US One Pocket Players Only- 70's to Present

[gulfportdoc]

want it ganje not gage??

Yes, "ganja" was a name for MJ, but in the NE, the old beatnik/hipster name was "gauge". Always thought that was classy. Never smoked much reefer. It interfered with my drinking...

 

[androd]

Ok Jerry
He stopped at Le Cue in Houston...Recollections are around 69’ or 70’. He was a complete unknown to most of us and as was done in those days, he was steered... He knew the order in which to play everyone, and he played us all like a Stradivarius!!! I don’t know who steered him, but whoever it was, had the order clocked perfectly... He never lost a match, he never showed his speed, he played only one pocket and just good enough to get the cash... He only stayed a couple of weeks, but as you noted, he was not a flashy player and in Houston in those days, there were plenty of medium & fairly good one pocket players to play with, and he got action everyday... He entirely avoided Red ( of course ) and saved Danny Jones and Greg Stevens for last... He beat us all, and when he left, he was no longer an unknown... He was a great player...

Yes I remember that time well, I was one of the contributors, he was certainly a fine player and very mild mannered.

 

[androd]

Beatle,
I noticed you used Red’s real last name, before he changed it to “Breit”
Not many of us alive that would remember that....
Now do you happen to know why he dropped the Koff?

To get technical Reds given name was not Jack, it was Jacob

 

[baby huey]

Dennis: Steve Flowers about my age, played mostly in the South Bay area of LA and was a good shortstop playing all games. He gained a lot of weight and pretty much focused on golf on a snooker table. I haven't seen him in many years and I suspect he may not be in good health, hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[Jimmy B]

Not sure this is what you are looking for , but it's my Steve Cook story.
I knew one of the best card mechanics in the US back in the 60s and 70s and he had a brother who played pretty good pool. He tells me this story one day
His brother calls, and says he's almost lost all his money playing pool , can his brother come and get the guy at cards, to win it back.
He is in in a different room so he grabs a couple of half sharp shills ,and goes to the pool room and spread a fake poker game and his brother stalls around losing the last game, so Steve can get a good look at the poker game. Of course everyones betting like madmen and at the end show a pair of 5's or bluffing and take down huge pots.
The pool games over and Steve watches a while longer then asks if he can get in , 1 guy says hell no, this is a private game , no pool hustlers allowed. The other 2 say sure let him play he's all right.
Steve sits down, and gets cold decked the first hand , and loses everything he has. He starts complaining, and the pool playing brother says, I never whined when you robbed me, now take a hike.
He grumbled out the door and never came back , fast forward 25 years .
I am in Dayton Ohio and I get introduced to Steve by a mutual friend and when the guy tells Steve I am from Columbus Steve gets this funny look and goes off on a 5 minute tirade about getting cheated at cards in Columbus , and if he ever sees those guys he's going to lalala, lalala, Steve couldn't whip eggs but he was still a hot sucker about that game . Anyway he says, I'd like to get hold of that guy, I'd yada yada yada and It was all I could do not to say ,want me to call him?

That's funny. Do you remember what they gave him?.. Did the cooler come in on his deal so he could deal it to himself? Good thing he wasn't the real Clark Kent/SM... Cardona was doing commentary on match and they were talking about Cook and a time he got armed robbed. He looked at the guy and says, 'So you're going to take my money?" The bandit says hell yeah. Cook forks it over and simply replies 'Well OK for you then' and goes on his way....

 

[Billy Jackets]

That's funny. Do you remember what they gave him?.. Did the cooler come in on his deal so he could deal it to himself? Good thing he wasn't the real Clark Kent/SM... Cardona was doing commentary on match and they were talking about Cook and a time he got armed robbed. He looked at the guy and says, 'So you're going to take my money?" The bandit says hell yeah. Cook forks it over and simply replies 'Well OK for you then' and goes on his way....

I don't remember what the hand was, but knowing the guy running the show ,you are probably correct, that Steve dealt it to himself. Sounds like you were in.
I heard a story about Chris Bartrum that he made a nice score down south, and when he got in the car, a guy was either in the back seat or snuck up and put a gun to his head.
Chris gave him the money from a pocket with a couple hundred in it, but the guy knew he had more and said give me the rest or I'll blow your head off, Chris told him no. The guy then sticks the gun to the girls head with Chris and says ok then , give me the money or I will blow her head off, Chris gave him the money. Much respect for that guy!

 

[Billy Jackets]

Yes, "ganja" was a name for MJ, but in the NE, the old beatnik/hipster name was "gauge". Always thought that was classy. Never smoked much reefer. It interfered with my drinking...

