Man, oh man. This is true gold. I can't thank you enough for this video. So much rich history here as told from one of the most legendary people to ever grace the game of pool. Thanks Tor. Rest in peace, Bill.

What is it about this game that makes it so magical? As a boy, my dad bought us a pool table from Toys R Us that also was plywood instead of slate. That and a few of Robert Byne's books sitting under the coffee table. I was fortunate to live in Long Beach, CA in the 90s, getting to watch the greatest of the greats--Efren, Parika, all of them at Hard Times in Bellflower. The Sunday tournaments would be just as good as watching any pro tournament. So thankful to have someone so passionate about pool like Tor, to share his knowledge and these interviews. Great job Tor, thank you so much.

Jack Taylor was my father..Alfe my uncle. One year Jack and I took my car on a road trip in Texas. The car's engine would die every time it makes a left turn and I told him so at the start.He talked me into the road trip any way. I was 19 years old and had about a hundred dollars and he had about fifteen dollars. San Antonio Dallas and Houston in about four months in a car that could not make left turns or a road map. Jack new how to get to the pool halls with action in every town and city without making a left turn ever. Amazing. A typical night along the way would start around sundown and end at four in the morning..nine ball was the game. Dad would walk out with a lot of cash wake me up from sleeping in the back seat of the car and we would move on. He had three daughters and three sons that I know of and I am proud to be one of them. Merry Christmas everyone.

This is one of the BEST old-time pool player interviews I’ve ever seen. Would love more parts with Bill Stroud or any of the great hustlers of the golden years. Terrific

Thank you so much for posting this, I really enjoyed mr. Stroud stories

Tor Lowry, what a fascinating historical record you have created! Bill Stroud is a pool legend. I loved the individual recollections of each of those great pool players. Thanks again for preserving this piece of history.

Old time pool stories are the best! Thanks!

Great to hear bill again. One of the best cuemakers of all time. I have several of his cues. Those stories are pure gold.

I met Eddie Taylor just before he passed away. I also got to know Grady Matthews. I love seeing videos like this. Thanks for posting.

Thank you so much for allowing one of older guys to talk about the old days, the golden days. So tired of hearing from the pampered and the cry babies with their poor sportsmanship. Playing for the love of the game (ie. Jimmy and Alex in the ‘95 Mosconi Cup) - pure joy to watch.

I'll never forget this guy. I'll show this videos to my kids and explain what I know about the names on the left. Long live these guys. ♥️

@19:29 UJ is so funny LOL. I imagine him falling on the bar stool after challenging someone lmfao

Thanks Tor. With your systems "there is a SPOT to aim at" It was the first "aha moment" for me, thanks again. I recommend you all the time. Wish this Covid thing end. Hope to see you again at the Mosconi Cup next year in La Vegas. Stay healthy, Jim

Enjoyed this video. I had been around Bill a few times when he would come into Kolbys to play. Still played solid for his age. Great stories. Thanks!

This is awesome 👌 people like this never settle down. What a cool time to be running the road too.

I purchase three cues from Bill Stroud, and spoke with him in person . I also ask him to make my first bar cue which he didn’t want to make. But finally did me a favor. He also told me his stories on and off the road. At the time I didn’t know how good of a player and hustler he was. In my opinion Bill Stroud , is one of the real Legends of our time. And a great pool cue maker.🎱He is truly missed.

Thank You for posting. Truly one of the Icons of Pool and Custom Cues..

Absolutely love this. My mother was related to him and the background music is perfect.

Pure gold! Please make more!!

Just loved hearing you reminisce with great stories Tor. Thanks for taking the time to share.

I’ve only been playing for a year on an 8 foot amf table. I keep wanting to reflect it, get better cues, better balls…..this is helping to humble myself and keep practicing with what I already have.

I owned a Joss West and Bill refinished and put tips on it for free! That is what kind of great service he gave owners of his cues! He mailed it back to me ! He is the only person that worked on my JW pool cue. I spoke to him about one pocket and he was the nicest person! This was many years ago ! I want to thank you for this great video!

