Denny Searcy

I can tell you some neat stories about Cole Dickson and Horace Harper. Why don't you post your question again in a couple of weeks? Right now, I'm getting ready to go to Philadelphia and then back through Baltimore and Norfolk.
 
Because there is nowhere to record this kind of stuff (outside of www.onepocket.org, or this forum), you are right that it will be lost. That is why I think these forums are important and also why I think some of the older guys do pool a service (not just us) when they pass on some of this knowledge.

However, I suppose this is one of the things that makes pool different than other sports. That is to say, even though I don't think Johnny Ervilino or Weenie Beenie were members here, if they were, I would imagine that they could have posted stories everyday and not run out. Thus, it would seem a portion of pool's history necessarily dies along with every one of pool's great players. This is certainly unfortunate, but it does give an added importance to the culture of story telling, which to me, seems to be permanently tangled with the culture of pool for the reasons mentioned above.

kollegedave

tbone1213 said:
Is there a place for recording for posterity all of the road stories of guys like this?
Seems to me that most of the great pool is not played by names that everyone will recognize and without people like Grady passing these tales on, they will be lost.
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I seen Denny Searcy play at the Palace billiards in San Francisco in 1969. He had a powerful stroke. I've never seen anything like it. Jimmy Russo was his backer back then. There was a payball game aways going on. One time Denny ran four racks on that 6X12 snooker table. I never saw Denny loose. Filipino Gene, Joe Smiley,Bob Medlin were also always in that game. Players would get in and out of that game along with backers. That game was always going on around the clock. It was big time. A guy could get in that game and win thousands. Another great player who managed that room was Paul Silva a great 9 ball player who made playing 9 ball look easy. Joe Bachler a great 14.1 player was also there at that time. There was action on every table. What a time to be in San Francisco.
 
peterpau said:
I seen Denny Searcy play at the Palace billiards in San Francisco in 1969. He had a powerful stroke. I've never seen anything like it. Jimmy Russo was his backer back then. There was a payball game aways going on. One time Denny ran four racks on that 6X12 snooker table. I never saw Denny loose. Filipino Gene, Joe Smiley,Bob Medlin were also always in that game. Players would get in and out of that game along with backers. That game was always going on around the clock. It was big time. A guy could get in that game and win thousands. Another great player who managed that room was Paul Silva a great 9 ball player who made playing 9 ball look easy. Joe Bachler a great 14.1 player was also there at that time. There was action on every table. What a time to be in San Francisco.
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thank you for putting the jumper cables on this over 11 year old thread.

it's got some great content! :thumbup: :cool:

best,
brian kc
 
When I first traveled, SF and Chocrans and The Palace on Market St., they were hopping in 1970, I also worked at Henri Africas on Van Ness/barkeep. I tried to hustle Searcy, didn't work out too well. Was cuttin' my teeth in those early years.
 
I played Denny at the Palace in 1969 on my first day in San Francisco. He just toyed with me.

Next time I played him was on a 5 x 10 at another place in San Francisco, 2 years later. I knew he was good, but didn't know how good. He gave me the break and we came out even, but I had a feeling he was lemoning and so after he wanted to jack it up I made an excuse and left.

Then in 1974 I ran into him again at that Dayton tournament. I was loaded with cash and playing the best pool of my life, but I've never been mistaken for a serious player. I saw him come into the room around midnight and asked him if he wanted to play "our game", which got me the fish eye since obviously he didn't remember me. When I lied (naturally) and told him he'd given me the 8 and the break the last time, he asked what did I want to play for. Feeling flush, I said "I dunno, 30 or 50 a game", and he says "Well, maybe later, but I got a little game I'm about to get into now."

So then I go grab a root beer and a hot dog, and stroll over to the pay ball table, and in the few minutes it took me to arrive he was already $8400 ahead! 7 players, $50 on the 2 through the 6, $100 on the 7, double on the run, and he'd broke and run 2 straight racks. Of course he then went on to destroy everyone in the game except for Jimmy Reed, and I felt like my life had been spared. He could've given me the orange crush and it wouldn't have done me any good. Steve Gumphrey once told me he gave Denny the 8 and beat him, but much as I respected the Gump's game, I had a hard time believing that after watching that pay ball game.

