Gaffe artists/Gaffe bets/Gaffe games/Gaffe shots

Walt Frazier

Walt Frazier

Banned
If you've been around pool halls as long as I have your either familiar with them or you possibly are one..(Gaffe artist)

Guy walks in the pool room and says.."I'll just bet anyone in this stinkin' joint whatever you want..that I could can't stand right here(the entrance to the pool hall) and toss a single playing card all the way (he points toward the back wall) over there..and hit that rear wall"..Approx..250 ft..
"One sling..one flip..you can even pick any card..FROM YOUR OWN DECK IF YOU'D LIKE...any takers"....

Long story short..this hustler/Gaffe artist busted the whole pool room..and escaped like a bandit!

They're was a Gray headed shaggy bearded fella that went by the name of flim flam..he looked straight out of central casting for a Mel Brooks comic spoof..I mean he looked and acted like a carnival act..well any way he staggered into Greenway one night looking to play some one-hole..after about 15 minutes of gags,jokes and flirts with the bar-maid he finally gets in action..but it was'nt pool..he somehow found a sucker that would bet him that he could'nt drink 10 beers then stand on his head for 10 minutes straight(without falling down)... Well ,he did it!..made it look EZ too..That might have been one of the most amazing things I have ever seen..

Here's one more that(never materialized) might fall into the Gaffe games category:Once I woofed at Parica in Houston..I told him I'd try him some like this:12-5 and the snaps..none of my fouls count..I get to break till I like it(meaning if I break the balls and I don't like the lay of the balls..Re-rack!)..He has to play 3 and stop...I would get 3:1 odds...Not even batting an eye he said"You got it!"..then added "But I am betting on you!":D

Any Gaffe stories AZ?
 
Walt Frazier said:
If you've been around pool halls as long as I have your either familiar with them or you possibly are one..(Gaffe artist)

Guy walks in the pool room and says.."I'll just bet anyone in this stinkin' joint whatever you want..that I could can't stand right here(the entrance to the pool hall) and toss a single playing card all the way (he points toward the back wall) over there..and hit that rear wall"..Approx..250 ft..
"One sling..one flip..you can even pick any card..FROM YOUR OWN DECK IF YOU'D LIKE...any takers"....


Any Gaffe stories AZ?
Click to expand...

Thats a very big poolroom you hang out in.:)
 
Not my home room

Hambone said:
Thats a very big poolroom you hang out in.:)
Click to expand...

250 ft. may be a slight exaggeration,and my alcohol consumption that night may have altered my depth perception slightly LOL..It was a pretty big room..this took place in Houston,between 91-93 if I recall..It was a crazy sight man..have not seen anything like it..before or since..:D
 
I've heard of the guy who could piss over one of those big green trash dumpsters. Did it. But wait, so did his girlfriend. This one is verifiable with more than five people here in Raleigh. I also once lost once to a guy who bet me he could stand four feet back from a lock and toss a key into the lock and make it hang there. I got to pick the lock and the key. I think it was on the second try. I still don't get it. He then told me he could bowl a strike with a softball in three tries. I know, I sounds impossible. Hey, the guy had just got me on the lock thing. Once is enough. We also have a guy in town that will put the cue ball frozen to the center of the head rail and the object ball at the exact center of the end rail frozen and bet he can cut it in the corner in less than five tries. Usually takes him two or three.
 
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crawfish said:
We also have a guy in town that will put the cue ball frozen to the center of the head rail and the object ball at the exact center of the end rail frozen and bet he can cut it in the corner in less than five tries. Usually takes him two or three.
Click to expand...
I would pay him just to see it.
 
I did pay him.

JDB said:
I would pay him just to see it.
Click to expand...
Cost me $50. He kind of masses the ball, catching the rail just before hitting the object ball. Jacked up off of the rail, it's a sight to see.
 
I've seen a guy do the same shot, place the object ball on the rail, dead center and at the other end of the table he had someone holding the cue ball in the air for him. 50 tries. He made one, and came extremely close on several.

