I have seen his name mentioned in a few threads and I remember when I was young my grandfather talked of him as a very straight shooting "kid". One of the last times my grandfather went on the road he made a side action score betting on Jimmy. Anyone who has any stories of Jimmy feel free to share.
How good did Jimmy Marino play?
- Thread starter huckster
- Start date
huckster said:
Without getting into all the stories right now, I will tell you Jimmy played REAL REAL GOOD!!! I think he won one of the last Johnson City or Stardust tournaments and was the second "Hippy Jimmy". Jimmy Reid being the first.
And Jimmy was no slouch for the cheese too. He robbed just about everyone he played in the late 60's and early 70's. Probably played about Larry Lisciotti's speed or a hair above. Many, many strong players in that era.
Jimmy Marino, Jimmy Reid, Jim Mataya, Jim Rempe just to name the ones named Jimmy. There was Lisciotti, Cole, Keith, Richie Florence and Ambrose, Billy Johnson (aka Wade Crane), Ed Kelly, Ronnie, Marvin Henderson, Jersey Red, Shorty, Ervolino, Lassiter was still playing good, Cornbread, Greg Stevens in Houston, Bob Osborne, Grady, Danny Jones, Don Watson, Larry Hubbart, a young Mike Sigel, BUDDY! BUDDY!, Hawaiian Brian, Louie, Nickie, Dan Louie, Allen Hopkins, Miz, Ray Martin, NY Blackie, Snooker Sammy, Jack Cooney, Monk, DENNY!!, Harry The Horse, Billy Cardone, Black Rags, Cecil, Youngblood, Bugs, Artie, and George Rood was hiding in Dayton. Don Willis was basically retired already, mostly betting sports.
George could have beaten most of the players who showed up for Joe Burn's tourneys in the 70's, but his dog breeding and showing business was more important to him. This will give you some idea of the number of top players who were plying there trade all over the US in the late 60's and 70's. And I'm probably leaving out fifteen or twenty others. I would guess there were about 200 strong players back then, and if you knew all of them (like I did) you knew who to avoid.
All the above were solid players and hustlers capable of robbing all the local talent. And they often did. If anyone heard about a spot where someone was betting high, pretty soon all these guys would begin showing up, one after the other. After a while the spot dried up, once the hustlers got all the cash. No good player could fade a steady diet of the above players. No matter how good someone was in their local poolroom, the top players would wear him down and finally bust him. It happened many times that I can remember.
Most of the above players played 9-Ball (and One Pocket) as good as the best players today (just ask someone like Buddy or Nick or Allen). And the best of them, like Denny, Buddy, Hubbart, Lassiter, Kelly, Greg Stevens, Richie F., Billy Johnson, Keith and Don Watson may have been a notch above most of the current Americans, playing for the cash. The only 9-Ballers I see playing as good for the money are the filipinos.
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jay helfert said:
As I look at the list, the gambling skills of this group across the board are better honed than the phillipine players of present and making this crew even tougher to beat.
Everyone is beatable and no one knew this better than the Fat Man, this tough group learned their trade from the past generation, and their peers were the toughest of customers.
jay helfert said:
Isn't that the name of the Diamond (pool table) guy? That would be cool...huh-huh-huh.
Black-Balled said:
No, thats Greg Sullivan..........
Most impressed! Glad to find that out for free...Pushout said:
From a post on onepocket.org
At the Le Cue poolroom in Houston, TX, where I spent a little time, Greg Steven's weekly ritual was to play continuously from thursday thru sunday. He would go home to sleep and rest from monday to wednesday. He would usually eat one gigantic meal on thursday and then play straight thru. He did this religiously for a couple of years. He did supplement his diet with speed pills.
footnote: I was in the Le Cue when Greg Stevens ran 10 racks of 9ball on a five by ten table. Greg Sullivan of Diamond tables, he was not.
the Beard
Black-Balled said:
At the Le Cue poolroom in Houston, TX, where I spent a little time, Greg Steven's weekly ritual was to play continuously from thursday thru sunday. He would go home to sleep and rest from monday to wednesday. He would usually eat one gigantic meal on thursday and then play straight thru. He did this religiously for a couple of years. He did supplement his diet with speed pills.
footnote: I was in the Le Cue when Greg Stevens ran 10 racks of 9ball on a five by ten table. Greg Sullivan of Diamond tables, he was not.
the Beard
freddy the beard said:
Ahh hah! The truth! Thanks for clarifying.
