George "Ginky" SanSouci (August 8, 1971 – March 8, 2011) was a professional pool player from New York. He grew up in Yorkville, New York, and started his career as a player in Chelsea Billiards. SanSouci lived in Astoria, New York.
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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.
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 was 343 consecutive shots which occurred on July 19, 2009 at Slate Billiards in New York City. SanSouci was also a member of the International Pool Tour, when it was active.[1]
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.
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 San Souci, and by his sister Irene SanSouci McDonagh, her husband, Jimmy, and 3 children (Erin, Jeana and Jimmy McDonagh Jr.).
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