The Top Ten One-Pocket Players That You Meet In Heaven

[androd]

My number 6 is Marcel Camp. Fats talks about him in "The Bank Shot And Other Great Robberies". Fats says he bet his own and played great, I would have many questions for a man like that.

I've told these stories before. Camp told me pool was a nice little game to make enough money to try to do something with. He told me he and fats beat each other, but he was loser to Fats overall. He also told me a couple of Great stories about Fats. He told about going on the " Queen Elizibeth" to England to play Joe Davis. Eddie Taylor said Camp'd play one game for all he had and always played his very top speed. I personally saw him beat Weenie Beanie 9 in a row for $200 a game. Camp had gained a lot of weight and had to stand sideways to shoot, so Beanie offered him 9/8 and went to get his cue. Camp had $60 dollars and borrowed $140 on his watch from Tex. Fitzgerald. Beanie came back and said $100 or $200. Camp said $200 would be good.
Rod.

 

[fred bentivegna]

Ma Barker

Ma Barker

I've told these stories before. Camp told me pool was a nice little game to make enough money to try to do something with. He told me he and fats beat each other, but he was loser to Fats overall. He also told me a couple of Great stories about Fats. He told about going on the " Queen Elizibeth" to England to play Joe Davis. Eddie Taylor said Camp'd play one game for all he had and always played his very top speed. I personally saw him beat Weenie Beanie 9 in a row for $200 a game. Camp had gained a lot of weight and had to stand sideways to shoot, so Beanie offered him 9/8 and went to get his cue. Camp had $60 dollars and borrowed $140 on his watch from Tex. Fitzgerald. Beanie came back and said $100 or $200. Camp said $200 would be good.
Rod.

Good that you knew Marcel Camp too. Camp is long dead, but he was an all-time great. He knew Onepocket as good as anybody alive. A great character and a great money player. He bet his own money and always carried his total bankroll on his person. If he had 20k, it would be in one big lump in his pocket. When he got lucky at the track, he might have from 10k to 25k in his pocket.
At the Congress Bowl in Miami, where he finished his career, Camp had gotten old and plump, and Fats would call him Ma Barker because of his resemblance to the 30s female desperado. He had 1 suit and 1 pair of shoes and I'm guessing 2 shirts and 2 pair of socks.
He, unlike Fats, was not a very snappy dresser. He wore a suit all the time, but it was made by Dunlap. "Done all it could, but now its lapping over." You could clock his bankroll by his dress habits. A new shirt meant 5k. New shoes was 10k plus.
He could also eat Fats' speed. Camp got gotten himself barred from every pitch-till-you-win, all-you-can-eat joint in South Florida. Once him and Fat Wes (450lbs) walked into one of those buffet joints and didn't get past the front door. The owner told Camp, "You've got to be kidding." Bottom line, is he deserves HOF, but it probably won't ever happen. That's why I was so insistent about Fats, because his peers, Gene Skinner and Camp have little chance of making it.


Beard

 

[Cowboy Dennis]

My number 6 is Marcel Camp. Fats talks about him in "The Bank Shot And Other Great Robberies". Fats says he bet his own and played great, I would have many questions for a man like that.


1. Minnesota Fats

2. Jack Breit

3. Harold Worst

4. Bugs

5. Ralph Greenleaf

6. Marcel Camp

Since I only have 4 choices left, I've given it great thought and I'd pick Eddie Taylor to be my #7. I've never heard a bad word said about the man, everybody seemed to like him & he was a hell of a talent besides. I loved playing banks in the late 70's & through the 80's, whether I was playing John McCue or Red or even some of the others in the area. I'd love to shoot a game(full-rack, the ONLY bank game) with Eddie Taylor.

