Hello Beard,
You have any stories about "THE LEFT HAND DUKE"? Was he as good as I have heard from former players, cue makers and big money players? Was he that great?
Bumbay
Last edited:
The Rack in Detroit
- Thread starter FSutton
- Start date
Hello Beard,
You have any stories about "THE LEFT HAND DUKE"? Was he as good as I have heard from former players, cue makers and big money players? Was he that great?
Bumbay
The Rack
Well I lived 7 houses off the corner from the rack and I was friends with Gil Elias family so I was let(buzzed in) at an early age of 16. I learned my pool at Cushion and Cue which was 1/2 mile from the Rack. I spent all my time between these 2 places before I went into the Army in 1966. Just some of the names that were in the Rack at any given time. Freddy Salem,Baby Face,Jew Paul,Jimmy Mataya,Pittsburgh John,CalifJohn,PeterRabbit,JoeMarx,Fusco,Cornbread,Jonesy,Ritchie Ambrose Billy Incardone. just to name a few.The games were outrageous and so was the betting. One pocket,7 ball on a snooker table,banks and 9 ball.Best story Jonesie walking in with about 5-6 black players and 2 shopping bags of money making games.
The place was the Real "Color of Money"!
Well I lived 7 houses off the corner from the rack and I was friends with Gil Elias family so I was let(buzzed in) at an early age of 16. I learned my pool at Cushion and Cue which was 1/2 mile from the Rack. I spent all my time between these 2 places before I went into the Army in 1966. Just some of the names that were in the Rack at any given time. Freddy Salem,Baby Face,Jew Paul,Jimmy Mataya,Pittsburgh John,CalifJohn,PeterRabbit,JoeMarx,Fusco,Cornbread,Jonesy,Ritchie Ambrose Billy Incardone. just to name a few.The games were outrageous and so was the betting. One pocket,7 ball on a snooker table,banks and 9 ball.Best story Jonesie walking in with about 5-6 black players and 2 shopping bags of money making games.
The place was the Real "Color of Money"!
Rosie?
Wasnt that "Rosie?" I thought his name was Rosenbloom, or Rosenberg. Airplane Ben I didnt know.
Beard
Wasnt that "Rosie?" I thought his name was Rosenbloom, or Rosenberg. Airplane Ben I didnt know.
Beard
Cecil
The Left Hand Duke was Cecil the Serpent Tugwell. He was a pretty good player. He originally played pool right handed, got injured and switched to the other side and played just as good. He was not a pleasant loser.
Beard
The Left Hand Duke was Cecil the Serpent Tugwell. He was a pretty good player. He originally played pool right handed, got injured and switched to the other side and played just as good. He was not a pleasant loser.
Beard
Freddy
I always though that Cecil switching hands was one of the greatest stories of determination I have ever seen or heard. Of course, what else was Cecil going to do, get a job?
Kevin
Last edited:
There were 2 Baby Faces that frequented the Capitol Cue Club, Baby Face Al Whitlow and Baby Face Charlie Conlon.
Kevin
Ahhh I seee! You have him confused with Bill "Airplane Bill" aka "Rosie" Rosenbaum.
Airplane Bill was found by Gangster Mike aka "Superfly" one night when the racetrack was dead because of a snowstorm. He got him to go to a poolroom and it was never the same after that.
Airplane Ben Braskey was Bill Braskeys older tougher brother who was Chuck Norris' tougher tougher brother.
The stories that some people come up with are a joke Freddie. We have people here in Detroit that come up with stuff like how they were there everyday and hung out with champions and we never ever saw them in there. If they were, they came with someone and stayed out of sight.
Cornbread played Jimmy Mataya one time when Floyd was hitting em better than anyone.
Jimmy asked Red to play STRAIGHT POOL!!! LOL
Red said he wasn't playing no shitty game to 250 or 500 points where you couldn't win enough for a cup of coffee.
He told Mataya he'd play races to 25 for a thousand. Jimmy went for it and Cornbread absolutly tortured him and I mean tortured him. He must have beat him 10-15 games. It was brutal.
