Well it is Xmas, so I think its only fair that I share a thread from onepocket.org that I think the AZ'ers might also get a kick out of. I'm gonna start the thread and reprint a few of the posts, with the contributors permission I would hope, and go from there. I originally teased the forum with the question, if anybody had ever heard about Jerry the Greek's wonder dog, King. Grady chimed in first:
Originally Posted by Grady
All right, if Freddie isn't going to relate this tale of myth and lore about "King", I will. With all 15 balls racked up, Jerry would let you pick a ball. The bet was that King would, on simple, no trickery voice command, go retrieve said ball. It was a beautiful thing to behold.
Having always had a dry, perverted sense of humor and irony, I especially enjoyed the looks on the suckers faces, when King dutifully but joyfully retreived the ball.
My next reply:That's my favorite too, Grady. But I would like to expand on the "con" part of the story a little, because it was one of Jerry's best hustles. Jerry would start off acting drunk and bragging about how smart King was. He'd make a lot of outrageous claims about what King could do and finally get to where he'd brag King could pick any ball called for out of the rack. He'd usually land on some smart guy who knew that dogs are color blind, and the guy would call Jerry on his brag. The first bet was seldom more than $20 because everybody always fears a scam. King would be acting all nervous and edgy on the table, and then when Jerry gave the word, King would attack the rack and wildly scramble the balls all over. Jerry would be screaming at King and the suckers would be on the floor laughing. Now an indignant Jerry would rant that the sweators sharked King from doing his job and it wasnt a fair test. Usually at this point, some smart ass would promise to be quiet if Jerry wanted to bet again. Jerry, still acting drunk, would curse everybody out, and then post his bankroll up and dare the sweators to cover his bet, usually a few hundred dollars. Larceny usually set in at this point and the sweators figured a loud drunk didnt deserve to have any money anyway. Now with the bet up, King has gotten "the office" from Jerry and he aint so nervous and edgy no more. He's sitting up calmly on the table with his ears straight up, waiting for the "take it off" command. Then Jerry would say, "Get me the four ball, King," or whatever ball had been chosen, and King would amble over to the rack, and stir the balls slightly and put the four ball in his mouth. Whatta dog.
Beard
And then came Jay's contribution:
Jay Helfert:
Freddie, I saw Jerry and King in action day after day back in the 60's at Ye Billiard Den. By the way, Jerry could play pool. He was a decent shortstop, but he kept his game under wraps pretty good.
King could give any other "smart" dog the five and the break! He could run out a rack of nine ball, picking up the balls in order and dropping them in the nearest pocket. Jerry would break the balls and say, "Run out King" and that was it. King could add! I swear to God. Jerry would say, "Give me two balls that add up to 15" and King would do it. Then Jerry would say do it again, and King would pull two more balls out that added up to 15.
Then the topper was when Jerry said to someone pick a number. Maybe they would say ten, and Jerry would have King pull two balls that added up to ten. Don't ask me how he did it. I have no idea other than that King knew the balls just as good as we do. He recognized numbers and knew how to add, at least up to 15. I never saw him go for a higher number or more than two balls. I suspect he could do it with three balls if necessary.
If Jerry had a drink sitting on a table and he was playing pool, he could ask King to get his drink for him. King would gently take the glass (or cup) in his teeth and bring it over to Jerry. Jerry would have King pay the bill and tell him to bring back the right change, telling him how much he had coming back. If the counter person gave King the wrong change he wouldn't move. He would wait until he got the right amount. So King knew about money and pool balls, that's for sure.
Jerry would tell King to open his wallet and take out ten dollars, a five and five ones. King would do it without fail. Like Freddie said, this dog was one of a kind. Nothing King did surprised me after a while. It was like he had a human brain.
There is a reason why we called King "The Wonder Dog". Jerry used to come in with King carrying his cue case in his mouth. King would lay the case under the table (without Jerry asking him to do it) and when Jerry was ready to play King would get it for him. Jerry would just say, "King I need my cue."
Jerry could throw a bunch of change on the table and tell King to bring him .75 cents. No problem! He would let someone else pick an amount (say .47 cents) and King would retrieve that too. And Jerry could trap you with King if you were not careful. He could say something and King would deliberately do the wrong thing, like grab the wrong ball or grab the wrong change. But if you bet him on it, King never "dogged" it!
One of the funniest ones I saw was when he was betting on King picking balls off the table, and some wise guy asked King to bring him the nine ball. It wasn't on the table. King went to the pocket and pulled out the nine ball! The whole place cracked up laughing.
