Gamblers....Old Bite/Copy Past

Island Drive

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
Poking around the net, found this....the names are infamous.

Hope you all enjoy the new years.



The Top Twenty Pool Sharks (with a few ties)
#20) David Matlock (#1 on a bar table)
Walter Lindrum (Australia's #1, Lindrum set 57 world records and gave thousands of exhibitions, raising millions for charity)
#19) Rudolf 'Minnesota Fats' Wanderone (#1 at hustling and showmanship; he helped generate immense public interest in pool)
#18) 'Saint Louie' Louie Roberts (#1 shotmaker; also a great hustler, showman, instructor and pool ambassador)
Keith 'Earthquake' McCready (another great shotmaker, run-out artist and personality)
#17) Jose 'The Giant Killer' Parica (#1 at kicking; great money player; has won more than 100 tournaments around the globe)
#16) Steve 'The Miz' Mizerak (the affable John Madden of pool; another wonderful ambassador of the game)
Allen 'Young Hoppe' Hopkins (a great player despite his quirky stroke; also an excellent TV analyst)
#15) Vernon 'Burnie' Elliot (#1 'undercover' shark of all time; he would play anyone for anything, anytime)
Don Willis (another legendary undercover 'monster' player)
Dick Hunzicker (another legendary undercover player; Willie Mosconi cautioned friends not to tackle him at straight pool)
#14) Leonard 'Bugs' Rucker (especially strong at bank and one-pocket)
#13) John 'Rags' Fitzpatrick (#1 at one-pocket, according to legends Eddie Taylor and Bill 'Weenie Beenie' Staton)
#12) Raymond Ceulemans (#1 at three-cushion billiards in the modern era, with 24 world championships including 11 in a row)
Ronnie 'the Rocket' O'Sullivan (#1 at snooker; he ran a perfect 147 on 12 different ratified occasions and has 751 century breaks)
#11) Johnny 'The Scorpion' Archer (#1 for making difficult shots look routine; great form; precision pool personified)
#10) Mike 'Captain Hook' Sigel (#1 at safeties; seldom missed a makeable shot, even under intense pressure)
#9) Ronnie 'Fast Eddie' Allen (#1 at power one-pocket, shooting with mop handles and other crazy spots)
#8) Eddie 'The Knoxville Bear' Taylor (#1 at bank, almost as good at one-pocket)
#7) Earl 'The Pearl' Strickland (#1 at run-out nine-ball, a McEnroe-like talent albeit with similar temper tantrums)
#6) Efren 'The Magician' Reyes (#1 at rotation; great kicker; strong at all disciplines including nine-ball, one-pocket, even three-cushion billiards)
#5) Buddy 'The Rifleman' Hall (#1 for long-term spectacular consistency; rarely misses or gets out of line; more consistent than Reyes)
#4) Alfredo de Oro (held world titles in three-cushion billiards and straight pool simultaneously several times)
#3) Ralph 'The Showman' Greenleaf (pool's first charismatic superstar; like Babe Ruth he stirred public interest in his sport with skill and pizzazz)
#2) Luther 'Wimpy' Lassiter (he dominated the legendaryJohnston City pool hustler tournaments despite being in his fifties)
Willie 'Mr. Pocket Billiards' Mosconi (the undisputed king of straight pool when straight pool was king, he routinely ran hundreds of balls)
Willie 'The King' Hoppe (#1 at three-cushion billiards; he won 51 world titles and held the high run for 50 years, set on an unheated table)
James Evans (being black he couldn't play in pro tournaments during the dark days of segregation, but he would challenge the winners, drill them, and still take the prize money!)
Alfred M. Frey dominated the earliest American pocket billiards pro tournaments: fifteen ball, eight ball, 61-pool and continuous pool (the forerunner of straight pool).
#1) Harold 'the Best' Worst (Lassiter and Taylor dodged him, other top pros demanded mortal locks but still 'everybody that played Worst shook')
There are no 'losers' on the list above, just as there are no losers in Cooperstown or Canton. And good cases can be made for any of theseHigh Honorable Mentions: Joe 'The Butcher' Balsis, Jean Balukas, Jack 'Jersey Red' Breit, Melvin 'Strawberry' Brooks, Billy 'Cornbread Red' Burge, 'Machine Gun' Lou Butera, Francisco 'Django' Bustamante, Jimmy 'Boy Wonder' Caras, Irving 'The Deacon' Crane, Arthur 'Babe' Cranfield, Welker Cochran, Kim Davenport, Steve Davis, Allison 'The Duchess of Doom' Fisher, Richie Florence, Stephen Hendry, Mika 'The Ice Man' Immonen, Larry 'Boston Shorty' Johnson, 'Champagne' Ed Kelly, Johnny Layton, Sang Chun Lee, Johnny 'Irish' Lineen, Ray 'Cool Cat' Martin, Mike 'Tennessee Tarzan' Massey, 'Cowboy' Jimmy Moore, James 'Cisero' Murphy, Alex 'The Lion' Pagulayan, Jim 'King James' Rempe, Erwin Rudolph, Jake 'the Prodigy' Schaefer Jr., Frank 'The Inexorable Snail' Taberski, Alfie Taylor, Nick 'Kentucky Colonel' Varner
Ironic trivia question:Was Harold Worst the best pool shark? Some keen observers who saw him play thoughtso, including Ronnie 'Fast Eddie' Allen, Minnesota Fats, 'Champagne' Ed Kelly, Jay Helfert, Freddy 'the Beard' Bentivegna,Bill 'Mr. Three Cushion' Smith, andArtie Bodendorfer. And one might suggest that other greats, such as Luther Lassiter and Eddie Taylor, endorsed Harold Worst as the best by refusing to play him. Thus, the last player on the alphabetical list is certainly not least.
The best pool nickname of all time? Frank 'The Inexorable Snail' Taberski gets my vote. He was also called 'The Sloth.' His hustle was to play so slowly and deliberately that he drove his competitors insane (or at least boiling mad). The first pool tournament shot clock was instituted because of his laggardly antics. He forfeited his world title in 1919 after officials set a one-minute time limit on shots, but he came back to win four more titles in the late 1920s. Despite his slow play (or perhaps because of it), Taberski was ranked number seven in the Billiard Digest list of the fifty greatest players of the century. And if his slow play was a psychological tactic, he might have been the greatest pool hustler of his era, to boot!
Any player on the list above, at his absolute best would be hard for us mortals to beat, so the 'best player' at any time is the one with the most talent, playing his best game, who has the hottest hand. But the very best players were the ones who played at the highest levels the longest. When Louie Roberts and Keith McCready were 'on' they could play with anybody, but they didn't hit their top speed and maintain it as consistently as the higher ranked players. If I had to pick one player to shoot for me with everything on the line, I would pick Buddy Hall for his remarkable consistency and composure. But if I wanted to be entertained, I would choose the charismatic go-for-broke run-out kings: Louie, Earthquake, the Pearl. And if I just wanted to win lots of cash, by hook or by crook, I would bet with Fats.
 