Dennis

1. Minnesota Fats

2. Jack Breit

3. Harold Worst

4. Bugs

5. Ralph Greenleaf

6. Marcel Camp

7. Eddie Taylor

 

[Cowboy Dennis]

Since I only have 4 choices left, I've given it great thought and I'd pick Eddie Taylor to be my #7. I've never heard a bad word said about the man, everybody seemed to like him & he was a hell of a talent besides. I loved playing banks in the late 70's & through the 80's, whether I was playing John McCue or Red or even some of the others in the area. I'd love to shoot a game(full-rack, the ONLY bank game) with Eddie Taylor.

Dennis

1. Minnesota Fats

2. Jack Breit

3. Harold Worst

4. Bugs

5. Ralph Greenleaf

6. Marcel Camp

7. Eddie Taylor

Only three picks left so I've given it a long thought. I believe that Hubert Cokes would be my #8 pick. There are just too many great stories about him and they seem to be mostly true.

Freddy called him "the toughest man alive for the first 50 years of the 20th century".

They say he bitch-slapped Babyface Nelson. He killed a sheriff in some type of duel or gunfight. Just a badass who also played one-pocket.

I know Fats had a lot to say about him and from what I remember, Fats was just about the only guy who could f@@k with Cokes and make him laugh.

1. Minnesota Fats

2. Jack Breit

3. Harold Worst

4. Bugs

5. Ralph Greenleaf

6. Marcel Camp

7. Eddie Taylor

8. Hubert Cokes

 

[Cowboy Dennis]

Only three picks left so I've given it a long thought. I believe that Hubert Cokes would be my #8 pick. There are just too many great stories about him and they seem to be mostly true.

Freddy called him "the toughest man alive for the first 50 years of the 20th century".

They say he bitch-slapped Babyface Nelson. He killed a sheriff in some type of duel or gunfight. Just a badass who also played one-pocket.

I know Fats had a lot to say about him and from what I remember, Fats was just about the only guy who could f@@k with Cokes and make him laugh.

1. Minnesota Fats

2. Jack Breit

3. Harold Worst

4. Bugs

5. Ralph Greenleaf

6. Marcel Camp

7. Eddie Taylor

8. Hubert Cokes

After thinking about who would be #9 for the last ten months I decided to go with Alton "Babyface" Whitlow. He was past his prime in the early to mid-80's (when I first met him) just as I was beginning to feel confident at the table. One of my greatest regrets in pool is not playing him when he asked me to. He wanted to play even one-pocket for $10 a game and I held out for 10-8. I just didn't feel like donating my hard-earned cash to a "player", I didn't know or realize the extent of his playing abilities, I figured he was a very good player (or had been) and I wasn't and that was worthy of 10-8. I was probably right but I wish I had played him anyway, it's not like I never donated to players before that. I was 22-25 yrs. old and I don't know his age at the time. He would have a bottle in the inside pocket of his jacket and he'd be hittin' it regular while he was in the room. I don't think I've ever heard a bad word said about him and I wouldn't care if I did.

If he had realized that I was a young, scared, up & coming semi-shortstop then he would have given me 10-8 knowing that if I robbed him I would adjust until I lost it back with more added, as was my habit. If I had realized that he was a past-his-prime tippler who didn't have much cash I would have played him even for the $10 per game. He should have had better steerers, then we would have played, as it is I'll have to wait.

1. Minnesota Fats

2. Jack Breit

3. Harold Worst

4. Bugs

5. Ralph Greenleaf

6. Marcel Camp

7. Eddie Taylor

8. Hubert Cokes

9. Alton "Babyface" Whitlow

 

[lll]

After thinking about who would be #9 for the last ten months I decided to go with Alton "Babyface" Whitlow. He was past his prime in the early to mid-80's (when I first met him) just as I was beginning to feel confident at the table. One of my greatest regrets in pool is not playing him when he asked me to. He wanted to play even one-pocket for $10 a game and I held out for 10-8. I just didn't feel like donating my hard-earned cash to a "player", I didn't know or realize the extent of his playing abilities, I figured he was a very good player (or had been) and I wasn't and that was worthy of 10-8. I was probably right but I wish I had played him anyway, it's not like I never donated to players before that. I was 22-25 yrs. old and I don't know his age at the time. He would have a bottle in the inside pocket of his jacket and he'd be hittin' it regular while he was in the room. I don't think I've ever heard a bad word said about him and I wouldn't care if I did.

