Hubert Daddy Warbucks Cokes

freddy the beard

freddy the beard

Freddy Bentivegna
Silver Member
To me, Hubert Cokes was the toughest man alive for the first 50 years of the 20th Century. Fats said Hubert once bit-ch-slapped Baby-Face Nelson.

Meanwhile, I just downloaded an old article from 1966 about Hubert Daddy Warbucks Cokes. It appeared in the old Bowlers Journal and Billiard Revue (now morphed into the Billiards Digest).
It was written by the great Tom Fox. The man who wrote the wonderful Johnston City stories for Sports Illustrated. I was able to scan the photos ok, but the text wouldnt scan legibly enough so I had to type the whole thing out by hand and then insert it. ( A 3 day project) I got the magazine from Hubert Cokes' son Ellis who lives in Hot Springs, AR. (Thats where Hubert was from originally) Ellis told me a sidebar to the legendary gunfight story about Cokes and the sheriff of Hots Springs ( Cokes shot him dead). He told me the reason for the duel was over a woman -- which I knew -- but that the woman was Ellis's mother -- which I didnt know. Enjoy. www.warstoriesnonebyolivernorth.blogspot.com/

the Beard
 
Wow... I can't thank you enough for that read. I've always wanted to know more about that guy. EXCELLENT!!!!! WOULD READ AGAIN....
 
Great stuff, Freddie

I was friends with Mr. Cokes, too. He was a remarkable man and for a young guy like me, it was a real pleasure to be around him.
 
Grady said:
I was friends with Mr. Cokes, too. He was a remarkable man and for a young guy like me, it was a real pleasure to be around him.
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Grady... C'mon... give us a Warbucks story!!!!!!!
 
freddy the beard said:
To me, Hubert Cokes was the toughest man alive for the first 50 years of the 20th Century. Fats said Hubert once bit-ch-slapped Baby-Face Nelson.

Meanwhile, I just downloaded an old article from 1966 about Hubert Daddy Warbucks Cokes. It appeared in the old Bowlers Journal and Billiard Revue (now morphed into the Billiards Digest).
It was written by the great Tom Fox. The man who wrote the wonderful Johnston City stories for Sports Illustrated. I was able to scan the photos ok, but the text wouldnt scan legibly enough so I had to type the whole thing out by hand and then insert it. ( A 3 day project) I got the magazine from Hubert Cokes' son Ellis who lives in Hot Springs, AR. (Thats where Hubert was from originally) Ellis told me a sidebar to the legendary gunfight story about Cokes and the sheriff of Hots Springs ( Cokes shot him dead). He told me the reason for the duel was over a woman -- which I knew -- but that the woman was Ellis's mother -- which I didnt know. Enjoy. www.warstoriesnonebyolivernorth.blogspot.com/

the Beard
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Mr. Beard,

thanks so much for saving this important part of history, with out you and your work alot of this might just go away like the dinosaurs and it would be a shame to lose it, your work has perserved some very important pieces of american history and I am sincerly grateful for your work.

eric p
 
First time I ever laid eyes on Cokes was in Johnston City in 1965. I walked in the back room and there he was playing "jacked up" One Pocket with Ronnie Allen. I was amazed that this old man (maybe he was 65-70 then) was playing the great young hustler R.A.

I believe they were playing for $200 a game (serious money in the 60's) and Ronnie was giving him a ball (8-7). I watched for a long time and Cokes held his own with Ronnie. I think Ronnie ended up four games ahead after many hours of play.

Cokes was wearing an expensive suit, with his tie removed. He kept his jacket on, probably to hide the "piece" on his shoulder. I could tell that this was a man to be reckoned with. EVERYONE addressed him as Mr. Cokes, and said "Yes sir" and "no sir" to him. The only ones I ever heard call him by his first name (Hubert) were Fats and Puckett.

I only saw him at Johnston City a few times and I was never so bold as to actually talk to him. He was out of my league and I knew it. :smile:
 
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freddy the beard said:
To me, Hubert Cokes was the toughest man alive for the first 50 years of the 20th Century. Fats said Hubert once bit-ch-slapped Baby-Face Nelson.

