One Pocket Hall of Fame

The 2009 voting results are in!

The One Pocket Hall of Fame is pleased to announce this year’s class of inductees in the categories of One Pocket, Bank Pool and Lifetime Pool in Action. This January we will have two One Pocket inductees, the well traveled professional player, Jose Parica, and our top vote getter among the deceased candidates from years past, the outspoken legend of pool, Rudolf ‘Fats’ Wanderone, AKA ‘Minnesota Fats’. Our Bank Pool inductee this year is the aptly named Glenn ‘Piggy Banks’ Rogers, from Chicago, Illinois.

Everyone knows that pool has always had two very different cultures of competition – the establishment culture of tournaments, wholesome recreation and industry endorsements on the one hand, and the after-hours culture of gambling and hustling on the other hand. It is the mission of the One Pocket Hall of Fame to honor and remember those great players and great games that represent the legacy of Pool in Action.

In that spirit, the One Pocket Hall of Fame is pleased to present this year’s Lifetime Pool in Action award to the legendary player, backer, and aficionado of action, Seattle Washington’s Harry Platis.

A younger Jose Parica competing back in the 80's

(Mike Haines/Bill Porter photo)

Don’t miss the One Pocket Hall of Fame dinner on Tuesday, January 26th, during the biggest pool jamboree ever, the Derby City Classic. This year our banquet will be in a terrific new location, as we will have the aptly named “Legends” bar (right in the Horseshoe Casino complex) all to ourselves for our own private party! This promises to be a very entertaining evening, as these players are among the most colorful, talented and action-oriented legends in all of cue sports.

Click here to make your reservations for our HOF dinner

November 24, 2009

Trick Shot Icon

'Willie Jopling' Dies

Born William Jopling Marshall, Jr. in Bedford, Virginia January 20, 1926, but better known in the pool world as ‘Willie Jopling’, Marshall died suddenly in his home early in the AM of November 24, 2009. Bill Marshall was a veteran of WWII, a career graphic designer and a family man, who put those priorities ahead of pool, although he played at a competitive level. The name Willie Jopling became synonymous with trick shots as under that moniker he wrote popular instructional columns for several pool and billiard magazines for many years. Early on in his pool career he became enthralled with trick shots and the game of One Pocket, and it was these two disciplines that his columns focused on. He self-published an instructional book on Trick Shots which also included a large section on One Pocket shots, which may have been the first published One Pocket instructional work. Recently he had published two One Pocket instruction videos which were well received in the One Pocket community.

He was a close friend to many great players, including the late Eddie Taylor, and many of his columns mixed in personal anecdotes along with his excellent pool advice, which added to the popularity of his writing. He was a regular at every US Open Championship in his home state of Virginia, but also traveled every year to the Derby City Classic to enjoy the pool action, catch up with his many friends and to sell a few books and tapes to help pay his way. He was still contributing columns, and still enjoyed getting out for a little pool until his death.

Click here to read our 2005 interview with Willie Jopling

Willie Jopling at the Derby City Classic, demonstrating one of his pet games, "Kiss Pool", in which object balls are caromed off the cue ball in order to score.

November, 2009

Michael Surber, 1955-2009

One of the top all-around players from Mississippi and beyond, 'Biloxi Mike' Surber, was found dead in his home earlier this week. Officials have ruled the cause of his death murder, and have named a "person of interest" in the case. Mike was a very popular player, and a top competitor on the national scene in both One Pocket and Bank Pool.

Click here for the OnePocket.org memorial page for Mike Surber

"Person of Interest" & Local news links that follow Mike's murder

Mike competing at the Derby City Classic last year

September 17, 2009

Reyes Bounces Back

The Magician topped a field of 88 of very strong players to capture the inaugural Galveston World Classic One Pocket tournament. The Filipino and American players were very well represented at this event, with the conspicuous absences mainly from the European and Asian camps, which are not so well known for their One Pocket anyway.

With the true double elimination format, Reyes had to beat Shannon Daulton twice to claim the One Pocket championship. Just two nights earlier, Daulton had defeated Reyes on the winner's side, with Shannon displaying superb play and confidence. But after dispatching with Cliff Joyner for the right to face Daulton again, Reyes elevated his game a notch, and took advantage of Daulton 3-1, 3-2 to capture the title.

