JAM
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In perusing my pool print periodicals, magazines, newspapers, et cetera, from the '70s, '80s, and '90s, I get stuck every now and then when I come across a gem.
In the January 1984 issue of National Tavern News, there's an 8-page article written by Bill Pierce entitled "WEENIE BEENIE: A Classy Pool Player." I created a Wikipedia article about Bill Staton, and so I had to go through this pool print media piece just in case there was some good data to contribute to Wikipedia.
When asked "What was your best game?" Beenie replied, My best game was one pocket. I learned from a guy named FITZPATRICK. They called him "BUGS," and he was one of the greatest. He died in 1960, but I cut my teeth on guys like Earl Schriver, Rags, Eddie Taylor, and Squirrel. They were my teachers.
In my area, I grew up seeing the Weenie Beenie hot dog stands. In fact, there's still a few of them around in Northern Virginia, Arlington to be exact. Bill Staton was an all-around gambler, whether it was cards, golf, or pool. He owned the infamous pool room named Jack and Jill's in Arlington, Virginia, which was a road player's stop to get action. Oh, if those walls could talk!
What Weenie Beenie said about Detroit. I quit playing pool from 1972 to 1976. One day I received a call, and this guy told me they were playing pretty high in Detroit, and I had a chance to make some big money if I would go up there. So I went up there. I played and I won. That was my first time up there.
Later I went back , and I lost everything I had won -- plus considerably more. And this is funny. After I lost all the money I had with me, I called my wife and told her to bring some money up to me. She did, and I lost all of that. Now I had flown up there to begin with, so when I called her next time, I told her to bring more money, but to drive because I needed transportation to get around.
In the meantime, I had borrowed some money, so when she got there, I paid off my debts and then proceeded to lose the rest. I played one game for my car and lost it (about 10 minutes). So Dear Momma brought more money. She did. I bought my car back, but I guess I don't have to tell you that I lost all that money too, plus the car again. So I said, "Good-bye Boys. I can no longer afford you," and I went home.
There aren't too many player who can laugh about a big loss like this. Does anybody remember his time in Detroit?
I saw Weenie Beenie play a local, Freddie Boggs, in Arlington, Virginia, $500 a game one pocket. It was after his prime, sometime in the mid to late '80s. It was like a cameo appearance having him in the pool room. We all drove over to check out the festivities. Weenie came there to play one pocket, but Freddie, a good one-hole player in his own right, took too long between shots, studying them, analyzing them, and Weenie Beenie pulled up after the first game. He just didn't like the pace of the game.
I saw him later in 2002 with Keith at the U.S. Open, and I sat down with him to chat. He was moving kind of slow, but he seemed content to be a railbird, sweating the U.S. Open matches. He was definitely one of the great ones.
In the January 1984 issue of National Tavern News, there's an 8-page article written by Bill Pierce entitled "WEENIE BEENIE: A Classy Pool Player." I created a Wikipedia article about Bill Staton, and so I had to go through this pool print media piece just in case there was some good data to contribute to Wikipedia.
When asked "What was your best game?" Beenie replied, My best game was one pocket. I learned from a guy named FITZPATRICK. They called him "BUGS," and he was one of the greatest. He died in 1960, but I cut my teeth on guys like Earl Schriver, Rags, Eddie Taylor, and Squirrel. They were my teachers.
In my area, I grew up seeing the Weenie Beenie hot dog stands. In fact, there's still a few of them around in Northern Virginia, Arlington to be exact. Bill Staton was an all-around gambler, whether it was cards, golf, or pool. He owned the infamous pool room named Jack and Jill's in Arlington, Virginia, which was a road player's stop to get action. Oh, if those walls could talk!
What Weenie Beenie said about Detroit. I quit playing pool from 1972 to 1976. One day I received a call, and this guy told me they were playing pretty high in Detroit, and I had a chance to make some big money if I would go up there. So I went up there. I played and I won. That was my first time up there.
Later I went back , and I lost everything I had won -- plus considerably more. And this is funny. After I lost all the money I had with me, I called my wife and told her to bring some money up to me. She did, and I lost all of that. Now I had flown up there to begin with, so when I called her next time, I told her to bring more money, but to drive because I needed transportation to get around.
In the meantime, I had borrowed some money, so when she got there, I paid off my debts and then proceeded to lose the rest. I played one game for my car and lost it (about 10 minutes). So Dear Momma brought more money. She did. I bought my car back, but I guess I don't have to tell you that I lost all that money too, plus the car again. So I said, "Good-bye Boys. I can no longer afford you," and I went home.
There aren't too many player who can laugh about a big loss like this. Does anybody remember his time in Detroit?
I saw Weenie Beenie play a local, Freddie Boggs, in Arlington, Virginia, $500 a game one pocket. It was after his prime, sometime in the mid to late '80s. It was like a cameo appearance having him in the pool room. We all drove over to check out the festivities. Weenie came there to play one pocket, but Freddie, a good one-hole player in his own right, took too long between shots, studying them, analyzing them, and Weenie Beenie pulled up after the first game. He just didn't like the pace of the game.
I saw him later in 2002 with Keith at the U.S. Open, and I sat down with him to chat. He was moving kind of slow, but he seemed content to be a railbird, sweating the U.S. Open matches. He was definitely one of the great ones.