If he had realized that I was a young, scared, up & coming semi-shortstop then he would have given me 10-8 knowing that if I robbed him I would adjust until I lost it back with more added, as was my habit. If I had realized that he was a past-his-prime tippler who didn't have much cash I would have played him even for the $10 per game. He should have had better steerers, then we would have played, as it is I'll have to wait.

1. Minnesota Fats

2. Jack Breit

3. Harold Worst

4. Bugs

5. Ralph Greenleaf

6. Marcel Camp

7. Eddie Taylor

8. Hubert Cokes

9. Alton "Babyface" Whitlow

why is jack breit #2???
just askin

 

[Cowboy Dennis]

why is jack breit #2???
just askin

Because it's my list. Just sayin' .

Do you think he should be higher or lower or not on the list at all? Show me your list. This thread is more than 10 months old now and I haven't seen a top ten from anybody yet (that I remember, but I do drink on occasion)

P.S. The 1 through 10 order in no way ranks the players I would like to meet, that's just the order I remembered them in.

Dennis

 

[lll]

Because it's my list. Just sayin' .

Do you think he should be higher or lower or not on the list at all? Show me your list. This thread is more than 10 months old now and I haven't seen a top ten from anybody yet (that I remember, but I do drink on occasion)

P.S. The 1 through 10 order in no way ranks the players I would like to meet, that's just the order I remembered them in.

Dennis

unfortunately i havent seen or met many on your list
so for me it would be like a what "star" would you like to see in an after life.
this time of night id better think about my list and give you an answer in the morning
so i can think and sleep about it

harold worst would definitely be there based on my readings
he is very intriguing to me

 

[Cowboy Dennis]

unfortunately i havent seen or met many on your list
so for me it would be like a what "star" would you like to see in an after life.
this time of night id better think about my list and give you an answer in the morning
so i can think and sleep about it

harold worst would definitely be there based on my readings
he is very intriguing to me

Larry,

"Babyface" was the only guy on my list that I had met & knew from the poolroom.

The reason that Breit is on my list is I have read so much about his exploits, particularly on 5' x 10' tables, that I have a desire to meet him in the great pool afterlife. The only DVD that I have of him shows that he is a jovial & not self-centered person. That's just the kind of person I'd like to meet, not to mention his great talents & knowledge.

Dennis

 

[RedCard]

I was just going to write, 'Hubert isn't going to like this' and saw he had been listed. Albeit in the lower tier of the ten, a safe ranking to assign him since he died in '78.

He was tough to beat even as he got older. He'd put a big box fan on a stool in front of your pocket for one thing, he was smart and a good one pocket player for another. He'd also flick an extra wooden bead on the wire overhead to his advantage if necessary. Took a pretty good man to call him on that. The 'gamesmanship' things you might try on other players you left at the motel when you played Hubert.

I was going to buy a cue from one of Coke's fellow Elks when I was 16. He told me to meet him at the game room of the Elks club and he'd introduce me to Hubert. I came, watched and listened to the cue spread, bought one and then mentioned Cokes. He wasn't there but I saw him many times there after that. (Cokes' name wasn't really used as a Cue Sell Lure, I was going to buy one anyway).

A buddy of mine had part of Hubert's action one Saturday afternoon. We were getting ready to go up to the Elks but getting an update over the phone before we left. My buddy looked up from the phone and smiled and said 'Cokes just took the money'. The game had not come to a natural end. He had apparently tired of his opponent's entourage's shenanigans and simply declared himself the winner and awarded himself the cash. No problem.

The guy I bought the cue from, and several after that, is Titanic Thompson's nephew. There is a picture of a dapper Ti entering Criminal Court in Brooklyn to testify in the matter of the killing of Arnold Rothstein in 1929 and he looks exactly like his nephew
did in the early '70s.

