PoolRoom

Ronnie Allen, 74, Passes Away

Allen accepts his trophy after winning a Stardust 9-ball event in the 1960s.

Allen accepts his trophy after winning a Stardust 9-ball event in the 1960s.

Ronnie Allen, one of the most feared players during pool’s golden era for hustlers in the 1960s and ’70s, passed away on February 6. The one-pocket legend was 74 years old.

For much of the prime of his career, Allen was considered the best one-pocket player on the planet. His major titles include Cochran’s One-Pocket event in 1962, the one-pocket division at the 1970 Johnston City jamboree and Red’s Open One-Pocket in 1984. He also won the 1966 All-Around Championship at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas.

Perhaps the most well-known anecdote concerning his one-pocket prowess, Allen is said to have taken the microphone at one of the Johnston City events in the early ’70s and offered to play anyone, spotting them a 10-8 handicap.

Allen was inducted into the One-Pocket Hall of Fame in 2004