George "Ginky" SanSouci (August 8, 1971 – March 8, 2011) was a professional pool player from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. He grew up in Yorkville, New York

Yorkville, Manhattan

Yorkville is a neighborhood in the greater Upper East Side, in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. Yorkville's boundaries include: the East River on the east, 96th Street on the north, Third Avenue on the west and 72nd Street to the south. However, its southern boundary is a subject of...

, and started his career as a player in Chelsea Billiards. SanSouci lived in Astoria, New York.

Early days

George Edward SanSouci Jr. was the son of George Edward SanSouci Sr. and Jeanna Marie Cawely. He was raised in the Yorkville Section of New York (currently Upper East Side) He developed the nickname "Ginky" when he was only one year old; when anyone would call him "George," he never responded, but when they said the word "Ginky", he would giggle, and it stuck ever since. He attended Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities. He dropped out in his junior year. SanSouci lost his father at age four and was raised by his mother and an older sister, Irene.

Professional career

In 1995, Billiards Digest named San Souci as Rookie Player of the Year.

SanSouci retired in 2002 after he injured his neck, but he could not stay away from pool, slowly making a comeback. He competed regularly in a regional tour of the New York region, the Predator Nine-ball Tour, with Tony Robles, the 2004 BCA Open Champion, as the tournament director. His high run in straight pool

Straight Pool

Straight pool, also called 14.1 continuous or simply 14.1, is a pocket billiards game, and was the common sport of championship competition until overtaken by faster-playing games like nine-ball...

 was 343 consecutive shots which occurred on July 19, 2009 at Slate Billiards in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. SanSouci was also a member of the International Pool Tour

International Pool Tour

The International Pool Tour is a professional sports tour created in 2005 by Kevin Trudeau and hosted by Rebecca Grant. It aims to elevate pool to the level of other modern sports. Closely modeled on the PGA Tour, the IPT offered the largest prize funds in pool history in its first year. The tour...

, when it was active.

Titles

• 1991 Massachusetts State Champion
• 1994 Rhode Island State Champion
• 1994 Fifth Annual Ocean State Championship
• 1995 Rhode Island State Champion
• 1995 Sixth Annual Ocean State Championship
• 1996 Maine State Champion
• 1996 Seventh Annual Ocean State Championship
• 1997 Delaware State Champion
• 1998 Camel Pro Billiard Series Ten-Ball Championship
• 1999 National Straight Pool Championship
• 1999 BCA Nine-Ball Championship
• 2000 Derby City Classic 9-ball Champion
• 2005 Rhode Island State Champion

Personal life

SanSouci suffered a number of injuries during his career that took a toll on his competitive play. He had retired in 2002 because of neck surgery and then in 2003 began playing again. He then broke his left wrist in a car accident in 2004 and re-fractured it in another more serious car accident, resulting in new fractures to his wrist as well as his then wife being severely burnt, in 2009. Since his first neck injury, SanSouci was battling addiction to pain killers. He spoke openly about his prescription drug addiction as well as his alcohol addiction in an interview with go4pool.net. In the interview he claimed to be seven days sober.

SanSouci lived in Astoria, New York. SanSouci enjoyed playing poker, and listening to hip hop music.

Death

SanSouci died on March 8, 2011, at age 39. According to the coroner's report, the cause of death was unknown. He is survived by is wife, Athena Menis , and by his sister Irene SanSouci McDonagh, her husband, Jimmy, and 3 children (Erin, Jeana and Jimmy McDonagh Jr.).

External links

• George "Ginky" SanSouci at "Ask the Pros" at AZBilliards.com.