Cole Dixon

[Mike_Mason]

Brief encounter with Cole...

I met Cole Dixon only once...I think 1998...I was staying with a friend in a lazy stretch of Florida and Cole came to visit for a couple of weeks...I didn't know who he was for three days lol...he went by a different name...I think he was checking out possible games...don't think he ever matched up with anyone down here...finally he told me his real name...

I found Cole to be a real gentleman and...you know I love stories...he had a few yarns that kept us up late into the night...I never saw him play pool...

I remember when he went out to the car and came back with a Joss cue...screwed it together...nothing fancy...and handed it to me...I never felt more like a cue stick was made especially for me...I'll never forget the feel of that cue...and he just wouldn't part with it...

 

[sharandrew]

I was at the McDermott open at the Imperial Palace about 1990. Cole was there. People had said that it had been years since many had seen Cole. He was the buzz of the tournament. There was 128 really great players at the event that Earl eventually won. One thing i noticed was that the biggest gallery at any match was the one with Cole playing. Cole was playing and 60 plus people were watching and a few tables over Sigel vs. Varner a third of Cole's the gallery watching. Cole made a big impression over the years on the road that he still comanded some respect, Playing Pool

 

[hemicudas]

[stolz2] Grady, I have heard of pitching coins to area's, say onto a stool or pool table, but never against a wall how is this done?
Mack


I was first amazed with tossing coins for cash back in the mid 60s at Bob Stein's Royal Cue in New Orleans. A fellow named Steve Beta (sp) was the nuts. If any of you remember those red vinyl/leather round topped counter stools that spin around and were usually seen in diners, well, Steve could toss 4 quaters across a room and get them to land on (and STAY on) the top of one of those.
For years, I hung out daily (and nightly) in a lounge called The Sonra that was open 24 hours and had ALL the gamblers,con artists, grifters, poolplayers, card players,etc. as regular customers. You could also find Buddy, NY Blackie, Benny The Goose, Bill Stack, Al Werlin, Cowboy, Painter,Gene The Glove, Dan Louie and host of others there when you least expected it. If you had a hustle,that was the place to try it out,but be prepared to get beat by the guy that 'invented' that hustle. I became pretty proficient at tossing quarters on the pooltable. When everyone got good at getting close the spot, I mastered throwing from 20' away and bouncing the quarter into an ashtray or a rocks glass.I won a few jellybeans with this hustle.
When the Sonra closed,I moved on to The Triple Play and could be found there every day and night playing pool and cards. On very slow nights (especially if it was pouring) and customers were few,I'd buy a roll of quarters and practice 'throwing to spot' for hours on end. I must have spent 100 hours practicing and standing where the carpet met the tile. One night, a fellow comes in that used to own a bar named The Jai-Alai Lounge and asked me to play a game of 8-ball for 100 jellybeans. We played and I won. He then asked me to pitch to the wall for 100 and he won. He said what do you want to do now and I replied that I wanted to raise the bet and toss to the spot. He said let's bet a 1,000 each and I said OK. We put the cash up with the barmaid and I took 'my spot' and prepared to toss. He said,wait a minute,let's throw from over here and moved us to a 'new' location. The room became silent and he decided to throw first and I said OK. He threw his quarter and when it landed on the table and stood up on edge,it rolled into the corner pocket. All I had to do was keep my quarter on the table,even if it rolled to the rail. I made a few 'pretend' tosses to keep our audience on the edge of their seats and then TOSSED. I landed only three inches from the spot...... I was just about to yell Yeehaaaaaaaaa, when it bounced once and landed on the floor. He took the up money,quit, stiffed the barmaid and walked out the door. All my friends were falling on the floor laughing and that event became legend in there. When I went back to New Orleans one year, Jeff Gee (the owners son) made me stand there in the Triple play for 15 minutes while he related the entire story to my face in front of a packed bar.... as if I hadn't been there for the event.
I've never thrown a quarter since...... dammit

So how in the hell did you omit the $Bill and Louie Bonneville when mentioning the Sonra lounge, Tubster?

 

[gulfportdoc]

Hi Doc,

Yes, Coke owned the room when it was "Big Mama's" and he sold it to Ronnie Allen and it became "Fast Eddie's". It didn't take Ronnie long to clean out the rent reserves on bad match-ups. They closed down in the late 1970's I believe.

They call Coke "Coleie" now (pronounced Cole-ee) and he's doing fine. Coke is a decent fellow - I like Coke a lot. Tony Ola was Coke's good friend. I used to play him and a lot of questionable characters at that place.

Coke is well off, having done well in real estate out here. He drives around in a Jaguar and sports a ponytail if you can believe it. He's still a businessman. He mellowed out a ton and is really a nice guy now. He looks good too and we talk for hours when I see him. He likes playing low stakes sociable liability, golf, or whatever on the snooker tables.
Chris

Chris, that's great to hear that Coke cleaned up his act and is alive and very well!! Those were pretty wild days. I know Coke was a pretty fair gin player as well. When was the big bust there? Seems like I remember that the place got hit around 1970. I didn't realize Ronnie Allen acquired the room for awhile. I can imagine that he couldn't hold on to a poolroom for very long. You can't outrun the nuts forever! Is Tony Ola still kickin'? He was quite a character. Of course just about everybody was a character in those days. I can't recall Mexican Ronnie. He must have been after my time. I was real sorry to hear about Hollywood Jack.

If you have a digital picture of yourself, PM it to me. We may recognize each other!

Art "Doc" Tripp