Dave Matlock should be in the Billiard Hall of Fame

I've known Dave 30yrs and am lucky to have him as a friend. His skills at all games not just barbox are world-class. He's also a good teacher. If you're near Olathe,Ks. call 'em up(Shooter's) and get a little instruction from Dave. I'm really amazed that he's still bringin' that firepower at 68. Awesome.
 
He cashed big at the at IPT event at Venetian in Las Vegas in 2006 for 30 large. I remember it because I was there! He flew in his fiancé at the time to watch him compete. That was, of course, 8-ball on the 9-footers.

Here's a shot I took of them. She is/was a news reporter in the area where Dave lives. They were building a house together, and that 30 large I am sure came in handy.

david%20matlock%20and%20his%20lady[1][1].JPG
 
I was just sitting here thinking the same thing.
Also, I believe he deserves a Wikipedia page. JAM agreed and would probably create it if she had the BIO data.
 
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SilverCue said:
I was just sitting here thinking the same thing.
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If you list his major tournament wins, he's a little behind Niels Feijen, for example. I suppose he might be in the veteran player category now, but the competition there is pretty tough, too. It is rare that more than one person is selected in any one year in each category.

What are his major tournament wins?
 
garczar said:
I've known Dave 30yrs and am lucky to have him as a friend. His skills at all games not just barbox are world-class. He's also a good teacher. If you're near Olathe,Ks. call 'em up(Shooter's) and get a little instruction from Dave. I'm really amazed that he's still bringin' that firepower at 68. Awesome.
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Do you know if, when he was younger, he lived in Delaware?
 
Pretty sure he's in his 70's. Just talked with em/wife a couple wks ago Denver.
 
This past Derby I was sweating a match he was playing and he looked over and asked me to watch he cue and case while he took a restroom break. When he returned I got the chance to chat briefly. Enjoyed the visit. He was hitting them pretty strong on the 9 footer.
 
Certainly, Dave was a legend on the bar table, quite possibly the greatest ever. That said, bar table pool does not represent the highest level of competition in our sport, and there is no bar table title that would be considered a major championship in our sport.

Unlike guys like Buddy Hall and SVB, Dave could not duplicate his bar table success in pool's major championships so, unless a category of great bar table players were added, Dave does not have the competitive resume that would seem to justify BCA Hall of Fame consideration.

With or without induction, however, Dave's legend will live on forever.
 
The hall of fame seems to have a sliding scale. I'm pretty sure a look at past entrants won't show them all to be big table big tournament winners.

Matlock is legend, has been legend for decades. Taking things literally, he is a lot more famous than many in the hall of fame!

I seem to remember him winning regional level tournaments on nine footers and in his prime there weren't a handful of big table players that wanted to face him on a bar table playing even.

Like Matlock, I gambled where the action was. That generally meant the short track. I was just as happy when I found action on nine and ten foot tables and would have waded through chin deep sewage to play somebody willing to bet big on a snooker table! Well, maybe not, but I would have burned the soles off a new pair of boots chasing them!

I think Matlock's high run on a bar table is 28 games. I can't remember any of the big table specialists coming on the "easy" bar tables and running that many or more.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
The hall of fame seems to have a sliding scale. I'm pretty sure a look at past entrants won't show them all to be big table big tournament winners.
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Every male pro pool player inducted in the player (not meritorious service) category since 2000 would qualify as a prolific winner on the big tables. I couldn't be bothered to look back any further.
 
Dave Matlock would be worthy of consideration for the OnePocket.org Lifetime Action Hall of Famer award.

I disagree that bar table pool should not be deemed as the highest level for pocket billiards or pool compared to the 9-footers. That said, most bar table players of David's era could also play on the 9-footers and even snooker tables. It's just the action was more prevalent on 9-footers in pool's golden years, and for some gambling high and winning was more important than tin cups. Pool payouts truly have not gone that much higher today, e.g., $30,000 for first place in most events. The World Cup is the exception, of course.

One trait that players from the '70s and '80s had was they could play on all equipment and adapt to it fast. Today's pros sometimes stumble on new equipment if it's not what they're used to. It takes them a while to adjust. Me personally, I couldn't tell the difference between how a ball banks on a Brunswick Gold Crown and a Diamond, but according to Earl Strickland, the Diamond tables bank short.

Subject to check, I think David is house pro at a pool room in the Midwest and is probably still in dead-punch stroke. Last time I saw him winning at pool happenings on social media, he looked fit as a fiddle too.
 
David could dab it on the big tables too! He finished second to Earl in the Hollywood Million Dollar Challenge back in the late 90's. All the top players were there. David also played a mean game of Billiards and was no slouch at Snooker. Yes, he made his fame at the bar boxes, but he was an all around player. Played good for the cash as well. HOF is questionable because Dave never really followed the pool circuit all that much. He had another life and preferred staying close to home. Damn good man in my book. I always valued his friendship.
 
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