A few years later, Sports Illustrated ran a terrific piece on Danny DiLiberto and mentioned that pay ball game, which was already the stuff of legend. Here's how the author described the scene:

"The players are shooting on a snooker table, an oversized surface with small pockets. One hustler, young Jimmy Reid, is shooting barefoot. He pulls a wad of crumpled money from his jeans and asks a bystander to hold it. Danny D is on the sidelines, his eye out for a backer. Rumor has it that one of the Dayton players was recently staked to a $100,000 score. "The guy's not a good player, but he's a super lemon player," says Danny D with admiration. "He keeps winning, and players still think they can beat him." At the moment, however, all but one of the players are working a dry well. Denny Searcy, from the San Francisco Bay area, is making the most of his first trip East, a packrat emptying the other communicants' pockets and leaving groans behind. Minnesota Fats once said, "Dressing a pool player in a tuxedo is like putting whipped cream on a hot dog." There are no cummerbunds in this pool room. Searcy, a chunky fellow with the beginnings of a mezzanine under his chin, wears old blue corduroys and a T shirt with a bulging pocket into which he pauses to stuff more bills every time he pockets a payball. Between shots he slouches off to the side, looking uninterested. Joe Burns whispers that as of last night Searcy had $20,000 from the 70 or so players who had passed through the game. He knew the figure because he had counted the money and locked it in his safe....

In Joe Burns' office, Denny Searcy has a beer and a sandwich, enjoying a respite from the game. He has given another player $400 to shoot his stick while he rests, and with a shrug he estimates that during the surrogate's fill-in he could lose $4,000 in potential winnings. "I never figured I'd get tired of shooting pay-ball," he says wearily, "but I am. The table is mine and those guys are mine. It's my game. It's not like I worked for it. It's like free money. Maybe if I worked for it, I wouldn't go out and shoot pool with it. But I don't know. I've never worked. Sometimes I think about it, what it would be like, going to work every day, getting some security. But I don't know. How could someone like me open up a business? What do I know about running a business?""

The whole article can be viewed here: https://www.si.com/vault/1977/08/08/626364/easy-times-the-hard-way
 
Taxi said:
I played Denny at the Palace in 1969 on my first day in San Francisco. He just toyed with me.

Next time I played him was on a 5 x 10 at another place in San Francisco, 2 years later. I knew he was good, but didn't know how good. He gave me the break and we came out even, but I had a feeling he was lemoning and so after he wanted to jack it up I made an excuse and left.

Then in 1974 I ran into him again at that Dayton tournament. I was loaded with cash and playing the best pool of my life, but I've never been mistaken for a serious player. I saw him come into the room around midnight and asked him if he wanted to play "our game", which got me the fish eye since obviously he didn't remember me. When I lied (naturally) and told him he'd given me the 8 and the break the last time, he asked what did I want to play for. Feeling flush, I said "I dunno, 30 or 50 a game", and he says "Well, maybe later, but I got a little game I'm about to get into now."

So then I go grab a root beer and a hot dog, and stroll over to the pay ball table, and in the few minutes it took me to arrive he was already $8400 ahead! 7 players, $50 on the 2 through the 6, $100 on the 7, double on the run, and he'd broke and run 2 straight racks. Of course he then went on to destroy everyone in the game except for Jimmy Reed, and I felt like my life had been spared. He could've given me the orange crush and it wouldn't have done me any good. Steve Gumphrey once told me he gave Denny the 8 and beat him, but much as I respected the Gump's game, I had a hard time believing that after watching that pay ball game.

