Ronnie Allen 206 interview 7 parts

freddy the beard

freddy the beard

Freddy Bentivegna
Silver Member
Here is the seven part Ronnie Allen interview in 2006. Ronnie, in part 1, like Artie and I, agrees that Harold Worst was the greatest all around player.
Ronnie is a little fudgy with the actual dates, but mostly on time with everything else.


http://bankingwiththebeard.com/?p=453#RonnieRichieandFats

Beard

I had forgotten that Worst beat Lassiter also at Tampa in 64, playing 9ball for money (along with everybody else). Same tourn Fats challenged Squirrel to play even for $400 a game and ran four 8 and outs in a row the 1st 4 games. Squirrel did prevail, however.
 
It thrills me to see Harold Worst's name mentioned with such respect.
I consider he and Walter Lindrum to be the two finest cues-men ever.

But Ronnie Allen is right up there also.He was the Reyes of the 60's.
It was said he was 2 years ahead of everybody at 1-pocket.
He played fantastic 1-handed anything (including 3-cushion)
and ran 6 racks of payball on a trap 6x12 at Cochran's.
He beat Cisero Murphy at straight pool in Vegas (betting all his
money).He beat 8th world ranked Bill Werbenuik every time they
played snooker(10ft or 12ft).

He was a wolverine to gamble or make a game with but he's
mellowed nicely.If anything he's too modest now.

Thanx ,this has been great Freddy
 
Fred,
Thank you for the great site you have! Absolutely awesome material! And thank you for loving the champions of our great sport as you do!

Also, to anybody who has not yet purchased the Beard's books and DVDs, you have no idea what you're missing. Fantastic stuff for a very reasonable price!
 
I wish there were more examples of Harold Worst play recorded on tape... So far I have seen only one title really
 
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Thank you!!!

I don't know how you got the Wide World of Sport to get this to you but I am really really glad you did. I always wanted to see Harold play after hearing so much about him and now I feel a whole lot better. Great job Freddy and Thanks again.
 
Freddy, thanks so much for the fantastic stuff on your site. Ronnie Allen tells some great stories.

Ronnie tells about Harold Worst going over to Belgium in the last year of his life (1965 I guess) and winning a three cushion championship with the highest average ever recorded up to that time. I had never heard about that and wonder if it is really true. Raymond Ceulemans, a Belgian, was winning everything at that point - he won the world's championship 11 years in a row starting in 1963. Ronnie also has Harold winning some snooker championship having never played snooker before. Kind of hard to believe.

Even if neither is true, Harold Worst is still in a class by himself. He was at the top in billiards and then, because nothing was happening in billiards, to take up pool and to become the best in pool also is .... there is hardly any word to describe it. And all the while having a straight job (Worst Shoes, according to Ronnie). I envy your having known him.
 
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Chi2dxa said:
I don't know how you got the Wide World of Sport to get this to you but I am really really glad you did. I always wanted to see Harold play after hearing so much about him and now I feel a whole lot better. Great job Freddy and Thanks again.
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I happen to have the original fantasy book with that cover. (Creepy?)
It's buried in an old trunk, (along with hundreds more) I have forgotten who drew it, I think Frank Frazetta, but it might have been Boris somethingor other. A Frazetta imitator at the very least.

Beard
 
Our Memory blurs with the years, but Harold Worst was in a league of his own back in the 60's. ALL the players (hustlers and tourney guys) admired and respected him, and no one wanted any piece of him. He was kind of like Shane today, a great tournament player who was always ready to gamble as well. Unlike Worst though, Shane books a loser now and then. Harold didn't!

I am proud to say I knew the man (from a distance) and he was truly a man's man. Quiet, unassuming and yet proud. He backed down from no man or any game. And there wasn't a bet that scared him either. You couldn't high roll Harold. In fact, he liked a stiff bet. If anyone tried to raise the ante on him, they were in for a big surprise. This was what earned him the respect of the top high rollers of that era. Men like Hubert Cokes, Cornbread, Earl Shriver, Ronnie, Squirrel and Weenie Beenie.

Even my all time favorite, Fats, knew where to draw the line. I never heard him utter a disrespectful word to Harold. Or try to hustle him either. Fatty might laugh when Harold walked in the back room. "Worst is here, come and get him boys," he might say. And no one would budge. "What happened to all you hustlers? It's like a library in here all of a sudden," might be Fat's next line.

Probably the only guy (other than Hubert Cokes) that Fats didn't mouth off to, or try to hustle. Bottom line, Harold Worst was an intimidating presence at a pool tournament, unlike anything I've ever seen before or since. Kind of like Efren at One Pocket for all those years, but with Harold it was any and all games.

