idreaminhd
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I somehow stumbled across this old article http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1084567/1/index.htm
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Jack and Jill Cue Club in Arlington Virginia
- Thread starter idreaminhd
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Lol. There isn't enough space on AZ for all the stories about Bennie's room. Every Champion, road player, short stop, and wanna-bee came through Bennies. No lock on the doors and nobody was barred from action. The basement room was an old slot-car raceway ( with a putt-putt golf course in it ) when Bennie moved in. He built it for gambling , not to make money ( but it did ). It had room for 40 tbls, but Bennie wanted plenty of room between the tables, so he put in 25 ( never saw 30 in there, but I didnt come there till 69 ). Get a list of all the players from the 60's and 70's, they all were there.Never saw a room like it then , or now. The " golden age of pool ".
Now there are townhouses on the site, such a shame.
Spent 11 yrs of my life there and loved every minute.....sshhh dont tell my boss! Ohh, yea, Im retired......never mind.
Bring on the stories boys and girls. They are great!
Now there are townhouses on the site, such a shame.
Spent 11 yrs of my life there and loved every minute.....sshhh dont tell my boss! Ohh, yea, Im retired......never mind.
Bring on the stories boys and girls. They are great!
When I was about 12, Jack and Jill's was in its prime. It was located in Seven Corners, Virginia, area. My girlfriend and I got the nerve to walk in the place one time. You had to go down these stairs to get in. When we walked in, everybody seemed to stop playing and looked at us. We got skeered and ran out. :grin-square:
When it was in its height of popularity, was during this time. I am almost 60, so that gives you an idea of how long ago this was. He got his popularity from his hot dog stands all around Northern Virginia called "Weenie Beenie." There is one still standing near Crystal City. I used to love those hot dogs, piled with all kinds of hot dog goodies, and cheap too. They were great.
The owner, Weenie Beenie (Bill Staton) was the main attraction at one time. He had a reputation of being a high-stakes gambler. Soon Jack and Jill's became a stopping place for all road players.
I created a Wikii page for him ---> HERE
Weenie Beenie loved one-pocket. Here's a copy-and-paste of an article I wrote on OnePocket.org forum about "Weenie Beenie, a Classy Player."
In perusing my pool print periodicals, magazines, newspapers, et cetera, from the '70s, '80s, and '90s, I get stuck every now and then when I come across a gem.
In the January 1984 issue of National Tavern News, there's an 8-page article written by Bill Pierce entitled "WEENIE BEENIE: A Classy Pool Player."
When asked "What was your best game?" Beenie replied, My best game was one pocket. I learned from a guy named FITZPATRICK. They called him "BUGS," and he was one of the greatest. He died in 1960, but I cut my teeth on guys like Earl Schriver, Rags, Eddie Taylor, and Squirrel. They were my teachers.
In my area, I grew up seeing the Weenie Beenie hot dog stands. In fact, there's still a few of them around in Northern Virginia, Arlington to be exact. Bill Staton was an all-around gambler, whether it was cards, golf, or pool. He owned the infamous pool room named Jack and Jill's in Arlington, Virginia, which was a road player's stop to get action. Oh, if those walls could talk!
What Weenie Beenie said about Detroit. I quit playing pool from 1972 to 1976. One day I received a call, and this guy told me they were playing pretty high in Detroit, and I had a chance to make some big money if I would go up there. So I went up there. I played and I won. That was my first time up there.
Later I went back , and I lost everything I had won -- plus considerably more. And this is funny. After I lost all the money I had with me, I called my wife and told her to bring some money up to me. She did, and I lost all of that. Now I had flown up there to begin with, so when I called her next time, I told her to bring more money, but to drive because I needed transportation to get around.
In the meantime, I had borrowed some money, so when she got there, I paid off my debts and then proceeded to lose the rest. I played one game for my car and lost it (about 10 minutes). So Dear Momma brought more money. She did. I bought my car back, but I guess I don't have to tell you that I lost all that money too, plus the car again. So I said, "Good-bye Boys. I can no longer afford you," and I went home.
There aren't too many player who can laugh about a big loss like this. Does anybody remember his time in Detroit?
I saw Weenie Beenie play a local, Freddie Boggs, in Arlington, Virginia, $500 a game one pocket. It was after his prime, sometime in the mid to late '80s. It was like a cameo appearance having him in the pool room. We all drove over to check out the festivities. Weenie came there to play one pocket, but Freddie, a good one-hole player in his own right, took too long between shots, studying them, analyzing them, and Weenie Beenie pulled up after the first game. He just didn't like the pace of the game.
I saw him later in 2002 with Keith at the U.S. Open, and I sat down with him to chat. He was moving kind of slow, but he seemed content to be a railbird, sweating the U.S. Open matches. He was definitely one of the great ones.
Here's a photo of Bill "Weenie Beenie" Staton and Keith McCready that I took at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in 2003.
He was moving kind of slow, as he was now a senior citizen, but he watched many, many matches. You could see how much he loved pool. He would sit there for hours just watching the Open contenders play pool. :smiling-heart:
He was moving kind of slow, as he was now a senior citizen, but he watched many, many matches. You could see how much he loved pool. He would sit there for hours just watching the Open contenders play pool. :smiling-heart:
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Bill Staton passed away before his lovely wife, Norma Jean. They were so much in love, even in the autumn of their lives. Here is Bill Statons' obituary on OnePocket.org ---> HERE
There's also some GREAT stories about Jack and Jill's and Bill Staton on R. Dyer's "Untold Stories" website ---> HERE
And here's teh Weenie Beenie hot dog stand still standingi in Shirlington, Virginia: North Carolina barbecue, half-smokes, chili dogs and soup are only a few of the items on an ancient menu covered with peeling stickers layered over last year's prices.