I love these stories from the old time players. The road stories are great.

Wow what a compliment!!! Its true. I've learned so much from your videos. Thanks for this awesome interview and the wonderful educational videos!

Wow… can’t believe I just found this video! What a great video!!! I have my own little story about gambling in the pool rooms… where I grew up, almost exactly halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. This bowling ally was ALWAYS packed. Back in the 60’s, 70’s, early 80’s, about 1 mile off the main highway had a bowling alley with 10 or 12 9 foot Brunswick tables. I would go with my folks on the night they bowled just to watch these guys play pool. Eventually, the guys gambling would ask me to run and get them a coke. They’d pull out a $1 and tell me to keep the change. I caught on, started racking for them (I had a little crate I would stand on lmao). After a month or 2 of doing this, I must’ve saved up $40 or $50 dollars. My mom found my money and thought I was stealing it from somewhere. I told my mom, that the guys in the pool room were “giving me money for favors.” I didn’t know… every time I racked or got their soda, they said, “I was doing them a favor.” So that’s what I told my mom. That wasn’t allowed to go with them anymore… at least she let me keep the money. Lol and I still haven’t explained or told her what those favors were now that I think about it… either she knew I was with the gamblers, or she thought I was getting diddled. I’m gonna ask her later… hopefully she remembers this.

The first time I play pool with in Haskell pool hall then I played i cotton Bowling Palace it really brings back good memories of the old times thank you for watching this video

Great video and thanks for the info bar on the left! That made easy to go back and listen to certain encounters over again.

So glad I found this video! I happen to have a early 70's Joss West I think was made in Colorado by Bill. Best cue I have ever played with. I wish I could post a picture of it here...

What an awesome story. Thank you.

Good stuff! Thank you for posting!

I had one of Bill's cues, the best playing cue I ever owned.....and I've owned and played with tons of them. Wish I still had that one.

fantastic, thank you!

Wonderful Mez, thanks.

I could listen to stories like these all day

Fantastic article

Much thanks!

Thank you for this. I really enjoyed it

I was lucky to live in the 9ball Mecca Northeast Philly which Had 3 legends #1 and 2 of men's and Women's 9ball.. Bata and Busey and Karen Corr... Thank you guys... And Also The Fusco Family.... who was taught by none other than the pool god himself Willie Masconi...

Wow great video! That was really enjoyable

Interesting ! The old players could play straight pool but todays players are better at 9 ball,10 ball, 1 pocket , etc. because the game has changed and the equipment is better. Now you get only one push out after the break, and it is ball in hand. The cloth is faster and there are actual jump cues. My son was a "road player", and his home pool hall was Jack and Jills in Glen Burnie ,( Baltimore , Md ) There is no more Hustling because of the computer, meaning ,everyone knows about everyone, Also the "SAFE" game is a skill absolutely necessary today. It is not about being a "gunner" anymore. A player today CANNOT get away with throwing off because the first thing to look at is the players "footwork" how does he address the cue ball. bridge, chin over the cue, and length of bridge arm, and position of shooting arm,. You can be a "good" player" without basic fundamentals , but not a "great" player ! After teaching my son, the basics ,I bought him ACU-STAT pool tapes of all the great players, especially, EFERN REYES . He would go to our garage ,where we had an Gandy 8 footer ,and practice till he had the the shot down pat. He had a gift of being able to remember every shot he learned ! For my money ,the very best all around pool player that ever lived is EFERN REYES. No one else is even close ! He is older now ,like me, and time erodes the skill of all players. I noticed he spoke about "bumper pool" and I was a Champion and Money player in my prime. I never hustled and always gave my best game. I spent 6 hours a day practicing both Straight In and All Banks. My name years ago in the pool world was HEMI ,because I drove a 426 Hemi GTX ,and no one ever knew my real name, and I liked it that way. The best part of this video is that THERE IS NO MONEY IN POOL UNLESS YOU HAVE A SPONSER ! FOOLS GOLD ! I would have played anyone in America bumper pool 40 years ago. I quit at 27 to attend the University of Maryland. One last remark to the young players coming up is to learn how to get out of a strange pool room alive ,lol. One thing we did, was to offer to pay all the TABLE TIME to anyone that "bet up" with us. It goes without saying that 'sharking " is for nits !

