"Jew Paul" Brusiloff Passes Away

JAM

JAM

I am the storm
Silver Member
Paul Brusiloff's pool moniker was "Jew Paul." He was a strong player who liked to bet it high. He was well known to road players. Everybody went searching for Jew Paul because they knew if they could get him down, they'd win big.

He flew under the radar. You would never see his name on a tournament roster. Rather, he'd come to the tournament hoping to catch a fish in the after-hours festivities. Paul wasn't afraid of any player on the face of the earth. He knew how to match up, and people would sometimes have to pool their funds or get staked in order to bet as high as Jew Paul. Of course, that was part of his game. Some people shake when the're betting $1,000 a game, and their $1,000 a game ain't quite a good as their $20 game. ;)

His name was recently being considered for induction into the OnePocket.org's Hall of Fame Lifetime in Action Award this coming year. For reasons unknown, he politely declined to receive this honor. My thoughts are that maybe he still wanted to fly under the radar, or maybe he was a humble man who didn't like this kind of attention. I'm not sure. Like Patcheye from Philly, Paul went out of his way to not be photographed. I am a professional researcher, and I came up empty when I tried to find a photo of him for this thread. He just did not care for the limelight.

Those who knew him might agree that Jew Paul is an unsung hero in the pool world. I've only met him twice in person, but I heard about the legend of Jew Paul from many a player. I'm sure Ronnie Allen is up there in heaven challenging him to a game right now. May he rest in peace.
 
OnePocket.org Hall of Famer Grady Mathews wrote this about Jew Paul on the OnePocket.org forum:

Paul made his money from a Corningware type product that was brilliant in concept. It sold dirt cheap but was quality material. Salesmen, including "Bucktooth" and Bernie Schwartz (at one time maybe the best 9 ball player in the world) got rich. It was not unusual for one man to sell an entire truckload in one day.

Paul was staking me to play Bugs one day for $1,000 a game, when he remarked, "By the way, Grady, you keep everything you win."

A "Rack" habitue was sleeping on a couch by the water fountain: Paul said, "He has the room by the pool."

What Paul liked most to do in gambling matches is: come out a few games behind but win all the money.One day he's doing just that: betting $300 a game in the center and $8,000 a game on the side. BUT, his hapless opponent was running out of dough. Nonplussed, Paul "accidentally" dropped a couple of thousand on the floor so the guy could keep playing.

Paul's lastwife was a hatcheck girl at a posh restaurant. She wouldn't have anything to do with our hero, despite his best efforts and there was the age difference. She came to work one day and found a brand new corvette with a big red ribbon on it in her name.

"Cornbread" knew Paul best. He often accurately predicted when Paul was going to go off, and on these occasions, he usually lost 50 or a 100 thousand dollars. Paul would pitch coins, make proposition bets with you. play you, in cases of guys like me, stake me on occasion. He had me on a $2,000 a game minimum. That's the least I could play for and people wonder why I like to bet.

Anytime Paul came into the Rack, something always happened. He is/was one of a kind and it's been my pleasure tp know him ,lo, these many years.
 
George Fels, the Billiards Digest journalist, writes this about Paul:

I learned that it was a pool player for much higher stakes, Paul Brusslov of Detroit, who first put Pots into the pots business. Brusslov, whose own playing nickname, Jew Paul, still ranks as one of the most tasteless in cue-games history, made a white-collar living selling kitchenware when he wasn’t betting thousands in Detroit’s notorious Rack & Cue. Unlike his ward, Brusslov disdained 9-ball, much preferring golf or one-pocket on a snooker table; he took on the fabled Cornbread Red (Billy Joe Burge) at that many times, not infrequently to his sorrow.

Source: June 2012 Billiards Digest Aricle by George Fels-"Pots" [Retrieved 16 November 2013]
 
You know I have to have a photo Jam! Here is a pic of Paul and I taken from my "Encyclopedia" of Pool Hustlers (that also contains many stories about Paul). He was one of a kind.

Beard
 

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freddy the beard said:
You know I have to have a photo Jam! Here is a pic of Paul and I taken from my "Encyclopedia" of Pool Hustlers (that also contains many stories about Paul). He was one of a kind.

