Ross Keith Thompson
Verified Member
Reyes, Red, Ronnie and Taylor is probably a good start to the top ten one holers, but the next 10 or 20 or 30 would be a nightmare to rank. Here is a group of players from my time and some played on in to the eighties and nineties or further that were right behind the top four.
Weenie Beenie, Grady Mathews, Jim Rempe, Greg Stevens, Myself, Jimmy Fusco, John "duke" Powel, Tall Jeff, Freddy the Beard, Larry Liscotti, Eddie Burton, Lassiter, Steve Cook, and others I can't remember.
These guys were top flight players and some like Grady Mathews were rated as the best one holer of his time I believe.
I personally played Jimmy Fusco at Marina Billiards in California, he gave me 8 to 7 on his brake for a few games, that changed quickly to 9 to 8 on his break, it was a disaster for him, we should have played even.
Won against Grady the last two or three times we played even.
Won against Duke the last 3 or 4 times we played.
Hammered Greg Stevens in 71 in Houston.
Played Freddie and Tall Jeff the same night in Johnston City in 71 and won. These were revenge games, LOL.
Offered to play Jersey Red even one pocket for 25 a game and he passed on it, but that doesn't count on the beat list, LOL.
There were other players like Incardona, Boston Shorty, Hippy Jimmy, Flyboy Spears, Joey Speath, Buddy Hall and so on that I don't know exactly how strong there one pocket game was. No doubt I would have played every one of them eventually but it never happened. Did play Buddy Hall 4 games at 50 a game in 71 and he quit, would have busted him, but believe he became a pretty solid one holer later.
There was a player named Big Bear in Birmingham Ala. that I was told by Alf Taylor was a solid one holer and to stay away from him, beat him about 19 out of 20 games in his favorite hangout, busted the poolroom. Did anybody know him from back in the day.
Of the top players I won against, Tall Jeff would have beaten all of them. It was actually miserable playing him. I was on top of my game and was so sick of his eight and outs, especially when I had six or seven balls in my pocket. I suspect Incardona would have been the same way, eight and out every time he shot.
As far as easier tables or bigger pockets most of these guys could run racks of nine ball and a hundred balls on the smallest pockets out there. I recently played at legends about 30 minutes and the Brunswick tables seemed the same to me, or Diamonds or Salems. We also had nice equipment back in the late sixties, seventies such as Gina cue, Palmer, Balabusca, Black, Viking and so on!
Quite a few of us back in the day didn't have a problem with small pockets. I preferred them, my vision was like 20 20 until I was forty. The tougher the table, the better I liked it!
Every one of the players I mentioned plus a dozen more or so should be in the hall fame for their pocket billiard abilities.
Weenie Beenie, Grady Mathews, Jim Rempe, Greg Stevens, Myself, Jimmy Fusco, John "duke" Powel, Tall Jeff, Freddy the Beard, Larry Liscotti, Eddie Burton, Lassiter, Steve Cook, and others I can't remember.
These guys were top flight players and some like Grady Mathews were rated as the best one holer of his time I believe.
I personally played Jimmy Fusco at Marina Billiards in California, he gave me 8 to 7 on his brake for a few games, that changed quickly to 9 to 8 on his break, it was a disaster for him, we should have played even.
Won against Grady the last two or three times we played even.
Won against Duke the last 3 or 4 times we played.
Hammered Greg Stevens in 71 in Houston.
Played Freddie and Tall Jeff the same night in Johnston City in 71 and won. These were revenge games, LOL.
Offered to play Jersey Red even one pocket for 25 a game and he passed on it, but that doesn't count on the beat list, LOL.
There were other players like Incardona, Boston Shorty, Hippy Jimmy, Flyboy Spears, Joey Speath, Buddy Hall and so on that I don't know exactly how strong there one pocket game was. No doubt I would have played every one of them eventually but it never happened. Did play Buddy Hall 4 games at 50 a game in 71 and he quit, would have busted him, but believe he became a pretty solid one holer later.
There was a player named Big Bear in Birmingham Ala. that I was told by Alf Taylor was a solid one holer and to stay away from him, beat him about 19 out of 20 games in his favorite hangout, busted the poolroom. Did anybody know him from back in the day.
Of the top players I won against, Tall Jeff would have beaten all of them. It was actually miserable playing him. I was on top of my game and was so sick of his eight and outs, especially when I had six or seven balls in my pocket. I suspect Incardona would have been the same way, eight and out every time he shot.
As far as easier tables or bigger pockets most of these guys could run racks of nine ball and a hundred balls on the smallest pockets out there. I recently played at legends about 30 minutes and the Brunswick tables seemed the same to me, or Diamonds or Salems. We also had nice equipment back in the late sixties, seventies such as Gina cue, Palmer, Balabusca, Black, Viking and so on!
Quite a few of us back in the day didn't have a problem with small pockets. I preferred them, my vision was like 20 20 until I was forty. The tougher the table, the better I liked it!
Every one of the players I mentioned plus a dozen more or so should be in the hall fame for their pocket billiard abilities.