Is Nick Varner playing these days?

D

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It sure would be nice to see him take on Tony or someone

I assume he could get weight,how old is he now?
 
Nick used to be a great player. Still plays good.

He is no match for top competition these days though.

I watched him play a local 200 a set in Clarksville a few years ago.

Pretty sure Nick lost. Also didn't play top level.

Just IMO
 
When I was in Lafayette, IN many years ago, I made a point of going to the Purdue student union to play on the same tables where he honed his skills before his national collegiate straight pool championship victory.
 
Years ago, I got Landon Shuffet to come to Paducah and gamble with Buddy Hall, who as most everyone knows, was considered the best 9 ball player in his era.

Apparently father time catches everyone, and Landon beat Buddy pretty soundly. I think after one set, Buddy wanted no more of it and quit.

Happens to all I am afraid.

Ken
 
It's such a shame ESPN or some other company won't put together something like the Legend of Pocket Billiards series they produced about 30 years ago.

I would love to see a weekend of play with people like Ray Martin, Dallas West, Sigel, Varner, Hall, Balukas, Rempe, McCready and other past great players.
 
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DynoDan...Unless you graduated college in the 70's, those tables at Purdue were not the same tables that were there when Nick went to school there. They changed the gameroom dramatically, and took out all the tables. Some newer tables were put back in a different area of the union years later. I did an exhibition at Purdue 20 years ago, and the tables were definitely not the best.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

DynoDan said:
When I was in Lafayette, IN many years ago, I made a point of going to the Purdue student union to play on the same tables where he honed his skills before his national collegiate straight pool championship victory.
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I talked to Nick for over an hour at a pool room near the Super Billiards Expo this year. Always a great guy. We mainly talked about pool and the youth of today and how different (not for the better) that it all is now-a-days. I believe his days of playing are mostly over now. He did say he has a pool and billiards supply type business that still does pretty well for him. I am guessing a lot of that is due to all of the contacts he has made over the years. It was fun talking with him and always a pleasure to see him.

Kevin
 
He visits our big local tourney and plays challange matches.Shoots strong and seems like a super nice guy.
 
While I would not be surprised to learn nick would whup most of us hacks, I would also be very surprised to find he currently plays 70% of his peak speed.

Not sure why dean keeps trying to call him back to the mound.
 
i would love to see nick match up and play tony cohan
or anyone else if they had any money for a big challenge match
 
There was a video of him playing Landon at his university student union a couple of years ago at a challenge/exhibition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKm1Y1XxEmQ ...Nick appeared to have a pretty significant tremor in his stroke and Landon handled him pretty easily. Nick was my favorite player from that era, I always thought he had one of the most technical approaches to the game, and you could easily see what he was going to do--right before he did it flawlessly. Brilliant tactician in rotation games.
 
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Considering the number of cigarettes he's smoked in his life (I'm sure than numbers in the millions) it's a miracle that he's still alive, able to breathe and hasn't died of cancer yet. Him making it to 70 puts him in the league with Keith Richards.
 
dnschmidt said:
Considering the number of cigarettes he's smoked in his life (I'm sure than numbers in the millions) it's a miracle that he's still alive, able to breathe and hasn't died of cancer yet. Him making it to 70 puts him in the league with Keith Richards.
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Most smokers don't get cancer. If you are diagnosed with cancer today, you will most likely survive it. So...not a miracle.

.
 
dnschmidt said:
Considering the number of cigarettes he's smoked in his life (I'm sure than numbers in the millions) it's a miracle that he's still alive, able to breathe and hasn't died of cancer yet. Him making it to 70 puts him in the league with Keith Richards.
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Just FYI, if a 70 year old man started smoking cigarettes the day he was born, he'd need to smoke like 40 per day to hit one million. Millions?
 
ok, ok, emphysema, then....:)

Just FYI, if a 70 year old man started smoking cigarettes the day he was born, he'd need to smoke like 40 per day to hit one million. Millions?
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Were you around in the 60/s/70's? I (regret that i) knew many people who smoked more than 3 packs/day. They were a lot cheaper then. hardly anything per stick when bought by the multiple carton. Many in that era had started when there were testimonial ads "more Doctors smoke brand x," etc. My wife (Otherwise smart executive) smoked 3-1/2 packs/day most days when i met her and finally got her to quit after we went out for a few years. The guy i knew who got me to make tools and parts for the pool tables he built probably smoked 3-5 packs of Luckies most days.

Back on subject: In the made for TV "Ronnie O'Sullivans American Hussle"; 2017 there is a set with Nick Varner. (don't recall which episode) Just about everyone beats Ronnie throughout the scripts, including some kid. Ronnie does actually sort of hussle (I'll play you left handed, lol) & beat one guy early on,then gives his money back. But Earl, Refrigerator, Nick, and the kid at the pool hall beat win pretty soundly. I think he may have won over Jeanette Lee, can't recall. It's not really a good pool show at all & the short pool parts are just an excuse for a TV road movie of Brits in America, but kind of interesting for that, anyway.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1......1c.1.64.psy-ab..13.2.3735....0.88yX-vpMYnM

smt
 
Ssonerai said:
ok, ok, emphysema, then....:)







Were you around in the 60/s/70's? I (regret that i) knew many people who smoked more than 3 packs/day. They were a lot cheaper then. hardly anything per stick when bought by the multiple carton. Many in that era had started when there were testimonial ads "more Doctors smoke brand x," etc. My wife (Otherwise smart executive) smoked 3-1/2 packs/day most days when i met her and finally got her to quit after we went out for a few years. The guy i knew who got me to make tools and parts for the pool tables he built probably smoked 3-5 packs of Luckies most days.



Back on subject: In the made for TV "Ronnie O'Sullivans American Hussle"; 2017 there is a set with Nick Varner. (don't recall which episode) Just about everyone beats Ronnie throughout the scripts, including some kid. Ronnie does actually sort of hussle (I'll play you left handed, lol) & beat one guy early on,then gives his money back. But Earl, Refrigerator, Nick, and the kid at the pool hall beat win pretty soundly. I think he may have won over Jeanette Lee, can't recall. It's not really a good pool show at all & the short pool parts are just an excuse for a TV road movie of Brits in America, but kind of interesting for that, anyway.



https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1......1c.1.64.psy-ab..13.2.3735....0.88yX-vpMYnM



smt
Click to expand...



Kid at the pool hall was Alex Olinger, if memory serves.
 
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