One Pocket Hall of Fame Dinner 2006

This is a slide show on YouTube put together by Bill Porter at the Onepocket HOF dinner in Derby City in 2006. Bugs Rucker, Eddie Taylor, Gary Spaeth, CornBread Red and Freddy Bentivegna were inducted into the inaugural Bank Pool HOF. Bugs was inducted into the Onepocket HOF the previous year.

Bugs' Fact, Legend and Lore

When Bugs played Minnesota Fats in Johnston City in the early 60s, Joey "The Cincinnati Kid" Spaeth was staking him. A great player himself, Joey did not often back other players. However, Spaeth had just come from Chicago where he had the misfortune to have played Rucker. While there, Joey instantly became a convert to the Bugs Rucker fan club, when in a game of Onepocket with Spaeth only needing one ball to win, and everything seemingly out of play, Bugs banked all of the remaining balls into his pocket to win the game. He banked eight and out into one pocket! Joey had never seen anything like it before, and I personally have never seen or heard anything like it since.


Also in Johnston City, Illinois, Bugs spotted Hall of Famer, Buddy Hall two balls playing banks, 10 to 8 — and won the money. Perhaps you think maybe Buddy played badly — he didn't. Buddy made every makeable ball he shot at, played dead-nuts safeties, never dogged anything, and still lost every game. That was the kind of bank speed the mighty Bugs had.


During the filming of The Color Of Money, Leonard "Bugs" Rucker, was originally slated to play the black guy that hustles and beats Paul Newman. Bugs was absolutely helpless as an actor, and couldn't do a single line. They finally gave up on him and installed Forest Whitaker to do the part. The rest is history. Whitaker is an oscar winning actor today.

My Visit with Bugs

I visited Bugs at St Margaret's Hosp. monday. I brought him another 1k (grand) collected from the good folks who participated in Steve Booth's charity raffle. I have another 1k to give to his daughter Sondrea tomorrow. That makes about 5k so far with more to come. Later, for a real revelation regarding how tuned in Bug's family was to his profession.

You might never see another champion the likes of the mighty Bugs Rucker. He could play anywhere, on any table, for any bet. He didn't even have his own cue stick. Even if someone gave him one, he would usually sell it within a week. He could play with one directly out of the wall racks. He ducked no champions, but many champions ducked him. If you were dumb enough to play him a short set, like two out of three for all of it, nobody outside of Cornbread Red or Ronnie Allen could handle that kind of pressure like he could. Let's celebrate him a little while he is still with us.

Bug's daughter Sondrea and I were visiting him at the same time, whereupon I discovered that she didn't have a clue as to what her daddy did for a living for all those years. Finding out he was the world's bank pool champion for 20 yrs. and a member of the Bank Pool, and One Pocket Hall of Fame was a complete surprise to her. All she could relate to what he did was that he would leave town for a few weeks and return home flush with money. It turns out nobody in the immediate family knew anything about his pool career including his son, his mother and his wife! "They thought I was just a bum." was Bug's reply to me. Why he never told them anything remains a mystery. I can only guess that his family was probably very religious and strait-laced. (This later proved to be the case)

Bug's Birthday
Today, Aug 18, is Leonard "Bugs" Rucker's 69th birthday. He is spending the day in St Margaret's hospital with a bad case of diabetes and a missing leg. He asked me to bring him a special birthday lunch, king crab legs and baby-back ribs. I dont know if that's a healthy thing to do, but I'm gonna do it anyway. The meal cost pretty good too, so I put him to work autographing balls. I brought my son, Dino with me. Bugs hadn't seen Dino in about 15 years, but his mind is still sharp and he recognized and acknowledged Dino immediately. That made my son feel good and glad that he had come with me. Happy birthday to a great champion.

Requiem to a Champion

After visiting my dying pal yesterday, Bank pool and One pocket champion, the once mighty, Leonard "Bugs" Rucker, and seeing him in such a fragile emaciated state, I couldn’t help but think back to more glorious times for the man. Times when he would sweep into a poolroom with an entourage rivaling Muhammed Ali, confidently looking for the big-time action. Back then, Bugs was tall, broad-shouldered, powerfully built and nattily attired. No relation whatsoever to the skinny pile of bones deteriorating in that hospital bed. I guess it’s true, life can sometimes be all too cruel.But overall his life was a glorious one. He was afforded legendary status, feared and respected by his pool peers.

