Minnesota fats / Banks

How well did Fats bank against his peers, the players he played against back in the day?
The only history I have found is that he lost to Bugs at Johnston City. Our old head members, I am hoping they have some stories they can share. Maybe our old heads can rate Fats among the past great bankers, whether he played them or not.
His book, Banks and other Great Robberies, and Fats himself by his comments suggest that he regards himself as a pretty darn good banker.
I sure like his stroke when you see him do a bank, to me it is impressive. thanks, Whitey

Go to post #4 for a video of Fats!

Dennis "Whitey" Young said:

How well did Fats bank against his peers, the players he played against back in the day?
The only history I have found is that he lost to Bugs at Johnston City. Our old head members, I am hoping they have some stories they can share. Maybe our old heads can rate Fats among the past great bankers, whether he played them or not.
His book, Banks and other Great Robberies, and Fats himself by his comments suggest that he regards himself as a pretty darn good banker.
I sure like his stroke when you see him do a bank, to me it is impressive. thanks, Whitey

Click to expand...

whitey
i think fats regarded himself as a pretty darn good everything....:heh
i too would like to hear the opinions of those that know

For what its worth, the gist of what I have picked up talking to old-timers over the years -- and of course reading what Fats himself said, but never having seen him play except the old TV stuff, he was a GREAT talker and a strong player but a notch below the best players in the strength of his pool game alone. At least by the early 60's that seems to be the consensus. But he probably played his best in the 30s-50s. I get the impression his best games came from billiards (very early), Banks and One Pocket -- but never quite top tier at rotation games or straight pool compared to some of the immense talent of his generation. I mean, we are talking Greenleaf, Mosconi, George Rood and a host of others that came out of the pool and billiards heydays of the teens and 20's in this country, when there were literally thousands of poolrooms in NYC alone, for example. And there was no internet, cell phones or other means to forewarn all the local hot shots that a top road player was headed their way.

But Banks seem to have been a very strong part of his One Pocket game -- kind of like Bugs in that respect. When he was "on" his banks, the games were often described in a "what hit me?" pattern, where Fats would make a bank and run out. This kind of thing was still happening in the 60s at Johnston City.

What's My Line / Fats

What's My Line / Fats

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwittJHHg-ncAhUQTd8KHURkChEQyCkwAHoECAYQBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DoLEvHuM3WWI&usg=AOvVaw0-P_9m1B-JDhNiR3SRqutS

This is the only video I know of that shows Fats when he was younger, well not so young, for he is 51 and will be 52 in two days after being on What's My Line in '65. What a birthday present! He looks great, and this is his appearance during the era of his epic battles at Johnston City!
Enjoy, Whitey

Mr3cushion & NH Steve, well stated, and thanks for the posts!

Dennis "Whitey" Young said:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwittJHHg-ncAhUQTd8KHURkChEQyCkwAHoECAYQBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DoLEvHuM3WWI&usg=AOvVaw0-P_9m1B-JDhNiR3SRqutS

This is the only video I know of that shows Fats when he was younger, well not so young, for he is 51 and will be 52 in two days after being on What's My Line in '65. What a birthday present! He looks great, and this is his appearance during the era of his epic battles at Johnston City!
Enjoy, Whitey

Click to expand...

thanks for the link whitey
never saw fats talk so little ....:heh
seriously
i really enjoyed watching that

Evelyn said he played his best from 1940 to the early 50's. Fats was also Great at kicking balls. I think his upright stance...allowed him to see the angles even better than his peers. I thought he played 14.1 pretty darn good but I was just 19 and he would frequent Crazy Horse Billiards in Carbondale IL, as did many others....Cole Dixon, Sizemore,Toby Sweet 1969. I know I had NO chance against him even, in Any game till later on. He made a bank kick on me that I never forgot, and layed perfect, for his 14.1 break shot.

I am pretty sure Fats was older than he said. Why he changed his age, I have no idea.
George Rood was born in 1914 and he said he was 16 working in a pool room book joint card room , and Fats walked in.
He was driving a brand new car and wearing an expensive suit and George said he was a grown man , somewhere in his early to mid 20s.
Wiki gives his birth date as Jan 1913.
I have no clue why he would change his birth date.
I at first thought of avoiding the draft for WW1 but the times just don't fit.