The Southern Gentleman
Anthony Beeler is a 2013 BCA National 9-Ball team champion. He also finished 9th out of 1086 players in the 2013 BCA National 8-Ball Championships. He is a certified Level 3 instructor for the American CueSports Alliance and is the founder of Maximize Your Potential Billiards Academy located in Bradfordsville, Kentucky. Beeler is also a fully licensed Kentucky Educator having, received his bachelor’s degree at Campbellsville University and his master’s degree in Education Leadership at Eastern Kentucky University. Throughout his poolplaying career Anthony has won over 300 tournaments and has defeated numerous professional players in tournament competition.
16 page April 2014
During the early 1990’s I spent a lot of time at JR’s Pool Room in Lancaster, Kentucky. I guess you could say I got a pool hall degree (PhD) there. I learned offensive play, but also a lot of defensive 8-ball strategy. In fact, I can recall when Florida native David Favor visited our billiard room. Favor was strong road player that displayed powerful offensive skills. One Friday night he entered our weekly 8-ball tournament. The fields were always tough but Favor added
remember him running down to his final 3 solids then missing. It was really quite a shock. Jack was left with the layout below. I can remember watching the wheels turn on Jack as he approached the table to return the shot. “Um hmm,” Jack said as he got down to shoot. Jack shot the cue ball slightly below center with a medium speed and played a combination on David’s six-ball, pocketing it, while hooking Favor from hitting his two remaining balls (leaving the cue ball
significant weight to the already formidable field. On a normal Friday night we usually had over 50 players. However, Favor was such a strong offensive threat I wondered how anyone could beat him. As the tournament progressed, Favor ran rack after rack. The competition seemed to be no match for him, but it wasn’t long until he ran into local hero Jack Howe. At that time, Jack was in his mid 60’s, a shorter southern gentleman, balding with dark gray hair. He was very offensive minded but was also a sharp cookie when it came to defensive play. I knew if anyone could beat Favor it had to be Jack. He had won more big 8-ball tournaments than anyone I knew. To most people Jack looked very unintimidating. However, I knew he had the heart of a lion, and it definitely was going to take someone ferocious to take Favor down. Favor broke the balls in the final game of the tournament. I can
at position “A”). “That should do the trick!” he said in a deep southern drawl. I remember wondering why Jack wanted to pocket his opponent’s ball. Wasn’t that helping David Favor? Several questions came to mind as I pondered the situation. However, after carefully scrutinizing the result, I realized that Jack had completely eliminated any opportunity for David to pocket the six-ball or use it to breakout the troublesome cluster located near the end rail. It really was a brilliant move. David had no choice but to kick at his two remaining balls and pray for luck. However, this wasn’t the case. David missed the kick shot and Jack quietly pocketed his remaining balls to win the championship. After the tournament was over Jack went to the tournament director Wanda Renner, to collect his tournament winnings. If I recall, Jack won around $450.00 for 1st place. However, Jack didn’t take half of his self in the Calcutta. A man that was around 40 years old bought Jack and won nearly $800.00 from the auction. The man tipped Jack $100.00 for winning the tournament. I will never forget what Jack told me after being tipped. He said, “It sure was nice of that old man to give me a $100.00 tip!” It was obvious that Jack was 20 years older than the guy that bought him and I was shocked by the comment. I remember telling Jack “You think he is an old man?” He said, “Yes, I may be over 60 but I think like a 30 year old!” Always remember to look for ways to eliminate your opponent’s options. Sometimes pocketing your opponent’s ball may be the best solution. Jack was a master of defensive strategy and over several year’s I learned from watching the best. To this day, I owe a great deal of my 8-ball knowledge to Jack Howe, a true southern gentleman.
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