It is hard to imagine now, the possible $$$ that was able to be made by a good hustler back in the late '60's, '70's & early '80's. I was, so I know. Once in Walls, MI at a big bar tourney the place was raided by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. There was about 150 players & spectators crammed into this famous bar spot. Lots a BIG action going on. I noticed these 4 or 5 guys filtering through the crowd with baseball hats that had MBN on the front. It was obvious to me that they were carrying guns under their coats. Me and a couple of others (including the owner) saw what was going on - but we thought they were there to heist the place. I go to my car and stash my cash and was going to leave but thought I would offer my 38 revolver to the owner before I left. As soon as I go back in - they (about 12 cops) come busting into the back door and announce a raid. I have never fooled with any drugs my whole life and so I thought I had nothing to worry about. WRONG!
While searching and questioning everyone, they now find me with a loaded 38, new Lincoln Continental out front and over $28K hidden in two places in my car. Even though I had no drugs of any kind, they say there is a fellow there who will be speaking to me later down at the jail. I was busted for the gun. Well the fellow was with the IRS and I had to tell him I hadn't worked in over 8 years. They confiscated everything - Car, Cash, Clothes, Gun, My Cue (balabushka), watch & ring (?$18K) & even my private set of Pool Balls I used to carry. TOTALLY DEVISTATED - I did the only thing I ever did when I was in a jackpot - CALLED MY FATHER back in St Louis. He comes & bails me out and we find the best lawyer in Mississippi down in Jackson. My Father remembers that the previous year I had helped a new poolroom owner open his room (2 weeks) and he paid me a few bucks an hour so it was on the books and the taxes were taken out. THIS, AND THIS ALONE, SAVED MY ASS! The IRS had to give me back everything they had taken & they were pissed. The lawyer found an old Mississippi State Law (that was still on the books) that said: If you were more than 50 miles away from your residence and carrying over $50 on your person, you were permitted to carry a weapon. The CCW (carrying a concealed weapon) charges were dismissed and they even had to return my pistol. Back in St. Louis, one of the first things I had to do was talk to a taxman who worked for my brother. He said - I had better FILE for at least the next 5 to 7 years because they (IRS) would be watching me. He said it didn't matter HOW I filed (even as a Pro Pool Player) just so long as I filed. Now as you can see my name is Tom Ferry but it really is Thomas Martin Ferry and my license reads Ferry, Thomas Martin so for the following years I was Tom Martin, Whitey, and some other handles I won't reveal.
The whole point of this is - Everyone thinks the worst enemy of a Hustler is "The Nut" (and rightfully so) But the IRS can be much worse and therefore the need for AKA's and aliases are well served.
There was a full-page newspaper article written about me here in St. Louis back in '77. It is titled - "The Hustle Is On" and it goes into some pretty good detail about all of the tactics, deceptions and rewards of my pool life back then. The next day, they did a full-page article on St. Louie, Louie that was titled "He's No Hustler". The purpose of the two articles was to show the contrast of goals and talents of the two best pool players in St. Louis. The photo above is cut from this article (thanks to Hemicuda). This article has been hanging in our Family Room for years and all my kid’s friends love reading it when they come over. My Son & Daughter have been fooling around with eBay and decided to see if anyone would be interested in buying reproductions that are professionally mounted, framed and autographed. Well to my astonishment they sold 12 in (2 weeks) for $175 apiece. My attorney has told me to pull it off eBay so we could get some copy write protections before going forward with any more. I was just speaking with Buddy on Wednesday night and he has heard of it selling on eBay. He is going to add a signed statement on the bottom to attest to How I Did, What I Did, For As Long As I Did, while keeping my anonymity. When all is said & done I would rather see it available here on AZBillairds (for POOL people) than going to a bunch of squares that don't really understand "What It's All About".
But near the end Wade Crane came strolling in and the whispering started "saying watch out for that guy" and so on. He may be in his fifties or so, but he still commanded the respect of almost everyone in the room when he walked in.