many Cigar Tom fans, especially from his pool room, also have shafts this size. He claims he gets more english on shots and enjoys a pencil-sized shaft.

Picture of Cigar Tom after he came in second place to Mike Sigel at 1986 MD State Tournament. He still looks the same today, with just a wee bit of gray in his hair. He's still handsome, in perfect physical shape, and still deadly on a field of green, make no mistake about it.
 

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I played him in a 1p tourney, race to 3 and lost. 2 games came down to ~5 balls on the table and he squeezed my head. Made me feel like I had no pool smarts at all.:frown:
 
Black-Balled said:
Made me feel like I had no pool smarts at all.:frown:
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Never seen him play, but I wonder if his mental game is similar to Bob's. Bob is the smartest pool player I have ever seen.
 
igotfelt said:
Never seen him play, but I wonder if his mental game is similar to Bob's. Bob is the smartest pool player I have ever seen.
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he made me think seriosly about pushing out and the score by balls was 6-3 me...all of em were above side pocket!
 
Cigar Tom.......

I have played him a few times over the years. He always comes out ahead, but it is not getting easier for him! ;o) He has always been a gentleman and very cordial. Of all the players/hustlers I know, I feel like I have learned my share when I drop off the cash, Scott
 
I'm down

SpiderWebComm said:
Will do. Will let you guys know in the next few days. Will have to be next weekend or something.
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Please let me know if this AZB get together happens. I would love to meet some of the mid-atlantic members.
 
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