Washington City Paper: Contents for May. 3

Playing the Angles
Can old-time hustler Gus Baroutas survive yuppie pool? Is the eight ball black?

Cover Story

And then he heard the car stop. There was nothing more to do. He turned around and looked at the car, blinking....

“Well,” he said. “Hello, boys,” and climbed into the backseat. His little leather case was still in his right hand. He gripped it tightly. It was all he had.

—last lines of “The Hustler,” short story by Walter Tevis.

He always comes in alone, and he always wears the hat, even after shaking off the cold. The hat stays on, a narrow-brimmed fedora, because it’s part of the outfit, like the leather jacket and the creased gray trousers and the shiny green slip-on shoes and, usually, the fresh cigarette tucked behind one ear. It’s sort of a trademark, shadowing his long, hollow face and pitch-black eyes. He looks like a cross between William S. Burroughs and Fast Eddie Felson, the pool shark immortalized in the 1961 film The Hustler.

Late on a weeknight, the crowd at Bedrock Billiards on Columbia Road NW is thinning, but the smoke is not. Tomorrow is a work day, after all, but for Gus Baroutas, work is about to begin. Kind of like Fast Eddie, Gus has spent a good chunk of his 67 years walking into bars with pool tables and walking back out just a little bit richer. His gambling days are over now, but he can’t seem to quit playing.... Continued

Issue of May. 3 - 9, 1996

News and Features

Playing the Angles
Can old-time hustler Gus Baroutas survive yuppie pool? Is the eight ball black?
Cover Story By Bill Gifford
Car 51, Where Are You?
D.C.’s Only Electric Racecar Tries to Keep Going, and Going, and Going
The City By Maurice Martin
One Piece at a Time
The 3rd District Impound Lot Serves Vandals an Automotive Buffet
The City By Eric Friedman
Ken Cen Wish List
The City By Trey Graham
Harlem Renaissance
The City By Nora FitzGerald
Mansion Family
The Mail By Arthur J. Schultz III
Just Us Denied
The Mail By Hamza Mohammed
The Letter of the Law
The Mail By Joel Hettger
Injuryous
The Mail By Carol Suzanne Ott
Pay It Back
The Mail By Spooner Underwood Jr.
Critical Mess
The Mail By Bob Anthony
Slate Mail
The Mail By Jon Keeton
No News Is Good News
The Mail By Gregory Baruch
Trischka Quibble
The Mail By Julie Mangin