Has anyone ever heard of Keith McCready?

Black-Balled

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Found this nugg:
http://www.sportscomet.com/Snooker-Pool/205417.htm
How good is He ? Is He still playing pool?


Nothing but bad i dont know about bar boxes i saw him come up over 30k in 2 hours in houston at bogies .Playing 9 ball on 9ft table if he is the guy from color of money i thought his name was Eric? oh well old memory Source(s): Hey doing it ,Ever hear of Indian John or Little Johnny?
L. Johnny would have been 30 years ago

Ill be in vegas in 2-3 weeks might shoot a couple of racks

He ain't as good as he once was, but he's as good once, as he ever was. LOL

All kidding aside, he used to be one of the most respected money game players, especially on a barbox with the big cue ball.

Rumor has it that he has been playing more poker than pool lately. He still hangs with the pros whenever he plays in big tournaments, but he generally doesn't dominate like he did years ago.

BTW his nickname is the Earthquake, and if you've ever seen Color of Money with Tom Cruise and Paul Newman, Keith plays the part of Grady Seasons.
yep big pool player, great nine ball player, money player in general, there were a handful of them I remember hearing about them all the time while i was playing, McCready, Davenport, Siegel, Reyes, Archer, then others whose names arent so recognizible...I was told to stay clear of Swannie (who ran a room in El Cajon) in San Diego when I went down there ( he had just taken off a 25 k tourney ...Resorts in Jersey...25 was a lot to win in a tourney in 84) there is like always someone hitting it so good...even those guys without 'names'...Johnny, those names sound familiar pard, do you remember a player that went by 'the plumber' or 'little buddy' arvalos ,mexican teenager from san jose who did his tour at 16 (maybe in the late 70s)... (a guy named Jack Leavitt from the bay area used to steer my game years ago...not a big name but was quoted in a book on how to play the game and knew a few name players)...just spent 4 days in Vegas feeding crap tables and playing golf , have a good time and have some good luck there bro...
The thing that sticks out in my mind most about Keith McCready is his unorthodox sidearm stroke. It reminds me a little of the great carom player Willie Hoppe's stroke. M.D.-BCA Instructor/Referee.
Was in a tournament with McCready at The Break in Cahokia Illinois about 12 years ago. At that time he was hitting them pretty good. In one 100-dollar per man - winner take all lead-up tournament Keith drew Mountain Man in a small race to 5. Keith won the toss, Mountain Man racked, and McCready broke and ran out the set. Mountain Man sat there not getting to the table once except to rack.
He was Grady Seasons in the movie Color of Money. Did a pretty good job in that bar scene playing the jerk.
 
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He posts here once in a while.
Member JAM (Keith's sweetie, and AZ's, too) posts a lot - just celebrated 20,000 posts. Good folk.
Keith is well known, and revered, here...
 
The most flamboyant player ever to play the game,the most liked,the most wanted pool player to come back by all players and all fans!COME ON KEITH LACE EM UP JUST ONE MORE TIME!I KNOW IT HAS TO BE BURNING IN YOUR STOMACH TO JUST LET GO AND SAY F IT HERE IAM,IAM STILL A POOL PLAYER!when u do come back KEITH it will be the biggest thing that ever happen in pool for a very long time,you are loved by all pool players and all fans,i would bet on that~!
 
Real nice to go on the internet and out the guy, knocking his action - whoever this Keith McCready fellow is. :D
 
tigerseye said:
Oh yea...know him real well..he dodged me for years...he asked me if I wanted to race to 7 for a thousand, so I said, il race you to a thousand for 7? Haven't seen him since...lol
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I am pretty sure you scared him. Prob not much frightening to him in the pool romm than a race to a thousand for 7.:grin:
 
I have this picture of Kieth, Thats him on the right;)
 

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I met keith when he was still in california. He seemed to have this sincere sense of wanting to help those with the thirst to learn. What I remember most was the way he carried himself as he was explaining a few things at the table. He gave off the sense that he is truly a good person.

That's how it is. Throughout my life, I've run into many talented people. There is just something special about them that captivates you and never lets go.
 