 

[Cowboy Dennis]

I was just going to write, 'Hubert isn't going to like this' and saw he had been listed. Albeit in the lower tier of the ten, a safe ranking to assign him since he died in '78.Not very safe if I'm wanting to meet him but the list is not a ranking, just the order that they came to me.

The 'gamesmanship' things you might try on other players you left at the motel when you played Hubert.I'm safe there, I never employed any "gamesmanship" methods except trying my best to win. If he had a problem with that then that's just too bad.


My buddy looked up from the phone and smiled and said 'Cokes just took the money'. The game had not come to a natural end. He had apparently tired of his opponent's entourage's shenanigans and simply declared himself the winner and awarded himself the cash. No problem.My type of player right there .

Hubert would definitely be a character worth meeting. We shared some of the same qualities/shortcomings.

Dennis

 

[Tramp Steamer]

I think I would have to add Bill Marshall, aka: Willie Jopling, to any list I've seen thus far.
I shook hands with Mr. Marshall at the 2005 DCC, and believed him to be a true Southern gentleman.

 

[NH Steve]

Seeing this thread makes me think of another name that I would be curious about, who I assume has died, but I guess I do not know for sure -- that would be Bob 'The Destroyer' Myers. I would like to get him and Jersey Red together and talk about all the different odd concoctions of handicapping that they came up with back in the day

 

[Deeman]

Hubert would definitely be a character worth meeting. We shared some of the same qualities/shortcomings.

Dennis

Dennis,

As would his buddy, Titanic Thompson! Not as good a one pocket player but for sure a better shot with a .45!!!

DeeMan

 

[RedCard]

Hubert would definitely be a character worth meeting. We shared some of the same qualities/shortcomings.

Dennis

He would have probably felt honored to be included anywhere in the list. That gruff chuckle would ensue with meaning known only to him. It could very well mean 'it's about time I got some recognition for something without having to put somebody in the ground'.

As I'm sure most or all on the list did, Cokes lived a helluva life.

 

[petie]

Seeing this thread makes me think of another name that I would be curious about, who I assume has died, but I guess I do not know for sure -- that would be Bob 'The Destroyer' Myers. I would like to get him and Jersey Red together and talk about all the different odd concoctions of handicapping that they came up with back in the day

According to a very knowledgeable player/author, Bob took down every road man that came to the small area in New York that he almost never left. This lends credence to the claim by Gary Pinkowski that the greatest player on the planet never left his 2 block home turf in New York. He then proceeded to prove it by bringing the player (not known to be Bob but could have been on the road and busting everybody in their path.

 

[fred bentivegna]

I'm not so sure...

I'm not so sure...

Dennis,

As would his buddy, Titanic Thompson! Not as good a one pocket player but for sure a better shot with a .45!!!

DeeMan

I aint so sure who was the better shot. I do know they both shot Olympics speed. His son Elllis, who now lives in Hot Springs AR, told me Hubert had a pistol range in the basement, and Hubert and Titanic practiced diligently. They both practiced shooting as if they were Delta Force operators. Either hand, on the move, or falling away.
Hubert had a pistol in an ankle holster, one in his back pocket, and one strapped to his arm in a spring loaded holster that he could pop into his hand in a flash. Plus he wasn't gonna miss whatever he shot at.
In Titanic's first book he talks about an almost gun battle with Hubert and Ti wasnt too happy about it.

Beard

You know its about even money that they whacked Arnold Rothstein.

 

[RedCard]

I aint so sure who was the better shot. I do know they both shot Olympics speed. His son, who now lives in Hot Springs AR, told me Hubert had a pistol range in the basement, and Hubert and Titanic practiced diligently. They both practiced shooting as if they were Delta Force operators. Either hand, on the move, or falling away.
Hubert had a pistol in an ankle holster, one in his back pocket, and one strapped to his arm in a spring loaded holster that he could pop into his hand in a flash. Plus he wasn't gonna miss whatever he shot at.
In Titanic's first book he talks about an almost gun battle with Hubert and Ti wasnt too happy about it.

