fred bentivegna
Verified Member
I was at Red Shoes last night and ran into an old opponent of mine, Tough Tony Brewer. When we started cutting up jackpots, he had in his trunk some old photos of the bank pool tournament that he won in 1993. Included in the memoirs, he had this report on the tournament itself. This is it. Later he and I played some cheap banks, but I had to quit after winning the first game as my back gave out (probably a result of my train ride to New York city)..
Local player, “Tough Tony”Brewer took $1300 and first place in a Chicago bank pool tournament that featured some of the best bankers in the world. The tournament, held June 26th and 27th, 1993 at Chris’s Billiards, was double elimination, with each match a race to 23 banks -- the championship to 30.
Some of the big names from the 20 player field included Cincinnati players Gary Spaeth and Donnie Anderson, Gene Latham from Evansville, IN., Willie Munson from Milwaukee, and local favorites, Leonard “Bugs” Rucker, Freddy Bentivegna, and Jeff Carter.
Brewer won the tournament the hard way, coming up through the loser’s bracket to defeat Rucker 30 to 17 in the finals. Ironically, it was Rucker who sent Brewer to the loser’s bracket the day before.
The road to the finals for Brewer featured impressive victories over Latham (23-15), John Brumback (23-9), Spaeth (23-14), and finally Anderson (23-14), which he emphatically ended with a table –length bank of a ball seemingly trapped in the jaws of the corner pocket.
“Bugs” reached the finals pretty much unchallenged, including a 23-14 win over Anderson in the finals of the winners bracket. Rucker put the match away early with a spectacular tournament high run of 10 straight banks – the run earned him a $150 case donated by It’s George.
In the finals, both players struggled early on, but Brewer seized control for good on the second rack, outscoring “Bugs” 11 to 4 to take a 19 to11 lead, making table-length after table-length bank in precision-like fashion.
The two day tournament, which was directed and officiated by Paul Jones, with Ed Young as co-director, went smoothly, drawing a good-sized turnout. The success of this tournament makes one wonder why bigger tournaments of the same format, whether national or world, couldn’t be arranged.
Chris’s Billiards added $1,000 to the prize money, and there were also two Calcuttas of $1, 089 and $304. The tournament was co-sponsored by Helmstetter cues, It’s George cases, and Willard’s Scuffers.
--Carl Krach, counterman at Chris’s
Results:
1. Tony Brewer $1,300, 2.Leonard “Bugs”Rucker $700, 3. Donnie Anderson $500, 4. Gary Spaeth $300
Beard
Local player, “Tough Tony”Brewer took $1300 and first place in a Chicago bank pool tournament that featured some of the best bankers in the world. The tournament, held June 26th and 27th, 1993 at Chris’s Billiards, was double elimination, with each match a race to 23 banks -- the championship to 30.
Some of the big names from the 20 player field included Cincinnati players Gary Spaeth and Donnie Anderson, Gene Latham from Evansville, IN., Willie Munson from Milwaukee, and local favorites, Leonard “Bugs” Rucker, Freddy Bentivegna, and Jeff Carter.
Brewer won the tournament the hard way, coming up through the loser’s bracket to defeat Rucker 30 to 17 in the finals. Ironically, it was Rucker who sent Brewer to the loser’s bracket the day before.
The road to the finals for Brewer featured impressive victories over Latham (23-15), John Brumback (23-9), Spaeth (23-14), and finally Anderson (23-14), which he emphatically ended with a table –length bank of a ball seemingly trapped in the jaws of the corner pocket.
“Bugs” reached the finals pretty much unchallenged, including a 23-14 win over Anderson in the finals of the winners bracket. Rucker put the match away early with a spectacular tournament high run of 10 straight banks – the run earned him a $150 case donated by It’s George.
In the finals, both players struggled early on, but Brewer seized control for good on the second rack, outscoring “Bugs” 11 to 4 to take a 19 to11 lead, making table-length after table-length bank in precision-like fashion.
The two day tournament, which was directed and officiated by Paul Jones, with Ed Young as co-director, went smoothly, drawing a good-sized turnout. The success of this tournament makes one wonder why bigger tournaments of the same format, whether national or world, couldn’t be arranged.
Chris’s Billiards added $1,000 to the prize money, and there were also two Calcuttas of $1, 089 and $304. The tournament was co-sponsored by Helmstetter cues, It’s George cases, and Willard’s Scuffers.
--Carl Krach, counterman at Chris’s
Results:
1. Tony Brewer $1,300, 2.Leonard “Bugs”Rucker $700, 3. Donnie Anderson $500, 4. Gary Spaeth $300
Beard
