Voting is now complete for this year's class of One Pocket & Bank Pool Hall of Fame inductees. Our 6th annual Hall of Fame dinner is scheduled for Tuesday, January 26, during the upcoming Derby City Classic, and advance reservations are now available.
The One Pocket Hall of Fame is pleased to announce this year's class of inductees in the categories of One Pocket, Bank Pool and Lifetime Pool in Action. This year we have two One Pocket inductees, the well travelled professional player, Jose Parica, and the outspoken legend of pool, the late Rudolf ‘Fats' Wanderone, AKA ‘Minnesota Fats'. Our Banks inductee this year is the aptly named Glenn ‘Piggy Banks' Rogers, from Chicago, Illinois.
Jose Parica, known as the leader of the Philippine invasion, has long since adopted both the USA as his home, and One Pocket as his game. He is a former Derby City One Pocket champion, as well as a champion or runner up in seemingly dozens of other One Pocket tournaments from coast to coast.
‘Minnesota Fats' of course, became the most recognized name in pool in the years after The Hustler, the movie, and the Johnston City tournaments provided him a spotlight that was tailor made for his natural bravado and hustler persona. While knowledgeable pool historians generally rank his game a notch below the top players, that still made him a very good One Pocket player in his prime. Even as his game declined and his fame spread, Fats never failed to talk up One Pocket as the true test for champions, and of course Fats could talk, so the world listened and learned about One Pocket. His name will forever be associated with the game and the One Pocket Hall of Fame is proud to welcome him.
‘Piggy Banks' Rogers comes from a long tradition of Chicago banking greats, from Javanley ‘Youngblood' Washington and ‘Cannonball' Chapman, to ‘Bugs' Rucker and Freddy 'The Beard' Bentivegna; the torch has been passed to another Chicago legend of Bank Pool.
The One Pocket HOF is pleased to present this year's Lifetime Pool in Action award to the legendary player, backer and aficionado of action, Seattle Washington's Harry Platis. Harry's name has been synonymous with pool action for more than forty years. Even as he built a successful law career he has maintained an impressively competitive game and a willingness to mix it up with champions for big money, both as a player and a backer.
Click here to make your reservations for the 2010 One Pocket HOF Dinner
