Untold Stories: Billiards History

EUROPEAN ROMP!

2011-12-12T08:02:00.002-06:00

Team Europe Beats USA, Wins Mosconi Cup

Team Europe

BY LUKE RICHES

World Pool & Billiard Association

LAS VEGAS -- EUROPE has successfully defended the PartyPoker.net Mosconi Cup following a convincing 11-7 victory over the USA at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Holland’s Niels Feijen, in his seventh Mosconi Cup, downed the winning 9 ball.

With two singles and two doubles wins, Feijen won the Mos Valuable Player Award. "I just want to thank the crowd, the British and Europeans and you need them to make it," he said after his 6-3 victory over Rodney Morris to seal the Mosconi Cup.

The Americans, who had trailed 10-5 at the start of the day, won the opening two games to leave the Europeans looking a little edgy.

Niels Feijen

"Even this morning, there was pressure on us and we knew they would come out strongly. There was some heat to get over the finish line but these guys are just so good,” continued Feijen.

Johnny Archer, playing in his 15^th Mosconi Cup, was stoical in defeat. "We lost a couple of matches we should've won and they blitzed us in a few matches," he said. "We all gave it our best and will do it again next time. Hats off to their team, they hung in there when things didn't look good."

The opening match of the day saw Shane Van Boening keeping US hopes alive as he comfortably beat Nick Van den Berg 6-2. Veteran Johnny Archer also beat Darren Appleton Sunday, and in the process effectively quashed the hopes of a repeat MVP trophy for the stellar English player.

So in the end it was Niels Feijen who was left to finish off Team USA. He beat Hawaiian Rodney Morris 6-3 to give the Europeans the decisive 11th point. "Being the Most Valuable Player is something I've been dreaming about this for seven years, every year I've played in it," said Feijen.

Sunday's Match Scores:

Nick Van den Berg 2-6 Shane Van Boening

Darren Appleton 3-6 Johnny Archer

Niels Feijen 6-3 Rodney Morris

The World Pool and Billiard Association(WPA) is the international governing body of the sport of pool. Please visit the WPA site at www.wpa-pool.com. Follow the WPA on Twitter: @poolwpa

SVB extracts $5,000 from Strickland

2011-12-04T22:40:00.002-06:00

South Dakota Kid wins 9-ball Challenge Match

After losing to Earl Strickland earlier this year in 10-ball, Shane Van Boening took his revenge with a 75-67 victory over the mercurial Hall of Famer in a Las Vegas challenge match on Sunday.

Both players put up $5,000 in the winner-take-all event sponsored by theactionreport.com. Play began on Friday and continued throughout the weekend.

Van Boening mostly led throughout, although the tight Diamond table installed in The Action Report's Las Vegas studio seemed to flummox both players. Van Boening was up by only 50-48 at the end of Saturday’s play

Van Boening continued to lead Sunday, methodically stringing together racks despite his opponent's almost constant griping. The length of time it took Van Boening to rack the balls and Van Boening's softer-than-usual break seemed to particularly irk the older player. “Look at that – he’s got an eight-minute rack, and a two-mile-per-hour break,” Strickland complained at one point.

Briefly it appeared that Strickland, Hulk-like, actually was becoming stronger as he became angrier. After falling behind 63-58, The Pearl suddenly won six in a row, complaining and glowering with every sunk nine-ball.

But that rush Sunday would be Strickland's last. After a miscue and few other unforced errors, The Pearl allowed the always dangerous Van Boening to quietly trot to victory. Strickland continued to complain afterwards. "I'm willing to say that I'm a f***ing a**hole, but there's a lot of a**holes," he acknowledged shortly before the recording ended.

Strickland beat Van Boening in a similar winner-take-all 10-ball event conducted last March in Youngstown. Both players put up $10,000 for that event.

-- R.A. Dyer

CHINA'S CHEN SIMING NAMED 2011 WPA WOMEN'S PLAYER OF THE YEAR

2011-11-10T07:49:00.000-06:00

ORCULLO LEADS MEN'S RACE WITH ONE EVENT TO GO

China's Chen Siming wins WPA Player of the Year honors.

(Courtesy World Pool and Billiard Association) -- Chen Siming, the 17-year-old pool prodigy from China, has been named the World Pool and Billiard Association (WPA) women’s player of the year for 2011.

Chen won the WPA’s top individual honor by beating out fellow Chinese Fu Xiaofang, who came in second. England’s Kelly Fisher, who recently won the Women’s World 10-Ball Championship in Manila, came in third.

The WPA Player of the Year honors are based on the total number of ranking points each player accumulates throughout the calendar year. In 2011, the women competed in six different WPA ranking events. Players receive points based on their order of finish in each event. The amount of ranking points available in each event varies, depending on the size of the field and prize fund.

Chen had a stellar all-around year and managed to accumulate 2,144 ranking points, far ahead of Fu with 1,627, and Fisher with 1,546. The teenage sensation won the Philippine Open 10-ball championship in March. She then took the runner up spot to Fu at the China Open in Shanghai. Her biggest point haul, however, came in September at the Women’s World 9-ball Championship in Shenyang, China where she took second to winner Bi Zhu Qing.

For winning the WPA Player of the Year award, Chen will receive a trophy and a beautiful Tag Heuer watch.

Dennis Orcollo leads among the men.

On the men’s side, the WPA Player of the Year winner has yet to be determined as there is still one more ranking event to be played, the All Japan Championship, in mid-November. However, the Philippines’ Dennis Orcullo is the current favorite to capture to top honors as he currently sits in the top spot. Orcullo, who captured the World 8-ball Championship in Fujairah, UAE earlier this year, holds 2,510 ranking points. His nearest rival is Japan’s Yukio Akagariyama with 2,287 points. England’s Darren Appleton, who recently won his second straight U.S. Open title, is currently in third place with 2,126 points.

The men’s Player of the Year award is based on points won in 8 separate ranking events over the course of 2011.

For the complete rankings for both men and women, please Click Here

Van Boening wins $20K Challenge Match

2011-09-26T11:08:00.016-05:00

SVB outshoots Pagulayan 30-17 on Final Night

During the early going, American 10-ball hero Shane Van Boening seemed stuck in low gear. Facing Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan in a three-day race-to-100 marathon last weekend, the wiry pool shark from Rapid City, South Dakota would put together two racks in succession here, three racks there. And the misses were aplenty.

SVB outscored Pagulayan on Friday thanks only to dramatic 7-pack at the very end of the night. On Saturday SBV won one game fewer than Pagulayan.

"He's weak. He's broken down," commentator Billy Incardona noted of the South Dakota Kid's early performance.

But all that changed Sunday, the last day of the much anticipated Action Report challenge match, when the man many believe to be America's greatest 10-ball player suddenly found his groove. Van Boening buried opponent Pagulayan beneath a torrent of pocketed balls on his way to what suddenly became an easy victory.

Final score after three days: Shane Van Boening: 100. Alex Pagulayan 84.

For his effort in the two-man ActionReport.com tournament, Shane Van Boening goes home with $20,000. Pagulayan goes home empty-handed. Both players put up a $10,000 entry fee. The event was streamed over the Internet from Las Vegas.

What had began as a trickle ended in a flood.

Pagulayan, a former U.S. Open nine-ball champion, Canadian snooker champion and World Pool Masters champion, is a dangerous opponent who beat Van Boening during an earlier Action Report challenge match. The first two nights of the rivals' latest confrontation where characterized by exchanges of safeties. Bothh players also appeared flummoxed by the extra-tight table pockets.

Van Boening, also a former U.S. nine-ball champion, committed several unforced errors during those first nights, and maintained a slim lead thanks only to his thunderous break and a big 7-pack on Friday. But he immediately won the first half dozen games Sunday, and then never let up. Pagulayan was stuck in his chair for most of the night.

In all, SVB outscored Pagulayan 30-17 during the final night of the event. He played quick, and played aggressive. His famous break smashed open the balls so thoroughly that those that weren't pocketed immediately ended up spaced on the table as if he had positioned them by hand.

"He blew him out tonight," Justin Collett, the event promoter, said of SVB's performance Sunday night.

The Action Report has sponsored similar challenge matches over the last several years, including those pitting Van Boening against 9-ball legend Earl Strickland and Van Boening against two-time U.S. Open champion Mika Immonen.

The outcome Sunday corresponded closely with fan predictions at the poolhistory.com Facebook page. By an 8-1 margin, fans predicted Van Boening would come out on top. The average margin of victory for Van Boening, among those predicting he would ultimately prevail, was 17.24 games. The actual margin of victory was 16 games.

-- R.A. Dyer

Bi Zhu Qing Surprise Winner of Women's World 9-Ball Championship in China

2011-09-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

BY TED LERNER

Story Courtesy World Pool Billiard Association

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MY147.COM

SHENYANG, CHINA -- Bi Zhu Qing stands no more than 4’11”. But Sunday night in Shenyang, this tiny woman became a giant of women’s pool and a sporting hero in the most populace nation on earth. This after the relatively unknown from Beijing defeated world number 2 and heavy favorite Chen Siming 9-7 to capture the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship.

Bi’s title win capped an incredible day for the 23 year old. Up until Sunday, she was mostly unknown beyond her professional peers in China, where the women’s game is wildly popular and its top players are legitimate stars. She is ranked number 7 in China and 81^st worldwide and had never won any pool tournaments of note.

That all changed on the last day of the Women's World 9-Ball Championship in this northeastern city of 7 million people. After she quietly worked her way through the field at the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena beginning Thursday, Bi shocked defending champion and world number one Fu Xiaofang in Sunday’s semi-final, 9-6. Playing the role of underdog perfectly, Bi played seemingly without a care in the world, while the pressure of stardom and expectation appeared at times to get to Fu.

“I’m very happy, very excited,” Bi said afterward as a throng of media snapped the new champion’s picture. “That’s the best I ever played. Fu and Chen are great players and to beat them both in one day makes me proud. I was more nervous during the finals than in the semi-finals but I wanted to do my best because this was my chanced to achieve my dream. So I tried to relax.”

Chen hardly seemed disappointed as she joked with Bi in the media room afterwards and posed for photos. She realized that she hadn’t played her best and, with a gracious manner typical of all the Chinese women pool players, gave full credit for the win to Bi.

“The first three racks I played well,” Chen said. “But after that, Bi played better than me. I’m happy for her.”

Bi won $30,000 while Chen took home $15,000.

The World Pool Association (WPA) is the world governing body of pool. The 2011 Women's World 9-ball Championship is being sponsored by Chevrolet Automakers. Star is the official pool table, while Andy is the official table cloth. The event is sanctioned by the WPA and the Chinese Billiard and Snooker Association, (CBSA).

Van Boening retains razor thin lead

2011-09-25T11:22:00.002-05:00

After 10 hours, Pagulayan picks up a single game

After running neck and neck with opponent Alex Pagulayan, American Shane Van Boening regained a razor thin lead in the The Action Report's winner-take-all challenge match underway this weekend in Las Vegas.

The score now stands at 70-67, Van Boening's favor. The competitors finished up the second night's set at about 3:30 a.m. Central Standard Time, after more than 10 hours of grueling play. The 10-ball marathon concludes tonight, with victory going to the first player to notch 100 victories.

But getting to 100 will be tough. Van Boening appears almost equally matched with Pagulayan, with the lead see-sawing back and forth Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Van Boening began the night four games ahead, and ended it only three games ahead. The score was completely tied on several occasions Saturday.

Pagulayan's greatest barrage came late in the session, and concluded with a long-rail combo that opened a 66-61 lead, the largest margin of the evening. But Van Boening grinded back, eventually tied the score and then finishing out the evening on top. It appeared that Van Boening made more unforced errors throughout the evening, but was carried through by the power of his thunderous break.

Play resumes tonight at 6:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, with the winner pocketing $20,000 and second place going home broke. Both players paid a $10,000 "entry fee" to compete in the two-man tournament.

The pay-per-view event is sponsored by The Action Report, which earlier streamed similar challenge matches featuring Earl Strickland and Mika Immonen. Participants of an informal poll on the poolhistory.com Facebook page picked Van Boening as the heavy favorite to win the event. You can also pick a winner at the separate poll, listed on the right-hand panel of this page.

-- R.A. Dyer

ALL CHINESE SEMI-FINALS AT THE 2011 WOMEN'S WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP

2011-09-24T19:35:00.000-05:00

BY TED LERNER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MY147.COM

STORY COURTESY WORLD POOL ASSOCIATION

World number two Chen Siming

SHENYANG, CHINA --The semi-final cast is set at the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship in Shenyang, and, in what is essentially a shot across the bow to the wider world of women’s pool, all four players hail from China.

The young and fiercely talented freight train that is women’s pool in China has been building momentum all week, and it rampaged right through the field straight through to Saturday night. The last foreigner standing, Lin Yuan Chun of Taiwan, went down to defeat at the hands of 23 year old Bi Zhu Qing in the second quarter final at the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena, guaranteeing with still a day to go that the women’s world title will stay in China for the third year in a row. The incredible feat clearly stamped China’s virtual ownership of the women’s game.

The first semi-final on Sunday will feature world number one and defending champion Fu Xiao Fang, who will play Bi in a race to 9. The second semi-final will see world number two, Chen Siming take on fellow Chinese Han Yu. Both Fu and Chen are favored in their matches.

The 23-year-old Fu has played like the favorite all week but she very nearly stumbled out of the event in the first quarter final this afternoon, a marquee battle against China’s “Queen of 9-ball,” Pan Xiaoting. While her popularity certainly hasn’t waned, Pan has, over the last few years, taken a back seat in terms of victories as she’s toiled overseas, while at the same time the floodgates have opened to scores of much younger talent like Fu, Chen, and others.

Against Korea’s Ga Young Kim in the round of 16 earlier on Sunday, Pan played quality pool throughout the match and, despite nearly blowing a three-rack lead right at the end, she said afterward she felt satisfied that her game seemed to be on the rise. It was, she said, the result of her rededicating herself to practice so she could reestablish herself as the best woman player in China.

Pan always draws rabid fans whenever she plays and the match against Fu was no exception. Fans showed up with homemade signs that they hung on the metal railings urging Pan on, while others clutched large posters showing their love of the diminutive star.

World number one and defending champion Fu Xiao Fang

Fu jumped out to a 2-0 and looked tough in the early going. The defending champion has a quiet but feisty demeanor and backs it up with quality shot making and excellent cue ball control. Even when she loses position, she often manages to recover.

The match stayed tight throughout but Fu always seemed to have an answer every time Pan came knocking. Then up 8-5 and at the table, Fu missed a makeable 4 ball, which led to Pan’s supporters letting out a round of applause. Pan cleared to make it 8-6, then broke and ran to move to 8-7.

In the next rack Fu missed a makeable 2 bringing another round of applause from the crowd. Fu appeared rattled by the odd reaction from the normally polite Chinese crowd. And ominously for her, Pan had found her game just in time and the match soon went to a one rack decider.

In the last rack Pan broke but had to push out, and left a long one for Fu, which she potted. With palpable tension swirling in the arena, Fu worked the rack down to the final two balls. She took on a risky cut on the eight ball in the side and made it, then pocketed a difficult blind cut on the 9 for a gutsy win over a Chinese sporting legend.

“Yes, I felt nervous today,” Fu said afterward. “I know Pan when I was a kid and just starting out. I’m honored to play her. But I didn’t really notice the audience. I’m just thinking about how to play the game better.”

Fu will now play Bi Zhu Qing in Sunday’s first semi-final. The 23-year-old Bi, who started her career as a snooker player, made a nice fight back against Taiwan’s Lin, the 2008 world champion. Lin raced out to a 4-1 lead and held on to the advantage until the tiny Bi tied it at 5. Bi took control from there, helped along by an array of misses from Lin and won the match 9-7.

The semi-finals and finals will take place Sunday the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena. The total prize fund for the 2011 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship is $150,000 with $30,000 going to the winner on Sunday.

The WPA will be providing full coverage of all the action at the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship. Fans around the world can follow matches as they happen via our live scoring platform. The live scoring button can be seen on the front page of the WPA’s website, www.wpa-pool.com.

For updated brackets please CLICK HERE

The World Pool Association(WPA) is the world governing body of pool. The 2011 Women's World 9-ball Championship is being sponsored by Chevrolet Automakers. Star is the official pool table, while Andy is the official table cloth. The event is sanctioned by the WPA and the Chinese Billiard and Snooker Association, (CBSA).

Van Boening takes lead in Challenge Match

2011-09-24T12:05:00.002-05:00

But "The Lion" Pagulayan led during much of the first night action

After struggling for much of the night, American pool star Shane Van Boening dramatically ran seven racks straight to take a 35-31 lead during the first night of his challenge match with Alex "The Lion" Paguluyan in Las Vegas.

Van Boening -- or SVB as he's known to many fans -- continues the winner-take-all 10-ball contest with Pagulayan tonight. Both players have put up $10,000. The winner goes home with $20,000. The loser goes home busted.

Van Boening looked off his game for much of the night, missing several shots and making position errors on others. On several occasions he failed to run out with just a ball or two left.

For a long stretch Van Boening trailed the steady-playing Pagulayan by about five games, and he seemed utterly incapable of closing the gap. "He's weak. He's broken down. The (tight) pockets are stopping his barrages," commentator Billy Incardona noted about halfway through the grueling 7 hours of play Friday night.

But then Van Boening, trailing 31-28, came roaring back, stringing together a 7-pack to finish out the set. "Damdest thing I ever saw," said event promoter Justin Collett.

Play resumes tonight at 6:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, and ends when one of the competitors wins 70 games. The race-to-100 event finishes Sunday. The pay-per-view event is sponsored by The Action Report, which earlier streamed similar challenge matches featuring Earl Strickland and Mika Immonen. You can find out more here.

Participants of an informal poll on the poolhistory.com Facebook page picked Van Boening as the heavy favorite to win the event. You can also pick a winner at the separate poll, listed on the right-hand panel of this page.

-- R.A. Dyer

World 9-Ball Update

2011-09-24T11:02:00.001-05:00

Resurgent Pan Xiaoting in Quarterfinals

BY TED LERNER
Photos by my147.com

(Courtesy World Pool Association)

SHENYANG, CHINA-- Chinese superstar Pan Xiaoting moved into the quarterfinals of the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship today after holding off world number 3 Ga Young Kim in a 9-8 thriller.

The gritty win by the 29-year-old Pan, known throughout China as the “Queen of 9-ball,” moves the Chinese superstar into a marquee nationally-televised matchup later on Saturday against defending champion Fu Xiaofang in the first race to 9, alternate break quarter final at the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena in the northeastern city of Shenyang.

Pan Xiaoting

Pan’s last rack heroics capped an incredible surge for the home side on Saturday during the round of 16, as the tournament has become nearly an all-China affair with seven out of the eight spots in the quarterfinals of this year’s championship now belonging to players from China.

Pan’s win at the 2007 World 9-ball championship in Taiwan was the first ever by a player from China. She then set off for the US where she carved out a successful niche for herself. At the same time, Pan’s looks, fashion sense and pleasant demeanor fit perfectly with the tastes of the Chinese public. She is a huge star in every sense of the word here, always followed by throngs of fans and media wanting a photo or autograph.

Pan Xiaoting

But while Pan is one of China’s most popular sporting personalities, the massive wave of talent in the likes of Liu Shahsha, Fu Xiaofang, Siming Chen and others has led to whispers that she has lost a step in the last few years. Pan said she has indeed heard the gossip and said it has motivated her to step up her game in the last year.

“In recent years I only played in other countries,” Pan said as a throng of media besieged her. “But now there are many new billiard players coming up. Their skills have improved rapidly. This has motivated me to practice more and this is what I’m doing now because I want to show that I’m still capable of being on top of the game.”

None of Pan’s fellow players are going to lie down for the superstar, however. Pan’s quarterfinals opponent Fu looked as solid as ever as she mowed down fellow Chinese Ren Qiuye, 9-4. 2009 world 9-ball champion Liu steamrolled 16 year old Gao Meng, 9-1, a day after Gao had given the boot to Korean’s Yu Ram Cha. And 17-year-old sensation Siming Chen outlasted Taiwan’s talented Chou Chei Yu, 9-6.

USA's Monica Web Eliminated

The two non-Asian players remaining in the final 16 will long be ruing what might have been. The USA’s Monica Webb trailed 5-2 to China’s Han Yu then fought back to finally jump ahead at 7-6. Webb had a clear path to the hill with just two balls left on the table but lost position on the 8. The resulting kick out left the table open and Han cleared to leave a one rack decider. In the final rack Webb fouled on the 1 ball which allowed Han to clear the rack and grab the win.

