Louie Roberts Video....VINTAGE GAMBLING

I saw Louie play exactly twice. The first time,he came in High Pockets in Memphis and ran out 9 ball for over an hour,never missing a ball.

The 2nd time I walked into The Rack,and only saw him hit one ball that time,but he made it. Never saw him miss a ball,EVER.

The strangest thing I ever saw out of him was walking into the bathroom there,and Louie was sitting in the floor,back turned up against the wall in the corner,reading something off a piece of notebook paper. As soon as he saw he wasn't alone,he wadded that paper up real quick and got up,like he was worried I might steal it. He was said to remind himself of how great he was,either with stuff he wrote down,or some kind of hypnosis tape.

It's been a long time,but someone here mentioned that there was speculation about whether the small caliber round that took his life was fired by him or someone else. No clue there. Tommy D.
 
Rod said:
Sorry I forgot about this thread. My last name is Elliott. I was well know in here in Phoenix and Arizona. I was on the road for two years but grew tired of that lifestyle. An no to Roadie on Surfer Rod but we played in a ring game in Tucson. I have always kept a low profile so being well known was not an issue. Being well known just knocks your action.

The last time I played Louie he asked for weight. In short I just ran 7 racks on the 9 footer. I said no so his backer (Jackie Wright) told Louie to play. Louie said ok flip for the break. I said no I just won, your rack. I ran two more for a total of nine. That was and still is my highest string. They pulled up and that was the last time I saw Louie. At age 67 it takes an old timer from AZ to remember me. And I ain't lookin for any heavy action. I need weight from everyone cause I can't play a lick. :D

Rod
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Thank you. I made an assumption without bothering to verify it since I have seen Mr. Curry post here. My apologies to you and to the gentleman that asked the question.
 
Ken_4fun said:
I asked an old pool player about Louie Roberts. He said he wasnt very impressed with him, and I kept pressing him on how he played. (Most pool players and especially the older ones knock everyone, just amazes me) He finally told me I should see for myself, and he had a long gambling session of Louie giving up the nuts. I had never seen Louie play live, or on tape.

As JAM noted here several times, there are VERY few videos from the old days showing the older players. Today we have YOUTUBE, ACCUSTATS, and hell lots of others.

Well I got the video and it is several hours long, he is giving the guy several balls in the spot and pretty much killing him. The other neat thing about the video is how much Louie is like Keith McCready....talking the entire time. If I was playing him, there would have been a mum rule.

Not sure what I should do with the video, it is amazing. Louie plays absolutely perfect position on old gold crown table.

ANY LOUIE ROBERTS fans out there?

Ken
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Is it just me or do I feel like I just got teased. Why tell us all about this old video and then not tell us if you're gonna post it or not? lol.

Are you gonna post it on here or youtube and let us all see it for free? Or are you gonna make a dvd of it and get some money out of it? The suspense is killing me and I'm sure that I'm not alone.
 
What some of you may not realize is that if this video is on VHS then it is not easy to convert it for most laypeople. Having it professionally converted is often costly. Most of us threw away our VCRs years ago. Even if you have a VCR ripping the video from analog to digital requires an intermediary box to hook the RCA cables into the computer for input at the least.

If the original poster would like to have donations towards preserving this footage to offset the costs I would be happy to donate if provided with a way to do so.
 
Roadie said:
What some of you may not realize is that if this video is on VHS then it is not easy to convert it for most laypeople. Having it professionally converted is often costly. Most of us threw away our VCRs years ago. Even if you have a VCR ripping the video from analog to digital requires an intermediary box to hook the RCA cables into the computer for input at the least.

If the original poster would like to have donations towards preserving this footage to offset the costs I would be happy to donate if provided with a way to do so.
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No offense...but it's not that hard....a friend of mine pulled video and put on dvd's and he's just plain stupid!!! :cool::p

I figure Ken has just not gotten around to it yet!!! He will I'm sure in the near future!!!


