End of days: Pots and Pans

uh huh

I didn't know him; never even saw him in person.....just saw him in pictures here on AZB and read about him.......but you just know when you see a guy dressed the way he did, and looked the way he did, he had to be a real character......a funny guy who lightened your day and probably your wallet.....and another sad reminder of how the days pass so quickly and the likes of what we may never see again......
 
Tons of Jokes

I had the distinct pleasure of being a passenger on the same plane with him a few years ago. He went up and down the isle entertaining the passengers with the his timeless sense of humor. I heard the same old jokes from him that he told at the Derby in 2000 and some new ones... my stomach hurt from laughing so much... he is a great person and entertainer.

May all your travels be without issues and your venues be comfortable.
 
8BallWonderland said:
He said this classic to me and some young gamblers at the BCA many years ago. He comes over and says "I'm the best player in the country", so one kid looks at him and says ok lets play some for $100 a set.
He replies " oh no, I don't play so good in the city"
Click to expand...

8Balll,

He told me about the same story except "I'm the best player in the country. Problem is, all the tournaments are in the city".

My other favorite was "I loaned a guy a thousand dollars. He had a face lift with the money. Now I'll never recognize him".

I'll miss you gov.

Lyn
 
Sorry to hear this sad news.

Thanks for sharing a funny story about Pots and Pans.
 
cardiac kid said:
8Balll,

He told me about the same story except "I'm the best player in the country. Problem is, all the tournaments are in the city".

My other favorite was "I loaned a guy a thousand dollars. He had a face lift with the money. Now I'll never recognize him".

I'll miss you gov.

Lyn
Click to expand...

He was funny....I built a small friendship with him over the years from various tournaments. He used to amaze me in the beginning. I never figured out how he could afford to travel to all these different venues all over the country.

I figured he must have been pretty successful to still have a little $$$ tucked away from 30-40 or more years ago.

He used to sneak in.....I really don't think he ever paid to watch a match. He usually sat front (VIP) row. I watched him 'part the curtain' to slip in many times, and it always made a small smile appear on my lips.

( I think everyone pretty much knew...but turned their backs because they liked him)

He always give me the two thumbs up every time he'd see me.....he liked the attention, and I liked him :)

I printed out one of the sketches of him I did, framed it and gave it to him. He loved it. You would have thought he'd never seen his photo before from his expression. He was very grateful to say the least.

I have been dreading this news for quite some time....Father time always wins in the end. Bunny beat the odds for a long, long time. And had plenty of good times doing it.

What more can you ask for?

Mary Kenniston just said that he passed earlier...

It's sure not going to be the same w/o him.... :(
 
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jay helfert said:
Bunny Rogoff, aka Pots and Pans, Bunny the Bellman and Bunny the Rogue, was actually a very good player in his younger days, maybe a ball below the top players. He was truly a great hustler, able to con his way into games with much weaker players and win some pretty good money.

There is an art to hustling pool and Bunny was a master of his craft. He could play the Drunk, the Infirmed or even the Disabled with amazing thespian skills, even making believers out of us who knew him. I remember seeing him hustle pool in a bar in Los Angeles and appear for all the world to be drunk as a skunk. He must have won a couple of hundred bucks, wobbling around the table and slurring all his words. His cue was going all over the place, but balls kept falling in, sometimes skidding off other balls and even bouncing in the wrong pocket. I was sure he was really drunk, and just playing on heart.

When it was over, I slid over next to him and quietly whispered in his ear how lucky he was to win, considering how messed up he was. Bunny stood up straight and looked me dead in the eye and said indignantly, "What are you talking about mister, I'm just doing my job. What are you doing here?" He said all this in a completely coherent voice, not even bothering if anyone heard him. That was Bunny, a hustler to the core.