Canada’s Brittany Bryant also saw a sure win slip through her grasp against China’s Zhou Doudou. Up 8-6 Bryant had the match in hand only to commit several basic errors that allowed Zhou back in the contest. Bryant ended losing the match, 9-8.

The only player not from China to make it into the quarterfinals, Taiwan’s Lin Yuan Chun, looked very tough in her round of 16 match, as she blanked China’s Wu Jing, 9-0. Lin now faces the daunting prospect of being the only player to have a chance to stop the China freight train in this year’s world championship. Lin faces China Bi Zhu Qing, who took down Japan’s Chichiro Kawahara, 9-6.

The four quarterfinal matchups will all be played on the TV table on Saturday beginning at 2 pm local time (GMT +8).

2PM: Fu XiaoFang(CHN) vs. Pan Xiaoting(CHN)
4PM: Lin Yuan Chun(TPE) vs. Bi Zhu Qing(CHN)
6PM: Liu Sha Sha(CHN) vs. Han Yu(CHN)
8PM: Zhou Doudou(CHN) vs. Chen Siming(CHN)

In addition, the WPA will be providing insights and analysis with articles posted several times daily on the WPA home page. Fans can also follow the action via the WPA Twitter page, providing fans with instant updates, insights and scores as they happen. The WPA’s Twitter user name is @poolwpa. You can go directly to our Twitter page at, http://twitter.com/poolwpa.

For updated brackets please CLICK HERE

The World Pool Association(WPA) is the world governing body of pool. The 2011 Women's World 9-ball Championship is being sponsored by Chevrolet Automakers. Star is the official pool table, while Andy is the official table cloth. The event is sanctioned by the WPA and the Chinese Billiard and Snooker Association, (CBSA).

Readers favor Van Boening over Pagulayan in 100-game winner-take-all match

2011-09-23T18:29:00.001-05:00

The race-to-100 challenge match between Shane Van Boening and Alex Pagulayan gets underway this weekend in Las Vegas. Each of the players has put up $10,000. First place pays $20,000. Second place pays zilch.

An informal poll I conducted today on the Pool History Facebook Page finds Shane favored by a more than 8 to 1 margin, or by nearly 90 percent of all respondents. One bold pool fan even predicted Shane wins by 37 games. The average margin of victory for Shane, among those predicting he ultimately prevails, was 17.24 games. The average margin of victory for Alex, among those calling the three-day challenge for him, was 10.33 games.

I think that folks may be taking Alex too lightly. The young Filipino has won just about everything there is to win. He is a dangerous competitor. Shane also was beaten rather soundly at 10-ball by Earl Strickland, in a similar challenge match last March.

That said, I did watch Shane beat Alex during three consecutive nights in the Derby City action room, back in 2008. Shane also rolled over Mika Immonen in a separate challenge match held last year in New York.

These great challenge matches are sponsored by Justin Collett and theactionreport.com.

-- R.A. Dyer

KNOCKOUT STAGES BEGIN AT THE WOMEN'S WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP

2011-09-23T08:05:00.003-05:00

32 Players Remain in China tournament

BY TED LERNER
Photos by Alison Chang
(Courtesy World Pool-Billiard Association)

Japan’s top player, Chichiro Kawahara.

SHENYANG, CHINA -- For some pool players, like defending champion Fu Xiaofang of China, Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan, and Korea’s Ga Young Kim, the only satisfaction to be found in Shenyang this week at the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship will be inside the winner’s circle on Sunday. For others, like the Netherland’s Tamara Peeters-Rademakers, or Belgium’s 15 year old Kamila Khodjaeva, just getting through to the knockout stage in a world championship might be considered victory in itself.

Which is why even though perhaps no more than 15 players in the field of 64 can be considered serious contenders for the title, there was still plenty of emotions and nervy drama on display inside the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena on day 2 of the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship on Friday. It was the Day of Reckoning as the field was reduced to 32 players and the knockout stages were set to begin.

Fu Xiaofang of China

The second day in Shenyang began with players on the winners’ side of each group going head to head for a spot in the final 32. World number one and defending champion Fu Xiaofang locked horns with the USA’s Monica Webb before prevailing 7-5. China’s 2009 World 9-ball champion Lui ShaSha and compatriot Chen Siming, who’s just 17 years old, both looked in solid form as they cruised to convincing wins. And China’s First Lady of 9-ball, Pan Xiaoting, made it through to the knockout stage with a stingy 7-6 win over Korea’s Lim Yun Mi.

In other action: the Philippines top female player, Rubilen Amit, stomped Venezuela’s Carly Sanchez, 7-2; and Canada’s Brittany Bryant (who admits she hasn’t played her best) beat China’s Zheng Xiaochun 7-5 for two straight and a spot on the big stage.

Not everything went according to the script, however, as several of pool’s stars unexpectedly found themselves on the verge of elimination. Korea’s two big names Ga Young Kim and Yu Ram Cha both dropped to the losers side with 7-6 defeats. Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan also lost in the morning session and was sent to left side of her bracket for one last chance.

The 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship now moves onto the 32 player single elimination knockout stages, which begin Friday evening, where the field will be reduced to the final 16.

The total prize fund for the 2011 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship is $150,000 with $30,000 going to the winner on Sunday.

PoolSynergy22: Ten Important Dead Guys

2011-08-15T09:36:00.003-05:00

George Jansco, left, and brother Paulie, right, seen here with 1993 Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Taylor. Why aren't George and Paulie in the Hall of Fame?

The newest inductees into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame were announced last week by the United States Billiard Media Association. Kudos to Danny DiLiberto and Ralf Souquet. The official induction ceremony will be held Oct. 20, during the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Chesapeake.

Hall of Fame induction can mark the culmination of a grand career. Past winners include Johnny Archer, Alison Fisher, Willie Mosconi, Ralph Greenleaf and the great Willie Hoppe. The most important promoters of the game, such as American Poolplayers Association founders Larry Hubbart and Terry Bell, have also gained entry. But several important personalities have been skipped over through the years — some because of BCA rules, others because they were active so long ago that they have been nearly forgotten.

For this edition of Pool Synergy, I've listed 10 dead guys who are not in the Hall of Fame but should be. I've limited this list to the dearly departed, although there are plenty of folks among the living who deserve induction. I'd like to thank Mike Shamos, the great Billiards Digest historian, for help with the list. The players and promoters are listed in alphabetical order, not by order of importance.

1. Bennie Allen (1890-1953)

Allen was the U.S. 14.1 champion in 1913, 1914 and 1915. In 1950, he became he first U.S. National Snooker champion. Allen is the only three-time winner of the national 14.1 title who remains outside into the Hall of Fame.

2. Steve Cook (1946-2003)

Cook was the all-around champion in 1970 of the Las Vegas Stardust Open, then the richest tournament in pool. Cook already has been inducted into the One-pocket Hall of Fame. However, he has been kept out of the BCA Hall of Fame because he has not won a BCA recognized world or national title, which is required for BCA induction.

3. Maurice Daly (1849-1932)

Daly was the U.S. 4-ball champion in 1873, the carom champion in 1873 and 1875 and the World cushion caroms champion in 1883. Incredibly, he also was the teacher of Willie Hoppe and the author of Daly’s Billiard Book, which at one time was America's best-selling sports book.

Rags: Best 1-Pocket Player Ever?

4. Johnny "Rags" Fitzpatrick (1918-1960)

One of my personal favorites, Fitzpatrick was best known as a 1-pocket player, but possessed great skill at the other games. Some believe Fitzpatrick to have been America's best-ever one-pocket players. He was inducted into the One-Pocket Hall of Fame in 2006.

5. Allen Gilbert (1939-2006)

Gilbert, who resided in Los Angeles, won the United States National 3-Cushion Billiard Championship on seven occasions. He was also the author of Systematic Billiards and a respected billiards instructor.

6. Thomas Hueston (Unknown-1940s)

Hueston won multiple championships in continuous pool (a precursor of straight pool), in straight pool and in three-cushion billiards. Hueston held both the pool and three-cushion titles at the same time.

7 & 8. George & Paulie Jansco (1915-1969, 1918-1997)

The Janscos created the famous Johnston City Tournaments, which helped transform pool into what it is today. They also created the Stardust Tournaments in Las Vegas. The Janscos were inducted into the One-Pocket Hall of Fame in 2007.

9. Jerome Keogh (1873-1953)

Keogh won the continuous pool championship many times over — but more importantly, he was the actual inventor of straight pool. How many people can make such a claim? It's incredible that Keogh has not yet been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

10. Don Willis (1909-1984)

Willis was remembered as one of America's finest hustlers and a great friend and road partner to Wimpy Lassiter. Willis was a great 9-ball player, but he always avoided tournaments.

About PoolSynergy
PoolSynergy is an online collaborative effort by pool and billiard bloggers, in which each agrees to write about a single theme. To read a list of the other fine contributions this month, check out Sam Diep Vidal's excellent Pool Tip Jar blog, which you can find here. If you have a question or a suggested topic for the PoolSynergy project, please send it to R.A. Dyer, care of this email address.

BCA: Souquet, DiLiberto inducted into HOF

2011-08-12T19:23:00.001-05:00

(Press release from the Billiard Congress of America)

Broomfield, Colo., Aug. 12, 2011 — Versatility and longevity are the common threads that bind 2011 Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductees Ralf Souquet and Danny DiLiberto, who earned election into pool’s hallowed halls in voting conducted by the United States Billiard Media Association. Souquet, 42, and DiLiberto, 76, will be formally inducted into Greatest Player wing of the BCA Hall of Fame on Oct. 20 during ceremonies at the Chesapeake Marriott in Chesapeake, Va.

Souquet, born in Eschweiler, Germany, has been a dominant player in Europe for more than 25 years, having won more than 40 German titles and 34 European Championship medals. But his record is nearly as impressive in top U.S. and international events. “The Kaiser,” as Souquet is known, boasts world titles in both 9-ball (1996) and 8-ball (2004), a gold medal in 9-ball at the 2009 World Games, and is a four-time winner of the World Pool Masters. On American soil, Souquet owns a BCA U.S. Open 14.1 Championship crown (2000), a U.S. Open 9-Ball title (2002), a pair of BCA Open 9-Ball Championship titles, and has won the Derby City 9-ball crown three times.

“This is great news!” said Souquet, who had finished second in Hall of Fame voting to Francisco Bustamante in 2010. “It’s a great honor. When you talk about the greatest players, like Archer and Strickland and Varner, they’re all in the Hall of Fame. Being mentioned in the same list with those names is a great achievement.”

Souquet becomes the seventh foreign-born player inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame.

“I’m also proud to be the first European male player in the Hall of Fame,” Souquet added. “I think it’s probably harder for a foreign player to be voted in, but it’s nice that the American pool community believes that my overall game and approach to the sport has been positive. I must have done something right.”

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., DiLiberto chose billiards ahead of boxing, bowling and baseball, all sports at which the multi-talented athlete excelled. In fact, DiLiberto boxed professionally and was undefeated as a professional fighter. Under the tutelage of famed trainer Angelo Dundee, and boxing under the name Danny Toriani, DiLiberto posted a 14-0-2 record, with 12 knockouts in the late ’50s, until his oft-injured hands forced him to retire from the ring.

Boxing’s loss was billiards’ gain, as the colorful DiLiberto spent nearly 30 years near the top of the game. DiLiberto won numerous national-class tournaments in the ’60s, but was at his peak in the 1970s when 14.1 was the game of champions in the pool world. After falling in the title match of the prestigious BCA U.S. Open 14.1 championship in both 1968 (to Joe Balsis) and 1972 (to Steve Mizerak), DiLiberto won the straight pool division at the 1972 Johnston City World All-Around Championships. DiLiberto then went on to defeat 9-ball division champ Billy Incardona and one- pocket division winner Larry “Boston Shorty” Johnson in a three-man playoff to earn the Johnston City All-Around crown.

DiLiberto’s versatility at the table shown through in the ’80s when he defeated Nick Varner in the title match to win the 1981 BCA National 8-Ball Championship, then won the ’83 World One- Pocket title and the 1984 Classic Cup 9-Ball crown, giving him a major national title in the four major pool disciplines.

“I’m really choked up,” DiLiberto said after being informed of the honor. “I really thought the Hall of Fame would wait until I was dead to vote for me. It’s truly an honor. This makes my day, my month, my year!”

Voting was conducted by the USBMA Hall of Fame Board, which consists of USBMA members, elected At-Large members and living members of the BCA Hall of Fame. Induction in the Greatest Players category is awarded to the player named on the most ballots. A second player is elected if both players are named on more than 70 percent of the ballots. Souquet was named on 65 percent of the ballots. Karen Corr received votes on 56 percent of the ballots. No other eligible player was named on more than 25 percent of the ballots. To be eligible for consideration in the Greatest Player category, a player a) must be 40 years old by Jan. 1 of the year of their induction; b) must have a professional playing career of at least 10 years; and c) must have recorded significant achievements in U.S.-based events.

DiLiberto is the first player elected to the Greatest Player wing of the BCA Hall of Fame through recommendation of the Veterans Committee. The Veterans Committee, a committee elected by the USBMA, reviews the resumes of mid-20th century players unlikely to win election against contemporary stars, and players who failed to be elected through the general Greatest Players elections prior to turning 60 years of age. A player recommended by the Veterans Committee to the Hall of Fame Board must receive a simple majority of “Yes” votes from the board for election.

About Billiard Congress of America
Founded in 1948, the Billiard Congress of America is a non-profit trade organization dedicated to growing a united, prosperous and highly regarded billiard industry through BCA leadership. The BCA seeks to enhance the success of its members and promote the game of billiards though educational, marketing and promotional efforts, annual industry trade shows and other programs designed to encourage billiards as a lifestyle and make pool everybody’s game.

PoolSynergy21: Questions for La Voyante!

2011-07-15T09:00:00.106-05:00

Dear La Voyante, the Mysterious:

I an older player, and I have been away from pool for a very long time. How can I improve my game after such a long lay-off? I'd like to get back up to speed, but I don't even know where to begin! With your mysterious arcane abilities, I know you can help me.

Signed,
Rufus from Texas

Funny you should ask, Rufus. As it turns out, the very same question has been posed for the 21st edition of the PoolSynergy project, the online collaborative effort in which pool bloggers write about a single topic. As a fond reader of PoolSynergy and a devout practitioner of the arcane arts, I, La Voyante the Mysterious, have bent my entire will to answering this very excellent question.

Joe "The Meatman" Balsis

The stars tell La Voyante that the answer you seek is in the possession of one Joe Balsis, a professional pool player. The stars also tell La Voyante that Mr. Balsis has unfortunately been dead since 1995, so getting instructional advice from him may be a challenge. However, no man, living or dead, is better suited to seek it than La Voyante!

Why is Joe Balsis, the one they call "The Meatman," the key to your question? It is simply this: Mr. Balsis was a national champion as a young boy, abandoned the game shortly after World War II, but then came back 17 years later to become champion again. Historians tell La Voyante that Mr. Balsis holds the American record for the longest layoff in championship pool.

La Voyante is a great man, but also a humble one, and so he turns to the expertise of George Fels, the Billiards Digest columnist, for more information about the one they call The Meatman. La Voyante has learned from reading Mr. Fels' expert columns that The Meatman was the son of a poolroom owner from Minersville, Pennsylvania, won the Philadelphia City Boys Championship in 1932 at age 11, and then went on to win four consecutive National Junior Pocket Billiard Titles. So famous was young Joe Balsis that his picture appeared in The New York Times, right next to fellow pool stars Ralph Greenleaf and Willie Hoppe.

George Fels

But Joe Balsis abandoned the game shortly after World War II. Instead of pool, Joe Balsis went to work for his father-in-law's meat business. “Thus began the professional game’s longest known layoff,” Mr. Fels tells us. The Meatman earned both a good living and his troubling descriptive nickname during these years.

Another of La Voyante's Favorite Books

It was after the birth of his third child that Joe Balsis returned to pool. The sport was gaining again in popularity, largely the result of the Paul Newman film, The Hustler, which was released in 1961. (You can read about the renaissance sparked by that book in one of La Voyante's favorite books, Hustler Days.) In 1964 a Philadelphia room owner sponsored Joe Balsis for the prestigious Billiard Room Proprietors Association of America tournament, held in New York. It would be the first big tournament after his comeback. The Meatman finished with a 7-6 record, just passably good, but then would go on to win the BRPAA tournament outright the following year. Joe Balsis could now claim junior and world championships an incredible 32 years apart.

In 1966 Joe Balsis placed second to Irving Crane in the Billiard Congress of America’s inaugural straight pool U.S. Open in Chicago, won the Johnston City all-around, and took out Willie Mosconi during a high-profile competition in California as Mosconi was attempting his own return to pool. Mr. Balsis during this California event beat Mr. Mosconi in the finals and also pocketed an average of 22 balls per inning during the tournament, shattering an old record held by Mosconi. (You can read more about this tournament and about the prickly Mr. Mosconi in The Hustler & The Champ, another of La Voyante's favorite books.)

La Voyante's Pool Instructional Device

According to Mr. Fels: “In the first 28 months of his professional pool career, Balsis competed in 10 major tournamens, wining five, second once, two fourths, two fifths. Overall, between 1965 and 1975, he may well have been the world’s best player … His peers shuddered at the thought of taking him on just as they once had been in awe of Mosconi.”

Mr. Balsis was inducted into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame in 1982.

So, Rufus, back to your question: How should one train after a long lay-off from the sport? Only Joe Balsis can know for sure. After all, no man, dead or alive, has made such a come back as The Meatman. For your answer, La Voyante shall continue to consult his Ouija board. When La Voyante hears from the great beyond, so shall you!

About PoolSynergy
PoolSynergy is an online collaborative effort by pool and billiard bloggers, in which each agrees to write about a single theme. To read a list of the other fine contributions this month, check out PoolBum's excellent blog, which you can find here. If you have a question for La Voyante or a suggested topic for the PoolSynergy project, please send it to R.A. Dyer, care of this email address.

PoolSynergy20: The Hustlers' Jamboree

2011-06-15T09:00:00.021-05:00

I’ve been thinking a lot about Johnston City lately, especially given that the 50th anniversary of the Hustlers Jamboree is just around the corner. For those who have never heard of it, the famous tournament started out as a tiny backwoods affair. Eventually, however, it grew into one of the most celebrated pool competitions in American history. The first Johnston City event featured one-pocket only and almost no spectators. The last had nine-ball, straight-pool, one-pocket — and so much gambling that it was raided by federal agents.

I've written plenty about Johnston City over the last several years and as a consequence I've received several letters from folks who witnessed all the mayhem first hand. For my PoolSynergy contribution this month I figured I'd turn those letters into gold. Our assignment was to describe what makes for a great tournament experience. Who better to opine about this topic than folks who were present for America's great Hustler Jamborees?

But before we get going, let me first provide the Cliff Notes explanation as to why you should care about Johnston City. As noted previously, the first of these events was conducted in 1961. The last was in 1972. They were organized by the brothers George and Paulie Jansco and drafted off the popularity of The Hustler, the famous movie featuring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. The tournaments were noteworthy for many reasons, not the least of which was their elevation of nine-ball as the official tournament game of pool and because they helped to establish Minnesota Fats as America's most famous pool player. The tournaments were also the first significant pool events to bring gambling out of the shadows. In fact it was the gambling —and the romance that surrounded it —that attracted the national media to Johnston City. Whether for good or bad, this is simply a fact.

Ross Parker Simons, center, with his Dad and unidentified man.

For those who are unfamiliar with the events, I've written a retrospective essay in this month's Billiards Digest. You can find it here. There's also plenty of information about Johnston City in Hustler Days and The Hustler & The Champ. I maintain a separate Johnston City blog with plenty of anecdotes, pictures and video about the event, which you can find here. And just above I've reproduced a video of the famous Minnesota Fats holding forth in Johnston City.

And now on to the letters:

Gary Carlson writes that in 1965 or 1966 he piled into a Chevy Impala with a friend and the two drove down from Decatur, Illinois to Johnston City. And that's where he witnessed the famous "toilet brush" incident.