Are you going to make snow-angels outside today?
trizzat
Registered
Huckster,huckster said:
Jimmy Marino owns a local pool hall here in Pittsburgh. I've heard the stories of how great he was. Unfortunately he doesn't play much anymore and his skills have faded. Even though he is out of practice and no where near his prime he is still one of the top players in western PA. His pool hall is called South Hills Golden Cue and is located in Bridgeville, PA.
Trizzat
huckster said:
Mexican Ronnie was a top local talent in Southern Calif. In fact, he beat Rodney Morris in about 1984 in the L.A. Open right before Morris won the U.S. Open. I personally staked him against Ronnie Allen and others and he won every time. Coke (Colie) who used to own Big Mama's took him to Marino's place - I think he played in Marina, and Marino gave Ronnie the 7. Marino ran through him and they dropped some big bucks. I asked Ronnie about it later and he just said "geeze, that guy..."
Yeah... that's real good. He was probably playing the speed of today's high level pro's. The top players today are so incredibly good it's hard to equate them, but that would be my guess.
Chris
jay helfert said:
Jay,
I sent you a P.M. about George.
Also, check this out:
http://www.palmercollector.com/RoodPage.html
Black-Balled said:
No, he's Greg Sullivan. Greg Stevens died several years back.
Back in the early 80's, my road partner was from Pittsburg. He was good friends with Jimmy and honed his skills at Jimmy's room. I kept hearing how great Jimmy played which at the time I took with a grain of salt.
I lived in Houston at the time of the Red's 9 ball tournaments, (I believe it was 1983 which was the year before Cesar Morales (Efren Reyes) showed up). Bob, my partner, called Jimmy and asked him to come down which he did.
The night before the tourney started I met Jimmy for the first time. The players were trying to get a $50 10 ball ring game together and it ended up with Kim Davenport, Earl, Diliberto, Flyboy and a couple of others.
Bob and I were sitting on the rail talking to Jimmy when the players came to the table to flip for the order of play. Bob said, "Watch this." Jimmy had already taken his glasses off (he plays without them) and he flipped his coin. He, then, bent over to practically put his nose on the table to see what he flipped. I said, "What ths @#$%? This guy plays pool? How does he see?"
Bob started laughing and told me Jimmy was legally blind without his glasses with like 20/800 vision.
Kim broke first and didn't make anything. Diliberto ran to the four ball and missed. Jimmy was third and left with a six foot 90 degree backward cut on the four which he made and ran the cueball 4 rails to get on the 5. Then, he proceeded to run 7 racks back to back. They jacked the bet to $100 a man after the third rack.
Some drunk was wandering around the rail at the table looking for side bets on the game. Apparently, he had bet against Jimmy and started sharking him while he playing. After the seventh rack, Jimmy unscrewed, said he was done and didn't even break number 8.
I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. To say the least, I became a believer.
Considered for a long time one of the best heads up money players in the world. And a really nice guy to boot.
I lived in Houston at the time of the Red's 9 ball tournaments, (I believe it was 1983 which was the year before Cesar Morales (Efren Reyes) showed up). Bob, my partner, called Jimmy and asked him to come down which he did.
The night before the tourney started I met Jimmy for the first time. The players were trying to get a $50 10 ball ring game together and it ended up with Kim Davenport, Earl, Diliberto, Flyboy and a couple of others.
Bob and I were sitting on the rail talking to Jimmy when the players came to the table to flip for the order of play. Bob said, "Watch this." Jimmy had already taken his glasses off (he plays without them) and he flipped his coin. He, then, bent over to practically put his nose on the table to see what he flipped. I said, "What ths @#$%? This guy plays pool? How does he see?"
