What State Has Produced the Most High Caliber Players?

Eric. said:
Hell, this thread and a case of beer, and you'll be arguing 5000 different opinions :p What time period? Is this an all time list? You get it...

I'll throw NJ in there: Allen Hopkins, Ray Martin, Steve Miz, Pete Margo, Jose Garcia, Jack Colavita, Sammy(Mr. Loree Jon) Jones, Danny Basavich, Al Lapena, Neptune Joe Frady...


Eric >tired of typing
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You also have Loree Jon, Tom Ruocco, Little "Miami" Gonzales resided in Paterson for a while, I don't know how long you need to be a resident to be on the list lol, there is a list of A+ players that you won't know, Sam Guzman, Paterson George, both RIP, Teddy Garrahan, Mary Kenniston, Ed Hodan, Pat Fleming, on and on..

JV
 
It's gotta be Texas....we got peeps with nicknames like:

Big Doc
Big Truck
Rack'em Zach
Trigger
Firecraker
Papa Red

Besides, everything is bigger and better in Texas....:D

And we easily have the best looking women, hands down...
 
In bank pool, it's Kentucky.

In 14.1, it's New York

In nine ball, it's North Carolina.

In scotch doubles pill pool, I'd have to go with Delaware.
 
crawfish said:
See, now wasn't this fun?
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Sure, but it almost got me making a thread up, "Which state has the most number of scumbags pool players in it? :embarrassed2: I had to hit my fingers with a wooden ruler to keep them from doing it.

JoeyA
 
Neil said:
Mich doesn't have very many, but this town, Grand Rapids, has produced Harold Worst, Bobby Hunter, (both world champions), Mark Beilfuss, and Jason Kirkwood. Not too bad for a medium size town!
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Thats because there isn't nothing else to do, or unless your a bowler. lol
 
not sure about pros but i know ohio is strong. if u take 20 players from every state, a b and c players, id have to bet on ohio.
 
Jeez, nobody has mentioned AL? Our current crop of home-grown talent includes, uhhhhh, well, ahh crap. Oh well, at least Henny and Scotty live here now, and guys like Squirrel, Junior, and Mizerak are from here:)
 
I guess the mid 90’s seems a long time ago…but if you played a Florida Tour event you butted heads with these guys who actually lived here and not just passing through…and there were quite a few players not too many notches below them…

Tommy Kennedy
Buddy Hall
Steve Mizerak
Ray Martin
David Howard
John DiToro
Jon Dovinsky
Dick Weaver
Tommy Brown
Toby Sweet
Steve Cook
Dave Grossman

MM
 
Cali

Heres a decent list of players from Cali...

Billy Palmer, TRex, Louie U, Tennis player Dan :P Morro, Kong, Little Al, Tracy Joe, KEITH, San Jose Buddy, Billy the Kid, Jay Swanson, California Kim Davenport, Filipino Gene, that table mechanic guy, Francisco G, Arturo, Dave Hemmah, George Michaels, Amar, Mr 400... theres some more Im missing


Edit: Forgot to throw in Corey Duell. He plays a little :)
 
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I wish there was a way to battle this out. Have teams of 5 or 6 from every state play a double elimination tournament with races to 13. 2k/player entry fees and pay top 3 teams...someone hook it up. It'll be the underground tourney of the year, no streaming, no record keeping, no internet, just cash.
 
Definitely a ton of high-caliber players, but...

As a native of "Joizee," per capita, the northeast has a ton of quality players both known and unknown...so I'll throw some people in from some of the "dominant" states as it seems each region has their "specialty" games (one-hole and banks come to mind) while the northeast seems more 14.1 and 9-ball.

CA-Mark Tadd and Oscar Dominguez
OH-Fred "Scooter" Goodman
NY-Mike Zuglan and Robb Saez
NC-Tony Watson

Hope this adds fuel to the topic...:D
 
MexPoolPlyr said:
Heres a decent list of players from Cali...

Billy Palmer, TRex, Louie U, Tennis player Dan :P Morro, Kong, Little Al, Tracy Joe, KEITH, San Jose Buddy, Billy the Kid, Jay Swanson, California Kim Davenport, Filipino Gene, that table mechanic guy, Francisco G, Arturo, Dave Hemmah, George Michaels, Amar, Mr 400... theres some more Im missing


Edit: Forgot to throw in Corey Duell. He plays a little :)
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Plus Ernesto and Oscar. We used to rule the bar tables with Big Sergio, Mario, Oscar, Little Al, Al Nicaragua, Lumphead, Bakersfield Bobby, Peter Gunn and more. Richie came from Torrance, CA and Cole was from SF. They were among the best in their hey day. Ronnie was originally from Oklahoma, but it was during his years in California that he ruled the One Pocket world. Lou Butera won all his titles while a resident here. Jack Cooney is another SF native. Tang Hoa played pretty salty too.

Harry 'The Horse' McConnell was a great pool hustler back in the 60's and 70's. Marvin Henderson made Cali home for many years. Black Rags was a legendary black champion. Not many white guys ever went looking for him. Richie is the only guy I ever saw beat him. Cecil was from L.A. and played great before he hurt his wrist. Other black champions included The Ice Man, Black Nate, Rush Out Red, California Shorty and Crippled Shorty (originally from Texas). James Brown (Youngblood) has lived in Oakland for decades.

Lotsapoppa lived here for many years as well. So did Jimmy Reid, Philly Joe Veasey, Alibi Al, Ray Booth and other assorted hustlers. Frank The Barber posts on here. He gave many a roadman a close shave :wink:. Billy Kenyon is one more little known champion, who used to give Cecil fits. He was a stunt man in the movie biz for years. I could probably think of a few more but I'm getting tired. Oh how about Tony Annigoni, the subject of Playing Off The Rail.
 
Yeah, try to find a state that could provide 10-12 players who could match up with Ronnie Allen and Jack Cooney (One Pocket), Richie Florence, Keith McCready, Cole Dickson and Jay Swanson (9-Ball), John Schmidt (14.1), Big Sergio, Mario, Ernesto, Little Al, Peter Gunn and Bakersfield Bobby (Bar Tables). For gambling prowess, I don't think any state could match this crew.

Throw Black Rags, Cecil and Youngblood into the mix (I won't count Marvin here) and Harry The Horse and you have some pretty fair subs. Modern day players like T Rex, Amar, and Tang didn't fare too badly gambling either.
 
States top playes

The State of intoxication. I've seen more 'world champion pool players' come from the liquid state. :D

Crown City Corey, Mike the barber, tall Paul, and Dave Piona as well from Ca.
 
Well since nobody else has I'll nominate the Iowa/Illinois border with Chad Vilmont Josh Johnson, formerly Jon Kucharo, Jesse Bowman Jamie Barracks at one point when all the champions were playing it would have been very hard to bet against these guys. for whatever reason though if your from iowa or illinois after you get to or near the top of the ladder you learn to hate pool.
 
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