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Best of Howard Schwartz
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Gaming Guru
Hustler Days -- Fats, Lassiter, Red and America's Great Age of Pool26 February 2004
"With animals, men and hustlers, fear can prompt strikingly similar reactions: flee or fight. The hair stands up on the back of the neck, the pulse quickens, eyes widen. It was deadly fear that Minnesota Fats sometimes spoke about; it was deadly fear that Red -- confronting both the prospect of homelessness and the skill of the nation's top players -- lived with every day. To take the cash from those monsters, to go against Boston Shorty or James Evans, one must control one's nerves, control one's muscles." In craps, say, or poker, it doesn't matter. Fear may prompt a bad bet on bad cards, or folding on good cards, but fear doesn't change the cards. In pool, fear changes everything. It invites disaster and self-loathing. Any micro-inch deviation in aim, any micro-foot pound deviation in force, and a shot goes horribly, embarrassingly awry..." Dyer profiles and captures the gut-feelings of some of the world's greatest players and documents their greatest matches from the 1930s to modern times. Indexed and illustrated, the book belongs in every serious pool player's library. Dyer has included material on Fast Ronnie Allen; Jack Breit (Jersey Red); Marshall Carpenter (Tuscaloosa Squirrel); Hubert Cokes (Daddy Warbucks); Irving Crane; John (Duke) Dowell; Ralph Greenleaf; George Jansco; Larry Johnson (Boston Shorty); Handsome Danny Jones; Luther (Wimpy) Lassiter; Minnesota Fats; Cowboy Jimmy Moore; Willie Mosconi; Cicero Murphy; Bill (Weenie Beanie) Staton; Greg (Big Train) Stephens; and the highlights of some of the greatest tournaments ever played. What made pool popular? How did the growth of the game parallel the nation's history? What about the fights, the feuds, the rivalries; and the impact of television? What is the game all about? Money, prestige, redemption, respect? Dyer lets the players talk about truth, fantasy, fiction, hope, and dreams. The game means different things to different people; the language is peculiar to the game; the people and the game have an extraordinary mystique. The author includes a five-page glossary of terms to help you translate the slang (a "shortstop" can be beaten only by a top player and "lemoning" means a hustler clearly not playing up to his full speed or ability, "to fool a mark" into increasing a wager.) David McCumber, author of Playing Off The Rail, calls Dyer's book a "billiards classic," while Robert Byrne, author of Byrne's New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards rightfully says the work says "the pressure of tournament play and big-money games are vividly described." I agree. Copyright Gambler's Book Shop. All books reviewed in this article are available from Gambler's Book Shop (Gambler's Book Club), located at 630 South 11th Street, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 and online at www.gamblersbook.com. Recent Articles
Best of Howard Schwartz
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