SPM Billiards Magazine Issue 33

White Wold: — Rick Prince Raised on a Gold Crown

By Patrick Sampey

Sunday, September 18th, 2022 –

Rick Prince and I have been friends for a while on Facebook, and he’d post some stuff about pool – I had networked in billiards before I had met the White Wolf, which eventually led up to this interview, introducing hardened road player, Rick “White Wolf” Prince, untamed – the story of a pool hustler of the highest caliber, a modern-day cowboy, with Native blood in his veins, a wild man that has tangled with a bear and lived to tell the story, been stabbed, and on the grind many years. Here is the story of Mr. Rick Prince, 60 years old and retiring from the gambling scene, his house paid for off a game we call “one pocket,” so without further ado:

“Thank you for having me. Well, when I was ten years old, my father bought a ten-foot Gold Crown Brunswick pool table. And from the very start, I fell in love with the game, I was between 10 or 11 years old, and my father noticed me being a pool player. My grandfather also knew I had talent, and I put much effort into it, and by the time I was 16 years old, he was taking me to some of the night clubs that my father and grandfather owned after hours playing adults, I was winning a good bit of the time.

I was trying to be like my father and grandfather, who were both great road players at one time. And they both knew the game. They grew up playing snooker, and billiards, so they were pretty good, but they owned businesses, and they didn’t really have time to do it.

I got hooked at an early age. I just loved the atmosphere. I loved being able to compete with older people. And I learned early on to pick and choose whom you want to play if you want to win.

There are many hustlers out there, and sometimes the hustler doesn’t know that he’s being hustled. Yeah, so, you really pick up a lot of things on the road.” – White Wolf.

Holy wow, Batman! What a long, great quote right out of the gate, and that was just a brief introduction! What an interview, top to bottom, bar none. The White Wolf has run with old Scotty Townsend as well, I’ve heard, and both wrestled bears and made boots out of gators and snakeskin too. In a land of arrowheads and horseshoes, the White Wolf is as true and free as the Constitution of the USA, “We, the Wolves, of the pool Hustler’s federation, do hereby proclaim our allegiance to Orcollo, the greatest money player of all times! Hail to the king!”

But back to the White Wolf:

“When I left high school, I went into the Marine corps. Seven years later, I got out, and I got a job at the Outlaws biker club, their home club in Jacksonville, FL. Being the head bouncer, ‘cooler,’ I had several bouncers working for me (images of the movie roadhouse come to mind…). I had free liberty to play pool anytime I wanted, so I was able to hustle pool while I was working.

At first, it was hustling pool and working, but it got so lucrative for me that I just laid off from working and just started hustling. I was about 26 years old when I put everything down but the pool cue.” – Rick Prince.

And Prince taught ballroom dance for about 20 years as well, he said. They had a professional snooker table in the ballroom, which is to show Rick’s diversity in pocket billiards – that he’s as well-rounded and can tango with a bear or a fair maiden – walks with Kings but also keeps touch with the commoners; well played white Wolf, check and mate.

And more from the Wolf:

“..And It was about 15 years into it, and I’d been shot twice, cut several times, that I realized that…I guess I started getting a little heart, showing a little compassion for those that I had beaten out of a good deal of money because they really didn’t have a chance from the start, and I knew it, but a good hustler, he’ll make you feel like you’re fixing to win.

You don’t ever beat a guy 10-0 in a race or 10- 2, and you let it be 8 or 9 to 10; that gives him hope that maybe in the next race,[‘p’

` he will win. And you always stay just a couple of inches ahead. So, I started getting a conscious about it, and I stopped hustling, and they got what they got. I played my heart out.

And by that time, I had learned a good mental game. I knew when to lay down, when to duck, and when to shoot. And many folks don’t know that. Being blessed with snooker tables, and three cushion tables, carom tables, you know, I learned the rails real good, so my kick shots were probably like 80 or 90 percent. I wouldn’t make them all the time, but I’d make a good hit, which would prevent ‘ball in hand.’” – White Wolf.

“You’re supposed to shoot your heart out in bar pool,” White Wolf says, talking about how some places he played at, safeties weren’t always part of the “honorable” and/or “manly” way to play, so they would sometimes “look at you funny,” and/or worse. You always got to watch your back and how you act and take note of every detail of life out on the road.