Awesome content.. thank you sir

Thank you for making this treasure.

Wow just wow. Thank you Tor.

Nice to hear him reminisce

Great interview!

Nice interview RIP Bill

Pure gold.

Working on a billiards curriculum project; also an interesting FBI, CIA and DOJ book from the POV of a pool hustler. Would love to ask a few questions about the history of pool hall Raids!!

This is really cool.. the backroads of pool life.. or the school of hard knocks as it were

Great story

This is solid gold!

It's so interesting how many details about these games that Bill remembers.

I have used a Joss East Cue since 1993 Lassiter said the way he made longshots was he would hunch a little forward and that made a lot of difference but why I understand it you hunch forward and you take your grip hand on the butt of the cue and move it forward too! Thanks

Tor at the beginning of this you mention your local pool Hall was that Hansen's pro billiards. The fun times I remember is playing cards early in the morning at Bettendorf High school and then on our off periods Going to your house and play pool midday and then go back to school, That's when life was nice and easy.

Wow, great video!

Great video 🤩👍.

Gold 👏 thank you!

I was a banger at pool, too poor working a dead-end job to spend much time at the pool hall. But I recall in the 70s when I first saw Joss cues advertised. Back then, the manufacturer would take a photo of several styles of cues, and have the developer print several copies, including each cue name or number, plus some prices and contact information in white space at the bottom of the print. These 4x6 size photos would make their way to pool halls, bars, and the early 70s bar table 8-ball pool leagues. People could order the cue of their choice, but even a $90 cue was a chunk of change when the minimum wage was $1.75. The best cue sold by Fort Worth Billiard Supply was a Mali, which I had never heard of, and never seen anyone play with. So I bought a McDermott second-hand from a guy at a pool hall for a hundred bucks, and it's still straight, and still plays well today, almost fifty years later. About the mid-70s, starting I think with Schon cues, there was a sort of distributor chain: the guy with the photo of the cues would take your money and fill out an order sheet and place the order, then deliver the cue when it arrived. He made maybe make ten bucks per cue. I don't know if the advertising method was cost effective, but I just for grins I wish I had held on to some of those old photos of the earliest cues from Joss, Meucci, Schon, Viking, and some other 70s cue makers. I've seen the old prints of cues on the net at various times, so they are still around to be seen.

Cool stories - thanks

I bought my first cue, back in 1978; it was a Joss West; 61-inch, 21-ounce, with light Birdseye maple, green linen wrapping, brass joint, ivory ferrule and butt ring. I absolutely loved that cue - it almost shot itself, I just held on. After a couple of years of owning that, I gave it to my brother and ordered another, identical one from Billy, when he was in Colorado Springs. The problem with that one was that Billy told me I couldn't have the ivory butt ring because they were prone to cracking. So, today, I still have - and still play with every day - that very same cue Billy built for me in 1980 with just the ivory ferrule, and with a spare shaft. I'm getting old now, and want to "retire" it and put it up on the mantle, so-to-speak, to obtain a newer one. Back in 1980, that cue and spare shaft cost me $350; in 1998, I believe it was, I called Billy (after he moved to Texas) to inquire about getting another spare shaft for it, he told me it would cost $250, and I would have to send him the butt in order to match it. Well, I didn't - and I regret that.

Thanks Tor, a film could be made out of this..!

Bill's advice about hitting the center of the ball is spot-on. try this: chalk up, take a clean ball and put an identifiable side at the exact center, say, halfway down the number '1". Or if you special practice ball, set it so a mark is at exact center. Then shoot just this 'cue ball' it from the spot straight into a corner pocket at medium speed, and check the chalk mark to see if you hit it the dead center spot on the cue ball. Chances are you normally miss the center and hit the ball off center left or right, or high or low. Clean the ball used as a cue ball and try again and again. When you can hit dead center every time you want, you will have improved your game a lot. But don't just take my advice, I learned this from guys like Tor and other fine players and instructors.