Meanwhile, I just downloaded an old article from 1966 about Hubert Daddy Warbucks Cokes. It appeared in the old Bowlers Journal and Billiard Revue (now morphed into the Billiards Digest).
It was written by the great Tom Fox. The man who wrote the wonderful Johnston City stories for Sports Illustrated. I was able to scan the photos ok, but the text wouldnt scan legibly enough so I had to type the whole thing out by hand and then insert it. ( A 3 day project) I got the magazine from Hubert Cokes' son Ellis who lives in Hot Springs, AR. (Thats where Hubert was from originally) Ellis told me a sidebar to the legendary gunfight story about Cokes and the sheriff of Hots Springs ( Cokes shot him dead). He told me the reason for the duel was over a woman -- which I knew -- but that the woman was Ellis's mother -- which I didnt know. Enjoy. www.warstoriesnonebyolivernorth.blogspot.com/

the Beard
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Thanks Beard for taking the time to post this and share it with us.
I have photos of my favorite players hanging on the walls in my poolroom, and Cokes, being one of them, is hanging resplendently with the obligatory cigar in his mouth. Nice to read something fresh on him, as I had never seen that article.
Thanks again.
 
freddy the beard said:
To me, Hubert Cokes was the toughest man alive for the first 50 years of the 20th Century. Fats said Hubert once bit-ch-slapped Baby-Face Nelson.

Meanwhile, I just downloaded an old article from 1966 about Hubert Daddy Warbucks Cokes. It appeared in the old Bowlers Journal and Billiard Revue (now morphed into the Billiards Digest).
It was written by the great Tom Fox. The man who wrote the wonderful Johnston City stories for Sports Illustrated. I was able to scan the photos ok, but the text wouldnt scan legibly enough so I had to type the whole thing out by hand and then insert it. ( A 3 day project) I got the magazine from Hubert Cokes' son Ellis who lives in Hot Springs, AR. (Thats where Hubert was from originally) Ellis told me a sidebar to the legendary gunfight story about Cokes and the sheriff of Hots Springs ( Cokes shot him dead). He told me the reason for the duel was over a woman -- which I knew -- but that the woman was Ellis's mother -- which I didnt know. Enjoy. www.warstoriesnonebyolivernorth.blogspot.com/

the Beard
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Is the duel story on your website? The story mentions that as a kid Cokes went on the road to St Louis with his best friend who was the son of the sheriff in Hot Springs. Is that the same sheriff he shot?
 
alstl said:
Is the duel story on your website? The story mentions that as a kid Cokes went on the road to St Louis with his best friend who was the son of the sheriff in Hot Springs. Is that the same sheriff he shot?
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I think he shot the sheriff in Evansville, Indiana. That was where his home was. By the way, he was one of Nick Varner's mentors a long, long time ago. He "cultivated" Nick's game! :D
 
jay helfert said:
I think he shot the sheriff in Evansville, Indiana. That was where his home was. By the way, he was one of Nick Varner's mentors a long, long time ago. He "cultivated" Nick's game! :D
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Yes it was in Evansville where he shot the sheriff.
 
Great stuff. Thanks.

Is there a story about the shooting of the sheriff, how it came about, what happened and how it turned out?
 
Here are some of the newspaper clipping from Mr cokes brush qwith the law it may not have been Evansville where he shot the sheriff I new he killed some one in Evansville. It looks like it may have been a sporting goods store owner.
cokes%20fined.gif


hubert%20manslaughter.gif


hubert%20pool%20players%20cleared.gif
 
different shooting

will8834 said:
Yes it was in Evansville where he shot the sheriff.
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Cokes shot a tush hog in his house in Evansville in the 60s after playing a round of golf, and let the guy bleed to death. The guy had refused to pay Hubert what he owed him from the golf game and was dumb enough to threaten him. Cokes did shoot a law offficer in Hot Springs but he wasnt really a sheriff, he was a police detective. That was probably in the 40s. It was also reliably rumored that either he or Titanic Thompson, his road partner, shot Arnold Rothstein to death in NY after he refused to pay a poker debt. Gene Skinner told me Cokes was playing somebody once and a big tush stuck his nose in the game and Hubert beat him half to death and threw him under the pool table and made him stay there while he went ahead and played his game. He also hung a nosy sweator up on a coat hook in Bensingers and said whoever takes him down takes his place. All that aside, next to Fats he was the easiest man to bite in Johnston City.

the Beard
 
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