Gary
 
A few points -

This video is on DVD. I sent a pm to Patrickcues who I know has a copy but he did not reply. It is not the best camera work but it is long enough and gives you a feel for how Louie played.

Louie was the greatest 9 ball player I ever saw play, period. I am not saying he IS the greatest, just the greatest I saw. He could make hard to impossible shots consistently - not after taking several attempts. He had a great personality when sober and was difficult to be around when he was not. He could stand up and cite scenes for 10 to 15 minutes of Scarface better than Al Pacino. He simply loved to entertain. I didn't spend a whole lot of time with him but saw him play enough. Took him to a handicap tournament once and they wouldn't let him play no matter what rating he would get. When he couldn't get into the tournament, we went to another pool room and played the poker machines. Louie was quickly out of money and asked to borrow $50. I was warned enough times about loaning Louie money but decided I would. He put it in the machine, soon hit 4 of a kind, and I said to him - Ok, cash out and give me my $50 back. Louie attempted to stall and I said to him - Louie give me my money or I will go to the car and get a baseball bat. I was kidding but it was enough for him to quickly pay me.

There have been plenty of threads of Louie on here and I have told some other stories. The one above shows that Louie was not a violent person at all. Well, one time when he was drunk, he got into it with the pool room owner and Louie said he was ready to fight. He got out some duct tape and starting to tape up his hands. We were all laughing. Louie was serious. Nothing happened - Louie would have gotten his a$$ beat and he knew it and so did the pool room owner.

Louie did not kill himself. He was many things but I don't see him having the ability to do it. I talked to him that night he died. He called the pool room. He was drunk, he was walking around the street in his neighborhood on a cordless phone. He had just got back from a tournament and hit a slot machine for $50K. Everyone was at the pool room here in St Louis that night as Mark Jarvis was playing Cliff Joyner one pocket. A few hours later, the call came in that Louie was dead. The story of what happened changed a few times from the people 'involved' and no gun powder was ever found on Louie's hands but it was ruled a suicide.

A movie about his life would be something that would be successful in Hollywood.
 
You're not alone Donnie. There are a lot of people with vid equip who can rip it quickly.

donny mills said:
Is it just me or do I feel like I just got teased. Why tell us all about this old video and then not tell us if you're gonna post it or not? lol.

Are you gonna post it on here or youtube and let us all see it for free? Or are you gonna make a dvd of it and get some money out of it? The suspense is killing me and I'm sure that I'm not alone.
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SJDinPHX said:
Hi Rod,

Long time no see. I played Ronnie Allen at your pool room a few times, when he wanted a neutral table...Seems to me I remember playing you and your partner a few times too..:)... Used to play a lot at the Canal too, back when Charlie Maurie owned it. He put me in action with just about anyone who came to town...I rarely play anymore...( I'm 77 now)..Good to see you posting here, My main forum, is onepocket.org...Don't know if you have Shots, Moves and Strategies, by Robin's..He gave me several mentions and pic's in there...Be well Rod.

San Jose Dick
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Well howdy SDJ, yes we played there and many years ago. Haven't spoke with Cosman in years, last time he was a little ticked. Well not to mention the 50 still on loan to Ronnie. Yes I saw your hansom self (only a mother could love) :smile: I have both books. I am a member of 1P.org the first Rod to register years ago. I play in both local 1P monthly tournaments but only got serious about it in the last few months. Those young guns don't miss a ball.
I don't post here all that often or on the 1P forum but I do read the comments at 1P.
Be well yourself Dick and drop by a monthly sometime.

Rod
 
Scott Lee said:
JPowell7575...Louie Roberts committed suicide. The rumor I heard, at the time, was that he shot himself. He played great, but I think deep down he was a troubled individual.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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There has been and still is, suspicion that foul play was involved. We'll probably never know for sure. Louis did have his demons, drinking and drugs.
 
