Thursday, June 4, 2009

Houston, circa 1968-69-70

The great Grady "The Professor" Mathews has a wonderful story about Jersey Red, Big Train Stevens and Houston's famous Le Cue pool hall from the 1960s. "It really was “Big Train’s” establishment," writes Grady. "I mean, he held court. When he would first get out of bed, he wouldn’t play anybody for two days, then all bets would be off. He’d match up and he had a ton of gamble laced with much heart. If you wanted to beat him, you had to pack your lunch. By the way, he was a renowned fast eater. I spotted him one hot dog in a race to ten for $1,000 and I won handily. People used to buy us dinner just to watch us eat."

You can read more about Big Train and Le Cue at the Professor's blog, Grady's Place.

2 comments:

Shuffleboard Tables said...

I must say Houston Circa is a great man in the history of billiards as starters in billiards often start learning from his basic shots and strategies. I follow that master mind while playing billiards and we hardly lose any match while following his shots and moves.

Unknown said...

My grandfather Ralph Burroughs used to play with Minnesota Fats and Jersey Red when they came to Houston. As a matter of fact, when they came to his house - he won Minnesota's stick from him - signed - they loved playing pool together