Jack Cooney

[8ballEinstein]

He stayed around HT for awhile and then he went on the road. The second hand info I was given, and hopefully someone here can confirm, is that he got 10/8 from Walden in OK and won a nice score. He then went down South and got 10/8 from Joyner and his backers. He took down even a bigger score and came back to So. Cal where he pretty much retired

This was the way I heard it too, except that he also had a rematch with Toby in Vegas. I happened to be there at the time. He got the same 10/8 spot and won big. From my calculations, Jack was up some $190,000 in a matter of 7 or 8 months - and this was from the matchups that I know about. Of course, he likely had other adventures along the way.

Not many pool players can match the income that Jack generated from the game. This makes him the smartest pool player I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them.

 

[1 Pocket Ghost]

Once again, Jack was far and away the best hustler of his era. He came out from undercover in the late 90's, about ten years ago.

Jay........Have to make a slight correction here....

Jack came out from undercover earlier then the late 90's - make that the early 90's instead - In 1994 he played in the U.S. Open One Pocket tournament, with most of the pool world there and approx. an 80 man field.......I particularly remember his being there for three reasons - one of those reasons not good....

Reason #1. I was surprised to see him surface there and play in the tournament.

Reason #2. He was the first choice in the calcutta.

Reason #3. (the bad reason) With my usual horrible tournament drawing luck, Jack was who I drew to have to play in the first round !........At least he didn't skunk me anyway - I lost that match to him 3 to 1....

- Ghost

 

[jay helfert]

Jay........Have to make a slight correction here....

Jack came out from undercover earlier then the late 90's - make that the early 90's instead - In 1994 he played in the U.S. Open One Pocket tournament, with most of the pool world there and approx. an 80 man field.......I particularly remember his being there for three reasons - one of those reasons not good....

Reason #1. I was surprised to see him surface there and play in the tournament.

Reason #2. He was the first choice in the calcutta.

Reason #3. (the bad reason) With my usual horrible tournament drawing luck, Jack was who I drew to have to play in the first round !........At least he didn't skunk me anyway - I lost that match to him 3 to 1....

- Ghost

He was obviously stalling!

 

[1 Pocket Ghost]

He was obviously stalling!

Probably....including beating me only 3 to 1, instead of 3 to 0....

 

[lfigueroa]

Probably....including beating me only 3 to 1, instead of 3 to 0....

If it was the US Open, wouldn't it have been a race to four?

Lou Figueroa
didn't know how to spell
one pocket in '94

 

[1 Pocket Ghost]

If it was the US Open, wouldn't it have been a race to four?

Lou Figueroa
didn't know how to spell
one pocket in '94

Lou, I'm sure your memory is better than mine - I'm doing good if I remember where I parked my car when I leave the pool room...lol

- Ghost

Ps, Did you have to remember that - now it's even worse - I must have lost 4 to 1 instead of 3 to 1....

 

[Craig]

I was told back in the early 80's that Cooney beat a local bookmaker from Alabama, out of the tune of about $280,000.00 I was told he rented a place and lived there for about 8-9 months which is the length of time it took for him to beat the bookmaker out of the money it wasnt all at once, so Im sure there were several adjustments to the game and Cooney obviously had the best of it.

 

[huckster]

I saw him play at Lamberts in Baton Rouge during one of Grady's one pocket tournaments. The game lasted well over 30 hours. It was short rack one pocket and he was giving up a ball. The other guy was either Rooster or Hooker-I forget.

Dont hold me to it but i believe he was 17 games down after 10 hours or so. He came back to even and might have squeaked a small victory. He didnt look like a pool player, more like a salesman and i was real impressed with both these guys stamina. Neither were spring chickens.

Jack is one slick customer, but if he would have given Hooker the break playing short rack onepocket he would have gotten stuck up. Beating Hooker alternate breaks while giving up a ball is a huge feat. I won't say anymore in case Hooker finds a sucker at the Derby but in the above mentioned Jack has a bad game

 

[jay helfert]

Jack is one slick customer, but if he would have given Hooker the break playing short rack onepocket he would have gotten stuck up. Beating Hooker alternate breaks while giving up a ball is a huge feat. I won't say anymore in case Hooker finds a sucker at the Derby but in the above mentioned Jack has a bad game

Jack could turn "bad" games into good games in the bat of an eye. If he's playing and betting high, all I know is I want to bet on him, EVERY TIME!