The World Classic was presented by a new name in tournament promotion, Taylor Road Productions and hosted at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas. In its first year, the organizers had to overcome their share of predictable first year challenges, with some set-up problems and technical difficulties, but they seemed to get stronger by the day, and reports have been nothing short of enthusiastic for this event going forward.

Click here for a gallery of Galveston photos

Photo courtesy Ricky Bryant

In a 2006 interview with OnePocket.org’s Steve Booth, Vernon described it this way, “I’m going to tell you something pardner, I wouldn’t let nobody play cheap; if they want to play cheap, they can get somebody else. I always made ‘em bet. They always thought that I was just a damned old country boy, that I couldn’t do nothin’. I got big action everywhere I went, damn near, because I always had that ability to make ‘em bet. They didn’t ever know my real name, because I wouldn’t tell them, and I never played in a tournament, so they couldn’t find out.”

Vernon Elliott was born February 18, 1938 in Kentucky. He raised a family of six by playing pool and hustling his whole life, until he was finally forced to retire in the 90’s after suffering several strokes. During his playing years, he was possessed of one of the most powerful pool strokes, and if he couldn’t get a game for the money he wanted, he had an array of impossible looking proposition shots that he could win at. Once he even cashed in with Eddie Taylor on a bank shot that even the great Taylor thought was impossible.

Vernon was inducted into the One Pocket Hall of Fame in recognition for Bank Pool in January, 2007.

The usual crowd was there, which lent a sense of familiarity, but the surroundings certainly had a fresh new look, as the 11th Annual Derby City Classic found a new home after a run of ten years at the Executive West Hotel in Louisville. Not that the Horseshoe Casino was really so far away -- only about a half-hour drive from the old location -- just across the Ohio River from Louisville in Elizabeth, Indiana. But it sure had a different feel from the cozy , but run-down familiarity of the Executive West.

One key feeling that was different was how much "safer" the Horseshoe felt, after a couple of troubling incidents at the old location, the sense of casino security was a very welcome relief. The consensus opinion was also that the food was much better, and the rooms were nicer, but it sure was a long walk from the hotel to the tournament area. Well, haven't we always claimed that pool was good exercise?

Despite a terrible ice storm, the downturn in the economy, and persistent rumors that the DCC "wouldn't be the same", the turnout was actually pretty darn good for this first year in a new location. And there was plenty of action, too, including a $25,000 10-Ball challenge match between Efren and Van Boening. Yet the Louie Roberts Action/Entertainment award went to a relative youngster, 'Scooter' Goodman. Scooter was the most notable of a whole crew of up-and-coming young guns that seem to have adopted the Derby City action room as their own.

Although the Horseshoe did not have enough room to accommodate any carom tables this year, there was still a variety of mini (and major) other pocket tournaments squeezed into odd hours and small rooms during the Derby. Bob Jewett held his Straight Pool event again this year, putting up $10,000 of his own money to insure he attracted a share of the world class players in attendance. Fans of that game were rewarded with two runs over a hundred fifty -- John Schmidt with the high of 154, and Corey Deuel right behind him with a 153. Yet it was Danny Harriman that came out on top in the final play off.

Another guy that chipped in a chunk of change out of his own pocket was Eric 'Fatboy' Peterson, who ponied up $4,000 added for his own Fatboy 10-Ball challenge, featuring a select field of 32 of the top guns from all over the planet. Lee Van Cortezza took the top prize in that special late night event.

View of the Horseshoe Casino complex from the 8th floor of the hotel

Click here for four galleries of Derby City photos

John Brumback's Big Breakthrough

Not only did veteran banker John Brumback win his first Derby City Banks crown, but he proved his all-around prowess as well, as he followed up his Banks win with top ten finishes in both One Pocket and 9-Ball to claim this year's Master of the Table bonus. In prior years, two times Brumback had fallen in the Banks finals, but this time he was not to be denied, as he beat runner-up Rudolfo Luat twice in the finals.

Click here for a gallery of tournament photos

From all different disciplines of the DCC tournaments

Banking with the Beard

by Freddy Bentivegna

Freddy 'the Beard' Bentivegna has just published a unique new book on banking, entitled Banking with the Beard, Secrets of a Master Banker.  Chicago has for years been host to a culture of big action Bank Pool, home to legends such as 'Bugs' Rucker, Glenn 'Piggy Banks' Rogers, and of course, 'The Beard'.

Click here for our complete review