Bob started laughing and told me Jimmy was legally blind without his glasses with like 20/800 vision.
Kim broke first and didn't make anything. Diliberto ran to the four ball and missed. Jimmy was third and left with a six foot 90 degree backward cut on the four which he made and ran the cueball 4 rails to get on the 5. Then, he proceeded to run 7 racks back to back. They jacked the bet to $100 a man after the third rack.
Some drunk was wandering around the rail at the table looking for side bets on the game. Apparently, he had bet against Jimmy and started sharking him while he playing. After the seventh rack, Jimmy unscrewed, said he was done and didn't even break number 8.
I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. To say the least, I became a believer.
Considered for a long time one of the best heads up money players in the world. And a really nice guy to boot.
> I only saw him play once,but read a LOT about him in the series of articles that George Fels wrote about the U.S. Open 14.1. It was the 1994 U.S. Open 9-ball at the Holiday Inn,and Jimmy was playing Tony Ellin. Jimmy handled Tony the whole way,using unusual kicking routes to beat Tony's safes,and running out seemingly at will,until it got to 12-10. The rule had just been instated that forfeiting the 9-ball was a 2 game penalty,and Jimmy was running out for the match. He came up a little short on the 9,with a funny angle that gave him the option of cutting it in off the end rail using a bridge,or reaching across the table and shooting it left-handed. He chose the bridge,and I was sitting dead in line with the shot. He had it locked in. He then changed his mind,choosing to shoot it left handed,and one-stroked it and hung the 9,after which he took his cue and batted it all the way off the table. In one shot,he went from 12-10 winner to 13-12 loser,and showed up dead drunk for his next match and lost to David Smith. Tommy D.
I caught this thread just before meeting my league buddies for a nite of play at Jimmy's South Hills Golden Cue. Jimmy showed up later in the night so I asked him the glasses story. He claims he only needed glasses for distance, so the antics mentioned in a previous post were probably just for show. He hasn't shared any road stories yet, but he is proud of the road players who came to his room for weekend shows he used to do years ago. His hall has a nice high ceiling back room with a 9 ft Brunswick, theatre style seating for 100, and an old projection TV screen right over the table. We had rented the room for the nite, and he would stop by periodically to make sure we were having a good time, and tell us stories of spectacular shots done by players like "The Miz" on the very table we were using. If you're ever in the South suburbs of Pittsburgh, stop by and say hello. Website is www.web-friend.com/goldencue. You'll not likely find a hall where they thank you for coming as much as they do here.
Billy Jack
Billy Jack
GREG STEVENS....can someone post a pic?
I played a tall (6'1'' to 6'3") slender (apprx 150 to 170lb) blond/lt brn headed guy at the MULLINS BROS pool hall on MANHEIM RD. just outside of CHICAGO. It was 64 or 65 and we played for 10 or 20 a game. The "mystery man" never missed a ball and I pulled up after 8 or 10 games. The guy left an impression and I've wondered from timr to time who he was.
Pool has changed in the respect that in the "old days" it might take a while to figure who you played. There aren't many mystery's nowadays.
I played a tall (6'1'' to 6'3") slender (apprx 150 to 170lb) blond/lt brn headed guy at the MULLINS BROS pool hall on MANHEIM RD. just outside of CHICAGO. It was 64 or 65 and we played for 10 or 20 a game. The "mystery man" never missed a ball and I pulled up after 8 or 10 games. The guy left an impression and I've wondered from timr to time who he was.
Pool has changed in the respect that in the "old days" it might take a while to figure who you played. There aren't many mystery's nowadays.
Tommy-D said:
I'm flattered, but for the life of me I cannot remember writing anything about Jimmy Marino, at least not in the Digest. I met him once, and saw him hit a few balls one night at Bensinger's in Chicago, but that's about all; never saw him play a serious match.. By reputation, he was the best all-around player in America for a brief period in the early to mid-'70s, and Jay Helfert is certainly right when he points out that this country was rich in playing talent back then. GF