Whoever wrote this (Bill?) knows something about Pool and the top players both past and present. It's hard to find anyone he left out (I could but won't right now. Okay just one - Jack Cooney! ) and his descriptions are pretty accurate. It's a pretty inclusive list of players that I cannot disagree with except to say that some of them were not the greatest money players and others were very good.
 
great list!!

speaking of bite, has anyone besides me let both cliff and tony hold a hun?
 
What a great read!

Ronnie is over 1100 century's now and still going!

I’m pretty lucky to have played a few guys on know a few more and have met most of them.

Great post!
Fatboy 😃
 
I met Old Nat Cuspert in Los Angeles in the late 1970s when he was still one of the best One Pocket players in Los Angeles. Nat said Minnesota Fats was a good hustler and played great for the cash. One of the things Fats use to do when he was losing a One Pocket game was to ask if anyone wanted to bet $20 on the side. Fats had a lot of takers and occasionally he would steal the game and raked in lots of extra cash.

If he lost as he paid winners he would ask, "Same bet?". Certainly this would not work today.
 
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I saw Keith when he was playing his best at the original Hard Times in Costa Mesa. I saw Keith give Fat Tommy the five and the break on a 7 foot Valley bar table for $500. Let me put this into perspective, I would play anyone with the five and the break and Fat Tommy was a much better player than me.

After Tommy lost his friend asked how could you lose that game. Tommy said you do not know what it is like to play Keith, if I didn't make a ball on the break and run out to the five I lost the game.
 
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There was allot of action on the W. Coast, 76-81.
Played Ether in Costa Mesa/Hard Times during that period.
Every city in the La area had pool rooms and lots of gamble.
I used to make around 15K every winter gambling when I was laid off (motorcycle sales) till spring.
Then summer time came worked 6 days a week.
Also, got unemployment for 6 mths during the fall/winter for 5 yrs in a row.
That was during the gas crisis, and motos were flying out the door, sold a ton of Honda 750's.
One day in total, I sold 11 bikes. We also sold Husqvarna's, that's when the 390 came out, and the CBX 1000.
 
