'MERCHANDISE'
North Shore Billiards, Hustlin’ Lion Poster
13″ x 19″
Origin of the Hustlin’ Lion Logo
When we were about to open the legendary North Shore Billiard Club on Chicago’s North Broadway in 1979, one of our charter members, Jack Gunne from Queens, NY., a television commercial producer, offered us a little help. He had a friend in Texas, a top cartoonist named Dave Bartel who was also a pool aficionado. Dave had previously been awarded Cartoonist of the Year a few years earlier. Jack asked him to draw up a logo for the club. So as a favor, and for a lifetime membership in the club, Dave drew up this unique lion logo. As a sidebar to the story, Dave never stepped foot into the club.
Poster comes autographed by one of the original owners, Freddy the Beard Bentivegna.
Video Encyclopedia of Pool Shots
Description:New exciting 5 volume DVD instructional series!
750 shots in 50 different categories.
with 250 useful “gems” of the game.
… every shot every pool player should know … and some your shouldn’t. .. all new and original video footage.. the most comprehensive collection of shots ever published… with extensive online resource support… each disc contains much more information than is typically found on instructional videos…. real shots for real people. … all of pool’s secrets revealed… learn all of the shots you need to get you out of trouble, help you be more creative, and win more games and matches…. the definitive video reference and resource for serious pool players and instructors … a “must have” in any pool player’s library.
… organized to help you quickly and easily find the information and advice you want and need.
From Tom Simpson (BCA Master Instructor and ACS Level 4 Instructor/Coach):
“In my opinion, this is the greatest single resource for players ever created. Packed with knowledge, clear demonstrations, simple explanations, and good pool sense.”
Buddy Hall’s Derby Cue line
Cecil “Buddy” Hall ~ “The Rifleman”
Buddy proudly introduces his new line of custom pool cues
Clik here to see a 12 cue Color Slide Show with music
Made in the USA to Buddy’s exacting standards.
produced in small quantities, serial numbered, satisfaction guaranteed
four, five and six point designs, exotic hardwoods: cocobolo,
Bocote, curly maple, bird’s eye maple, ebony, purpleheart
leather wraps, Irish linen wraps, wrapless exotic wood handles
cored for stability, balance, playability & strength
triple tenon “A” joint construction
additional shafts available
$300 to $1200
Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductee
Winner of 50+ major tournaments
Two time PBT player of the year
Pool and Billiard magazine player of the year
Billiards Digest magazine player of the year
Two time winner U.S. 9 Ball Championship
Winner International Challenge of Champions
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The “Forever!” line of Billiard shirts
Clik link to watch musical Slide Show
http://www.photoshow.com/watch/ts2Xp7un
Scroll down to see full size photo layout.
These shirts are the same high quality as the Old School Pool and Bank on Brother line of shirts. They come in all sizes, long and short sleeve, but in black only. They all have the original“North Shore Billiard Club” Lion logo, from the famous action room in Chicago in the 80s. You have choice of your personal favorite pool game, or “Billiards Forever!” spelled out in different languages and printed above the Lion logo. “Taking it on the road” is also spelled out on the left sleeve.
Pool Wars by Jay Helfert
Pool Wars –autographed copies
On the road to Hell and back with the
World’s greatest money players.
Lifetime pool player/promoter/enthusiast, Jay “Toupee Jay” Helfert — and I recite his nickname with affection — has taken us on a fun ride through what I call the Golden Years of pool and pool hustling. Jay’s misspent youth turns out to be our good fortune, as he has chronicled many of the events that have heretofore have been known only to the participants. Pool has never received much air or tabloid space, so many of our exploits have stayed alive only through word of mouth, or the efforts of a few lonely billiard writers, myself included of course.
So climb aboard and see what it was like to navigate throughout the shady shark-infested war zones of Chicago’s Bensingers, New York’s 711, LA’s Big Mama’s, Hollywood’s Ye Billiard Den, and so on, with the best players/hustlers of that generation.
Autographed copies $19.95 plus shipping
Hustler Days
Hustler Days by R A “Jake” Dyer –autographed copies
There are some very complimentary reviews of this book, made by some very competent, accredited book reviewers. Throw ‘em all out the f’in window. What the hell do they know about what R A “Jake” Dyer wrote? How could they possibly know how right on Dyer was in his chronicling of the old Wild West days of pool hustling? I know. I was there, and I knew and played with the people he was talking about. I read the book and was amazed at the accuracy of his observations about the players, many of whom he had never met. Usually books like this, written out of mainly research, are trips through fantasy land, rife with hyperbole and exaggeration. I’ll be damned if Dyer didn’t get it pretty much right. I endorse this book completely. Forgot about what those square johns have got to say about it, just listen to me. The book is filled with Jersey Red, Minnesota Fats, AKA New York Fats, and Wimpy Lassiter. What else do you need to know?
