Luther Lassiter and Don Willis.....

1

1on1pooltournys

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was talking to my father last night and he explained that Luther Lassiter was possibly the best all around player to ever live. He also said that he ran with a guy named Don Willis whom he considered the best pool player of the time to never play in pool tournaments. Apparently, Don Willis even beat Mosconi a couple times in exhibitions. Furthermore, he stated these guys lived in the "glory days" of pool hustling. The would take buses to spots and scuffle around and made gobs of money. This was of course before the interstate system and they found themselves in some pretty desolate towns he stated. Willis was a nice guy from Canton, Ohio and apparently spent the winner months in Arizona or New Mexico area.

I mention this because I was very intrigued by what brought this discussion on. He was enlightening me on the fact that players from this era had a significant amount of class compared to the players and gamblers of today. His prime example was some of the past DCC events that he witnessed, which contained the woofing and theatrics of some younger players. He said statements, such as, "you have got no heart", "bet something you nit", "you won't bet a quarter water is wet", and many other slanders that are used today were never heard during these times. According to him, these players were perfect gentleman and made people like them and in return desire to play with them, which resulted in the loss of their money. He also talked about some big time golf gamblers that he gambled with (he got a golf lesson from Titantic Thompson) and how it is nothing compared to pool. Of course, the scores were way bigger, but after you beat a guy out of his money the winner would entertain the loser that evening by taking him and his wife out for a nice dinner and drinks. If the loser was single, well, I'll leave that up to your imagination.:smile:

This discussion led into one about Jack Cooney, which I will go into later if anybody is interested.

Does anybody know more about the two gentlemen mentioned above? Also, for some of the old school players, can you add anything on to these ideas? What are your thoughts on the classiness of players today?
 
1on1pooltournys said:
I was talking to my father last night and he explained that Luther Lassiter was possibly the best all around player to ever live. He also said that he ran with a guy named Don Willis whom he considered the best pool player of the time to never play in pool tournaments. Apparently, Don Willis even beat Mosconi a couple times in exhibitions. Furthermore, he stated these guys lived in the "glory days" of pool hustling. The would take buses to spots and scuffle around and made gobs of money. This was of course before the interstate system and they found themselves in some pretty desolate towns he stated. Willis was a nice guy from Canton, Ohio and apparently spent the winner months in Arizona or New Mexico area.

I mention this because I was very intrigued by what brought this discussion on. He was enlightening me on the fact that players from this era had a significant amount of class compared to the players and gamblers of today. His prime example was some of the past DCC events that he witnessed, which contained the woofing and theatrics of some younger players. He said statements, such as, "you have got no heart", "bet something you nit", "you won't bet a quarter water is wet", and many other slanders that are used today were never heard during these times. According to him, these players were perfect gentleman and made people like them and in return desire to play with them, which resulted in the loss of their money. He also talked about some big time golf gamblers that he gambled with (he got a golf lesson from Titantic Thompson) and how it is nothing compared to pool. Of course, the scores were way bigger, but after you beat a guy out of his money the winner would entertain the loser that evening by taking him and his wife out for a nice dinner and drinks. If the loser was single, well, I'll leave that up to your imagination.:smile:

This discussion led into one about Jack Cooney, which I will go into later if anybody is interested.

Does anybody know more about the two gentlemen mentioned above? Also, for some of the old school players, can you add anything on to these ideas? What are your thoughts on the classiness of players today?
Click to expand...

I overheard Buddy Hall say Lassiter was the best ever and pointed out how he had one like 10 events at Johnston City and the next best was 3 by Shorty. Lassiter was definitely "The Man" for quite a while.

And im pretty sure Mosconi once said if he had to pick one guy to shoot a shot that his life depended on, it would be Don Willis. If it was Don Watson, my apologies, i get those two mxed up.
 
