WOW 50K, then that?..................Only place I almost got robbed at gun point, St. Louis 1969 after a score.
Louie Roberts Video....VINTAGE GAMBLING
- Thread starter Ken_4fun
- Start date
WOW 50K, then that?..................Only place I almost got robbed at gun point, St. Louis 1969 after a score.
i have to agree with you here. I didn't know him so well l personally but was around him quite a bit. h could be a real kick int he butt to be around. He was though and hooked and degenerate gambler.
one thing That always stuck with me is those who have that have of Heart have a strong survival instinct and don't give up on anything. louie was an incredible talent and a natural showman.
one year back around 82 or so he went busted at the Denver Open. Frank the owner of the place according to rumor, on Saturday night gave Louie $300 to do an exhibition. Louie showed about 8pm cleaner that the board of health. he wasn't overly excited about his upcoming show but stepped right up and delivered. It was to date the best show I ever saw and was enjoyed by all. hell i even saw Mike Segal laughing and applauding.
Suicide???? Booze and compulsion can be a bad mixture, but hard for me to believe he could do that. Heart is a term from the past and a less viewed commodity today, but the old timers knew it was the ultimate compliment. make no mistake, Louie had plenty of heart.
i am now reminded of the testimonial OHB left behind about Louie and feel a little tear.
As a great Dr once said, "show me a perpertrator and i will show you a victim"!
All I know is he was very entertaining!! RIP
Here's Your New Pool Movie That Everyone Is Always Talking About
This would make a terrific movie. The older wealthy woman. The jealous brother. The suicide/murder. Sometimes truth makes a better story than fiction. Here's your pool movie guys. I would hate to see it poorly done. Anyone have any ideas about who would be good in the parts. There's a guy in the Boardwalk series on HBO that resembles Louie, plays sort of a young bad guy. Maybe Keith has some connections that he could contact in the movie biz since he was in Color of Money? They always seem to be looking for a good story to do a movie about.
This would make a terrific movie. The older wealthy woman. The jealous brother. The suicide/murder. Sometimes truth makes a better story than fiction. Here's your pool movie guys. I would hate to see it poorly done. Anyone have any ideas about who would be good in the parts. There's a guy in the Boardwalk series on HBO that resembles Louie, plays sort of a young bad guy. Maybe Keith has some connections that he could contact in the movie biz since he was in Color of Money? They always seem to be looking for a good story to do a movie about.
Thanks for the post Keith! Its neat reading all of this (except the fact of his death). Thanks for the stories everyone!
Hi,
If you have something to sell post it in the proper category rather than commercially hijacking this heart warming thread about Louie.
As for you calling people losers...that's out of line.
I see red in your future Sir.
Cheers,
Mark
agreed
some people just can't pass up a chance to make a buck
pathetic
some people just can't pass up a chance to make a buck
pathetic
First time I ever read all posts on a topic this long on this board..I wanna see the damn set...This set seems so unknown we might still be able to bet on it..ha ha
thanks for all the insight guys. Louie is a person I would like to know more about. I'm a little confused on a few things though. Did Louie die in Phoenix or St. Louis? watchez says that he spoke to him the night he died and that he was walking around in his neighborhood. Did he live in St. Louis at that time? Another thread, Jay H said that he died in motel room in Phoenix.
It does seem very strange that a man who loved to gamble would kill himself when he had money to put into action. Maybe if it was all gone, one could be despondent. Then again, he knew it was easy come easy go, and being broke just meant another chance to pump back up again.
You have the fact that he was at odds with his woman, which can make people do stupid stuff. But more importantly, you have his woman's son, that didn't want him in the picture, and with a lot of money at stake, people do stupid stuff in that case too. This scenerio plays out all the time.
Was the 50k (or probably more like 35k after taxes) found on him? Was any money found on him at his death? If someone killed him, then they would either figure what the hell, I'll take his money too, or they would figure to leave it on him, as to point away from robbery and more towards suicide.
His woman... surely she's let slip over all the years, what she believes happened. I wonder if she had a falling out with her son after this.. if she believes that he killed him, they could have become estranged.
I'm sure it was one of those cases, where not much effort was put into it. It probably looked like a suicide, they probably had a few reports where he had spoke of that before and they probably wrapped it up. Who knows if they knew about the other circumstances involving her son, or anything else that pointed away from it being a suicide. Could be they heard some stuff, but never really cared to pursue it.
I would like to do some more digging. Especially see the article about when he died... but knowing where he died and when he died would help. Damn Phoenix newspapers look like they charge for archive searches.