All the pool players told stories of getting robbed back then, but not Bunny. His stories began and ended with him showing one of the two guns he always carried to someone. He may have shot one or two guys along the way who tried to take his cash. Of that I'm not sure. He told me he did and I believe him. The old time pool players knew that Bunny was a wild and funny guy, but not one to get angered. I was warned early on not to mess with him when he had a game. I think it was Danny who told me that. He said something to the effect that if I value my life I won't ever get involved in a game that Bunny made. He didn't take well to knockers! I bet very few of you knew that he always had a gun in his boot or on his ankle, even when he was much older. He hustled the bars, enough said.

Bunny won the Super Seniors tournament at the BCA about 10 or 12 years ago when he was well into his 70's. After it was over, he was in the coffee shop eating and a bunch of us came over to congratulate him. He responded, "I was stealing with all those old farts!" He was and is a real character, who I've known from the Johnston City days. Thanks Bunny for being exactly who you are.
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Wonderful, Jay.

Beard
 
My favorite joke of his was "Did you see the headlines? baby born with moustache mother tickeled to death." He thought this one was especially good because you could tell it at a stoplight and just drive away. The Guv what a guy!
 
Rick S. said:
He was funny....I built a small friendship with him over the years from various tournaments. He used to amaze me in the beginning. I never figured out how he could afford to travel to all these different venues all over the country.

I figured he must have been pretty successful to still have a little $$$ tucked away from 30-40 or more years ago.

He used to sneak in.....I really don't think he ever paid to watch a match. He usually sat front (VIP) row. I watched him 'part the curtain' to slip in many times, and it always made a small smile appear on my lips.

( I think everyone pretty much knew...but turned their backs because they liked him)

He always give me the two thumbs up every time he'd see me.....he liked the attention, and I liked him :)

I printed out one of the sketches of him I did, framed it and gave it to him. He loved it. You would have thought he'd never seen his photo before from his expression. He was very grateful to say the least.

I have been dreading this news for quite some time....Father time always wins in the end. Bunny beat the odds for a long, long time. And had plenty of good times doing it.

What more can you ask for?

Mary Kenniston just said that he passed earlier...

It's sure not going to be the same w/o him.... :(
Click to expand...
You feel pretty good Rick, you didn't know him long but you knew him well. I've known Bunny for 53 years, first meeting him when I was 16 years old in Pittsburgh Pa., our home town. Bunny has always been a hard core hustler, from his younger days till his last days. He first noticed me when I was a young player around 17 years old he didn't want to hustle me because he had bigger and better plans for me, and thats when we first hooked up. He would talk to me about hustling...his way...about how to set people up and then take them off. I was too young to understand and really didn't want to, I played good and wanted everyone to know. Bunny and I have always had a great relationship, we were good friends our entire lives and he would always call me and leave a message on my recorder, usually before a tournament and tell me that he would see me there. I told a story about Bunny in the other thread, about how he always wore his ..truck drivers outfit and played the drunk act. Even when he went to Johnston City back in the day he showed up wearing his truck drivers outfit...what's up with that.:wink: A true hustler all the way to the bone, my man "pots and pans" Bunny, like Jay said, will let you know how he feels, no second guessing with him. He didn't like knockers and he knew how to count, not too many people do but he did and too me that tells a lot about a man.

R.I.P. Governor.

Bill Incardona
 
Rick S. said:
He was funny....I built a small friendship with him over the years from various tournaments. He used to amaze me in the beginning. I never figured out how he could afford to travel to all these different venues all over the country.

I figured he must have been pretty successful to still have a little $$$ tucked away from 30-40 or more years ago.

He used to sneak in.....I really don't think he ever paid to watch a match. He usually sat front (VIP) row. I watched him 'part the curtain' to slip in many times, and it always made a small smile appear on my lips.

( I think everyone pretty much knew...but turned their backs because they liked him)

He always give me the two thumbs up every time he'd see me.....he liked the attention, and I liked him :)

I printed out one of the sketches of him I did, framed it and gave it to him. He loved it. You would have thought he'd never seen his photo before from his expression. He was very grateful to say the least.

I have been dreading this news for quite some time....Father time always wins in the end. Bunny beat the odds for a long, long time. And had plenty of good times doing it.

What more can you ask for?

Mary Kenniston just said that he passed earlier...

