Unknown "monster" players

[alstl]

Which video is that? I would love to see it. Thanks

It is a home made video from 1987 at Cue and Cushion in St Louis. I started a thread recently in the wtb forum and paid a guy $20 for a copy of it. I can't get it to copy on my computer or I would make a copy for you.

Louie gives him the 7-8-9 and runs over him in an ahead set.

 

[DrawtheRock]

Roy & Billy were both good players and when they had their mixture right, could be great players. I wouldn't consider either one a monster though, since I have had success playing both of them and I am a long way from being a monster player. John Henderson

JR Hendy, you are in Norcal. how about these players. How did they play
Roy Futternick, Billy Ray, Billy Aguero. Also, used to be a hispanic hustler that many people never saw called Vera Cruz.

Anybody know how these guys played?

 

[jrhendy]

JR Hendy, you are in Norcal. how about these players. How did they play
Roy Futternick, Billy Ray, Billy Aguero. Also, used to be a hispanic hustler that many people never saw called Vera Cruz.

Anybody know how these guys played?

Futternick might have been the most talented player ever out of the Sacramento area. He is a dealer in Reno & stops by Hard Times once & a while. Doesn't play much any more.

Billy Ray Suden is from the East Coast & lived around San Jose for a few years. Still plays some, but not like he did before. Was a solid player in his day.

Billy Aguero lives up above San Francisco in or near Petaluma & was the house pro for a few years at Chalkers in San Francisco. Was known as Billy The Coat in his road days many years ago & was a very good player. I have not heard of him playing since Chalkers closed down.

Vera Cruz is in San Francisco now & pretty much sticks to bar pool as far as I know. Was a solid player on all tables when I first met him years ago in Los Angeles. Played around Morro Paez & Ernesto Dominguez speed in those days & maybe better on a bar table.

I gambled a little with all these guys except Roy. I never wanted to fool with him. Billy Ray beat me every time I played him & so did Billy Aguero. The only guy I ever beat on your list was Vera Cruz & that was for about $80 many many years ago on a big table playing 9 ball. I should have left them all alone but it was action. John Henderson

 

[jrhendy]

After reading this whole thread, I am surprised that no one from the Northeast has mentioned Nick "the Indian" Vlahos. Nick was always a gentleman and played definatly jam up. Nick was on the road for 4 years or so straight before finally making it to California.

He did make to California in the late 70's/early 80's. John Cardulo steered him into me at the Golden Cue in Rosemead, outside of Los Angeles. I knew he could play because he was with John & asked for the 8 & got it for $50 a game. We pulled up after a couple of hours because I wouldn't raise it. Very nice guy & we BS'd for a while & he said he had done very well on the road & had $$ in banks & safe deposit boxes spread around the country. I never heard anything about him again until I saw stuff about him on this website. Sorry to hear about his passing. John

 

[woodyosborne]

jack hatfield

mr hatfield came over to ky to prestonsburg a few times(early 90's), shot with local players, floyd skeans, foster sloan, and joe blackburn. all fine players, no money was made by any of them(except perhaps by joe when he sold the kersenbrock when someone offered him just TOO MUCH MONEY to turn down! wonder what the cue is worth now? prettiest looking dpk i have ever seen.)

story went that jack hatfield was making so much money shooting pool he quit teaching school. not sure of fact on that, that is the story from friend of jack's in williamson, wv. much fun watching the bunch of them shoot.

Hear are some players from the 70's and 80's
Ohio - Kenny McCoy, Charlie Schram, Jack Wilson, Dave Heil, Ival Mitchell
Kentucky - Marlboro, Bobby Johnson, Rodney Keown, WC Richardson
Indiana - Fred Perry, Peru Paul
W.Va. - Jack Hatfield, Brier Spivey
This is just a few; if I thought about it I could name many more.

 

[punter]

i played them all they didnt have to win! sparky

Sparky, how'd you like it when you played Pat Fox at the Spur in Louisiana?

Two other players from the 70's : Tommy Sanders and Phillip Hyde.

 

[PIRANHA]

Sparky, how'd you like it when you played Pat Fox at the Spur in Louisiana?

Two other players from the 70's : Tommy Sanders and Phillip Hyde.

Cecil Tugwell plays one pocket with anyone...

 

[JG-in-KY]

Marlboro was from Irvine, KY. A couple more from Kentucky was Eric Williams and my favorite was Clyde Childress from Berea. Mount Sterling had its share of good players, 2 come to mind, Brad Schwartz (known as Bullwinkle) and Butch Coliver played pretty sporty.
In the 70's and 80's I don't care what town you stopped by in Kentucky there would be at least 1 or 2 guys the could really play. When I say could play I mean they could run 4 or 5 racks at any time and quite often.
Irvine is a good example, Marlboro was king and at banks I don't think the mighty Bugs could have won in Irvine. But this is a town of about 3000 people and there were many great players. Jack Howe and Bill Marcum is a couple. Plus there were 25 or 30 younger guys that could play very good. I would like to know if any of these guys became great players.
One more old Kentucky player, Ed Eversole.

