Lou Butera

Here's a little background on Lou....He was born on May 15, 1937 and started playing at age 7. His high run in 14.1 is 267. He won the 1973 World 14.1 Championship.

Accu-Stats has several of his matches filmed.....
Item Description Price

Lou Butera vs. Jimmy Fusco C93-03: Lou Butera def. Jimmy Fusco 150-92 $24.00
Grady Mathews vs. Lou Butera* C93-05:* Grady Mathews def. Lou Butera 150-48 - *Price Reduced from $24.00* $20.00
Lou Butera vs. Larry Johnson TB-05: Lou Butera def. Larry "Shorty" Johnson 11-8 $22.00
Steve Mizerak vs. Lou Butera* C93-10:* Steve Mizerak def. Lou Butera 150-86 $24.00


Here's the link....
http://www.accu-stats.com/Qstore/Qstore.cgi
 
Lou was also in an episode of "The Fall Guy" as a pool player.
 

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Thanks, all

Terrific responses to this thread. What I can't figure out is how I could do a search for "Lou Butera" and come up empty, when the guy obviously was a monster player in this game, and not that long ago.

I think it's a little reminder that there's much more pool history out there that hasn't been recorded on AZB, even some recent history. Get busy, all.
 
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Mick56 said:
Here's the room Lou had in Vegas.
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I remember the room now that I see the pic...I visited him there once...as I recall he got robbed twice at gunpoint which I think was part of his inspiration to sell it....can't blame him.....:)

Joe
 
Lou has been married to the same woman (Carrie) for nearly 45 years and I believe they raised seven kids. All turned out good too. I suspect he is most proud of that. Carrie came to all his tournaments for years, and faithfully watched him play.

Lou was one of the all time greats at 14.1 In his prime, NO ONE was a match for him in a long challenge match, say 1,000 points. He could run more balls (and faster) than anyone, including the great Mizerak. Lou was a more modern equivalent of Mosconi. Unfortunately he came along at a time when Straight Pool was dying. For maybe 20 years or so, nobody would play Lou a long Challenge match.

He was also an exceptional 9-Ball player and very few players would tangle with him. He didn't bet high (maybe 20 a game) because of his family obligations. But when he was running Marina Billiards in Los Angeles, a boat load of top speed hustlers came through there, and he tested all of them. And no one had to like it! Including Richie, Ronnie, Cole, Cooney and Searcy. All the East Coast players who came out this way like Kelly, Ervolino, and Marino already knew about the "Machine Gun". In the few 9-Ball tournaments he was able to play in back in the 70's, Lou usually finished in the top ten. He was definitely a threat to beat anyone.

Lou did not play One Pocket. He just didn't care for the game.
 
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gulfportdoc said:
WBM, where in Pittsburgh was the Hawk's Nest? I'm originally from Pittsburgh (South Hills), and used to play downtown at McGann's in the early 1960's.

Art
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Art,
It was on Forbes Avenue; downtown. Between Kaufman's department store and Market Square. Same side of the road as Kaufmann's. It was one flight up; I can't remember what business was downstairs.

I have heard that Bernie Schwartz owned it; but I've also heard that Lou Butera had a stake in it. I am sorry to admit that I didn't remember to ask Lou about that part when I met him in Vegas.

It was the greatest pool hall I've been in. Dark like a church; no windows; the only light was over the tables. Perfectly cared for 9 footers; rack boy if you wanted one. Around 2 sides of the room was an actual rail; nice cushioned theater style seats behind the rail. What a great place to watch pool.

Yearly in the mid-70's they hosted an exhibition tournament. Two days, eight players, round robin straight pool and 8 ball, tuxedo's required of the players. The usual players included Mizerak, Crane, Rempe, Marino, Margo, Hopkins, Butera, Murphy. Pretty cool; they made 14.1 look easy (though Mizerak totally dominated these guys in the straight pool; he was in his prime).
 
I had the pleasure of working for Lou back in the late 60's. He had a pool room in Northeastern Pa.

It was never boring when Lou was in the house, as he had a ton of stories to tell, both from his life in pool and from his days as an Army MP, stationed in Asia. I still remember one story where he and some fellow MP's sold a TV a number of times and still had the TV. :D :D :D

One story I can tell about Lou is when he was recovering from a car accident. He suffered whiplash and he couldn't play pool for several months. When the doctor finally gave him permission to play, he went to the table and played bad, by his standards. He put the balls away and walked out of the room fairly disgusted. About a week later, with out any more practice time, he thought he would try playing again. He racked the balls, set up a break shot and then proceeded to run 160 before missing. He quietly put the balls away and left, much more satisfied than he was a week earlier.

