Romine's High Pockets, The Polish Prince

[Scott Lee]

Ken...Sorry to hear about your friend George. The Big C is as ugly as it gets, and all we can do is give him our best wishes for the time he has left. I hope several of his friends read your post, and give him a call!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

I spoke with Mr. George Pawelski this past Sunday. We talked for about a half hour, just the two of us. It seemed to take a lot out of him but he wanted to talk to someone.

He went into great detail about his losing the battle. Not in those words. He's still fighting. He has stage four cancer, inoperable. It's almost everywhere now. He's starting radiation therapy next week.

This is director to his friends. If you want to give him a call I know it would lift his spirits. I know when I first posted this it really cheered him up hearing from people with whom he had not spoken to in forty years. If you have a few minutes to spare give him a short call.

Don't let on you heard it from me or read it here. It's about George not me.

 

[Island Drive]

You wouldn't have forgotten George if you played him. He was a bankroll assassin!

I had allot of respect for that generation of players, his and Abruzzo's age. Those guys had salt and I and my wallet, avoided them with all due respect. Sounds like Mexican Johnny wouldn't like the WI water either. It's da Nort', they is inside allot of the year. IL, SD, ND, MN, IA, MI, OH, that belt of more winter than summer especially decades ago, and in FL they Play allot in the summer with the A/C being on. Did he play better than Brunt?

 

[Fenwick]

Ken...Sorry to hear about your friend George. The Big C is as ugly as it gets, and all we can do is give him our best wishes for the time he has left. I hope several of his friends read your post, and give him a call!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Thanks Scott. It's not about me but as I said it's about a living legend, George. He's still golfing If you can believe it. He's tough as nails but even nails bend or break at some point.

 

[1 Lone Wolf]

I was in Beloit a year or two ago, this nice dressed guy comes in and his jacket read the Polish Prince, After watching him hit some balls I went to the tournament board and saw it was George Pawalski. I watched him hit some balls and man was he smooth. I never met him or played him, the word was leave him alone. That was in the 80s. I listened and never went, probably a good move. Hope you feel better Mr. Pawalski.

Gary Lutman

 

[jay helfert]

I had allot of respect for that generation of players, his and Abruzzo's age. Those guys had salt and I and my wallet, avoided them with all due respect. Sounds like Mexican Johnny wouldn't like the WI water either. It's da Nort', they is inside allot of the year. IL, SD, ND, MN, IA, MI, OH, that belt of more winter than summer especially decades ago, and in FL they Play allot in the summer with the A/C being on. Did he play better than Brunt?

Two Georges (Brunt and Pawelski) ruled the gambling scene up there forever. G.B. could grind it out for high stakes against the best players in the country. G.P. on the other hand didn't necessarily bet as high or as often, but he may have actually been the better player overall. G.B. playing 9-Ball was a stone Killer, taking a lot of well known scalps in his day! Meanwhile Jeff Carter may have played better than either guy at One Pocket and close to G.B.'s speed at 14.1 But Jeff mainly stuck to tournaments which he won with frequency.

 

[Quesports]

I had the pleasure of hanging out with The Polish Prince one afternoon at a Red Shoes Bank Tournament a while ago. We decided to go out to Beggars Pizza for supper together, Chicago pizza is one of his favorite foods. He was as happy as ever and I enjoyed hanging out with him and listening to his stories about pool. One of a kind, that's for sure!

 

[pt109]

I spoke with Mr. George Pawelski this past Sunday. We talked for about a half hour, just the two of us. It seemed to take a lot out of him but he wanted to talk to someone.

He went into great detail about his losing the battle. Not in those words. He's still fighting. He has stage four cancer, inoperable. It's almost everywhere now. He's starting radiation therapy next week.

This is director to his friends. If you want to give him a call I know it would lift his spirits. I know when I first posted this it really cheered him up hearing from people with whom he had not spoken to in forty years. If you have a few minutes to spare give him a short call.

Don't let on you heard it from me or read it here. It's about George not me.

I knew George only for about a week, about 15 years ago...
...he was a fine player and a fine person..God bless him.

Fenwick, I plead with you to record a conversation with George for
his legacy...about pool and life.

regards
pt

 

[SCCues]

George Pawalski

I got an Accu-stats video in the mail from The Seniors Tour at Terry Romines pool room in Milwaukee a few years ago and it was Claude Bernatchez vs George Pawalski. I'd seen Claude play before, but I wasn't familiar with George at that time so I didn't know what kind of match I was about to watch. Both George and Claude played phenomenal and it was a great match to watch. I found out quickly how good George played as he jumped out to a big lead. Claude being the fighter that he is came back at the end to make it a very exciting match and a pleasant surprise. I checked Accu-stats and this match is still available. One thing I remembered about George was he was playing with a special Schon cue that I used to own one just like it years ago (I wish I still owned it).

I wish George the best.......

James

 

[Island Drive]

Jay; No, we never played for money, many times in tournaments. I'd have to say I was up a couple of games in tournys.
I'll tell you a funny story, It's 1988 and I'm manager of Hollywood Billiards, there's a BIG tournament in NY, I couldn't make it but, AL went. He calls me up and says Bill, there's a Korean here that wants to play me for $3,000.00 and lay me 3 to1 on the money, 100 pts. Do you want some, I said yeh I'll take 1k, I figure they're goin to play more than 1 game. Well, needless to say we all know who the Korean player was NOW, Sang Lee. Al got beat 100 to 65, no chance, there went my Gnote.

Not many people really understood Al, I did, they would say He's cheap, arogant, bragadosia, not really. If he liked someone he would help them out, no questions. Al was a dear friend, and I was truley sad when he passed away, He was like a big brother to me.

Our two styles of play were completely different, he deffensive, I aggressive, we argued all the time on this subject, but in the end we'd goto Canter's or Jerry's deli to eat, that seemed to quiet us down for a while.

I miss him;
Bill Smith "Mr3Cushion

P.S. If Al had the RIGHT mixture, he was tough to beat!

I was fortunate enough to of met him in Denver, at Shakespeare's/Jerry Karsh's piano bar Pool Room, with heated 3 cushion tables on individually poured concrete slabs....then the floor poured around em. They had Kim Steel 9 footers, with the room divided into players on one side, and recreational players on the other. The raised seating/piano bar split the room. With the back bar the widest area, sat maybe 10 stools + service bar for the servers.

 

[pooler]

On behalf of the Polish Pool community I would like to wish him strength in this, such difficult battle.
... We keep You, the "Polish Prince", in our prayers and may You stay strong ...

 

[Fenwick]

I knew George only for about a week, about 15 years ago...
...he was a fine player and a fine person..God bless him.

Fenwick, I plead with you to record a conversation with George for
his legacy...about pool and life.

regards
pt

If only I could. He's not one to brag. He lets his cue do the talking. As I've said before I knew him when I was a teenager and he was in his mid to late to mid 20's. He has never told me a story about being on the road. I've heard more then a few from the Elder Statesmen at Romine's. Together they could write a book. He's a remarkable man. Came in cold and ran a 90+ on me twice. Please, if he's your friend give him a call.