Yeah I meant Irvine for Marlboro's home base. Ed Eversole was an all around successful gambler/hustler. He told me stories about backing One Eyed Tony and Clyde Childress. Clyde was a legend when I got into pool, but was killed before I got to see him play. If you have any stories on him, I would love to hear them.

 

[JG-in-KY]

I think that Irvine must teach pool in their school systems. At one time during the early 90's you could go to a tournament in central Ky, and there might be 20 players there from Irvine. Most of them could run out too. Never had any dealings with Ed Eversole But his boy Vadis(sp?)
had plenty of gamble and he could play some.

I remember Eric Durbin living in Irvine for awhile. Remember when Mike Chaney was flush. I took a road player in to tiny Irvine and they laughed at us. Said Cornbread Red and some others had already got to Chaney. A little while later a local player got Chaney for a reported 6 digit score!

 

[downtown]

There are so many funny stories about Roy "the Cook".

One time a road player came to College Billiards in San Diego and was taking down everyone. When no one else stepped up to play, he started barking to everyone about how the room had nothing but scardy cats. A couple of guys decided to go get "the Cook". They went outside to the dumpster enclosure where Roy was sleeping and woke him up. When he showed up to play, he looked pretty roughed up. The road player just looks at Roy and wonders if this was a joke. They get to playing and, of course, Roy just wipes the floor with the guy.

I told Roy that I saw him years ago beat Danny Di Liberto, running a 5-pack, at a major Tahoe tournament. Sadly, because of his chosen lifestyle, he had no memory of this.

I lived in S.D. off and on for 20 plus years and used to know Roy Stanzioni pretty good until he died. He had a life long drug problem and was usually homeless.At one time he was a cook at college billiards,and towards the end worked the parking lot.One of the last time I saw him he was living in a van that didnt run across from the donut shop up the street. I played him all games one time or another including 3 cushion,the last time we played he ran 8 and out,then he went back out to the parking lot.I have also seen him play nine ball all night until the next day one time for big cash getting staked of course and was passed out while his opponant was shooting,have to get woke up,then proceeded to puke in a trash can and run the game out.He had many problems but a real nice man with a great heart.

 

[tom haney]

Hear are some players from the 70's and 80's
Ohio - Kenny McCoy, Charlie Schram, Jack Wilson, Dave Heil, Ival Mitchell
Kentucky - Marlboro, Bobby Johnson, Rodney Keown, WC Richardson
Indiana - Fred Perry, Peru Paul
W.Va. - Jack Hatfield, Brier Spivey
This is just a few; if I thought about it I could name many more.

Hatfield played Mike Shaver from Weston in the early 90s and lost pretty bad.
Shaver tends to be a little nitty but is a great player for my area.
There's a guy from Florida who plays in WV now & then, Randy
Smith.
Has had abuse problems in the past but is clean now &
really hittin em.
Nicknamed "The Exterminator' cause he had his own bug extermination business at one time.

 

[tom haney]

2 guys that come to mind are DeadEye and Truck Drivin Ansel McCoy.
Deadeye or One Eye was this black guy who traveled up & down the East Coast.
Inside Pool did a big article on him about a year ago.
Still alive but retired.
I saw him play once. He was amazing one hole player.
McCoy would come through my area once in a while.
Great stroke.
Another outstanding player was the late John Oakie from Philly.
Anybody remember those three?

 

[Ktown D]

2 guys that come to mind are DeadEye and Truck Drivin Ansel McCoy.
Deadeye or One Eye was this black guy who traveled up & down the East Coast.
Inside Pool did a big article on him about a year ago.
Still alive but retired.
I saw him play once. He was amazing one hole player.
McCoy would come through my area once in a while.
Great stroke.
Another outstanding player was the late John Oakie from Philly.
Anybody remember those three?

Are you talking about Patch Eye?

http://onepocket.org/PatchEyeInterview.htm

 

[8ballEinstein]

I lived in S.D. off and on for 20 plus years and used to know Roy Stanzioni pretty good until he died. He had a life long drug problem and was usually homeless.At one time he was a cook at college billiards,and towards the end worked the parking lot.One of the last time I saw him he was living in a van that didnt run across from the donut shop up the street. I played him all games one time or another including 3 cushion,the last time we played he ran 8 and out,then he went back out to the parking lot.I have also seen him play nine ball all night until the next day one time for big cash getting staked of course and was passed out while his opponant was shooting,have to get woke up,then proceeded to puke in a trash can and run the game out.He had many problems but a real nice man with a great heart.

