When Jon Kucharo chalks up, he turns into a... Green Machine   By Craig Cooper
 

HIS kid sleeps all day and stays out all night. He doesn't have a "real’
job and hasn't had one since he delivered the Quad-City Times a few
years ago, but always has lots of money.

And there are the phone calls from these suspicious, out-of-state
characters looking for "a game.’’

What is a father to do?

Jon Kucharo Sr. is that father, and what he does is proudly promote such behavior from his son, Jon.

Jon Kucharo, the son, is a 22-year-old who is doing very well for not
having a "real’’ job. He is a professional billiards player who recently
won $7,300 combined in two tournaments over three weeks, plus a trip for two to Italy.

And that doesn't count the various side games in the rich tradition of
the smoky pool halls. Felt table tops aren't the only green in pool rooms.
Jon Kucharo is a green machine -- a pool player and a pool gambler. He has been playing for money since the $5-a-game days when he was 13. Recently, he has been playing very well in major billiards tournaments. Kucharo is not a "hustler.’’ That isn't an easy con when a player is as good as Kucharo.

"A hustler is a player who can walk in somewhere and not be noticed,’’
Kucharo explained as he finessed a few more balls into the pockets. "I
can't do that.’’

Kucharo can't "hustle’’ pool because he is too well-known. He might be
one of the hottest young shooters in the game. 

In May (1998), he won the Billiards Congress of America national 8-ball tournament in Las Vegas. He pocketed $4,000 and the trip to Italy to visit slate factories that make the hard undercoating of good tables. Two weekends later, Kucharo finished fifth in a professional event in Reno, Nev., beating the defending world champion (Jose Parica) and well-known veteran Earl Strickland along the way. That finish was worth $3,300, plus the side bets that are allowed on the Pro Billiards Tour. In between the two events, he found enough action to stay busy. "Jonnie is an up-and-comer,’’ said Terry Anderson, proprietor of Miller Time in Davenport. "It's pretty amazing how much his game has improved
in a short time. He has kind of skyrocketed. He still needs to be better
to compete with the pros, but he'll get there.’’

Kucharo proved himself against the pros in Reno, and now is eligible to
play the Pro Billiards Tour on a regular basis. He will play at least
three more pro events this year and also may enter the big-dollar events
usually hosted by casinos.

Kucharo doesn't have a "real’’ job because he doesn't have the time.
Nearly every night for six to eight hours, Kucharo may be found at the
large billiards rooms like Miller Time in Davenport and Leisure Time in
East Moline. He is the house pro at both Miller Time and Leisure Time,
but doesn't actually teach the game.

"I don't have time right now because I'm working on my own,’’  Kucharo
said.

He works on shot after shot. He works on his powerful break and works on trick shots. It is an interesting game the way Kucharo plays. His breaks appear to be unrestrained power, although he has a plan each time he hits the ball.

He lifts off the ground, the ball lifts off the table and smashes back
down into the balls. After the break, the game becomes a game of finesse and restraint. The balls don't smash into the pockets, instead dropping in almost without a sound. The balls dance and jump off the table, and still end up where Kucharo wants them.

"We always had at least one table at home. Right now, we've got three,’’ Kucharo said. "I started playing when I was a little kid, but it was
only in the last couple years that I really started getting better. I
started spending a lot more time practicing.’’

Kucharo is a second-generation pool player. His father worked at Alcoa, but would look for a money game in his spare time in bars like the Buckhorn, Pete's Midwest and the Alibi Inn. Kucharo's father now has a pool table business in addition to his third-shift Alcoa job.
"Jon was brought up to be a pool player. He has always been around it
because we have tables at home,’’ Jon Kucharo Sr. said.
Unlike his father, Kucharo doesn't have to look for money games very
often, although he has in the past.

"I've gone on the road to Texas and Louisiana and Las Vegas and the
Carolinas to play guys for money,’’ Kucharo said. "Now they seem to come to me.’’

Occasionally, a player will show up at Miller Time asking for Jonnie, or
Jonnie K. Game on.

"They'll come from Chicago or just about anywhere because they've heard about Jonnie,’’ Anderson said. "If he isn't here, they'll say, `Call
him. I'm going out for dinner, and I'll be back.

"They'll be a bunch of guys hanging out watching. It's pretty exciting.
They play for big money sometimes.’’ Kucharo takes the money games seriously. He has won as much as $1,800 from an opponent and doesn't lose very often. One of his rules is that he will not risk losing his focus by having a beer or two when there is money on the line. "I'd say I'm a pretty big gambler. There are good players around here,
but they know me, so I have to give them a handicap if we play for
money,’’ Kucharo said. "It's more the road guys, though.

"The best players know where they can get a game, and they'll go there
and find that player. They come looking for me.’’

Another of Kucharo's rules is no bar games. He doesn't want anyone
getting upset when they get their brains beat out, even when he spots
them several balls.

"You get the alcohol involved, and that's when somebody gets mad. The
guys I gamble with usually can accept getting beat, and they haven't
been drinking,’’  Kucharo said. "I don't drink when I play, and I'm
trying to quit smoking.’’

Against locals, Kucharo will spot an opponent three or four balls and
still win.

It's not a game with million-dollar purses or endorsements. "Efrem Reyes was the best player in the world last year, and he made
about $75,000 from purses and $100,000 from a winner-take-all match
against Earl Strickland,’’ Kucharo said. "But that doesn't count the
gambling.’’

It's not just the money either. Kucharo said he cares about winning
championships.

"That's why I'm practicing nearly every night,’’ Kucharo said.