marlinhunter
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I was wondering if anyone remembers the old pool hall in Minneapolis called Gentlemen Jims on Lake Street. It has been closed for a long time. I used to play there alot in the late 70's. I really miss that place.
gentlemen jims in minneapolis mn
- Thread starter marlinhunter
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Do you happen to recall a black player from there who went by the name Slick? He was supposedly the hottest money player in the Twin Cities back then.
marlinhunter
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yeah I remember that guy mean Gene. I think the black guy we called JW. He always was there, not many played him. We used to go from Gentlemen Jims and the side pocket down the road from there.
Wow thats a pool hall name I haven't heard in a while. I'm too young to have ever gone there but I have heard stories about the place. I play at Jimmy's Pro Billiards just north of Minneapolis and times are hard but every once in a while we get some good money games in there. Just yesterday Shane Von Boeing was playing a friend of mine. What ever happened to all the real gamblers?
marlinhunter
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yeah I think I remember Gibson also. He had kind of a side wristed stroke. Cocked his wrist up and to the side when he shot. I tried to imitate it a few times but never really worked for me. He used to come in there with a quick silver messenger shirt on all the time. I think he worked as a driver around there but stopped in to play pool all the time. The black guy they called JW was short for John Williams. I remember that guy had such a great power stroke. Sometimes it seemed like he had his hands on the balls when he played his shape was so good. I remember the first time I came in that pool hall in the late 70's. I thought I was really a great player. I played at the university pool hall in Eau Claire all the time and not many could play me in straight pool. The first time I walked into Gentlemen Jim's I played JW a game of straight pool for a dollar a ball up to 100 because I didnt think anyone could beat me. I think he beat me 100 to 12. I lost 88 dollars which was alot of money back then. Needless to say I learned a quick lesson that these guys weren't the same calibar as to what I was used to playing. lol
Jim's had the State 8 ball 5 man team event. I was part of the Faribault Team that won it 4 years in a row undefeated. Top 4 guys were the core team. Tony Garza Bob's brother played with us a couple of years. Lee would have been on the team but came down with cancer and died a couple of weeks after the first year we won this trophy.. I still remember the day well that Larry and I brought the trophy over to him and shared the joy. "We got it Lee" The trophy is actually silver and had a bottle of champagne in it. John Schultz made a ton of money betting on our team. I also remember the crowd (Don Gibson comment) wondering who the hell this Bill Ellis was. Bill was asked by Brunswick years early to demonstrate when they installed new tables. We were all raised on snooker and we thought the pockets were oh so big on those tables.. Bill told me once he could pretty much run a full rack of reds at will in his day. Being right handed he could masse a cue ball better one handed left handed then most could with both hands. The tournament was canceled after only 3 or 4 teams signed up for it.
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