What's the truth about Eddie Parker????

Very true Butch! I once watched Fats put on an 'exhibition' at Dave Cook Sporting Goods, in Denver (mid-70's). He stood around the table, holding his cue, and told stories for over 2 hours...never shot a single shot. :eek: He had the entire audience in stitches the whole time! Eddie Parker was a popular showman too, and certainly did his share for the advancement of the sport. I saw Eddie perform his show, at the old Corner Pocket, in Bozeman, MT, in the summer of '87. He was capitalizing on the popularity of The Color of Money, which had come out the year before!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

The King said:
No matter who or if there was a real Fast Eddie or Fats they are/were definatly great for the game of pool...
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Thanks everyone

Right on, thanks for everyone's help answering my question. Az is the world history of pool official headquarters. Me an a friend are going to start making tee-shirts and I might just have to throw a couple "dr. of billiards history" tees to jam, scott lee, jay. Wow thats corny, lol but seriously everyone is always so helpful here.


Thanks again,
Grey Ghost
 
Fast Eddie Parker also produced an instructional video "How To Master Pocket Billiards" back in '97. I have it on VHS and I also transferred it to DVD.
The video is over 2 1/2 hours long and has all kinds of good stuff on it from the basics to advanced level.
 
Eddie Parker

I met him twice, he came through Spfd, MO when I was young and full of arrogance. He did a trick shot show at Betty's Billiards involving the diamonds and had some very nice systems that were fun and easy to understand involving banks. His exhibition was truly great and I could tell at one time he was a champion just from his knowledge and genuine love for the game.

My friend who I traveled with asked me to go up and ask Eddie Felsen (The real fast Eddie from my view) to gamble, usually I would have not thought twice about it but I decided not to. Butch had promoted Eddie being there and there were many people watching him entertain and enjoying themselves with his jovial showmanship. I liked his show also and decided I would be hated if I were to play him and win, plus what would I have accomplished winning against a man three times my age. His instructional video starts off kind of slow and he had some trouble with his denture glue which unfortunately made it a little hard for him to talk. But the video eventually is very worthwhile and one of the best instructional tapes I have seen to date (you will learn 'somethin.' )

The second time I met him was in Tulsa, OK while I was playing a $15,000 dollar set against a formidable opponent. He knew many great champions and I do believe he was one of the best people I have ever met in the Pool World (a real class act.) I look back on my days as a youth player and who I am today and it does make a person reflect on their life. But those were great memories for me traveling on a skateboard with my cue in one hand going to a real pool hall to play pool. I have made some bad decisions since then asked for forgiveness from the Lord and feel I am making progress. Eddie lived in Ava, MO which is very spiritual in itself cause some of the best players ever to come out of MO were from that very town (something in the water?) I feel blessed to have met him and hopefully that will not hurt is credibility. God rest his soul

Sincerely, Danny Harriman (The Springfield Rifle)
 
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PMs only

NY Fats = Minnesota Fats? Have a strong opinion.
Eddie Parker = Fast Eddie Felson? Know for sure.
Ronnie Allen = Fast Eddie Felson? Know for sure.

Anybody really interested in my (learned) opinion can PM me. I am avoiding further flame wars.

Beard
 
Eddie parker

I had the privilage to watch eddie in springfield MO twice at betty's billiards and later at sharkys billiards the second time several AVA MO players attended and eddie spent some personal time with them, both before and after the show players like Darren Everett and Greg Ridenhour and several others ! he was a great showman and a good down to earth man he and his wife. they just what we expected and then some he gave us just what we wanted the thought the belief that we too could be great maybe ledgends the stuff books and movies could be written and made about. he just gave everyone what they wanted and he was a hell of a shooter! and showman and pool icon. no matter what the doubters say. RIP Eddie my reguards PEG. thank you Donnie Hale

THERES SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE POOL PLAYER FROM BOOGER COUNTY (douglas county) AVA MO




















there
is
 
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Fast Eddie stopped in my pool room in Russellville Arkansas years ago and introduced himself, we talked for a couple of hours about players, cues, rooms, his history, etc. Having been well read myself on many billiard related topics I was really impressed with his knowledge. As far as my knowledge could take me I found no holes in story so I decided to hire him for an exhibition. Just getting to know this man who I felt to be 100% genuine and a true gentleman was worth my investment. As for the arguement of Tevis vs whoever it is my guess that all writers base at least some portion of thier characters on real people. Eddie's claim to me was that some percentage of the Felson character was in line with things he had told Tevis during their time together. I never met Tevis but I had a very good feeling about Mr Eddie Parker.

