Who was the best hustler?

Woppie???

DFW's own, Walter "Woppie" Gaddy, was the first to walk into a pool room, buy a roll of quarters, walk around the 9' GC looking for the coin slot then asking the suckers where you put the quarters in.

Woppie, was probably the second best bumper pool player in history. In a bumper pool joint he would tell-um all he didn't play that silly little game but they were so lucky they didn't have a snooker table here or he would play any of them some "Call 8 Snooker" for $100 a game.
 
Greatest All-Time Win Percentage (hustler: non-pool):

Excerpt from The GosPool:

Quinn, a Ping-Pong player out of NY. He was stoop-shouldered and weighed about 95 lbs. He looked like he had been recently rescued from a death camp. He was so uncoordinated when he ate, only about 2 out of 3 forkfuls would actually land in his mouth. The rest would just run down his chest. Somehow, that wasn't the case when he played Ping-Pong. When he played an egg Ping-Pong, he barely moved, drool would run down his cheeks, and he returned every shot until the sucker finally banged one into the net. It was very difficult for his victim to realize the trap he was in, and to quit playing while he (the victim) still had money in his pocket. When I asked him if he ever lost in 40 years of hustling, Quinn replied, "A couple of fins ($5), never a sawbuck ($10)."
(World champion ponger, Marty Reisman fell to Quinn in NY, and mentioned him in his biography.)

the Beard
I've got 2 new trick banks up on my blog, www.bankingwiththebeard.blogspot.com/ Do you think you can make 'em? I don't think so.
 
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John Barton said:
Please, please, please list the WEIGHT that Tooth got when beating these champions. Has Bucktooth beaten any champion even???? I didn't think so.

Please STOP IT on this forum about how freaking great and how much gamble Bucktooth has. You don't have ANY gamble and NO HEART when you want the world all the time. I would gladly bet thousands as well if I could get ridiculous weight. Is there ANYONE that Bucktooth has beaten where the game was even remotely in line????

I can't take it anymore and I know I will probably be a target now. But in case you haven't figured it out 99.99% of internet barking does NOT lead to a game. So you are wasting your time.
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Before the Tooth got rich in the jewelry business he was a road player and he could play. In the mid sixties there was a one handed one pocket player in LA called Fingers. When he and the Tooth matched up playing $50/$100 a game one handed, we would all go down to watch. IMO Ronnie was the only guy on the West Coast who could have beaten the Tooth playing one handed one pocket then. He played all games and matched up good, even then, but he could play. I'll agree that in recent history he gets some pretty juicy games and his rhetoric is hard to fade, but he gets down and does bet it up. If the good players want to give up those games firing at the big money, I always enjoy watching. He also has blown some big money along the way when he lost. I told the Tooth at the last tournament at Hard Times in Sacramento that if he ever got laryngitis in the middle of a story, I could finish it for him. John
 
I'm not lettin this thread drop out of site. I love the stories. Thanks guys.
 
freddy the beard said:
Willie the Wop was a barely concealed, nasty reference to Mosconi. The story was, Willie the Wop and The One-Eyed Doc, for Willie's last money. "Not that eye, Doc, the other one!"
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Now, this is odd. The first time I ever heard this story, or a variation of it, it was from an old friend back in NYS. He claimed he heard it from Mosconi, names changed, of course. But, the story was very similar. My friend claimed Willie told the story to a reporter, I think, but it wasn't for publication.
 
WRITTEN BY NYC cue dude on 10/7/2007
NYC cue dude said:
...And... As far as Ginky is concerned, the pictures Jam posted where of Ginky fresh off from the road. He had already been on tv, and was starting to become very well known. The blonde hair was part of his disguise. Perhaps this was after a road trip with pagulyan? How would you like to run into them, undercover is some nondescript room in the Midwest? LOL.
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WRITTEN BY NYC cue dude on 9/5/2007
NYC cue dude said:
I'll say one more thing, about JAM. After this post, I must put you on ignore, as a lifetime punishment for your newly discovered hypocrisy and agenda. America first, my ass. I read your comments, which I am sure you regret ever writing, about the roster for the 14.1 event. After reading the list you wrote that it was "yankee infested". Do I need to define the word infested to you? these are your fellow americans you are writing about. So I have now come to see that you don't care about foreign players, OR american players. What you are interested in are the players that you and keith are frinds with. You proved this with your own hands. SHAME ON YOU!!! (btw, ALL of the sponsor wild card spots went to NYers)
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Hypocrisy at its finest!

BTW, I did not know one could see a poster's pictures if the poster in question was put on ignore as a lifetime punishment.

SHAME ON YOU!

JAM
 
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jay helfert said:
Popcorn anyone?
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It's not funny to me, Jay, but I'm glad you're generating a little enjoyment for yourself at my expense. It's different, though, when it happens to you on this forum. One thing for sure, I never posted one negative thing about you, and in fact, when you were attacked, I defended you as a valuable contributor to this forum, as well as the pool world in general.

