Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter - best ever 9-ball???

dirtypool40

dirtypool40

I love this freakin' game
Silver Member
Let's hear some stories about Wimpy.

Seems like he was dominant to a later age than most.

How long was his reign?

Best ever or best of an era?

Where would he rank vs. Efren, Siegel, SVB, Archer etc.....????
 
Wimpy was the best of his era, from the 50's to the early 70's. For about a 20 year period he was considered the best 9-Ball player by his peers. He was a lot like Buddy from the 70's to the 90's, a great tournament player and money player as well. I can only think of one player in the 60's willing to gamble with Wimpy and that was Harold Worst.

The same for Buddy during his reign, no one wanted to gamble with him. Even great shooters like Denny Searcy and Greg Stevens steered a wide berth around Buddy Hall. Buddy was giving weight to the world. Dan Louie is the only player who I ever heard of beating Buddy even. It was on an 8' table. He wouldn't play Buddy on a nine footer.

So no one is invincible, they are all human. But one or two stand out above the crowd in every generation. They are the ones who stand the test of time. Wimpy stood out in his era and Buddy in his. Their respective careers over lapped for a moment, but when Buddy was young he wouldn't tangle with Wimpy. And when Wimpy got old, he left Buddy alone. Great players who respected each other and their place in pool history.
 
jay helfert said:
Wimpy was the best of his era, from the 50's to the early 70's. For about a 20 year period he was considered the best 9-Ball player by his peers. He was a lot like Buddy from the 70's to the 90's, a great tournament player and money player as well. I can only think of one player in the 60's willing to gamble with Wimpy and that was Harold Worst.

The same for Buddy during his reign, no one wanted to gamble with him. Even great shooters like Denny Searcy and Greg Stevens steered a wide berth around Buddy Hall. Buddy was giving weight to the world. Dan Louie is the only player who I ever heard of beating Buddy even. It was on an 8' table. He wouldn't play Buddy on a nine footer.

So no one is invincible, they are all human. But one or two stand out above the crowd in every generation. They are the ones who stand the test of time. Wimpy stood out in his era and Buddy in his. Their respective careers over lapped for a moment, but when Buddy was young he wouldn't tangle with Wimpy. And when Wimpy got old, he left Buddy alone. Great players who respected each other and their place in pool history.
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Jay,did Wimpy feel Don Willis was his equal in 9 ball?,they were road partners. :)
 
Wimpy was on soc. sec.

Fast Lenny said:
Earl was the best ever in 9 ball,he made Wimpy cry. :cool:
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Earl couldnt play a lick until the 80s. Wimpy was on social security at that time. When Incardona was rated the "best player in the world" at the Stardust in Vegas in 1972. Incardona, right in front of me, asked Wimpy for the eight ball. Wimpy offered instead a freezeout of 20 ahead for 10 to 20k, and Cardone would get a four game head start. Billy refused.

the Beard
 
About forty years ago I caught the Gray Dog to Houston to watch Wimpy play at The La Cue Club right by the Gray Dog Station. My Late friend Bananas Rodriguez always said that Wimpy was the best he had ever seen. For two hours he never missed a ball.
 
freddy the beard said:
Earl couldnt play a lick until the 80s. Wimpy was on social security at that time. When Incardona was rated the "best player in the world" at the Stardust in Vegas in 1972. Incardona, right in front of me, asked Wimpy for the eight ball. Wimpy offered instead a freezeout of 20 ahead for 10 to 20k, and Cardone would get a four game head start. Billy refused.

the Beard
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Earl said he played him in the 70's and Wimpy was past his prime obviously.
 
I remember at Johnson City overhearing Lassiter, I'll play, but after 16 hours if no one has won we'll stop play, then restart the next day, I was probably only 19yr old then.
 
Wimpy Lassiter

Hard to compare different eras. Who was the best, Hank Aaron or Babe Ruth. At one time Earl dominated the 9 ball scene. At one time Luther dominated the 9 ball scene. As great overall players Luther was the best player as he played ALL games exceptionally well. Earl was strickly one dimensional. In Luthers day you had to play all games wel to match up. In Earls time 9 ball was pretty much all anyone played. One thing for sure, they both were the best at their respective time. No bums here.
 
