Black-Balled said: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:
During the mid-90's, one of my friends who can play pool was in town for a couple of months. He wanted some action so out we went and got a lot of actions. In time we were running out of action so I started to ask around for some good players around and Cigar Tom's name came up.
We went up to his pool hall and asked if he wanted some action and he said "yeah, but I will need a little weight from your friend". He said he needed the 7; turned around and asked my friend, who didn't speak a lot of English, and he said yep right away. I was a little surprised but I didn't really care, I figured he knew what he was doing.
They agreed to play in Jack n Jill's in Glen Burnie for some 2 large, I can't remember exactly how much. If I remember correctly, I think he lost 2 sets that night. My friend played jammed up; the score wasn't even close. Cigar Tom was running around the table after every shot. Though he lost and got beat, he was a perfect gentleman from start to finish.
We matched up again after a couple of months, and this time we played in his pool hall in Dundalk. Unfortunately, the result was identical. He got trounced again and the worst part was it happened in his house.
OK, Black-Balled, now you know!!!