A few years later, Sports Illustrated ran a terrific piece on Danny DiLiberto and mentioned that pay ball game, which was already the stuff of legend. Here's how the author described the scene:

"The players are shooting on a snooker table, an oversized surface with small pockets. One hustler, young Jimmy Reid, is shooting barefoot. He pulls a wad of crumpled money from his jeans and asks a bystander to hold it. Danny D is on the sidelines, his eye out for a backer. Rumor has it that one of the Dayton players was recently staked to a $100,000 score. "The guy's not a good player, but he's a super lemon player," says Danny D with admiration. "He keeps winning, and players still think they can beat him." At the moment, however, all but one of the players are working a dry well. Denny Searcy, from the San Francisco Bay area, is making the most of his first trip East, a packrat emptying the other communicants' pockets and leaving groans behind. Minnesota Fats once said, "Dressing a pool player in a tuxedo is like putting whipped cream on a hot dog." There are no cummerbunds in this pool room. Searcy, a chunky fellow with the beginnings of a mezzanine under his chin, wears old blue corduroys and a T shirt with a bulging pocket into which he pauses to stuff more bills every time he pockets a payball. Between shots he slouches off to the side, looking uninterested. Joe Burns whispers that as of last night Searcy had $20,000 from the 70 or so players who had passed through the game. He knew the figure because he had counted the money and locked it in his safe....

In Joe Burns' office, Denny Searcy has a beer and a sandwich, enjoying a respite from the game. He has given another player $400 to shoot his stick while he rests, and with a shrug he estimates that during the surrogate's fill-in he could lose $4,000 in potential winnings. "I never figured I'd get tired of shooting pay-ball," he says wearily, "but I am. The table is mine and those guys are mine. It's my game. It's not like I worked for it. It's like free money. Maybe if I worked for it, I wouldn't go out and shoot pool with it. But I don't know. I've never worked. Sometimes I think about it, what it would be like, going to work every day, getting some security. But I don't know. How could someone like me open up a business? What do I know about running a business?""

The whole article can be viewed here: https://www.si.com/vault/1977/08/08/626364/easy-times-the-hard-way
Click to expand...

GUMP needed the 8
 
jay helfert said:
Once again, you're getting the straight scoop from Grady. Larry was a great gambler and a top speed player, in the same class with Shorty, Red, Ervolino, Richie Ambrose (9-Ball), and even Kelly.
The only East Coast player who matched up well with Larry in 14.1 was Ervolino, another killer for the cash. They played a few times around New York and both guys told me they beat the other one (that means they both won games).

Larry traveled the whole country, East to West and North to South, looking for games. Usually in the company of his girlfriend or wife. He came thru my room in Bakersfield in the 70's and beat me pretty good playing 9-Ball.
He then went up North looking for action and eventually ran into Cole, who dropped him down a notch. On the way back through, he told me about playing Cole, who beat Larry at 9-Ball and One Pocket. Larry said he was the first guy to beat him in many months on the road.

He did encounter substance problems later on and it really deteriorated his game for a long time. He finally got straightened out and ran a successful poolroom in CT. for many years. In his later years he was one of the top players on Mike Zuglan's Northeast Tour. At his best he was a match for anyone. When he was on the bottle, he couldn't beat Tom Thumb.

I remember hanging out with Larry in Atlantic City in the 80's. He was playing Blackjack for hundreds of dollars a hand and drinking with the other hand. One night he would win five or ten grand and the next night lose it back. That was Larry, full bore all the way. Of course, the casino comped him. They loved his action and kept the drinks coming. I would sit with him and he would tell pool stories while gambling. He was barely coherent somtimes (Grady knows what I mean). I mean you could barely understand his babbling, but he was funny.

Larry L. was a lovable lush and degenerate gambler. He could make many good pool players quiver when they asked him to play. If they wanted to play for $500, Larry would say put up $2,000, and he meant it to. Slightly drunk, he was nearly unbeatable. A little too drunk and he was a go off.

Oh, one other thing. Larry told me once the best player he ever gambled with was Mike Carella from Florida, Danny D's protege.
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Nice, thanks for sharing.