Beard
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OMG, Freddy. What a find! It just may be "the" only photo of Paul in the pool world. And you even got him to smile. Great photo. Thanks so much for sharing. :)
 
The first night Grady and myself roomed together at a tournament,he told me this as one of his first but innumerable insights on him and The Rack in general.

He went OFF one night playing someone one-hole,for something like 5k a rack. Grady said he was hot with himself,and the game in general,and offered to bet Grady 10k to like 100 or some crazy shit that he never hits another ball. Grady said he cut him off mid-sentence more or less to jump on it.

He came back in The Rack the very next night,and walked up behind Grady before he saw him and just held out a 10k stack,and said here you go,let's play or something to that effect.

The amount Grady said he won from him plus the 10k would get you a Lamborghini Diablo by Monday afternoon :eek:;). Tommy D.

Grady said not only was he a huge gambler,he was an all-around good guy,the kind that gets hungry and feeds the entire room at 5am,with faults like the rest of us. :thumbup:. Tommy D.
 
freddy the beard said:
You know I have to have a photo Jam! Here is a pic of Paul and I taken from my "Encyclopedia" of Pool Hustlers (that also contains many stories about Paul). He was one of a kind.

Beard
Click to expand...


Is " Peru Paul" ( from Peru,Indiana ) and " Jew Paul" same?
 
This is sad news. Many years ago I was friends w/Paul's son but haven't seen or talked to "B" for many years since I moved away from Oak Park late 1976. If anyone knows his son and would share his contact info with me via a PM, it would be greatly appreciated. In the event I do not get a hold of "B", I wish the family and friends my heart-felt condolences. May Paul rest in peace...but stay in action.

The fist time I ever stepped foot in the Rack in the early 70's, Paul was playing Freddy Salem $10,000/game 1-pocket on a snooker table :eek:.

Dave
 
Paul and I were very friendly, I took many of rides with him in his Cadillac sedan as he told me many stories about his life in pool and in business. Paul was the master mind behind marketing ovenware door to door, Bernie Schwartz was his main man they made millions together.

Paul was a great person and gambler and was very, very well liked and respected in the pool world in Detroit, he very seldom traveled on the road playing pool. He was a great man to play if you could match a game with him because you could win much more than you could lose. I once saw Paul play "Country" Country was a very smart black player from NY who very seldom played but when he did every one wanted to bet on him because of his rep.. Paul and Country played even one pocket on the 5x10 that was housed at "The Rack" in Detroit, every one wanted to bet on Country and Paul obliged them all. Kilroy ( a very well liked pool hustler, and a fun guy) had a tablet and marked down all the bets and who they belonged to, and after every game it looked like the line for the "Super Bowl" as people would come up in line to usually collect. Paul lost about $500,000 that night. I guess you wonder how he had that much cash on hand, he didn't, but he went out a couple of times and came back with over $100,000 twice during the set. After he lost that money he went on the wire for the other $200,000 plus and lost that. It took him about a week to pay the balance but eventually did.

Paul was clearly a "one of a kind" and will never be forgotten, and i'll always remember our many rides together where he would talk to me about life and business. I learned a great deal from Paul that I benefitted from through my life, yes he was one of my many mentors.

Bill Incardona
 
Paul was a beautiful guy

Anyone who knew Jew Paul had to like him even though he could be a fierce competitor. We never played even though we tried to match up several times, he had my poor ass game over rated. RIP my friend !
 
George Fels said:
It was spelled "Brusilov", Jenny, so we were both wrong. But great post! GF
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Thanks, George. I am still looking for an obit via Google but have come up empty. I will post one as soon as I locate it.

"Brusilov" is a famous Russian name with lots of rich history. :cool:
 
JAM said:
Yes, Keith did play in Detroit. He has a lot of respect for Paul's gamble and game. :cool:
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HI Paul Thornley from Toronto Ontario played money games in Detroit many years ago. Was wondering if he ever played Paul the Jew maybe someone knows
 
"Jew Paul" is NOT Dead!

I just spoke w/Paul's son and he confirmed that "Jew Paul" is not dead. This may be why nobody could find his obituary.

Dave
 
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