It's sure not going to be the same w/o him.... :(
Click to expand...
You feel pretty good Rick, you didn't know him long but you knew him well. I've known Bunny for 53 years, first meeting him when I was 16 years old in Pittsburgh Pa., our home town. Bunny has always been a hard core hustler, from his younger days till his last days. He first noticed me when I was a young player around 17 years old he didn't want to hustle me because he had bigger and better plans for me, and thats when we first hooked up. He would talk to me about hustling...his way...about how to set people up and then take them off. I was too young to understand and really didn't want to, I played good and wanted everyone to know. Bunny and I have always had a great relationship, we were good friends our entire lives and he would always call me and leave a message on my recorder, usually before a tournament and tell me that he would see me there. I told a story about Bunny in the other thread, about how he always wore his ..truck drivers outfit and played the drunk act. Even when he went to Johnston City back in the day he showed up wearing his truck drivers outfit...what's up with that.:wink: A true hustler all the way to the bone, my man "pots and pans" Bunny, like Jay said, will let you know how he feels, no second guessing with him. He didn't like knockers and he knew how to count, not too many people do but he did and too me that tells a lot about a man.

I'll post my story about Bunny below.
R.I.P. Governor.

Bill Incardona
 
My man "Pots and Pans"

wincardona said:
You feel pretty good Rick, you didn't know him long but you knew him well. I've known Bunny for 53 years, first meeting him when I was 16 years old in Pittsburgh Pa., our home town. Bunny has always been a hard core hustler, from his younger days till his last days. He first noticed me when I was a young player around 17 years old he didn't want to hustle me because he had bigger and better plans for me, and thats when we first hooked up. He would talk to me about hustling...his way...about how to set people up and then take them off. I was too young to understand and really didn't want to, I played good and wanted everyone to know. Bunny and I have always had a great relationship, we were good friends our entire lives and he would always call me and leave a message on my recorder, usually before a tournament and tell me that he would see me there. I told a story about Bunny in the other thread, about how he always wore his ..truck drivers outfit and played the drunk act. Even when he went to Johnston City back in the day he showed up wearing his truck drivers outfit...what's up with that.:wink: A true hustler all the way to the bone, my man "pots and pans" Bunny, like Jay said, will let you know how he feels, no second guessing with him. He didn't like knockers and he knew how to count, not too many people do but he did and too me that tells a lot about a man.

I'll post my story about Bunny below.
R.I.P. Governor.

Bill Incardona
Click to expand...


I was 23 years old and hustling pool in Miami Fl., I ventured into a bar located on the 79th. st causeway ( I believe) called "Jilly's" Jackie Gleason at times would play pool there ..usually on a week end. The bar was a dimly lit place that seemed a little 'eerie' kinda got my adrenalin flowing as I walked deeper into the club. I found a stairwell that led me into an area where there were 3 bar tables and a crew of somewhat rowdy guys drinking beer and playing pool. That's when I recognized that ..pots and pans was one of the players playing. I didn't want anyone to know that we knew one another because I knew something different was about to happen and so I just stood there silently. They were playing $20 8ball and you put a quarter on the table to challenge the winner. Bunny as we called him (Bernard Rogoff/alias "pots and pans") nodded to me in his discreet way to put a quarter up and challenge...which I did.... Moving along with the story.. I played in the game for about an hour holding my own..back and forth the money went, then Bunny said (dressed in his truck drivers out fit..playing the drunk act) I'll tell you what i'll take this kid (meaning me) and play you two guys partners for 20 bucks a man. As he wobbled across the room. Well, these guys thought that they had something good playing against a kid and a drunk so they suggested that we put up 100 bucks apiece and play $20 a game till someone won the money. I didn't say much because I wanted to keep a low profile and because I was actually intimidated and wanted to "be cool" and not over hustle..not in this spot. Just didn't feel right. We put the $400 on the light and began playing, after playing about another hour one of the guys said that we probably knew one another and he was getting angry. Being three games up at the time certainly didn't help our situation, other than helping it ..financially...I think. Well, we won 3 of the next 4 games to win the freeze out and things were starting to get scary. One of the guys said that he was going to take all the money because we hustled them (and he was pretty big and angry) Bunny then said in his drunken voice... you can't do that this kid won the money fair and square... The big guy started to walk over to the light to grab the money...thats when Bunny ran to the table and jumped up and grabbed the money off the light and took off running out the door. The other guy pulled a gun and fired it as bunny was running out the door, fortunately missing Bunny. Everyone ran outside and Bunny ran into a field in back of the club as this guy was shooting at him. My car was in the parking lot so I figured this was a good time to jump into my car and boogie..which I did ..in a hurry while they were occupied chasing Bunny. Well Bunny got away clean and it wasn't until almost 10 years later before I saw Bunny again, he walked up to me and said ..Cardon-eee (thats what he called me) here's that $200 I owe you.