 

[jay helfert]

There used to be a room named at the Derby City Classic in his namestake and James Walden.

The two of them had a high-stakes match -- (I can't remember the money amount) -- between Jack Cooney and James Walden.

News travels fast when it comes to pool players. When a road agent comes to down, all the best players in the land come to the place where the stranger is, hoping to get action.

In the '70s, I think it was, me and my pool buddies were hanging out at Champion Billiards in Silver Spring, MD, where I used to work, and somebody came in and said there was a stranger in town at the Golden Cue in Bladensburg who was betting it high. The stranger was Jack Cooney, who was accompanied by his girlfriend.

I did not get the opportunity to see him play at that time, as I had to work graveyard shift, and that's when the action would begin. I did hear about a horrible incident through the pool grapevine. Word had it that he not only had deep pockets, but he was winning and holding a bundle.

Jack Cooney was playing some guy at the Golden Cue, and some thugs came into the pool room and put a gun to his face, demanding all of his dough. His girlfriend refused give up the money, and they shot her. She survived, but it is one of pool memories that taught me to never flash my cash and/or hold large amounts on my person when in a pool room.

We almost got robbed in Upstate New York holding 18 large one year, and I drove out of town in a snow blizzard at 3 o'clock in the morning.

Jack and James played for 100K about 6-7 years ago at DCC, 50K each. I had 5K of Jack's action. I think it was eight ahead One Pocket and Jack got 9-8, 10-8. The game lasted four days with sleep and food breaks. The old guy won. :smile:

 

[1 Pocket Ghost]

Jack is one slick customer, but if he would have given Hooker the break playing short rack onepocket he would have gotten stuck up. Beating Hooker alternate breaks while giving up a ball is a huge feat. I won't say anymore in case Hooker finds a sucker at the Derby but in the above mentioned Jack has a bad game

Hey huck, I'm not going into detail either, but I'm familiar with Hookers 'interesting' break.....At the DCC about 6 years ago he got the 'Keither' to give him the breaks playing that short rack one pocket - were you there to sweat that ?

- Ghost

 

[huckster]

Jack could turn "bad" games into good games in the bat of an eye. If he's playing and betting high, all I know is I want to bet on him, EVERY TIME!

No doubt Jay. The hardest I ever seen Cliffo play was against Jack and he still got beat, but only by enough to make him think it was still a good game. Jack is the master at getting guys (champions, or otherwise) to go off like a rocket. I seen some guy lose a few dimes to a roadie, and pull up. The roadies always thought they made a great score for 3-4 dimes. A year later I would hear about Jack taking the same guy off for 30-40 dimes. No contest Jack is in my top ten list on hustlers from all walks of life. It would be tough for even Jack to fad a game (short rack 1pkt) where you opponent breaks and runs out 25% of the time.

 

[jay helfert]

No doubt Jay. The hardest I ever seen Cliffo play was against Jack and he still got beat, but only by enough to make him think it was still a good game. Jack is the master at getting guys (champions, or otherwise) to go off like a rocket. I seen some guy lose a few dimes to a roadie, and pull up. The roadies always thought they made a great score for 3-4 dimes. A year later I would hear about Jack taking the same guy off for 30-40 dimes. No contest Jack is in my top ten list on hustlers from all walks of life. It would be tough for even Jack to fad a game (short rack 1pkt) where you opponent breaks and runs out 25% of the time.

Jack wouldn't play a game he couldn't win at. He was a pretty sharp game maker as well. And so was Barbara. Now if it's alternate break, Hooker will win about one out of four on his break without Jack shooting. That leaves seven out of eight games that Jack has a chance to win. You do the math, can he win or not?

 

[huckster]

Hey huck, I'm not going into detail either, but I'm familiar with Hookers 'interesting' break.....At the DCC about 6 years ago he got the 'Keither' to give him the breaks playing that short rack one pocket - were you there to sweat that ?

- Ghost

Ghost,
I have the same move in my bag of tricks and used it to beat a pretty well known Florida champion, and by no means am I a player, but with the break and a ball (I go to 4) Efren has action. It is worth mastering if you can get action with it.