Can you picture Red shootin just to run 2 racks, LOL.
Clarify
Steve, you are saying that Airplane Bill was in reality, Rosie Rosenbaum, right?
I do not know of anybody else at the Rack that contributed 50 million to the pool players retirement fund.
Beard
Good story about the Rooster (Cornbread). Makes sense to me.
Steve, you are saying that Airplane Bill was in reality, Rosie Rosenbaum, right?
I do not know of anybody else at the Rack that contributed 50 million to the pool players retirement fund.
Beard
Good story about the Rooster (Cornbread). Makes sense to me.
Why the House Get Paid?
The owner couldn't afford all the grease.
Maybe a little palm grease inventory?
The owner couldn't afford all the grease.
Rocky, I sent you a PM
Table time at the rack
Contrary to some reports on this forum the charges at the RACK
were reasonable.When you made a score the charge was 5%.
You could practise for hours when it was slow - the charge was
1$ for the 'lights' - small money games paid 5$ per hour
ps
in a former post i think i got confused about some names - Airplane,Ben and Rosie.My knowlege of the Rack is pre-71 and post-77.
[A horse owner named Ben Calvin gambled at the Miscue and the early Rack .He bought a new cue and after a short time he said he was going to get a big 52 painted on his case 'cause it cost him 52,000]
Contrary to some reports on this forum the charges at the RACK
were reasonable.When you made a score the charge was 5%.
You could practise for hours when it was slow - the charge was
1$ for the 'lights' - small money games paid 5$ per hour
ps
in a former post i think i got confused about some names - Airplane,Ben and Rosie.My knowlege of the Rack is pre-71 and post-77.
[A horse owner named Ben Calvin gambled at the Miscue and the early Rack .He bought a new cue and after a short time he said he was going to get a big 52 painted on his case 'cause it cost him 52,000]
You know the main spot everybody played at before The Rack was at "The Hole" on Woodward right?
Gil had "Cushion and Cue" and when Ray Abrams bought it Gil then opened Capital Billiards.
Do you happen to know who Mike Thomas or Mike Selleck were?
The way I heard it (and you'd be in a way better position to know) Gil got sick of the heat that Cornbread's MAMMOTH gambling brought on his public establishment. so he sold the Cushion and Cue (possibly after a raid where Cornbread had 10s of thousands on the light) and opened The Capital as a private club, pretty much to accommodate Cornbread and the whales he brought in (and down).
Kevin
Last edited:
Missed the Hole..not the 1rst time
I didn't get in action in Detroit till '67 - Red told me about the Hole.
The place i would've like to have seen is the Detroit Rec,i heard it was
a palace.Never heard of either Mikes.Knew Mike Sardeli and Mike 'Super
Fly'.
I didn't get in action in Detroit till '67 - Red told me about the Hole.
The place i would've like to have seen is the Detroit Rec,i heard it was
a palace.Never heard of either Mikes.Knew Mike Sardeli and Mike 'Super
Fly'.
Just a nice saturday afternoon *bump* to see if I can sweat anymore Rack stories... C'mon Steve, Beard & others.... hope to hear more stories soon
Horseface Harry
(Here is an old post someone made and my reply to it.)
Cornbread used to call him Horseface. His name is Harry Aporff. Mrs. Red called him peckerhead. He played pretty good. Just good enough to lose to California John McCue when they matched up.
I remember hearing from Red about a big score that they made at the Rack. Harry played someone one pocket. Washington Tony. The guy kept asking Harry to jack the bet and he wouldn't. The sideline accomodated the guy and won 50,000 dollars.
After it was over, Harry had won two or three thousand dollars and went around the room looking for tips. Most everyone told him to go f*ck himself.
Red used to give Harry 10-8. Red never payed any attention to how many balls he had spotted and just kept putting them up when Harry told him that he still owed some. He sometimes gave Harry 12 or 13 to 8 with as many balls as he put up.
He liked to call himself Harry the Horse, but we always called him Horseface.