 "I didn’t know what was going on — I knew nobody. The place was wall-to-wall packed. Difficult to see the action and it seemed somewhat disorganized. After watching endless 9-ball, we learned that the more interesting stuff was going on “out back.” I can’t recall (after all, this was about 45 years ago) if it was in a part of the same room walled off or a small building separate from the main room. I think we paid $5 for entry. It was north of the main building (which was like fifties deco), the latter which sat on the northwest quarter of the intersection. In any case, we were there only maybe a couple hours and the only memory I have was in this back room. I recall or heard of or saw “Jersey Red,” Eddie “Knoxville” Taylor, and “Big Daddy Warbucks” who I much later learned was Hubert Cokes. The match I recall was between Big Daddy and somebody else — I can’t recall who —seems like Taylor, but I’m not totally sure if Taylor or Red were even there that year and I just heard their names — but it was certainly Big Daddy. I also remember a LONG conversation about what the handicap would be. The game was going to be 8-ball and a race to something for $100 (good money back then). Now, instead of their bridge hand, Warbucks was to use his hat for a bridge and the other guy went into the toilet and returned with a big toilet brush."

And here’s a note from John Rousseau, who read my Billiards Digest essay:

“I am glad I went to Southern Illinois during that period and got to go to Johnson City every day. Grades sucked but it was quite an experience on life. I was there that night thanks to my deceit and larceny. The tickets for the broadcast were very expensive so I bought extra tickets for the regular tournament as they had no date or reference to ABC. We made a stink at the front door when they refused to admit us when Jim McKay yelled out, this is f------ live, let the a**holes in!”

Ross Parker Simons in 1965 with Boston Shorty.

Ross Parker Simons was just 13 when he want to Johnston City. That’s a picture of him on the right and above. Here's what he has to say:

“When I was 13, my father took me out of school is Wisconsin for a road trip to Johnston City and the Jansco Brothers 1965 tournament. I don't recall my mother's reaction, although she couldn't have been too mad as she packed a cooler with fried chicken and seven ounce bottles of Schlitz for the overnight drive. ... Although I don't recall much about the games, I knew good pool and remember that Harold Worst was impressive. Looked like a haberdasher and shot like a machine. I also liked to watch one pocket. What's funny about the picture of Boston Shorty now that I look at it is his bored sneer... like beat it kid. But I don't remember anyone being rude to me, even the imperious Daddy Warbucks. Saw Handsome Danny Jones there and he was, in fact, quite handsome.”

You can read more at the Johnston City blog, including some recollections of Karen Fox, whose husband co-authored the autobiography of Minnesota Fats. And if you were old enough to remember Johnston City, please drop me a line.

Before I sign off, I would like to leave you with this last thought. I believe it's high time that George and Paulie Jansco, the late promoters of Johnston City, were inducted into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame. They've already been inducted into the One Pocket Hall of Fame, but now it's time for them to be honored by the BCA. If you agree (or even if you don't) send a note to Billiards Digest or your favorite pool magazine.

About PoolSynergy
PoolSynergy is an online collaborative effort by pool and billiard bloggers, in which each agrees to write about a single theme. PoolSynergy submissions are published simultaneously by each of the participating blogs on the 15th of every month. To read a list of the other fine contributions this month, check out Mike Fieldhammer's excellent Billiard Coach blog, which you can find here.

-- R.A. Dyer

PoolSynergy 19: The Norfolk Glory Years

2011-05-15T09:00:00.017-05:00

The Greatest Pool Town In American History?

Wimpy Lassiter

There are pool meccas and then there are pool meccas. Our PoolSynergy task this month is to pick one and write about it. But as I deal with history here, for my essay I’ll reach back into time and describe one of the great pool towns of the past.

I’m not talking Johnston City. I’m not talking Los Angeles or Chicago. I’m talking about Norfolk, Virginia, during World War II: the town where Wimpy Lassiter was king. Norfolk was the home of the the famous Tuxedo, the town’s main action room. The Tuxedo was located downtown, on City Hall avenue. But there was also St. Elmo, with the flashing ball and stick above the door, and the Monroe and the Eureka.

I describe Norfolk at great length in my book Hustler Days, which chronicles Wimpy Lassiter's rise to greatness there. Norfolk was a navy city, and the sailors and shipbuilders flooded in during World War II, tripling the city's population. This meant: suckers. And so the sharks came too, men like Andrew Ponzi, Johnny Irish, Rags Fitzpatrick, Earl Shriver, New York Fats, Joe Canton.

And of course there was Lassiter, remembered today as one of the greatest nine-ball players in American history. He won and lost several small fortunes in Norfolk. An old friend of Lassiter’s, Rusty Miller, explained to me how the former Coast Guard man would skip off the boat at night, looking for action. “All these people were making bucketsful and bucketsful of money,” said Miller, who was in his teens during the war years. “They had so, so much money. I was used to playing for 50 cents or $1 nine-ball. I remember walking into a poolroom and I saw Wimpy playing $250 a game – and this was 1944! I was totally flabbergasted.”

Lassiter was stationed on a Coast Guard vessel in Norfolk.

Miller remembered as many as six poolrooms in Norfolk, all within walking distance of each other. There were payoffs to the cops and wide-open bookmaking, he said. "The Coast Guard pay started at $21 a month, but Wimpy would pay $50 a night (for a shipmate to take his duties). The kids on the ship would line up to stand in for Wimpy (so he could leave the ship and gamble). At a salary of $21 a month, that $50 per night looked pretty good."

Norfolk was also the home of the Commando Club, an illegal nightspot owned by a well-to-do gambler named Whitey. Whitey would boast that he easily cleared $10,000 weekly off his entertainment ventures. And it was money Whitey was willing to gamble. “All the pool players migrated to Norfolk to play Whitey pool,” said Miller. “I remember seeing him lose $22,000 in a single day. And the next day, the same guy (who beat Whitey) lost most of that money. I saw every famous pool player known to man come to Norfolk to play Whitey.”

More about Norfolk in Hustler Days.

It was also against Whitey, in Norfolk, that Lassiter played what has been described as one of the greatest money matches of all time. As Miller remembered it, Lassiter had just beat Whitey of $5,000 playing nine-ball. “Whitey quit him, and then when he quit, Whitey’s throw-away line was: ‘How would you like to play one game of straight pool for $5,000? Just one?’

“Wimpy looked at him and said, ‘Well, yeah’ – and they played one game of straight pool for $5,000.” The game was set, Wimpy gave Whitey a giant spot ... and then Wimpy managed to sink just eight balls. Whitey, meanwhile, got to 98. That is, the club owner was just two points from victory. And that's when Wimpy got back to the table. “And then Wimpy ran 82 and out,” said Miller. “I watched it with my own two eyes.”

About PoolSynergy
PoolSynergy is an online collaborative effort by pool and billiard bloggers, in which each agrees to write about a single theme. PoolSynergy submissions are published simultaneously by each of the participating blogs on the 15th of every month. To read a list of the other fine contributions this month, check out the JB Cases blog, which you can find here.

-- R.A. Dyer

PoolSynergy 18: The Ayatolla of One-Hola

2011-04-15T09:14:00.059-05:00

Favorite game? One-pocket without a doubt. This is the game of the famous Ayatollah of One-Hola, Jersey Red. He was one of the first people I ever saw playing the game. And boy could Red play.

For our PoolSynergy topic this month, we’ve been assigned the task of writing about pool games. As exhibit number one as to why One-Pocket is the best of all of them, I submit to you the sequence of shots, below. It was executed by Red back in 1969, during a match-up with Ronnie Allen in Houston's Le Cue pool hall. I didn’t see this sequence first hand (I was only six years old at the time), although I don’t doubt Red pulled it off.


From Eddie Robins' Winning One-Pocket.

You can find more about this sequence in Eddie Robin’s excellent book, Winning One-Pocket. As reported there by Grady “The Professor” Mathews, Red was at the table and needed all four balls. It looked like escape was impossible. Appropriately, Red remarked “even Houdini couldn't get out from here” before beginning his run. First he shot the combination seen in the top diagram. That is, he pocketed a ball in the upper right-hand corner while simultaneously sinking another back into his pocket on the lower left side. Notice Red went rail first to make this combination-bank shot. In the next diagram Red got to his wicket while simultaneously pocketing the hanger in the side pocket. He then pocketed the final two balls after they were spotted back up. Notice here the two-rail bank.

This match-up would have occurred within months of Red's second place finish in the 1969 U.S. Open. You can read more about Red and the U.S. Open in my book Hustler Days. That's a picture of him there on the cover. And please go buy Robin's Winning One-Pocket. It's a great read.

-- R.A. Dyer

Eccentric Pearl Beats Young Gun

2011-03-21T14:50:00.004-05:00

Strickland stuns fans, beats SVB in Challenge Match

Wearing ear muffs and arm weights, Earl "The Pearl" Strickland stunned pool fans this week with an underdog victory over Shane Van Boening, the young gun from South Dakota considered by many as America's greatest 10-ball player.

The two pool giants met in a 100-game winner-take-all challenge match held Friday through Sunday in Youngstown, Ohio. The game was Boening's specialty, but it was conducted across a massive 10-foot converted snooker table. The format appeared to have favored Strickland, who took an 11-game lead the first night and then never relinquished it. Strickland ended up winning 100-83, a 17-game difference.

Fewer than 40 percent of respondents to a poolhistory.com poll predicted that the aging Strickland would win the match. He also was the underdog on various pool forums. One fan predicted that Van Boening would take such a commanding lead that Strickland would quit him early.

But it was not to be. Wearing absurd green ear muffs and bulky arm weights for reasons that remain somewhat unclear, Strickland plowed through rack after rack. He beat Van Boening soundly the first night, played him about even the second, and then ran over him again on Sunday.

Van Boening closed to within 7 games on that final night of play but then abruptly faded. His game and confidence seemed to have completely abandoned him by the end with unexpected misses, loose safeties and unforced scratches.

Stickland, by contrast, appears to be mounting a major career comeback. His game was top notch, his position play sharp. He nearly lost his cool after a few missed shots, but the notoriously volatile player never become so unhinged as to derail his overall game. The victory builds upon a second place finish in the Derby City One-Pocket division in January and last year's victory at the U.S. Bar Table 8-Ball championships.

Strickland does, however, appear to have become a bit more quirky with age. Besides donning the green ear muffs, Strickland also was wont to examine the racked balls with a small magnifying glass. He'd gesture to fans with it between games, proclaiming "that's a good rack!" Strickland also made use of massively long cue that looked more appropriate for pole vaulting than 10-ball. "It looks like a javelin," quipped one commentator for theactionreport.com, which sponsored the pay-per-view event.

But Strickland's victory was no laughing matter. The colorful Hall of Fame player is the only man alive to have won the prestigious U.S. Open Nine-Ball Championship on five separate occasions. Is there a sixth in the offing?

-- R.A. Dyer

Eccentric Strickland defying Predictions

2011-03-20T11:48:00.005-05:00

Crowd pleasing star so far beating Van Boening

In defiance of the predictions, Shane Ban Boening so far is getting his clock cleaned in the 100-game shoot-out with the very much older, very much more volatile Earl Strickland.

The 100-ball challenge match, held in Youngstown, Ohio, has now finished its second day. Strickland leads 70 games to 60. At one time Strickland held a 16-game lead. The match resumes tonight and can be viewed online at theactionreport.com.

Shane Van Boening, considered by many as America's greatest player, nonetheless appeared somewhat flummoxed by the larger scale of the 10-foot table used in the $20,000 winner-take-all event. The South Dakota Kid remained relatively impassive for the entirety of the evening, although a painful grimace would creep across his face after his failed shots, of which there were several.

Strickland, meanwhile, seemed mostly in command, if not exactly at ease. Wearing large green ear muffs to stifle out the crowd noise, and with weights on his shooting arm, the increasingly eccentric Hall of Famer would captain the cueball around the table clutter like a schooner in a busy harbor. Between games he would produce a magnifying glass to examine the racked balls, earning him the nickname "Earl-lock Holmes" by some of his snarkier fans. He also wagged his finger on occasion at a distracting crowd member -- and even complained about theactionreport camera operator. But through it all he never lost his cool, despite predictions by some that his famous volatility would be his undoing during the long event.

In fact, Strickland continues to defy predictions. An informal poolhistory.com poll had fans favoring Van Boening over Strickland by 25 percentage points. In a separate contest sponsored by poolhistory.com, Van Boening is nearly a 2-1 favorite. Fans calling the match for Van Boening predicted he would win by about 15 games (see the chart at right). The younger player did manage to close to as few as 5 games before Strickland again opened up a sizable lead. On balance, Van Boening picked up one game from the previous night's outing.

The evening's competition was characterized by plenty of safety play in which both players made use of the long table to force tough shots. Frequently, either Van Boening or Strickland would find themselves confronted with tough shots in which the cue ball was parked at the center on one end rail, and the object ball parked on the other. The night's competition ended with a Van Boening scratch on the three-ball, just as he was reaching across the table using the bridge. The score then stood at 60-69, but Strickland followed up the error with a quick run-out, bringing the score to 60-70.

This means that in order to win the 100-game challenge, Van Boening now needs 40 games but Strickland only needs 30. The third and final set of the pay-per-view event can be viewed live tonight at TheActionReport.com.

-- R.A. Dyer

PoolSynergy 17: Expert Tourney Tips

2011-03-15T08:18:00.009-05:00

Every month a bunch of men and women who blog about pool agree to post essays about a single topic. This collaborative effort is called the PoolSynergy Project. This is our 17th installment.

Our topic for March is tournament and league preparation. Since I don't typically play in either, I figured I'd turn to the experts. I asked folks on my Pool & Billiard History Facebook page (you can find it here) how they prepare for competition. I've reproduced a sample of some of the responses, with a bit of editing for space. And just above, I've reproduced video of some useful drills from regular PoolSynergy contributors Samm Diep and Mike Fieldhammer. You can find other PoolSynergy essays this month at ForumGhost516's blog, linked here.

Missy Moran Capestrain (Certified BCA Instructor and League Coordinator):

Players should always practice alone before a tmt or league play. To increase confidence they should do a progressive practice. This means begin setting up a very easy shot and shoot it in, including the use of the basics mechanics, feel, preshot routine. Beginning with easy shots builds confidence. Next put some space between the cue and object balls and shoot this shot. If done properly and the shot is made, increase the distance again — 6 or so inches at a time is a good rule of thumb. Keep doing this until there is a lot of green between the balls and the shot is consistently pocketed. Not only can the player practice tough shots using this method, they also get to practice all of the shots in-between. Confidence is gained every step of the way with successful pocketing of balls.

Source: 9-Ball Grand Prix Open (Own work)

Another idea is to use the same amount of practice strokes on every shot —except for maybe the very difficult ones. This is not only good practice, but it helps players to drown out unneeded outside interferences like sharking, loud music, and noise.

Skyscraper Chris:
When I was in a slump last year, around February, I realized I needed to desperately change my game. I had the ability to win, I had the knowledge, and I had the skills — but I was lacking in the mental toughness and stamina. So I made 3 changes not to my game per say, but to my playing habits:

First, I stopped drinking soda while playing, which I noticed was making me dehydrated, caused me to sweat and shake during some matches, and generally affected my physical well being while playing.

Second, I began keeping a close record of all my tournament matches, including wins, losses, weight given/taken, players and their ranks, etc. I still keep this up, and it motivates me to raise my numbers, sort of like an Accu-stat.

Finally, I changed something fundamental in my game: I am known for breaking and running 6 or 7 balls, then dogging the final 2 balls. This was not because I lacked the ability to make those balls, but because I mentally dogged the shot, doubted myself, or didn't focus enough. So, I decided that when I got down on a critical shot (money ball, key ball, final ball), I would 'dog' the shot in my mind, thus getting it out of my system, get up from the shot, chalk up, get back down with a clear mind, and pocket the ball confidently.

Since making these changes to my game, I have won dozens of tournaments, leveled up 3 times, won many more money matches, and increased my confidence. Before the changes, I hadn't won a single tournament.

Elijah Davenport:

Always think positive. Talk yourself into a shot, not out of it. Also take as much time as is allowed and needed. Remember, don't be in a hurry to miss.

Nick Baker:
I noticed that when playing league AND tournaments alike that if I "dogged" a shot, or even worse —if my opponent dogged a shot and got lucky shape from the miss, that I would become timid with my shots. I found that approaching those shots like my opponent had played a great safety and really concentrating on "turning the cueball loose" greatly helped my confidence level. After hours of drills and practice, I just trusted my stroke and my first instinct on each shot and could usually rebound from my mistakes or kick out of whatever situation my opponent had put me into.

Cathy Jo Sawyer Almanza (player and tournament director):
Many players start out by playing in a league and once they get better they start entering tournaments. Since tournament rules usually do not allow "group party socializing" during a match, my prep advice is for all players to recognize the differences in singles competition and group play, and to always conduct themselves appropriately for the type of event that they are participating in.

-- R.A. Dyer

Fan Predictions: Van Boening vs Strickland

2011-03-08T08:40:00.000-06:00

The first round of predictions are in. Most readers forecast a win by Shane Van Boening in his upcoming 10-ball shoot-out with Earl Strickland. The 100-game challenge match will be held March 18-20 in Youngstown, Ohio. SVB and The Pearl will be meeting across a 10-foot table. It's a $20,000 winner-take-all contest.

I received about 20 votes in just a few hours. The average of predictions for those who pick Shane is 100 games for Shane, and 84.8 games for Strickland. (See the chart above). Of those who pick Strickland, the average outcome is 100 games for the veteran and 87.4 games for Shane. (See the chart below). However, Shane so far is preferred by an almost two-to-one margin.

There's still plenty of time to make your prediction. To the reader who comes closest I'll send a free book. We're getting so many entries I might even send out several books. To submit your prediction, just go to the Pool History Facebook page at this link. You can also comment at the bottom of this post. Please post your name, then Strickland's score first, then Van Boening's. That way I won't go blind reading all the entries.

Good luck!

-- R.A. Dyer

Win a Free Book

2011-03-06T14:42:00.000-06:00

Strickland vs Van Boening: Call The Winner
The details have all been ironed out for another high-profile shoot-out, this time featuring two of America's greatest players. Veteran Earl Strickland, the five-time
winner of the U.S. Open, meets Shane Van Boening, considered by many as today's top player. The contest: a race-to-100 10-ball match. Strickland and the young hotshot meet March 18-20 in Youngstown, Ohio. To make the game even more interesting, the contest will be held on a 5 by 10 table. The $20,000 winner-take-all match is sponsored by The Action Report, which recently webcast Van Boening's 100-game shoot-out with Mika Immomen.

Free Book and Pool History Poll
I'll send out a free book to whomever most closely predicts the final score. Just sign up on the Pool & Billiard History Facebook Page and post your prediction there. Here's the link. I've also posted up a poll at the upper right. You can predict the winner and then check back later to see the ongoing tally. I'll keep the poll open until midnight March 17, the night before the shoot-out begins.

A bit more background? Earl "The Pearl" Strickland won the U.S. Open in 1984, 1987, 1993, 1997 and 2000. He's also been a decisive part of the U.S. Team for The Mosconi Cup. With Earl, the Americans amassed a record of nine wins, three losses and one tie. Without Earl, the Americans' record was a piddling 2-2. Strickland has been off his game for much of the last decade, but then began making a serious comeback last year. Strickland placed second to Van Boening in the One-Pocket division at this year's Derby City Classic, won the Jacoby Custom Cue tour stop in January and won both the U.S. Bar Table 8-ball Championship and the Steve Mizerak Championship in 2010.

Van Boening, by contrast, has won just about everything there is to win. He took Derby City's Master of the Table award this year and won both the U.S. Bar Table 10-ball and 9-ball championships last year. He also is a past U.S. Open winner and currently is the highest ranked American on the Billiards Digest Power Index.

-- R.A. Dyer

Rule 16: Do Not Ask to Play Dippy Dave Even

2011-02-26T19:03:00.000-06:00

Dippy Dave, also known as David Peat, was awarded the Louie Roberts Action and Entertainment Award at this year's Derby City Classic. I watched him in high-stakes action against Sylver Ochoa, of Houston, in The Action Report room. It was very late on the last Friday of the tournament. Sylver was giving Dave a giant spot -- 16-4 as I recall. The game was one-pocket. Dave lost.

But the Louie Roberts Award is not awarded for winning in the action room. It's awarded for entertaining in the action room. And on this score, Dave was without peer. He's funny, he demands ludicrous spots, and he's got heart. He can't play like the top pros, not even close. But he's willing to challenge them for humongous stakes. Dippy Dave won the Louie Roberts award in a landslide.

Rule No. 16: Do Not Ask To Play Dippy Dave Even.

Dave hails from the world of professional poker, and, according to his online bio, has tallied up more than $270,000 in tournament earnings playing Texas Hold 'Em. He started playing in high-dollar pool matches last year, mostly one-pocket. Although he lost a small fortune early on, Action Report founder Justin Collett tells me that Dave lately has booked some winners -- including sticking one of the great Filipino players not long ago for $80,000 and a former U.S. Open winner for $40,000.

