HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE: Books & More

Does that special pool lover in your life already own 20 instructional books? How about going another direction this year and getting him or her the gift of pool history? As we like to say at poolhistory.com, a sport without history is a sport without consequence. But there's plenty of literature out there to help fill the gaps. I've included some of my favorite selections (including a couple of my own books) plus some video resources and other material.  You can find each of these potential stocking stuffers online. Keep reading for all the details.


THE HUSTLER & THE CHAMP

R.A. Dyer’s book, The Hustler and the Champ, chronicles the long colorful rivalry between pool’s greatest tournament player and its most colorful hustler. Read more about The Hustler and the Champ at the poolhistory.com website. Purchase the book on Amazon.

HUSTLER DAYS

This critically acclaimed book tells the story of pool in the 20th century and of the 1960s revival brought on by 20th Century Fox film, The Hustler. The book profiles some of the game’s greatest players, including Rags Fitzpatrick and Harold Worst.  Purchase the book on Amazon.

3 GREAT BOOKS BY THE LATE, GREAT FREDDY "THE BEARD"

Freddy "The Beard"  Bentivegna was an old-time pool hustler, a banking expert and one of our sport's great storytellers. I was sorry to hear of his passing in 2014. I've highlighted three of his books here. Each is well worth the investment. You can purchase them directly from his website, www.bankingwiththebeard.com.

THE “ENCYLOPEDIA”  OF POOL HUSTLERS

This reference work is not anything you’ll ever read from start to finish — at least, not in any disciplined way — but it’s a book you’ll want to have around your nightstand or in The Brown Study. It’s chock full of quick and quirky anecdotes about players both famous and obscure (mostly obscure), all seasoned with Bentivegna’s aromatic brand of BS.

BANKING WITH THE BEARD

Freddy's first book, "Banking With The Beard," includes a banking formula that incorporates the concepts of acquired english and cue ball english. It's 200 pages long.  The tips are invaluable.


GOSPOOL OF BANK POOL

Freddy's second book, "The GosPool of Bank Pool," also runs about 200 pages long -- but about half of it is devoted to colorful anecdotes. I found myself laughing out loud as I read about Minnesota Fats, Eddie "The Knoxville Bear" Taylor, Cornbread Red and Harold Worst. 

AND MORE BOOKS...

BYRNE'S NEW STANDARD BOOK ON POOL & BILLIARDS

This is the first instructional book that I ever purchased. Who knew that a collection of table drawings and shot descriptions could be so funny?  A friend of mine had lent me a copy many many years ago. After reading only about 10 pages of it, I marched out and bought my own. You should too. (And while you’re at it, pick up Bryne’s second instructional book Advanced Technique in Pool & Billiards.)

NEW ILLUSTRATED ENCYLOPEDIA OF BILLIARDS

Ever wonder how many possible ball arrangements there are in a straight-pool rack? Wonder no more. Mike Shamos, in this wonderful collection of the trivial and the historic, tells us. Here, you can learn about Kelly Pool, the Lambert Trophy, and the origin of the slang "weight." There’s plenty of pictures. As a hardback, it makes a perfect addition to any coffee table.

THE HUSTLER

There is no more important novel related to American pool as The Hustler, by Walter  Tevis. Although not based on the life of Rudolf Wanderone, it nonetheless launched his media career. The book also led to the 20th Century Fox movie and the great renaissance for our sport during the 1960s. You also can read all about The Hustler, Minnesota Fats, the 1960s renaissance -- and the interrelation between the the three -- in my own book Hustler Days (referenced above).

MCGOORTY, A POOL ROOM HUSTLER

Danny McGoorty was a poolroom hustler, ladies’ man, and drunk. Robert Bryne recorded McGoorty’s life's story, and then used it to craft one of the most delightful and hilarious biographies ever written about an American cueist. This book also includes fun anecdotes about some of the most important players of the last century, including Mosconi, Fats, Welker Cochran and even Alfredo De Oro.

WILLIE'S GAME

Willie Mosconi in his biography Willie’s Game co-authored with Stanley Cohen, speaks of Fats, Wimpy Lassiter, Irving Crane and several others. Speaking about Onofrio Lauri, Mosconi said: "You wouldn’t want him to be the guy standing between you and a championship. He was a sensational shot maker. If he got on a roll he could run out on you quicker than you could count the balls." Find the Kindle edition here.

THE BANK SHOT AND OTHER GREAT ROBBERIES

This is the autobiography of Minnesota Fats, co-written by Tom Fox and with an introduction by R. A. Dyer. It tells Fats' story is his own colorful words. A great fun read. Find it online here.

POOL WARS
Jay Helfert's great book Pool Wars is subtitled "On the Road to Hell and Back with the World's Greatest Money Players." That's particularly apt, given that Helfert here has collected stories about Charlie the Ape, Ronnie Allen, Cuban Joe, and of course Minnesota Fats. Helfert writes about brawls and sleeping in pool rooms. He has some wonderful old pictures of a crazy skinny Earl Strickland and Buddy "Rifleman" Hall. A great read.

OTHER STUFF ...

If that special someone doesn't feel like reading over the holidays, here are a few non-book recommendations:

PHOTOS BY HELAINE GARREN
In 1970 Helaine Garren shot a series of images at Bensinger’s Pool Hall while she was a student at the Art Institute of Chicago. Garren's astounding photos have won rave reviews from Slate, the Chicago Reader and every pool publication you can think of. Buy prints directly from Ms. Garren at her website, www.helainegarren.com.

