Cool...what was the address, please?
The Rack in Detroit
- Thread starter FSutton
- Start date
Cool...what was the address, please?
Funny and sad thread. Imagine if these talented folks had focused on their efforts on something productive for their families and society.
But then there wouldn't be these great stories
It is far easier to play pool than to start a business or get a medical/ law degree.
Dint fool yourself into thinking coz one is great at pooll, he would parlay into success elsewhere.
Imo, the opposite is true in more cases than not.
13400 Capital St, Oak Park. The pic i posted was a few yrs old. Building is gone now. Google maps still has it as SuperiorBallons until you zoom in and its gone. There's two small suv's parked on the slab of the Rack building. https://www.google.com/maps/@42.454...4!1s3aI5_3ZgLv82GCpIF0gmwA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 The building across the street with the "diamonds" on the front(13405) used to be kind of a hq for some of the Detroit heavies that hung-out at the Rack. https://www.onepocket.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7484
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You're kidding, right?? Productive AND families???? We are talking about a poolhall,right?Funny and sad thread. Imagine if these talented folks had focused on their efforts on something productive for their families and society.
But then there wouldn't be these great stories
Betting your life savings on a pool match and performing at a high level for 24+ hours without sleep and while on a drug and alcohol bender is far beyond the capabilities of the vast majority of people.
Just to say these high-end players and gamblers were very intelligent, motivated and talented people. Their traditional productivity (or lack of it) doesn't take that away from them.
On my one and only trip to the Rack (Cornbread got me in) I watched a match between Jimmy Reid and some other guy, with Jimmy giving up the six ball and the break. They were playing a set for ten grand (1976) and I asked if anyone wanted to bet 100 a game on the side. Some guy looked at me and laughed, "You have to bet at least 500 a game to get action in here!" I knew then this was the wrong place for me and I had five grand in my pocket. That was all my traveling money and there were no ATM's back then where you could reload.
Mr. Balled, just as a side note...
I grew up about a mile north of there (The Rack) in Oak Park: 13330 Rosemary, same side of the street and almost the same address just east of coolidge.
3 bedrooms, 1 bath for a family of 6 (3 boys in one room, one for the baby sister). 
We moved to a bigger house about 1 1/2 miles further from the poolroom about 4 years before I began to play.
Ahh...then I now know why you beat on me so mercilessly.
I grew up in a county that had 0 pool halls.
I grew up in a county that had 0 pool halls.
Ed"Detroit Whitey' Beuchene used "The Rack' as him home base. That pretty much says what you need to know about the clientele!
Freddy Bentivegna will have numerous war stories to add should he see this thread.
Some of the stuff that went on there, the statue of limitations STILL hasn't expired!
I knew Whitey, he had invited me to come see him in the early 60's. I watched him play at the Cotton Bowling Palace, in Dallas, TX
Detroit Whitey was the lowest of the low-lifes in the Pool world! :shakehead:
I heard he hock'd his kid to play a set. If that's true that is pretty low indeed.
I didn't want to say that about him, we weren't friends. We met at the palace & that was that. I hate to say bad things about dead people, but you did it for me... He talked about things in Pool in the Detroit area. He was playing Bobby Chapman that evening. One of the fellows here at Magoos knew Whitey, his remarks weren't quite as bad as yours...
The Rack II?
Ancient history now and Billy can say better if I am right or wrong but I think Billy and a small group tried to revive the rack in Dallas some time back. The big betters didn't come fast enough, Billy tangled in some tough action, and the place was a money pit, meant in a bad way.
There was no way for the place to generate the income to cover the overhead without big action and the house getting a piece of the pie. Sad, it had the makings of a fine private pool club. As a commercial venture there was no real source of income. Cheap table time and a few snacks, no alcohol license or place to put a bar. Seems like you might have been able to bring your own beer in but it has been awhile and my memory of only a couple visits there isn't the best.
Hu
Ancient history now and Billy can say better if I am right or wrong but I think Billy and a small group tried to revive the rack in Dallas some time back. The big betters didn't come fast enough, Billy tangled in some tough action, and the place was a money pit, meant in a bad way.
There was no way for the place to generate the income to cover the overhead without big action and the house getting a piece of the pie. Sad, it had the makings of a fine private pool club. As a commercial venture there was no real source of income. Cheap table time and a few snacks, no alcohol license or place to put a bar. Seems like you might have been able to bring your own beer in but it has been awhile and my memory of only a couple visits there isn't the best.
Hu
Bon Appetit! :grin-square:
Just read it all again...still a great read.
FIREBATTCHIEF06
New member
Cornbread Red
My Father used to go to The Rack with his coworkers after the midnight shift at the Chevrolet Plant off of Chrysler Fwy, Detroit. He told me about a time when Cornbread Red Burge came in, picked up a broom, chalked up the handle tip and proceeded to run the table against one of the regulars there. My Father was just amazed and talked about that place all the time.
My Father used to go to The Rack with his coworkers after the midnight shift at the Chevrolet Plant off of Chrysler Fwy, Detroit. He told me about a time when Cornbread Red Burge came in, picked up a broom, chalked up the handle tip and proceeded to run the table against one of the regulars there. My Father was just amazed and talked about that place all the time.
Welcome to our room, BC06!
This has to be one of the best threads ever published on AZB. Highly recommended for new members! The locations , the colorful nicknames, the gripping tales of huge scores (and devastating losses) all coalesce to paint a vivid, technicolor image of one of pool's wildest bygone eras.
Heck even the AZB posters fortunate enough to have lived in that world are an invaluable resource! Toupee Jay, Wincardona, Steve Molako, CJ Wiley, JAM...these folks have experienced a little known part of a life worthy of a Hollywood manuscript. Such a shame that others such as Freddie the Beard are no longer with us to share more of these stories.
For those who often bemoan the "seedy" side of pool and how it holds back the modern game...you may be right. But how much more interesting and exciting is it to read about Cornbread beating someone for the cash using a broomstick? Reading about Cornbread, Freddy the Beard, Ronnie Allen, etc. is just as exciting as was reading about pirates or cowboys when I was a youngster.
Great stuff. At least we have the action room stories at Derby City to pay homage to these colorful characters!
Heck even the AZB posters fortunate enough to have lived in that world are an invaluable resource! Toupee Jay, Wincardona, Steve Molako, CJ Wiley, JAM...these folks have experienced a little known part of a life worthy of a Hollywood manuscript. Such a shame that others such as Freddie the Beard are no longer with us to share more of these stories.
For those who often bemoan the "seedy" side of pool and how it holds back the modern game...you may be right. But how much more interesting and exciting is it to read about Cornbread beating someone for the cash using a broomstick? Reading about Cornbread, Freddy the Beard, Ronnie Allen, etc. is just as exciting as was reading about pirates or cowboys when I was a youngster.
Great stuff. At least we have the action room stories at Derby City to pay homage to these colorful characters!