The next ronnie allen

R

Ross Keith Thompson

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May 19, 2010
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168
From
madisonville, texas
I was their in Ronnies time of being the dominate One Holer in his era. I feel he was in his prime when we played in the all around in 1970.

All facets of his game was a 10, his break was the best I've seen, his front end game was a 10, his banking ability was a 10, he had massive run out ability, his end game was a 10.

For at least 6 or 7 years he was without doubt the best one holer on earth, this spanned from about 1967 thru maybe mid 1970's.

I don't believe anybody played him even one pocket in those years. He was truly a load.

I believe he would have fared very well against anybody to date, he was that good and he loved the game, that was his secret and he wanted to be the best at it.

Thru the sixties until about 1972 Luther Wimpy Lassiter was the dominate nine ball and 14 and 1 player in the world, all other players took a back seat to these two in their prime.

I don't know much about the players after the early seventies, I didn't keep up with game. It was too depressing for me, LOL.

Most players that reach top tier or a dominate level of play don't last but a few years or so, but every five or ten years one rises to the top like a Buddy Hall or Efren Reyes.

Personaly I would have stepped to the plate and played someone like Ronnie if I got 9 to 8 or I would have played Rempe or Florence if they were packing a wad.

To me it was worth a shot to play Tall Jeff with the last 2 if he was packing 4 or 5k back in the day, lol, I would have shot 500 at him back in the day.

Back to Ronnie, he was a strong 9 ball player back in the day and played solid 14 and 1. But everybody was a strong nine ball players it seems.

I don't believe Ronnie ever won a All around Title but he surely deserved one for he was an astonishing player to say the least and demanded attention in the spotlight.

Even though he could be a jerk sometimes I still consider him my friend and he was a tough act to follow on a pool table!

Best one holer I've ever known!
 
12squared

12squared

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Fort Collins, CO
Someone interviewed Ronnie and asked him how he would do against Efren when they where both in their prime, Ronnie said something like this: "Efren may win the money, but he'd be too tired to spend it."

I always loved that line. I never did get to see Ronnie in his prime, but was fortunate to play him a couple times - that man knows 1pocket!

Keith, thanks for taking the time to write up your memories of Ronnie to share with us.

Dave
 
OneRock

OneRock

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Ronnie was really funny too. I met him once back in 1993 at a 9-ball tournament held at the Sands in Vegas. He shot a ball and made it, but the cue ball didn't come close to doing what he wanted.

"I drew White with top English!!!", He exclaimed. I'll never forget it.
 
B

baby huey

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Artie has made some comparisons about RA in the past and he is very knowledgable about RA's game compared to the greats of that era. It's really hard to compare generations when talking about pool except maybe 14.1 where Mosconi stands out clearly with his record runs and championships. All the other games have their own set of comparison problems because of various factors. Jay Helfert has had some good posts about RA and other top players of that time and I tend to agree with him. I think Efren in his prime was clearly the best one pocket player even to those players playing today. I don't think RA could beat him even. The ball runs by Efren were just too much to overcome. Suffice it to say, RA set the gold standard for One Pocket and those who were lucky enough to watch him play were treated to excellence.
 
J

jay helfert

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Dec 6, 2006
Messages
633
jerry matchin said:
Artie has made some comparisons about RA in the past and he is very knowledgable about RA's game compared to the greats of that era. It's really hard to compare generations when talking about pool except maybe 14.1 where Mosconi stands out clearly with his record runs and championships. All the other games have their own set of comparison problems because of various factors. Jay Helfert has had some good posts about RA and other top players of that time and I tend to agree with him. I think Efren in his prime was clearly the best one pocket player even to those players playing today. I don't think RA could beat him even. The ball runs by Efren were just too much to overcome. Suffice it to say, RA set the gold standard for One Pocket and those who were lucky enough to watch him play were treated to excellence.
Click to expand...

Thank you Jerry. I did spend a lot of time with Ronnie in his heyday. He gave weight to the world at One Pocket and Ronnie never bragged about his prowess either. He didn't want to knock his own action.

