PoolSynergy 18: The Ayatolla of One-Hola

Favorite game? One-pocket without a doubt. This is the game of the famous Ayatollah of One-Hola, Jersey Red.  He was one of the first people I ever saw playing the game. And boy could Red play.

For our PoolSynergy topic this month, we’ve been assigned the task of writing about pool games. As exhibit number one as to why One-Pocket is the best of all of them, I submit to you the sequence of shots, below. It was executed by Red back in 1969, during a match-up with Ronnie Allen in Houston's Le Cue pool hall. I didn’t see this sequence first hand (I was only six years old at the time), although I don’t doubt Red pulled it off.

From Eddie Robins' Winning One-Pocket.

You can find more about this sequence in Eddie Robin’s excellent book, Winning One-Pocket.  As reported there by Grady “The Professor” Mathews, Red was at the table and needed all four balls. It looked like escape was impossible. Appropriately, Red remarked “even Houdini couldn't get out from here” before beginning his run. First he shot the combination seen in the top diagram. That is, he pocketed a ball in the upper right-hand corner while simultaneously sinking another back into his pocket on the lower left side. Notice Red went rail first to make this combination-bank shot. In the next diagram Red got to his wicket while simultaneously pocketing the hanger in the side pocket. He then pocketed the final two balls after they were spotted back up. Notice here the two-rail bank.

This match-up would have occurred within months of Red's second place finish in the 1969 U.S. Open. You can read more about Red and the U.S. Open in my book Hustler Days.  That's a picture of him there on the cover. And please go buy Robin's Winning One-Pocket. It's a great read.

About PoolSynergy

PoolSynergy is an online collaborative effort by pool and billiard bloggers, in which each agrees to write about a single theme. PoolSynergy submissions are published simultaneously by each of the participating blogs on the 15th of every month. To read a list of the other fine contributions this month, check out A Journey into Billiards blog, which you can find here.

-- R.A. Dyer

R.I.P.: Houston's Cue & Cushion

Check out the Houston Chronicle blog post about the demise of that city's Cue & Cushion pool hall. It was a great room, having been a favored haunt of Jersey Red and others. It has been replaced by a tony restaurant -- an upscale joint greeted with great enthusiasm by food critics. There are some who seemed almost to have welcomed the demise of the Cue & Cushion, with one food critic going so far as to note "that the new restaurant sprang forth from the carcass of the old Cue and Cushion dive (which) makes the (dining) experience even more delicious."

But in its prime the Cue & Cushion was a truly great room. The Houston Press recently had named it the best in the city.

Kudos to my old friend Mike Snyder for seeing fit to post a tribute to the room. (I helped!) Mike and I spent many hours there shooting nine-ball. You can find Mike's post here.


-- R.A. Dyer

Jersey Red vs. The Ice Man.

"Now watch this, Mr. Nagy. I'm gonna bank the eight off the end rail and it's gonna kiss off the deuce and the one ball's gonna tear up the stack and I'M GOIN' OUT! This is the RAIDER! Whoo! Eight off the deuce and racky-dacky! Ha, look at that!"

-- An excerpt from a match-up between Jack "Jersey Red" Breit and Gene "Ice Man" Nagy, as recorded word-for-word in chapter nine of John Grissim's 1979 book, Billiards.

The Jersey Red Shot

The famous Jersey Red shot -- Eddie Robin describes it in his excellent book, Winning One-Pocket. Red first shot this cool kick back in 1957, in a one-pocket match against James Evans. It was at the famous 7-11 pool room in New York City. Robin said it brought the house down. Red shot it for the last time on Nov. 3, 1997 -- 40 years later --- during a benefit event for Red shortly before his death. You can see it more clearly by clicking here. I've added a clip I found on youtube showing someone making the shot. It's ingenious -- the way it makes use of the kiss to knock the ball back into your pocket.

Jersey Red in 1969: "Even Houdini Couldn't Get Out From Here!"

I LOVE this sequence of shots. It was executed by Jersey Red back in 1969 during a match-up with Ronnie Allen in Houston's Le Cue pool hall. Grady "The Professor" Mathews was an eyewitness, and he describes it gloriously in Eddie Robin's excellent book, Winning One-Pocket. You can see the shots more clearly by clicking here.

Red was at the table and needed all four balls. The Red Raider looked The Professor straight in the eye, remarked "even Houdini couldn't get out from here" and then began his spectacular run. First Red shot the combination seen in the top diagram. That is, he pockets a ball in the upper right-hand corner while simultaneously sinking another back into his pocket on the lower left side. Notice he goes rail first to to make this combination-bank shot. In the next diagram Red pockets the ball into his wicket while simultaneously pocketing the hanger in the side pocket. He then pockets the final two balls after they were spotted back up. Notice here the two-rail bank.

This match-up would have occurred within months of Red's second place finish in that year's U.S. Open. Luther Lassiter won it. You can read more about Red and the U.S. Open in Hustler Days. And please go buy Robin's Winning One-Pocket. It's a great book.

America's Best Ever Pool Player? You Decide

Who is America's best ever pool player? The poll on the top right of the pool history blog lists some all-time favorites, including recent Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Archer. I've left Willie Hoppe off the list because he was known as one of the best-ever billiards players, as opposed to one of the best-ever pool players. Neither have I included one of my personal favorites, Efren "Bata" Reyes. As he's from the Philippines, I figured I'd save him for a future poll of the greatest international players. I've also tried to get a good mix of players from different eras. (Van Boening vs. Greenleaf?!) Vote early. Vote often. I'll leave the poll up for awhile. Also, if you have a write-in candidate, feel free to comment at the bottom of this post. I'll tally up the write-ins later, along with those listed on the ballot.

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.