How Good Was Minnesota Fats?
- Thread starter Jude Rosenstock
- Start date
Koop said:
Honestly, it was just a question. After seeing all the responses, it really surprises me that it never came up before. It's kind of like, "Hey, anybody have anything to say about that pink elephant standing there?"
one more story
A friend of mine in Vegas many years ago, George Kalman, told me that he and Fats were on the road together back in the late 30's. Back then George's name was "Gypsy George" because he played the violin and owned a Detroit restaurant called the "Gypsy Fiddler". He said he and Fats went to Chicago on a road trip from Detroit and when they arrived at a top chicago hotel they only had $6. At the front door Fats gave the doorman $2, the bellman $2, and when they settled in the room George asked 'What are you doing giving all that money away, we only have $2 left." Fats told him "We'll be OK, we have plenty". When they arrived back in the room after a night of gambling ...they had over $800 !!!!! Not bad for the 30's. I asked "Fatty" one time if he remembered George and he replied "How's the Gyspy doing?"
A friend of mine in Vegas many years ago, George Kalman, told me that he and Fats were on the road together back in the late 30's. Back then George's name was "Gypsy George" because he played the violin and owned a Detroit restaurant called the "Gypsy Fiddler". He said he and Fats went to Chicago on a road trip from Detroit and when they arrived at a top chicago hotel they only had $6. At the front door Fats gave the doorman $2, the bellman $2, and when they settled in the room George asked 'What are you doing giving all that money away, we only have $2 left." Fats told him "We'll be OK, we have plenty". When they arrived back in the room after a night of gambling ...they had over $800 !!!!! Not bad for the 30's. I asked "Fatty" one time if he remembered George and he replied "How's the Gyspy doing?"
Fats book, The Bank Shot and Other Great Robberies was actually written by Tom Fox -- the writer that broke the first Johnston City story in Sports Illustrated back in 1961 or early 62, I can't remember. It is readily available cheap on eBay and other places in more recent paperback editions. The original hard cover is a little more pricey. It is a great read either way!Rick S. said:
RA Dyer's book is Hustler Days features well written bio sketches of Jersey Red (Jack Breit), Fats and Lassiter. Dyer is a big fan of Fox, btw.
Dyer's book is also a great read!
Jude Rosenstock said:
A very good friend of mine, Tudor Nance. Has old the old Johnson city fliers and booklets, every now and then he would bring a few down to the Flamingo for us to look at. They were Black & White and it was funny to see pictures of all the great players when they were so young.
Island Drive said:
Good post. Right on!
cuetechasaurus said:
I played in Mothers several times in the 60's. All the rich Jewish kids (I am one too) hung out in there. Right around the corner from the Billiard Den in Hollywood. Tell him it became a nightclub called Genghis Chan.
cuetechasaurus said:
Fats was NOT a great pool player. He WAS a good player, who knew how to gamble and how to beat his man. What Fats was, was a winning hustler, who liked to rib his opponents and throw them off their game. No one could out talk the fat man. NO ONE!
There was a considerable amount of jealousy around the fact that Fats became rich and famous, when other players (who may have actually played a little better) had trouble just getting by.
1pocket said:
Steve,
Fats beat Eddie Robin at Three Cushion gambling, when Eddie was the hottest young player in the U.S. I saw it and Eddie denies it happened.
Go figure.
Williebetmore said:
You are correct. They parlayed their rivalry into some healthy pay checks.
Rick S. said:
What a great story! That's the Fats I knew. He was real, and there was a basis to most of his stories. They didn't come out of the air. He did travel the world on tramp steamers as a young boy. And he could already play pool, having started at age 4 or 5.
That girl was T-Bell, a local songstress and attractive woman in her 40's. Fats loved her. When we invited Fats to the Bicycle Club for the tournaments in the early 90's, she brought her daughter Charity along. Charity met my partner Robert Turner and they later married, three kids and counting. And she plays poker too. What a girl.
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Island Drive said:
Nice to see Louie L. mentioned hear. A nicer guy I never met. Him and the Gump. For being entetaining, Fats is the five ball over everyone. My next most favorite were Louie Roberts, Keith and then Ronnie. Conrbread and Beenie were classic characters too, as was Puckett.
ajrack said:
Great to see names like George Kalman's here. Still played good 14.1 in the 1970's and 80's. He died about 15 years ago. He created a game show called "Shoot For The Money", and we actually shot a pilot. I may have this tape somewhere.
Fats -- had no equal
To those of you who never had the wonderful pleasure of meeting or seeing Fatty, you really missed out on something special. Everybody knows he was on the Tonight Show with Muhammed Ali and Ali called him the greatest, but few people know that he was previously on a late night talk show, I forgot which, (if anyone remembers I would appreciate the info) in those days the show ran 2 hours. Fats was the first guest, the host was so fascinated by Fats that he shitcanned the rest of his guests and kept Fats on for the whole two hours. I dont remember if it was Johnny Carson or not but Im pretty sure it was on NBC. If anybody has some idea as to how to locate a tape of that show it would really be something. It was probably the first appearance of the Fat man on network TV.
PS I watched him play Ronnie Allen 1pkt in Johnston City. It was the greatest match I ever seen. Ronnie was spotting him 9 to 7 and 330 to 300 on the money. Ronnie ran 9 and out everytime he got a shot and Fats ran seven and out like it was water. The games lasted an average of five minutes. The outcome was predictable, after a couple of hours they were about even and they quit.
the Beard
To those of you who never had the wonderful pleasure of meeting or seeing Fatty, you really missed out on something special. Everybody knows he was on the Tonight Show with Muhammed Ali and Ali called him the greatest, but few people know that he was previously on a late night talk show, I forgot which, (if anyone remembers I would appreciate the info) in those days the show ran 2 hours. Fats was the first guest, the host was so fascinated by Fats that he shitcanned the rest of his guests and kept Fats on for the whole two hours. I dont remember if it was Johnny Carson or not but Im pretty sure it was on NBC. If anybody has some idea as to how to locate a tape of that show it would really be something. It was probably the first appearance of the Fat man on network TV.
PS I watched him play Ronnie Allen 1pkt in Johnston City. It was the greatest match I ever seen. Ronnie was spotting him 9 to 7 and 330 to 300 on the money. Ronnie ran 9 and out everytime he got a shot and Fats ran seven and out like it was water. The games lasted an average of five minutes. The outcome was predictable, after a couple of hours they were about even and they quit.
the Beard
freddy the beard said:
It might have been this one. Scroll down to 24 January 1968.
If you click on his name it will give a list of the other shows he was on which include David Frost and Johnny Carson.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762336/
Al,
St Louis
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