Autographed copies, $19.95
Freddy the Beard Bentivegna
The following is a “professional” review that I (the Beard) can live with:
Minnesota Fats was a brilliant pool player, but he was even better at lying about his past. Wimpy Lassiter, the gentlemen hustler, started playing at age seven and for the rest of his life lived for the rush of victory and high stakes. Violent and determined, Jersey Red made and lost a fortune at the table.
With a passion for the game evident on every page, R.A. Dyer’s Hustler Days takes us through the smoky bars and the late nights where a win was just as dangerous as a loss.
Readers will embrace Fats, Wimpy, and Red—the fool, the poor-boy-done-good, and the hustler with a heart of gold—as their stars rise and fall. Complete with a glossary of pool terms, a list of tournaments, and profiles of other top players, this is the definitive book on a time when pool was king and those three player, its princes.
The Hustler and the Champ
The Hustler and the Champ by RA “Jake” Dyer–autographed copies
From Booklist:
In 1978, Minnesota Fats played Willie Mosconi on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Fats was the most famous pool hustler in the world; Mosconi was the best pool player in the world. Where Fats was funny and lovable, Mosconi was flinty and unlikable—a match made in ratings heaven. The two embarked on a brief career together: while Fats entertained the audience, Mosconi won the matches. Dyer, the author of Hustler Days (2003) and a columnist for Billiards Digest, puts the events in historical context—lots of it—using the men as symbols of the long-running war between the soul of the game and its corporate image. It’s a great concept, and Dyer’s indefatigable digging unearths some gleaming nuggets. His you-are-there prose style can overreach, however (he writes “he would have said” too often), and he repeats key points the reader already understands. But for those who love pool for all the “wrong” reasons, Dyer is indispensable. After all, the name that became synonymous with pool was not that of clean-living Mosconi—but lying, cheating, overeating, unforgettable Fats.
Autographed copies, $19.95
Keir Graff
Banking With The Beard — The Movie
This is an incredible 2 rail cross-corner that Bugs Rucker played on me and then proceeded to run out.
Description:
Freddy “the Beard” Bentivegna’s new DVD, Banking With The Beard — The Movie, provides information about banking from A to Z. Systems, ball action and tips not even found in his books make this a must see DVD for everyone who wants to bank better.
The Beard demonstrates every shot while providing the secrets needed to make the systems work. Players from beginner to expert will improve their banking after studying this DVD. Nothing remotely comparable to this 3 hr. DVD set has ever been made. Every bit of information needed to make banks is included.
It’s a veritable Jambolaya of entertaining road stories, incredible bank shots,and easy to follow, demonstrated instruction from the world’s foremost bank pool authority
Price: $49.95
Clik to view:Peter Rabbit, Naked Without a Backer. One of the road stories out of the DVD
“Bank Shots that dont Go, but Do” DVDs Vol. I and II
Description:
After 50 years of competing against the best bank pool and one pocket players in the world, Freddy “The Beard” Bentivegna is revealing the secrets that made him one of the toughest competitors in the game. For decades “The Beard” was a fearless high stakes money player taking on all comers. In 2005 Freddy was inducted into the Bank Pool Hall of Fame. This DVD exposes the most closely guarded secrets in bank pool. Each Volume runs over 50 minutes. The DVDs contain 47 extreme bank shots, with their solutions.
Clik for Philadelphia Nicky Vach’s fabulous shot clip from this DVD
Price: $49.95
THE ROAD SCHOLARS DVD from Diana Hoppe
Pool photog and historian, Diana Hoppe has just released the DVD of the famous bull session at the Derby City Classic in 2008. It was an informal taping of a get-together of 11 Old School Road Warriors, sharing drinks, stories, adventures, good natured woofin, and camaraderie. The party lasted nearly 8 hours and Diana has edited the DVD down to an hour and 10 minutes of goodness.
It’s a hilarious, ribald, raucous, and unexpurgated romp, through the glories and oftentimes misadventures of the venerable Road Scholars.
Those present at the round table were Ronnie Allen, Danny DiLiberto, Jimmy Fusco, Freddy the Beard Bentivegna, Truman Hogue, Billy Incardona, Wade Crane, Eddie Kelly, Grady Mathews, Jimmy Reid, and Vernon Eliot.