From Philly
Back in the early 60s a little friend of mine and I were
hanging around the pool hustling scene in Dallas
One night we had been making bar after bar where hoodlums and gangsters
were flashing easy money,Jack Ruby had a place in Dallas with strippers and
mafioso types so one night we circulated in the crowd with Benny the Goose,RD Matthews,George McGann,Creeper and a bunch of other underworld characters.
Fibber,Vernon,Tony the Boxer,Slick Willy Blade,Red the Barber and a few dozen others of lesser note,ttopicante and a few big shots
On this night the boys went out after hours to shoot pool,Jack was only about 16,
I was 18 or so
when the guys went to the Cotton Bowling Palace for pool and bowling we jumped in,Jack had more guts than good sense and we started playing with the big boys
well these guys had money and gamble and who could ask for anything more.?
One game led to another until
Jack pot had won more than was politically correct,somewhere in the 6 figures,finally these guys got wise and decided just to take Jacks money by force
Words began to abound as a preamble to the fisticuffs,poor Jackpot was looking 14 years old and about 4 foot tall,when one of the hoods said "Who is the guy?"
and the refrain"yeah,who do ya think ya are anyway bub?"
That's when I piped up"That's Jackie the Pot from Philly"
A quizzical look appeared on every face in the place when our hero Jackpot piped up
"and just who wants to know anyway?"
Free drinks were served to all as back slapping and silly grins graced the faces of the patrons.
Meanwhile no one seemed to notice that little Jackie the Pot and his pal had split the scene with a pocket full of mob money.
the next day when I asked jack for my cue back,he said he forgot all about it in the excitement.
i demanded $20 out of his half of the winnings,I felt like that was only right.
I lectured him about the need for responsibility.He said he was sorry and forked over the extra $20
and promised to do better,it was his first big score.
I said OK, I took the $20 and said don't let it happen again
From then on Jack always played with a borrowed cue,and that my friends is the rest of the story.
I could tell you the part when Jack got caught by Mr Guzick the vice principal at high school down at Steves club with
about $15000 in his pocket,the rest was hidden in his pillow.
Seems the principal was concerned with Jack's attendance at school,when he saw the money he said"you been hustling the high school kids?"
Jack replied"How would I do that,they don't have $30 between them?"
Back in the early 60s a little friend of mine and I were
hanging around the pool hustling scene in Dallas
One night we had been making bar after bar where hoodlums and gangsters
were flashing easy money,Jack Ruby had a place in Dallas with strippers and
mafioso types so one night we circulated in the crowd with Benny the Goose,RD Matthews,George McGann,Creeper and a bunch of other underworld characters.
Fibber,Vernon,Tony the Boxer,Slick Willy Blade,Red the Barber and a few dozen others of lesser note,ttopicante and a few big shots
On this night the boys went out after hours to shoot pool,Jack was only about 16,
I was 18 or so
when the guys went to the Cotton Bowling Palace for pool and bowling we jumped in,Jack had more guts than good sense and we started playing with the big boys
well these guys had money and gamble and who could ask for anything more.?
One game led to another until
Jack pot had won more than was politically correct,somewhere in the 6 figures,finally these guys got wise and decided just to take Jacks money by force
Words began to abound as a preamble to the fisticuffs,poor Jackpot was looking 14 years old and about 4 foot tall,when one of the hoods said "Who is the guy?"
and the refrain"yeah,who do ya think ya are anyway bub?"
That's when I piped up"That's Jackie the Pot from Philly"
A quizzical look appeared on every face in the place when our hero Jackpot piped up
"and just who wants to know anyway?"
Free drinks were served to all as back slapping and silly grins graced the faces of the patrons.
Meanwhile no one seemed to notice that little Jackie the Pot and his pal had split the scene with a pocket full of mob money.
the next day when I asked jack for my cue back,he said he forgot all about it in the excitement.
i demanded $20 out of his half of the winnings,I felt like that was only right.
I lectured him about the need for responsibility.He said he was sorry and forked over the extra $20
and promised to do better,it was his first big score.
I said OK, I took the $20 and said don't let it happen again
From then on Jack always played with a borrowed cue,and that my friends is the rest of the story.
I could tell you the part when Jack got caught by Mr Guzick the vice principal at high school down at Steves club with
about $15000 in his pocket,the rest was hidden in his pillow.
Seems the principal was concerned with Jack's attendance at school,when he saw the money he said"you been hustling the high school kids?"
Jack replied"How would I do that,they don't have $30 between them?"
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