Me too , if I smoked pot I needed a 4 hour nap. Plus, I always suffered from vertigo, and it made me feel sick most of the time.

 

[Jimmy B]

Me too , if I smoked pot I needed a 4 hour nap. Plus, I always suffered from vertigo, and it made me feel sick most of the time.

Yes, I usually got paranoid if I smoked strong gauge like Colombian, and tried to play money pool. Give me a Percodan and I was good to go... I was surprised at good players who like to smoke and play. Harley Bryan loved it. Sizemore and Burton, both from here and sort of cut from the same cloth, but Burton hated it. Wouldn't touch it, yet Sizemore loved it like no other. Christopher liked it a lot. I copped for him several times and smoked out with him a few times at the pool room. He would say 'Just let me hit it about twice, to get the edge off'.. lol.. Aguero liked it, and other stuff. In fact I just found a rare look at a young Efren playing him.. One of the nicest players I ever hung around. And could he nab a girl. When he made an effort, I seen him pick up the supermodel quality back in his day. I'll put a link. Not their best match, by a long shot, but ok. Billy takes a good lead, but can't close. Efren vs Billy 'The Kid' Aguero, at their best fighting weight....9 Rocket At The Sands....

 

[gulfportdoc]

... Efren vs Billy 'The Kid' Aguero, at their best fighting weight....9 Rocket At The Sands....

I remember Billy very well from California. Don't know whatever happened to him. Was that at the Sands Regency 9 Ball Open, Reno circa 1990? I remember their curtain boundaries and carpet. I used to attend their events which were held semiannually in Jan. & June. Went from about '95 to '99. It drew many of the top players, and was a lot of fun. I actually used to cash once in awhile!!

 

[Jimmy B]

I remember Billy very well from California. Don't know whatever happened to him. Was that at the Sands Regency 9 Ball Open, Reno circa 1990? I remember their curtain boundaries and carpet. I used to attend their events which were held semiannually in Jan. & June. Went from about '95 to '99. It drew many of the top players, and was a lot of fun. I actually used to cash once in awhile!!

Yes, Doc.. Good shooting. It drew the champions for sure. Last I read on him, he was doing the house pro thing in Petaluma.....

 

[catkins]

billy is still around the bay area

 

[P00lh0li0]

I remember Billy very well from California. Don't know whatever happened to him. Was that at the Sands Regency 9 Ball Open, Reno circa 1990? I remember their curtain boundaries and carpet. I used to attend their events which were held semiannually in Jan. & June. Went from about '95 to '99. It drew many of the top players, and was a lot of fun. I actually used to cash once in awhile!!

He's the house pro at Buffalo Billiards in Petaluma.

 

[NH Steve]

hmm, no one else mentioned eddie taylor? Obviously before my time, but I thought he was the nuts? I forgot about jersey red, so I would put him in there in place of eddie taylor or scott frost.

Eddie would not put himself in that list I believe -- he would for sure if you went from 70 back! But once his eyesight began to fail him, he seemed to pull way back from the game and I believe that was early 70's. Other than that I like your list!

 

[NH Steve]

Harold died in 1965 so does not quite fit the op's question but from what I heard I totally agree - he was one of the all-time greats. Here's a memory of Harold shared by Jay Helfert on the AZB forum, in case some of you do not frequent there:

Top pool moments in my lifetime

I would like to share some of what I consider to be my Mt. Rushmore of the most incredible moments in the modern era of pool. Counting down from #4: #4 1996 Earl's 10 rack run for $1,000,000 Is it the idea of a 10 rack run? The idea of...

forums.azbilliards.com

There's so many that stand out for me. The last one for now was about a gambling scam that a hustler named Briar brought to Johnston City every year. He would rack 21 balls on the table (a regular rack of fifteen and add a back row of six more balls). The object was to break and then make all the balls in one corner pocket, like playing the One Pocket ghost. Briar would assign each player a number to shoot at, with a real good player shooting at 150 or maybe 160. You would then shake a pill bottle with peas numbered one to twenty one and shake out three peas. Whatever the three peas added up to was deducted from your number. So if you rolled a eight, ten and fifteen, that would add up to 33 and you would deduct that from 150, if that was your number.

Now you had to run 117 points of balls in your pocket to win the game. Naturally Briar put all the low number balls on the corner of the rack you were breaking for. So you might need to run fifteen or sixteen balls to win. The gimmick was that if you did it he would pay you 10-1 on your bet. So if you bet $100, you would win $1,000. Year after year Briar brought that prop game to Johnston City and no one ever won, even once! That is, until Harold Worst took on the Briar and had Weenie Beenie coaching him. You have to understand how hard it was to run balls like this because the table was so crowded. Balls got all tied up and impossible to make. Harold was burdened with the number 180, higher than anyone else, higher even then Ronnie Allen, Eddie Taylor or Ed Kelly.