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1on1pooltournys said:
I was talking to my father last night and he explained that Luther Lassiter was possibly the best all around player to ever live. He also said that he ran with a guy named Don Willis whom he considered the best pool player of the time to never play in pool tournaments. Apparently, Don Willis even beat Mosconi a couple times in exhibitions. Furthermore, he stated these guys lived in the "glory days" of pool hustling. The would take buses to spots and scuffle around and made gobs of money. This was of course before the interstate system and they found themselves in some pretty desolate towns he stated. Willis was a nice guy from Canton, Ohio and apparently spent the winner months in Arizona or New Mexico area.

I mention this because I was very intrigued by what brought this discussion on. He was enlightening me on the fact that players from this era had a significant amount of class compared to the players and gamblers of today. His prime example was some of the past DCC events that he witnessed, which contained the woofing and theatrics of some younger players. He said statements, such as, "you have got no heart", "bet something you nit", "you won't bet a quarter water is wet", and many other slanders that are used today were never heard during these times. According to him, these players were perfect gentleman and made people like them and in return desire to play with them, which resulted in the loss of their money. He also talked about some big time golf gamblers that he gambled with (he got a golf lesson from Titantic Thompson) and how it is nothing compared to pool. Of course, the scores were way bigger, but after you beat a guy out of his money the winner would entertain the loser that evening by taking him and his wife out for a nice dinner and drinks. If the loser was single, well, I'll leave that up to your imagination.:smile:

This discussion led into one about Jack Cooney, which I will go into later if anybody is interested.

Does anybody know more about the two gentlemen mentioned above? Also, for some of the old school players, can you add anything on to these ideas? What are your thoughts on the classiness of players today?
Click to expand...

Here is a picture of Don Willis!!!

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Don Willis

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9.jpg

Enjoy
 
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Terry Ardeno said:
Here's a start on Don Willis. Lots of info available on him. Huckster, a forum member here, is his grandson.

http://www.gcaba.com/willis.htm
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That is an amazing read. I just skimmed through it and plan to read the article in its entirety later tonight. It is interesting that he was coined, "The Cincinnati Kid". I had always thought that title went to the bank pool player Donnie Anderson, whom I saw at Micheal's Billiards back in early April.

If I only had a time machine :frown:
 
Actually Dave, it was Lassiter who made that statement about Willis, not Mosconi or Watson. :grin: Mosconi would NEVER have admitted that somebody played better than him...particularly a hustler like Don Willis. Mosconi openly despised the gamblers/husters...as was evident in his open hostility to Fats (not completely undeserved, btw). The really cool thing about Don Willis was that he was an expert in many things (all cue games, including snooker & 3-C; gin rummy; dice; ping pong; horseshoe pitching; and backwards running; among others), all of which he gambled well at. He was the consumate con man, and a jack-of-all-trades, when it came to gambling. Jack White once told me that if you were smart you NEVER bet against Willis. I know he had a standing offer for anyone to come play him pool in Canton for $25K, that went unanswered for more than 20 years. That says a lot about the man's skill.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Nostroke said:
And im pretty sure Mosconi once said if he had to pick one guy to shoot a shot that his life depended on, it would be Don Willis. If it was Don Watson, my apologies, i get those two mxed up.
Click to expand...
 
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Scott Lee said:
Jack White once told me that if you were smart you NEVER bet against Willis. I know he had a standing offer for anyone to come play him pool in Canton for $25K, that went unanswered for more than 20 years.
Scott Lee
Click to expand...

What years was this.
 
Best road players ever. With the tournaments that Lassiter won he's up there with Reyes as the greatest ever, in my opinion.
 
Scott Lee said:
Actually Dave, it was Lassiter who made that statement about Willis, not Mosconi or Watson. :grin: Mosconi would NEVER have admitted that somebody played better than him...particularly a hustler like Don Willis. Mosconi openly despised the gamblers/husters...as was evident in his open hostility to Fats (not completely undeserved, btw). The really cool thing about Don Willis was that he was an expert in many things (all cue games, including snooker & 3-C; gin rummy; dice; ping pong; horseshoe pitching; and backwards running; among others), all of which he gambled well at. He was the consumate con man, and a jack-of-all-trades, when it came to gambling. Jack White once told me that if you were smart you NEVER bet against Willis. I know he had a standing offer for anyone to come play him pool in Canton for $25K, that went unanswered for more than 20 years. That says a lot about the man's skill.