JAM
 
JAM said:
It's not funny to me, Jay, but I'm glad you're generating a little enjoyment for yourself at my expense. It's different, though, when it happens to you on this forum. One thing for sure, I never posted one negative thing about you, and in fact, when you were attacked, I defended you as a valuable contributor to this forum, as well as the pool world in general.

JAM
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Don't know but I thought Jay was referring to the player, Popcorn???
 
JAM said:
It's not funny to me, Jay, but I'm glad you're generating a little enjoyment for yourself at my expense. It's different, though, when it happens to you on this forum. One thing for sure, I never posted one negative thing about you, and in fact, when you were attacked, I defended you as a valuable contributor to this forum, as well as the pool world in general.

JAM
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Thanks Jam. I meant no harm, but I don't really see the point in bringing up negativity. Why start a flame war that is over a meaningless comment?
Probably no one noticed it but you. Sometimes the best approach is to just ignore something said on here.
 
hemicudas said:
Don't know but I thought Jay was referring to the player, Popcorn???
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Wish it were so, Hemi, but I think you and I both know it wasn't the Popcorn. Thanks for the light-hearted comment, though, in an effort to bring levity to the thread. :p

Hope all is well with you and yours in the BEAUTIFUL State of Mississippi! :)

JAM
 
jay helfert said:
Popcorn anyone?
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Popcorn..Johnny M.? I remember him from the sixties. Just a fair player but knew how to move into some sweet games. He had that awkward stand up style that made him look like he was just practicing.

I played him and beat him, and a couple of days later he snuck Don Watson in on me. He went through me like a hot knife through butter. Portland Don was the only person I ever played that I felt that I had no chance.

Back to Popcorn, has anyone heard of him lately? He called me from some jail about 25 years ago. Talked to him for a few minutes. Don't know how he got my number and why he decided to call me. We didnt know each other that well. Where is he? Anyone?
 
jay helfert said:
Popcorn anyone?
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Popcorn was one of the 1st road hustlers to get me..Naturally, Bucktooth told me to play this guy and took half my action!! About an hour in,he plays shape on a ball for the side pocket with the cue ball getting into a spot about 4 inches wide and i decided that was enough for me..I met another top hustler in Seattle that was running around with Billy Teeter named James Christopher aka the sniper..He made big scores in Detroit with Cooney and with Sammy Jones..The best hustlers are always the ones that make huge scores imo and he definitely did that although not to many people cared for his methods..
Terry O.;)
 
dabarbr said:
Popcorn..Johnny M.? I remember him from the sixties. Just a fair player but knew how to move into some sweet games. He had that awkward stand up style that made him look like he was just practicing.

I played him and beat him, and a couple of days later he snuck Don Watson in on me. He went through me like a hot knife through butter. Portland Don was the only person I ever played that I felt that I had no chance.

Back to Popcorn, has anyone heard of him lately? He called me from some jail about 25 years ago. Talked to him for a few minutes. Don't know how he got my number and why he decided to call me. We didnt know each other that well. Where is he? Anyone?
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Last I heard, he was in Hot Springs, AR running a poolroom.
 
JAM said:
At the 2005 Super Billiards Expo, there were tournaments galore happening, and there was never a dull moment.

On the lower level, the infamous Action Table was packed. The waiting list to get to play on the Action Table exceeded 30 names, and the crowd surrounding the table consisted of a couple hundred spectators. It was standing room only. Front row seats in the pit were a rarity.

This year, Keith held the Action Table by running two 11's and one 10 playing 10-ball, meaning he won 11 games in a row twice and 10 games in a row twice. What a score. He was in his element, and I had never seen him enjoying himself so much. It was a nightmare that got worse and worse for his opponents.

Check out Ronnie Wiseman on the rail watching Keith in action! :)

JAM
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Heh, it was 10-15 men deep --- couldn't watch unless you just plowed through 'em to see what was going on. Crazy :) And everyone (well most everyone except the other guy on the table) was throughly enjoying the evening festivities.
 
bud green said:
I'll throw the name "Country" out there just to see if anyone knows any good stories about him. More undercover than Cooney but people have posted on here (Grady maybe?) that he only played for real big $$ against people he knew he could make a big score with.The only thing I've heard about him is he was a black guy who almost nobody knew who took down five figure scores back in the day.
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I have heard alot about Country from my friend and room owner Gil Black in Middletown NY.Gil actually called him like 3 weeks ago to talk about Bugs and his health.I showed Gil some pics of Bugs who Gil played way back when and he didnt even recognize him.He told me a story of how he had a room in CT and a record shop next store and when he walked outside he says a car with 3 guys in it.Gil figured they were looking for action and walks to the car and says i will play the guy in the back,that was a mistake as it turned out to be Bugs.:)
 
I geuss you could pretty much define huster and rodie as one in the same. One of the best I ever seen was Weldon Rogers Jr. Absolutely awesome. For along time, he was considered one of the best small table players in the country, if not the best. He played equally as well on the big tables. Juniors best hustle was playing everyone one-handed to their normal two-handed play. He played better one-handed than two, and two-handed, he was a machine. He was a monster player.
 
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