Most cash you've seen in a money match. First hand accounts

[JAM]

So, as Keith is exiting Master's pool room in Queens, with his tail between his legs, we get consoled by some of our New York City friends. You can see Keith is just thrilled to have his picture taken after his fumble with Ginky and Nick from NY!

JAM

 

[bigg7]

First hand sort of

Ok before I go on I was about 40 feet away and heard very little of the particulars.1992 Glass City Open about 2 am Jose Parica asks Keith Mccready to play for 5 grand Kieth says 10.After some wolfing Parica walks away and a guy name Phil Mendoza says tell Kieth you'll play for twenty.Keiths backer pulls up and Keith starts yelling at him and leaves.The next day Keith draws Parica and just tears him up he could not miss anything and he was wolfing the whole time and as soon as they finished Keith yelled "You are fired to his backer" and walked to toward the bar.

 

[JAM]

Ok before I go on I was about 40 feet away and heard very little of the particulars.1992 Glass City Open about 2 am Jose Parica asks Keith Mccready to play for 5 grand Kieth says 10.After some wolfing Parica walks away and a guy name Phil Mendoza says tell Kieth you'll play for twenty.Keiths backer pulls up and Keith starts yelling at him and leaves.The next day Keith draws Parica and just tears him up he could not miss anything and he was wolfing the whole time and as soon as they finished Keith yelled "You are fired to his backer" and walked to toward the bar.

That sounds like Keith. I've been fired several times!

JAM

 

[gopi-1]

Can anybody back this story up? It was Efren vs. Amarillo Slim, yes the
legendary poker player. Slim said he lost 200 Gs to Effie playing 1 hole.
Reyes spotted him 15 to 5. He also said he got his money back when Effie
spotted him 17-5 the next time around. I wish I was there...

Three years ago, legendary gambler and professional poker player T.A.
Preston Jr., a.k.a. "Amarillo Slim," was in a Dallas pool hall. Slim didn't play
much anymore. He was just watching, until a matchmaker told him Reyes
would spot him 15-5 in one pocket, best of seven: each player could use one
pocket on the table, and Reyes was claiming that in each game he'd sink 15
balls before Slim sank five. "I don't think that person lives," Slim said, taking
the bet. He lost, returning the next day with "enough $100 bills to burn down
the block." He lost again. He says he left $200,000 with Reyes and his
backers. The next week, in California, "He wound up playing me 17-5. At 17-5
, I beat him," Slim says (they ended even). "He's a great money player. I
never saw him rattled, never saw him harass his opponent. Every time we
played, he was a perfect gentleman. And every time, he did things I've never
seen anyone do before."

Source:

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,188599,00.html

 

[JAM]

Can anybody back this story up? It was Efren vs. Amarillo Slim, yes the
legendary poker player. Slim said he lost 200 Gs to Effie playing 1 hole.
Reyes spotted him 15 to 5. He also said he got his money back when Effie
spotted him 17-5 the next time around. I wish I was there...

Three years ago, legendary gambler and professional poker player T.A.
Preston Jr., a.k.a. "Amarillo Slim," was in a Dallas pool hall. Slim didn't play
much anymore. He was just watching, until a matchmaker told him Reyes
would spot him 15-5 in one pocket, best of seven: each player could use one
pocket on the table, and Reyes was claiming that in each game he'd sink 15
balls before Slim sank five. "I don't think that person lives," Slim said, taking
the bet. He lost, returning the next day with "enough $100 bills to burn down
the block." He lost again. He says he left $200,000 with Reyes and his
backers. The next week, in California, "He wound up playing me 17-5. At 17-5
, I beat him," Slim says (they ended even). "He's a great money player. I
never saw him rattled, never saw him harass his opponent. Every time we
played, he was a perfect gentleman. And every time, he did things I've never
seen anyone do before."

Source:

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,188599,00.html

Now, that's a nice little tidbit of pool! Thanks so much for sharing that picture and the link! Good rep for you!

JAM

 

[ironman]

I just replied in another post about this, but I'll repeat it here.

I was there when James beat Flyboy. As others said, it was in Baton Rouge at Lamberts. Lambert’s was a pool hall and restaurant (they had the best ham steak!).

When James sealed the deal it was 5am or so in the morning (after several days off and on playing) and since it was so late and so many days, there was hardly anyone else there. To this day, it's very surreal that I witnessed that.

Melinda

(and ironman thought I just 'played' pool. lol)

No NO, not me!!! YOU have me mistaken with someone else.

When this happened, I was just about 200 miles west with the intent of playing someone else involved in this some 9-ball. { I could still play a little back then}.

What year was this anyway?

 

[ironman]

i live in vegas and knew all the people involved, i'm NOT here to argue, and yes i have seen the TV show too, they played it up on his winnings, he really scored about 26-28mil , it all started with the 1.5 from Bobby B at the Rum Runner, a month before that he was playing 1 ball one pocket with Terry at Cue Topia every night, for $100/game. I played his speed at 9 ball but we didnt ever match up. terry worked ther graveyard and played while he was on the clock When I heard of his score I couldnt figure out how the hell he got backed, and why Bobby would go off like that, Archie was busted and a Guy loses 1,5M to a guy who is flat? Never made sense to me, Fred G. who owned Cue Topia said he had stake horses in Greece, and bobby had a shot to win $$$, he, bobby is too smart to lose that much $$$ to a busted guy. Wen it was over bobby went out side and broke his shaft, my friend John Canada still has it last i heard 6-7 years ago.

