We lost a great one today
- Thread starter dafatman
- Start date
One of the greats in the North Carolina pool scene. I consulted with Frank before opening my pool room 25 years ago. Right up until his recent hospitalization, Frank was easily one of the very best living 70+ year old pool players in a variety of pool disciplines. Although never a pro player by profession, he played against and beat all the top players back in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. His best games in order were banks, one pocket, 14.1 and 9/10 ball.
I will second this. Frank was one of the great undercover pool players of his era (and mine). He could and did play the best players whenever he encountered them and unless you were a bonafide champion you had no chance of beating him. Jimmy Reid (in his prime) is the only player I remember beating him at 9-Ball and he had to work hard to do it (ten ahead for a thou and it took several hours). As Chris said 9-Ball may not have been Frank's best game either.
He was a very smart guy and saw his future as a room owner and not as a player. He owned an operated several very successful poolrooms and managed to make a good living at the game.
I personally watched him beat Larry Lisciotti, Mike Massey and Eddie "The Hat" Burton all in the same night for well over $3,000 in the 60's. He gave them an encore performance one week later, trouncing Burton for another three grand. I will never forget that either since I was in for a piece of the action (I steered Frank there and put money in with him) and later took a beating over it. The worst beating I ever got in a poolroom! I was sore from head to toe the next day. Only being young and full of adrenaline kept me going and allowed me to get out alive. :bash:
And that ain't no joke either!
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I met and interviewed him probably 20-30 years ago. I had heard a lot of stories about him. He also played cards, but that is another story.
Funniest story was when he was talking about when his son was born. He said he sure as hell didn't want to leave a cue in the crib and put a golf club with him.
Ken
Funniest story was when he was talking about when his son was born. He said he sure as hell didn't want to leave a cue in the crib and put a golf club with him.
Ken
Did the fisticuffs have anything to do with Popcorn on the West Coast?
At a Planet Pool Regional Tour event in Virginia, about 2003 or so, Frank came to play. There were about 60-ish competitors at the even, including some heavy hitters and pros. I was curious who he was, as I had never seen him, but folks in the know were aware of who he was and how strong he played.
He was kind of a quiet, very unassuming-type gentleman. Have cue will travel kind of man. I think he was from North Carolina at the time. Well, Frank quietly battled his way to the finish line and won the whole event. Every body knew who Frank was then, including me.
May he rest in peace.
He was kind of a quiet, very unassuming-type gentleman. Have cue will travel kind of man. I think he was from North Carolina at the time. Well, Frank quietly battled his way to the finish line and won the whole event. Every body knew who Frank was then, including me.
May he rest in peace.
Banks 5 and Out
Frank and I argued a lot over the years . We fell in an out several times but always fell back in. I guess I figured Frank was always going to be
around then he got a really bad roll. The visit I had with him at the hospital was good for both of us.. We hit the high spots and he was forward looking
about getting out of there when I left.
Frank would play bank pool with me way back when in say 2009 or 10. He saw I had a knack for it and would play with me long enough that they would start
to flow like water. What a great game. I could nail banks against Frank that I didn't hit near as much against someone else. He used to say when you play this
game you hit the balls better than any other game you play. I was always amazed at what he could do when he got in bank stroke. I would try and keep up but
he was way out of my league.
One day I was practicing for a few hours by myself at his place off Jonestown Rd. and he comes in fresh off a drive from Maryland with cash registers in the car
for his business. He drove straight through. So he sees me in the back row and he comes over and says "what are we playing"? I said bank pool and he reaches
up on the rack and gets a house cue.
I broke I don't remember if I ran anything or not but when Frank got to the table he got down on a bank and then stood up and walked around the table.
Then he ran 5 multiple railers and said that felt pretty good I think I'll quit on that. Frank would always push himself to accomplish as much as he could. Who
would have thought he would see how they were laying and calculate that there were 5 two and three railers on the table and then make them?
Frank and I argued a lot over the years . We fell in an out several times but always fell back in. I guess I figured Frank was always going to be
around then he got a really bad roll. The visit I had with him at the hospital was good for both of us.. We hit the high spots and he was forward looking
about getting out of there when I left.
