Donny Anderson congratulated by fellow Bank Pool Hall of Fame inductees Truman Hogue and Freddy ‘The Beard’ Bentivegna
Diana Hoppe photo
Donny flanked by James ‘Youngblood’ Brown and the late ‘Bugs’ Rucker at the first World Bank Pool tournament
photo courtesy Donny Anderson
Born June 9th, 1929, as a youngster Donny Anderson picked up an interest in Bank Pool from his father, who was a “halfway decent player” himself, according to Donny. At that time there just happened to be two other kids in Cincinnati about Donny’s age that also had a special gift of pool talent: Eugene ‘Clem’ Metz and Joey Spaeth. Hitting the road before they could even drive, these three young guns developed a little reputation for themselves as the ‘kids from Cincinnati’ – later to become ‘The Cincinnati Kid’ for Donny Anderson.
While the elusive ‘Clem’ turned his attention to One Pocket, and Joey became one of the all-around stars of Johnston City, Bank was always Donny’s game of choice, and with the advent of Bank Pool tournaments in the early 70’s, it was Donny Anderson that emerged as our first Bank Pool World Champion.
Donny still competitive a few years ago at the Derby City Classic
Photo courtesy Conrad Burkman
Donny continued to compete all the way up into the first few years of the Derby City Classic, playing well enough to beat fellow Bank Pool Hall of Fame player Truman Hogue twice one year!
Unlike many of our Hall of Fame players, Donny nearly always juggled a full time job along with his pool playing. He’d work all week, then slip out on the road for a weekend of action. Maybe this divided attention cut into his full potential as a player, but with his Banks specialization and natural ability, it didn’t seem to hurt his game that much, and Donny did very well.
Donny’s tournament record includes:
- Winning the first World Bank Tournament, Springfield, Ohio
- 2nd Place LA Banks division 1990 (when he was the oldest player in the tournament)
Donny is featured in one of our player interviews here on OnePocket.org:
Complete Donny Anderson Interview
Truman and Donny exchanged good-natured roasts at his induction dinner