He bet 100 and lost. He bet another 100 and lost again. Harold looked determined to beat this total hustle game. On the third try he pulled some big numbers out of the pill bottle but still needed over 100 points to win. This time he did it! Briar paid him off $1,000. On the next game he needed even more points (over 120) and he did it again, with some excellent coaching by Beenie. Briar paid him but told him now he had to go to 200! Beenie said quit but Harold wanted more. He lost the next game, but ponied up his 100 to play another. He needed some ungodly number of balls to win the next game, but somehow he picked them off with the most amazing display of shotmaking and cue ball control I had ever seen, before or since! On shot after shot he had to break balls out and then have a shot afterwards. He combo'd, he kicked and he cut balls in! He needed to make just about every ball to win, maybe nineteen of them.

Somehow, some way, Harold and Beenie prevailed again. The packed crowd in the back room went crazy. A disgusted Briar paid them off and packed up his game and never came back to Johnston City after that. Beenie and Harold had busted the proposition game once and for all!

Thanks for posting this story!! That would have been Brier Spivey a name that that came up a few times when I interviewed the older players. His daughter actually was on here for a little bit, and relayed a few stories. He was an older guy during even the early Johnston City years, and I believe he died in the 70's. But his wife was a lot younger than him and was still living when the daughter (Brenda maybe?) was posting here. I lost touch with the daughter after a while.

In my interview with Sonny Springer there is a really funny story involving Brier, who helped set up a secret coaching method for Springer early on at Johnston City, when Sonny was brand new to One Pocket.

 

[NH Steve]

Looking at this post again, I think we all forgot to mention how well Steve Cook played. He was so quiet and unassuming that maybe that led to his exclusion. I really liked his very solid game and lack of flash. I played him even, (what a dummy I was) though I didn't know who he was. We started for $20 a game and he got me betting $50 a game. I was able to back off after losing about $250. He just kept me in the game for awhile then would finish me off. This was around 1973 about the time I quit pool for the first time. If any of our members have any Steve Cook stories please share them.

Yes, I really admire Steve Cook's game! Not flashy at all but really got the job done. I still feel like I learn from watching videos of Steve play! One thing he did about better than anyone it seems -- from what I saw -- was to hook his opponents just barely enough behind the edge of a ball to trap them. He seemed to see that kind of shot a lot better than most, whereas the rest of us focus on the classic "up against the stack" method of safety.

 

[Ratamon]

Looking at this post again, I think we all forgot to mention how well Steve Cook played. He was so quiet and unassuming that maybe that led to his exclusion. I really liked his very solid game and lack of flash. I played him even, (what a dummy I was) though I didn't know who he was. We started for $20 a game and he got me betting $50 a game. I was able to back off after losing about $250. He just kept me in the game for awhile then would finish me off. This was around 1973 about the time I quit pool for the first time. If any of our members have any Steve Cook stories please share them.

A great player no doubt! There is a snippet of the 1991 Legends finals on one of the Accustats "bloopers" tapes where Steve is in a trap and executes a magnificent shot by moving 5 or 6 balls towards his pocket. Allen Hopkins got stunned for a while as he could not believe what had just happened.

I also recall Billy, Buddy or Grady relaying a story of Steve on one of the Accustats tapes (I will have to have a look to see which one it was) that Steve got himself into a good game (I don't recall whether he paid anything for the steer) and beat the guy handsomely. When asked for a payment, the guy refused to pay so Steve says something along the lines "oh well, at least I beat you" and walked out of the door.

With that baby face of his he probably had been having difficulty getting paid on more than one occasion!

Sorry for the patchy story guys - I will look up the tape and post a fuller account if I find it.

 

[champagne]

he is on one of my lists.
and deserves to be forgotten for good. no flowers for his grave.

WOW

 

[beatle]

no wow.... i wouldnt think that anyone that knew him would think otherwise. all he was to the world was a top pool player nothing else.

 

[demonrho]

....
P.S. The pic was taken by Mr. Steve Booth iirc - thanks Steve.

I'm pretty sure I took that one.

 

[gulfportdoc]

no wow.... i wouldnt think that anyone that knew him would think otherwise. all he was to the world was a top pool player nothing else.

Just about everyone who knew of Ervolino said that he was rotten. IMO that maybe what's kept him from HOF induction. Yet several of our inductees were also of highly questionable character, but yet they made it in.

It would be nice if we could get guys inducted based solely upon their pool prowess. We could always add an asterisk: *Not a nice man...