(This was my reply)
I was in The Rack for that match. Horseface played a skinny black player named Washington Tony. From Washington, DC, naturally. They started out playing even Onepocket for $50 a game. I aint exactly sure if Horseface ever raised it or not but I know his bet never went over $100. (They may have started for $100) Tony had came into the poolroom with a shaving kit full of 100s and gave it to Gil Elias the counterman to hold. Harry won every game in a row and the sideline really bet it up with Tony. In the end Harry had won either 11,12, or 13 in a row and Tony had emptied the shaving kit and was stuck $50,000. I'll never forget the sight of Tony asking Gil for the empty shaving kit and then bopping out the door with it. Nobody gave Harry anything. I didn't bet on the match. I was angry because the day before, Tony played me 2 games, lucked out and won the 1st game, and when I won the 2nd game, he quit me. I thought it should have been my score.
Beard
(Here is an old post someone made and my reply to it.)
Cornbread used to call him Horseface. His name is Harry Aporff. Mrs. Red called him peckerhead. He played pretty good. Just good enough to lose to California John McCue when they matched up.
I remember hearing from Red about a big score that they made at the Rack. Harry played someone one pocket. Washington Tony. The guy kept asking Harry to jack the bet and he wouldn't. The sideline accomodated the guy and won 50,000 dollars.
After it was over, Harry had won two or three thousand dollars and went around the room looking for tips. Most everyone told him to go f*ck himself.
Red used to give Harry 10-8. Red never payed any attention to how many balls he had spotted and just kept putting them up when Harry told him that he still owed some. He sometimes gave Harry 12 or 13 to 8 with as many balls as he put up.
He liked to call himself Harry the Horse, but we always called him Horseface.
(This was my reply)
I was in The Rack for that match. Horseface played a skinny black player named Washington Tony. From Washington, DC, naturally. They started out playing even Onepocket for $50 a game. I aint exactly sure if Horseface ever raised it or not but I know his bet never went over $100. (They may have started for $100) Tony had came into the poolroom with a shaving kit full of 100s and gave it to Gil Elias the counterman to hold. Harry won every game in a row and the sideline really bet it up with Tony. In the end Harry had won either 11,12, or 13 in a row and Tony had emptied the shaving kit and was stuck $50,000. I'll never forget the sight of Tony asking Gil for the empty shaving kit and then bopping out the door with it. Nobody gave Harry anything. I didn't bet on the match. I was angry because the day before, Tony played me 2 games, lucked out and won the 1st game, and when I won the 2nd game, he quit me. I thought it should have been my score.
Beard
Who was the best 9-ball, 1P, 14.1 and banks player in The Rack (for the cash)?
Dave
Dave
Spring of '78
Harley from Jacksonville and' Frisco'Jack Cooney made the Rack a stop on their road trip. Harley announced his presence by betting $500 as soon as he got in the door.He looked at a guy racking and said "I'll take the tall guy".
Harley then matched up with Cornbread.He got the 8 playing 10 ball.
Harley lost almost every game for an hour.Red then broke dry and left a Cosmo.Harley looked at Jack and said"If i don't get out here it's time to
piss on the fire and call the dogs."
Well,he didn't get out and broke down his cue,saying"I BELIEVE I'M GOING
TO GIVE THIS TOWN SOME AIR!"He left for Jacksonville.
Frisco Jack hung around and won a bundle in the next week.
SURPRISE!
Harley from Jacksonville and' Frisco'Jack Cooney made the Rack a stop on their road trip. Harley announced his presence by betting $500 as soon as he got in the door.He looked at a guy racking and said "I'll take the tall guy".
Harley then matched up with Cornbread.He got the 8 playing 10 ball.
Harley lost almost every game for an hour.Red then broke dry and left a Cosmo.Harley looked at Jack and said"If i don't get out here it's time to
piss on the fire and call the dogs."
Well,he didn't get out and broke down his cue,saying"I BELIEVE I'M GOING
TO GIVE THIS TOWN SOME AIR!"He left for Jacksonville.
Frisco Jack hung around and won a bundle in the next week.
SURPRISE!
Did John Ross from Jacksonville ever visit the rack? If so, give some stories please.