Has anyone heard of Paul Turner or have any stories of him ?

The King

The King

Here's Jimbo....
Silver Member
A couple of months ago I was at the Hole Thang in Macon with my buddy . They were having there monthly 1000.00 added tournament .. We were warming up on one of the open tables when this older guy walked up to the table beside us and asked a young kid if he could join him in practice ... The guy looked like he had just walked right out of the hospital he was barely moving it seems and I expected him to about fall out ... But when he went to shooting he had one of the smoothest strokes I have ever seen and shot very well... The young kid seemed to know who he was and seemed in awe to be practicing with him. The guy seemed kind of short tempered and did not say much ... He gave off the attitude that he was better then anyone else in the place and while I was impressed with his stroke my first impression was of someone that I would not care to befriend....

As luck would have it though when the tournament started who would I draw as my first match but none other then the Old guy ... To make it worst it was on table 20 which seems to be one of the main bar boxes in the place and there was alot of traffic going through there. We started the match and I jumped out to a 2-0 lead in a race to 7 ... When I missed I thought I shot a good safe but it must not of been that great of a safe as the next time I saw a shot the score was 3-2 in the old mans favor ... The Old man was very complimentary, complimenting me on several of my shots and I was able to pull even at 3-3 but then the old man took over and ran a few more racks when he missed I had no shot at all and the match ended 7-3 the Old man had beat me pretty easy ... I was surprised at the crowd that had grown at the table ... Several complimented me on my shooting and I had no idea why losing 7-3 in nine ball is not my idea of good shooting ....

I later saw him and a few others and Scotty Townsend who was there with his son Michael tossing quarters on one of the tables at the base of one of the end rails ... It was fun to watch and reminded me of something out of the old days when players would gamble on just about anything .... They then quit tossing and went to betting on some pretty odd and tough shots on the pool table ... These shots were something to see and mostly relied on english and how you hit the ball to make it go in ... One I was in awe of was placing the cue ball at the foot rail on the rail at the center diamond ... while placing the O.B. on the other foot rail at the center diamond ... And then cutting it into the left or right side pocket ... The Old Man seemed to do this shot very well... Another was hitting the ball and having it come back to you on the fly and catching it ... There were several shots like this ... I finally had to ask who this older guy was ... And was told his name was Paul Turner and he was refered to as Mr. Barbox .... He was a World Champion Bar Box player ... Now I have read stories of the infinate Scotty Townsend on here and I once asked for Stories of Horace Harper on here and got a few of those ... Now I am asking for people to post up some stories of Paul Turner and who he is and what all he has accomplished .... I actually would not mind hearing stories of Paul Turner , Scotty Townsend or Horace Harper as I see these guys almost on a monthly basis at The Hole Thang and find myself fascinated by them...

Also has any of you ever heard of a player named Jessie Middlebrook he is often there and seems to get the best of Paul and Scotty whenever I have watched them match up....

Thank you ...
 
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Paul was a monster on the bar boxes back in the day. He has as much gamble as anyone also. His health has really gone down of late, mostly self-inflicted over the years. I once staked Paul playing Hennessee in TN getting the 8 on a big table. This was right after Paul had just finished a 14 hour session with Bobby Pickle. He beat Pickle on the bar box and broke even with Henny. Paul is not really known for playing one pocket, but he plays it pretty sporty too.
 
I ran into that Jessie when I lived up there and would go to the monthly tournament at James Parr's place in Albany. He runs out like rainwater! Or at least he did back in 2003. He was always winnig or right there in the cash!

Jeremy
 
paul turner

on southern billiards home page, under(t) player index: it says, paul turner ran out 26 racks of 9 ball playing don ballard.
 
Paul was once a great player. One of the more feared guys in the south on the little track. Like ironman said, his health has been an issue, and he has always gambled a little too much. Every time I've seen him make a little money, he finds a bad game next, and goes broke again. Like most old schoolers, he can be charming at times, but not always the friendliest of people. Regardless, I am glad to hear he is out and about, the last time I saw him(5 or 6 months ago), I thought he would never be healthy enough to go into a pool room again. Funny side note, one night at Starzone in NE Atlanta, I was leaving the poolroom at about 3 am. While walking out, Paul came up and asked for a ride home.He asked where I was going, and I replied Athens, which is about 50-60 miles NE. He replies"Perfect, I am right on your way!". I asked him where exactly, and he replies"Newnan", which for those of you not from the southeast, is roughly 60 miles in the exact OPPOSITE DIRECTION! I liked Paul, but he got no ride:rolleyes: .
 
The best and funniest Paul Turner story I have is one night after a big tournament in Athens the whole bar basically came back to our house for an after party. Shannon Daulton, Stevie Moore, Brian White, and a few other champions were there along with the regular Athens crew. Paul came with his girlfriend.

We were all out on the deck drinking and shooting the shit, and someone comes out with a big bag of weed. Paul's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He had came in 5th or 6th place and for some reason had some money out of his pocket and was counting it.

Upon seeing the highly sought after bag of weed, Paul handed the money to his girlfriend and said, "here baby, hold my roll".

What made this extremely funny apart from the fact that 20 or so people were watching, was that "his roll" consisted of about 3 or 4 twenty dollar bills, lol.