"Dippy is a stone hustler," Collett said. "If he's playing a couple a hundred a game, he don't give a ****. He would rather have a good time, and make everybody laugh. When he was playing Sylver at the Derby, they were playing cheap, a couple of thousand, and I know that Dippy was not going to win those games."

"But Dippy has a tremendous amount of knowledge about the game. I've seen him win games against Alex (Pagulayan) or Gabe (Owen) when it got down to two balls on the table. Or even just one ball. Getting that sort of weight, he's not supposed to have a prayer."

That's a video of Dippy Dave, above, playing Scott Frost. It was shot prior to Derby City. I found it on YouTube. Last year's Louie Roberts Award went to Jeanette Lee.

-- R.A. Dyer

Black History Month

2011-02-22T09:01:00.000-06:00

The Late Great Cisero Murphy

Hall of Famer Cisero Murphy

Since we're all about history here, and this month is Black History Month, I figured it's important to commemorate today one of this nation's all-time great African American pool players. Cisero Murphy, shown in the video that you can find here, was the first African-American pool player to ever win a World or U.S. National billiard title. Murphy also was a trailblazer for equal access, having to overcome prejudice to gain his right to compete at the very top echelon of pool.

A native of Brooklyn, Murphy was born in 1937. He was one of eight children. He took up the sport early, dropped out of high school at age 15 and then a year later won the city pool championship. He won the state championship in 1958.

But because of his race, Murphy was excluded from world and national competition, including the Billiard Room Proprietor's Association of America events in New York and major tournaments in California. Finally, after pickets in both states, Murphy was invited in 1965 to compete in the World Invitation 14.1 tournament in Burbank California. He won it convincingly after defeating Luther Lassiter in the finals. With his victory, Murphy became the first pool player ever to win a world title in his first attempt. The BRPAA would also relent, inviting Murphy to compete in the organization's tournaments in New York. This effectively ended all official race-based barriers to entry in major professional pool tournaments.

Through the years Murphy would play and defeat many of the other greats, including his friend Jersey Red and even Willie Mosconi himself. He continued to place near the top in straight pool events during the 1960s and, according to the Billiard Congress of America website, posted several competitive high runs of over 250 balls.

Murphy was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 1995. He died the next year.

-- R.A. Dyer

PoolSynergy 16: Favorite Pool Halls

2011-02-14T10:38:00.000-06:00

The famous Allinger's Billiard Academy as it appeared in 1910. The greatest players in the world made their way to Allingers, including Greenleaf and Mosconi. I believed the room may have moved around during its tenure but in the 1950s it was located at 1307 Market Street in Philadelphia. It was at this location in 1954 that Wimpy Lassiter won his first national championship. He defeated defeated Irving Crane 150 to 130 in the final.

Pool halls. Everyone has a favorite. I was partial myself to Houston's Cue & Cushion and Costa Rica's Center Pool. Both now are defunct. For my contribution this month to PoolSynergy (the monthly online collection of pool essays) I've reproduced a number of letters I've received over the years about favorite pool halls. Some of these rooms were stately. Others decrepit. But all, in their way, important.

At the end I've included my own short essay about Cue & Cushion. Also, here's a link to a Billiards Digest column about Fort Worth's Fast Freddy's. It's said to be haunted by the ghost of U.J. Puckett.

St. Elmos, Norfolk, Virginia, Ken McCarthy

"When I was in the navy (1961-1965) I was stationed in Norfolk ,VA and played pool every minute I had at St. Elmos pool hall (2nd floor, a few buildings up from the YMCA). As you know this is where Wimpy played when in town, and it is where I saw him ( I still have a perfect vision of that white head standing out in the dimness along the left wall watching the goings-on). I was just starting to play pool and my friend pointed him out to me as a great player, although at the time I really didn't realize HOW great a player.

"In 1963 or 64 I bought a Willie Hoppe special (Brunswick) cue through the owner (a kindly, short, bald-headed man). I then sanded off a section on the top of the butt, bought a Parker ink pen and asked Mr. Lassiter to sign it. He did, and I still have the cue and the pen. I have recently picked up the game again and I now know that he was actually at the top of his game when he signed my cue!"

Allingers, Philadelphia, Michael McCafferty

Inside, right in front of the counter, was the main action table, with a prominent sign proclaiming 'NO GAMBLING', but of course that was just for show.

The floors were all bare wood planks, and I remember that the place wasn't a high example of cleanliness, but there seemed to be a high degree of orderliness.

The strongest memory I have of Allingers was the rack girls. You could rack your own, of course, but if you could also get help. Bang your stick on the floor a couple of times, yell 'RACK!' and a little black girl would scurry over and rack 'em for you, for tips. I remember the going rate was a dime a rack, pretty good money in those days.

Allingers was a Philly landmark, the high holy place of pool south of New York City.

When I graduated from college and started working for a living, pool left my life for 40 years, during which time Allingers quietly closed up forever."

Allingers, Philadelphia, Rayna Polksy

"My Grandfather, Sam Ross, owned Allingers probably from about 1945 until it closed. The business was managed by Sam Ross and his family: Martin Ross, Louis Ross, Jerry Ross, Jay Ross and my father, Irving Polsky. In addition to helping to manage the place , my father did most of the repairs and maintenance of the billiard tables. In addition he made cue sticks. Many of the famous players came to Allingers: Willie Hoppe and Willie Mosconi for example. My dad would bring me to Allingers on the weekends and teach me how to shoot pocket billiards. Unfortunately, I never had much talent for playing pool."

Texas Recreation, Fort Worth,Texas, Big Daddy

“When I was a teen-ager in Fort Worth, I had an uncle who introduced me to Texas Recreation in downtown Fort Worth. This was an open-bay pool room with dozens of table where you played for 60 cents an hour. I came back later when I was 16 and 17 and hustled pool there. Ask around, old timers probably remember the pool hall.

It was located in downtown Fort Worth on Houston Street on the second floor over a burlesque house. The burlesque place had photos of dancers in glass frames on the walls in front of the place. These were girls with feather boas wrapped around their waists and chests. I never went upstairs before checking out the photos of the dancers that week. Right next door to the burlesque house was Peters Bros. Hat stores, which has been fitting cowboy hats since 1933 at the same location. It is still there.”

Cue & Cushion, Houston, Texas, R.A. Dyer

“It was a great pool hall, having been a favorite haunt of Jersey Red, John "Duke" Dowell, Texas Bob and a cast of colorful others. I remember watching when guys like Corey Deuel and Jeremy Jones strolled in, looking to make games. Both are former U.S. Open 9-ball winners. There have been plenty of others, too -- even world-class players from overseas -- and so it was always wise to know who was who and what was what when you were invited to play for money at the Cue & Cushion.

Such big-time players always drew spectators -- the railbirds, they called them -- and these railbirds would crowd around the end of the tables, sometimes balancing on their heels to afford themselves a better view of the action. The out-of-town professionals would match up with the local hotshots, and the local hotshots would ask for a "spot," or handicap, to make the games more even.

When you asked for a table at the Cue & Cushion the bartender would mentally size you up and then you'd be sent off to play on one side of the L-shaped room or the other. The regulars would invariably go to the tables on the south side, while the casual players would go to the west.

It was there where I first met the great Jersey Red, remembered today as one of the greatest one-pocket players in history. Red could give away giant, ridiculous handicaps at this variation of pool (in one-pocket, you must sink all your balls into a single pocket) and still come away with the cash. Before his death of cancer in 1998, Red was a fixture at the Cue & Cushion. It was also at the Cue & Cushion where I picked up stories about other legends -- of men like Greg "Big Train" Stephens, for instance, who once ran 11 racks consecutively playing nine-ball against Wimpy Lassiter, or of the great Willie Mosconi, who could run 60 and 70 balls as easily as us mere mortals would run three or four. The old-timers at the Cue & Cushion were actually eyewitnesses to these events. For the price of a beer, they'd eagerly regale you with these stories and more.

With its demise, Houston has lost a small connection with its colorful past.”

About PoolSynergy

Pool Synergy is an online collaborative effort by pool and billiard bloggers, in which each agrees to write about a single theme. PoolSynergy submissions are published simultaneously by each of the participating blogs on the 15th of every month. To read a list of the other fine contributions this month, check out the Confessions of G Squared blog, which you can find here.

-- R.A. Dyer

Pearl mounts comeback, SVB takes cheese

2011-02-06T12:14:00.000-06:00

SVB with his big checks for winning the DCC

Earl Strickland had a great run during this year's Derby City Classic. He placed high in the nine-ball field, and only fell a few balls short of winning the One-Pocket division outright. He beat Shannon "The Cannon" Daulton in the semi-finals (3-2 in a close match), and then narrowly lost to Shane Van Boening in the finals 2-3. The Pearl expresses a few choice words after his One-Pocket defeat in the video above.

Van Boening went on to place second in the nine-ball division and took the Master of the Table award. Dennis Orcollo won the nine-ball division (check out the video in the blog post below). Alex Pagulayan won the Nine-Ball Banks division, and placed second in the Straight Pool Challenge. The Straight Pool Challenge went to Darren Appleton. Rodney "The Rocket" Morris won the Fatboy 10-ball challenge, beating out Appleton in the final.

If you're trying to keep up, here's the list:

Derby City Classic, 2011

Master of the Table: Shane Van Boening

Nine-Ball: Dennis Orcollo (Second: Shane Van Boening)

One-Pocket: Shane Van Boening (Second: Earl Strickland)

Nine-Ball Banks: Alex Pagulayan

Fatboy 10-Ball Challenge: Rodney Morris (Second: Darren Appleton)

Straight Pool Challenge: Darren Appleton (Second: Niels Feijen)

-- R.A. Dyer

Orcollo's Last 9-ball Run Out at Derby City

2011-02-05T13:57:00.000-06:00

Dennis Orcollo, left, and Lee Van Corteza

Dennis Orcollo was nearly unstoppable in nine-ball at Derby City this year. His only defeat during the entire event was to fellow Filipino Warren Kiamco -- and even then Orcollo shined. Kiamco had Orcollo way down and Kiamco was on the hill when Orcollo came roaring back to within one game of victory. Orcollo also ran over Mika Immonen and, as you can see in the video above, the great Shane Van Boening. Orcollo beat SVB in the nine-ball final 7-1. The video above shows Orcollo's last run-out. Fantastically, Orcollo jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the match after Shane left a shot in the first game. Orcollo finished that rack and then broke and ran four more. I also saw Orcollo in action at Derby City giving Chris Bartram the 8 and the 10, playing 10-ball in a race to 30. I think they were wagering $3,000. Bartram, one of the nation's great road players, got the worst of it. The exchange made a believer out of me about Dennis Orcollo.

-- R.A. Dyer

Boston Shorty versus Harold Worst

2011-01-23T15:39:00.000-06:00

Boston Shorty, four-time winner of the Johnston City One-Pocket competition, is remembered as one of the greatest one-pocket players ever. Harold Worst won the 1965 Johnston City tournament outright, as well as that year's Stardust Open. Worst could have been remembered as the most dominant player of the 1960s if not for his premature death (at age 37) from cancer.

You can watch the two legendary players battling it out in the video above. I really love the groovy jazz music in the background. Very atmospheric. And if you want to learn more, there's also Hustler Days. The book includes information about the famous Johnston City tournaments, Worst's dominant play in 1965, and a reference to Jersey Red's travels with Boston Shorty. Freddy "The Beard" Bentivegna also has a link to a Jim McKay interview with Worst, which you can find here.

PoolSynergy 15: Earl, Willie and Team Pool

2011-01-15T09:02:00.000-06:00

In the youtube video, above, Earl "The Pearl" Strickland illustrates why some believe pool should remain an individual endeavor. It was taken during the 2006 Mosconi Cup, conducted in the Netherlands. Judging from the video, it appears that Earl's cue did not simply break, but actually exploded. I love the obnoxious air horns, the wiseacre heckler. I can't speak Dutch, but I imagine he's congratulating Strickland for a job well done.

Phoning it in

For this month's edition of PoolSynergy, we've been asked to write about pool as a team sport. I have to confess that I do not play pool as a team sport, and so have few ideas on the topic and no over-arching theme this month. In other words, I'm phoning it in. That's a picture of me doing so, at right.

I do, however, have two unrelated observations -- one from me, and one from Hall of Fame player Nick Varner.

Willie Mosconi: team player?

First Observation: Let's talk about the Mosconi Cup. It's a great event. I find it ironic, however, that what must be considered the most high-profile team event in pool is named for a man who, like Strickland, did not always play well with others. William Joseph Mosconi, one of the greatest players in the history of our sport, was famously moody, a man with little patience for fools. Mosconi would stomp about during tournaments, chastise overly loud audience members and once allegedly attacked a tournament promoter. But boy could Willie play.

Would you want him on your team? And how about Ralph Greenleaf? The legendary player was drunk more often than not. His out-of-control antics even led to an eventual ban from tournament play. Mosconi and Greenleaf played at least two exhibition tours together, but, as far as I know, were never teammates in competition.

Nick Varner

Second Observation (from Nick Varner): As you may recall, I asked Nick some time back about his ideas for fixing pool. The Hall of Famer is the first man in history to win back-to-back titles in the U.S. Open. He's been playing and promoting the sport for years. Varner said one key to future success could be team play. He imagined the possibility of a domestic tour, but with groups of players representing individual U.S. cities or states. In the Mosconi Cup, it's the U.S. versus Europe. With Varner's idea, it would be Texas versus New York, or Los Angeles versus Cleveland.

Varner calls the Mosconi Cup one of pool's most exciting events. He has participated both as a player and as the U.S. team captain. "To really make this game (successful) we need to figure out how it could be economically feasible to have teams like in the NBA or the NFL," he said. "We could have state teams. This creates a geographic fan base. Right now there isn't a whole lot of team stuff going on. But with a Georgia team versus Florida, say, that automatically hits us like a college sport. This (attracts) the sports fan."

Part of Earl's Strategy All Along?

And finally, a note about the video, above. After his assault on that poor defenseless cue, Earl went on to win his match against Team Europe player Thomas Engert by a score of 7-4. The event that year ended in a 12-12 tie, a good enough showing for the Americans to retain possession of the Mosconi Cup. It was the only recorded tie in the history of the event.

With Earl on the Mosconi Cup team, the Americans have amassed a record of nine wins, three losses and one tie. Two of those three losses and the tie came after 2006, well after Earl's heyday as a player. Without Earl, the Americans have amassed a piddling record of two and two.

What does this tell me? First, that during Strickland's heyday the Americans were nearly unstoppable. Of course it's true that teammates like Johnny Archer and Corey Deuel had something to do with the team's winning ways. But it's hard to argue with the Americans' success during Earl's glory years.

Therefore I conclude that when Earl is at the top of his game, you want him on your side. Antics or not, The Pearl wins games. If I could create a dream team, I'd also want Willie Mosconi and Ralph Greenleaf. Imagine the mayhem! Imagine the chaos!

What do you think?

About PoolSynergy

Pool Synergy is an online collaborative effort by pool and billiard bloggers, in which each agrees to write about a single theme. PoolSynergy submissions are published simultaneously by each of the participating blogs on the 15th of every month. To read a list of the other fine contributions this month, check out the Kicks, Banks, Caroms and Combos blog, which you can find here.

-- R.A. Dyer

Is Efren Reyes Ready To Retire?

2011-01-14T19:22:00.000-06:00

The Magician Skips This Year's Derby City Classic

Is Efren Reyes getting ready to retire? It's starting to look like that day might not be far off. A Filipino publication recently quoted Reyes as saying his showing in this year's Derby City Classic would help him decide. “There’s a 50-50 chance (that I may retire next year),” he told the publication, The Manila Bulletin, in November.

But then, just two days ago, the same publication reported that Reyes is dropping out completely from Derby City. The famous Woodstock of Pool begins next week, on Jan. 21st. Reyes consistently has dominated it, having been declared Master of the Table in 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007 and last year -- more than any man living.

The legendary "Bata" cites chronic back pain and his failing eye sight for his decision to skip this year's DCC. He also said he's "losing his touch." When asked if the DCC decision also meant he was retiring, Reyes replied: "Hindi pa naman I think kaya pa." As near as I can figure, that enigmatic combination of Tagalog and English means "not yet, I still think so."

I'm guessing that what Bata is suggesting here is that he feels like he still has some gas left in the tank. And I would certainly agree. After all, he won last year's Derby City 8-ball division, won the Fatboy Challenge, and placed second in the banks division. He also won the Spanish Open in 2010 and the Predator International 10-ball event. According to AZbilliards, only Darren Appleton collected more in in prize money.

It's incredible to me that Reyes is even contemplating retirement. I understand that he's just a few years shy of his 60th birthday, but for my money he's still the greatest one-pocket player alive. It will be a sad day when the Magician finally hangs up his cue.

-- R.A. Dyer

Untold Stories in Billiards Digest

2011-01-12T08:43:00.000-06:00

Alfredo De Oro's controversial return to Cuba

Before the age of Mosconi, before even Ralph Greenleaf: there was Alfredo De Oro, the Cuban-born legend. De Oro won his first pocket billiards crown in 1887 and then went on to win it 31 more times. He was also the only person in history to simultaneously have held both the pool and billiards crowns on two separate occasions.

During his heyday, De Oro was considered the best cue sports player in the world. Some still say he is the greatest ever.

In the January edition of Billiards Digest, I write about De Oro's glorious return to Cuba in 1918 for a world three-cushion championship. Held in one of the nation's finest theaters and attended by the president himself, that three-day competition is remembered today as one of the most dramatic ever in three-cushion billiards. But it also ended in controversy and bitterness.

You can read all about it in my Untold Stories column this month, which you can find here. There also also links to previous Untold Stories columns at the Billiards Digest website.

-- R.A. Dyer

Mosconi and Greenleaf -- TOGETHER

2011-01-07T19:26:00.000-06:00

Billiard Champs Entertain The Troops

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Will the wonders of the Internet never cease? I just came across this very cool footage of legends Willie Mosconi and Ralph Greenleaf sharing an exhibition stage. (Click here to see it.) Willie appears to be at the peak of his abilities. Greenleaf looks hung over. The footage, from a website called British Pathe, was shot during a performance for injured troops at Gardner General Hospital, in Chicago. I suspect this footage was taken in January 1944, as it was in that month that Mosconi and Greenleaf went on a four-city tour together. Two months later Mosconi would be inducted into the army. Six years later, Greenleaf would be dead.

The two also reportedly joined together for a tour in 1934, shortly after Mosconi's debut in world competition. Willie told biographer Stanley Cohen that Greenleaf was drunk for much of it. But even still, Greenleaf's staggering ability seemed undiminished. "I don't know how he did it," Willie said. "Even on long shots he seemed to be able to feel a ball right into the pocket, to shoot it just hard enough without banging away. It was like watching a virtuoso playing a violin, just beautiful."

You can read about Greenleaf and Mosconi in The Hustler & The Champ. There's also more at the separate Greenleaf and Mosconi blogs at poolhistory.com.

-- R.A. Dyer

PoolSynergy 14: The Holiday Gift Guide

2010-12-15T08:02:00.000-06:00

Put Danny McGoorty in your stocking

There’s a reason why Robert Byrne is the best-selling author in pool. His books are really, really good. My favorites are his New Standard Book on Pool and Billiards, his Advanced Technique in Pool & Billiards, and his biography of Danny McGoorty.

Our PoolSynergy mission this month was to recommend a single book or video. But this was a task that was beyond me. I simply could not decide. So consider this part of first annual holiday gift-buying guide courtesy PoolSynergy, and the poolhistory.com blog. I recommend several of Bryne books, plus two others from different authors. All pool players should have these on their shelves.

McGoorty, A Pool Room Hustler.
This book is hilarious. Danny McGoorty was a poolroom hustler, ladies’ man, and drunk. Bryne recorded McGoorty’s life's story, and then used it to craft one of the most delightful biographies ever written about an American cueist. This book also includes fun anecdotes about some of the most important players of the last century, including Mosconi, Fats, Cochran and even Alfredo De Oro.

Byrne’s New Standard Book on Pool & Billiards
This is the first instructional book that I ever purchased. Who knew that a collection of table drawings and shot descriptions could be so funny? A friend of mine had lent me a copy many many years ago. After reading only about 10 pages of it, I marched out and bought my own. You should too. (And while you’re at it, pick up Bryne’s second instructional book Advanced Technique in Pool & Billiards.)

