Brooklyn Jimmy Cassas

I'm going to NY to see an old pal, Brooklyn Jimmy Cassas. For those who don't know the man, he is an original alumnus from the old legendary7-11 poolroom in NY. His contemporaries included, Boston Shorty, Jersey Red, Richie from the Bronx, NY Blackie, Johnny Ervolino, etc. As slick as that crew was, Jimmy was the 8 ball smarter than anybody else. I intend to have a great time cutting up all the old jackpots from yesteryear. See ya in a coupla days.

...Fri. 8/24 2007. It was great in NY, spent time with Brooklyn Jimmy Cassas, a member of the original 7-11 poolroom crowd. Jimmy was a top player who could run a hundred balls, but was content with tricking weaker players into thinking he was a pool retard with a bankroll. Even though he was blessed with extraordinary pool skills, his real passion was betting on the horses. He only played pool to finance his race track "jones." Eventually discarding his pool career, he went on to become probably the finest, and most successful handicapper in the country, winning millions.

This is one of many wonderful stories about my pal, the great Brooklyn Jimmy. I was in Miami Beach in 1963 watching Jimmy "lemon hustle" a stone sucker in a local joint. The guy was totally helpless, and naturally didn't know Jimmy or Jimmy's real speed. Jimmy was about 20 games ahead at $3 a pop, when he suddenly quit. "What's wrong?" The sucker queried. "You think I don't know what you're doing." Jimmy replied. "You sluff a few games off to me for cheap money, and then you get me to raise it to like $15 or $20 a game, and then take me off. I'm from NY, we know about guys like you. I ain't going for it." With the guy now denying it all, and begging Jimmy to keep playing, Jimmy finishes him off with, "Ok, I'll give in and do what [B]YOU[/B] want. I'll let you win a few back at $15 a game, but then I'm gonna quit. I'll let you get close, but you ain't gonna get all the way even." The bet is now $15 a game, and naturally Jimmy goes ahead and busts the guy. The guy couldn't make a ball in the ocean to begin with. Jimmy could've spotted him the five through the nine.

Anonymous said:
This may be a controversial comment, but why be proud of taking candy from a baby?

Freddy the Beard said:
The nature and substance of my blog is a bird's-eye view into the life, times, psychology, and ethics of a turned-out, old-time pool hustler. Choir-boy's I didn't hang with. Times were a little tougher then, and those who chose that life had to make hard choices, and do things that they probably wished they hadn't had to. Now for the final rationalization, "If you're gonna be a bear, be a Grizzly."