I didn't know he passed away. As it was, it was suprising he lived as long as he did. It shows how much abuse a body can take and still hang on.

IMO, Roy had more natural ability than anyone who came out of San Diego, even more than Jay Swanson. When many top players from the 80's talked about some unknown players that gave them trouble, Roy's name would come up often. When people asked what his last name was, they thought it was Cook. Folks from San Diego would just smile and say, "you mean, Roy 'the Cook' Stanzione". The response would be, "Yeah, that was it!! That guy played real good!"

I'm sorry to hear he's gone but, when it comes down to it, we really lost him long ago.

 

[Gunn_Slinger]

Tommy Golley was a great money player. he quit pool cold and is a dealer at Wynns casino in vegas

 

[Gunn_Slinger]

I knew Nick Vlahos when he was 14. he played in Maryland and you could see he was going to be a player. he played "Geese" Mike Gerace when they were both 15-16 and it was a war.

 

[Gunn_Slinger]

Steve Gumphries was a player that could best any human on any given day.
He played out of randolph hills pool room in Rockville MD.
He was a roofer by trade and beat many a road player .
He died too young of cancer. he was a great guy and a
great character in pool.

 

[jay helfert]

Jay.. you have any more stories about Peter Gunn? I sure liked that guy. His little grandson played pretty sporty before he found football. Peter was a take no shit type of guy. He told me a few stories of playing in the old days. Being black and hustling pool had to be the hardest job out there in the 50's & 60's.

He was an All State fullback and linebacker in high school in Bakersfield. Real name was Len Wesson. He grew up with Bakersfield Bobby Hernandez, one of the greatest "unknown" bar table players, especially with the big ball. He beat Keith the first time out. Bobby and Len battled back and forth for a couple of years as teenagers, and both became great players.

Peter Gunn looked like a tank and was all rock hard muscle. No one in their right mind would tangle with him. There's tough guys and then there's REALLY tough guys. Peter was in the latter category. He had a problem with some bad asses after beating Tacoma Whitey for over 60K in the 70's. They wanted a piece (only half ) and he told them to take it. Four of them from what I heard, carrying too, and they decided to pass. He walked out with all the money.

Never saw him throw a punch. One hard look was usually all it took for his opponent to calm down. He straightened me out the first time we played in my pool room in Bakersfield. I was losing playing One Pocket, but it was close. I asked twice him for a ball and he said no both times. The third time he told me not to ask anymore cause he already said NO. It was the way he looked at me when he said it that made me realize this was one guy not to push on anything.

I played him three or four times in my room and we became friends. I never beat him, but did break even playing Banks one time. A moral victory!

 

[jay helfert]

Jay, I don't know if you know Weldon "Jr" Rogers or not, but I would have to rate as one of the best "undercover players" of all time also. He was very good at "getting the money".

One of the all time best on a small box, and a big ball specialist. I liked him and Bobby Hernandez over just about anyone with the big ball. Weldon could really play one handed too, just under Ronnie. Maybe a little better on a small table one handed. They were best friends though, so...well, you know the rest.

 

[jay helfert]

JR Hendy, you are in Norcal. how about these players. How did they play
Roy Futternick, Billy Ray, Billy Aguero. Also, used to be a hispanic hustler that many people never saw called Vera Cruz.

Anybody know how these guys played?

I liked Roy's game the best of the three. He could really get down on his belly and play. Kind of a Ronnie Wiseman or George Breedlove style. Two real hard players. Roy has been dealing in Reno for years now. A health nut, he still looks like he's 40 at most. Very bright guy who is totally barred from playing BlackJack in Reno.

Billy Ray had a lot of talent, but was (and probably still is) a hard core hustler. He was rumored dead for several years but turned up very much alive a few years ago. Originally from Rhode Island. I played him in my pool room in Bakersfield (a $200 set) and made my all time biggest comeback. He had me down 9-2 going to 11, and I came back to win 11-10. He broke his shaft on the rail and stormed out, only to return the next day and beat me back for the $200. I got along with him okay, but he could take an attitude that led to more than a few scrapes.

Billy Aguero was another excellent player from the Bay area who was always getting staked to play road men passing through. I think playing all those good players took a toll on him though. Haven't heard much about him in several years since Chalkers closed up. He was the house pro.

Vera Cruz (real name Sebastian Villaneuva) was another hard core bar hustler who played jam up Eight Ball. Usually traveled alone and might show up anywhere. Lost an eye in a bar scrap about 15 years ago, and last I heard lost his life, only a couple of years ago hustling in some border town. Someone might be able to confirm this. But I haven't seen or heard from him in a while. And he was a high profile hustler.