Thanks... and I look forward to seeing some of this video. I don't believe I've ever seen any of Louie. Such a shame too.... all those trick shots and shots of skill that he did.. none captured. Or was captured but sits in someone's attic somewhere.
Thanks for everyone that contributed. (and I think it's in bad taste to try and make a buck off the video at this point... I know I certainly wouldn't, I would want to share with people that sincerely want to know more about a pool legend that was taken from us far too early)
It does seem very strange that a man who loved to gamble would kill himself when he had money to put into action. Maybe if it was all gone, one could be despondent. Then again, he knew it was easy come easy go, and being broke just meant another chance to pump back up again.
You have the fact that he was at odds with his woman, which can make people do stupid stuff. But more importantly, you have his woman's son, that didn't want him in the picture, and with a lot of money at stake, people do stupid stuff in that case too. This scenerio plays out all the time.
Was the 50k (or probably more like 35k after taxes) found on him? Was any money found on him at his death? If someone killed him, then they would either figure what the hell, I'll take his money too, or they would figure to leave it on him, as to point away from robbery and more towards suicide.
His woman... surely she's let slip over all the years, what she believes happened. I wonder if she had a falling out with her son after this.. if she believes that he killed him, they could have become estranged.
I'm sure it was one of those cases, where not much effort was put into it. It probably looked like a suicide, they probably had a few reports where he had spoke of that before and they probably wrapped it up. Who knows if they knew about the other circumstances involving her son, or anything else that pointed away from it being a suicide. Could be they heard some stuff, but never really cared to pursue it.
I would like to do some more digging. Especially see the article about when he died... but knowing where he died and when he died would help. Damn Phoenix newspapers look like they charge for archive searches.
Thanks... and I look forward to seeing some of this video. I don't believe I've ever seen any of Louie. Such a shame too.... all those trick shots and shots of skill that he did.. none captured. Or was captured but sits in someone's attic somewhere.
Thanks for everyone that contributed. (and I think it's in bad taste to try and make a buck off the video at this point... I know I certainly wouldn't, I would want to share with people that sincerely want to know more about a pool legend that was taken from us far too early)
This Louie Roberts story, just heard last night was told by one of our more senior members of our fraternity, Bobby Landry a very good New Orleans player even today, in his 70's. The story also took place when I wasn't around at the Sport Palace, unfortunately. I started hanging around the Sport Palace in the early 80's and didn't become a true degenerate until the middle 80's.
Louie arrived in New Orleans broke and disgusted. Bobby was always a soft touch for a pool player down on his luck and decided to help with Louie's plight.
The first thing Bobby did was ask him if he had eaten anything and Louie said it had been a while. Bobby asked him what he would like to eat and soft tacoes were Louie's choice. There was a Taco restaurant nearby and he wanted six of them.
Bobby asked Louie what hotel he wanted to stay at and Louie said there was a motel right down the street from The Sport Palace. It was a dive of Jimmy Swaggart proportions, a real dump and Bobby protested and suggested that they could do better than that. Louie said it would be fine and so Bobby reluctantly agreed to go take a look at the rooms to see if they would be acceptable. Bobby had earned good money in the oil industry for years and was never known to be a cheapscape so money wasn't the problem.
They go to the motel and Bobby asks to see the rooms. The motel had two classes of rooms, one for $14 a day and one for $18 a day. They went to the $14 a day room and it was just plain awful and Bobby asked to see the $18 a day room and it wasn't much better and Bobby then suggested going to another hotel for accomodations. Louie protested and said this would be just fine because it was just down the street from the Sport Palace and he would be able to walk back and forth to the pool room. Bobby succumbed to Louie's request but before he left, he told Louie that when he got to that sixth taco, that he should eat only half and put the other half in the far corner of the room and give the critters something else to chew on.
The next day Bobby and friends organized an exhibition to be put on by Louie to help get him back on his feet and it was an extraordinary exhibition by an extraordinary man, warts and all; who made friends wherever he went and who played an extraordinary game of pool.
Louie arrived in New Orleans broke and disgusted. Bobby was always a soft touch for a pool player down on his luck and decided to help with Louie's plight.
The first thing Bobby did was ask him if he had eaten anything and Louie said it had been a while. Bobby asked him what he would like to eat and soft tacoes were Louie's choice. There was a Taco restaurant nearby and he wanted six of them.