Ever bet someone that you can do 3-400 hundred push ups in under a min? When you say it you say "three--to four hundred"...then you get down and do 4 pushups and you win...
 
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Here's one more that(never materialized) might fall into the Gaffe games category:Once I woofed at Parica in Houston..I told him I'd try him some like this:12-5 and the snaps..none of my fouls count..I get to break till I like it(meaning if I break the balls and I don't like the lay of the balls..Re-rack!)..He has to play 3 and stop...I would get 3:1 odds...Not even batting an eye he said"You got it!"..then added "But I am betting on you!":D

Any Gaffe stories AZ?[/QUOTE]

If u want to woof at Effren here is a good one-any ball u make into Effrens` pocket does not count to his score and it has to be spotted + what ever u asked from Parica.
 
Buster Merchant

JDB said:
I would pay him just to see it.
Click to expand...

Use to make this shot 1 out of 5 tries..except he could place the cue ball on a piece of chalk resting on top of the head-rail and do it!..seen it with my own 4 eyes LOL:D
 
1) Steve Titus, one of the originators or Predator, would bet you he could lift the end of an old 1920s Brunswick slate table with one hand. I've seen him do it, and never saw anyone else do it with 2 hands, not to say there aren't people strong enough.

2) There was a guy who could throw a qurter into the coin slot of an old cigarette machine for the cash. Turns out, he set the trick up in his prison cell using a matchbook for the slot and had 20 years to practice. He was quite good at at.
 
one that I would pay to see is the impossible bank mentioned in other threads... the cueball is on or very near close to the side rail somewhere above the side pocket. The OB is frozen to the side rail below that side pocket (this can be done even with the OB a full diamond below the side). The shooter spins the bank in cross side with crazy english.

Even now knowing it's possible, and seeing the video on youtube, I'd take the bet. I tried it a million times and never came close.
 
crawfish said:
Cost me $50. He kind of masses the ball, catching the rail just before hitting the object ball. Jacked up off of the rail, it's a sight to see.
Click to expand...

About fifteen years ago I tried the shot below with 50 to 1 odds. The owner of the Sports Palace, Louie Knott told me I couldn't make the shot. I told him give me 50 to 1 and I would make it. I told him I would shoot it 50 times and bet a dollar each time that I could make the shot. He bellowed at me that I could get 50 to 1 but only ONE SHOT. I said OK posted my dollar, fired off a round, sliced the nine ball in the left farthest corner pocket but the cue ball came back and scratched in the closest left pocket. He said "NO BET. YOU SCRATCHED". The entire pool hall ragged him for years for not paying up. I never let him forget that he was a welcher but he still wouldn't pay but at least he didn't kick me out of his pool hall. He was partners with Earl Heisler who was tight with money and wouldn't say anthing one way or the other. Louie and Ear have both since passed away- RIP Louie Knott & Earl Heisler.

CueTable Help



JoeyA
 
I Was A Sucker For Bar Bets

I used to lay a pool cue down on the floor and get someone to hold the front (or back) door wide open and then announce that I could run and jump thirty-nine feet OR MORE (it doesn't type like it sounds). I was REALLY saying that I'd run and jump " 'third 'o nine feet or MORE ".... It helped to always have someone with you that would swear that you actually said a 'third of nine feet' (3' or more).... Sometimes I had to run and jump in the car with the engine running, while holding the 'up money'.. :)

This one I posted about 10 years ago (but we have a whole new audience now) :

