Please Post Pics of Barry Szamboti Cues

Fatboy said:
i took a little morphine and played 45 minutes the other night, i played terible it has been so long,

all you have to do to play with a Barry(what ever that is?) ;) , or a Gus(we all know who he is-the grandmaster) is come to Vegas, if your lucky I might have a Bushka and a Tad or to you can hit balls with. Actually this offer is for damn near anyone, no drunks, druggies or thievs allowed. I 'm not a show off, let me tell a short story about me and then a shorted one about a 8pt Gus that was loaded x5 perhaps the biggest 8pt he ever made.

I grew up in a almost poor home, my parents worked their asses off and did just ok, we never missed dinner but had old junky cars, 800sqft house that was falling apart etc. But they taught me well-i loved them more than anyone ever I am a only child, I took what I learned and made some $$$ not to show off but so I didnt have to live like that, I hated not having a air conditioner and using ice packs in the summer nights or a space heater in the winter. I didnt want to make $$ to be a snob, elitest. $$$ dosent make a person superior to others or better some how. So I set out from a young age to figure out how to make a good living and what I would do with what I made.


Along the way I was 19 and finding out all sorts of things in the world I met people, one guy was Barry Benttencourt(SP?) who owed a pool room, I was proud to show him my McDermott D-26 that my dad bought me, it was alot for my dad and I appericated it-and still do. Barry aske me if I ever heard of Gus, I said "No, who is he". Barry Benntoncourt told me everything about Gus, they were friends. He took out the cue and said here play with it, I was a C player at the time. Barry Benncourt knew that I could hold a cue and just asked that I be careful with it and not ding it, I said that I would be very careful with it, he walked away, I played with it for 30-45 minutes with it maybe an hour. Never once did he come up and bother me, He just let me do my thing with it, I told him I wouldnt move balls with the shaft so I wouldnt ding it etc. He trusted me.

When Barry B. came back he had a big smile on his face, and asked what do you think? I was at a loss for words, at that point in my pool career(for lack of a better word) I had played with alot of different cues mostly mass production stuff, Joss East, McD, Muecci, Mali, there werent as many custom cue makers in 1985 like there is now. I was amazed, wow I played so much better, I said I want to buy one, he said do you know what they cost-I had no clue. I didnt care I just had to have one. He told me a plain one was around $1000-$1500 unless Gus built you one, he continued to educate me that I had no shot of that. I had no shot of spending that much on a cue. I aquired my first Gus a little over a year ago-22 years later. I had other chances but just couldnt pull the trigger. there is magic in Barry and Gus's cues. Even as a C player I could tell the difference. The difference has nothing to to with the price of the cue its the love that goes into the workmanship of the cue, I cant pit my finger on it what it is but WOW you can feel it when you hit a ball, like a home cooked meal with love v. out of the box.

The point of my story, its not a who has the most, best, rarest Szam its about sharing them, I remember that night he let my use that cue with out question 23 years later. He has since passed on, I met him that night. Thats whats its all about in life. People mistake me sometimes and thats cool but I like to share not show off, 90% of the time the other 10% sure its fun to show off a bit. But the real pleasure in life is to give people memories they wont forget.
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Great story Fatboy, and tons of truth. Keep em coming.... I love this thread lots of great pics..............
 
Skins

That is a very unique cue for sure...from the ring above the wrap and on both sides of it. Thanks for sharing!
Pauly

skins said:
here's a unique one.......as far as i know it's the only cue made with this veneer combination ( light blue and holly ) let alone the inlay configuration....
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Unusual veneer colors

Here is a classic Barry. Sorry the pics aren't better.

P4240169.jpg


P4240174.jpg
 
Jimmy,
The leather wrap looks great. Fantastic cue. How's the hit.
I also like the veneer colors, very unusual.
Tom
 
Probably

That is probably the most stunning gambler I have ever seen! (I love the hoppe! (esp the classic veneer colors!)
 
paulybatz said:
I love the hoppe! (esp the classic veneer colors!)
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When I had the cue made I asked Barry to make the veneers like a Titlist, he did almost but not quite.

Can you see the difference?

Go to this link for a bigger photo.
image.popup.php


The prongs and butt sleeve are koa. The wood was given to Gus many years ago by Hawiian Brian and Gus never used it.
There was enough for three cues, this is one of them.

Mostly I play bar room 8ball and this the cue I use, break with too.
 
paulybatz said:
That is probably the most stunning gambler I have ever seen!
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Bigger photo of the 'gambler'
image.popup.php


Barry made the cue as a tribute to his dad his gambling for Gus Destanfo, Gus Szamboti's best friend and Atlantic City running buddy.

The hard eight in the dice is what Gus liked to play on the craps table.

There are three shafts so there is a heart, club, diamond and spade in the different joint protectors.
 
Wow!

That is the tightest...look at the shafts "on" the cue; it is perfect.
I bet it plays as good as it looks too! I am not really a box or gambler fan but it all just works in this example!

Thanks for sharing!

billiardcue said:
Bigger photo of the 'gambler'
image.popup.php


Barry made the cue as a tribute to his dad his gambling for Gus Destanfo, Gus Szamboti's best friend and Atlantic City running buddy.

The hard eight in the dice is what Gus liked to play on the craps table.

There are three shafts so there is a heart, club, diamond and spade in the different joint protectors.
Click to expand...
 
SSach said:
I was lucky enough to meet and have a cue made by B. Szamboti. The cue is simply amazing and I love it, but I cherish the conversations and hospitality that Barry offered. A gentleman to the highest degree .. sorry for the bad pics.. they don't do the cue justice!!!

BSForearm.jpg

BSButt.jpg
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from one Sanjay to another Sanjay.I love this cue. It was very nice to meet you at the expo. I think when you said it was your player ,it made me really happy.
cheers,
Sanj
 
Any more

Any more Barry's out there!

Just talked to Barry today and want to see more of his work!

Thank you in advance for sharing your most prized possessions!
 
Cool thread. Someone had posted like maybe a week ago their new hoppe b. szamboti with black joint collars it was really something.
 
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