fats was the best wing shooter ive ever seen. he would almost never miss them unless he made a bad throw.
he was an old man when most even saw him in a video. cant judge him from that.
Yeah, I was in awe of how Adam played fast and exotically at the time. My game was a lot like his and I tried to emulate him. He gave me some pointers and I instantly became better. People around here still know who he is 30 years later.I knew Adam Wheeler from his student days...he was a good kid...and could play.
...pretty sure I talked to Mike Peabody around the old Empire State tour.
I can still hear his voice...kindness and enthusiasm.
Keeping in the spirit of this thread, I've met quite a few players that could have been "known" players, but, I'm assuming, they figured being "known" don't pay the bills. To each their own.just thought i would start a new post on something i don't remember seeing here before. tell us about a known player before they became known.
........................mike
Keeping in the spirit of this thread, I've met quite a few players that could have been "known" players, but, I'm assuming, they figured being "known" don't pay the bills. To each their own.
Sadly, for as much as I used to love the game and spent time in the pool hall, I do not know of a known player before they became known.
I was selling Suzuki motorcycles out of a used car dealership on Main St. in Dayton, Ohio in about 1964 or '65. I had dropped out of college and was just starting my climb up the ladder in the pool world. There was a little poolroom a block or so away from where I worked that had a $1-2
9-Ball game going almost every day, a dollar on the five and two dollars on the nine. It was too strong a game for me but I would occasionally go in during my lunch hour to sweat the action. Some of the best players from around Dayton played in that game.
One day I drop in and someone tells me this fat old guy is robbing the game and he's so lucky. Sure enough the first game I watch this guy makes a combo on the five and it respots and he keeps shooting (that's how they played) and he does the same thing on the nine before completing the rack. So he gets paid twice for the five ball and twice for the nine from each of the other players in the game, over $20 total for one game of 9-Ball! I watched this game for over an hour (stayed past my lunch hour) just to see this guy play. He kept making one lucky billiard after another on the money balls and winning multiple payouts game after game. Finally, when everyone had quit except one other guy the game ended. The old guy had won well over $100, a weeks pay back then.
That was the first time I ever saw Don Willis play pool!
First, I note that in 1965, $1 was worth over $8 in 2021 money!I was selling Suzuki motorcycles out of a used car dealership on Main St. in Dayton, Ohio in about 1964 or '65. I had dropped out of college and was just starting my climb up the ladder in the pool world. There was a little poolroom a block or so away from where I worked that had a $1-2
9-Ball game going almost every day, a dollar on the five and two dollars on the nine. It was too strong a game for me but I would occasionally go in during my lunch hour to sweat the action. Some of the best players from around Dayton played in that game.
One day I drop in and someone tells me this fat old guy is robbing the game and he's so lucky. Sure enough the first game I watch this guy makes a combo on the five and it respots and he keeps shooting (that's how they played) and he does the same thing on the nine before completing the rack. So he gets paid twice for the five ball and twice for the nine from each of the other players in the game, over $20 total for one game of 9-Ball! I watched this game for over an hour (stayed past my lunch hour) just to see this guy play. He kept making one lucky billiard after another on the money balls and winning multiple payouts game after game. Finally, when everyone had quit except one other guy the game ended. The old guy had won well over $100, a weeks pay back then.
That was the first time I ever saw Don Willis play pool!
I love running across Dayton and, more specifically, Airway stories on here. I couldn't tell you how many hours I spent there in the late 90's through the early 2000's. I had never really played one hole until then and my first experience with it was having an 88 year old George Rood beat my brains in with countless 8-and-outs. The dude played so smooth and calm... He made the game look so incredibly easy.For some reason Dayton has had champion players for a long time. I played at Airway for a few years before moving back to Houston. Billy Thorpe was about 12 years old. Alex Olinger was not yet nationally known either. Jason Miller was top dog, and George Rood was sweating the tournements there...he was in his 90's at the time. There was about another dozen very very strong players, who are still not very well known outside that part of the country.