19:16 At the bar, JR Richardson, a hustling contemporary of Pucket. He went by Magnolia Red. I saw him beat the best player in Fort Worth out of $2500 playing 8-ball on a 7-foot Brunswick table - not a coin op, a real table, just small. Red had a pink squeeze bottle, Johnson's Baby Shampoo, that he kept filled with vodka when he was playing his usual 1-pocket matchup with a local used car dealer in the afternoon. He'd kick back his head, open his mouth wide, and squirt a stream of clear vodka down his throat. Then he'd put one hand under an arm and flap like a chicken, hollering "Nik! Nik! Nik!". He'd get a little drunk, sometimes more than a little. But the night of the big 8-ball win I think he had plain water in his pink Baby Shampoo bottle, but still making his nik-nik noises, still acting drunker as the night went along.

great video

Great 👍 video sir

Proud owner of a few early edition JW cues with the vertical logo, and great stories...tks for the post!

I remember you from the time you spent in Portland. The Halftime tournaments in Vancouver especially. Great player and I learned alot from your videos. Ever want to know what happened to some of the players just ask away!

Great interview. That's the same way Bugs preferred to bank was with the "dead ball".

Pure gold

content i'm here for

I was a pool hustler for 10 years from 1985 to 1995, made a lot of money and almost never lost. It was actually pretty easy, because there are a lot of suckers out there who think they know how to play pool, especially when they are drinking. I played pool every day for 5 to 8 hours, 6 or 7 days a week, so I got really good. Then once you are that good you just play down to the other players level, and make it look like you barely beat them. Win as much as you can, then move on to another location and new players.

Long live the game of pool. 🎱

Awesome

fun.....money and danger.good video,thank you.

I met him before he made cues. This was in 1965 around the time of the Watts riots. He was hustling in Long Beach, CA, where he met my friend Patti. Despite the objection of her friends, she let him move in with her and her young daughter in her small apartment. He did marry eventually marry her, I went to their wedding at St. Anthony's Church. But, I guess he got bored and abandoned her. Wonder if he got a divorce before remarrying and becoming rich and famous. Real charmer.

Really great stories, but what about the fingers?

Used a Joss West for 10 years, great cue.

This was great remember those days wish I had bought a joss back then had many chances lawdy what they would be worth today gotta old Gina that I be had for forty sum years came from beenies in arlington

Why don`t you post the background/foreground music in another video?

Wonderful interview ! (but that music distracs listening ! )

I had heard that before about Toby Sweet. Some game to beat Wade Crane.

Lowry, could the reason some of the old great players stressed center ball because their cues had more deflection than the low deflection shafts that many top pros use today?

It looks like he still had that finger in the old cue making picture. Band saw accident, maybe?

I have a Joss cue that Dan Janes made in Baltimore.

👍

He started Joss cues?

Tony sweet was so underrated

Wow. Massey has always been listed at 6' 5 so if that's true Yeager looks taller than that.

the background music make it hard to hear.

23:00

Put the pool players in tractor trailers and hauled them off to jail....lol 2800.00 from a dead room lol

I just really dislike the music cuz I can't hear as good so it's hard to hear his voice

Yeah right sure it was old man over the years 100 becomes 500 then 1000 then 2000 sure it was, a thousand in 1950 is equal to 11,000$ and everyone was betting 1 to 3 grand on bumper pool? man Please........

hustler???? CESAR MORALES

Most good pool players are not great bank shooters.....for some reason they don't know how to use the diamonds on the table

Boy I guess you really get confidence playing for a 1000 a game or really broke... :(

I like the guy but these stories are exaggerated so much it's not funny. Weak pool players don't carry around thousands of dollars to lose. 3g back then would be tens of thousands of dollars today. Walk into a dive bar in some small town and everyone has thousands and thousands in their pockets. Yeah right. Even his stories is a hustle.

The music makes this totally unlistenable.

Great interview!

background music is way too loud