On the other hand, these are stories i've heard about all the american greats playing for money.

However i've always wondered how they wld fare against the cash game kings of Asia n Europe of the 90's , millenium n todays.

Like , say if all the american greats like , miz, corn red, grady, mcready or earl match up against the 90's Asian greats, Efren, busty, chao and millenium, Yang ( prob the ALL-TIME MONEY GAME KING ), Kuo po cheng ,
And after the milleniums, Mika crybaby ( totured the entire filipino field incl efren n busty in phi ) , chang jung lin n wu.

Hypothetically Jay, Would you mind sharing how wld they american cash kings wld do against the european n taiwanese cash kings ?

Its sad for the pool scene that the american cash kings were never recorded to be seen as i heard some crazy big stakes were played during the 70's - 90's esp where pool was found in America.

I did heard of Buddy Hall killing Efren for 50 grand and efren when being interviewed commented that Buddy played WAyTOO GOOD n he could not found his A game on morning money games n Mcredy running out the entire set in 1 visit to the table.

Thanks for sharing yr insight !!
 
It was 1980 , late fall and the phone's ringing. Eddie O'Connell called me up early in the morning. Says we need to get together quick. I meet him at the old Collasiam billiards in Greensboro. He's talking that Billy (Wade Crane) and his backer are headed to Charlotte for action with Denny Sercy. At that time, I hadn't seen Sercy play, just heard he was a great player. I had watched Billy absolutely destroy Jerry Brock a few weeks earlier, and every one else who dared to try and match up. So Eddie and I climb into my old road Ford and head down to Charlotte. I'm thinking that the room there was owned by Harry, I believe it was the same, Harry that Grady mentioned in the first of the posts about Denny. Anyway, Billy asks if it's okay to use my cue, and of course it was. The first few hours , Billy is running out from every where and he's winning. Then the came a ruckus from up front in the room. Two gents where about to go at it, Harry steps in to stop the comotion and one gent pulls out a gun, and in a blink of an eye Harry pulls one back on him. People all over the room (including me) started diving behind tables. Harry straightens out the two trouble makers and trouble stops,then the game gets back in gear. Sadly Billy didn't seem to have the same gear though. I'm not sure how much Billy's backer lost, but it was well over 5 grand, and Denny ran rack after rack after rack for what seem for ever. About two weeks later it was tried again,,and with the same out come. Wade Crane could Play,,everyone knew Billy's game,,but Denny, what a sight to behold , when he was in gear.
 
It's 1970 and I stroll into the Billiard Palace in San Fran and jump into the Payball Game on the 6x12. I get lucky and start off winners but in short order Denny was getting all the cash. I quit losers about $200 and felt lucky. He could scream balls in on that 6x12 from all over the table. Even the best shot makers of today might not like playing him Payball. Denny liked to do the stuff we all did when we were young and I heard he paid the price much later in life. His health went south on him and I lost track of him around the mid 1980's. If anyone has any info about Denny in his later years please post some stories.
 
Last time I saw him was the early 90s. Mother's in Charlotte, NC. He was chasing the ghost, betting the rail birds. Never could get enough weight for the player I was staking.

He was looking good then. He left and we hung around and took off the local tournament.

Never heard from him again. I hope he's well. Pure legend.
 
sonny_burnett said:
Another quality player gone. His class was equal to his game. I lost interest when chemistry management outweighed a player's heart. I've hit balls one session since 98. Just caught up on who was dead and who was in prison.

Very sobering.
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Sonny; with all due respect because you honesty have as much gamble and as much heart as ANYONE, I think you might be a little off in your assessment. Chemical management was around LONG before 98. Just imo, I think taking dozens of $5000 OR MORE hits over a couple year period stakehorsing might have put a bad taste in your mouth. You literally had ALL the pros flying in to play your horses ( min $5k ) any given night they would be lined up on the bar waiting to get their turn. One funny one that comes to mind was Donut vs Keith. Donuts talking about how he's stealing and what not, mean while Keith was spotting him the 7 ball!!! A ND PLAYING opposite hand the WHOLE TIME LOL AND KEITH CUT HIM UP! Sorry, but not sure anyone wouldn't start Ron have a bad taste in their mouth. The of course tl, but I won't even go there . I could go on but you know what I'm saying. Take beatings like that and it's got to make you feel the way you do!
 
