Titanic Thompson
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (December 2010) |
Alvin Clarence Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1892 |
| Died | 1974 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Titanic Thompson |
| Occupation(s) | Hustler, gambler, golfer |
| Spouse | 1) Nora Trushel (divorced) 2) Alice Kane (killed in road accident) 3) Jo Ann Raney (divorced) 4) Maxine Melton (divorced) 5) Jeannette Bennett |
| Children | Thomas E. Thomas (by Jo Ann Raney), Robert Thomas (by Maxine Melton) and Ty Wayne Thomas (by Jeanette Bennett). |
Alvin Clarence Thomas (1892–1974) was an American gambler, golfer and hustler better known as Titanic Thompson. He traveled the country wagering at cards, dice games, golf, horseshoes and "proposition bets" of his own devising.[1] As an ambidextrous golfer, card player, marksman and pool shark, his skills and reputation were compared to “Merlin himself.”[2] Writer Damon Runyon is allegedly based the character Sky Masterson, the gambler-hero of "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (on which the musical “Guys and Dolls" is based), on Thompson.[3] In 1928, Thompson was involved in a high-stakes poker game that led to the shooting death of New York City crime boss Arnold “The Brain” Rothstein, then called the “crime of the century.”[4] The following year he testified in the trial of George McManus, who was charged with Rothstein’s murder.
Life of a hustler
Thomas, born in Missouri but raised in Rogers, Arkansas after his mother re-married, began conducting his nomadic, lucrative career of hustling in the rural United States in the early 1900s. Later, when he had honed his skills, he became a “road gambler,” a traveling hustler who became an underground legend by winning at all manner of propositions.[5] His partners in “the hustling game” allegedly included pool player Minnesota Fats, who considered Titanic a genius, “the greatest action man of all time.”[6]
Blessed with extraordinary eyesight and hand-eye coordination, he was a skilled athlete, crack shot and a self-taught golfer good enough to turn professional.[7] In an era when the top pro golfers would be fortunate to make $30,000 a year, Thomas (who after a misprint in a New York newspaper decided to create the character "Titanic Thompson") could make that much in a week hustling rich country club players who thought they knew how to play golf. Asked if he would ever turn professional, he replied, “I could not afford the cut in pay.”[8] Hall of Fame golfer Ben Hogan called Titanic the best shotmaker he ever saw.[9] “He can play right- or left-handed, you can’t beat him,” said Hogan.[10] One hustle of his was to beat a golfer playing right-handed, and then offer double or nothing to play the course again left-handed as an apparent concession. One thing his opponent usually did not know was that Thomas was, in fact, naturally left-handed.[11]Thomas's genius was in figuring out the odds on almost any proposition and heavily betting that way. He also had to perform under pressure, and most often did.
Killed Five Men
In his life Thompson was forced to kill five men. The first was in 1910 when a man called Jim Johnson accused him of cheating at dice, and threw him off the boat on which they were travelling (and which Johnson had recently won when gambling with its previous owner - a friend of Johnson's). When Thompson climbed back on board, Johnson drew a knife and threatened Thompson's girlfriend, who was also on board. Thompson seized a hammer and struck Johnson several times on the head before throwing him overboard. The unconscious Johnson drowned. The sherriff gave Thompson the choice of standing trial, or handing over the deeds to the boat and leaving town.[12] The other four men Thompson killed where shot by him in self-defence when they tried to rob him of gambling winnings. Two were killed in one incident in St Louis in 1919 (the local police chief thanked him for killing two wanted bank-robbers).[13] The fourth came in St Joseph Missouri where Thompson and his hired bodyguard between them shot two men attempting to rob a poker-game (again, the victims were known criminals and no charges were pressed).[14] Thompson's last victim came at a country club in Texas in 1932 when he shot a masked figure who was holding him at gunpoint. This turned out to be sixteen-year-old Jimmy Frederick, who had caddied for Thompson earlier that day. The dying Frederick confirmed to witnesses that he had been tring to rob Thompson.[15]
Murder of Arnold Rothstein
On Novermber 4th, 1928, Arnold Rothstein was murdered, allegedly because he refused to pay his debts from a poker game he believed to have been fixed. This game had been organised by George McManus who stood trial for the murder but was acquitted. Thompson had been present at the game; and it was he who, in association with one Nate Raymond, fixed the game, leaving Rothstein with total debts estimated at $500,000. Thomspon - who was not present at the shooting - gave evidence at McManus' trial, without revealing his own role in the poker game.[16]
Origin of the nickname
In his own story, published in Sports Illustrated in 1972, Alvin Thomas said:
In the spring of 1912 I went to Joplin, Missouri, just about the time the [Titanic] liner hit an iceberg and sank with more than 1,500 people on board. I was in a pool room there [in Joplin] and beat a fellow named Snow Clark out of $500. To give him a chance to get even, I bet $500 I could jump across his pool table without touching it. If you think that’s easy, try it. But I could jump farther than a herd of bullfrogs in those days. I put down an old mattress on the other side of the table. Then I took a run and dived headfirst across the pool table. While I was counting my money, somebody asked Clark what my name was.
'It must be Titanic,' said Clark. 'He sinks everybody'.
So I was Titanic from then on."
Note: Excerpt is re-printed with the permission of the legal owner of the story, Sunbelt Productions, Inc., a Texas corporation.
Notes
- ^ Sports Illustrated, October 9, 1972
- ^ Peter Dobereiner, editor, The Golfers, The Inside Story, William Collins & Sons, 1982
- ^ Jimmy Breslin, Damon Runyon, Ticknor & Fields, 1991
- ^ Golf Digest, May 1996
- ^ John Bradshaw, Fast Company, High Stakes Publishing, 1975
- ^ Minnesota Fats, with Tom Fox, The Bank Shot and Other Great Robberies, The Lyons Press, 2006
- ^ Americanheritage.com: The 18-Hole Hustle
- ^ Americanheritage.com: The 18-Hole Hustle
- ^ Golf Magazine, January, 2011
- ^ Harvey Penick, The Wisdom of Harvey Penick, Simon & Schuster 1997
- ^ Kaplan, Michael (2002). "All Bets Are On". Cigar Aficionado.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Kevin Cook; Titanic Thompson, W W Norman & Co, 2010.
- ^ Cook, ibid.
- ^ Cook, ibid.
- ^ Cook, ibid.
- ^ Cook, ibid.
- ^ Sports Illustrated, October 9, 1972