Frank would play bank pool with me way back when in say 2009 or 10. He saw I had a knack for it and would play with me long enough that they would start
to flow like water. What a great game. I could nail banks against Frank that I didn't hit near as much against someone else. He used to say when you play this
game you hit the balls better than any other game you play. I was always amazed at what he could do when he got in bank stroke. I would try and keep up but
he was way out of my league.
One day I was practicing for a few hours by myself at his place off Jonestown Rd. and he comes in fresh off a drive from Maryland with cash registers in the car
for his business. He drove straight through. So he sees me in the back row and he comes over and says "what are we playing"? I said bank pool and he reaches
up on the rack and gets a house cue.
I broke I don't remember if I ran anything or not but when Frank got to the table he got down on a bank and then stood up and walked around the table.
Then he ran 5 multiple railers and said that felt pretty good I think I'll quit on that. Frank would always push himself to accomplish as much as he could. Who
would have thought he would see how they were laying and calculate that there were 5 two and three railers on the table and then make them?
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I also had the opportunity for a visit with Frank in the hospital shortly before his passing. I left my wife down in the lobby and told her it would be a short visit. 90 minutes later hearing Frank sharing old pool stories, I realized how much time had passed and I had to cut it short. I could have easily stayed for hours more.
I’m glad to hear from some others on here who were aware of Frank, his passion for pool, and how good he could still hit the balls even at 73. There have been many greats who have lost their abilities for this game at a considerably younger age, but Frank was certainly an exception to that.
I’m glad to hear from some others on here who were aware of Frank, his passion for pool, and how good he could still hit the balls even at 73. There have been many greats who have lost their abilities for this game at a considerably younger age, but Frank was certainly an exception to that.
I eventually heard about most your and Franks matches from someone. I'd
play him for small stakes when we played (years ago) never like the lock horns
matches you and him played. He did however beat me out of a hundred brand new
fresh crisp in sequence dollar bills that he referred to as "The Crisp". I wouldn't let
him have them all at once, It took several times of getting together for him to get all
of them but he eventually did. He wanted the band the money came from the bank in too.
I guess that got me in his ledger. He kept records of all his winnings.
play him for small stakes when we played (years ago) never like the lock horns
matches you and him played. He did however beat me out of a hundred brand new
fresh crisp in sequence dollar bills that he referred to as "The Crisp". I wouldn't let
him have them all at once, It took several times of getting together for him to get all
of them but he eventually did. He wanted the band the money came from the bank in too.
I guess that got me in his ledger. He kept records of all his winnings.
Yes, that’s one thing I liked about Frank. Unlike many really good players, for someone who had plenty of $ and wasn’t afraid to match up with world class players for big $, Frank loved the game and loved the competition enough that it wasn’t beneath him to play cheaper $ sets against others who couldn’t afford to or didn’t want to play for $ stakes beyond their means or comfort zone.
Not only that but he gave unreal spots to the weaker player then he would
beat them. It hurt him to lose a dollar. If you played him with those spots you just
realized he wasn't going to let you take anything home. He would keep doubling up,
making new games or something. It was his fee. He told me he figured it in boxes of
cereal. Friend of mine beat him out of some small stakes money and then he went to
losing it and Frank said, "what happened to you?" When he told Frank he was tired and
just wanted to go home so he was losing it now, Frank reluctantly said ok, I'll pay and
forked out the 4 dollars left he owed him like it injured him. lol
One time I got him pretty good and the sun was nearly coming up by the time we finally stopped. He couldn’t stand it. Even though Frank lived 1-1/2 hours away, he wanted to come back that night to try to get his $ back. I told him I needed a few days to recover from the all nighter, so I was able to put him off a couple days.
In the rematch, Frank played the best he ever played against me. I never had a chance. He got all his $ back and then some, and it didn’t take him all night to do it. I think he was still steamed from a few nights before when I’d busted him.
That night I’d beaten him he didn’t have enough $ to pay me and said he’d get me next time, but I said I’d just run the difference of what he owed me on his credit card, which I did, which he didn’t at all like. It just kind of ticked me off that he didn’t have the courtesy to ask me ahead of time if he could play on credit, when he knew he was busted, which I would gladly have agreed to.
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