Earl's memory is also suspect

Fast Lenny said:
Earl said he played him in the 70's and Wimpy was past his prime obviously.
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Earl came up to Chicago when I had just opened my joint, North Shore Billiards, and that was in 1979. Earl was just a poor 18 year old shortstop then, was broke, and sleeping on the floor. It was immediately after he left North Shore that he became a champion. I like to think that his unsuccessful stay in my place was the motivation to never have to go thru that again. About that time Wimpy was using adult Pampers. Wimpy had retired from legitimate tournaments in 1975.

the Beard
 
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freddy the beard said:
Earl came up to Chicago when I had just opened my joint, North Shore Billiards, and that was in 1979. Earl was just a poor 18 year old shortstop then, was broke, and sleeping on the floor. It was immediately after he left North Shore that he became a champion. I like to think that his unsuccessful stay in my place was the motivation to never have to go thru that again. About that time Wimpy was using adult Pampers. Wimpy had retired from legitimate tournaments in 1975.

the Beard
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I played Wimpy in Gil Atkisson's tourney in Los Angeles in 1976. He was not the player he had been anymore. He did beat me 11-8 just on intimidation alone. I had many chances to win. He did finish fourth in that tourney, and that's the last one I saw him play in until the Legends events in the 80's. And he still won both of those.
 
Fast Lenny said:
Jay,did Wimpy feel Don Willis was his equal in 9 ball?,they were road partners. :)
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Don Willis said that Wimpy was the one player he would bet his money on and go to sleep and not worry about it. He had that much faith in Luther winning. I'm pretty sure he would have said that Wimpy was the best of the two of them. But Willis was the far better hustler. Luther only knew one thing, NEVER MISS! He didn't know how to stall and he always looked for the best players.

Luther could also play great 14.1, and would run 90's and 100's in nearly every match he played. Check his record from Johnston City and the Stardust. No one else is even close. And guys like Balsis, Crane and Moore were there. All great Straight Pool players, but Lassiter was the best. I watched one year at Johnston City all his matches. He must have run a 90 or better every match, and they were only going to 125. He was a machine once he got going. He just didn't miss any balls. If he got two inches out of line, he was pissed.
 
Huckster can perhaps back this up...Don Willis had a standing offer to play ANYONE for $25K, if they wanted to come to Canton, OH. This offer went unchallenged for years and years. Nobody wanted to play Don...that pretty much says it all. In addition...Willis could play any billiards game expertly, including snooker and 3-C...let alone other sports like dice, cards, ping pong, horseshoes, and several others. Jack White was also fortunate enough to have gone on the road with Willis and Wimpy, at the same time.

One other important fact...during the Johnston City days, a reporter went to the tournament to ask all the players who was the "best". EVERY ONE (including Wimpy) pointed to the guy in the sportcoat, with the porkpie hat, sitting against the wall. When the reporter went over to talk to Don, after polling the players (Don didn't play in the tournaments...he just went to gamble), and asked him, point-blank why all the players said he was the best, Don asked to see the list of players that the reporter had talked to. After perusing it, he said, pointing at each name, "I beat him, I beat him, I beat him"...over and over again.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Fast Lenny said:
Jay,did Wimpy feel Don Willis was his equal in 9 ball?,they were road partners. :)
Click to expand...
 
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dirtypool40 said:
Let's hear some stories about Wimpy.
....????
Click to expand...

Buy Hustler Days, the book, if you haven't already.

One lil' tidbit: The book says that around the yearsWWII, Lassiter won $500k+ in Norfolk.
 
dirtypool40 said:
Let's hear some stories about Wimpy.
....????
Click to expand...

Buy Hustler Days, the book, if you haven't already.

One lil' tidbit: The book says that around the yearsWWII, Lassiter won $500k+ in Norfolk.
 
dirtypool40 said:
Let's hear some stories about Wimpy.
....????
Click to expand...

Buy Hustler Days, the book, if you haven't already.

One lil' tidbit: The book says that around the yearsWWII, Lassiter won $500k+ in Norfolk.
 
dirtypool40 said:
Let's hear some stories about Wimpy.
....????
Click to expand...

Buy Hustler Days, the book, if you haven't already.

One lil' tidbit: The book says that around the yearsWWII, Lassiter won $500k+ in Norfolk.
 
Jay...The reverse is true too. For the record, Wimpy said that if he had to bet on one person to shoot a shot for his (Wimpy's) life, Willis would be that man.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

jay helfert said:
Don Willis said that Wimpy was the one player he would bet his money on and go to sleep and not worry about it. He had that much faith in Luther winning. I'm pretty sure he would have said that Wimpy was the best of the two of them. But Willis was the far better hustler. Luther only knew one thing, NEVER MISS! He didn't know how to stall and he always looked for the best players.
Click to expand...
 
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