Who was the best hustler?
- Thread starter alstl
- Start date
The best I ever saw in person
Was Charlie Brown from Houma, Loisiana. I made the road with him 6 times and never saw him lose. Some of the matches would go for 28 to 40 hours. The best I ever saw him win was in Shreveport Louisian when he played Buddy Hall for +/- 18 hours at the Guys and Dolls. He was near busted 7-8 times and then would come back and finally busted Buddy. One of the best matches I had the privilegde to watch. It was 9-ball and fast and loose. Charlie did not manage money well and I lost contact over the years, he played best with a drug inhancemant, but never saw anyone put more heart into their game, He simply did not believe he could beat and he might have something there as I never saw it happen. I truely hope he is still out there adn fairing OK be cauuse he was worth the price of admission just to see him play. Chalrlie I hope you have not killed your silly self and still doing what you loved the most.
cheers------------------BW
alstl said:
Was Charlie Brown from Houma, Loisiana. I made the road with him 6 times and never saw him lose. Some of the matches would go for 28 to 40 hours. The best I ever saw him win was in Shreveport Louisian when he played Buddy Hall for +/- 18 hours at the Guys and Dolls. He was near busted 7-8 times and then would come back and finally busted Buddy. One of the best matches I had the privilegde to watch. It was 9-ball and fast and loose. Charlie did not manage money well and I lost contact over the years, he played best with a drug inhancemant, but never saw anyone put more heart into their game, He simply did not believe he could beat and he might have something there as I never saw it happen. I truely hope he is still out there adn fairing OK be cauuse he was worth the price of admission just to see him play. Chalrlie I hope you have not killed your silly self and still doing what you loved the most.
cheers------------------BW
kildegirl said:
Good question.
Now I have one for you.
I have a problem with my eyes, and wear strong glasses. I have astigmatism in both eyes, and when cutting to the left need to aim differently from cutting to the right. As a consequence, on any shot that needs to be very precise, I need to make an adjustment in how I aim the shot. By the way, I also need to make an adjustment when shooting straight in shots that are medium to long distance ones.
Will your aiming system help me?
Flex
Lol
Yep, I wasnt here but the "kids" came into town and took off some "players" here. It was Corey Deuel and someone else though.
My cousin, (he is a dandy....) played Karen Corr in snooker, she ran out on him and at that time she was an unknown. He said, "Well, she plays okay but she really doesnt impress me."
The true art of the con, is having someone that is too dumb to know he has been hustled....
JMO
Ken
Terry Ardeno said:Don Willis comes to mind fastest when I read the title. Cooney would be my second pick.
Modern day (last 10 years or so)...well, there are some things once heard that you can't un-hear....When Jay Helfert said they went about "ransacking the country", I think that's a funny phrase that I'll always remember.
We were talking of course of when Corey Deuel and Alex Pagulayan teamed up and traveled together seeking out money games. Can you even imagine the poor (pun intended) fools that matched up with that duo?
As a side note, I personally think that the team of Deuel / Pagulayan was second all time only to the tandem of Luther Lassiter / Don Willis.
Yep, I wasnt here but the "kids" came into town and took off some "players" here. It was Corey Deuel and someone else though.
My cousin, (he is a dandy....) played Karen Corr in snooker, she ran out on him and at that time she was an unknown. He said, "Well, she plays okay but she really doesnt impress me."
The true art of the con, is having someone that is too dumb to know he has been hustled....
JMO
Ken
Brooklyn Jimmy
This is an excerpt from my blog, "Spent time in NY with Brooklyn Jimmy."
"This is one of many wonderful stories about my pal, the great Brooklyn Jimmy Cassas.
I was in Miami Beach in 1963 watching Jimmy "lemon hustle" a stone sucker in a local joint. The guy was totally helpless, and naturally didn't know Jimmy or Jimmy's real speed. Jimmy was about 20 games ahead at $3 a pop, when he suddenly quit. "What's wrong?" The sucker queried. "You think I don't know what you're doing." Jimmy replied. "You sluff a few games off to me for cheap money, and then you get me to raise it to like $15 or $20 a game, and then take me off. I'm from NY, we know about guys like you. I ain't going for it." With the guy now denying it all, and begging Jimmy to keep playing, Jimmy finishes him off with, "OK, I'll give in and do what YOU want. I'll let you win a few back at $15 a game, but then I'm gonna quit. I'll let you get close, but you ain't gonna get all the way even." The bet is now $15 a game, and naturally Jimmy goes ahead and busts the guy. The guy couldn't make a ball in the ocean to begin with. Jimmy could've spotted him the five through the nine."
the Beard
I've got 2 new trick banks up on my blog, www.bankingwiththebeard.blogspot.com/ Do you think you can make 'em?
George Fels said:
This is an excerpt from my blog, "Spent time in NY with Brooklyn Jimmy."
"This is one of many wonderful stories about my pal, the great Brooklyn Jimmy Cassas.
I was in Miami Beach in 1963 watching Jimmy "lemon hustle" a stone sucker in a local joint. The guy was totally helpless, and naturally didn't know Jimmy or Jimmy's real speed. Jimmy was about 20 games ahead at $3 a pop, when he suddenly quit. "What's wrong?" The sucker queried. "You think I don't know what you're doing." Jimmy replied. "You sluff a few games off to me for cheap money, and then you get me to raise it to like $15 or $20 a game, and then take me off. I'm from NY, we know about guys like you. I ain't going for it." With the guy now denying it all, and begging Jimmy to keep playing, Jimmy finishes him off with, "OK, I'll give in and do what YOU want. I'll let you win a few back at $15 a game, but then I'm gonna quit. I'll let you get close, but you ain't gonna get all the way even." The bet is now $15 a game, and naturally Jimmy goes ahead and busts the guy. The guy couldn't make a ball in the ocean to begin with. Jimmy could've spotted him the five through the nine."
the Beard
I've got 2 new trick banks up on my blog, www.bankingwiththebeard.blogspot.com/ Do you think you can make 'em?
