St. Louie Louie
- Thread starter Fast Davie NC
- Start date
Lets remember the good times, lets leave the gloom and dome behind. This thread was suppose to be about the Good Times when Louie was out Road. Please lets hear some good stories about Louie Gambling, Hustling some fool or about one of his great one of a kind shots that blew everyones socks off.
Thanks Craig
Thanks Craig
Ok
I had a pool room here in town, and I had a few young guys who came in that I had been friends with for quite a while. I always stressed to them, to look at the pictures in every pool magazine they could get their hands on. Read about the person in the pictures and burn it into their brain. If you're gonna gamble, at least try to protect yourself.
We were all talking about hustles 1 night and my friend Tim starts telling me about being in St. Louis staying with his sister. He had gone to the pool room and was beating some guy for $10 a game and the guy quits. Not too long after, a guy walks in wearing a work shirt with the name of some ice cream company on it. Asks Tim to play and he says ok. They play for a bit and Tim gets hooked on a ball. He says he pulled off the best jump shot he ever made and as he turns, he see's the ice cream guy making a gesture with his hand like he's masturbating. He said,"I should have known something was up right then." Well, the guy finally busts him, and he goes home. 2 days later he goes to the poolroom and the guy is playing someone who can really play. He see's Louis running out from everywhere, play a whole lot better than the last time he seen him. He asked someone and they told him who it was.
All I could tell him was "I told you so"...... One of the best players in the country, and you don't have a clue.
manwon said:
I had a pool room here in town, and I had a few young guys who came in that I had been friends with for quite a while. I always stressed to them, to look at the pictures in every pool magazine they could get their hands on. Read about the person in the pictures and burn it into their brain. If you're gonna gamble, at least try to protect yourself.
We were all talking about hustles 1 night and my friend Tim starts telling me about being in St. Louis staying with his sister. He had gone to the pool room and was beating some guy for $10 a game and the guy quits. Not too long after, a guy walks in wearing a work shirt with the name of some ice cream company on it. Asks Tim to play and he says ok. They play for a bit and Tim gets hooked on a ball. He says he pulled off the best jump shot he ever made and as he turns, he see's the ice cream guy making a gesture with his hand like he's masturbating. He said,"I should have known something was up right then." Well, the guy finally busts him, and he goes home. 2 days later he goes to the poolroom and the guy is playing someone who can really play. He see's Louis running out from everywhere, play a whole lot better than the last time he seen him. He asked someone and they told him who it was.
All I could tell him was "I told you so"...... One of the best players in the country, and you don't have a clue.
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I played Louie in a tournament in the early 70's and I had him stuck 7 - 2 going to 8. There was three balls left on the table and I was straight in on the 7. I need to make those three balls to beat the great Louie Roberts. It was then that I noticed everyone in the room watching. Needless to say I dogged the s**t out of that ball. From that point on I never saw the light of day. If he didn't run out on me he put me in a position that I couldn't even kick my way out of. As pisseed off as I was with myself, I enjoyed watching Louie play. He had complete control over everything he did on that pool table.
satman said:
Ok, I'll bite again but I am sure that it is coming that I will be accused that I did not know Louie.
The story you relate happened to many. This was all before the internet & all people had were magazines to possibly know what Louie looked like. That was Louie's 'Frank the Ice Cream Man' shirt. The owner of the pool room & Louie's best friend also owned a frozen yogurt stand. He had this shirt ready for Louie to wear whenever someone came in & did not know who Louie was. I saw it time & time again. Some guy would come in, ask for a game and then one of us would shout over to Louie in the corner 'Hey Frank, feel like playing a game?'. Louie was a great hustler at this because he was a great actor. I wish I had on tape him acting out scenes from Scarface. It was classic. Anyways, Louie must have been on good behavior the night he played your friend because usually Louie eventually couldn't hold back on the hustle & would let his stroke out. Then we would all put our heads down because we knew the fun was over. Louie is still the only pool player that I know that would walk into a room and announce, "I am Louie Roberts, the greatest pool player alive. Who wants the 7 ball?" Nowadays, all you hear when matching up is about is that this player doesn't play anymore or hasn't played in 6 months or he just lost to so and so and can't make a ball.
Sounds familiar
I have heard this same scenario from many old time players in the St. Louis area. I know Watchez knows his stuff when it comes to Louie. I heard that some guys would get disgusted when they would take a trip with Louie, cause he wasn't much for sneaking up on guys and would walk in and say exactly this. I really wish I could of watched him play. I think I may have met him when I was real young but don't remember. One of the greatest!
watchez said:
I have heard this same scenario from many old time players in the St. Louis area. I know Watchez knows his stuff when it comes to Louie. I heard that some guys would get disgusted when they would take a trip with Louie, cause he wasn't much for sneaking up on guys and would walk in and say exactly this. I really wish I could of watched him play. I think I may have met him when I was real young but don't remember. One of the greatest!