Enclosed is a pic of King and Ronnie from Eddie Robin's great book, Winning One Pocket.
Merry Christmas,
the Beard
Originally Posted by Grady
All right, if Freddie isn't going to relate this tale of myth and lore about "King", I will. With all 15 balls racked up, Jerry would let you pick a ball. The bet was that King would, on simple, no trickery voice command, go retrieve said ball. It was a beautiful thing to behold.
Having always had a dry, perverted sense of humor and irony, I especially enjoyed the looks on the suckers faces, when King dutifully but joyfully retreived the ball.
My next reply:That's my favorite too, Grady. But I would like to expand on the "con" part of the story a little, because it was one of Jerry's best hustles. Jerry would start off acting drunk and bragging about how smart King was. He'd make a lot of outrageous claims about what King could do and finally get to where he'd brag King could pick any ball called for out of the rack. He'd usually land on some smart guy who knew that dogs are color blind, and the guy would call Jerry on his brag. The first bet was seldom more than $20 because everybody always fears a scam. King would be acting all nervous and edgy on the table, and then when Jerry gave the word, King would attack the rack and wildly scramble the balls all over. Jerry would be screaming at King and the suckers would be on the floor laughing. Now an indignant Jerry would rant that the sweators sharked King from doing his job and it wasnt a fair test. Usually at this point, some smart ass would promise to be quiet if Jerry wanted to bet again. Jerry, still acting drunk, would curse everybody out, and then post his bankroll up and dare the sweators to cover his bet, usually a few hundred dollars. Larceny usually set in at this point and the sweators figured a loud drunk didnt deserve to have any money anyway. Now with the bet up, King has gotten "the office" from Jerry and he aint so nervous and edgy no more. He's sitting up calmly on the table with his ears straight up, waiting for the "take it off" command. Then Jerry would say, "Get me the four ball, King," or whatever ball had been chosen, and King would amble over to the rack, and stir the balls slightly and put the four ball in his mouth. Whatta dog.
Beard
And then came Jay's contribution:
Jay Helfert:
Freddie, I saw Jerry and King in action day after day back in the 60's at Ye Billiard Den. By the way, Jerry could play pool. He was a decent shortstop, but he kept his game under wraps pretty good.
King could give any other "smart" dog the five and the break! He could run out a rack of nine ball, picking up the balls in order and dropping them in the nearest pocket. Jerry would break the balls and say, "Run out King" and that was it. King could add! I swear to God. Jerry would say, "Give me two balls that add up to 15" and King would do it. Then Jerry would say do it again, and King would pull two more balls out that added up to 15.
Then the topper was when Jerry said to someone pick a number. Maybe they would say ten, and Jerry would have King pull two balls that added up to ten. Don't ask me how he did it. I have no idea other than that King knew the balls just as good as we do. He recognized numbers and knew how to add, at least up to 15. I never saw him go for a higher number or more than two balls. I suspect he could do it with three balls if necessary.
If Jerry had a drink sitting on a table and he was playing pool, he could ask King to get his drink for him. King would gently take the glass (or cup) in his teeth and bring it over to Jerry. Jerry would have King pay the bill and tell him to bring back the right change, telling him how much he had coming back. If the counter person gave King the wrong change he wouldn't move. He would wait until he got the right amount. So King knew about money and pool balls, that's for sure.
Jerry would tell King to open his wallet and take out ten dollars, a five and five ones. King would do it without fail. Like Freddie said, this dog was one of a kind. Nothing King did surprised me after a while. It was like he had a human brain.
There is a reason why we called King "The Wonder Dog". Jerry used to come in with King carrying his cue case in his mouth. King would lay the case under the table (without Jerry asking him to do it) and when Jerry was ready to play King would get it for him. Jerry would just say, "King I need my cue."
Jerry could throw a bunch of change on the table and tell King to bring him .75 cents. No problem! He would let someone else pick an amount (say .47 cents) and King would retrieve that too. And Jerry could trap you with King if you were not careful. He could say something and King would deliberately do the wrong thing, like grab the wrong ball or grab the wrong change. But if you bet him on it, King never "dogged" it!
One of the funniest ones I saw was when he was betting on King picking balls off the table, and some wise guy asked King to bring him the nine ball. It wasn't on the table. King went to the pocket and pulled out the nine ball! The whole place cracked up laughing.
Enclosed is a pic of King and Ronnie from Eddie Robin's great book, Winning One Pocket.
Merry Christmas,
the Beard
