I took a road trip to get out of the Wisconsin winter in January of 1979 and after driving less than 200 miles got snowed in for a few days in Moline, Illinois. Moline is my home town and my cousin Beth knew the bar scene and told me where there was some pool action … Read more
I am not sure if Efren is the greatest of all time, but he is for certain the greatest of my time. I have asked the older top players their thoughts and most of those guys had played or observed Willie Mosconi, Irving Crane, and Luther “Wimpy” Lassiter, in their prime and feel that Efren … Read more
When I first arrived in Houston, Texas, at 25 years old in 1980, I learned of several 24 hour poolrooms. I loved the idea of cramming as much pool into one day as possible, so these places were very high on my list, and they all had money games taking place. The poolrooms were high … Read more
Here is my favorite “Machine Gun” Lou Butera story… Held annually and sponsored by the Billiard Congress of America, the BCA US Open Straight Pool Championship had an elite 32 player field and was to be held in the ballroom of the Chicago Sheraton Hotel on Michigan Avenue. As previous winners of this tournament, Steve … Read more
Dave was a hardcore good pool player who played all games, he loved action, he was very humorous, and had a genuine smile. We got along well, as Dave knew of many money games for me. Together we generated a decent living for more than a year. California Dave Piona and I became good friends … Read more
JIMMY “Pretty Boy Floyd” MATAYA Richie Florence was a great nine ball champion and gambler in the ’60s. Later on in his life, he produced several major tournaments. Players of that era always dressed the part of success and Richie was no exception. He always donned an expensive shirt, nice slacks and shiny fancy shoes. … Read more
Jersey Red (Jack Breitkopf commonly Jack Breit) was a tremendous guy who kept an enthusiasm that is uncommon…he made pool fun. You know that his prime began during the midst of Mosconi, Crane, Lassiter, prime too. He hung tough with those guys and you had to be fantastic to win games against them, and he … Read more
You are too young to know Bugs in his prime but nobody in any cue sport has ever dominated as long as Bugs did in Bank Pool. Eddie Taylor is the only possible candidate, but he was before my time and I still do not think that his longevity was as long as Bugs reign … Read more
Wade Crane traveled the U.S. gambling at high stakes pool and needed an alias. Thus, Wade Crane became Billy Johnson, and most all pro players always called him Billy. His name was so entrenched that if you said Wade instead of Billy, people would be unsure who you were talking about at first and have … Read more
When I was 21 years old and had been training for a couple of years with Jerry Briesath, it was truly a magical time in my pool development. The teaching and room full of inspiring talent present daily, made for a terrific learning environment. Once per year, Jerry would hire a famous pro player to … Read more