The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards.
Ever wonder how many possible ball arrangements there are in a straight-pool rack? Wonder no more. Mike Shamos, in this wonderful collection of the trivial and the historic, tells us. Here, you can learn about Kelly Pool, the Lambert Trophy, and the origin of the slang "weight." There’s plenty of pictures. As a hardback, it makes a perfect addition to any coffee table.

The Hustler
There is no more important novel related to American pool as The Hustler, by Walter Tevis. Although not based on the life of Rudolf Wanderone, it nonetheless made success of his career. (Wanderone was the hustler who appropriated the Minnesota Fats name). The book also led to the 20th Century Fox movie, which led to a great renaissance for our sport during the 1960s. You also can read all about The Hustler, Minnesota Fats, the 1960s renaissance -- and the interrelation between the the three -- in my own book Hustler Days.

Videos

If you don’t feel like reading, here are a couple of video recommendations:

Accu-Stats
Anything from Accu-Stats. Call Pat Flemming over at Accu-Stats HQ and he'll recommend a good one. He's never steered me wrong once. Here's his number: 1-800-828-0397. You can also check out the website at accu-stats.com.

The Hustler (DVD release)
This film is awesome, one of my all-time favorites. The scenes between Paul Newman, as Fast Eddy, and Jackie Gleason, as Fats, are inspirational. The two-disk collector's edition also includes several extra documentaries, including one entitled “Swimming with Sharks” with commentary from Max Eberle and myself. So there’s that.

About PoolSynergy

-- R.A. Dyer

1918: De Oro versus Otis in Havana

2010-11-26T11:32:00.000-06:00

Otis and De Oro step off the steamer, docked at Havana.

Alfredo De Oro, perhaps the greatest cue sports player of all time, met Brooklyn native Charles Otis during a world championship match in Havana in 1918. I've reproduced just above a front page news article that chronicles his arrival in Havana. It appeared in El Mundo, then the principal newspaper in Cuba. I love the old bowler hats.

It was said that the old lion was ecstatic about his return. Living then in New York City, De Oro had not set foot in Havana for 25 years. A local newspaper man accompaning De Oro on a quick tour of Havana reported that he was struck speechless by the startling transformations then underway in the Capitol city.

The venue for his match with Otis was the Payret Theater, a regal stone structure built in 1877. That's a picture of it just below. Raised seats were set in the orchestra pit, and more were placed on the stage. Audience members also took seats in the front sections of the theater, as well as in the balconies. The president himself, Mario Garcia Menocal, was among the 2,000 in attendance. It was Menocal who would pin the championship medal, pictured above at right, on the the chest of the eventual victor.

Look for upcoming Untold Stories column about the dramatic contest in Billiards Digest.

The Payret Theater, the venue for the championship match, was built in 1877.

The History of High Rolling

2010-11-06T12:24:00.000-05:00

Lassiter & Fats: Big Bets in Today's Dollars

9-ball genius Luther Lassiter

This is what Luther Lassiter said about Norfolk, Virginia, back in the 1940s: "Greatest pool town that's ever been. You had five or six people there who were really gambling. People had lots of cash, and players from all over the country -- anybody that played for money at all -- came to Norfolk."

Lassiter was a prince among the Norfolk hustlers during his World War II Coast Guard years. During one particularly memorable straight pool match-up Wimpy took $5,000 from a club owner. You can read all about it in Hustler Days.

The size of that $5,000 wager -- and the heart Lassiter needed to win it -- got me to thinking. That amount of money is a lot, even today. After all, many of the regional tournaments even now pay less for first place. Shane Van Boening also recently won $10,000 from Mika Immonen, but it took him three days to do it. But Lassiter won his money during a single game in the 1940s. During those years $5,000 was a king's ransom.

You can find various inflation calculators on the Internet. Here's a link to one. It's from the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics. So how much is $5,000, wagered in 1946, valued in today's dollars? According to the inflation calculator: $56,000! During a 100-point game of straight pool Lassiter's opponent was within just two balls of taking the cash. That's when Lassiter ran 92 and out. Talk about heart.

There are other references to historic wagers. For instance, Minnesota Fats won about $20,000 from Richie Florence and two others in Johnston City, back in 1971. You can read about that encounter in The Hustler & the Champ. How much would $20,000 be valued today? More than $107,000, according to the inflation calculator. However, unlike Lassiter's score, it took Fats a couple of weeks to win all that money.

I've also came across a reference to a $250 wager between Alfredo De Oro and Charles Otis back in 1916. It was a private bet between the two players before their championship billiards match held in Havana, Cuba. In today's dollars, the wager would have amounted to $5,000. De Oro, then considered the greatest player ever, was said to have put up his own money. Otis was staked.

Have a story about a particularly memorable wager from yesteryear? Send me the details, and we'll plug it into the inflation calculator.

-- R.A. Dyer

2010 U.S. Open: Final Video Report

2010-10-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

AZilliards.com sets new viewership records

Video from azbilliards.com

That's Samm Diep's final AZbilliards report (above) from the 2010 U.S. Open, which concluded on Saturday in Virginia. Azbilliards.com reports more than 3 million page views and more than 1 million unique visitors during the tournament, a new record for the website. Such viewership should come as heartening news for those who fret about the future of our sport. Obviously, there's worldwide interest. Through social media, we can get the word out to our friends.

Besides the excellent video reports from my friend Samm (founder of pooltipjar.com), AZbilliards also delivered both real-time scoring and updated brackets during the U.S. Open. The website was essential viewing for pool fans. AZbilliards counted with the support of Simonis Cloth, the TAP leagues and Lucasi Hybrid Cues to finance its coverage.

Accu-Stats, Billy Incardona and Danny DiLiberto

Also be sure to support Accu-Stats Video Productions, founded by Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Pat Fleming. If you didn't catch the tournament live through Accu-Stats' pay-per-view service, you can order the DVDs from their website. I particularly love it when professional pool curmudgeons Bill Incardona and Danny DiLiberto commentate the matches. They consistently deliver some of the most knowledgeable and funny play-by-play reports that you're likely to hear in pool -- or really in any sport.

-- R.A. Dyer

Appleton wins 2010 U.S. Open

2010-10-24T10:51:00.000-05:00

Dreams of 3-peat dashed for Immonen

Video from InsidePoolMag.com.

England's Darren "Dynamite" Appleton became the newest U.S. Open 9-Ball champion Saturday after sending pool titan Mika Immonen to the one-loss side and then prevailing during a see-saw tactical battle with American Corey Deuel in the finals.

The 32-year-old native of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England was the only competitor to go undefeated during the week-long tournament, arguably the most prestigious in pool. The U.S. Open this year drew the biggest names in the sport from more than 30 countries. For the first time ever, women also competed along with the men.

Much of the suspense during the late stages centered on Immonen, ranked by many as the world's best. The Finish player had won the previous two Opens in 2009 and 2008 and appeared poised for a three-peat this year. On the final day of competition Immonen and Appleton were the only two undefeated players in the event. Immonen also was favored to win his hot-seat match against the Englishman.

But it was not to be. Immonen trailed by a small margin for much of the contest, but had a chance to tie it up at 10-10 in the 20th rack. But then Immonen jawed a steep cut shot along the short rail, leaving a quick three-ball run out for Appleton. Final score: Appleton 11, Immonen 9.

Immonen then joined the two other remaining players on the loser's side, the Philippines' Warren Kiamco and 2001 U.S. Open champ Deuel. First Kiamco and Deuel would play, and then the winner of that game would meet Immonen for a chance to meet Appleton in the finals. Deuel beat Kiamco in the first match, but only barely. In fact, if not for a new rule this year requiring competitors in the semi-finals and finals to win by a two-game margin, Kiamco would have won. The Filipino was leading Deuel 11-10, but ended up falling to the Ohio player 14-12.

Deuel then met Immonen in the one-loss finals. The inventor of the soft-break had blanked Immonen during the U.S. Open finals nine years ago, and looked to runover the Iceman again this year. Immonen kept it close during the early going, but then Deuel began to pile on games. Deuel punished the Iceman for every mistake and then broke and ran the final three. The final score Saturday: 11-3

With his dreams dashed of becoming the only man to win three consecutive U.S. Opens, a clearly dejected Immonen pledged now to seek another record: Earl Strickland's five U.S. Open victories. Deuel, for his part, said he felt fortunate to have come so far. "I just think I played my best match at the right time," he told Nick Leider of Billiards Digest, moments after the victory Saturday.

With the Iceman's third-place finish, what would be remembered as an epic U.S. Open showdown was set up between Deuel and Appleton. The Englishman pulled out to a quick lead, but then Deuel fought his way back from an 11-9 deficit to get to the hill, 12-11. If Deuel would have taken the next game, the U.S. Open would have been his. But a dry break allowed Appleton to tie it up at 12-12.

Appleton then broke and ran the next game, bringing the score to 13-12. Deuel fought back, tying the match yet again. But the American handed the next game to Appleton after a scratch. Appleton then broke and ran the next game, winning the championship 15-13.

The final run out was a relatively simple affair, if such a thing is possible during the final game of America's most prestigious pool tournament. I've posted a video (above) of the run-out, from InsidePooMag.com. "At that point, the only way I was going to miss was if my hand fell off," said Appleton, quoted in Billiards Digest.

Appleton is the first English player to win the U.S. Open. Besides winning the World 10-Ball Championship in 2008, Appleton also won the World Pool Masters title in 2009. Asked how this title compared to the others, and Appleton responded: "I think I'll enjoy this one more."

Video highlights
Check out the coverage of the Friday's action, in the video report from Samm Diep and AZbilliards, just below. You can also review the video highlights of the previous day's actions in my earlier blog posts.

-- R.A. Dyer

Video from AZbilliards.com

U.S. Open Grand Finale Today

2010-10-23T10:42:00.000-05:00

Three-peat for the Iceman?

Video from azbilliards.com
Three-peat for Mika Immonen? That's the question for pool fans as the U.S. Open draws to its grand finale today in Chesapeake, Virginia. The Iceman from Finland, winner of both the 2008 and 2009 events, remains one of only two undefeated players. The other is former World 10-Ball champ Darren Appleton of England, who Immonen will play today in the hot seat match. The two remaining players on the one-loss side are Corey Deuel of the USA and Warren Kiamco of the Philippines.

"Of course, I'm thinking about it," Immonen told Nick Leider of Billiards Digest when asked about the possibility of winning the U.S. Open an unprecented three years in a row.

Immonen on BD Cover

The U.S. Open is one of the most prestigious pool tournaments in the world and the closet thing in the United States to a national pool championship. Promoter Barry Behrman began the 2010 extravaganza with a full field of 256 giant killers. The best players from the Philippines, Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, Peru, Taiwan, Austria and many other countries all made the pilgrimage. Women also competed for the first time this year.

Immonen last year became only the second person in its 35-year-history to have won the tournament twice in a row. The first was Hall of Fame player Nick Varner, who accomplished the startling feat two decades earlier. If Immonen cements his third consecutive victory today, his record likely will stand for decades.

And at this late stage, Immonen certainly is considered the favorite. He's the most highly ranked player of the four left standing, and over the last two years has won just about every tournament there is to win. During his last game Friday he unceremoniously stomped Jason Klatt of Toronto by a score of 11-4. At one point, Immonen broke and ran six racks. Nonetheless, Corey Deuel, Warren Kiamco and Darren Appleton are all extremely dangerous. For instance Deuel, the 2006 U.S. Open winner, also stomped Klatt (11-1) during the last loser's side match Friday and earlier in the day eliminated Shane Van Boening. Deuel is now the last American in the field.

The only person to have beaten Deuel so far is Darren Appleton, who plays Immonen today for a spot in the final. Appleton also scored victories Friday over Efren Reyes, 11-5, and David Alcaide, 11-8, to inch within one game of the championship.

Warren Kiamco is the wild card. The only loss so far for the extremely dangerous player from Cebu, Philippines was his 11-10 heart-breaker to Corey Deuel. The two meet again at 1 p.m. (EST) where Kiamco will have his chance at revenge.

Django on BD Cover

The final is at 7 p.m.. Many fans appeared to be rooting Friday for Immonen, if for nothing else because he might make history. Said Cathy Jo Sawyer Almanza: "it's tough to pick a winner, but since three in row has never been done in this event, I'm hoping that Mika does it."

Newest HOF Inductees at U.S. Open
Francisco Bustamante became the newest player inducted into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame. He received the honor Thursday during a banquet at the event. Also,Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart, founders of the American Poolplayers Association league system in 1979, were inducted in the Meritorious Service category.

Here's a quick bio of Bustamante, from the BCA website:

"Bustamante, nicknamed “Django” because of a resemblance to the lead character in a Western film of the same name, was born in the Philippine province of Tarlac. He began playing pocket billiards at 10-years-old, and began competing in the United States in the early 1990s. He hit his stride in the United States in 1997, winning two Camel Pro Billiard Tour events. He was named Billiards Digest’s and Pool & Billiard Magazine’s Player of the Year in 1998 after notching four major tournament wins, and he earned Billiards Digest’s and Inside Pool’s Player of the Year titles again in 2002, winning five major events in the U.S. and abroad, and finishing second at the World Pool Championship.

Bustamante finally garnered his first recognized world title in 2010, winning the WPA World 9-Ball Championship in Doha, Qatar. His strongest game is 9-ball, where his blockbuster break is legendary; although he is more than proficient at all the major games, as witnessed by his All-Around title at the 2008 Derby City Classic."

You can read Ted Lerne's great profile of Django online this month, at billiardsdigest.com.

Follow the action
Also check out Samm Diep's great coverage of Bustamante's induction ceremony, and highlights from Thursday, in her azbilliards report, above. You can find the tournament brackets at AZbilliards.com and watch the action live through the Accu-Stats pay-per-view webcast. Here's the link. I'll also be occasionally updating the Pool History Facebook page with news from Chesapeake. You can check out the page here.

-- R.A. Dyer

U.S. Open: Immonen looks for 3-peat

2010-10-22T09:30:00.000-05:00

Van Boening remains in hunt

Video from azbilliards.com

Mika Immonen made it Thursday to the final 8 of undefeated players in this year's U.S. Open, having grinded out a late 11-10 victory over former champ Gabe Owen. The dwindling group of undefeated players after the fifth day in Chesapeake looked like a United Nations contingent: they included American Corey Deuel, England's Darren Appleton, young Canadian Jason Klatt , Spaniard David Alcaide, Lo Li-Wen of Taiwan and Germany's Ralf Souquet (the second place finisher in last year's open) and Germany's Thorsten Hohmann.

U.S. favorite Shane Van Boening also remained in the hunt, but from the one-loss side. On Thursday he ran over two very capable opponents, including road player Chris Bartram. Bartram was the only person to have beaten Mika Immonen during the U.S. Open in 2009. Unimpressed, the "Dakota Kid" eliminated Bartram in an 11-0 shut-out. Peruvian Manny Chau didn't fare much better. Chau fell to SVB by a lopsided 11-1.

A Van Boening victory against Gabe Owen today could set up an interesting matchup with player of the decade Johnny Archer. Archer was sent Thursday to the one-loss side by Lo Li-Wen of China. But he remains very much in contention. Other players still alive on the one-loss side include former U.S. Open champs Owen, Rodney "The Rocket" Morris and Nick Varner. Also alive on the one-loss side are "Korean Dragon" Charlie Williams, newest Hall of Fame inductee Francisco Bustamante, Filipino Ronnie Alcano, crowd favorite Efren "Bata" Reyes, and Jesse Engel, a relative unknown from Minneapolis.

In fact, it was this last player that helped legends Mike Sigel and Earl Strickland to the exit door. Engel is just 18 years old. According to a short article on the NYC Grind website, the Minneapolis teen-ager now plays on the Seminole Pro Tour and was runner-up in the 19-and-under division at the BEF Junior National Championships in 2009 and 2010. You can read the article here.

Besides Sigel, Strickland and Bartram, other notable eliminations Thursday included Mike Dechaine, Stevie Moore and Filipino Lee Van Corteza. The last woman standing was Gerda Hofstatter, who ended up with 65 game wins to 96 losses. She was eventually eliminated by Adam Smith in a close match. "I got the $1,000 bonus for highest woman (finisher), and I also got into the money in the main field," said Hofstatter. "I (also) earned a few hundred bucks and a priceless experience."

Meanwhile, two of the more interesting television matches Thursday included Reyes 11-7 defeat of Spaniard Marc Vidal and Sigel's last stand against a player from the Czech Republic.

Reyes versus Vidal

Crowd favorite Reyes started out slow in his match, fell behind early, and for the first five games or so appeared extremely uncomfortable. After grinding out a particularly tough victory in the 10th game, the Magician asked for a time out. He returned girded for battle, and eventually pulled away from Vidal in about the 15th game. Vidal had proven adept at escaping from many of Reyes' traps, often by spinning the cue ball around obstructing balls. But victory nonetheless slipped away. Reyes beat Vidal by a four-game margin.

Sigel versus Hybler

The legendary Captain Hook met Roman Hybler of the Czech Republic during a late game on the one-loss side. Sigel trailed for much of the match, but key errors by the Czech player allowed Sigel to stay in it. Sigel won the fourth game with a spectacular combination on the two. After that it was a dog fight. Late in the set Hybler stepped away to take a break. Sigel, citing the rules, continued to play and sank the nine-ball in Hybler's absence. "The guy left and I just shot," Sigel said to a tournament director. The game was counted in Sigel's favor, but he nonetheless fell to Hybler after both got to the hill.

Follow the action

I've posted AZbilliard's excellent video round-up of Wednesday's action above. (Still waiting on the Thursday's update.) You also can keep up with the tournament at Accu-Stats, which is webcasting several matches each day. You can find the link here. I'll also be occasionally updating the Pool History Facebook page with news from Chesapeake. You can check out the page here

-- R.A. Dyer

U.S. Open: Immonen remains undefeated

2010-10-20T23:34:00.000-05:00

Hohmann wins nine in a row to beat Corteza

Video from azbilliards.com
Mika Immonen continues to roll on undefeated during the 35th annual U.S. Open this week in Chesapeake, Virginia. The winner of the last two U.S. Opens easily swept past Max Eberle, 11-5, in one of the featured matches Wednesday night.

But while playing with confidence, Immonen's game was not without errors. And on occasion those errors cost him. For instance, Eberle responded to a missed ball in the 13th game with a spectacular table-length kick. The kick then opened the door to a deliberate and plodding run-out by Eberle. But Immonen responded with several victories. Eventually Immonen's relentless ball pocketing sent Eberle to the one-loss side.

In other action from the winner's side, Thorsten Hohmann beat Lee Van Corteza 7-11. Hohmann dramatically fought back from a 7-2 deficit to win the set. Corteza played almost error free for the first half of the match and Hohmann played without mistakes during the second half. For much of the last 20 minutes, Corteza's only defense was to scowl at Hohmann from his chair. Hohmann took the last nine games in a row, several through break and runs.

Nick Varner also beat Ernesto Dominguez, 11-10, on the winner's side and Efren Reyes beat Japanese player Tomoo Takano 11-2. Mike Sigel beat Ivaylo Petrov 11-5, but he won't be meeting Earl Strickland in a winner's side match. That's because the five-time U.S. Open winner lost Wednesday night 11-10 to Jesse Engel. Engel's victory sent Strickland to the loser's bracket.

Hofstatter the Last Woman Standing

Meanwhile, in action from the one-loss side on Wednesday, Mike Dechaine eliminated Scott Higgins 11-8; Alex Pagulayan eliminated Tony Crosby 11-3; Shawn Putnam eliminated Robert Pole 11- 4 and Dennis Orcullo eliminated Chris Szuter 11-6. Other eliminations included Chris Bartram's 11-9 victory over Roberto Gomez, Shane Van Boening's 11-3 victory over Steve Sones, John Schmidt's 11-6 victory over Steven Page 11-6, and Gerda Hofstatter's squeak-by 11-10 victory over John Timmermans.

Hofstatter is the last woman standing, making her a shoe-in for the $1,000 prize that promoter Barry Behrman is offering for the woman who finishes the highest in the event.

A few of the more interesting sets to watch out for include Johnny Archer's upcoming winner's side match with Stevie Moore, Nick Varner's upcoming match with Rodney "The Rocket" Morris and Ralf Souquet's upcoming match with Raj Hundal. Still waiting to hear whether they'll be played on the TV table.