One night I was hanging out at the Sonra Lounge (tucked in behind the
cinema and on a canal) on Vets Hwy. in NEW Orleans,it was THE action
spot from the mid 70's to the mid 80's and EVERY form of hustle was run
AND bet on in this bar.
On this particular night a stranger says to everyone and no-one in
particular," I can KNOCK DOWN the headpin in a bowling alley with a
playing card." Twenty heads swiveled at the same time to see who had
made this claim.
The stranger says," I'll stand at the foul line and I get to throw the
complete deck and I'll knock the front pin over." So, right away I pipe
up with ,"yeah,you'll leave all the cards in the box and throw the whole
box."(Which would still be a pretty neat trick) The stranger says,"
no,I'm going to throw the cards ONE card at a time and I get to use the
whole deck." So, once again I butt in and say," sure,you're going to
tape one of the cards to a bowling ball or some other object and then
throw it and knock over the pin." He says,"Nope,it will be knocked over
with only one card or else I lose."
Well, it just so happens that there's a bowling alley about 3-4
blocks up the street, which is closed,BUT,the manager comes to this bar
every night after closing and is willing to re-open for all of us to
make this bet(plus he wants some of the action too).
Well, everybody in the bar puts up all the cash they can afford and
Billy takes some cash from the register and since no-one will stay and
keep an eye on the bar,they close up and 35-40
people(poolplayers mostly and a few degenerate gamblers) empty the
parking lot and drive down to the bowling alley. Since there's forty of
us and only two of them and WE'RE holding the money,we aren't about to
lose because of the "wording" of this bet. After all, there's over a
$1000 riding on this.
Well, what none of us knew then(But we do now) is that a bowling
ball is not completely FLAT on the bottom and this stranger,squatted
down low and slung the 1st card out of a brand new deck AND lo & behold,
it slid UNDER the front edge of that pin. And as he continued to
throw,each subsequent card slid at what looked like a hundred miles an
hour and landed under the pin OR a previously thrown card. After a few
more throws,you could see the light dawning on the faces of forty very
unhappy campers (including my total net worth betting ass) The pin
started to lean and while Still holding a few cards the next throw
toppled the pin.You could have heard a pin drop ( I just COULDN'T resist
the pun) as the banker handed over all our cash. I mean , he did what he
claimed and he got paid.
That night was one of the saddest nights ever back at the Sonra
Lounge as everyone sat around bumming drinks and blaming each other for
taking the bet. I'd like to say that it was the last time I went tapped
betting on someone's hustle,but I'd be lying. Once a sucker,always a
sucker. Oh, and long before he was on TV, Harry Anderson came in on the
hustle and snagged quite a few of us (he shot pretty good pool too).
Also, Waylon Flowers came in and got drunk after his last local
performance and then sent a gofer back to his hotel room for his puppet
"MADAME"(the old-broad puppet,from Hollywood Squares) and put on the
FUNNIEST mosr risque' show that I've ever seen in my life.

Sometime,I'll tell you about the guy that swallowed the pool stick.

Doug
 
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crawfish said:
I've heard of the guy who could piss over one of those big green trash dumpsters. Did it. But wait, so did his girlfriend. This one is verifiable with more than five people here in Raleigh. I also once lost once to a guy who bet me he could stand four feet back from a lock and toss a key into the lock and make it hang there. I got to pick the lock and the key. I think it was on the second try. I still don't get it. He then told me he could bowl a strike with a softball in three tries. I know, I sounds impossible. Hey, the guy had just got me on the lock thing. Once is enough. We also have a guy in town that will put the cue ball frozen to the center of the head rail and the object ball at the exact center of the end rail frozen and bet he can cut it in the corner in less than five tries. Usually takes him two or three.
Click to expand...


I have seen this one a lot. As long as the ball on the end rail is frozen there are a lot of players that can make. I saw a kid make it about six times on a bar table with the cue ball on a piece of chalk on the other end rail.

The one that busted me was a guy around Oklahoma in the mid to late 80's named Floyd "The Snake". He bets he can make a spot shot on a snooker table using pool balls one handed jacked up hanging in the jaws of one of the opposite corner pockets. Lucky for me I only had about 80 dollars to lose. He bet on each attempt and made it about 18 out of 20 and left Jamaca Joe's pool room with about 800 dollars in about ten minutes. For me it was worth the 80 to see him spear those shots in one after the next.
 
CreeDo said:
one that I would pay to see is the impossible bank mentioned in other threads... the cueball is on or very near close to the side rail somewhere above the side pocket. The OB is frozen to the side rail below that side pocket (this can be done even with the OB a full diamond below the side). The shooter spins the bank in cross side with crazy english.

