Considered by many as one of the co-founders of the modern shuffleboard mega-tournament, Paul Weber has been a strong supporter of west coast shuffleboard for the past 20 years.

EARLY YEARS

Paul was born on December 11, 1939 in Pittsburgh, PA. His father was the City Circulation Manager for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette until he enlisted in the Merchant Marines during WWII. Unfortunately, he was killed when his boat blew up near Anzio. Paul’s mother worked as a secretary until she retired. Paul moved her to California in 1972. She passed away in 1989. Paul didn’t have any brothers or sisters. According to Paul, his parents said, “This guy’s goofy enough. We don’t want any more like him.”

Paul went to Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh and graduated in 1958. He worked for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for three years and then moved to California for the 1st time in 1961. This is when Paul first played the game of shuffleboard at a place called The Stein. For the next six years he moved back and forth between Pennsylvania and California, working various jobs such as pipe inspector, car salesman and bar tender.

Paul came back to California permanently in 1967 and worked for Farmer John’s in Vernon, California. From 1969-1983 he worked in the freight business until there was a mass layoff. “Haven’t turned a lick since,” says Paul. “Around this time I got into ‘sports speculation’ which has paid my way ever since.”

SHUFFLEBOARD BEGINNINGS

After Paul’s brief introduction to shuffleboard in 1961, he didn’t have any more to do with the game until he moved to Bellflower, Ca in 1973. He began playing at the Edgewood and met Billy Chiles. He went on the road, backing Billy for six years. Paul says, “This is where I really began to learn how to play the game. When you watch a player like Billy, you learn a lot.” Later, he began backing and taking road trips with Jimmy Allis. He started to improve his own game in 1987. He was living in Downey, California and began playing Jimmy Anderson four practice games every day at the Dixie Belle. “Then I’d stay and play about 20 more games. I got to where I was half decent.”

PCSA

Joe Muniz attended a tournament in Las Vegas that had been run by Billy Mays. He came back and told Paul that he thought they could do a better job. Joe asked Paul if he would be the “money man.” They, along with Lou Lucero and Karl Spickelmier ran the first PCSA Las Vegas Tournament in 1989. They had 12 new boards, 6 American and 6 Play Fair. “We had no more idea of what we were doing than the Man in the Moon,” Paul remembers. Paul helped to negotiate room rates with the Showboat, and figured out the logistics of the calcuttas, money handling, events and rankings.

“It was a nightmare. We managed to get through it to the doubles semi-finals, when the Showboat screwed us out of a day.... Complete Booklet in PDF Format