In 1974, Butera won the All Japan title against the world's best, and also triumphed over Richie Florence to win the Bud Lundahl's Midwest Open, a straight pool tournament he won by a score of 150-68 in the title match. In 1991, Butera served as coach of the World Billiard Federation World Team, whose members included Nick Varner, Mike Siegel and Ray Martin. In a profile that appeared in the May/June, 1995 issue of "Snap Magazine", he was referred to as "...the man who may be the fastest pool player the game has ever known."