Dubya
He hustled his way into the white house
we saw what a turd he was, and he STILL hustled his way to a second term.
Boy did he ever find the pond with the most fish
Disclaimer: The above post was totally off topic and completely uncalled for in a civilized society.
He hustled his way into the white house
we saw what a turd he was, and he STILL hustled his way to a second term.
Boy did he ever find the pond with the most fish
Disclaimer: The above post was totally off topic and completely uncalled for in a civilized society.
Never seen him play but from the stories I hear, I would also vote Jack Cooney.
Best I have ever seen in person was Honest John Ferber out of Gainesville Florida. He plays shortstop speed and was able to buy a house and some land in Gainesville from pool. He was the one who ran Stevie Moore around the country in the the very early 90s. Stevie himself told me that Honest John got him into the best spots to make money he ever had during his undercover years. John had the knack of getting his sucker to bet it up and give him a huge spot. For him to lose he would have to play like 4 balls under his speed.
Best I have ever seen in person was Honest John Ferber out of Gainesville Florida. He plays shortstop speed and was able to buy a house and some land in Gainesville from pool. He was the one who ran Stevie Moore around the country in the the very early 90s. Stevie himself told me that Honest John got him into the best spots to make money he ever had during his undercover years. John had the knack of getting his sucker to bet it up and give him a huge spot. For him to lose he would have to play like 4 balls under his speed.
Bayawak said:
Great pool player, yes
I don't know about hustler
From what I understand his original backers hustled his arse out of all the money.
Yes, something like 85 to 90% of it, from what I understand. That was when he was living in Chicago, just about 20 years ago. To the best of my knowledge, Efren has NEVER hustled; he simply played his best and beat the bejabbers out of everybody. That he played his first tournament under an assumed name really isn't much of a hustle; he wasn't disguising his speed even then. GF
Good thread here. When I was a kid, Earl Shriver was the MAN! All the hustlers looked to him for guidance. Every road man wanted to hook up with Earl, because he knew all the best spots and how to make the most money. Only Fats went his own way. He was a lone wolf almost his entire career, but he made tons of money at pool, and blew it playing cards.
The best pure hustler I knew was probably Popcorn, who moved as good as anyone I ever saw around a poolroom. He had a piece of everybody and was in on every good game. He was especially skillfull at setting up "marks". He snuck Lisciotti in on me, but I paid him back sneaking a young Frank Tullos into his joint. Playing the best for the cash had to go to Cornbread, who never met a bet he didn't like. The higher the bet, the better he played. He delighted in firing the money ball in at 100mph when all the cash was on the line. It was his way of adding an explanation point to the victory.
As far as winning big money and staying undercover, no one rivals Jack Cooney. While all the champions were slaving away trying to beat someone out of five hundred or a thousand, Jack was making six figure scores. Every so often we would hear about his latest victim. And yet, most players did not know what he looked like. How strong is that!
Frisco Jack was undeniably the greatest Pool hustler of the modern era.
The best pure hustler I knew was probably Popcorn, who moved as good as anyone I ever saw around a poolroom. He had a piece of everybody and was in on every good game. He was especially skillfull at setting up "marks". He snuck Lisciotti in on me, but I paid him back sneaking a young Frank Tullos into his joint. Playing the best for the cash had to go to Cornbread, who never met a bet he didn't like. The higher the bet, the better he played. He delighted in firing the money ball in at 100mph when all the cash was on the line. It was his way of adding an explanation point to the victory.
As far as winning big money and staying undercover, no one rivals Jack Cooney. While all the champions were slaving away trying to beat someone out of five hundred or a thousand, Jack was making six figure scores. Every so often we would hear about his latest victim. And yet, most players did not know what he looked like. How strong is that!
Frisco Jack was undeniably the greatest Pool hustler of the modern era.
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jay helfert said:
Was?
I have not seem him for a while, but ya never know.............................
It took 10+ years before I had seen him in person.....................LOL
The best pure hustlers I ever saw were John Ferber (as uwate indicated) and Lotsapop, a 300+ pound black guy who was a joy to be around, and played jam-up one pocket. They pretty much had the same modus operandi: hang out in a room for a week or so, make friends with everyone, keep their true speed a mystery, and just vacuum ALL the dough out of the place. When they left, everyone they beat said the same thing: "Wait til that chump comes back to town, I'll rob him". I saw Lotsapop work on a guy for hours during a cheap tournement. Everyone told Pop that the guy didn't gamble and he was wasting his time. He just smiled and kept needling the guy. After the tournement, Lotspop finally got the guy to match up and won a ton. Later, Pop told me that he could spot a mark the way crooks can spot a cop. I gotta include Ronnie Allen from personal experience. I walked into Cochran's billiards in San Francisco in 1965, a cocky 18 year old shortstop from Texas, and, like the genius that I am, manage to match up with a champion right out of the box. After Ronnie let me win a few games cheap, and constantly telling me what a talent I was, and threatening to quit, I made my master move and offered him the wild 8 if he would jack the bet. As I was leaving Cochran's, broke as a goat, I remember thinking, when I come back next time, I'm gonna crush this guy and win all the money in the joint. Riiiight. I would put Scotty Townsend in the conversation based on my many conversations with his ex road partner. Also Portland Don, who Luther Lassiter claimed was the best hustler he ever saw. I only saw Jack Cooney a few times at Cochran's and Palace Billiards, but he was always matched up with another champion, so I never really saw his hustler skills in action, but from what I've heard and read, he is probably the king of the modern day hustlers. Great thread.