And yes, Ronnie was THE MAN at One Pocket from the mid 60's to the mid 80's. He had his own twenty year run on top. Yes, Artie was the all time Chicago squeezer, but put them on neutral territory and I'm pretty sure Ronnie would have prevailed. Of course, Artie was not one to take unnecessary chances. I liked Ed Kelly's One Pocket game second and Marvin Henderson third. Eddie Taylor was equally as good as these latter two, but pretty careful about who he matched up with. He didn't like booking losers. Banks was another story. Taylor would play God and give him a ball! :) Only Bugs was in his league, and maybe Cannonball if he was sober.
 
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Pretty much so

jay helfert said:
Our Memory blurs with the years, but Harold Worst was in a league of his own back in the 60's. ALL the players (hustlers and tourney guys) admired and respected him, and no one wanted any piece of him. He was kind of like Shane today, a great tournament player who was always ready to gamble as well. Unlike Worst though, Shane books a loser now and then. Harold didn't!

I am proud to say I knew the man (from a distance) and he was truly a man's man. Quiet, unassuming and yet proud. He backed down from no man or any game. And there wasn't a bet that scared him either. You couldn't high roll Harold. In fact, he liked a stiff bet. If anyone tried to raise the ante on him, they were in for a big surprise. This was what earned him the respect of the top high rollers of that era. Men like Hubert Cokes, Cornbread, Earl Shriver, Ronnie, Squirrel and Weenie Beenie.

Even my all time favorite, Fats, knew where to draw the line. I never heard him utter a disrespectful word to Harold. Or try to hustle him either. Fatty might laugh when Harold walked in the back room. "Worst is here, come and get him boys," he might say. And no one would budge. "What happened to all you hustlers? It's like a library in here all of a sudden," might be Fat's next line.

Probably the only guy (other than Hubert Cokes) that Fats didn't mouth off to, or try to hustle. Bottom line, Harold Worst was an intimidating presence at a pool tournament, unlike anything I've ever seen before or since. Kind of like Efren at One Pocket for all those years, but with Harold it was any and all games.

And yes, Ronnie was THE MAN at One Pocket from the mid 60's to the mid 80's. He had his own twenty year run on top. Yes, Artie was the all time Chicago squeezer, but put them on neutral territory and I'm pretty sure Ronnie would have prevailed. Of course, Artie was not one to take unnecessary chances. I liked Ed Kelly's One Pocket game second and Marvin Henderson third. Eddie Taylor was equally as good as these latter two, but pretty careful about who he matched up with. He didn't like booking losers. Banks was another story. Taylor would play God and give him a ball! :) Only Bugs was in his league, and maybe Cannonball if he was sober.
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Even today Jay, I question my own memories of Harold Worst. Was I imagining how dominating he was at those Johnston City and Stardust tournaments? People think we are probably exaggerating Harold's speed. But everyone must consider this, Ronnie Allen respected very few players, Eddie Taylor, Wimpy and of course, Harold. A very select field.

Jay, I'm not so sure Taylor was careful about matching up. What I remember is that nobody ever asked him for a game. Much like Wimpy. They would ask Harold because he would give up the nuts, and then usually out run them.

One thing that stuck in my mind and maybe you noticed it too Jay, was when a player would go up against Harold, their grip hand would be shaking like a leaf! They could still play, but with a severe case of trembles. Not all trembled, just most. I cant think of anybody else who caused that kind of intimidation.

Beard
 
freddy the beard said:
Even today Jay, I question my own memories of Harold Worst. Was I imagining how dominating he was at those Johnston City and Stardust tournaments? People think we are probably exaggerating Harold's speed. But everyone must consider this, Ronnie Allen respected very few players, Eddie Taylor, Wimpy and of course, Harold. A very select field.

Jay, I'm not so sure Taylor was careful about matching up. What I remember is that nobody ever asked him for a game. Much like Wimpy. They would ask Harold because he would give up the nuts, and then usually out run them.

One thing that stuck in my mind and maybe you noticed it too Jay, was when a player would go up against Harold, their grip hand would be shaking like a leaf! They could still play, but with a severe case of trembles. Not all trembled, just most. I cant think of anybody else who caused that kind of intimidation.

Beard
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You're probably right about Taylor and Wimpy. Everyone gave them both a wide berth. They weren't really "game makers", not knowing exactly how to match up. They needed someone like Earl Shriver or Cokes to help them match up a game. Giving big spots was not something they liked doing. They preferred playing other good players even, or close to it. But after you beat everyone around, it gets hard to find a game.

Even Ronnie didn't woof at Taylor to play One Pocket and he would play Kelly or Marvin. Same with all the young champions and Lassiter at 9-Ball. They didn't throw any challenges at him, until Worst came along.
 
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