R.I.P. Bunny.

Bill Incardona
 
wincardona said:
I was 23 years old and hustling pool in Miami Fl., I ventured into a bar located on the 79th. st causeway ( I believe) called "Jilly's" Jackie Gleason at times would play pool there ..usually on a week end. The bar was a dimly lit place that seemed a little 'eerie' kinda got my adrenalin flowing as I walked deeper into the club. I found a stairwell that led me into an area where there were 3 bar tables and a crew of somewhat rowdy guys drinking beer and playing pool. That's when I recognized that ..pots and pans was one of the players playing. I didn't want anyone to know that we knew one another because I knew something different was about to happen and so I just stood there silently. They were playing $20 8ball and you put a quarter on the table to challenge the winner. Bunny as we called him (Bernard Rogoff/alias "pots and pans") nodded to me in his discreet way to put a quarter up and challenge...which I did.... Moving along with the story.. I played in the game for about an hour holding my own..back and forth the money went, then Bunny said (dressed in his truck drivers out fit..playing the drunk act) I'll tell you what i'll take this kid (meaning me) and play you two guys partners for 20 bucks a man. As he wobbled across the room. Well, these guys thought that they had something good playing against a kid and a drunk so they suggested that we put up 100 bucks apiece and play $20 a game till someone won the money. I didn't say much because I wanted to keep a low profile and because I was actually intimidated and wanted to "be cool" and not over hustle..not in this spot. Just didn't feel right. We put the $400 on the light and began playing, after playing about another hour one of the guys said that we probably knew one another and he was getting angry. Being three games up at the time certainly didn't help our situation, other than helping it ..financially...I think. Well, we won 3 of the next 4 games to win the freeze out and things were starting to get scary. One of the guys said that he was going to take all the money because we hustled them (and he was pretty big and angry) Bunny then said in his drunken voice... you can't do that this kid won the money fair and square... The big guy started to walk over to the light to grab the money...thats when Bunny ran to the table and jumped up and grabbed the money off the light and took off running out the door. The other guy pulled a gun and fired it as bunny was running out the door, fortunately missing Bunny. Everyone ran outside and Bunny ran into a field in back of the club as this guy was shooting at him. My car was in the parking lot so I figured this was a good time to jump into my car and boogie..which I did ..in a hurry while they were occupied chasing Bunny. Well Bunny got away clean and it wasn't until almost 10 years later before I saw Bunny again, he walked up to me and said ..Cardon-eee (thats what he called me) here's that $200 I owe you.

R.I.P. Bunny.

Bill Incardona
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Did they have a bumper-pool table in that joint? That might be where Chico from Puerto Rico hung out. I had to have gone in there no matter. I patrolled all the joints on the 79th st causeway.

Beard
 
I've hung with Bunny a number of times. He was always good for a bunch of one liners or a series of x-rated limericks and poems. Some of those rhymes were pretty intricate and he never missed a line...ever. Giving Bunny floor time was like having sex with a gorilla.... you're done when the gorilla's done.

