I always thought he was from Florida. I never remember seeing him around New York. Not once.
New York's top money players
- Thread starter jay helfert
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I always thought he was from Florida. I never remember seeing him around New York. Not once.
Maybe he just stayed away from 7-11 and the NYC rooms where the top players were. From what i hear he was a pretty smart gambler. He seems to have hung on to quite a bit of $$. Im pretty sure he hasnt had a job in the last 20 years but he drives a Cobra and just bought a Condo in Florida.
I do know he played Chinese Mickey at his pool room in NY Chinatown a few times-35-40 years ago or so.
Anyway, if we don't get an answer here-I should see him within a month.
Toby's never had a job, except running a poolroom that he owned! He was triple smart with his money. Ask him about being the first American to make a road trip to Europe. Not to play in tournaments but to hustle pool. Let me just say they may never forget Toby in Germany!
Yes there was-Mickey Hsu (Chinese Mickey) owned it but the Ghost Shadows or their rival gang shot up the place one day and Mickey closed it up.
To his dying day, if you asked about the shooting-Mickey would just shake his head and say no. He wouldnt talk about it and i was pretty close to him. Some kinda Chinese 'code' i guess.
So who the heck was New York Blackie (Blacky??), the guy that came to Charleston to play me while I was out at sea...
He was a white guy btw-When i fist heard about him i thought he was black- I guess a little lame of me. He was
a VERY good friend of Buddy Hall - His name is/was Al Bonife. Played just under the top players. I think he died about about 3-4 years ago. There have been threads on here about him. A search might produce some info.
Thanks, I was wondering where it was located. I like to point out to pool playing buddies where old pool halls used to reside. For example where the NYU dorm building with the Trader Joe's on 14th street was the location of the old Julians, which had two staircases (perfect for running out the back 
.
The chinese cultural code maybe Face. Its not good etiquette to publicly air, perceived as bad taste.
.The chinese cultural code maybe Face. Its not good etiquette to publicly air, perceived as bad taste.
Ervolino
I was standing behind Johnny who was seated at the rail at the Las Vegas cue club. He was watching Tony Watson play Niels Feijen a $500 set of nine ball. A guy next to me said Johnny had just recently ran 365 balls playing straight pool at age 65. Quite impressive. Tony took a tongue lashing outside after losing to Niels by a very big woman that appeared to be staking him. This was some years back while I was out at the BCA nationals.
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Several people in Paducah, recall Blackie and each one tells me he was their best friend....LOL.
Several pictures of him in the local poolhall here.
Ken
Eldridge Tucker told me that Blackie wouldn't have liked the game. I'll never know. Sorry I missed him.
Toby Sweet - aka - New York Toby
Be real strange if he wasn't from New York
Knew about him 32 years ago
Met and gambled with him 28 years ago
He was living in White Plains NY
lenny loder was a player out of boston the north end to be specific. he was known as "jingles. when he was not at the table you could hear him playing w/ the change in his pocket. he was a very good nine baller and 1 hole player he played a hair under nicky "the indian vlahos. was a top shelf backgammon player
In that case, I'm glad I missed him! He did own a few different rooms in Florida, all that he built himself. He liked to build them, get them going and then sell at a handsome profit. Like I said, SMART!
Neil, it would have been about 74 when he came looking for a game with me. I was under water.
I know that Toby came to 7-11. He once played Boston Joey there and broke him. But Joey jot some new money and later beat Toby that same night. I met Toby when he was working in a poolroom in Spring Valley, NY. What a player and what a really nice guy.
Talk about two bulldogs matching up. These guys could have played for days! Toby is a helluva guy, pretty humble considering his abundant talent. But oh what a little tiger he was on the pool table. He had zero quit in him!
I played Toby somewhere in Florida a million years ago. I honestly can't remember the poolroom or the city. At first I thought he plays a lot like me. Just a real good scrambler on the table. But after a while it dawned on me that was getting out every time. He scrambled a lot better than me. I missed once in a while or had to push out. Toby didn't, he just kept on shooting and making balls. We played for ten a game and I decided to quit when I was stuck a hundred. That hundred lasted a couple of hours, but that's about it. Later on I heard that Toby was the last guy to beat Buddy playing even. That news made me a little sick to my stomach.
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i judge people by the way they treat me. I am the worse player in the USA who will actually gamble, but I saw Toby in Julians in 1985 and he still remembered me. Came over to say hello. I believe Toby had an Asian Fixation like I do.
What about Bob The destroyer. What a great unknown player and another nice guy. Also George Mikula, who was not known for gambling was around then.
theevangalist
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The great stories of gambling
Tournaments and fame are one thing and to get noticed take tons of talent but without gambling i mean poolhalls just wouldnt be the same. it would be quite. i mean come on its always fun to here playrers go at it about the game there going to battle it out in and not to mention the elite gamblers who will flip a coin a bet 100 you know!! I am a very competitive player but it is definately always nice to change up the pace a little bit with a little wagering i mean it is a part of pool and to master all aspects of it you would definately have to put up some cheese so hats off to gamblers out ther without you pool wouldnt be the same!!
Tournaments and fame are one thing and to get noticed take tons of talent but without gambling i mean poolhalls just wouldnt be the same. it would be quite. i mean come on its always fun to here playrers go at it about the game there going to battle it out in and not to mention the elite gamblers who will flip a coin a bet 100 you know!! I am a very competitive player but it is definately always nice to change up the pace a little bit with a little wagering i mean it is a part of pool and to master all aspects of it you would definately have to put up some cheese so hats off to gamblers out ther without you pool wouldnt be the same!!