Denny in his prime (the 70's) was magical! No one ever caressed those balls like him. He could make them sit up and talk if he wanted to. When Denny fell into stroke, it was like he was playing a different game then everybody else. I saw him cozy balls down the rail on that big ole snooker table in Dayton and make them slide gently into those tiny pockets. No one else could make those shots, even with ball in hand. To this day I have no idea how he did it.

Denny challenged the entire pool world and had few takers. Only Denny could have taken down Billy Johnson back then. He wanted Sigel and the Miz but they didn't want him. If Buddy ever played him I'm not certain. Only World Champion Cliff Thorburn could hang with Denny at Snooker. Wisely, they teamed up and were an unbeatable twosome.
 
Cezar Morales said:
Nice, thanks for sharing.

On the other hand, these are stories i've heard about all the american greats playing for money.

However i've always wondered how they wld fare against the cash game kings of Asia n Europe of the 90's , millenium n todays.

Like , say if all the american greats like , miz, corn red, grady, mcready or earl match up against the 90's Asian greats, Efren, busty, chao and millenium, Yang ( prob the ALL-TIME MONEY GAME KING ), Kuo po cheng ,
And after the milleniums, Mika crybaby ( totured the entire filipino field incl efren n busty in phi ) , chang jung lin n wu.

Hypothetically Jay, Would you mind sharing how wld they american cash kings wld do against the european n taiwanese cash kings ?

Its sad for the pool scene that the american cash kings were never recorded to be seen as i heard some crazy big stakes were played during the 70's - 90's esp where pool was found in America.

I did heard of Buddy Hall killing Efren for 50 grand and efren when being interviewed commented that Buddy played WAyTOO GOOD n he could not found his A game on morning money games n Mcredy running out the entire set in 1 visit to the table.

Thanks for sharing yr insight !!
Click to expand...

My short answer is I don't know, no one does. Our best money players were Lassiter of course, his buddy Don Willis, and then Harold Worst and Cornbread Red from that era (the 60's). Ronnie was the One Pocket king and Ed Kelly was the best all around player.

In the 70's Bernie Schwartz, Billy Incardona, Denny, Buddy and Billy Johnson were the Gods of 9-Ball. Ronnie remained the top dog in One Pocket. In the 80's is when Efren and Parica emerged, turning American pool on it's head. Billy Johnson, Buddy and Keith were our best money players and they were underdogs against the Filipinos. For the cash, even Sigel and Strickland couldn't get there. Buddy even avoided the dreaded Parica. He did beat a very tired Efren in Houston. I ref'd the match calling hits and I could see Efren was not at his best. Keith actually beat Efren giving him the eight ball when he first arrived on these shores. Keith thought he was just another Mexican champion for him to devour. Don't worry, Efren made him pay for that insult later.

In the 90's Rodney and Archer were our best money players. For my money, the two best I ever saw playing for the cash were probably Denny and Parica. By the time Parica got here, Denny's game had slipped a notch. In conclusion I would say Worst would beat all comers in the 60's, Denny would take them in the 70's and Parica was the best from the mid 80's thru the 90's. That about sums it up for me. I'm going back to sleep now. I'm on my Honeymoon, lol.
 
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I had watched and sparred with Billy Johnson for almost a year, and he beat everyone that came threw Greensboro in the time he was there. Jerry Brock got the 8 and almost never got to shoot. When Billy was playing those 2 sessions in Charlotte (I sweated both of them) there was a different story being written. Not sure if it was Eddie or if it was Carter that later that told me, Billy couldn't beat Denny,and at that time Billy was among the best ever.
 
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