Weenie Beenie
2680 S. Shirlington Rd.
Arlington, VA 22206
703-671-6661
There's also some GREAT stories about Jack and Jill's and Bill Staton on R. Dyer's "Untold Stories" website ---> HERE
And here's teh Weenie Beenie hot dog stand still standingi in Shirlington, Virginia: North Carolina barbecue, half-smokes, chili dogs and soup are only a few of the items on an ancient menu covered with peeling stickers layered over last year's prices.
Weenie Beenie
2680 S. Shirlington Rd.
Arlington, VA 22206
703-671-6661
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Having grown up in the area, I will concur with what g-slinger said: virtually any playerof note during that era passed through that joint. We have a few folks in the area that were patrons and they sometimes share tales of its historied past.
I was neither old enough to go there, nor do I recall specifics of the tales, but I do recall hearing stories about St. Louis louis, Lassiter...
From what I gather, it was the kind of joint that gave pool a 'bad name' to the general public. An I can add, I believe it was decades after it closed, before that county issued another business license for a pool room.
I was neither old enough to go there, nor do I recall specifics of the tales, but I do recall hearing stories about St. Louis louis, Lassiter...
From what I gather, it was the kind of joint that gave pool a 'bad name' to the general public. An I can add, I believe it was decades after it closed, before that county issued another business license for a pool room.
Shouldn't be too shocking...we love pool. And we are about The only ones.
I never made it to Jack & Jill's,,it had closed by the time I made my way out on the road. I did get the chance though to meet Weenie Beenie Mr' Bill Staton . I first saw him on TV when I was just a kid,,On What's my line. He ame out a performed a trick shot where he made every ball on the table with 1 stroke. I had heard so many stories about him and his spot. Bill had come to Ronoake Va to the One Pocket tourny that was going on and Billy Johnson and I were hanging out reminesing. Billy J introdued me to Beenie and Beenie smiled and just started talking as if he had been there all day long--wish I had gotten pics of those two one pockets tournies now--there were so many legends that were there and many of them that were there are now gone from us--
I was there winter of 1970....A few hours out on my way in, I had to pull the head on my 140 cu. in. 6 cyl Ford Falcon and have it remilled, did it in 24 hrs and one hotel stay, not bad considering I was young and assumed it was the hydraulic lifters givin' me problems, I was right ! Those were the days, Bee Gees, Linda Ronstadt and Hall and Oats. Got to see St. Louie Louie pull a chemical warfare move down to his gold Jewelry, and came back and Busted Carella playing sets. Room was always Damp. I got trapped by Gumphs on a table getting all the breaks, this table balls Never went in on the break. Bad move letting him pick the table.
Dont know how good a player you were, but you were playing one of the greatest players in the country in Steve Gumphrey. When he got in gear, he could best just about anybody. Played a lot like Earl, fast and loose, and played better as the money went up. He was one of a kind. RIP buddy.
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I ate at that Wennie Bennie in shirlington. It was just on the other side of four mile run from Bennies room off walter reed drive. I quit eating there when Calhoon worked there as a cook....nasty...lol. Hoon was a good player and hustler, but a lousy cook
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I ate at that Wennie Bennie in shirlington. It was just on the other side of four mile run from Bennies room off walter reed drive. I quit eating there when Calhoon worked there as a cook....nasty...lol. Hoon was a good player and hustler, but a lousy cook
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I was talking to one who was around then and he said the real action room I the burbs then was actually the one in Alexandria.
Mistah slinga? Whatcha know about that?
Mistah slinga? Whatcha know about that?
Yeah he was a bright light in the pool room. And his Head' a noddin' as the balls would drop in the hole, hell he nodded his head ''all the time'' as I remember :thumbup:.
Yea BB ( not bonus ball...lol ). There was a room called tops where there was action. But that was before Bennies opened. Shorty Henson played at tops and was a good player there. There also was a room on king st, but that was in the 50's and 60's.
Spent many hours in there playing or sweating.
Actually the Jack and Jills where are the action and history took place was in Arlington, near Four Mile Run Drive. Someone mentioned Jack and Jills in Seven Corners, and that's true, there was one, at least in the late 70s in a shopping center there. That's actually Falls Church. I don't know if that one was owned by Beenie, but it could have been as well. There was never a Jack and Jills in Alexandria. One reason Alexandria comes up is because that's actually where Beenie lived, and he mentions that in one of the old Johnston City tapes. Hope that clears it up.
WildWing is right.Bennie opened Jack and jills 2 in 7 corners in mid-late 70's. Not a lot of action there. Low ceilings, tables close together. His nephew was killed there by a dopped up junkie. It closed shortly after that. J&J in arlington was the action spot on the east coast. But there was some action at Tops off glebe road and also Westmont billiards at glebe rd and columbia pike. ( westmont became the first Champion Billiards in Va in the late 80's I believe.
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Hey Paul, I was with Baltimore Buddy Dennis when you played him in Hagerstown in the 70's. You were a very good player. Gave Buddy all he could handle. I remember your fancy Balabushka. Beautiful cue. Hear you have a great room in Erie Pa. Good luck
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Hey Paul, I was with Baltimore Buddy Dennis when you played him in Hagerstown in the 70's. You were a very good player. Gave Buddy all he could handle. I remember your fancy Balabushka. Beautiful cue. Hear you have a great room in Erie Pa. Good luck
I went to Arlington to play WB and he politely declined. Beanie said "I just got back from Detroit. I lost 200,000 and I just don't have the heart to play." I later heard that he went back to The Rack, played the same guy, the same game, on the same table, and jacked the bet. He won all his money back and much more. Bill Staton was a bigger than life character in our pool world.