Who was the best hustler?

I would like to give a mention to U.J. Puckett. Late in his life, he was the subject of a 60 minutes segment. Also, he never had a social security card until he had to get one for his winnings in the Legends of Pool series in the 1970's. He used to say that anyone with a real job was a coward.
 
Another vote for Jack

Jack Cooney outsmarted them all. While the top players were beating up on each other in tournaments trying to win $20000, Jack was matching up for $40000+ and taking it down most of the time. He had the patience to wait for a good game, then had the bankroll to lay down on his opponent, and then he had the skill to turn on enough speed to keep his man betting.

At one of his stops, he matched up with a really good player for 11 days and took down the cash. Afterward the railbirds were still convinced that Jack couldn't play!!! How's that for moving good???
 
No, according to Jimmy himself, all he had to do was sit back and wait for his opponents' sense of larceny to present itself. "Every chump who ever tried to give me the 5, 7 and 9 on a tight 5' x 10' - which nobody in the world could do - thought he was gonna beat my brains out with it," he said. Jimmy succeeded by following the simple principle of letting his suckers trap themselves. GF
 
klockdoc said:
That guy was a con artist and a very good one at that. He could also play pool. Get the book, "The Great Titanic Thompson". Good read. Probably finish it in one night. You will really enjoy it. Must read for everyone.
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The book is called "The unsinkable Titanic Thompson. now out of print,good luck. I got my. He did everything well and allways had the nuts.
 
alstl said:
For those of you who have been around a while, who would you list as the best hustler you ever saw? You can break it down into two categories if you like, a hustler who could make money and keep it, or a guy who could make money but then throw it away on other "stuff".

Feel free to include some stories.
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why not work on your aiming system?
 
Actionhound said:
I have heard alot of stories and read some articles about a guy called Titanic Thompson, but he was before my time.
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I have talked about him on this forum previously. He was a great HUSTLER, but he also had ALOT of talent.

How many people do you know that can play golf competitively form both sides?
Thats correct, RIGHT-HANDED as well as LEFT-HANDED. He could definitely get the CHEESE.

Here is the link..........

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=812&highlight=titanic+thompson

You definitely need to get the book, he had more moves than Cliff.:eek:
Todd
 
PIRANHA said:
The book is called "The unsinkable Titanic Thompson. now out of print,good luck. I got my. He did everything well and allways had the nuts.
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Actually, he wasn't that strong at pool. He was a scratch golfer and pretty good at bowling. He was world class at skeet shooting and very good with a pistol. He didn't always have the nuts as I won the only bet I ever made with him!:D
 
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kildegirl said:
why not work on your aiming system?
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:)

My aiming system is as simple as it gets. I draw a line from the pocket through the object ball and find the spot I want to hit, but only on a few shots. Most of the time it's pretty obvious where to aim. When I watch videos of the pros I see them sneaking a peek sometimes on tough shots and I have a feeling they are doing the same thing.

The "systems" would just clog up my brain. Kicking systems are a different story, I could benefit from a good one.
 
Last ten years?

Kid Delicious might have made more $$ than anyone if you take away tourney earnings (we're talking hustling, right?).
 
Best hustler

Vernon Elliott without doubt. He won more money in Detroit in the shortest length of time of all the hustlers and still no one knew him----except other hustlers and known champions and none of them would play him. Many of the others mentioned are (mostly were) great hustlers but tip their hat to Vernon. Interestingly of all the people Vernon has told me stories about the only one that may have gave ground to was Titanic Thompson. He said he knew better than mess with him. From Vernon that is quite noteworthy.
 
alstl said:
:)
Kicking systems are a different story, I could benefit from a good one.
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Check out www.pooliq.net for kicking systems and cue ball control. Little Joe Villalpando has been an under-the-radar road player for over 20 years and has developed some very useful systems.

When I posted about a lesson I took from him and also about his DVD's his name was immediately recognized by several posters not the least of which was Jay Helfert who said that Little Joe is the real deal.

I got a lot from his help.
 
alstl said:
:)
The "systems" would just clog up my brain. Kicking systems are a different story, I could benefit from a good one.
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The best coverage of Kicking Systems was presented here on AZ by DeadAim. He covered a variety of systems. Learn these and you can hit about any ball on the table. Here are the links for your review.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=9114&highlight=kicking+systems

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=9115&highlight=kicking+systems

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=9121&highlight=kicking+systems

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=9146&highlight=kicking+systems

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=9166&highlight=kicking+systems

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=9170&highlight=kicking+systems

Now, all I found were the Intro, Part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 6 and The End..:confused:

I do not know what happened to the 4 and 5. Perhaps do another search under DeadAim for the balance. I read this material. It is very good.

Good Luck
 
Best I ever saw goes by "Izzy" and he lives in one of the 10 major cities I've lived in. I won't tell you which one. The fact that probably nobody on here has ever heard of him is a testament to his ability to stay under the radar.

He took $60K+/year out of one bar I know of and nobody there EVER knew how good he played. They all just thought he was out partying every Friday with them cashing a paycheck, having a few beers, playing a little $5 & $10 8-ball.

Truth is, he's a champion. He can play with the best, especially on a barbox. I got to know him a little bit because I caught on to what he was doing and talked to him and we ran into each other a few places. I had the pleasure of seeing him go 'all out' once and it was crazy. He ran rack after rack on the little box. I knew he played good, but not that good.

The players being mentioned are legends. With legendary stories about them. Izzy takes his ego out of it and goes to work. To me that's a better measure of a 'hustler.' Those other guys might be characters who play good pool and play tricks on people, but the guys who go to work every day for the 5 & 10 with NO recognition are the real hustlers. And you probably don't know if you've ever met one. In fact, if you did, you probably came on here and complained about a 'banger' getting lucky on you at the local pub.

:)

Cheers,
RC
 
Doc Watson was and is the only hustler I ever saw who REALLY did something smart with his winnings. He beat Jew Paul out of about $350,000 on the bar box and went right to a real estate agent the next day and paid cash for a very nice house in Southfield, Mi. for about $250,000. I may have the details wrong but this is very close to what happened. He still lives in that house today, along with several generations of his family from time to time. Great guy, great hustler, and he still comes around and sweats the big matches, but doesn't play at all any more...SMART...Tom
 
U. J. Puckett ---- 25 years after he tried hustling me in Phoenix, he remembered my name, year we played, and where. He had to have a phenomenal memory of everyone he played.
 
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