I've posted AZbilliard's excellent video round-up of Tuesday action above. (Still waiting on the Wednesday update.) You also can keep up with the tournament at Accu-Stats, which is webcasting several matches each day. You can find the link here. I'll also be occasionally updating the Pool History Facebook page with news from Chesapeake. You can check out the page here

-- R.A. Dyer

2010 U.S. Open: Bartram Eliminates Rousey

2010-10-20T09:05:00.000-05:00

Immonen, other top players to appear today

Video from azbilliards.com
Samm Diep and AZbilliards provide more great coverage of the U.S. Open 9-ball championship currently underway in Chesapeake, Virginia. Johnny Archer's dramatic battle with Dennis Orcollo is highlighted in the video above. Archer is a former U.S. Open winner, player of the year and player of the decade. Orcollo was this year's champion at the World Pool Masters tournament.

Sarah Rousey, Dave Bollman and several other top players were eliminated on Tuesday, the third day of action. Road player Chris Bartram, the only person to have beaten 2009 U.S. Open champion Mika Immonen during last year's tournament, eliminated Rousey 11-5 during an evening match. That's a picture of Rousey on the right, courtesy of Billiards Digest. In other action, Gerda Hofstatter eliminated Joanne Mason Parker 11-4 during a late match.

Some of the top players expected to make appearances in matches today include George San Souci, Scott Frost, Mika Immonen, Max Eberle, Nick Varner, Ernesto Dominguez, Lee Van Cortezza, Thorsten Hohmann, Jose Parica, Daryl Peach, Francisco Bustamante, Oscar Dominguez, Darren Appleton and Ronnie Alcano.

Accu-Stats will be streaming many of those matches online, including Santos Sambajon's match with Tony Crosby at 11 a.m. and Jennifer Barretta's match with Scott Higgins at 1 p.m. For more information, check out Accu-Stats pay-per-view site, which you can find here.

I'll also be occasionally updating the Pool History Facebook page with news from Chesapeake. You can check out the page here.

-- R.A. Dyer

U.S. Open Underway in Chesapeake, VA

2010-10-19T09:08:00.000-05:00

First upset: Van Boening loses to Dechaine

Video from azbilliards.com

My friend Samm Diep, founder of Pooltipjar.com, provides the first day highlights for the 2010 U.S. Open in Chesapeake, Virginia. Check out her video report from AZbilliards.com, above. The story of the day was Shane Van Boening's 11-3 upset loss to Mike "Fireball" Dechaine of Maine. Van Boening, a former U.S. Open winner, never got close. The Dakota Kid now has an uphill battle to win the tournament through the one-loss bracket.

By contrast, Mika "Iceman" Immonen easily swept past opponent Joey Arbuckle 11-4. Immonen has won the U.S. Open the last two years in a row and is in the hunt to win it again this year.

WPBA pro Jennifer Barretta also made news. Women are competiting in the prestigious event for the first time in history, and Barretta, by beating David Ross 11-5 in her opener on Sunday, joined in that history by becoming the first woman ever to win a U.S. Open match.

Promoter Barry Behrman is offering an added $1,000 prize to the woman who finishes highest in the event. The overall champion will take home $40,000. The second place finisher wins $15,000.

In defiance to the shoddy economy, the Open this year has a full 256-player field for the first time in a decade. You can check out the progress of your favorite player here, at azbilliards.com. Accu-Stats is also webcasting on a pay-per-view basis. Here's the link.

-- R.A. Dyer

We Lose Again?

2010-10-15T09:23:00.000-05:00

Pool Synergy 12: Pool & Television

By R.A. Dyer

Eddy & Charlie: "We lose again?"

Remember this scene? Fast Eddy is shooting pool. He’s been at it for hours, days even. At first Eddy wins big. But the Fatman keeps coming at him, keeps stroking balls, confidently, quickly, one by one. And eventually it all goes south for Eddy. Charlie the stakehorse sits dejectedly to one side. At Charlie’s feet are enough cigarette butts to fill a small pot hole.

The end comes miserably for Fast Eddy.

“We lose again, Charlie?” he asks, already knowing the answer.

“We lose again,” says Charlie.

We all face defeats. Some are trivial. Others sting. The worst are those that come when victory seems so tantalizingly close. These are the soul crushing defeats of come-from-behind candidates, of foreclosed homes and failed marriages. These are the overtime losses that keep the hometown team out of the Super Bowl, of finishing second best.

To me, that scene in The Hustler has always been a metaphor for just this sort of loss. This month's edition of Pool Synergy is devoted to what could be another: the very real possibility that pool will vanish from television. Our Pool Synergy host predicts that soon, very soon, most American TV coverage for pool will be a memory. “It’s fairly safe to say that sometime within the next couple of years, the only billiards events we'll see here in the states will be trick shots and speed pool,” he writes.

His question: what impact will this have on our sport?

Quick review. Pool Synergy is a monthly collaborative effort in which online pool writers take on a single theme. This month our host, the anonymous founder of the Pool Cue News and Review blog, poses a question that I believe can be answered with but a single word. No essay required. The loss of TV coverage for pool would be disastrous.

But there is hope. Our anonymous host takes it as an article of faith that coverage will fade away. The eternal optimist in me rails against this proposition. I agree our industry has entered into some dark days. But I also believe the changing nature of television should open up new opportunities.

In 1978 Minnesota Fats faced Willie Mosconi in The Great Shoot-Out. It was the most watched pool competition in U.S. history, its rankings commensurate to some World Series games. (Read all about it in The Hustler & The Champ.) But that was the age before cable, TiVo and youtube. Those days are history. Today, television is granular, a medium in which giant ratings are almost unheard of, but where there’s space for relatively low-rated events like hot dog-eating contests, hot rod shows and poker. There’s never been a time with so much bad TV. Or so much good.

It’s been said that reality TV may presage the fall of Western Civilization. But what about reality TV devoted to professional pool? I opened the question recently to folks on my Facebook page. The response was enthusiastic. Said one reader: “It is incredibly frustrating to hear that the country's most popular sport (yes, pool is played by more Americans than football, baseball, soccer, basketball, or midget horseback racing) is lacking so heavily in TV coverage, yet there are shows about 'ice road truckers'? Ridiculous.”

I’m also heartened to see what The Action Report is doing. The recent challenge match between Shane Van Boening and Mika Immonen provides an excellent road map for what could sell on cable. Same rules: $10,000 entry fee. Winner takes all. I imagine hand-held camera shots of serious looking men counting cash stacked in piles. As an added touch the TV producers could have the cash prominently displayed throughout the entire contest. The camera could pan back to it before each commercial break. A little bit of pre-match trash talk also would help.

Why wouldn’t that work? Am I dreaming? It would have the same feel as the Fast Eddy versus Minnesota Fats challenge match in The Hustler, but made for reality TV. It seems to me that such events would be relatively inexpensive to produce, and that venues would jump at the chance to host them because of the potential TV exposure. You could even pit a top woman pro against a top man. Bill it as the battle of the sexes. Imagine the drama. Imagine the pathos. And because of the granular nature of today’s TV audiences, the producers no longer need out-of-the-park ratings to declare success.

The down side would be that two-person events would limit exposure for other players. But such events could become a first step, something to help our sport rebuild in the new media age. In my dream world, broader coverage would follow. I agree with one reader, who wrote me recently that he wanted more “real” pool on TV – games like some straight pool, one pocket or some bank pool. “When I watch pool I want to see the skill, the heart, and the look of determination on the players faces,” he said.

The challenge match format could fit the bill. The alternative is that our sport will continue its fall into irrelevance. The result, in a word, would be disastrous.

We lose again Charlie?

Van Boening beats Immonen in Shoot-Out

2010-10-15T09:18:00.000-05:00

Sledgehammer break makes the difference

Van Boening

The break. That was the story of this week's three-day shoot-out between Shane Van Boening and Mika Immonen. As predicted, Shane's powerhouse 10-ball break shot served him well during the 100-game challenge match. The $10,000 buy-in event concluded last night at New York's Amsterdam Billiard Club with Shane on top, 100-79.

The lanky Van Boening rarely failed to make a ball off his ear-splitting opening shot, and typically would sink two or three. This was too much of an advantage to overcome, especially considering that Immonen's break appeared to have completely abandoned him for long stretches.

Van Boening had a 10-game advantage after the first day, kept that advantage for the second, and then went up by as much as 25 on the last day. The final margin was 21 games. Both players appeared to be playing somewhat more loosely by the end, especially after the outcome was no longer in doubt. On several occasions Van Boening passed up obvious safeties in favor of difficult but makeable shots.

Immonen

But there was no trophy for his troubles. Instead, The Action Report founder Justin Collett quietly handed the Dakota Kid an envelope stuffed with cash, his reward for the grueling winner-take-all event.

Both players arrived Tuesday after placing well in separate events. Van Boening had flown in from Central America, where he had won the Nicaraguan Open 10-ball event. Immonen, meanwhile, finished second to Oliver Ortmann in the World straight-pool event held a few days earlier in New Jersey. Both now head to Chesapeake, Virginia for the U.S. Open 9-ball event, which begins Sunday.

For pool fans, the much anticipated competition between Van Boening and Immonen had the feel of a major prize fight. The two are considered among the best in the world, both having been named players of the year by Billiards Digest. Between them, Van Boening and Immonen have won the last three U.S. Opens in a row.

Fans polled on this site gave a slight advantage to Immonen and some predicted a blow-out for The Iceman. "Mika is coming back after a long race," said one, after watching the Finnish player go down by double digits on the first day.

The winner of a poolhistory.com contest to name the final score was New Jersey resident Thomas Kozloski, who predicted a 100-86 margin in Van Boening's favor. Nobody predicted a wider margin in the American's favor, although he had plenty of fans.

"Hell yeah, go Shane," one said late Thursday. Another was even more succinct. Upon learning that the Dakota Kid had pulled ahead by 18 games and was only 12 from victory, Helene Zhu commented on the Pool History Facebook Page with just one word: "Wow."

You can read more about the fan predictions in earlier posts on the Pool History blog, which you can find here and here.

-- R.A. Dyer

Immonen Favored by Slim Margin

2010-10-12T18:48:00.000-05:00

But Nearly Half Predict Van Boening to Win in NYC

Fans are almost equally divided as to who will win the big shoot-out that begins tonight between champions Mika Immonen and Shane Van Boening. According to an informal survey conducted by the Pool History Blog, fewer than 52 percent called it for Immonen and slightly more than 48 percent called it for Van Boening.

The 10-ball event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, will continue over three days at New York City's Amsterdam Billiards. Victory goes to the first player to win 100 games. Both players have put up $10,000. The event is being webcast as a pay-per-view event by The Action Report.

"Both are consistent and awesome pool players, but I'll have to go with Shane for sure," said one reader, who predicted Van Boening would come out on top 100-91. "I know Mika is an awesome player and anything can happen, but I'll still pick Shane in a close one."

"I give Mika the edge only because he has more experience and in a long race like this, I think a few situations will come up where experience will make the difference," said another, who predicted Immonen would win 100-94.

Readers were also asked to predict the final game tally for each player. Those predictions were then averaged. Again, Immonen held a slight lead in this category. (See the graph at the top of this post.) Fans predicted that Van Boening would win 90.79 games and Immonen would win 95.93 games. Although the challenge match is to 100 games, neither player is predicted to win 100 because of the effect of averaging.

Both Van Boening and Immonen have been named Billiards Digest players of the year. Between them, they've also won the last three U.S. Opens in a row.

The Pool History blog will send a free book to the fan who most closely predicts the final outcome.

-- R.A. Dyer

1918: Alfredo De Oro Returns to Cuba

2010-10-10T11:50:00.000-05:00

Billiard champ greeted as conquering hero

After a decades-long absence, Alfredo de Oro, the great Cuban pool and billiards champion, returned in 1918 to his homeland. The Cuban government had just granted De Oro a lifelong pension in recognition of the acclaim he had brought his native land. De Oro, then living in New York City, returned the goodwill by agreeing to play a world championship in Havana. The challenger was Charles Otis, then one of the top U.S. players.

I recently found a reference to De Oro's return to Cuba in a news article that appeared in The New York Times. Through a little more sleuthing (at the Latin American Studies Library at the University of Texas) I turned up plenty more about De Oro's return, including extensive coverage from Cuba's El Mundo and Havana Post newspapers.

I'll write about my findings in an upcoming Untold Stories column for Billiards Digest. In the meantime, check out this Jan. 18, 1918 copy of El Mundo. Coverage of De Oro's match against Charles Otis is stripped across the front page. (You'll have to click on it to view it better.)

Some quick background: According to his short bio in the BCA's Official Rules and Record Book, De Oro first gained the pocket billiards crown in 1887 and then went on to win it 31 more times. De Oro also held the three-cushion title ten times between 1908 and 1919. He was born in Manzanilla, Cuba on April 28, 1863. He died in 1948.

-- R.A. Dyer

Fans Give Very Slight Edge to Immonen

2010-10-06T09:07:00.000-05:00

But predictions split for big shoot-out with Van Boening

So far, slightly more fans pick Mika in Oct. 12-14 shoot-out.

So far, fans are almost evenly divided as to who they predict will win the big shoot-out Oct. 12-14 between Mika Immonen and Shane Van Boening. I threw the question out yesterday, with the promise of a free book to the person who most closely predicted the final outcome. The contest is 10-ball, race to 100. Both players have put up $10,000. Winner takes all.

Of the 23 people who immediately made predictions, 12 picked Mika and 11 picked Shane. Interestingly, however, a few said Mika would win in a blow out. One fan predicted Mika at 100 and Shane at 61 -- a 39 game difference. Averaging out the predictions of games won, I find that fans predicted that Mika would win 96.0 games and Shane would win 90.2. The larger spread in this category is attributable to those who picked Mika in a blow-out.

There's still time to enter the contest for the free book. Here's the rules: I'll send a copy of the Hustler & The Champ or Hustler Days to the person who most accurately predicts the final score. Only one prediction per person. I'll give away more than one book -- up to five, at random -- if more than one person predicts the right outcome. To vote, simply comment at the bottom of this post with your prediction. It's easier for me if you list Mika first, his score, and then Shane, with his score. That way I won't go blind looking at all the numbers.

You can also slide over to the linked Facebook page and make your predictions there. The contest closes at 4 p.m. central time on Oct. 12, before the opening day break. I've also created a separate online poll, at the right. The poll has nothing to do with the book contest. It's just an easy way to keep up with all the fan predictions.

A bit of background about both players: Between them Van Boening and Immonen have won the last three U.S. Opens in a row. Many consider Van Boening America's finest player. Many consider Immonen (a native of Finland now living in New York) the greatest from Europe. Maybe the world. Both have been named Billiards Digest players of the year.

The three-day pay-per-view event is sponsored by The Action Report, AZ Billiards, CueSports International and others. I have nothing to do with this event, am not sponsoring it, nor have I been paid a dime to endorse it. However, I hope this event is successful. With the dearth of quality pool of TV, it's heartening to see creative events like this one live streamed on the web.

For more information, check out The Action Report website at theactionreport.com.

-- R.A. Dyer

Mika or Shane?

2010-10-05T08:45:00.000-05:00

The Conversation from Justin Collett on Vimeo.

Just one week until the high-stakes action match between Mika Immonen and Shane Van Boening, two of the greatest players alive today. The game: 10-ball. The venue: New York City's Amsterdam Billiards. Each puts up ten grand. Winner takes all.

Between them Van Boening and Immonen have won the last three U.S. Opens in a row. Many consider Van Boening America's finest player. Many consider Immonen (a native of Finland now living in New York) the greatest from Europe. Maybe the world. Both have been named Billiards Digest players of the year.

The three-day pay-per-view event begins Oct. 12. It's sponsored by The Action Report, AZ Billiards, CueSports International and others. I have nothing to do with this event, am not sponsoring it, nor have I been paid a dime to endorse it. I'm just geeked. So much so that I'll send a free book to the fan who most closely predicts the final tally.

I hope this event is successful. With the dearth of quality pool of TV, it's heartening to see creative events like this one live streamed on the web.

For more information, check out The Action Report website at theactionreport.com.

-- R.A. Dyer

History of Sharking 2.1

2010-10-02T09:09:00.000-05:00

The Alfredo De Oro Bladder Technique

De Oro

I wrote an essay sometime back in which I listed some of the most popular sharking techniques in history. Somehow I neglected to mention one of my favorites. During the 1936 World Billiards Tournament, when Alfredo De Oro was 71 years old, the Cuban master found himself matched up against the legendary Welker Cochran. Cochran was then at the top of his game.

This is was what Cochran had to say about the encounter:

"I knew the old man would have to take six piss breaks during the game. I couldn't complain about it because of his age, and I wasn't going to let it bother me if he took a lot of time. Halfway through the game he hadn't asked for permission to leave the table and I started worrying about him. Started worrying about his bladder. After all, he still hadn't gone to the can. Was he alright? Was he going to go in his pants? Was he in pain trying to hold it back? I got so worried about his bladder I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing. That old man did not take one piss the entire game, and that's what beat me."

That anecdote was included in Robert Byrne's hilarious book, McGoorty: A Poolroom Hustler. If you haven't read the book, you should do so immediately. It was also from Bob Byrne that I learned about another great book, The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship, by Stephen Potter. I took many of the sharking techniques listed in my earlier post from that book.

Sharking, technically, is different from hustling. A person who sharks uses psychological warfare to distract an opponent. For instance, he might intentionally blow his nose as his opponent is shooting. A hustler employs outright deceit. The most obvious example is the player who intentionally shoots poorly in order to lure the guileless into a bigger bet.

I have never come across any evidence that Alfredo De Oro hustled pool. But it's not surprising that a man now remembered as one of the greatest in history would resort to sharking (or any other legal tactic) to win. De Oro (1863-1948) won more than 30 pocket billiard titles. That's more titles than both Willie Mosconi and Ralph Greenleaf. De Oro also held the three-cushion title ten times between 1908 and 1919.

-- R.A. Dyer

Wimpy Lassiter's World War II records

2010-09-30T08:31:00.000-05:00

Wimpy Lassiter spent most of World War II on one of three Coast Guard cutters, all of which operated just off Norfolk. The Navy subsumed the Coast Guard during the war, and the cutters were tasked with picking men from the burning wreckage of German u-boat attacks. But by all accounts, Lassiter made for a terrible sailor. Eyewitnesses tell us that he was sick most of the time. Lassiter himself told a friend that he wanted to crawl off and die because of the motion sickness.

While researching Hustler Days I reviewed Lassiter's military records and put together a time line. I've reproduced it below. You might come across a few of my typos here and there because this is pretty much how the time line appeared in my raw, unedited notes. I find the entry for May 8, 1943 particularly instructive. The military records for that day indicate that Wimpy neither desired a job, nor had requested to attend a service school. This shouldn't come as a surprise, as Wimpy already was making himself rich in Norfolk. He was said to have amassed several hundred thousand dollars in pool winnings in the pool halls during these years -- and remember, this was the 1940s. Under such circumstances, why would he want to attend a service school?

Lassiter would go on to win eight major 14.1 titles during the 1960s -- and that's not counting his four straight pool victories at Johnston City. He also picked up five nine ball championships in Johnston City, a Johnston City one-pocket victory, and he won the Johnston City all-around championship five times.

I've also posted this time line of his early years in my separate Wimpy Lassiter blog. You can find it here.

Total time in Service: Three years, 10 months, and 7 days.
Spent time aboard vessels: CG 83511, CG 74307, CG 74306

September 1934 - Dec. 14, 1937
Attended high school. In letter by Edgar E. Bundy, Superintendent of Schools to recruiting board, Wimpy was said to have left school for work.

1938-1940
Employed by J.C. Connery, Burgess Street, Grocer man (according to Coast Guard application), drinks intoxicating liquors on ``rare occasion,’’ never convicted of crime.

April 2, 1941
Walks into recruiting station, Norfolk, to sign up. Signs special temporary enlistment contract.
Employment was shown as clerk; enlisted or three years; described as 22 years old, 5’10’’, weighing 136.5, with blue eyes, black hair, fair complexion,

April 22, 1941
Receives physical examination that reports:
20-20 vision, not color blind, hearing normal, height 70 inches, weight 136.5 pounds, chest (exhale) 34; (inhale) 31
pulse before exercise 84, after exercise 100, after three minutes 84.
Tonsillectomy, 1931.
Age 22 years, 6 months.

April 25, 1941
A form he fills out shows no experience in any trade.

May 1, 1941
Accepted for service in Norfolk, VA
Receives clothing bounty pay of $112.75
Immediately transferred (at 2:30 p.m. that day) to Curtis Bay, Maryland for training.

May 1, 1941
In designation of Beneficiaries for Death Gratuity, names mom, Florence L. Lassiter as beneficiary. No mention of dad. Signed by recruiting officer.