Beard

You know its about even money that they whacked Arnold Rothstein.

The Kevin Cook book about Ti that recently came out gives a good account of the time him and Hubert were about to come to shots. I mentioned it to an friend who is an ex-prosecutor/defense attorney here who played cards with Cokes several times and had heard a lot of this stuff through old timers in the judicial system. He took over the story, before he read the book, and told it pretty much as it is in the book. They guy who gave me the book has spoken with Ellis Cokes and Ti's kid Tommy too. He collects these stories and is a bit Runyonesque himself.

Short version: It occurred at the McCurdy Hotel across from the Elks. The desk clerk had alerted Ti that Hubert was on his way up to his room and none too happy, giving Ti time to grab his .45. Paraphrasing the book, 'by the time Cokes pounded on the door Ti was in the lobby facing the elevator (pretty much in ambush mode), ready to shoot if necessary. 'I didn't want to shoot Hubert' he said later, but if it was me or him it wasn't going to be me. Fifteen minutes went by and Hubert hadn't emerged from the elevator. Then...a tap on Ti's shoulder and of course it was Hubert pointing a gun at Ti's nose. (He had slipped down the stairs and snuck through the restaurant into the lobby)'. They then made up.

I lived in that hotel by myself for a while when I was going to high school. If I would have known about this then I 'm sure I would have requested that room.

 

[fred bentivegna]

Baby Face

Baby Face

Larry,

"Babyface" was the only guy on my list that I had met & knew from the poolroom.

The reason that Breit is on my list is I have read so much about his exploits, particularly on 5' x 10' tables, that I have a desire to meet him in the great pool afterlife. The only DVD that I have of him shows that he is a jovial & not self-centered person. That's just the kind of person I'd like to meet, not to mention his great talents & knowledge.

Dennis

I knew Baby Face pretty well. He used to come to Chicago often. He was friends with a good friend of mine, Tall Al Lamouroux. Face used to like to go to the track and the ball games with Al. I would often tag along. The first time I met him he tried to trap me in Bensingers. Onepocket on a 5 x 10. He tried to stall, but it didnt take no time for me to spot that monster slip stroke of his and I pulled up quick. I switched him to banks and he went for about 2 $5 barrels before that episode ended. That is how he made the Beat List, because he and I never played for money again. He was just too likable, and I decided I could learn a lot more hanging with him than I could trying to beat him. Plus beating him, even then, was a mountain climb, as he was a super turned-out top notch player and hustler.

He used to fascinate me with all the old time war stories, expecially about him and Fats. He talked out of the side of his mouth like a true grifter. I knew he had to have been a monster player because of the respect he was accorded at Johnston City, from Wimpy on down.

Beard

 

[Deeman]

I aint so sure who was the better shot. I do know they both shot Olympics speed. His son Elllis, who now lives in Hot Springs AR, told me Hubert had a pistol range in the basement, and Hubert and Titanic practiced diligently. They both practiced shooting as if they were Delta Force operators. Either hand, on the move, or falling away.
Hubert had a pistol in an ankle holster, one in his back pocket, and one strapped to his arm in a spring loaded holster that he could pop into his hand in a flash. Plus he wasn't gonna miss whatever he shot at.
In Titanic's first book he talks about an almost gun battle with Hubert and Ti wasnt too happy about it.

Beard

You know its about even money that they whacked Arnold Rothstein.

I am not exactly sure if Ti is credited with 4 or 5 kills but he, of Mr. Cokes, for that matter would probably keep the Arnstein killing to themselves as they'd never know if e next guy they met would pat them on the back or shoot them there. If I remember his real name was Alvin Thomas, and I'd always give the shooting edge to an Arkansas boy!

Hot Springs is nice, but I've not been there in about 4 years but it is nothing like it was back then!

If Sunnyone is peeking in, No, I never met Ti nor Hubert Cokes!

DeeMan