Accu-Stats

Call Pat Flemming over at Accu-Stats HQ and he'll recommend a good DVD. He's never steered me wrong once. Here's his number:  1-800-828-0397. You can also check out the website at accu-stats.com. 

THE HUSTLER (DVD RELEASE)

The Hustler is the single-most important film ever made about our sport. For that reason alone, it deserves a revered sport in the DVD library of any lover of pool history.  The scenes between Paul Newman, as Fast Eddy, and Jackie Gleason, as Fats, are inspirational. The two-disk collector's edition also includes several extra documentaries, including one entitled “Swimming with Sharks” with commentary from Max Eberle and myself. So there’s that.

-- R.A. Dyer

Boston Shorty versus Harold Worst

Boston Shorty, four-time winner of the Johnston City One-Pocket competition,  is remembered as one of the greatest one-pocket players ever. Harold Worst won the 1965 Johnston City tournament outright, as well as that year's Stardust Open. Worst could have been remembered as the most dominant player of the 1960s if not for his premature death (at age 37) from cancer.

You can watch the two legendary players battling it out in the video above. I really love the groovy jazz music in the background. Very atmospheric. And if you want to learn more, there's also Hustler Days. The book includes information about the famous Johnston City  tournaments, Worst's dominant play in 1965, and a reference to Jersey Red's travels with Boston Shorty. Freddy "The Beard" Bentivegna also has a link to a Jim McKay interview with Worst, which you can find here.

Alfredo de Oro: One of the Greatest Ever

If you've been following along lately, you know we've had on-gain off-again discussions here about the greatest pool players in American history. Several months ago we conducted a poll on the issue.  Willie Mosconi and Ralph Greenleaf received the most votes, which prompted a run-off. The voting is still open on the question. You can find the ballot on the panel at right.

But throughout this discussion there's been one important player who almost entirely escaped notice. That player is Alfredo de Oro, pictured above. De Oro is largely forgotten these days, probably because his spectacular career occurred before living memory and because his exploits were overshadowed by the very colorful Ralph Greenleaf, who followed close on his heels. But de Oro was among the first inductees into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame. He also mounted a championship career that would rival that of Greenleaf or any of the other lions.

De Oro played both three-cushion and pocket billiards — and excelled at both. According to his short bio in the BCA's Official Rules and Record Book, de Oro first gained the pocket billiards crown in 1887 and then went on to win it 31 more times. I'll say it again: He won it 31 more times. By contrast, both Greenleaf and Mosconi won the pocket billiard title fewer than 30 times apiece. Not only that, but de Oro also held the three-cushion title ten times between 1908 and 1919. Harold Worst also excelled at both sports, but not with de Oro's dominance.

De Oro was born in Manzanilla, Cuba on April 28, 1863. That's a copy of his passport above. (It's incredible what you can find online.) According to a quick bio I found on Wikipdedia, de Oro's first public appearance as a professional was in the fourth US National Fifteen-ball Championship, held in New York, February, 1887. By my calculation, he would have been 23 years old. He died in 1948, two years before Ralph Greenleaf.
-- R.A. Dyer

The 1960s Hustlers' Jamboree and George Jansco's Minor League Baseball Stats

The internet is amazing. Here's a site that references George Jansco's minor league baseball stats back in the 1930s. Notice that the site references George's nickname as "Wimpy" -- which was the same handle used by Luther Lassiter. Odd. Also looks like George had a career batting average of .291. Not too shabby.

For those who don't know, George Jansco was the promoter (along with his brother Paulie) behind the Johnston City hustler jamborees during the 1960s. Lassiter dominated the colorful events, which also featured Jersey Red, Boston Shorty, Ronnie Allen, Harold Worst, Handsome Dan and of course Minnesota Fats. I've attached a YouTube video at the top of this post that features an interview with Fats at one of the southern Illinois tournaments. That's a picture of George Jansco at the upper right. You can find more historic pool videos here. (Freddy "The Beard' Bentivegna also has amassed a cool collection of online videos.) You can read more about George Jansco and his jamborees in Hustler Days.

Videos of Pool Champ Harold Worst in 1965

Check out the cool videos of Harold Worst playing in Johnston City, circa 1965, which was about a year before Worst died of cancer. You can find the video on a blog maintained by Freddy "The Beard" Bentivegna. Just click here. Worst is playing Larry "Boston" Shorty in the footage. The Beard also has posted a Jim McKay interview with Worst.

A bit of quick biographical information: Worst was born on Sept. 29, 1929, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1949, according to The Grand Rapids Press, "Worst had followed in Hoppe's steps as a 'boy wonder,' having set a record for youth when at the age of 21 he became the youngest player in history to qualify for world championship play." He placed second in that year's national tournament and then fourth in the world meet. In 1954 he won the world three-cushion title during a tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He then went on to amass a great winning record through the first half of the 1960s and might have surpassed Luther Lassiter as that decade's dominant player had Worst not died of cancer in 1966 at the age of 37. Worst was at the top of this game when he got sick. He remained unconquered as the world's three-cushion champion.

You can read more about Worst in a column I wrote earlier for Billiards Digest. The coding is a bit messed up, but it's still available online here. On the top of this post I've inserted an image of the front page of the Grand Rapids Press that features coverage of Worst. Forgive the dark stains. I think I spilled some wine on my hard copy. You can find the home page of the great Freddy the Beard here.