Aug. 12, 1941
Requests transfer to Elizabeth City, where Wimpy understands vacancies exist in Seaman branch.

Aug. 27, 1941
Transfer denied.

Sept. 1, 1941
Advance from rating from Seaman to Seaman second class.

Dec. 2, 1941 (1730)
Depart for temporary duty, course of instruction at the Internal Combustion Engine School, Norfolk, upon completion report to the senior Coast Guard officer, Fifth Naval District, for assignment.

Dec. 3, 1941-Feb. 14, 1942
Class assembles. Names of classmates listed in records.
special qualifications record shows:
``Norfolk training station, 2-14-42, completed operators’ course in Internal Combustion Engines, with a final mark of 76.3 or 3.1, 43rd in a class of 45 men.’’

Dec. 6, 1941
World War II begins.

Feb. 21, 1942
Transfer to CG-140 (There is some uncertainty on this entry)

Nov. 17, 1942
Also shows him aboard CG 73406

March 21, 1942-Nov. 20, 1944
transfer to CG 74306

June 8, 1942
Raises in rank to Ffc (something first class -- uncertainty on this entry)

March 15, 1942
landing party boat training, New River, N.C..

Nov. 17, 1942
promoted to machinist mate second class

May 31, 43
Becomes machinist mate first class

July 31 1943
Trains on Camp Glen Rifle Range, receives expert rifleman’s medal on 14 Aug. 1943.

April 30, 1944
Enlistment involuntarily extended for the duration of war, plus six months.
Vessel Designation: CG 74307, at CG base: 05-013

May 1, 1944
Enlistment involuntarily extended for duration of war, plus six months.

May 8, 1943
Coast Guard Enlisted Qualification Card Shows:
7 years grammar school, ending in 1931; three years High School, ending in 1934 (which means six years of playing pool before the service)
And Grades of 80 in social studies, 66 in Arithmetic, and 79 in Mechanical aptitude. Shows no service schools qualified for, and no service schools desired. Weight then: 158 pounds. Main occupation: no jobs.
Says:``No jobs, no service schools desired.’’

Nov. 7, 1944 (1145) -Nov. 24, 1944
Received inpatient treatment for Pyelonephritis
Vessel designation CG-74306

Nov. 20, 1944-Nov. 29, 44
Aboard CG 74306

Nov. 29, 1944 through Sept. 12, 1945
stationed aboard CG 74307

Sept. 12, 1945
On leave, from vessel CG 74307

Sept 16, 1945
Transferred to CG 83511 for duty, CG Patrol Base, Municipal Pier, Norfolk, VA; apparently from CG 74307

Oct. 1, 1945
Letter from J.I. Crews states:
``Lassiter ... has completed a continuous period of three years’ active service on 4 April, 1944, with no mark in conduct of less than 4.0. Accordingly, appropriate entry has been made of the service record and above named man has been authorized to wear appropriate (ribbon) in lieu of issue of actual award at this time.’’

Oct. 10, 1945
1300 hours
Letter addressed to Wimpy in Norfolk, Virginia says,
``Proceed to: Portsmouth, Virginia,
CO.CG Personnel Separation Center, No. 5, Crawford Street
Discharge from the Coast Guard on Draft No. Nornor-56.’’

October 11, 1945
Discharge papers show that he weighs 161 pounds. Apparently gained 25 pounds in the service (up from 136.5 pounds)

October 12, 1945
Discharged in service

-- R.A. Dyer

Accu-Stats webcast: Captain Hook's Return

2010-09-28T00:24:00.000-05:00

Mike "Captain Hook" Sigel, a three-time world 14.1 champion, began playing pool at age 13 and then turned professional at 20. He won his first U.S. Open 9-ball championship in 1975, and then went on to spectacularly amass nearly 40 additional 14.1 and nine-ball titles. He was inducted into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame in 1989, at the age of 35. Sigel was the youngest male ever to be inducted by the BCA.

And now, after a long hiatus, Captain Hook is back! He recently won the Bob Stock Memorial 9-ball Tournament, and placed fifth in the Seminole Tribe of Florida Empire State Championships. Also expect to see Sigel at this year's U.S. Open 9-ball Championship, Oct. 17-23. He's a three time winner of the event.

The very cool Accu-Stats video company this week has webcast a live 14.1 match between Sigel and NYCgrind.com founder Jerry Tarantola. You can start watching the video by clicking on the screen, above. Sigel and Tarantola are playing to 125. The entire match can be viewed here.

-- R.A. Dyer

The Mail Bag: Ames, Allingers & Mosconi

2010-09-27T08:28:00.000-05:00

For my recent Pool Synergy contribution, I wrote about Willie Mosconi, The Hustler (for which Mosconi served as a technical advisor) and the contents of the billiard legend's pool case. One of the items that I described was a neatly folded piece of paper that contained a list of shots, apparently from Willie's trick shot routine. But reader Erling Hammarstrom, in a letter from Sept. 26, said he had watched Mosconi in a number of exhibitions, and that the shots described in the note do not match those that he remembers.

Hammarstrom also has an interesting memory of the Ames' pool hall, in New York City. Here's what Hammarstrom has to say:

"I had the opportunity to see Onofrio Lauri and Mosconi play in a number of exhibition matches. In reviewing the list of trick shots it appears that they are not all the shots that Mosconi would use after an exhibition. Shot number 15 with the three cues was Lauri's signature shot. Mosconi always completed his trick shots with the long masse. Mosconi would stroke down on the cue ball sending it three quarters of the length of the table before the english took and it spun back making a ball in the corner pocket.

My favorite Mosconi shot was when he would roll a ball down the table and hit it with the cue ball making the object ball in the corner pocket. He would do this a couple of times and then said, lets make it a little more difficult. He would put two balls,one on either side of the corner pocket so that you could barely pass a ball in between them. He then rolled a ball down the table, hit it with the cue ball and knocked it cleanly in between the two balls guarding the pocket. He was incredibly accurate.

Speaking of Mosconi I bumped into him at the entrance to Ames Billiard Academy. He told me that the place was closed because they were making a movie. I mentioned to him that I had seen him play Jackie Gleason on television recently and did he hold back so he wouldn't beat him too badly. He said no. Gleason was a real good pool player capable of running a hundred balls. The movie they were filming was the Hustler. Needless to say I tried to get in the movie as an extra to no avail."

And speaking of famous pool halls that begin with the letter "A," reader Michael McCafferty, author of the Diary of a Pool Shooter blog, sends in his recollections of the famous Allingers in Philadelphia. I had written about the pool hall in a Sept. 12 blog post, after a reader had sent me copies of some photos that had hung from its walls. Here's McCafferty's note:

"I remember Allingers! I played there a few time in the late '50s, early '60s, when I was still in school.

It was on the second floor, but since whatever was on the first floor had really high ceilings, the climb up the stairs to Allingers was long and narrow, and it wasn't unusual to pass a few bums hiding out from the weather.

Inside, right in front of the counter, was the main action table, with a prominent sign proclaiming 'NO GAMBLING', but of course that was just for show.

The floors were all bare wood planks, and I remember that the place wasn't a high example of cleanliness, but there seemed to be a high degree of orderliness.

The strongest memory I have of Allingers was the rack girls. You could rack your own, of course, but if you could also get help. Bang your stick on the floor a couple of times, yell 'RACK!' and a little black girl would scurry over and rack 'em for you, for tips. I remember the going rate was a dime a rack, pretty good money in those days.

Allingers was a Philly landmark, the high holy place of pool south of New York City.

When I graduated from college and started working for a living, pool left my life for 40 years, during which time Allingers quietly closed up forever."

Billiards Mystery from a Baseball Historian

2010-09-21T09:06:00.000-05:00

Two photos. One mystery. The man with the crew cut on the right is Mike Tiernan, a famous 19th Century outfielder. But who is the bearded fellow on the left?

Baseball historian Tom Shieber, the man behind the Baseball Researcher blog, recently stumbled across these two photos in the digital archives of the New York Public Library. Tiernan was identified as the man in both photos. According to Shieber, Tiernan was a famous player during his day, having amassed 1,838 hits and 428 stolen bases with the New York Giants between 1887 and 1899.

But how could these photos be of the same person? The images appear so obviously different. Shieber looked more closely at the photograph on the left and found on the back the name of a photo studio. Through a little sleuthing, Shieber discovered the studio was not even in existence when Tiernan was playing for the Giants. Even closer inspection revealed that the name printed on the front wasn't "Tiernan," but rather "Tieman."

What the baseball historian had stumbled across was not a photo of a famous 19th Century baseball star, but rather a famous 19th Century billiards player. The image on the left is that of Philip Tieman, who competed in some of this country's earliest national tournaments. The image was misfiled in the archives.

Pool occupied a very different place in the public consciousness during the 19th Century. It was a sport that was then growing in popularity -- so much so that it would even vie with baseball for the public's attention. Tieman matched up against some of pool's earliest stars, including the man now remembered as the Father of American Pool: Michael Phelan. In 1865, for instance, the two men competed in an exhibition in Ohio. According to the New York Times account: "The players took special pains to make intricate and general display shots, and their efforts being crowned with unusual success, and the audience being a highly appreciative one, rendered the affair brilliant in the extreme."

The match was won by Phelan, a man now famous for having also won the first national billiards stakes match, for being the first to place diamonds on pool tables, and for authoring the first American book about billiards. That's a picture of Phelan just below, at the left. He was inducted into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame in 1993.

In 1864, Tieman matched up with Dudley Kavanaugh in Irving Hall in New York. The Times described it as the most anticipated pool match in the nation. There was a packed house for the event. Unfortunately
Tieman was "much afflicted with rheumatism" and not in top-notch shape. "Although he was in fair health on his arrival yesteday morning, his left wrist was much swollen and he complained of considerable pain," the newspaper reported. Kavanagh won 150 to 98. That's a picture of Kavanagh on the right.

I consulted Mike Shamos, curator of the Billiards Archives, about Shieber's find. Mike was very much excited about it and confirmed that a separate image in the Archives confirms the baseball historian's discovery.

-- R.A. Dyer

Pool Synergy 11: What's in Mosconi's Case?

2010-09-15T08:17:00.000-05:00

Consider exhibit A, above. It's a handwritten note in which someone has enumerated 13 pool shots, each of which has been described with just a few words. The unnamed author uses cursive letters that slant off to the right. It also looks like he took his time writing it because the script is deliberate. Almost tidy. And judging from the crease marks, one can assume the note was at one time folded into at least three sections. This tells me that the unnamed author must have been carrying the note around with him.

Why are we examining this note? Because at one time it may have resided in the pool case of one William Joseph Mosconi, the 15-time world champion. I recently found it in the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History in Washington. As part of my contribution this month to the PoolSynergy project, I'm posting this note up here.

Quick review: Pool Synergy is a monthly collaborative effort in which online pool writers take on a single theme. This month it's pool gear. Our September host, Samm Diep of pooltipjar.com, has asked us to provide photos and descriptions of stuff we put in our cases. But as I write about history here, I decided not to explore my own gear, but rather that of Willie Mosconi.

Many consider Mosconi to be the greatest player of all time. He was born in 1913, went on to win numerous world championships, was inducted into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame, hobnobbed with the rich and famous. This yellowed note, pictured above, was written by Mosconi sometime in the 1960s. It includes a description of the “Paul Newman” shot, an apparent reference to the shot the actor employed in The Hustler. Mosconi, as you may recall, was a technical adviser for the film and, according to information on the Archive's website, these notes relate to shots employed in the movie. That could be. But it also could spell out Willie's exhibition trick shot routine, which doubtlessly also included the Paul Newman shot.

The Archives Center also possesses other objects that Willie doubtlessly carried in his case. I don’t have images of them here, but there are business cards and letters. The archives also possess several items that wouldn’t fit in Willie’s case, including scrapbooks, legal records, videos of Mosconi's appearance on the Ed Sullivan show and the affidavit attesting to his famous 526-ball straight pool run.

Now consider exhibit B, the simple piece of chalk pictured just above. Although you can’t tell it from this photo, this piece of chalk once rested on the rail of Willie Mosconi’s pool table in the basement of his Haddon Heights home. Flora Mosconi, Willie’s widow, gave it to me some years back. The piece of chalk is not autographed or otherwise marked to signal its famous origins. But I know the truth. It looks well worn. But was it ever in Willie's case? You be the judge.

-- R.A. Dyer

Allingers Pool Room Photo Mystery

2010-09-12T11:54:00.000-05:00

That's a picture, above, of the famous Allinger's Billiard Academy as it appeared in 1910. I found the picture at the 3cushion.com website. The greatest players in the world made their way to Allingers, including Greenleaf and Mosconi. I believed the room may have moved around during its tenure -- folks from Philadelphia would know better. At any rate, in the 1950s it was located at 1307 Market Street. It was at this location in 1954 that Wimpy Lassiter won his first national championship. He defeated defeated Irving Crane 150 to 130 in the final. (You can read about it in Hustler Days).

Why am I writing about Allingers? Because reader Jason McManus recently sent me some photos that once hung on the walls of the poolroom. He explains that these are reproductions -- that is, they're photos of photos. That's why you can see the flash in many of them.

Jason said he didn't take the photos himself, but rather they were taken by his friend Joe. "I remember Joe telling me a funny story of how he learned the game of pool there from the older guys. They sort of babysat him, as he was supposed to go to the dentist. What Joe did not know was that his mother gave them passes for a burlesque show where his mother was a makeup artist."

I can imagine a lot of these guys appreciating tickets to the girly shows. Jason wonders about the identities of these pool players. Anybody have any clues? The guy right below looks to be Hubert "Daddy Warbucks" Cokes, the famous gambler and one-pocket player. Also: who has more stories about Allingers?

-- R.A. Dyer

RIP Frank McGown, New York Pool Legend

2010-09-04T16:09:00.000-05:00

Frank McGown is dead. I know this because I recently stumbled across a short obit for McGown during my semi-regular trolling of the Internet for pool news. The story I found in the Billings Gazette notes that "over the years, Frank won many billiards honors."

Just to be clear: Frank W. McGown was a former New York state champion who, during the course of his career, beat Wimpy Lassiter, Onofrio Lauri, Harold Worst, Mike Euphemia and Lou Butera. He was a regularly top finisher in world competition, and once ran 150 and out against Joe "Meatman" Balsis. Although the reference to his billiards success doesn't appear in his obit until somewhere near the middle, it should be noted that at one time, Frank was a very big deal. For our sport, his loss is a great one.

I first came across McGown's name some years back while researching Hustler Days, my book about Lassiter and the 1960s pool renaissance. In '67, during the early going of that year's Billiard Room Proprietors Association of America world tournament, McGown demolished Wimpy 150-22. As was McGown's custom, he played excruciatingly slow. Other players hated matching up with him. "Now, lawdie, I ask you sir, wasn't that awful?" Lassiter said shortly afterwards. "Why that danged rascal McGown played a real slow-down on me, he did indeed."

McGown ended up finishing 6th in that tournament, and then finished third the following year. It was during that 1968 event that McGown ran 150 and out against Balsis. In an article from the March 1983 edition of Billiards Digest (which you can find here) McGown recounts how he made a stunning shot to complete the run. Balsis had scratched of the break, giving McGown ball in hand. "I got up and ran 149 balls, and then got tied up," wrote McGown. He had to resort to a tricky cross-corner bank to complete the run. That's a diagram of the shot, above.

Lou Figueroa also posted up a funny recollection on the players' forum at azbilliards.com. Lou had matched up with Frank during an exhibition. Lou said he was playing well, and thought he had the nuts to win.

"I start to run the balls. I get into the second rack. And then the third. Frank goes to the bathroom. I get into the fourth rack. The balls are wide open. And then comes the shot that I still remember today: a little baby two ball combination on the rail behind the rack that, as Danny McGoorty would have said, a drunk Girl Scout could've made if you held her up to the table long enough.

And I took it for granted and I hung up the ball.

I was told afterwards, by a friend who went into the bathroom at that point, that McGowan was in there washing his hands. When my buddy told him that I had just missed, McGown went, 'He missed?!' And McGown comes flying out and quickly proceeds to make a dish of Shredded Duck ala Lou with an 80-something run and then a 50-something."

A few quick biographical notes. McGown was born on Sept. 27, 1933 in Brooklyn. He worked as an accountant in New York, and then served with the U.S. Army in Germany until 1958. He returned to accounting upon his return from Europe, but eventually left that profession to go into business for himself.

He partnered with the dad of pool legend Jean Balukas in the operation of a Brooklyn poolroom during the 1960s. He also competed in various national and world events. According to Charlie Ursitti's site, McGown had top ten showings during major competitions in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968.

McGown eventually moved to Montana, where he at one time managed a chain of pool rooms. He died in Billings on Aug. 20th after a stroke and long illness.

Rest in Peace, Frank McGown.

-- R.A. Dyer

Babe Cranfield, Mosconi and Long Runs

2010-08-26T08:43:00.000-05:00

Reader Dave Capone sends in this note about the late Hall of Famer Arthur "Babe" Cranfield, who was one of only a handful of men who may have broken Mosconi's 526-ball straight pool record. I say "may," of course, because Cranfield's claimed run of 768 balls was never confirmed. Mosconi had plenty of witnesses for his 526-ball run and an affidavit on record at the Museum of American History to prove it.

But Cranfield made plenty of other long runs, including the 32-rack run apparently witnessed by Mr. Capone, as described below. Billiards Digest columnist George Fels also notes that Cranfield once ran 420 balls in straight pool on a 5 by 10 table. Fels says this feat was witnessed by a crowd in Syracuse, New York, Cranfield's hometown. A run that long would mean Cranfield plowed through 30 racks without a single miss. Most players can't run 30 balls, much less 30 racks. Cranfield also was the only player ever to have won national junior, amateur and professional titles.

So anyhow, that's Babe Cranfield. Here's what Dave Capone has to say about his star-struck encounter with him:

I went to Hollywood Billiards in Syracause N.Y when I was 19 years old. I walked in the first time and all the tables were open. I said to the person that was running the place that I would like a table. He said which one would you like and I said 'I'd like the one in the middle.' He told me that it was reserved for someone. So I took one two tables over. This older man came with his own billiard balls and took the table I wanted the first time. I started to watch him play and he was runing rack after rack so I stopped playing myself and started watching him play. I didn't know him at the time so I left and came back the following week and he was already there. I starting playing and he came to me and said (he was) getting bored (and asked if I) would like racking the balls. I got so excited because I was just starting to learn how to play. I said I would love to rack for him. I racked and racked and racked. I was counting the racks. When he finally missed, he ran a total 32 racks. I was amazed!!!!! He told me his name was Babe Cranfield. It really was a treat at my young age to have an opportunity to witness such a great talent.

The History of Sharking

2010-08-25T09:12:00.000-05:00

Pool, as is noted in this great Sports Illustrated article that I've just stumbled across online, involves sustained waiting. "When one player is at the table, there is nothing his opponent can do except sit and hope that he misses," wrote Robert Coughlan in the April 4, 1955 edition. "The player at the table, on the other hand, knowing that a miss will give his opponent a chance to make a long run and win, is under steadily increasing stress to keep pocketing balls. ... This can be a nerve-racking pastime."

This is why sharking can be so effective. Drop your cue at an opportune moment, stand in the line of vision of a shooter, excessive fidgiting: all of these can be effective ploys. The game rewards those adept at psychological warfare -- but in a manner that is not too overt. This is the definition of sharking. "Anything obviously calculated to rattle an opponent is against the rules, so players develop subtle forms of torture for one another," writes Coughlan. This is in contrast to hustling, where a player hides his or her true speed or deceives an opponent into a game he can't possibly win.

I've come across a great book on the topic of sharking entitled "The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship." It was written by Stephen Potter in a faux Victorian style, with "Gamesmanship" being the euphemistic term the author uses for sharking. The book is appropriately subtitled "The art of winning games without actually cheating."

I've gone through this book, Coughlan's article, and my own notes from Hustler Days and The Hustler & The Champ to create a list of pool's greatest sharking techniques. Be sure to try these at your local pool hall. It's a great way to make friends.

* The Annoying Body Noise Shark
A well-timed coughing fit, burp, or loud sneeze during your opponent's shot can put a player off their game.

* The Line of Sight Shark
Writes Coughlan: When a player is shooting down-table, the opponent "may seize the moment to wipe his hands on a towel or shower them with powder, sight down his own cue or file the cue tip, start telling a joke sotto voce to someone sitting with him, or discover an itch that must be scratched vigorously." The showering-the-hands-with-powder shark was popular with Minnesota Fats.