 

[huckster]

Jack wouldn't play a game he couldn't win at. He was a pretty sharp game maker as well. And so was Barbara. Now if it's alternate break, Hooker will win about one out of four on his break without Jack shooting. That leaves seven out of eight games that Jack has a chance to win. You do the math, can he win or not?

Jack wins at alternate break Hooker wins getting the breaks.

 

[jay helfert]

Jack wins at alternate break Hooker wins getting the breaks.

There you go. If Hooker breaks all the time, he wins about one out of four games without Jack shooting. That leaves three games to be contested. If Jack wins two out of three he breaks even. He must win all three games to come out winners. DING DING DING! Caution Will Robinson, caution!

 

[huckster]

There you go. If Hooker breaks all the time, he wins about one out of four games without Jack shooting. That leaves three games to be contested. If Jack wins two out of three he breaks even. He must win all three games to come out winners. DING DING DING! Caution Will Robinson, caution!

Jay,
I've handicapped a game or two before and my money would stay away from alernate breaks either way if I'm betting. It is just too tough of game for both guys. Hooker only has to make a few balls and when he is breaking and if he makes a ball and doesn't runout he is leaving Jack in a bad layout with a bad ball count. On the other hand Jack does everything better then Hooker (move, make balls, bank, endgame, control whitey) and if it becomes a war of attriction Jack is a lock. Smart money says stay away there are better spots. I only seen Jack play four times and he won every one but once. How do you know when he is going for the kill or still laying the spread?

 

[jay helfert]

Jay,
I've handicapped a game or two before and my money would stay away from alernate breaks either way if I'm betting. It is just too tough of game for both guys. Hooker only has to make a few balls and when he is breaking and if he makes a ball and doesn't runout he is leaving Jack in a bad layout with a bad ball count. On the other hand Jack does everything better then Hooker (move, make balls, bank, endgame, control whitey) and if it becomes a war of attriction Jack is a lock. Smart money says stay away there are better spots. I only seen Jack play four times and he won every one but once. How do you know when he is going for the kill or still laying the spread?

Ask yourself this question, "How much is the bet?" When they start playing a dime a game or 10K sets, I like Jack. For a hundred a game, I'm not betting. Kapeche?

 

[The Saw]

A friend mine who knew Jack used to tell me Cooney stories. He swore that Jack was a master of disguise and even though he knew Jack he would get caught off guard when running into him on the road. He said that Jack had an uncanny way of altering his appearance. One time he would look shorter, next maybe taller, he may look like a country club blue blood the next he would look like a factory worker. A true chameleon....

My favorite lemon story, and I want to know if it is true or at least how accurate it is. Jack riding a bicycle, dresses like a tennis player with a racket strapped to his back watches the poolroom from down the street, waits til he sees the owner near the front window, goes down the hill and crashes into the front of the poolroom for all to see. The owner and others come out to see if he is okay. Jack is like "a billiard hall!?! I've always wanted to learn..." The owner offers up lessons and tells him the best way to learn is to play 1p. Jack "learns" and stalls for months upping his game, and the bet, until the owner is bust. The owner then calls his buddy who owns a room in another part of the state and Jack busts him....

It's a shame that the internet and pool detectives f'ed up the most storied part of the game....... Todays best hustlers are left to scruffle playing tournaments that pay crap, giving lessons and play poker instead.... Pretty freakin sad IMO!

 

[JB Cases]

Ghost,
I have the same move in my bag of tricks and used it to beat a pretty well known Florida champion, and by no means am I a player, but with the break and a ball (I go to 4) Efren has action. It is worth mastering if you can get action with it.

I am pretty sure I know that break. I was "taught" it at the US Open many years ago. Balls racked like 9 ball and the cue goes............. and a ball goes straight into the corner pocket every time?

In deference to the spirit of the thread I will not outline the specifics of the break I know - whether it be the one you are talking about or not.

I wonder who the best undercover guy is now? I was playing at a local dive and a player I know shows up and I start to say hey ............. and he stops me and says, they know me as ............... in this place. Cracked me up that he was incognito in this bar. I kept his secret and still beat him in the little rinky dink tournament. I needed that $50.

Of course he probably made well more than me by staying on the stall.