Lou was one of the best guys I have ever known and certainly the best I have ever worked for. I hope he is well and I also hope our paths cross again some day soon.
 
Williebetmore said:
Art,
It was on Forbes Avenue; downtown. Between Kaufman's department store and Market Square. Same side of the road as Kaufmann's. It was one flight up; I can't remember what business was downstairs.

I have heard that Bernie Schwartz owned it; but I've also heard that Lou Butera had a stake in it.
Click to expand...
That has to be the same place as McGann's. I think it had been through several owners over the years. I went there a few times in '76-'77. It had 2-3 billiard tables. At the top of the stairs you turned right into the poolroom. There had originally been tall windows to the Forbes Ave. side, but they had been framed in, and sheet-rocked over. You're right-- it was a great room!

Art
 
9BallPaul said:
We don't hear much about him any more, but "Machine Gun" Lou Butera once ran 150 balls against Allen Hopkins in just 21 minutes. That works out to roughly one ball every 10 seconds, with no time allotted for racking. If you think that's not impressive, try it yourself.

He was runner up to Irving Crane in the 1972 world championship in L.A.

Unsure if he's still living. But there's gotta be some stories out there. I tried a search of this forum, but got nothing.

Anyone?
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Lou Butria is really one of the nice guys. I was at a tournament when I was young and My cue was sticky, the place had bad air. This was in Texas and it was really hot outside. I didn't know Mr. Butera, he was a celebrity but he saw the problem I was having. He went to his room and came back with a kit he carries and cleaned up my cue for me. He also left me with some good stuff to use later. This was the same day I asked Mike Segal for an autograph and he walked away.
 
junksecret said:
I remember the room now that I see the pic...I visited him there once...as I recall he got robbed twice at gunpoint which I think was part of his inspiration to sell it....can't blame him.....:)

Joe
Click to expand...

I believe one of the robberies was caught on CCTV and featured in one of those "POLICE CRIME SHOWS" on TV - A friend of mine was watching it, and then at the end he heard Lou's name mentioned... I haven't seen it myself, but if anyone can find it on YouTube I'd be grateful.
 
I was at a tournament at the Bicycle Club, in the mid nineties, and was waiting just outside the tournament room. They had a table set up where the players could warm up. Sitting around the practice table were Buddy Hall, Bill Incardona, Steve Mizerak and a couple of other players when someone leaned out of the door to the tournament room and says "Lou's doing it again." All of the players immediately got up and went into the tournament room to watch. Bam, bam, bam the balls went into the pockets in no time at all for several racks. All of the pro's were smiling and chuckling. It was some kind of speed display! Afterwards Miz told Buddy that he and his wife were going to a mall and she was going to shop while he was going to go to a movie. After Miz walked out Buddy call Billy over and told him he wanted to pull the bet he had on Miz that night. Billy said "Ok" but asked"why?" Buddy said because Miz was going to a movie and "his eyes would be tired." Billy laughed and shook his head.
 
9BallPaul said:
We don't hear much about him any more, but "Machine Gun" Lou Butera once ran 150 balls against Allen Hopkins in just 21 minutes. That works out to roughly one ball every 10 seconds, with no time allotted for racking. If you think that's not impressive, try it yourself.

He was runner up to Irving Crane in the 1972 world championship in L.A.

Unsure if he's still living. But there's gotta be some stories out there. I tried a search of this forum, but got nothing.

Anyone?
Click to expand...

I think there is a video of him against the Miz on youtube that is worth watching. 150 in 21 minutes is UNREAL!
 
Who's the fastest ever?

Luc Salvas is touted by many as a rapid-fire player. Can anyone say how he'd stack up against Machine Gun?
 
9BallPaul said:
Luc Salvas is touted by many as a rapid-fire player. Can anyone say how he'd stack up against Machine Gun?
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Lou was faster than Luc or Tony Drago, but not by much. Lou would shoot and run around to where the cue ball was headed. He was ready for it when it stopped, and would get down and shoot all in one motion. NO practice strokes required!
 
jay helfert said:
Lou was faster than Luc or Tony Drago, but not by much. Lou would shoot and run around to where the cue ball was headed. He was ready for it when it stopped, and would get down and shoot all in one motion. NO practice strokes required!
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Seems to me that TV would pick up on this -- especially with the recent addition of speed pool to our viewing diet.

Lou's record -- I assume it's a record -- could be a target for an elimiination tournament.

As an aside, anyone have any idea how long it took Mosconi to pocket his 526?
 
My fav. story includes, Lou, a visit to a bank-office in Sweden, the police and a leathercase. You know, "machine-gun".

Not sure if its true, but it has gone down the generations back here.
 
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