No contest…Django’s cue has a tight sound …Archer’s cue was either over-drilled when the joint was installed…or the metal was hitting bottom. I doubt any player ever used one of his cues.
Is there any footage of ''champagne'' Ed Kelly?
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It’s hard to say in this video why Archers cue sound this way. It could be for a few reasons most obvious of which is that somehow Archer is “mic’d-up” and Kelly is not - you can very clearly hear him chalk his cue while you cannot hear Kelly chalk his cue. That in conjunction with the possibility of the hardness of his tip? And also some players cue the ball with the edge of their tip more than other players which creates an higher sharper pitch sound - often times mistakingly sounds like a miscue especially when you are playing with a harder tip.
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You would know more about that than I do...does a steel joint contribute to a pingy sound..?
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Not buying that he had the best or even smoothest stroke (that would be Mizerak), but there's no question that Eddie was a champion of the highest order. If not for Lassiter and Worst, he might have been considered the best all-around player of the 1960s, perhaps a small notch above Jersey Red. I met Eddie through Allen Hopkins. Eddie was as fine a man as he was a player. The didn't call him "Champagne Eddie" for nothing.
Like so many of his generation, little footage would exist of his play.
Like so many of his generation, little footage would exist of his play.
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Believe it or not, one night Beenie asked me to go in with him banking the Blackjack game. We put in 600 each to start. And of course took he the first deal. Beenie hit a hot streak and no one could make a BJ and take the deal away. In maybe an hour or so we won over 6K. When he lost the deal he asked me if I wanted to keep playing and I declined. Took my 3,000 and was very happy.
You're right about Bobby Lambert, he and a local businessman Ben Tracy went partners with Ronnie on the event. I played some Horse one day with Bobby on the basketball court outside and won a few bucks. He was a good guy, so sorry to hear about what happened to him. It was just bad luck.
Ronnie picked my up at my home in Bakersfield, only a couple of months after I had sold my poolroom there. We drove up to Bend to put together the event, and I ended up spending three months there. Loved Bend, Oregon!! So beautiful up there. Went back one time about twenty years later and Bend was exploding with development. Not nearly as attractive anymore.
There is also a short video from when Wide World of Sports covered the tournament. It shows Shorty playing Lassiter and some brief looks at other players.
The last time I saw EK was when he won the OP Tournament Grady sponsored at a casino in Reno circa 1994. It was great. Cornbread Red, EK, Bugs, Cecil, Grady and a few unknowns like me. I had known him from LA in the late 60's before he relocated to Vegas. Alcohol was his life misery and I felt for him when he bindged. But he kept coming back trying to get sober which he finally accomplished. He could play and play for the cash too. RA was a tad better in OP but Eddie bested him in everything else. When both of them were drinking in the poolroom it could be very funny but could turn quickly to nasty. He was a great guy and great player.
Well said. As you say, fluidity and grace are part of the package and those were not necessarily traits of the Miz. Still, Irving Crane said of Steve “he had the perfect blend of power and finesse at the table” and that is high praise coming from a man who was hard to impress.
During Kellys 3 pack ring game, he did a nice smooth move with a grin/smile to the player group.
Went 5 rails for shape got almost perfect, then jokingly touched cloth saying, it was supposed to be here
. The boys/workin' it.
Once someone knows you’re a locksmith your action dries up. Good thing you got around hustling back the day because you would never get any action in today’s environment. You would be avoided like the plague because everyone would know your reputation and that you only bet if you have the nuts. Your “professional” gambling career would be nonexistent today as I’m sure it is.
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That JC ring game was always Ten Ball too!During Kellys 3 pack ring game, he did a nice smooth move with a grin/smile to the player group.
Went 5 rails for shape got almost perfect, then jokingly touched cloth saying, it was supposed to be here
The boys/workin' it.
Irving Crane was one of the most respected men in Johnston City and at the Stardust. He was well into his 50's and early 60's and still taking on the young guns at their games, 9-Ball and One Pocket. I know he won Straight Pool titles at both tournaments and finished second several times. If a full list of money winners could be found, you would find Crane's name among the 9-Ball and One Pocket players as well. I think he even finished second in one of the 9-Ball events. All his opponents showed him the utmost respect. They knew who he was and what he had accomplished. His comtemporaries Mosconi and Caras never set foot in either tournament as far as I can remember.
He walked straight and tall and made no small talk with anyone. Crane showed up ready to play every day, when these events lasted two and half to three weeks. He and Hubert Cokes were the two oldest players there, both older then Lassiter by several years. I saw him every day and never said boo to him. He was many levels above me.
If you’re ever in Vegas I’ll flip a coin with you for whatever is in your pocket.
Jay, when I first saw em at Janscos his presence struck me.
My dad and my dads great group of friends were very similar.
Irving was not like the norm in the pool room.
He looked like he worked in an office.
Clean cut, well dressed and mannered.
He personified the American Man.
Yep.... I too gave em room.
Nice wright Jay....
I think Mex Johnny was in that Ten Ball Ringer.
you wont be able to come even close to match it buddy. and go pick on someone else to boost your sagging ego. and stick to your dead end job.