“In today’s pool, if you don’t have safeties in your bag, you really don’t stand a chance.” – Prince.

“For the first 20 years, it was no ‘ball in hand,’ it was ‘straight eight,’ we played 3, 6, and 9 ball a lot, just to save money – putting it into the pool table…” – Prince.

“I talk to people and learn who’s the heavy and who’s not. If you walk into a town, and you go to the first place, and you beat the best guy in there, there are no more games for you in that town, and there’s a good possibility if you’re recognized when you go to the next bar; you’ll get eaten alive. With today’s technology, with cell phones, there is nowhere to hide, so what I did, I adapted to

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Tom Rossman with Rick Prince

Photo Provided by Rick Prince

Tom Rossman a.k.a. Dr. Cue & Rick “White Wolf“ Prince

that; I started changing my looks. Sometimes, before I’d go to another bar, I’d get a haircut, and I’d put on glasses (On the snap Vincent…’ Color of Money.’)

The White Wolf has been through it, out on the road hustling, making it, and won enough to pay off the final $40K on his house and retire from gambling straight up. Usually one pocket – come one, come all, but Rick Prince is retired, but you can still call him “White Wolf.”

Rick “White Wolf” and his son have raised wolves, and his Cub is now a Wolf himself – trained to be the Alpha – leader of the pack and maverick renegade rogue. Check out our interview with Rick Prince and learn more about how he had to fight for his life against a bear that had broken into his house, or learn about his adventures with the Scotty Townsend – so many colorful pool renegades – so many fans to read and like, and share these and many other great articles to come.

Rick and his Son at the Wolf Sanctuary

“Yes, Scotty and I had lots of history,” Prince confirms.

In the one encounter, Rick had with a bear, the bear had broken into his house through the sliding glass door, had attacked his wife, and the White Wolf had struck a lucky stab to the brain of the Beast, killing it instantly, barely escaping death in the exchange. He had stabbed the bear 14 times before the fatal stab to the brain, ending the creature’s life – Prince having saved both himself and his wife, defending his own.

“Early on, I realized that if you get a little piece of the pie from everybody, then that’s better than getting the whole pie from one person,” said White Wolf. He got out of some difficult Jams, to say the least. Alpha wolf, a billiards soldier, loyal to the code – at the top of the billiards food chain – that White Wolf has knowledge and skills in the game. Rick Prince also teaches pool to the kids at the local church, which he really enjoys! The Youth are the future of Billiards!

Also, it is of note to mention that Rick Prince has donated 20% of his winnings to the wolf sanctuary his son runs, and they have rescued many endangered wolves; as a result, giving back to Mother Earth. All around, Rick “White Wolf” Prince is one of the most interesting

players the game has ever seen. Thanks for providing SPM with yet another cool billiards story.

As to how Rick Prince got his nickname “White Wolf,” Prince has his faithful service dog, half Wolf, half German Shepherd; that’s how he got his name. His faithful companion, who has attended all his matches for years, sometimes acts as a personal bodyguard when necessary; Two Feather is his name.

Additionally, Prince would like to add that his wife plays a bit herself, having just won her second “MVP in APA 9 ball.” Prince says, “We’ve been married 13 years, and she’s held the money for me on the road the entire 13yrs,” which is substantial and shows her loyalty to him, by his side all that time; it’s always good for a wolf to have a great mate.

In talking with Rick Prince today I learned that his son is missing. He has not been to check on the wolves at the the Second Chance Wolf Ministries Sanctuary. This is not like his son to go missing and he is filled with worry. His son is diabetic, takes seizure meds and Rick Prince stated that he has not even picked up his medications. Here is a flyer that Rick Prince has made and working closely with the Colorado Springs Co Police Dept. You can contact Rick Prince on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/rick.prince.50552 If any one knows anything please get ahold of him. Prayers.

Rick Prince's son has been missing for about a month and it is not like him to leave his Wolve Sanctuary. Rick has been working with the authorities to try to find his son. If you have seen him please call or help. Thank You, Kat Day Editor in Chef of SPM Billiards Magazine