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Keith had the best backer ever named Charlie the Ape. Charlie was a decent player and recognized that Keith was good enough to out run the nuts when he was taking the worst of the game.

I didn't see it but Keith gave Little Al the seven and beat him, then gave Al the six and beat him and while Al was thinking about the spot, Al said "I'm not taking the five", and Al unscrewed his cue and left.

The excellent house man named Bill said Keith didn't miss any balls during the sets.
 
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The Billiard Palace in Bellflower in the late 1960's was the best place to play pool in the country.

The game that was almost always going was a ring 6-Ball game called "Payball" being played on a very tight pocketed 5 by 10 foot Snooker table. If the game was being played for $5 - $10, it meant that if you pocketed the balls numbered one thru five you would be paid $5 for each ball and if you pocketed the six ball you would be paid $10.

The bet would vary and while I am sure they played for more the most I saw the game being played for was $100 - $200. While playing for $100 - $200 Cole Dickson was about to break the balls when he stopped and asked, "Make it a $1000 for a break and run out?".

Before Cole asked, if he broke the balls and made a ball on the break and ran out he would have been paid $700, $100 for each ball between the one and five and $200 for the six ball. Everyone agreed if anyone broke, made a ball and ran the table there would be a $300 bonus.

It would be a better story if I could tell you Cole broke and ran out for the $1000 but he didn't make a ball on the break.
 
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I KNOW John Henderson has allot to say about The Pay Ball ACTION.

I'll rattle his cage.

bm
 
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Island Drive said:
I KNOW John Henderson has allot to say about The Pay Ball ACTION.

I'll rattle his cage.

bm
Click to expand...
I had a young family when most of the pay ball on the 5 x 10 was going on in the 60/70’s. I played some in the cheaper games up to $5/10, but could not fade the higher action. I always bet my own and the players were too good and the bet got too high. The 6 x 12 snooker table was another story. No one was barred from the golf or liability snooker game. I did pretty well for years, up to when Hatd Times opened in the late 80’s and we had a spell around 1990 when Morro Paez won a bunch of money playing pai gow and we played for $50 a point for a while. Denny Searcy was the best snooker player ever on that table. The best golf player was Barney from 4th & Main. I was up there high enough to get the $ more often than not in golf or snooker.
 
This is the Eddie Taylor story I heard at Lambert’s in Baton Rouge.

At the pool room that Eddie liked to go to, one of the things the houseman did when he was getting the room ready to open was to set up the cross side bank shot that at the time only Eddie could make and leave a house cue on the table.

Eddie would come in, pick up the house cue, make the bank then get a cup of coffee.
 
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brunswick1901 said:
This is the Eddie Taylor story I heard at Lambert’s in Baton Rouge.

At the pool room that Eddie liked to go to, one of the things the houseman did when he was getting the room ready to open was to set up the cross side bank shot that at the time only Eddie could make and leave a house cue on the table.

Eddie would come in, pick up the house cue, make the bank then get a cup of coffee.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of watching I think Bugs on video banking off of the end rail into the side pocket like he owned the shot! I can bank a ball a little bit but when I watch Eddie or another of the master bankers it reminds me quickly that there is a difference between being able to make a few banks and being a banker!

I was curious where you were talking about as Lamberts in Baton Rouge. He owned the room on Plank Road that became Shoppers Pool Hall when Jessy bought it. Jessy bought the tables and leased the space from Lambert when Lambert opened Greenway. Lambert also owned a restaurant and nightclub down in Sorrento right at the light where Airline and hwy 22 cross. I don't know if he owned more or not. I think he owned that little strip mall that Shoppers was in, the entire building. I also think he owned more than Greenway in that shopping center, maybe the whole shopping center?

Hu
 
I should have said, Lambert's RBD. The R stood for restaurant, the B stool for Billiards and the D was for Daiquiris. It is still called Lambert's RBD but Lambert, one of the nicest guys in the pool room passed away in the late 1990's. It is still located on 2323 N Flannery Road. I was there about 24 or 25 years ago and there was action on almost every table.

Lambert's RBD became famous when Lambert's best friend, Jimmy Flyboy Spears put out the word that he would play anyone as long as the best at least $10,000. Needless to say Lamberts became the best place to play for money in the U.S.A.

I saw Kim Davenport spot Fly 8 to 5 when he broke and 8 to 6 on Fly's break.

They were playing for $155,000.
 
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