Everybody was laughing except Paul who looked serious as hell the entire time as he strode toward the marijauna goodness.
 
Pretty sure I played him in Atlanta after tangling with Jeff Hooks at Club Anytime. 93? Damn, I'm old.
 
crawfish said:
Pretty sure I played him in Atlanta after tangling with Jeff Hooks at Club Anytime. 93? Damn, I'm old.
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lol, Club Anytime. I went there with a couple of strippers we picked up one time and ran into Horace Godwin (Groundhog) looking to hustle all the patrons their.
 
corvette1340 said:
The best and funniest Paul Turner story I have is one night after a big tournament in Athens the whole bar basically came back to our house for an after party. Shannon Daulton, Stevie Moore, Brian White, and a few other champions were there along with the regular Athens crew. Paul came with his girlfriend.

We were all out on the deck drinking and shooting the shit, and someone comes out with a big bag of weed. Paul's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He had came in 5th or 6th place and for some reason had some money out of his pocket and was counting it.

Upon seeing the highly sought after bag of weed, Paul handed the money to his girlfriend and said, "here baby, hold my roll".

What made this extremely funny apart from the fact that 20 or so people were watching, was that "his roll" consisted of about 3 or 4 twenty dollar bills, lol.

Everybody was laughing except Paul who looked serious as hell the entire time as he strode toward the marijauna goodness.
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Hey Vette, you failed to mention that he was happily drinking beer that was over a year old, and at one point, had a beer in one hand, a joint in the other, and talked about how happy he was to be sober:eek: . That was a funny freaking night..........
 
muttley76 said:
Hey Vette, you failed to mention that he was happily drinking beer that was over a year old, and at one point, had a beer in one hand, a joint in the other, and talked about how happy he was to be sober:eek: . That was a funny freaking night..........
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lol, I forgot about that beer that we had from tailgating the previous year. We marked them with x's and signatures so we wouldn't accidentally drink them. They always made good refreshments for people that came over though, lol.
 
corvette1340 said:
lol, Club Anytime. I went there with a couple of strippers we picked up one time and ran into Horace Godwin (Groundhog) looking to hustle all the patrons their.
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'Ol Club Anytime. You could get anything you wanted in there, including stabbed or shot.

I went there about 95 or 96 and there was some good action in that place. We watched 2 guys playing barbox 6 ball for 500 a game. The two "entrepreneurs" that were backing the game were dressed to the pimp 9's and holding wads that looked like lettuce heads. They both had a posse about 5 deep just standing around sweatin the game.

There were 4 or 5 strong players in the place but it was like watching vultures circle everywhere except the 6 ball game.
 
Club Anytime and the Chicken Shack. When you walk in either, they ask if you have a gun. If you tell them no, they offer you one! I heard the CS isn't as bad anymore, but in 96 or so, that place was ROUGH. Anytime has always been rough, as far as I know.........
 
I actually do have some stories about Paul, but most of them aren't all that flattering, so I don't really want to post them. The guy has(and continues to, as far as I know) made some mistakes, but I don't want to seem like I am out to get him. I've already posted a couple of semi-negative posts, and that may have been too much:embarrassed2:
 
i watched pual beat johnny archer 2 sets on a barbox in the 1990's to win the tournament at tight pockets in hapeville ga. pual also ran over dave matlock for the cash back then.
 
My son grew up watching Paul when he was a world beater. A year or so ago he beat Paul out of one dollar and made Paul sign the dollar and he framed it. He was there when Paul beat Archer at Tight Pockets and did the little twirl around afterwards. I never saw Paul beat Matlock, but he has beat Keith, Johnny, Parica and a most others that came through Atlanta in the 80's. He got beat some also, but most steered clear of him on a long match bar table game. He ran something like 10 racks of ten ball on a bar box in a ring game once. He knew how to match up. But for years Paul was considered the best player in Georgia. Johnny Archer relieved him of that title around 89 or 90.
 
Paul turner is one tough game.I have seen him play around three times and everytime is in the finals in the tournys.I seen him beat a friend that is super strong player in a race to 7,turner won 7-3.Looking at the man makes you want to ask him if he is ok and does he need you to call an ambulance to come get him,but never count him out,good health,bad health, no matter,.if he is breathing he is whipping someone at pool.
 
I always enjoy seeing Jesse at a tournament. Jesse likes to gamble on just about anthing, it made my day last time I saw him. I couldn't get him in any kind of game. I then said let's just flip a coin and Jesse told me no "I can't beat you at that, you made me a believer last time".

I bought Jesse in the calcutta and he told me he wasn't going to take half until he saw I had bought him. He said if I liked the odds he had to too. He ended up being the best return on investment in the calcutta.
 
I've played him before on one of the big tables at The Hole Thang in Macon,GA. After one of the monthly tournaments there,I was shooting on the Diamond and I noticed he was "scouting" me. We started playing for $2 or $3 a game and I won about $10 or so. Then we agreed on a race to 7,2 ahead,for $20. He won 2 sets but it was definitely a new experience playing him. He was barely coherent in his speech but boy could he shoot. Everyone around thought I was crazy to play him but it was just $40,fairly cheap game in my book.
 
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