One day at Pool Sharks I was sweating Bunny's rap for a while, long enough for him to find out that we were eating at Roma Cafe for dinner and that someone in my party was buying. Before we knew it, he was offering my friend shotgun in my car since he was the shortest and didn't need the leg-room. He almost made it in the car before my friend told him that he had to scram. I felt bad in a way but I LOVED the move. We were in stitches talking about it over dinner and that led to about 30 mins of Pots and Pans stories. Truely one of a kind. RIP Bunny.....respect.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
 
Lots of great stories here - have loved reading everyone of them, but as the late great Ronnie Allen used to say...I have a breaking news bulletin for all you sports fans out there...

The good news is that the earlier reports of the demise of Bernard Rogoff ("The Governor" or "Bunny" or "Pots & Pans") are erroneous. The bad news is that he is in a coma at a Las Vegas hospice.

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say our thoughts & prayers are with him, his family & all who know & love him...

Mary Kenniston
 
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freddy the beard said:
Old-time road-hog and lemon hustler, Bernard "Bunny" Rogoff (aka Pot and Pans) is in a hospice in Las Vegas, and at the end of his rope. I tried to call him, but he is too far gone to even answer a phone. Artie Bodendorfer visited him, and said he barely weighs 80 lbs.

He was always a funny guy, and this is from an old interview with him that now appears in "The Encyclopedia of Pool Hustlers."

Bunny and the "Jockey"
“Norman Howard, aka “the Jockey,” and I were on the road travelling to the tournament in Johnston City. I said, ‘Hey, Jock, how about driving for a while? I’m getting tired.’ A few minutes later Jock said, ‘Wake up! I can’t see! I can’t see!’ ‘What’s wrong, Jock?’ I said. ‘There’s snow on the windshield.’ Jockey answered. ‘Why don’t you put the wipers on?’ ‘Oh, I thought they were just for rain,’ he replied.
The next day we were in Cumberland, MD and Jock’s playing a radio announcer who’s giving him the 8 ball. Now, Jock’s supposed to beat the guy even, but he can’t make a ball. So I say, ‘Why don’t you quit and play him some more tomorrow. You’ll beat him with the 8 ball and then beat him even.’ ‘I ain’t quitting. I can beat him. I know I can beat him,’ Jockey yelled. ‘You’re quitting,’ I said. ‘No, I’m not,’ Jockey argued. ‘Oh, yes, you are. You’re quitting,’ I insisted. ‘What makes you think I’m quitting?’ he said. ‘Because if you don’t, when we get to Johnston City and your first match comes up, while they’re announcing it over the microphone, I’m going to tell them about the windshield wipers,’ I replied. Less than a minute later Jock’s cue was put up in the rack.”
Bunny Rogoff

I knew him since the early 60s. He was a good friend, and myself, and the pool world will truly miss him.

Beard
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Hello Freddy,
I thank you for sharing this info.
My condolences go out to his family, and many friends. May he rest in peace. He will be missed by many!
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
There's hope for the ol hoot as long as his heart is still tickin, HANG IN!

on a side note:

was his "backer" brought to justice for shooting and killing the "bouncer" at the CASA MADRID lounge just outside of CHI in the early 70's?
 
ribdoner said:
There's hope for the ol hoot as long as his heart is still tickin, HANG IN!

on a side note:

was his "backer" brought to justice for shooting and killing the "bouncer" at the CASA MADRID lounge just outside of CHI in the early 70's?
Click to expand...

Your memory trumps mine. I can only recall that wild, Outfit/tush-hog joint, the Casa Madrid.

Beard
 
I first met Bernard in 1970 when I was a teenager back in Los Angeles. I was 18 at the time. My good friend, Dave Stalmac who knew Bernard since Dave was a kid in Pittsburgh introduced us. I remember the 3 of us back then watching a high stakes set of One Pocket between Billy Incardona & Mexican Joe at Tiff Payne's pool room in North Hollywood. Billy broke & RAN OUT to win the set! I have a lot of stories about Bernard from over the years. RIP Bunny, there will never be another like you. One of the best pool hustlers to ever live.

Attached is a photo of Bernard & I taken in 1989 at Binion's Horseshoe here in Las Vegas.

Andy - Las Vegas

Bunny.jpg
 
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