Great Pool Stories about Don Willis.

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vintagecollectibles831

Active member
I just found this youtube video, with this really interesting character / cue maker / cue repair person, talking about Don Willis.


In the video he speaks of a time when Don Willing broke and ran 45 racks of 9 ball, for a $1,000 a game, without missing.

Later on in the story, he speaks of a story when Don Willis was playing a game of 9 ball, where if the 9 gets made out of turn, like in a Combo shot for example, it gets spotted up, and the game continues. Lol, he said that Don Willing made the 9 ball like 26 times, out of turn, before he finally had no other choice but to run out, so his opponent owed him 26 or 27 times the amount of $20, lol.

He also talked about how Don Willing could do things like bank / combo the 9 ball. Like, bank a ball into the 9 ball, to cut it in the corner, lol. Just unbelievable type of craziness, that I personally find unbelievable.

The guy also said that Don Willis could hit a a difficult shot at break speed, and make it, lol.

Was Don Willis really that freaking good?

These stories were so cool.

How amazing would it have been to have been there to see it for yourself?

A lot of these Pool stories are just incredibly unbelievable.

Sorry, I imagine this topic has probably already been discussed many times in the past, on the topic of who the greatest pool player who ever lived was, with some Legendary players, in their own right, saying that it was Don Willis.

I just find this stuff so interesting.

I wish there were video of some of these Legendary Hustlers, many of whom never entered a pool tournament in their lives.
 
Unless it was on a barbox, the idea of a 45-pack is almost inconceivable.

Lassiter was the greatest 9ball player of that era, playing a little above Willis. Lassiter had what I recall as a 21-pack on a 9-footer (Jay Helfert has posted that he believed it to be a 19-pack, but we both knew of it), but it's hard to believe that Willis could have run more than twice as many racks in succession as Lassiter.

It is certainly possible that Willis did this, but I would equate a 45-pack in difficulty with a 2,000 ball run in straight pool and in this era, I think we'll see a 2,000 ball run before we see a 45-pack at 9ball.

To be honest, even if Willis ran a 45-pack on a barbox, it is an incredible accomplishment.
 
sjm said:
Unless it was on a barbox, the idea of a 45-pack is almost inconceivable.

Lassiter was the greatest 9ball player of that era, playing a little above Willis. Lassiter had what I recall as a 21-pack on a 9-footer (Jay Helfert has posted that he believed it to be a 19-pack, but we both knew of it), but it's hard to believe that Willis could have run more than twice as many racks in succession as Lassiter.

It is certainly possible that Willis did this, but I would equate a 45-pack in difficulty with a 2,000 ball run in straight pool and in this era, I think we'll see a 2,000 ball run before we see a 45-pack at 9ball.

To be honest, even if Willis ran a 45-pack on a barbox, it is an incredible accomplishment.
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In the Grisham book, whoever was relaying the story said it wasn't a string. He "just" ran - maybe runned, out 45 times in that particular session.
 
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sjm said:
Unless it was on a barbox, the idea of a 45-pack is almost inconceivable.

Lassiter was the greatest 9ball player of that era, playing a little above Willis. Lassiter had what I recall as a 21-pack on a 9-footer (Jay Helfert has posted that he believed it to be a 19-pack, but we both knew of it), but it's hard to believe that Willis could have run more than twice as many racks in succession as Lassiter.

It is certainly possible that Willis did this, but I would equate a 45-pack in difficulty with a 2,000 ball run in straight pool and in this era, I think we'll see a 2,000 ball run before we see a 45-pack at 9ball.

To be honest, even if Willis ran a 45-pack on a barbox, it is an incredible accomplishment.
Click to expand...

Thanks for chiming in. That is really interesting about Lassiter. I wonder what years he was in his prime.

What do you think about the story of Don Willis making 26 9 balls, with spot ups each time, in the same rack? I thought that was a really cool part of the story. Again, I would have to have been there to believe it, lol.
 
vintagecollectibles831 said:
I just found this youtube video, with this really interesting character / cue maker / cue repair person, talking about Don Willis.


In the video he speaks of a time when Don Willing broke and ran 45 racks of 9 ball, for a $1,000 a game, without missing.

Later on in the story, he speaks of a story when Don Willis was playing a game of 9 ball, where if the 9 gets made out of turn, like in a Combo shot for example, it gets spotted up, and the game continues. Lol, he said that Don Willing made the 9 ball like 26 times, out of turn, before he finally had no other choice but to run out, so his opponent owed him 26 or 27 times the amount of $20, lol.

He also talked about how Don Willing could do things like bank / combo the 9 ball. Like, bank a ball into the 9 ball, to cut it in the corner, lol. Just unbelievable type of craziness, that I personally find unbelievable.

The guy also said that Don Willis could hit a a difficult shot at break speed, and make it, lol.

Was Don Willis really that freaking good?

These stories were so cool.

How amazing would it have been to have been there to see it for yourself?

A lot of these Pool stories are just incredibly unbelievable.

Sorry, I imagine this topic has probably already been discussed many times in the past, on the topic of who the greatest pool player who ever lived was, with some Legendary players, in their own right, saying that it was Don Willis.

I just find this stuff so interesting.

I wish there were video of some of these Legendary Hustlers, many of whom never entered a pool tournament in their lives.
Click to expand...
Never. Not a one.
 
sjm said:
Unless it was on a barbox, the idea of a 45-pack is almost inconceivable.

Lassiter was the greatest 9ball player of that era, playing a little above Willis. Lassiter had what I recall as a 21-pack on a 9-footer (Jay Helfert has posted that he believed it to be a 19-pack, but we both knew of it), but it's hard to believe that Willis could have run more than twice as many racks in succession as Lassiter.

It is certainly possible that Willis did this, but I would equate a 45-pack in difficulty with a 2,000 ball run in straight pool and in this era, I think we'll see a 2,000 ball run before we see a 45-pack at 9ball.

To be honest, even if Willis ran a 45-pack on a barbox, it is an incredible accomplishment.
Click to expand...
Whatever the details, Willis was a monster player with legendary skills. I've heard it from a few who played against him.
 
straightline said:
Read the Grisham book. 45 racks per the one set.
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I just went back and read that Grissim book for the first time in about 45 years. Great read. Willis wasn't exactly modest. Claimed he was also the best table tennis player in the world, etc.

On page 108, Fred Whalen said "I've seen Don run over 40 racks in nine ball. I don't mean pocketing something on the break every time but if the other fellow missed a shot, he'd run out every time. Now Don played for the cash and nobody ever beat him. He's one of the great, great players of all time."

P. S. Grissim's book is pricey on abebooks, but there's one copy on ebay for $24.99. I've got about 40 or 50 pool books, and this one's probably in the top 5 for entertainment value.
 
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there is no doubt he was great at all hand and eye coordination things he did. he was a legend for that.
and as we all know legends grow with time. and that is fine with me as its fun.
lassiter was his friend and said he played like him. so he was as good as anyone in the world but not significantly better..
 
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