Do you know if Willis ever played George Rood?I was selling Suzuki motorcycles out of a used car dealership on Main St. in Dayton, Ohio in about 1964 or '65. I had dropped out of college and was just starting my climb up the ladder in the pool world. There was a little poolroom a block or so away from where I worked that had a $1-2
9-Ball game going almost every day, a dollar on the five and two dollars on the nine. It was too strong a game for me but I would occasionally go in during my lunch hour to sweat the action. Some of the best players from around Dayton played in that game.
One day I drop in and someone tells me this fat old guy is robbing the game and he's so lucky. Sure enough the first game I watch this guy makes a combo on the five and it respots and he keeps shooting (that's how they played) and he does the same thing on the nine before completing the rack. So he gets paid twice for the five ball and twice for the nine from each of the other players in the game, over $20 total for one game of 9-Ball! I watched this game for over an hour (stayed past my lunch hour) just to see this guy play. He kept making one lucky billiard after another on the money balls and winning multiple payouts game after game. Finally, when everyone had quit except one other guy the game ended. The old guy had won well over $100, a weeks pay back then.
That was the first time I ever saw Don Willis play pool!
Do you know if Willis ever played George Rood?I was selling Suzuki motorcycles out of a used car dealership on Main St. in Dayton, Ohio in about 1964 or '65. I had dropped out of college and was just starting my climb up the ladder in the pool world. There was a little poolroom a block or so away from where I worked that had a $1-2
9-Ball game going almost every day, a dollar on the five and two dollars on the nine. It was too strong a game for me but I would occasionally go in during my lunch hour to sweat the action. Some of the best players from around Dayton played in that game.
One day I drop in and someone tells me this fat old guy is robbing the game and he's so lucky. Sure enough the first game I watch this guy makes a combo on the five and it respots and he keeps shooting (that's how they played) and he does the same thing on the nine before completing the rack. So he gets paid twice for the five ball and twice for the nine from each of the other players in the game, over $20 total for one game of 9-Ball! I watched this game for over an hour (stayed past my lunch hour) just to see this guy play. He kept making one lucky billiard after another on the money balls and winning multiple payouts game after game. Finally, when everyone had quit except one other guy the game ended. The old guy had won well over $100, a weeks pay back then.
That was the first time I ever saw Don Willis play pool!
He tells the story himself here :I would have to imagine they did at some time since they were both in that area for a very very long time.
Here's a funny story I heard about George and Fats (Disclaimer: I have no idea if it's true as it wasn't George who told me.) So back in the day George was playing at a room in Springfield, Ohio and Fats comes in and asks if anyone wants to gamble. George agreed but Fats apparently snapped back with the accusation that George didn't have enough money to gamble with him. So, George told him to hold on a couple of minutes. He runs next door and gets a wad of cash from a bookie, comes back, and asks Fats if it's enough. They agree to play 9 ball (no idea of the bet.) George wins the break, makes a ball, starts to run out, and looks over at Fats. Fats is calmly and deliberately pulling his cue out of his case. George runs the rack, breaks again, and starts to run out again. He looks over at Fats to see him screwing his cue together. George runs out again. George breaks and starts yet another runout when, you guessed it, he looks over at Fats. The Fat Man is ever so delicately chalking his tip. George runs out again. Another break and run starts for George who now sees Fats unscrewing his cue and putting it back in its case.
They broke the mold when the made George. I've never known anyone like him and probably never will. The guy was witty and sharp at an age where most people can't remember what happened that morning. Also, it was super common to see he come waltzing in around 11:45 at night after driving himself there. Mind you, he was probably 90 at that time.
Willis, Rood, and Lassiter were friends and considered equals as players.Do you know if Willis ever played George Rood?
Thank you for sharing that!!! It was so good to hear George's voice again!He tells the story himself here :
... from Weenie Beenie's daughter's channel.
ThanksYeah, I was in awe of how Adam played fast and exotically at the time. My game was a lot like his and I tried to emulate him. He gave me some pointers and I instantly became better. People around here still know who he is 30 years later.
Bill in Buffalo
Yup, had two runs over 90 during the straight pool era, both in competition. I almost never tried for a high practice run, and was generally not inclined to continue my run if I had reached the finish line in a match.okay next arm twisting. and after that person posts he gets to arm twist another to post a story. okay
sjm. you are a 50 ball plus runner so you got to have some good ones. get with it.