Bobby asked Louie what hotel he wanted to stay at and Louie said there was a motel right down the street from The Sport Palace. It was a dive of Jimmy Swaggart proportions, a real dump and Bobby protested and suggested that they could do better than that. Louie said it would be fine and so Bobby reluctantly agreed to go take a look at the rooms to see if they would be acceptable. Bobby had earned good money in the oil industry for years and was never known to be a cheapscape so money wasn't the problem.
They go to the motel and Bobby asks to see the rooms. The motel had two classes of rooms, one for $14 a day and one for $18 a day. They went to the $14 a day room and it was just plain awful and Bobby asked to see the $18 a day room and it wasn't much better and Bobby then suggested going to another hotel for accomodations. Louie protested and said this would be just fine because it was just down the street from the Sport Palace and he would be able to walk back and forth to the pool room. Bobby succumbed to Louie's request but before he left, he told Louie that when he got to that sixth taco, that he should eat only half and put the other half in the far corner of the room and give the critters something else to chew on.
The next day Bobby and friends organized an exhibition to be put on by Louie to help get him back on his feet and it was an extraordinary exhibition by an extraordinary man, warts and all; who made friends wherever he went and who played an extraordinary game of pool.
This Louie Roberts story, just heard last night was told by one of our more senior members of our fraternity, Bobby Landry a very good New Orleans player even today, in his 70's. The story also took place when I wasn't around at the Sport Palace, unfortunately. I started hanging around the Sport Palace in the early 80's and didn't become a true degenerate until the middle 80's.
Louie arrived in New Orleans broke and disgusted. Bobby was always a soft touch for a pool player down on his luck and decided to help with Louie's plight.
The first thing Bobby did was ask him if he had eaten anything and Louie said it had been a while. Bobby asked him what he would like to eat and soft tacoes were Louie's choice. There was a Taco restaurant nearby and he wanted six of them.
Bobby asked Louie what hotel he wanted to stay at and Louie said there was a motel right down the street from The Sport Palace. It was a dive of Jimmy Swaggart proportions, a real dump and Bobby protested and suggested that they could do better than that. Louie said it would be fine and so Bobby reluctantly agreed to go take a look at the rooms to see if they would be acceptable. Bobby had earned good money in the oil industry for years and was never known to be a cheapscape so money wasn't the problem.
They go to the motel and Bobby asks to see the rooms. The motel had two classes of rooms, one for $14 a day and one for $18 a day. They went to the $14 a day room and it was just plain awful and Bobby asked to see the $18 a day room and it wasn't much better and Bobby then suggested going to another hotel for accomodations. Louie protested and said this would be just fine because it was just down the street from the Sport Palace and he would be able to walk back and forth to the pool room. Bobby succumbed to Louie's request but before he left, he told Louie that when he got to that sixth taco, that he should eat only half and put the other half in the far corner of the room and give the critters something else to chew on.
The next day Bobby and friends organized an exhibition to be put on by Louie to help get him back on his feet and it was an extraordinary exhibition by an extraordinary man, warts and all; who made friends wherever he went and who played an extraordinary game of pool.
Nice vist back. Being from So. IL and Johnston City during the sixties and early 70's, and being somewhat close to St. Louis, I got to see Louie and his swagger quite a few times, tho it was rarely in IL. My favorite was at Weeine Beenies place in Virgina (Guys & Dolls??), I'd say 1971, he owned the place with Devallie (not sure of the spelling, but he could play), anywho, Louie and Mike Carella of FL hooked up, probably for a good 20+hrs of play. Mike had Louie busted, down to his gold jewelry. Louie put up his hardware and in doing so, Mike was nice enough to lower the bet to accomodate the supposid last set. Well, Louie won that set, and turned it around and emptied out Mike. Louie was our Paul Neuman of pool. He had a little Elvis in em, a slight touch of James Dean and the ways of Steve McQueen all in one, plus he could play, and the women swooned over him. I can still hear his tone of voice which was never in your face, but his game was. And like Freddy, the chemical warfare was always lurking, you just never knew if or how it would show up when you gambled with him.
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Excellent read, JoeyA. This is what makes this forum enjoyable for me. Thank you for taking the time to share this pool tale! :smile:
Now that's a good one! :smile:
I saidddddddddddddddddddddd...Where is the damnnnn videoooo????
Sorry Cali - I thought my post was clear but I guess not. Louie was in Arizona, walking around in front of his house on a cordless phone, when he called the pool room in St Louis.
He was found in the dining room in the old woman's house.
Surprised it was never posted to YouTube if this is the video at Cue & Cushion. We passed out a bunch of dvd copies years ago. Dont have any left now tho.