Scott Lee

www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Im 90% sure that i read that it was Mosconi who said that of Willis ( its Willis and Watson i mix up) but I believe you. What you say makes sense. So many quotes on the internet are attributed to the wrong person especially the "I cant give you the 8, I've never seen you shoot" among others. I stand corrected.



Edit-After scouring the internet, Im now about .3% sure i saw that quote attributed to Mosconi.:sorry:
 
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Back in the 60s when i used to sit in the pool room and play anybody that came thru the door an old time player that ran the place said "if you can beat them with out showing your true speed treat them as a customer. Have fun buy them a soda and make sure they enjoy themselves and they won't mind losing a few bucks but don't bust them and they will come back for more entertainment." And i did have a few customers. Probably because they were adults and i was just 15 or 16 and they kept coming back to beat the kid. Thats how it was back then.
 
Don Willis

Nostroke said:
Im 90% sure that i read that it was Mosconi who said that of Willis ( its Willis and Watson i mix up) but I believe you. What you say makes sense. So many quotes on the internet are attributed to the wrong person especially the "I cant give you the 8, I've never seen you shoot" among others. I stand corrected.



Edit-After scouring the internet, Im now about .3% sure i saw that quote attributed to Mosconi.:sorry:
Click to expand...

I lived in Canton in the late 60`s through the 70`s, and both saw and played with Don Willis on many occasions. Although he was getting to a point where he liked mostly to come to the College Bowl and just visit, or do some wing shots.

It was Lassiter who made the comment you were referring to.

Will :wink2:
 
1on1 -

Did your Dad ever play either of them? I remember he told me that your dad had beat Keith McCready rather easily in a tourneyment but thought Keith had different priorities at that time....

Ken
 
1on1pooltournys said:
I mention this because I was very intrigued by what brought this discussion on. He was enlightening me on the fact that players from this era had a significant amount of class compared to the players and gamblers of today. His prime example was some of the past DCC events that he witnessed, which contained the woofing and theatrics of some younger players. He said statements, such as, "you have got no heart", "bet something you nit", "you won't bet a quarter water is wet", and many other slanders that are used today were never heard during these times. According to him, these players were perfect gentleman and made people like them and in return desire to play with them, which resulted in the loss of their money. He also talked about some big time golf gamblers that he gambled with (he got a golf lesson from Titantic Thompson) and how it is nothing compared to pool. Of course, the scores were way bigger, but after you beat a guy out of his money the winner would entertain the loser that evening by taking him and his wife out for a nice dinner and drinks. If the loser was single, well, I'll leave that up to your imagination.:smile:

This discussion led into one about Jack Cooney, which I will go into later if anybody is interested.

Also, for some of the old school players, can you add anything on to these ideas? What are your thoughts on the classiness of players today?
Click to expand...


Still would like to hear some thoughts from somebody (Billy, Jay, Artie..?) on what they think about the way these men handled themselves compared to some of the players of today. I understand it was a completely different era and have heard several older players criticize the way action and gambling is handled today.

Jack Cooney stories will come.


Ken_4fun said:
1on1 -

Did your Dad ever play either of them?
Ken
Click to expand...

I believe he mentioned that he did play one of them, but can't recall. It was probably Don, because my dad lived in Canton, Ohio back in the 70s.
 
Nostroke said:
I overheard Buddy Hall say Lassiter was the best ever and pointed out how he had one like 10 events at Johnston City and the next best was 3 by Shorty. Lassiter was definitely "The Man" for quite a while.

And im pretty sure Mosconi once said if he had to pick one guy to shoot a shot that his life depended on, it would be Don Willis. If it was Don Watson, my apologies, i get those two mxed up.
Click to expand...

It was said about Don Willis but I'm not sure it was said by Mosconi. Maybe Lassiter said it.
 
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