Pushout said:
There has been and still is, suspicion that foul play was involved. We'll probably never know for sure. Louis did have his demons, drinking and drugs.
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Wild speculation on my part but...

If it were true that Louie had just won $50k on a slot machine the very same day that he died, that in and of itself would point away from suicide. Hard to imagine anyone who so often put themselves in such tough spots to get money, finally hitting a big bag full, then choosing not to stick around to spend it.

Seems like a big cash windfall fixes lots of problems, albeit oftentimes only temporarily, for people with demons.

Just my humble opinion and, as previously stated, very speculative.

And, please add me to the growing list of people who would like some definitive word on how/when/where we can finally get to see this rare footage of the legendary Mr. St. Louis Louie.

Best,
Brian kc
 
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Brian - actually at the time the $50K was not as big of a deal to Louie as it would have been in the past. He had met a woman, much older than him, that he was with and she had boat loads of money.

During this time when he was with this woman, Louie came back to St Louis and did a little gambling in the pool room. She was with him. Had a purse full of money. Previously around here, when playing one pocket, if you shot a shot that turned out bad and left your opponent with the chance to run several balls, it was often said 'Bankroll switch'. Well that night with Louie gambling, all the money this woman had was in wrappers (as in bundles of money). Louie made a bad shot and someone yelled out 'Wrapper switch'
 
I have the DVD also, I'll try to rip it asap. Unfortunately, the last part of the DVD is corrupted, it just stops at some point, so I hope it will be able to read all the data when I rip it.
 
watchez said:
Louie did not kill himself. He was many things but I don't see him having the ability to do it. I talked to him that night he died. He called the pool room. He was drunk, he was walking around the street in his neighborhood on a cordless phone. He had just got back from a tournament and hit a slot machine for $50K. Everyone was at the pool room here in St Louis that night as Mark Jarvis was playing Cliff Joyner one pocket. A few hours later, the call came in that Louie was dead. The story of what happened changed a few times from the people 'involved' and no gun powder was ever found on Louie's hands but it was ruled a suicide.

A movie about his life would be something that would be successful in Hollywood.
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This is the most startling post I've read for a long time.
...I've never questioned the suicide story....
I only knew him briefly in the late 70's.

..thanx very much for this post.
 
There was and is some speculation that the older woman had a son that didn't intend for Louie to get her wealth.

I had no other input at the time I learned of the "suicide" but found it difficult to believe. He wasn't doing so well gambling when I encountered Louie, but he seemed to be truly enjoying himself regardless. Watchez' post above is enlightening.
 
Louie dvd

Hello all,

If anyone is interested in a copy for 20.00 shipped , I can send you one, Pm me if you are interested that way I can dig the dvd out and get them done.

Match is 2 hours long, Louie gives up the 7, 8 9, for the cash.



Thanks . HP.
 
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9ball said:
Hello all,

If anyone is interested in a copy for 20.00 shipped , I can send you one, Pm me if you are interested that way I can dig the dvd out and get them done.

Match is 2 hours long, Louie gives up the 7, 8 9, for the cash.



Thanks . HP.
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Stop being so nitty and put it on YouTube.

Regards,
Mark
 
I don't recall that part Dennis. Are police reports public information? I wonder if someone could get it, might be an interesting read.

I was only around Louie for about 2 years - I was more of an acquaintance - picked him up at this house a few times, gave him rides home. And tried to take him to that one tournament. Others around here were much closer, including his best of friends. I have heard lots of stories from before I started hanging out around pool - many that I would not post here. Louie loved the attention, always had a pen clipped to his shirt ready to give out an autograph. Would do trick shots for an hour if someone new came into the pool room or if nothing else was going on.

He would freeze 5 balls on the bottom rail, spaced apart equally and cut them all in to the right pocket with the cue ball in the kitchen. Then he would line them up again and cut them all in to the left pocket. The last ball was going almost the entire length of the rail. I think I saw him miss one of these balls one time when doing this and most of the time, he was talking when he was shooting.
 
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