Even now knowing it's possible, and seeing the video on youtube, I'd take the bet. I tried it a million times and never came close.
Click to expand...

Please post the youtube link, I am having trouble visualizing this one.

Thanks
-don
 
We were hanging around the Billiard Tavern in San Diego sometime in the late 80's. It was owned by Dick Megiveron back then and it was Swanee's home court. Swanee was doing his usual thing, sitting around, drinking beer and having a few laughs with his buddies.

In walks some Asian Karate guy wearing a "gee" or whatever you call those outfits. He starts mouthing off about something with one of the boys and they start talking up a bet. The Karate guy says that he can leap up and touch higher on the wall with his toe than anyone in the place. He wants to bet a hundred. No one says a word, so he repeats his offer. From out of the blue, Swanee looks at the guy and says I'll take that bet. WHOA!

Swanee is about 6'2" tall and must weigh well over 300 pounds. He's huge. Well, they both put up the hundred, right on the table and the Asian guy goes first. He takes a run at the far wall, jumps up and touches the wall about a foot from the ceiling. It's probably a ten or eleven foot ceiling, so he has touched the wall close to ten feet high. A guys who is spotting for them stands on a chair and marks the spot with a piece of chalk. A big mark for all to see.

Swanee slowly rises out of his chair and saunters over to the wall. He stands up on his tiptoe and twists his body at a right angle, and reaches up with his toe and touches the wall, about one inch above the mark left by the other guy. Swanee has done the splits right against the wall and extended his body to nearly ten feet in total span. AMAZING!!!

Swanee brings his body down off the wall and doesn't say a word. He saunters back over to the table, picks up the two hundred, puts it in his pocket and sits down. He has a little smile on his face as he picks up his beer and takes a chug. Everyone just busts out laughing.
 
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Walt Frazier said:
If you've been around pool halls as long as I have your either familiar with them or you possibly are one..(Gaffe artist)

Guy walks in the pool room and says.."I'll just bet anyone in this stinkin' joint whatever you want..that I could can't stand right here(the entrance to the pool hall) and toss a single playing card all the way (he points toward the back wall) over there..and hit that rear wall"..Approx..250 ft..
"One sling..one flip..you can even pick any card..FROM YOUR OWN DECK IF YOU'D LIKE...any takers"....

Long story short..this hustler/Gaffe artist busted the whole pool room..and escaped like a bandit!

They're was a Gray headed shaggy bearded fella that went by the name of flim flam..he looked straight out of central casting for a Mel Brooks comic spoof..I mean he looked and acted like a carnival act..well any way he staggered into Greenway one night looking to play some one-hole..after about 15 minutes of gags,jokes and flirts with the bar-maid he finally gets in action..but it was'nt pool..he somehow found a sucker that would bet him that he could'nt drink 10 beers then stand on his head for 10 minutes straight(without falling down)... Well ,he did it!..made it look EZ too..That might have been one of the most amazing things I have ever seen..

Here's one more that(never materialized) might fall into the Gaffe games category:Once I woofed at Parica in Houston..I told him I'd try him some like this:12-5 and the snaps..none of my fouls count..I get to break till I like it(meaning if I break the balls and I don't like the lay of the balls..Re-rack!)..He has to play 3 and stop...I would get 3:1 odds...Not even batting an eye he said"You got it!"..then added "But I am betting on you!":D

Any Gaffe stories AZ?
Click to expand...

Was, Dottie, the bar maid at the Greenway then?
 
CreeDo said:
jay: awesome :)

coats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-vXWEA_TU

I have trouble visualizing the f*er even after seeing it drop 3 times. It just hurts my brain.
Click to expand...


I don't know about this block of wood he uses to hold the cue. What's up with that? But I learned something from watching this. Did you?

One clue. Take a good look at where he aims. Now I know the secret after a zillion years. By the way, Vernon didn't have any devices except his hands to hold his cue.
 
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