Tony Ellin

Tony was a great guy and a great player.

tony.gif
 
Tony was the first guy to ever show me how to jump a ball using just the shaft. He could actually put the cueball right next to the blocking ball, with an object ball on the other side a few inches away, and jump over a full ball just using the shaft!

I once saw Jack Hines and Tony try and match up in Cincinnati. This would have been around '91 or '92. Hines said Tony was a world beater, so he needed the 8. Tony said he couldn't give him the 8, and they never played. I would have loved to see that match up. Does anyone know if they ever played?
 
PoolBum said:
Tony was the first guy to ever show me how to jump a ball using just the shaft. He could actually put the cueball right next to the blocking ball, with an object ball on the other side a few inches away, and jump over a full ball just using the shaft!

I once saw Jack Hines and Tony try and match up in Cincinnati. This would have been around '91 or '92. Hines said Tony was a world beater, so he needed the 8. Tony said he couldn't give him the 8, and they never played. I would have loved to see that match up. Does anyone know if they ever played?

Jack refused to play Tony even, so it never happened.
 
The first pro tournament i ever went too was the lexington open i believe in 90, 91 . The first player i liked was Keith Mccready and second was Tony Ellin. I remeber watching Tony break and he had a shirt that didn't quite fit him properly, and everytime he broke, it would go up and his belly would com out lol and he would have to pull it back down.

I also remeber seeing him play a filipino for 100 a game nine ball and act like a total gentlemen through it all. He used body english a lot and always had a smile on his face. I guess those things drew me to him as my first experience.

Keith was first because the first match i seen him play was against Gary Spaeth who was from cincy and My dad and i knew and Keith was talking to the crowd and having fun with his budweisers.
Also they announced him at the beginning of the match as spnosered by Marlboro and Anheuser Busch lol.

Tony is missed
 
I saw Tony play Toby in Vegas once ( ball for about 5 hours the bet.....$5/rack they came out even, they played even, I saw Tony a year later he could have given Toby anything he wanted, he didnt miss. Toby is a 1P player anyways but it cool to watch they were good friends, I said hi to him briefly.


I was at JOB's this year hitching a ride with Shannon Daulton, were were walking out with Archer, they were all 3 close friends Shannon and Johnny stopped and looked at the JOB memorial, and they started talking, I shut up real fast. They started talking about Tony, amazing...
 
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Kerry Hartsfield Impson is a good friend of Shelby's (Tony's widow) and she told me IIRC, that Shelby and their daughter were waiting at Toys R Us for Tony to show up. Of course, he never did. How heartbreaking. :(

One year, I stood by Tony at the craps table in Vegas for quite some time. My biggest impression was how great it was to see how the pool players kidded him and how much they loved him.
 
Great Guy

Tony, Johnny A. and Shannon D. used to run around a little. I knew Tony from the Golden Cue in Charleston. Great guy, would always give me some help if I asked. I remember sitting at the Sports Palace in Columbia with Tony, Johnny, and Shannon, and listening them try to make a game with each other. It went something like this... "OK, well, I will play you the same way!". And as you might guess, never say them hook up but everyone laughed a lot!:D :D :D

Mark
 
crawfish said:
First off, if I hear "lights out" one more time, I will vomit. Let's pick up a new saying, can we?

Tony was counting his cash after a good score (about $3500). He didn't see the train. The money was still in his lap. It was about a mile from his home. I know Shelby was devastated. Raleigh still has a tourney in his memorial.

Also, throw in "hits a ton." I will vomit on that one, too.
how about "jam up"? That one makes me want to vomit and is one of the most stupid sayings of all time
 
I watched Tony three foul Efren at the Charlotte Camel tournament that Ginky won and everyone in the room was amazed, then I won a cue they raffeled off signed by most of the players including the late greats The Miz, Tony Ellin and Greg Hatch. Tony was a very special player with a great heart and a great break.--Leonard
 
I talked to tony on the phone at least once a week for years. Right before
he was killed, he was in vegas and won big. He called the night before the
accident. Talked to me and my now x Tina for 45 min. We were going to play another match of 10-ball. I ask y he hasn't called for 2 or 3 weeks?
His reply was I sure should of. He said he was coming to give me more money playing 10-ball. We both laughed.

The next day Mark Bettur called an ask if I had heard about Tony? I said I sure did he won big in vegas and he is coming to Ocala Fl. to let me win more money. Then he told me the news. I was Sick. I called Shelby right away and it was true. Tony loved Tina, and we were great friends.

I could tell u so many stories about Tony that are just so funny. Like how he was always picking up Johnny's food off his plate or taking his drink and drinking it. Johnny would yell, Tony get yr own shit.

I truly miss Tony dearly. He was a great friend. And yes he could really
play. But, he sure wasn't a 1-pocket player.

I will always remember Tony as he was funny as hell.

Tina and I drove to Tony's house the next day. SO SAD.

Mark Gregory
 
I like that Crawfish is telling people what phrases not to use and his signature is "I am McLovin".
 
I met Tony a couple of times at tournies. The great thing about him was, he was always friendly and encouraging to players of all levels. The pool world really lost a great player and a helluva nice guy when Tony passed. JMHO.

Southpaw
 
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