* The Lauri Searchlight Shark
Pool legend Onofrio Lauri would polish his bald head in the line of sight of his opponent. Sometimes he would get it to shine so brightly that he could use it to reflect a dazzling light into his competitor's eyes.

* The Willie Mosconi Shark
Some very good players can destroy their opponent's game simply by assuming their regular haughty demeanor. Both Willie Mosconi and Ralph Greanleaf would exude such extreme confidence that their opponents felt like insects by comparison. Mosconi almost never lost during his mind-numbing exhibition years on the road. He said this was because his opponents needed to play above their regular skill level, but because they were so unnerved by him they generally played below it.

* The Minnesota Fats Shark
Your opponent on a roll? Stop the game to eat a sandwich. Repeat as necessary.

* The Nice Chap Shark
Also, from the Gamesmanship book: when playing a polite young player and one that has been well-brought up by their family, it can be useful to subtly implant the idea that it would be a rather rotten trick to beat an old man by too much. "Thereby the fatal 'letting up' is inaugurated, which can be the undoing of so many fine players," writes Potter.

* The Free Advice Shark
Give free -- but useless -- advice to your opponent. Potter says it can be as simple as telling him or her to "take it easy" before shooting. Also, telling your opponent to be sure to "look at the line" works well.

* Potter's Improvement on the Primitive Hamper Shark
The name of this shark, again from Potter's book, is admittedly ridiculous. But the essence of it is to interrupt your opponent's flow -- "the hamper" -- but in a way that is seemingly meant to assist your opponent. For example, just as your opponent is in mid stroke, you can tell him to stop. Then, indicating some kids well on the other side of the pool room, say: "those damn kids -- walking across your line of sight."

Potter's book has plenty of hilarious examples of more sharks, including ploys that are useful in tennis and golf. Have your own favorite shark story? Send it in.

-- R.A. Dyer

Pool Synergy 10: Don "Cincinnati Kid" Willis

2010-08-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

The two out-of-towners are relatively short men, in their thirties, the unfortunate age when the paunch begins to show. Neither carries a pool cue. They've appeared unannounced and unexpected in a back-water pool room, which they immediately size up. Who in here has some gamble to them? They get a table. They rack for nine-ball. They start shooting.

"Remember how I beat that boy down in Nixonton," says one, a bit over loudly. He makes his shot, but it wobbles in. "Kid never had a chance." He blasts in another ball, but the shape is awful. "Look at that," he says, admiring his own game. "Ever seen anything like it?" He keeps shooting, keeps boasting. He makes some balls and he misses some. He plays passable pool. Not great pool, but passable pool. And yet he keeps on. The boasts keep getting bigger. Louder. Remember this? Remember that?

And then here it comes. Here it comes. He looks over to the local boy at the next table. Hell, I bet I can even beat this guy right here, he says. Hey buddy you wanna play?

Maybe the local says yes and maybe he says no. Maybe he has these strangers pegged as hustlers, or maybe he has them pegged as hapless and helpless braggarts. It doesn't really matter. This is how it starts: A few games a passable pool, a few boasts, some loud taunts. And then the trap is sprung. In less time than one might expect the challenge is met. Some hot shot local will approach the strangers or someone will call in a ringer from the pay phone. Hurry down. Bring your stick. When the hustle works just right, when the know-nothings are loud enough and the locals are sufficiently irritated, whoever steps up will have some gamble to him.

And then it's all over.

This is the Big Hurrah hustle, performed regularly over several years by Wimpy Lassiter and his road partner Don Willis. That's a picture of Willis at the upper left and Lassiter at the right. The task we've been assigned for this month's Pool Synergy edition is to write about a pool player's support network. As this blog is devoted to pool history I've decided to devote my essay to Don Willis, Lassiter's long-time wing man.

Lassiter, of course, is a man that all serious pool players should already have heard of. He dominated the Johnston City tournaments during the 1960s and is still considered by many as the greatest nine-ball player of all time. Lassiter also won and lost a fortune in Norfolk during his World War II Coast Guard days.

Willis, however, is much less known. He eschewed tournaments, and not until his later years would he even consent to be photographed for publication. I describe him here for the sake of thematic convenience as Lassiter's wing man, but that really is to sell Willis very much short. He regular beat the great nine-ball player and took occasional scalps from other giants, including, supposedly, both Ralph Greenleaf and Willie Mosconi. Willis was an intimidating player. As Lassiter once said: "If I ever had to have someone else shoot pool for my life, win or lose, live or die ... the man that I’d have shooting for me is Don Willis." Now that's a support network.

The so-called Cincinatti Kid was born on May 1, 1909. Like Lassiter, he began playing seriously during the Great Depression, as a teenager. His long partnership with Lassiter began shortly after venturing into Lassiter's hometown of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, during a road trip. Willis challenged Lassiter to a game of nine ball, on Lassiter's home turf, and then had the temerity to beat him. Lassiter was so startled by this outcome that he immediately befriended the Ohio-native. They then spent the next decade and a half together.

"I think my best friend is Wimpy Lassiter," Willis told author Thomas Fensch, for his 1970 book The Lions and the Lambs. "What a team we were. We were together for 15 years. In 1959, he came to Canton and stayed a year. We practiced together and played together. We never had our own cues when we were out on the road. It used to be when you came into a new house with a cue under your arm, everyone’d say, ‘who’s this guy with the cue?’

"We just out-shot everyone. We never lost either -- never left town broke. Sure we were down low at times, but there was always someone else to play."

Willis was a master of all sorts of proposition bets, such as running backwards, making basketball free throws, and making wing shots. Twice during his life he made 42 in a row. "They called me Wing-Shot Willie," he once said. He was also a card player (which came in handy plenty on the road), could juggle three pool balls and the chalk, and play an excellent game of ping-pong and horseshoes. "I’ve even also won bets on the proposition that I can't name in order the 130 largest cities of the U.S. There are 130 cities over 100,000 population. It’s easy."

But Willis never was a tournament player. He said he'd rather play a nobody for $7 than a world champion for nothing. That's where Willis found the fun of pool -- in the gambling. "I never practiced just for the sake of practicing. I always wanted to play -- to play someone," he said. In the pantheon of pure action players, few were better. Playing the Big Hoorah hustle, he could beat anybody. Anybody who stepped up. And then after he had wrung the last dime from one sucker, Lassiter would step up and beat another. The pigeons didn't stand a chance.

"Lassiter was the one who said I had the heart of a lion and I think that’s the best thing anyone has said about me," Willis told auther Fensch.

Willis died on March 2, 1984, at the age of 74. He and his wife Mary were parents to six children and had 13 grandchildren.

You can read more about Don Willis in the excellent retrospective at the Greater Canton Amateur Billiard Association website, which you can find here. (The picture of Don Willis at the top left was retrieved from that website, although it was originally published in the Army Weekly, on Oct. 27, 1944.) Author John Grissom also penned a fine essay about Don Willis in his book Billiards. I found that essay reprinted here. I also have a section about Don Willis in Hustler Days, and Robert Byrne describes Willis in his 1996 book, The Wonderful World of Pool & Billiards.

As for Lassiter, he's also referenced extensively in Hustler Days. The picture of Lassiter, at the upper right, is from that book but was originally published in Billiards Digest.

-- R.A. Dyer

Cornbread Red, Fats & Johnston City

2010-07-18T08:46:00.000-05:00

I love this picture. Billy Burge, better known as "Cornbread Red," was a famed road player, an expert one-pocket player, and a colorful wild man. He was a fixture of "The Rack," a famed pool hall in Detroit, and also a backroom denizen of the Johnston City tournaments. Burge placed second in the Johnston City one-pocket division, back in 1966. He died in 2004.

I got to thinking about Cornbread Red after stumbling across this goofy snapshot on the Internet. It's one of a whole bunch of great pool photos that veteran pro Mary Kenniston recently uploaded to her Facebook page. (Thanks Mary!) Burge epitomized the Johnston City generation of pool players that included Boston Shorty, Handsome Danny and the Tuscaloosa Squirrel. He was the subject of a biography, written with Bob Henning, and he also turns up in the autobiography of Minnesota Fats, The Bank Shot.

On page 135 of that last book, in the chapter titled "Exposed By Hollywood," Fats describes encountering Cornbread Red and others in Johnston City. The players were all razzing Fats about being a has-been player. Red became the victim of one of Fats' famous put-downs.

"I really think you're all washed up," Danny said.

"I think so too," Mr. Tuscaloosa Squirrelly chimed in.

"And so do I," said Mr. Cornbread Red. "I think Danny and the Squirrel are right, Fatty. You're finished."

"Is that so?" I said to Mr. Cornbread Red. "Well I'll tell you what I'll do. When I get through with Mr. Handsome Danny, which will be very shortly, it will be your turn to come to the table with the cash, Mr. Cornbread Red. And when I get through busting you down to your last dime and paying your bus fare back to Detroit, you'll be known as No-Bread Red."

That was enough to silence The Breadman but it wasn't enough to convince Mr. Handsome Danny, on account that Handsome kept right on trying to out talk me.

Biographer Tom Fox, who co-authored the Bank Shot, apparently witnessed the exchange. I really enjoy that book. It's hilarious. I was able to facilitate its republishing a few years back after it had fallen off into obscurity. The new version was put out by Lyons Press, which also published Hustler Days and The Hustler & The Champ.

Bob Henning's book also is excellent. It's called "Cornbread Red: Pool's Greatest Money Player." You can find it on Amazon or you can order it directly from Henning, at Bebob Publishing. And finally, if you want to read more about Cornbread Red, check out Onepocket.org. Cornbread Red was inducted into the organization's One Pocket Hall of Fame back in 2004.

-- R.A. Dyer

PoolSynergy9: Hustlers, Beats and Others

2010-07-15T09:24:00.000-05:00

It would have been 1982 or so, back during my college days, and a friend of mine had just handed me a copy of Hustlers, Beats and Others. The book was the width of a Lucky Strike cigarette. A real thin paperback. I remember the pages were dog-eared and coffee stained.

My friend had discovered Hustlers, Beats and Others atop a pile of similarly musty books at an Austin thrift shop. He figured — quite correctly as it turned out — that this book would interest me. He paid a quarter for it. "Check this out," he said, grabbing the book back for a moment. "Right here. There's a whole section here on hustlers."

Hustlers, Beats and Others is about exactly what it says it is about. New York sociologist Ned Polksy, the author, describes the lives of beatniks, petty thieves and pool hustlers. He examines them almost as if he were examining members of a tribe, writing about both their gathering places and their customs. My friend gave me the book because he knew I was familiar with the game. But the pool halls described in it were nothing I recognized. In Polksy's world, serious men argued over "spots," made giant wagers and sometimes cheated one another. In mine, college kids played for beers.

Flash forward: I graduated from the University of Texas in 1986 and then bounded off to Costa Rica, where I had accepted work at The Tico Times, an English language newspaper. Not long afterwards Touchstone Pictures released The Color of Money, the pool film starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. A bunch of us ex-patriot reporters bounded out to the local movie theater to see a subtitled version of the film and then afterwards, inspired, we ventured into a San Jose pool hall. It was up a flight of cement stairs. I remember having to step over a drunk.

The room was called Center Pool and it was unlike any I had ever seen. These were not surbanites playing pool. These were not college kids winding down after their bio-chem exams. These were serious players, men not running two balls or three, but entire racks in succession. I thought I was good, but I had no idea what good was. These men were playing on giant tables, the largest I'd ever seen — and they made long cut shots and crazy caroms and they gambled. Money, Costa Rican colones, glided back and forth between the players. Even the spectators were placing bets. It donned on me then that these men hardly ever left the pool hall. I realized that this was their home. It was a culture exactly as Ned Polksy had described it.

Our assignment for this month's installment of PoolSynergy was to describe how we came to love pool. So that's my story, more or less. I fell in love with the sport as it was played in Costa Rica, which seemed to match the descriptions from Polksy's book. You can see the sociologist's influence in The Hustler & The Champ and Hustler Days, my books about the early years of American pool. Of course I had other influences too, not the least of which was my Uncle Rob, who was the first pool shark I ever knew. But those days in Costa Rica left quite an impression.

At the top of this post I've embedded a Super8 film I shot at Center Pool, a room that sadly no longer exists. You can also read other PoolSynergy essays by clicking through the Angle of Reflection blog, which you can find here.

-- R.A. Dyer

Memories of Fort Worth's Texas Recreation

2010-07-08T09:09:00.000-05:00

An old friend of mine, who goes variously by the names of "Big Daddy" and "Lucious Tibideaux," sends in this great recollection of a famous pool hall in Fort Worth, Texas. Big Daddy also invites others to send in their own testimonials about old time pool halls that no longer exist. I've written a couple over the years, including one about Houston's Cue & Cushion, which was a favored spot for Jersey Red. There's also Le Cue, which was an action hotbed during the 1960s. I write about Le Cue in Hustler Days.

Big Daddy writes here about the old Texas Recreation, which, like so many of the great rooms, was located above a flight of stairs. I'm sure that among the legends trudging up those stairs was none other than U.J. Puckett, who was Fort Worth's most famous old school hustler. That's a picture of Puckett, above. He later went on to haunt Fort Worth's Fast Freddy's pool hall. Literally.

Here's Big Daddy's note.

When I was a teen-ager in Fort Worth, I had an uncle who introduced me to Texas Recreation in downtown Fort Worth. This was an open-bay pool room with dozens of table where you played for 60 cents an hour. I came back later when I was 16 and 17 and hustled pool there. Ask around, old timers probably remember the pool hall.

It was located in downtown Fort Worth on Houston Street on the second floor over a burlesque house. The burlesque place had photos of dancers in glass frames on the walls in front of the place. These were girls with feather boas wrapped around their waists and chests. I never went upstairs before checking out the photos of the dancers that week. Right next door to the burlesque house was Peters Bros. Hat stores, which has been fitting cowboy hats since 1933 at the same location. It is still there.

- Big Daddy

Daddy Warbucks and Johnston City

2010-07-07T08:09:00.000-05:00

Gary Carlson, a former graduate student from Southern Illinois who wrote recently about a chance encounter he had with Minnesota Fats, also sent in a note about stumbling into a poolroom owned by George and Paulie Jansco. This was sometime back in the late 1960s. The Janscos were the creators of the famous Johnston City tournaments, which I write about in Hustler Days. Carlson appears to have stumbled into a game with Hubert "Daddy Warbucks" Cokes, although his memory is a bit fuzzy on the point. Carlson says the players appeared to be off their game and ended up spending a good part of the evening arguing about the spot. That's a picture of Daddy Warbucks, below, although he's standing there next to another young fan (not Carlson). Right above this post I've included a picture of the Johnston City sign. Cokes was known for his fondness of one-pocket and firearms.

Here's Mr. Carlson's note:

Prior to the experience with Fats, maybe it was 1965 or 1966, I lived in Decatur, Illinois and was finishing up my bachelor degree in Chemistry at Millikin University. A buddy of mine who I played pool with said we should go down to southern Illinois to watch a major pool tournament. So, we piled into his ’58 Chevy Impala and away we went. I have no idea how he learned of the tournament, but the drive took longer than I had anticipated.

I didn’t know what was going on — I knew nobody and certainly didn’t see nor hear anybody named "Minnesota Fats." The place was wall to wall packed. Difficult to see the action and it seemed somewhat disorganized. After watching endless 9-ball, we learned that the more interesting stuff was going on “out back.”I can’t recall (after all, this was about 45 years ago) if it was in a part of the same room walled off or a small building separate from the main room. I think we paid $5 for entry. It was north of the main building (which was like ‘50’s deco), the latter which sat on the northwest quarter of the intersection. In any case, we were there only maybe a couple hours and the only memory I have was in this back room. Frankly, I wasn’t very impressed with the caliber of play – but what did I know? I thought I saw people just as good back in Decatur. I used to watch Don Tozer play there. Anyway, I recall or heard of or saw “Jersey Red,”Eddie “Knoxville” Taylor, and “Big Daddy Warbucks” who I much later learned was Hubert Cokes. The match I recall was between Big Daddy and somebody else – I can’t recall who – seems like Taylor, but I’m not totally sure if Taylor or Red were even there that year and I just heard their names – but it was certainly Big Daddy. I also remember a LONG conversation about what the handicap would be. The game was going to be 8-ball and a race to something for $100 (good money back then). Now, instead of their bridge hand, Warbucks was to use his hat for a bridge and the other guy went into the toilet and returned with a big toilet brush. As I said, the play was unremarkable. I expected long runs, “magic” shots, etc. I was young.

Now I regret that during 1966-1969 when I was in Carbondale, I never bothered to even go back there to watch again – even though it was just east a few miles. Curiously, I did play in a band and we actually played a couple of gigs there at that location. I’ve forgotten the name of the place. It might have been “Janscos."

-- R.A. Dyer

Memories of Minnesota Fats

2010-06-30T08:52:00.000-05:00

Minnesota Fats was a fixture in southern Illinois during the 1960s, which was the heyday of the Johnston City tournaments and the pool revival I described in Hustler Days. The famous tournaments were created by George and Paulie Jansco, who are both members of the One Pocket Hall of Fame. I got to thinking about George and Paulie and Fats after receiving a letter the other day from Gary Carlson, a former graduate student from Southern Illinois. In it, Gary describes a chance encounter he had with Minnesota Fats. It was a small encounter, and yet the sort that appears to have taken on added meaning for Gary as he has learned more about Fats. That's because it quietly reflects some of the great qualities of Fats: he loved playing pool, he loved being around people and -- despite his hustler reputation -- there was a certain kindness about him.

Here's Gary's note:

From 1966 to 1969, I was a graduate chemistry student at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. I used to research my project from time to time during the wee hours and then go to a small hamburger place on the north side of Carbondale where they had 2 or 3 pool tables. I was usually the only one there and after a hamburger, I’d shoot some pool. I was only a fair player. One night (late 1968 – mid 1969), there was a guy sitting at the counter talking to the owner – I paid little attention to them. I had my hamburger, got a cue off the wall and began practicing.

Before long, the guy at the counter strolled over, watched a bit, and asked if I wanted to play a couple of racks. I said OK and asked if he wanted to bet a dollar a game. He laughed and said “A whole dollar”? I didn’t know if he was mocking me or couldn’t afford a dollar so I said “OK, how about 50 cents then”? He smiled and just said “Let’s play a bit for nothing and we’ll see what happens.” Well, he beat me several games with no trouble, shook my hand and left. The counter man said “Do you know who that was”? I told him I didn’t – and he told me it was Rudolph Wanderone – Minnesota Fats. I just said “Oh”. I had no idea who he was. Later, I saw a picture of him somewhere and realized who he was. Later still, I learned he was living not too far from Carbondale.

You asked for some remembrances of the man. That was mine. Recently I’ve read about him and from everything I understand, he was a pretty nice fellow.

Thanks to Gary. And, like he notes: I'm always looking for memories of the great ones. If you have one, send it in. If you'd like to learn more about Johnston City (or see another Johnston City video), check out my separate blog on the topic, which you can find here.

-- R.A. Dyer

New Online: The Chicago Billiard Museum

2010-06-29T08:57:00.000-05:00

Just checking out a cool new site -- The Chicago Billiard Museum. Looks like it includes a long pool history timeline, images of historic tables, and links to Charles Ursitti's great record tables. The new site appears to be the work of D.B. Bond and Ms. Joanne M. Charron. They've also used plenty of credited images and data from the collection of Mr. Ursitti, which he has graciously posted online for free. Mr. Bond, in an email message to me, explains that the museum was originally contemplated only as an online facility, although "as we speak, the feasibility of a physical location is being investigated and discussed. Nothing official yet."

I don't know too much about this site yet, although reading the introductory page I'm told that The Chicago Billiard Museum honors "the passionate men and women who dedicated their lives to the betterment of the games and the industry as a whole; from the players themselves to the makers of the tables and cues to everyone in between."

So far I've come across plenty of interesting tidbits, including photographs of Jake Schaefer's grave marker, a 1910 article noting that "Local Hero Cap Anson is Broke" and photographs of famous pool players and handbills. For the collector, there's also a table gallery and a memorabilia section. And of course, seeing as this website is devoted to Chicago pool, there's also a section listing Chicago's pool manufacturers. "As a producer of billiard and pool goods, Chicago was the hands-down industry leader," the curators note.

The museum adds to the growing list of online resources devoted to pool history, including this blog, my poolhistory.com site, charlesursitti.com and, of course, about a thousand cool videos on youtube and vimio.

-- R.A. Dyer