Didn't Bobby sort of go "off the Air" for a while after that episode with Sainish Mike and all though?

After Archie beat him, I had heard that he got in a poker game and ended uup another 15 mill. in the crapper?

 

[huckster]

Can anybody back this story up? It was Efren vs. Amarillo Slim, yes the
legendary poker player. Slim said he lost 200 Gs to Effie playing 1 hole.
Reyes spotted him 15 to 5. He also said he got his money back when Effie
spotted him 17-5 the next time around. I wish I was there...


It is true, and to give you an idea how well Slim played years ago he took 10-6 from Jersey Red, and lost, but Red would not give him 11-5

 

[ironman]

I heard he went off to Bobby Baldwin once for over 100k and that was before the boom, back when top-flight tournament players were grinding at 500 dollar entry fee tourny's. A lot of poker players play pool. for example.

1. John Hennigan
2. Amarillo Slim
3. Nick from NY
4. Bobby Baldwin
5. The guy from Chicago plays as well as anyone in Chi-town
6. Josh Arieh
7. Sam Farha
8. Archie Karras
9. Bill Blanda, etc

I think this is due to the pool players mentality. I know it helped me basic Hustler's edge

Bill Blanda is a pretty darn good player when he puts a little time into it.

 

[ironman]

> The first year I went to the Super Bowl tournament at The Rack,I saw 2 old guys that were said to be long-time,immensely successful farmers,playing one-pocket for 3000 a game. They agreed to pay off every game,until one of them lost 15000,with another 15000 on the overall outcome. One guy kept the bulk of his roll in the front chest pocket of his Osh Kosh overalls and the rest spread out,the other had a 1/2 gallon Crown Royal bag FULL. Neither one of these guys looked to have much of an offensive gear to the casual observer,in the 14 games I watched over 9 hours,I never saw more than 3-4 balls ran in a row. The reason for this is because these 2 played such a uber-tight,conservative style,that for much of the time,there were never more than 3-4 balls loose and runnable. With them,offense was a secondary option. They almost looked more interested in making a ball at a time,and keeping the stack intact as much as possible than they did in finding a way to run out or run 4-5 and start sending them downtown. I don't think either of them even shot at more than 7-8 long rail banks the whole time I watched,because they weren't moving balls up to the other end. They would lag balls back into the stack and nip draw the cue ball back to get a rail,or take turns thinning balls and spinning the cue ball into a rail and back to the other side of the stack for 15 minutes at a time,and occasionally shoot at a ball that trickled loose,and shoot it like they were scared to miss it and try to play the cue ball safe. For a LOT of people,this would have been the most boring match ever,but I learned more about defensive one-pocket from that session than any 2 big names ever,including Efren. Some of the spots I've seen Efren or Cliff give people might have gotten them drilled playing these 2,because they can't run 10 and out when they're frozen to the stack or frozen to the rail and stuck behind it,and they were more than patient enough to accept winning games one ball at a time. I don't think either of them ever flat sold out a single time. Tommy D.

I wasnt' there, but have seen a match simiklar to what you describe. It was painful to watch.

 

[over the hill]

I heard he went off to Bobby Baldwin once for over 100k and that was before the boom, back when top-flight tournament players were grinding at 500 dollar entry fee tourny's. A lot of poker players play pool. for example.

1. John Hennigan
2. Amarillo Slim
3. Nick from NY
4. Bobby Baldwin
5. The guy from Chicago plays as well as anyone in Chi-town
6. Josh Arieh
7. Sam Farha
8. Archie Karras
9. Bill Blanda, etc

I think this is due to the pool players mentality. I know it helped me basic Hustler's edge

Was in Dallas when CJ's was having their one pocket tournament several years ago and watched Effren and Amarilla Slim match up one hole for 40 dimes with a ton on the side.

 

[gulfportdoc]

It is true, and to give you an idea how well Slim played years ago he took 10-6 from Jersey Red, and lost, but Red would not give him 11-5

I'm not surprised at that. Spots which would have been a little better for Slim going from 10-6, would be 12-7, 11-6, 12-6; then 11-5. I'm surprised Slim even tried Red at 10-6. Probably thought the high dough would rattle him.

Doc

 

[MikeJanis]

1. Huck Seed vs Phil Helmuth 2k a game nineball Huck wins 18k

2. Me vs Huck Seed playing 2k a game nineball I win 14 dimes.

3. Santos vs Putnam in Louisville at the Viking Nationals years ago. Shawn gets the 7 ball and wins two sets at 15k a set.

That was at the 1st Viking Tour Nationals in Lexington, KY.

That was a pretty good set (putnam-vs-Santos). 7 ahead for the 15K. Putnam took the cash in under 20 minutes in the 1st set.

The better one that year was Putnam -vs- Watson for $25K and Putnam also took the cash in that set.

Mj

 

[huckster]

That was at the 1st Viking Tour Nationals in Lexington, KY.

That was a pretty good set (putnam-vs-Santos). 7 ahead for the 15K. Putnam took the cash in under 20 minutes in the 1st set.

The better one that year was Putnam -vs- Watson for $25K and Putnam also took the cash in that set.

Mj

Mike,
I was there the bad thing about it was that Dennis W was in big with Shawn's action and after they take down the big score I hit Dennis up for the 2 dimes he owes me and he claimed poverty . I wish you would bring the National championship or at least a regional back to N.E Ohio. How about a regional at Fiddlestix???