Who was St. Louis Louie Roberts ?

[sjm]

One thing that I don't understand is that if a player like Louis could make any shot like the ones described in this thread and have the stroking ability as well, how come he was a ball or two behind Buddy and Mike Sigel? I understand that Buddy was just awesome for several years but if a guy never misses and shoots shots the way Louis purportedly did, how did he lose? He must have missed once in a while.

A guy who never misses a ball can lose at nineball in any of these ways to another top pro: 1) position play errors, 2) safety play errors, kicking errors, and tactical errors and 3) ineffectiveness with the break.

 

[Rickw]

I agree with you SJM but these inadequacies were never brought up. My point is that people are talking about him like he was the best player that ever picked up a cue and then a few lines later they say he was not able to beat Buddy and Mike. I'd just like someone to share why he was not able to beat them and you're probably right on about that. How does a guy that makes the balls that he supposedly shot lose?

I knew a guy that was a tremendous player. He didn't seem to move the cb as good as others though but he almost alway won. I asked him one day why he didn't get better position and he said because he felt that he could make any ball on the table that he could see and that his goal was to keep the cb in areas where he could at least see the ob. He couldn't beat Kim Davenport in 9b but he was able to beat him on the 6 X 12 snooker table. Maybe this is sort of what Louis was like. Maybe he could make anything but got out of line occasionally?

A guy who never misses a ball can lose at nineball in any of these ways to another top pro: 1) position play errors, 2) safety play errors, kicking errors, and tactical errors and 3) ineffectiveness with the break.

 

[Rickw]

BTW, these are the types of threads that I really like the most. I love hearing about the past legends and what made them so good. Great thread!!

 

[hemicudas]

When it was said that, louie, might be the best shot maker ever it could be a true statement.

Think of a tough shot. One that is virtually impossible to make. Louie Roberts, was as much the favorite to make that shot as, Buddy, Mike, Keith or Wimpy, because, Louie, thrived on those shots. He lived to impress the crowd. Now, after he fired the impossible shot in and everyone goes nuts, he just might forget to make the next easy shot. Might get out of line two shots down the line or other road blocks.

Louie, beared down on those super tough shots. It was the shot you and I are the favorites to make that, Louie, had brain cramps with. Still one hell of a player. Who won the U.S. Open and wasn't a damn good player?

 

[Rickw]

Thanks $Bill, that's the answer I was looking for!

When it was said that, louie, might be the best shot maker ever it could be a true statement.

Think of a tough shot. One that is virtually impossible to make. Louie Roberts, was as much the favorite to make that shot as, Buddy, Mike, Keith or Wimpy, because, Louie, thrived on those shots. He lived to impress the crowd. Now, after he fired the impossible shot in and everyone goes nuts, he just might forget to make the next easy shot. Might get out of line two shots down the line or other road blocks.

Louie, beared down on those super tough shots. It was the shot you and I are the favorites to make that, Louie, had brain cramps with. Still one hell of a player. Who won the U.S. Open and wasn't a damn good player?

 

[macguy]

They give an award out at the Derby City Classic bearing his name.
But I can't find much on the internet about him.
He must have been quite a character to have the action/entertainment award named after him.
Also I know he has passed away,but how did he die?
I have seen conflicting reports on that matter.
And finally what speed did he play at,maybe someone can compare him to one of todays players.
Thanks for any info.

He was a character of the highest order. He was staying with me once and my wife found him standing on his head naked in our yard one morning. His naturel skills were second to none. Accustats I believe has him in a match not long before he died you may want to check out. He was playing a guy in Tampa one night and the guy had a stake horse. After trading money back and forth with the stake horse for a few games. He pulls out a huge wad of bills and hands them to my wife and asks her to take care of the money with stake horse. He won and my wife gave him the wad of bill back, now considerably larger, and he tried to hand her a twenty, which she didn't want. He shoved the wad back in his pocket and she asked him if he didn't want to count it? He said, "what for, I don't know what was there to start with". He could care less about that money, he was in action and that was all that mattered. You never ran into him without coming away with a story to tell.

 

[ChuckR]

I was at the Memphis tournament mentioned earlier waiting for the morning matches to begin. Louie walks over to my wife and asks if she might have an aspirin. He then proceeds to tell us the he can't believe Red would do this to him. He had been up all night playing Keith and found out the Red had gotten Louie drunk and bet $1,000 on Keith . He was a real crowd pleaser. One time after he broke I heard him say"Captain, get those soldiers out of the hot sun". He then proceeded to run out the table. Another time after his break, he turned to the audience and said, " I'll bet my lungs I'm out". He was. What fun it was to watch him shoot. RIP Louie. ChuckR