Photos courtesy of Crystal Hypes

Ervin "Big Erv" Hypes, who died New Year's Eve at Montgomery Regional Hospital, was an avid pool player.

Just about everyone who knew Ervin "Big Erv" Hypes knew him as a card player, a pool player, a golfer and a gambler.

They also knew him as a big-hearted man who they say would give you his last dollar if you needed it.

Big Erv, whose full name was Ervin Luther Hypes, died New Year's Eve at Montgomery Regional Hospital. His health had declined over several years, said his daughter, Crystal Hypes. He was 78.

Big Erv's funeral was Saturday. A big fan of the Virginia Tech Hokies, he was buried in a Hokies sweatshirt and baseball cap, Crystal Hypes said.

Big Erv was well-known as the longtime manager of The Sportsman, a pool hall and game room on Wilson Avenue in Blacksburg that was shut down in 1999 after an illegal gambling operation was discovered there. A room inside the pool hall was used for card games, billiards contests and sports wagering -- the kind of thing Big Erv made his living on.

Crystal Hypes said she had to laugh when her father's cardiologist recently asked him what he did and he responded, "I gambled." The doctor seemed to be at a loss for words, she said.

His gambling got him into trouble with the law a few times, and he spent several years on probation after being convicted of illegal gambling.

Still The Sportsman was a surprisingly good place for kids to hang out, Blacksburg lawyer Christopher Tuck said. People there didn't smoke or drink, he said. They just played.

Tuck said he hung out at The Sportsman from the time he was about 8 years old until he was 12.

He said Big Erv taught him -- and many other kids -- to play cards.

"There are crooks and there are characters," Tuck said, "and he was a character.

"He could tell you the most colorful stories and would just bring them to life. As a kid it was mesmerizing."

Crystal Hypes said she remembers hanging out at The Sportsman as well, but she stuck with the video games. Her dad tried to teach her to shoot pool, she said, but she wasn't very good. So he tried to teach her to play golf, but she didn't have the patience for it.

"He was such a loving, caring dad," she said. He tried hard to teach her and her brother, Greg, to share with each other even if they didn't want to.

She said her father always called her "Little One."

"I asked him one day if he was going to ever let me grow up, and he said no," said the now 36-year-old.

Crystal Hypes said people didn't call her dad Big Erv because of his size. About 145 pounds is the most he ever weighed, she said.

She said she thought maybe he got the nickname "because of his mouth." He was always telling stories, she said.

But one of Big Erv's close friends said the nickname came from his ability to win -- bets, games, anything.

"That man was the greatest," said John Stutler of Blacksburg, who said he gambled with Big Erv for years. "That's the reason they called him Big Erv. You couldn't beat him."

One story that people tell about Big Erv is rooted in his generosity.

The former owner of Souvlaki's restaurant, Chris Kappas, was there one day a few years ago when a man approached him and asked about Big Erv.

The man explained that when he was a Tech student in the 1960s, he didn't have enough money for food. Big Erv, he said, would pay for him to eat at The Greeks, an old restaurant that was owned by Kappas' father.

The man pulled out his wallet and took out several $100 bills, as many as 10 of them, and asked Kappas to give the money to Big Erv.

"He fed me when I was a student," Kappas said the man told him.

"I think he did that for a lot of kids," Kappas said.

"If Daddy had a dollar he'd give you half of it, and if he had a candy bar he'd give you half of it," Crystal Hypes said. "He would do anything in the world for anybody. He was just amazing."