Mark Smith
Beezer Fine Billiards
Russellville, Arkansas
 
Jeff Gates made 40 in one shot

hustlin62946 said:
how do u even attempt to make 22 balls in 1 stroke?:confused:
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There's an eccentric guy in Chicago named Jeff Gates that has made 40 balls in one shot -- many times. He has the shot on video, and for whatever reason has not released it publicly. He is apparently waiting for some kind of million dollar offer from Believe It Or Not, or something like that. He has been working on this shot, exclusively for 20 years. He rents his own private table by the year, in Chris's Billiards, with a video setup! He's financially secure, so it really aint about the money. Anyone who has played in Chris's has probably seen Jeff do this, mainly because this is all he does. Oh yeah, now I remember, he's waiting for someone to want to use Michael Jordan to do the shot for a commercial on TV. The shot is not all that difficult, it's his amazing setup systems that are the key. I havent talked to him in a couple of years so its a good bet he has improved on the 40 number.

the Beard
Don't believe? Just call the pool room. 773 286 4714.
 
The King said:
What no Fast Eddie ... No Minnesota Fats there go some of my hero's of the pool world ... In another 20 years they will be telling us there was never any Toupe Jay he was just some fictional guy and he never worte any books they are fictional also ... ;)

I'm gonna have to hang onto my autographed copy of pool wars numbered and all... When I was at The Gem City Classic my boy took my copy of Pool Wars and got ...Varner , Archer , Nevil, Schmidt , Morris , Davenport , Bartram , Searing , Showman to put thier signature along side of yours Jay .... Now I have a very special edition of Pool Wars ... :)
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No question that "Fast Eddie" Parker was a good guy and good for pool, the way he promoted it all over the country. I only saw one of his exhibitions, but I enjoyed it myself and he could definitely play pool. Make no mistake about that. His claim to being the "real" Fast Eddie is no different than Fat's claim to being the real Minnesota Fats. We accepted Fats for the showman he was, so we should also accept Eddie.

As far as I'm concerned I never made any claims to being anything other than what I was, a decent little shortstop who played a lot of pool for money, and won the great majority of my games. For a few years there I had a record like the Globetrotters, only losing once or twice a year. I never claimed to be one of the best. In fact I deliberately avoided playing the best players. I was in it for the money back then, not the recognition. The funny thing is that I always had a bankroll when many top players were busted.
 
I never even heard of this guy until today. I read through the entire thread. There was a lot of great information about what a great guy he was, how he promoted the game, and how he put on good shows. But not one person commented on how well he actually played pool. Was he a pro level player for money/tournament play? Shortstop? Strong A or B or player? Anyone?
 
Retired 14.1 Lover said:
I never even heard of this guy until today. I read through the entire thread. There was a lot of great information about what a great guy he was, how he promoted the game, and how he put on good shows. But not one person commented on how well he actually played pool. Was he a pro level player for money/tournament play? Shortstop? Strong A or B or player? Anyone?
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Seriously man, bringing this thread back is lame.
 
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Retired 14.1 Lover said:
I never even heard of this guy until today. I read through the entire thread. There was a lot of great information about what a great guy he was, how he promoted the game, and how he put on good shows. But not one person commented on how well he actually played pool. Was he a pro level player for money/tournament play? Shortstop? Strong A or B or player? Anyone?
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I am not about to flame you for posting on a thread that YOU found intersting😉
I do wonder about you not being able to discern "Fast Eddie's" ability to play. Many stated he could really play. He was a 14.1 trnmnt winner,that should tell you all you need to know.
 
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Great thread!! Thanks Jam for the articles, fantastic read. All the 1st hand stories are pure gold, thank you guys for sharing. 👍😎💯
 
Hungarian said:
I never understood why it's uncool to bring back an old thread. The historian in me enjoys them.
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It's the Cancel Culture of AZB doing their job. It's goes from the top down and more pervasive than one would think
until you get hit by it and see all of the different ways it goes into action and the players involved toward various subjects
or members. Censorship is one of the favorites.
 
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