Some of the things he did better than anyone else (Keith touched on some of them) included an uncanny ability to make off angle combinations, being able to kick defensively out of traps and make a good safety out of it, his understanding of how to play the pack from every direction and his embracing pressure in all it's forms and elevating his game. The bigger the bet the better Ronnie played!

On top of all this Ronnie was the master of the conversation. He never was quiet and he could really get in your head if you were his opponent. I'm not sure Efren could have faded all that. And all the eight and outs Ronnie would put on him! :D
 
cincy_kid

cincy_kid

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Are there any good videos of RA playing in his prime?

I did a quick search and saw this little snippet of him playing Keith and Harry some captain. I started the video on RA's run, pretty impressive and you can see pretty quickly he knows how the balls move and react.

https://youtu.be/fV3SDsnMUIw?t=222

PS - I think Keith sharked him on his out ball by standing up at the foot rail, LOL :)
 
J

jay helfert

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633
cincy_kid said:
Are there any good videos of RA playing in his prime?

I did a quick search and saw this little snippet of him playing Keith and Harry some captain. I started the video on RA's run, pretty impressive and you can see pretty quickly he knows how the balls move and react.

https://youtu.be/fV3SDsnMUIw?t=222

PS - I think Keith sharked him on his out ball by standing up at the foot rail, LOL :)
Click to expand...

I've got the DVD of him playing Danny in 1987 for 20K. It was a long match (five DVD's), three out of five sets, each set a race to five. I'd say Ronnie was at 90% of his top speed then. It was the last time I saw Ronnie play good.
 
L

lll

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From
vero beach fl
cincy_kid said:
Are there any good videos of RA playing in his prime?

I did a quick search and saw this little snippet of him playing Keith and Harry some captain. I started the video on RA's run, pretty impressive and you can see pretty quickly he knows how the balls move and react.

https://youtu.be/fV3SDsnMUIw?t=222

PS - I think Keith sharked him on his out ball by standing up at the foot rail, LOL :)
Click to expand...
cincy
thanks for the link
enjoyed watching it
if you noticed ronnie had to play one handed one inning and 2 handed the next inning
 
B

beatle

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he was ahead of his time. back then most all players ""played way too conservatively for their speed""". that is the key sentence read that again.

ronnie opened the game up. and enabled him to make big runs and defeat all the other movers that really didnt move that well. they played one shot ahead at a time and that is losing one pocket.

i saw him play many times and learned a alot from watching him.
you never knew if he was playing to win or was doubling his backer or opponent. so what you saw wasnt always his game.
only time i bet with him was when i got him on the putting green and he didnt remember me and he had his own few grand.

if he played in todays world he would adapt and be one of the best anyway.
but if he played his then game he would not.
 
U

usblues

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St Paul,Mn
could you....

could you....

Possibly make a copy of that 87 DVD for me and I'll send 20$ for it?I would sure appreciate it.......thanks alot,Bob
 
OneRock

OneRock

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South Florida
Are you the 'Keith Thompson' who supposedly went to Johnston City to watch and ended up snapping off the 9-ball event?

Ross Keith Thompson said:
I was their in Ronnies time of being the dominate One Holer in his era. I feel he was in his prime when we played in the all around in 1970.

All facets of his game was a 10, his break was the best I've seen, his front end game was a 10, his banking ability was a 10, he had massive run out ability, his end game was a 10.

For at least 6 or 7 years he was without doubt the best one holer on earth, this spanned from about 1967 thru maybe mid 1970's.

I don't believe anybody played him even one pocket in those years. He was truly a load.

I believe he would have fared very well against anybody to date, he was that good and he loved the game, that was his secret and he wanted to be the best at it.

Thru the sixties until about 1972 Luther Wimpy Lassiter was the dominate nine ball and 14 and 1 player in the world, all other players took a back seat to these two in their prime.

I don't know much about the players after the early seventies, I didn't keep up with game. It was too depressing for me, LOL.

Most players that reach top tier or a dominate level of play don't last but a few years or so, but every five or ten years one rises to the top like a Buddy Hall or Efren Reyes.