Keith Mccready Information

Keith McCready (born April 9, 1957) is an American professional pool player, nicknamed Earthquake.[1][2][3][4]

At one time considered among the top players in America,[5] McCready has been a traveling tournament competitor and notorious hustler since the 1970s. From 2003 to 2006, McCready was a contributing writer to InsidePOOL Magazine[6] and remains a pro competition contender,[7] known for comedically interacting with the audience. He also had a supporting role as the boorish hustler Grady Seasons in the 1986 film The Color of Money.

An energetic and aggressive player, he has a distinctive side-arm stroke and, despite his unusual form, is well known for strong shot-making offense skills, often executing extremely difficult shots that most other players would not attempt.




Contents
•1 Early days
•2 Professional career
•3 Filmography
•4 References


Early days

McCready was born in Elmhurst, Illinois. He realized he had billiards talent at the age of nine, after his father introduced him to bumper pool, and he soon began hustling his two older brothers out of their allowance money. He initially had to stand on a box to reach the height of the table, and developed his unusual stroke while still a boy.

He was reportedly habituated to gambling by his divorced father when, during custodial visits, Keith and his brothers would each be given US$20 and required to play various games with him, "usually until he had won his money back."[8][9]

According to McCready, as a student in Trident Middle School in Anaheim, California, he asked his gym teacher to hold his money for him while he attended the first-period class. An established gambler at a young age, McCready had won a large amount gambling the night before at the horse racetrack. He was afraid to leave the money at home, for fear that his two older brothers would help themselves to it, and he did not want to leave it in his school locker for the same reason. When the instructor saw that it was the sum of $14,000 in gambling winnings, McCready was suspended from school, "for having too much money". Danny Diliberto was living in Bellflower, California, during this time. He learned about the incident when he asked why young McCready was hanging in the pool room instead of attending school.[10][11] The school officials contacted the California Department of Social Services to investigate his home environment, which had deteriorated after the death of his mother. His father had developed problems with alcoholism. Placed in foster care, Keith was removed from his family home and made a ward of the State. The owner of his neighborhood pool room, Bob's Billiards, liked McCready and successfully petitioned to adopt him, providing him a permanent home until he reached legal age.
Keith McCready first place and Allen Hopkins second place at Joss Northeast Nine-Ball Tour tournament in 2004 [12]
While growing up in Bellflower, he acquired a proficiency in many pool games from legendary players such as Ronnie Allen, Richie Florence, Allen Hopkins, Jimmy Reid, Buddy Hall, Irving Crane, Larry Lisciotti, Jimmy Mataya, Luther Lassiter, Billy Incardona, Joe Balsis, Danny DiLiberto, Larry "Boston Shorty" Johnson, Lou Butera and "Champagne Eddie" Kelly.

McCready as a young boy was inspired by the grandiose spirit of Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone Jr., when he made an unexpected visit to his neighborhood pool room. Upon departure, Minnesota Fats, sharply dressed in a three-piece suit, flashed a large wad of cash and said to the patrons, "Boys, the only difference between me and everybody else is that everybody else drives around in a Volkswagen, and Minnesota Fats drives around in a Duesenberg." A decade later, after several tournament wins in California, McCready traveled to St. Louis to compete in a pool tournament, and Minnesota Fats was in attendance. When he recognized McCready as the young up-and-coming player from California, he began to woof at him, and the two of them put on a show and entertained a packed house of onlookers.[13]

McCready acquired the nickname "Keither with the Ether" as a teenager, but was considered an old-school player who was fast and very accurate at the table. "Nobody beat Keith...He was a terrific young player...the most perfect pool you ever saw," says Grady Mathews, "one of those pool phenoms that comes along every now and then."[14]

Professional career
Banner at The Golden Cue in Albany, New York, Joss Northeast Nine-Ball Tour, April 2006 [15]
In an era in American pool when gambling was a norm, "hustling...was a way of life."[16] When McCready was in his prime and on top of his game, he spent the better part of the 1970s and 1980s traveling throughout the United States as a tournament competitor and hustler. Sometimes the tournament venues would be a gathering place for pool hustlers, and the main action would take place outside of the tournament. With his raconteur style, McCready eventually became a road player, attracting large crowds to his designated table when his appearance was known.