We had always been friends, but we were also bitter adversaries. We played each other on sight. Because he was so great, I wanted badly to beat him. He was the supreme target and goal, and I would do anything in my power to win over him, and that shamelessly included everything in my hustler’s bag of tricks. If I could, I would cheat, shark, and steal balls. For me to invent personal justification for such larcenous chicanery is testimony to the level of competition I thought I would need to summon in order to beat him. Sharking was a waste of time, however. He was totally unflappable, and was oblivious to even the great sharkers like Ronnie Allen, Alphonse Daniels, and Preacher Red Jones. While I would commit almost any crime to win, Bugs played on the up and up. In a contradiction of terms, Bugs was a totally honest pool hustler. He never cheated, took any cheap shots or put in any false claims. I guess he didn’t need to do any of that stuff, because on the table and in the game, he was a deadly killer. If you were dumb enough to give him an honest gamble he would bury you. He doesn’t have much time left, but I just can’t bring myself to go back to the hospital anymore. Age and disease can make cowards of us all

Banking my way to Heaven, by Artie Bodendorfer

Bugs was his name and pool was his game. He was a dream come true, Bugs wanted to be a great pool hustler, and that is what he became. The older he got, the better he played. His reputation grew and grew. He became more intimidating, and he beat everyone. He played for the money, not for the glory. Bugs was fearless, and his aggressive style was awesome to watch. I cherish the memories we lived and shared. I will remember Bugs.

We played each other about 25 times. Everywhere we would meet, we would play, it was our thing. We were both pool hustlers and we both loved action. Most everyone was scared to play Bugs, but Bugs and I loved the competition, and that's why we loved playing each other. It was very exciting each time we played. We never talked while we played either. There were no cheap shots taken by either one of us, checking each other's rack, stealing balls, or by forgetting to spot a scratch. Everything was above board. We never had a discrepancy, we had too much respect to cheat each other.

Bugs was a fierce competitor, and he would run out from anywhere on the table. He was an eight-and-out player. Bugs and Ronnie Allen were the two best run out players in life. Bugs and Eddie Taylor were the two greatest bankers. Taylor might have been a little bit more consistent, but Bugs had more heart. Bugs would bet all the money on one game. If Taylor and Bugs would play in a tough neighborhood, on bad equipment I would bet on Bugs because he had more heart and he was used to bad conditions. Taylor and Bugs were in a class by themselves. The two most intimidating one pocket players were Ronnie Allen and Bugs. Watching them play was very special. In their prime they could fill a stadium.

I have had many great experiences with Bugs and they were all fun and exciting. Bugs was like a brother to me and at the end of his journey, Bugs would tell me every time we talked, he also loved me like a brother. Bugs always looked out for me, if someone would bother me he would step in and say he is with me, and if you want a problem we can go outside and straighten it out. No one wanted a problem with Bugs. He hung out with a tough crowd. They all loved Bugs, and Bugs was their hero. Bugs was to pool what Muhammad Ali was to boxing.

I have known and been friends with Bugs for forty years. We never had an argument or disagreement. Bugs loved life and he never gave up. He once told me, Artie don’t ever give up, and that is exactly what he did all the way to the end even though the odds were against him. I loved Bugs not for what he did, but for who he was, a great man. There will only be one Bugs, the unique kid with talent and an innocent smile that people loved and admired. His great attitude and love for people always showed his true colors.

Bugs was a cool character, people would point and say, that’s Bugs the best bank pool player in the world. He had a very powerful nickname and a reputation to go with it. He was really in a class by himself. Bugs could have been anything he wanted to be, a pro baseball player, a pro basket ball player, but he chose to become a champion pool player and hustler. Back in those days there were no tournaments, so it was like this, hustle pool, get a job, or starve to death. He lived a good full exciting life. He was always his own boss and did it his way.

I will miss Bugs, and I’m sure the rest of the world will too. Bugs never backed down from a challenge and loved competition. I remember a guy named Sunshine, he idolized Bugs in every way. He tried to bank like Bugs and even act like bugs. He would try to talk and walk and even dress like Bugs. He would say Bugs is the coolest guy on the planet. He was a younger version of Bugs and became a pretty good banker. Sunshine had a lot of talent but the rough pool environment got the best of him. Bugs was ahead of his time in everything from talking, walking, dressing, you name it. Bugs was the coolest man alive. And for all you rap stars and musicians I got news for you, Bugs did it all fifty years ago. And he was a natural, not a wannabe cool guy. Bugs had an unbelievable following everywhere he went. Everyone wanted to see Bugs play. He was a great showman and when he got down to shoot you knew he was a great player. It was like watching Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron at the plate. He had class and style like no one else. When he went to put powder on his hands he would get it all over the pool table. It looked like someone spilled a bag of cocaine.

I hope one day we will be together again. I know Bug's good friend Paul Jones will be waiting at the gate for him. They will be together in paradise. Bugs journey is just beginning. God wrapped his hands around him and said, Bugs come with me to paradise, you’ve suffered long enough. My deepest sympathy goes out to his family and everyone that knew him. Good bye, my friend.
Arthur Bodendorfer

Memorial service program & pics from Bug's wake

More pics from Bug's wake

The service was wonderful, many of Chicago's finest players attended, mostly the old school guys, however. We had a little gospel singing and a little evangelistic preaching, it was great and uplifting. The guy who sang a solo gospel tune played as good as Lou Rawls. After the service about 16 of us went to Chinatown and had a feast at The House of Fortune. Ed Young, the famous cuemaker did the ordering. The champ had a really nice send-off.