I was involved in another thread that brought up Sacramento in 1969 so I thought I would pass along one of my favorite stories of the era.
I was a 16 year old kid and worked in a pool room in Sacramento. Billy Johnson (aka Wade Crane, or is it the other way around) and Cuban Joe came through town. It was before the internet and nobody knew who they were. Well Billy matches up with one of the owners and busts him. After the match he calls me over and says "hey kid, lemme' see your case". I had an old Adams case like this, although new at the time:
I showed him the case, and he asked me if I was interested in trading cases with him, his being this Gina case, minus the 39 years of wear pictured here:
Even at 16 I knew I liked it and agreed. he then handed my case to Cuban Joe who took the cap off , stuffed a small handgun in it, followed by a billiard cloth to hold it in place, made sure the cue fit, closed it and thanked me......
Cuban Joe who everybody thought was Billy's backer then proceeded to beat everybody who had any money left playing one pocket and banks, and off they went.
I noticed the case had the name Wade Crane written on it in pen. I later learned more about Wade & Joe, who they were and how much the worst of it everybody had...except me...who got a great case and a great story.
Joe
I was a 16 year old kid and worked in a pool room in Sacramento. Billy Johnson (aka Wade Crane, or is it the other way around) and Cuban Joe came through town. It was before the internet and nobody knew who they were. Well Billy matches up with one of the owners and busts him. After the match he calls me over and says "hey kid, lemme' see your case". I had an old Adams case like this, although new at the time:
I showed him the case, and he asked me if I was interested in trading cases with him, his being this Gina case, minus the 39 years of wear pictured here:
Even at 16 I knew I liked it and agreed. he then handed my case to Cuban Joe who took the cap off , stuffed a small handgun in it, followed by a billiard cloth to hold it in place, made sure the cue fit, closed it and thanked me......
Cuban Joe who everybody thought was Billy's backer then proceeded to beat everybody who had any money left playing one pocket and banks, and off they went.
I noticed the case had the name Wade Crane written on it in pen. I later learned more about Wade & Joe, who they were and how much the worst of it everybody had...except me...who got a great case and a great story.
Joe