When McCready was 21 and embarked on competing in professional pocket billiards in his homestate of California, he made an impression when, coming from behind, he ran nine straight racks of nine-ball in the finals, defeating Larry Hubbart, 11-6, to win the Sacramento Open Nine-ball Tournament.[17]

On St. Patrick's Day in 1984, McCready won the Clyde Childress Memorial Nine-ball Tournament at The Maverick Club in Richmond, Kentucky, which had a star-studded field consisting of pool phenoms "Earl the Pearl" Strickland, Buddy Hall, Ronnie Allen, Allen Hopkins, St. Louis Louie Roberts, and Terry Bell. Handing "Earl the Pearl" an 11-to-2 thrashing earlier in the double-elimination pool tournament, McCready faced him in the finals. Strickland had been a dominating force on the American pool tournament trail, and racing to 11 games for the win, the score became tied, 9-9. McCready triumphed, running out the next two games to claim the victory.[18]

McCready scored his first professional win, in October 1985, undefeated at the then-annual B.C. Open in Binghamton, New York, pocketing $25,000, which was considered a large purse for a pool tournament at that date. The venue featured capacity audiences each day. "A worthy champion and a colorful, exciting player, he deserved to win," writes pool veteran Grady Mathews.[19]

Pool players go through definite streaks, according to Bruce Venzke of The National Billiard News, the oldest existing pool, billiard, and snooker publication in America: "Who can forget the one for Keith McCready."[20] When the lines on the 1983 Lake Tahoe Classic were made on which players were the "Tahoe Favorites," McCready was described as "Mr. Cool, the Ultimate Nine-ball Player."[21]

At the 5th Sands Regent Open nine-ball tournament in Reno, Nevada, June 3–7, 1987, won by Earl Strickland, McCready was documented in the "Notable Matches" category by Accu-Stats because of his "brilliant and entertaining" performance, defeating Paul Brienza and Mike Sigel in the event.[22]
McCready entertaining a crowd while engaged in games of stake at Super Billiards Expo at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 2004
In September 2003, the final match, Filipino Francisco Bustamante versus American Keith McCready, drew the largest crowd yet of the Falcon Cue Tour in Sterling, Virginia, where over 100 fans witnessed McCready defeat the Filipino pool champion, 9-7.[23]

In April 2005, he took a Joss Northeast Nine-ball Tour event at the Golden Cue in Albany, New York, winning the final match of the double-elimination format event against Canadian pool player Danny Hewitt. The first set was completely one-sided with Hewitt cruising to a 9-3 win over McCready. The second set was a complete turnaround for McCready as he took an early 7-4 lead and help off a late charge from Hewitt to win the match 9-7.[24][25]
Virginia State Nine-Ball Championship Tournament Promoter Josh Dickerson and 2005 Virginia State Nine-Ball Championship winner Keith McCready
While records dating back to McCready’s prime as a tournament player are scarce, according to Pool & Billiards magazine, dated December 1998, he was ranked 10th on the men's professional pool tour. Keith won about a half-dozen pro events, mostly in the 1980s. However, it is was his high-stakes gambling that earned him the lion’s share of his reputation as one of the most feared nine-ball players. With his charisma and gift of gab, he has been heralded as "pool’s ultimate entertainer"[26] McCready plays for the crowd and believes that when there is audience involvement, it creates a better atmosphere.[27]

Danny Diliberto (now an Accu-Stats Video Productions commentator) has stated: "I like Keith McCready, he's entertaining all the time; he's colorful to watch, because he's going to shoot at a white flag. He doesn't play the score; he could be winning 7 to 1 and he's still going to shoot at a crazy shot that he could lose with. But he's a colorful person, so I like doing commentary on him."[28]

MCready resides on the East Coast and continues to compete professionally as well as putting on exhibitions for charity events.[29] McCready holds the 2005 Virginia State Nine-Ball Championship title, which was held in Richmond.
 
Arnold who????
Now..who has heard of tucson ricky? Now we'll see who knows pool hustlers...lol....ehh black-balled!!
 
LAMas said:
Keith Mccready Information


MCready resides on the East Coast and continues to compete professionally as well as putting on exhibitions for charity events.[29] McCready holds the 2005 Virginia State Nine-Ball Championship title, which was held in Richmond.
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This should be re-written....Sadly, it appears that Keith has retired from pool!!
 
Keith, Keith who??? I first ran into Keith in the mid '70s upstairs at the Palace in Bellflower, CA. He was a character then and it only got better. Even at the age of 13 or 14 you would be wise to stear clear of him. He was already getting to be a force to be reckoned with.

Gerry S.
 
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