California Kid
Registered
Is he back in the pool business?
What happened to Tony Anagoni ??
- Thread starter California Kid
- Start date
Go on, take the money and run.
(He also ducked any real players when he traveled for the book, playing off the rail...Yet it reads like he was a true silverback)
(He also ducked any real players when he traveled for the book, playing off the rail...Yet it reads like he was a true silverback)
I think that was because he was trying to come out ahead. The book never tried to leave the impression he believed he was a top player.
At one point he is asking for the 8 ball against Frankie Hernandez, who is not a world beater by any means.
I was left- after reading it 2 or 3x- feeling it was more than a little braggardly.
What pool player/ road player book isn't?
Every single one I've ever read is the same......."I banged all the hottest women"......"Every 6ft 8in gorilla that got in my face, I knocked out with one punch"......"I went to every town - never lost a big match - only ever lost when I meant to to set up a big score"......"(insert legendary pool player's name here) never beat me"
I can ony speak to what i know...ya know?:wink:
Pool player biographies and stories are usually a pretty tough read. I liked Tony's book, it was better than most. I continue to read pool player stories in hope that I find one like Byrne's McGoorty or more recently Dyer's Hustler Days.
All 3 are excellent reads, i agree.
I include pool wars and the kid d in that first tier too.
Rifleman, a step down and form what ive heard, gradys one further step down.
He ran the Two Cushion Club when it was open in Fairfield, CA until a couple years ago. Then I heard a rumor that he was going to try his hand at snooker.
I have friends who he ripped off at that big tournament, but my personal experience dealing with him was never bad...
I have friends who he ripped off at that big tournament, but my personal experience dealing with him was never bad...
I enjoyed the book but just to keep things straight, it was not Tony's book. Instead, credit should be given to the author, a Mr. McComber (sp?).
There is a big difference in being an author and being a character in a book.
Not all who have read the book and met Mr. Anagoni have the same high opinion of him as they do of the author.
Robin Snyder
I read it when it first came out and to me it seemed like the main objective was to sneak up on Harry Platis, {which is not an original idea}.
He said he had 32,000.00 or something like that to go on a roadtrip and fire it up.
Then they nit around all over the country and the author is even trying to make scores.
All in all, it seemed like he was gathering stories for the book, and trying to make a few bucks while doing it, 95% of that 32 grand was never in any danger.
It just sounds better to suckers than , "we took off with 17 dollars and some Ramen Noodles and my mommys car.
I actually, have met David McCumber at a pool tournament , we sat next to each other and talked for half an hour or more.
He seemed like a nice guy, but to me , the book is representative of a fantasy road trip, not a real one.
That book was one of my favorites, and I must have read it 10 or 20 times back in the day. I was playing in the USPPA at the time, which was a pool tournament league system that Tony had taken over from a previous owner. I did not meet Tony until a later time. After I met him, he did not seem like a bad guy, just a little weird. Then, he held the annual tournament in Reno for the people who regularly played in the league system he ran, and stiffed the winners of the payout they deserved. He had the two cushion club pool room in Fairfield at the time, and after he stiffed Jeff and the others, I stopped going. I believe he was living in a crappy RV in the parking lot of the pool room for a while, until it finally went out of business. I also heard somewhat recently, that he may have had a stroke. I have no idea what he is up to now or where he is. That pool room closed probably four or five years ago at least.
All of this would not have been too bad, but when the winners of that tournament took Tony to court, he went from saying on his website that there was a money shortfall and he was trying to make it right, to telling the court that the winners had cheated and did not deserve to be paid because they had broken the rules. He was flat out lying because he was a broke ass and that is what made him a piece of shit in my eyes.
All of this would not have been too bad, but when the winners of that tournament took Tony to court, he went from saying on his website that there was a money shortfall and he was trying to make it right, to telling the court that the winners had cheated and did not deserve to be paid because they had broken the rules. He was flat out lying because he was a broke ass and that is what made him a piece of shit in my eyes.
I knew Tony and played him several times in a local tournament at Bow Tie Billiards in Monterey California, right after the release of Playing of the Rail. He was briefly the "house pro" at Blue Fin Billiards on Cannery Row. I met McCumber, too, they used to hold court and promote the book, selling signed copies, etc. I never read the book, the whole attitude kind of turned me off. Believe me, I heard everything in the book from him and McCumber, didn't need to pay to read it. I rated him at the time as a strong ShortStop or really a bit better. I played him three times, won twice lost once, but I had an insane spot. There were a few players (like maybe two) within 50 miles of Monterey that could give him the 8 (Billy Arguero in San Francisco and a Mexican player out of Salinas who only gambled and never ventured further than Santa Cruz--don't remember his name, but he was a stone cold killer). He tended to be a bit full of himself, but could show some modesty when discussing how he stacked up against the pros he ran into on the road. What I remember most about his game was his cue ball control; it was among the best I'd seen up to that point. I've played Shawn Wilkie and Brandon Shuff in the past couple of years, and I'd say their game now is about two balls better than his then. I'd rate his 1995 game about even with Brian Deska...if anyone here (VA-MD homies) can appreciate the comparison.
Last edited:
I met him many moons ago at a tournament. Back when Efren had only been in the
country a short while and players were still aghast at his stroke(how the time flies).
We mostly talked about antique tables and the potential of pool halls in California.
He seemed a nice enough fellow... but momma had warned me about pool hustlers.
The book itself I enjoyed quite a bit, but thought "someone needs to read a calendar".
Now I'm as much a fan for the golden days of pool as anyone who wasn't born yet
when they were happening, but rolling around the country by TRAIN, really. Not only
is it more inconvenient than a heart condition, there are virtually NO poolrooms in
downtown areas anymore. So hopping off at the train station and taking a 5 minute
taxi ride to a good action room is only a memory of the 1940s.
Dale(who wishes we still had trains to ride)
I never played Annigoni, but I saw him play a few times at HardTimes in Bellflower, and this sounds like a reasonable estimate of his speed. There were at least a handful of regulars at HardTimes who played better than him.