1on1pooltournys said:
I wonder if your dad ever played him? I know I never saw that and never heard any stories of that either. I know Nick would play Louie at the end of tournaments, after Louie was up for 3 days and had been beating everyone. Nick would come in all rested from playing in the tournament only & then beat Louie out of all the $$$. I am sure that your dad was probably in with Nick for a few of those scores.
Bar Tables???
As great as Louie was, all the stories of grandure were accomplished on a 9' and even 10' table on occasion. Louie's bar table game was kind of like Louie's head, all jumbled up.
The list of gifted shortstops who beat Louie on the bar box is long. My best friend, Bill Stack, beat Louie on the bar box in Tupelo, MS. Jimmy "Flyboy" Spears" thumped him on more than one occasion. Many other lesser names had the same bar table success.
As great as Louie was, all the stories of grandure were accomplished on a 9' and even 10' table on occasion. Louie's bar table game was kind of like Louie's head, all jumbled up.
The list of gifted shortstops who beat Louie on the bar box is long. My best friend, Bill Stack, beat Louie on the bar box in Tupelo, MS. Jimmy "Flyboy" Spears" thumped him on more than one occasion. Many other lesser names had the same bar table success.
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I wonder if jam could ask the Keither about stories and playing Louie?
Louie vs Keith
Louie vs Keith would have been a super tough game on a 9' table and I know they have played. Though it is close, in the long run, I believe Keith would get the cash.
Here is the real question I would like Keith to answer: Would/did Louie ever agree to play you on the bar table and if he did,,,,,,,,,,how much weight did he want?
Louie vs Keith would have been a super tough game on a 9' table and I know they have played. Though it is close, in the long run, I believe Keith would get the cash.
Here is the real question I would like Keith to answer: Would/did Louie ever agree to play you on the bar table and if he did,,,,,,,,,,how much weight did he want?
Stand by...
Keith McCready
Pro Player
hemicudas said:
Bill, back in the day, Louie couldn't get no money to play me on a bar table, and that's the truth. If Louie did match up with me on the bar table, I probably would have given him the wild 8 and 9. If Louie had his choice, he wouldn't ask for weight. That's the way it was, but he couldn't get no money to play me even on a bar table.
We battled quite a few times on the 9 footers. I was giving him the call 8 over there in Newport Beach, California. It was a real tough game. I ended up breaking him at least seven or eight times, but Louie did beat me a couple times too. He'd catch that one high gear, and sometimes I couldn't overcome it or I'd run out of dough.
On the bar tables at that time, I was pretty unstoppable, especially in the '80s. Really, there wasn't too many people that could beat me on the bar box or 4 by 8's, especially with the big cueball. The big cueball was my cup of tea!
The big cueball went out of circulation, as you know. Now they have mud balls, sort of similar to a big cueball but not nearly the same thing.
Louie was one of my favorite guys to play, when we did match up. It was always entertaining. He was the little Elvis of pool, and I wish he was still here.
Here's a cute story. Buddy Hall, Leonard, me, Louie, and Louie's girlfriend were out somewhere, on the road at a tournament, and there was a swimming pool in the hotel.
We were all having fun poolside, drinking, carrying on, shooting the breeze. Louie said to me, "You want to race my old lady in the swimming pool?" I said yeah, but only if I could say "On your mark, get set, go." Louie said sure, and he wanted to bet me 500. What I didn't know at the time was that Louie's girl was almost an Olympic swimmer.
To make a long story short, we bellied up to the line. Buddy Hall held the money, and off we went. I was ahead of her, but she was coming full force every stride. I shut my eyes and put it into turbocharge, which I was pretty fast myself.
I didn't know the end of the pool was as near as it was when I was giving it my all, and I cracked my head wide open on the side of the pool at the finish line. Needless to say, I almost went unconscious, but I got the money, just by a smidge. True story. That was just one of many things that me and Louie bet on. We used to like to bet each other on anything. We'd bet on an ant race if they had one.
Couple more Keith...
Couple more Keith...
Ken
Keith McCready said:Bill, back in the day, Louie couldn't get no money to play me on a bar table, and that's the truth. If Louie did match up with me on the bar table, I probably would have given him the wild 8 and 9. If Louie had his choice, he wouldn't ask for weight. That's the way it was, but he couldn't get no money to play me even on a bar table.
We battled quite a few times on the 9 footers. I was giving him the call 8 over there in Newport Beach, California. It was a real tough game. I ended up breaking him at least seven or eight times, but Louie did beat me a couple times too. He'd catch that one high gear, and sometimes I couldn't overcome it or I'd run out of dough.
On the bar tables at that time, I was pretty unstoppable, especially in the '80s. Really, there wasn't too many people that could beat me on the bar box or 4 by 8's, especially with the big cueball. The big cueball was my cup of tea!
The big cueball went out of circulation, as you know. Now they have mud balls, sort of similar to a big cueball but not nearly the same thing.
Louie was one of my favorite guys to play, when we did match up. It was always entertaining. He was the little Elvis of pool, and I wish he was still here.
Here's a cute story. Buddy Hall, Leonard, me, Louie, and Louie's girlfriend were out somewhere, on the road at a tournament, and there was a swimming pool in the hotel.
