25 Questions with Eddie Taylor

When you were on the road, what was your favorite town or city?
Lexington, Kentucky. Actually, that was an amazing town. At that time I think the population was 25,000 and they had about, I would say, 12 people there who were capable of banking 8 balls and out. Louisville was 10 times bigger, but they only had maybe two fellows there who could play.

What did you think of “The Hustler”?
I can’t say that “The Hustler” was one of my favorite movies. It was so different. It wasn’t anything like [reality]. Where Paul Newman got his thumb broken, no hustler would get up after he’d been stalling and beat everybody. No hustler would get up then and show them how good he was. Because you wanted to be able to go back to the town. A lot of times, you know, you only played as good as you had to. And if I was with someone, I’d have them stay in the poolroom maybe after I left, just to see what they said about me. Whether I felt like I could go back. … And you couldn’t take a two-piece pool stick into a poolroom back then. That would scare everybody to death.

What was your favorite car?
That had to be a 1956 Pontiac Star Chief. I had a lot of different cars. The best steering car that I ever had was a Cadillac. I beat a guy out of a LaSalle touring car in I think 1928. I’d drive it around with it open; it was wintertime and I’d drive around in it like it was summertime. And the amazing thing was that it froze up and busted, ... and I sold it back to the cab driver who I beat for it. I sold it back to him for I believe $90, and I had played $200 against it.

Who was your favorite road partner?
Most of the time I actually was by myself, because most of the guys just didn’t know how to go about hustling. A lot of the guys, if they were throwing off, you could tell they were throwing off. Like they weren’t even trying. For example, I would get down and shoot like I was playing for my life. You would never know I was stalling, because I would get down and try so hard, … but then I’d miss. I didn’t know many people that could really stall the right way.

Do you have to be a good actor to hustle?
I used to tell everybody that I was the world champion, that I’d just come around after beating Greenfield, and most of them, they’d start riding me and making fun of me. And I’d say, “OK, come on, I’ll show you.” Well, I’d start missing, and then they’d start laughing. And I’d say, “Wait ’til I get warmed up, I’ll really show you all some shooting.” And then finally I’d say, “I know what’s wrong, I’m not betting on my stake. I’m a big money shot and I can’t shoot unless I’m betting big money.” And they’d say, “Well, how much is your big money?” I’d say, you wouldn’t want to play for what I’d want to play for. That would go on for a while, and the next thing you know, I would play one for $35 or something, and if I was lucky enough to make the 9, they felt like I lucked it in. [I’d walk away], and they’d say, “Where you going?” I’d say, “I just didn’t think you would want to shoot no more after that shot,” and they’d say, “Bet you $50.”


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