Lou Butera

Lou Butera (born 1938 in Pittston, Pennsylvania) is an American professional pool player (now retired and operating a pool hall) and an inductee into the Billiards Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 1986.

His nickname, "Machine Gun Lou", derives from his stunning the crowd and fellow competitors by Cuegloss|Run|running 150-and-out in straight pool in 21 minutes against Allen Hopkins in 1973. [ [http://www.bca-pool.com/cgi/site/framegate.cgi?url=http://www.bca-pool.com/industry/hof/hof.shtml&cat=i Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame] ]

He gained exposure to the masses in 1981 and 1982 when he appeared in network trick shot competitions on CBS and ABC. [The Snap Magazine, pages 12-13, May/June 1991]

Career

Butera knocked off top players regularly in the 1970s with his trademark fast-paced style, which seemed to make the game of pool more exciting for the spectators. ["The Collectible Breed," Nick Stubbs, page 12, "Snap Magazine". Retrieved August 4, 2007]

In 1974, Butera triumphed over Richie Florence to win the Bud Lundahl's Midwest Open, a straight pool tournament, and triumphed over Richie Florence in a 150-68 title match. ["Pot Shots", by Bruce Venzke, page 17, "The National Billiard News," June 1980. Retrieved May 19, 2007]

Lou Butera was one of the 43 invited pool players who competed in the International Pool Tour's King of the Hill Shootout in Orlando, Florida, December 2005. [ [http://internationalpooltour.com/ipt_content/ipt_players/bio/Butera_Lou.asp Lou Butera, IPT player profile] ] Some of his videos are avaible on Virtual Pool game.

Filmography

As an accomplished pool player, Butera has produced various instructional videos for students of pool about the fundamentals of the game. [ [http://www.billiardsexpert.com/4loubutera.htm "Machine Gun Lou," Lou Butera Pictures] ]

Lou Butera appeared in several films as an actor and technical advisor. He had a cameo appearance, as himself, in the pool hustling comedy film "The Baltimore Bullet" and as a pool player in "". [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124748/ Lou Butera, Actor] , at the Internet Movie Database] Butera was the technical advisor in the 1984 film "Racing to the Moon", starring Sean Penn.

Titles

* 1974 U.S. Classic Pocket Billiard Championship
* 1974 All Japan Open
* 1981 King of the Hill Pool Championship, Sands Casino, (Las Vegas, Nevada)

References