We were all having fun poolside, drinking, carrying on, shooting the breeze. Louie said to me, "You want to race my old lady in the swimming pool?" I said yeah, but only if I could say "On your mark, get set, go." Louie said sure, and he wanted to bet me 500. What I didn't know at the time was that Louie's girl was almost an Olympic swimmer.
To make a long story short, we bellied up to the line. Buddy Hall held the money, and off we went. I was ahead of her, but she was coming full force every stride. I shut my eyes and put it into turbocharge, which I was pretty fast myself.
I didn't know the end of the pool was as near as it was when I was giving it my all, and I cracked my head wide open on the side of the pool at the finish line. Needless to say, I almost went unconscious, but I got the money, just by a smidge. True story. That was just one of many things that me and Louie bet on. We used to like to bet each other on anything. We'd bet on an ant race if they had one.
Couple more Keith...
Ken
Keith McCready said:Bill, back in the day, Louie couldn't get no money to play me on a bar table, and that's the truth. If Louie did match up with me on the bar table, I probably would have given him the wild 8 and 9. If Louie had his choice, he wouldn't ask for weight. That's the way it was, but he couldn't get no money to play me even on a bar table.
We battled quite a few times on the 9 footers. I was giving him the call 8 over there in Newport Beach, California. It was a real tough game. I ended up breaking him at least seven or eight times, but Louie did beat me a couple times too. He'd catch that one high gear, and sometimes I couldn't overcome it or I'd run out of dough.
On the bar tables at that time, I was pretty unstoppable, especially in the '80s. Really, there wasn't too many people that could beat me on the bar box or 4 by 8's, especially with the big cueball. The big cueball was my cup of tea!
The big cueball went out of circulation, as you know. Now they have mud balls, sort of similar to a big cueball but not nearly the same thing.
Louie was one of my favorite guys to play, when we did match up. It was always entertaining. He was the little Elvis of pool, and I wish he was still here.
Here's a cute story. Buddy Hall, Leonard, me, Louie, and Louie's girlfriend were out somewhere, on the road at a tournament, and there was a swimming pool in the hotel.
We were all having fun poolside, drinking, carrying on, shooting the breeze. Louie said to me, "You want to race my old lady in the swimming pool?" I said yeah, but only if I could say "On your mark, get set, go." Louie said sure, and he wanted to bet me 500. What I didn't know at the time was that Louie's girl was almost an Olympic swimmer.
To make a long story short, we bellied up to the line. Buddy Hall held the money, and off we went. I was ahead of her, but she was coming full force every stride. I shut my eyes and put it into turbocharge, which I was pretty fast myself.
I didn't know the end of the pool was as near as it was when I was giving it my all, and I cracked my head wide open on the side of the pool at the finish line. Needless to say, I almost went unconscious, but I got the money, just by a smidge. True story. That was just one of many things that me and Louie bet on. We used to like to bet each other on anything. We'd bet on an ant race if they had one.
Thanks, Keith. Great story. A friend of mine told me how good an athlete you were when you were young. In fact, he stated that he didn't think, Nolan Ryan, could get a fast ball past you in high school. Any truth to that?
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The late Johnny Morrow once told me that Louie was the strongest he ever saw. He explained that during one session Louie was losing after several hours of play. Then just prior to a break he turned to the crowd on the rail and offered to bet he would would break and run out (Note, before the break). He had several takers who all went bust along with his opponenet after the dust settled as he proceeded to break and run seven.
You know
I have no idea how good Louis played that night he beat my friend, and he probably didn't either. I've seen a lot of GREAT pool thru the years and have always had a knack for picking out guys on the hustle. Louis might have run 10 racks on my buddy and he would say the guy just got lucky. Couldn't play shape and had to cut balls in from the other end of the table. I don't know, just relating the story I was told, and the info I tried to pass onto the young players.
I have another friend that lost $400 to a well known Indiana player, who played the pro events, and had no clue for 2 years who the guy was. He wasn't a top rated pro, but well known in Indiana. We happened to be sitting in the bleachers at the Lexington AllStar Open, and he asked me who this guy was. I told him the guys name, and what he needed to be an even game, and he told me too late. Lost $400 2 years ago to him playing even.
watchez said:
I have no idea how good Louis played that night he beat my friend, and he probably didn't either. I've seen a lot of GREAT pool thru the years and have always had a knack for picking out guys on the hustle. Louis might have run 10 racks on my buddy and he would say the guy just got lucky. Couldn't play shape and had to cut balls in from the other end of the table. I don't know, just relating the story I was told, and the info I tried to pass onto the young players.
I have another friend that lost $400 to a well known Indiana player, who played the pro events, and had no clue for 2 years who the guy was. He wasn't a top rated pro, but well known in Indiana. We happened to be sitting in the bleachers at the Lexington AllStar Open, and he asked me who this guy was. I told him the guys name, and what he needed to be an even game, and he told me too late. Lost $400 2 years ago to him playing even.