[bigmanpool10]

I was at a room in queens when i first saw George. Johnny Boy Ruggerio Pointed him out and said " See that kid ! He's one of the best players in the world FORGETABOUTIT ! " Then i saw that beautiful stroke. Smooth and accurate. Later me and George became friends . He showed me so many things. When you did something good on the table he was the first one to speak up and complement you .I always respected that. One time me and ginky were playing 9ball . I gave him ball in hand with the 8 and 9 left on the table . Instead of running out he played safe behind the 9 just to mess with me ( because he could ) He Lock Me ! . I looked at it for a long time and kicked at the 8 and put it in the hole . Ginky jumps out of he's chair and says " I Knew You Were Going to make That " Then i had a long shot on the 9 and made it . He was happier then i was. He was great that way . I will miss him . I used to go to the room just to see him play or to hope to get a game with him . R.I.P Brother

[Bohemian]

Here is a little tidbit about Ginky from Tony Robles...

"In my life I have never seen anybody work as hard at pool as Ginky...
only one I know of even close is Thorsten Hohmann...
Whom once told me (Tony) that in preparation for the 2006 Word Open Straight Pool Tournament (That he won BTW, not withstanding the 06 IPT et.al.); that he practiced 8 hours a day for 30 days straight with his coach...

Tony went on to describe the day he watched Ginky practice a 3-rail kick shot for 9 hours straight to get 3 variations of it down perfect..."

How many pros or otherwise can say they practiced one fricking shot 9 fricking hours?

Think you practice a lot? Ginky was known to practice 500-1000 balls every day of the year, Tony said Ginky would show up with his cue for thanksgiving dinner...

R.I.P. Ginky

[fasteddief]

I will tell you what kind of person Ginky was at the U.S.OPEN a couple of days after 911 Ginky was so heart broken he put up his high dollar cue and had it raffled off to give all the money to the families that lost loved ones. He was just a great guy who had a heart as big as anyone you will ever meet.R.I.P. Ginky

[Drawman623]

Ginky practiced one night at Chalks Billiards in Warwick RI as he prepared for a Joss Tour event at Snookers the next day. I recognized him but left him alone to do his thing. After an hour or so, he came over and complimented my Andy Gilbert cue. As a fellow cue lover Ginky treated me with respect and we talked for a good hour about who's who in cuemaking. We traded cues for a time and I played with Ginky's personal player for a set as he enjoyed my Gilbert. His praises of my cues made me feel great.

We traded contact info and to my surprise, Ginky stayed in touch. Every month or two the phone would ring. He may have been the best, but he was humble and a friend to me. R.I.P.

[14.1'er]

I realize this is an old thread, but just wanted to comment.

Ginky, was such a great kid. I had the chance to play him more than once at a few tournaments, I even bought a couple cues from him. I wasn't entered in any of the tournaments, but George invited me to play with him, and try out some cues. He took it REALLY easy on me so I could actually test the cues out, lol.

Ginky would always recognize me at a tournament, and go out of his way to say hello. Just a really down to earth young man, and very respectful. He always dressed to kill, something I always noticed and appreciated in a young person.

He left us way to soon, and I think of him often. R.I.P. my friend.

Originally Posted by Drawman623

Ginky practiced one night at Chalks Billiards in Warwick RI as he prepared for a Joss Tour event at Snookers the next day. I recognized him but left him alone to do his thing. After an hour or so, he came over and complimented my Andy Gilbert cue. As a fellow cue lover Ginky treated me with respect and we talked for a good hour about who's who in cuemaking. We traded cues for a time and I played with Ginky's personal player for a set as he enjoyed my Gilbert. His praises of my cues made me feel great.

We traded contact info and to my surprise, Ginky stayed in touch. Every month or two the phone would ring. He may have been the best, but he was humble and a friend to me. R.I.P.

[nancewayne]

I might have bought that "high end" cue at auction. It was his prize presentation cue for the 1996-1997 Viking Player of the Year (as shown on the butt plate). It is in the Blue Book of Cues as a Viking G-6 cue, retail price $995. I had thought back then that he auctioned off that cue in order to get $$$ to support his venture in playing Texas Hold-em cards professionally.
I still have this cue in my collection, but am in the process of selling off the collection, so this "Ginky" cue is available for sale.

Originally Posted by fasteddief

I will tell you what kind of person Ginky was at the U.S.OPEN a couple of days after 911 Ginky was so heart broken he put up his high dollar cue and had it raffled off to give all the money to the families that lost loved ones. He was just a great guy who had a heart as big as anyone you will ever meet.R.I.P. Ginky