Personaly I would have stepped to the plate and played someone like Ronnie if I got 9 to 8 or I would have played Rempe or Florence if they were packing a wad.

To me it was worth a shot to play Tall Jeff with the last 2 if he was packing 4 or 5k back in the day, lol, I would have shot 500 at him back in the day.

Back to Ronnie, he was a strong 9 ball player back in the day and played solid 14 and 1. But everybody was a strong nine ball players it seems.

I don't believe Ronnie ever won a All around Title but he surely deserved one for he was an astonishing player to say the least and demanded attention in the spotlight.

Even though he could be a jerk sometimes I still consider him my friend and he was a tough act to follow on a pool table!

Best one holer I've ever known!
Click to expand...
 
NH Steve

NH Steve

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New Hampshire
usblues said:
Possibly make a copy of that 87 DVD for me and I'll send 20$ for it?I would sure appreciate it.......thanks alot,Bob
Click to expand...

I think Jay himself still sells it. I don't know the price. I believe he also has a condensed version. I don't know the price of that either lol.
 
R

Ross Keith Thompson

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Joined
May 19, 2010
Messages
168
From
madisonville, texas
Ronnie's prime

Ronnie's prime

I'm not padding my resume so to speak in 1970, it's just that Ronnie was in his prime about 1970 Johnston City.

I left Johnston City after I won the nine ball division and didn't want to wait around for the All Around a week later.

The All Around winner got only 800.00 and there was no second place so I didn't care to go back to Johnston City and play Ronnie One Hole in his prime or play Lassiter 9 ball and 14 and 1 in his prime.

I really was having a good time blowing joints and goofing off with Cole Dickson in Atlanta Georgia, LOL. Do you people blame me?

Anywho Cole and Freddie the Beard convinced me to give it a shot, so I did.

I played as good as I could play, it was my best shot. If you watched my matches and you wanted to play me after the All Around, then I will concede to Whomever due to you had seen my best!

When I went back to Johnston City, I went back to show I belonged. I wanted to make Ronnie or Lassiter earn their Title.

The only thing Ronnie or Lassiter won at was their best game!

My plan was to run 125 out against one or both of my opponents, didn't happen in either match but it wasn't for lack of trying.

That's the one thing I could have done for my resume, run 125 out! Would have liked to have done it for the fans! But I'm not going to apologize for doing what I did, I was in a full blown trap and no exit sign, LMAO.

What great players Ronnie and Lassiter were, one was an asshole, the other a gentleman, you be the Judge!

I would trade my Title if I could just to shoot the sh-t with them a couple of hours, I worship both of them!

These guys are Legend with me, they deserve more ink than I can give them.

Times were good Walking with Giants!
 
J.R.

J.R.

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Feb 20, 2006
Messages
701
From
Chicago, Illinois
Approximately 15 years ago, I was at a friend's house just outside Chicago. While at my friend's house, another friend and the legendary Ronnie Allen stopped by and we played sociable games of one-pocket throughout the night. Afterward, I asked him this one question. What is the one skill (the break, banks, patterns, cut shots, long shots, carom shots, combination shots) that would be most important for a one pocket player to excel at? Without hesitation to even ponder my question or his response, he stated as if this was presented to him a million times before, "Kick shots, learn to kick at balls from all over the table."

After watching Chohan and Orcullo's epic race to 40, I think if anyone asked them the same question that I had presented to Ronnie Allen 15 years ago, their answer might be the same as Ronnie Allen's. Would anyone disagree? How well do you kick at balls from all over the table? How often do you practice, really practice kick shots?
 
cincy_kid

cincy_kid

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From
Cincinnati, OH
jay helfert said:
I've got the DVD of him playing Danny in 1987 for 20K. It was a long match (five DVD's), three out of five sets, each set a race to five. I'd say Ronnie was at 90% of his top speed then. It was the last time I saw Ronnie play good.
Click to expand...

Hey Jay, Steve mentioned he thought you had a couple of versions of this to sell. If so, can you let us know the price in case some of us want to buy it :)

thanks!
 
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