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William Joseph Mosconi was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mosconi is widely considered one of the greatest pool players of all time. Between the years of 1941 and 1957, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times. For most of the 20th century, his name was essentially synonymous with pool in North America – he was nicknamed "Mr. Pocket Billiards" – and he was among the first Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductees. Mosconi pioneered and regularly employed numerous trick shots, set many records, and helped to popularize pool as a national recreation activity.
Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a cue sport in which two competing players attempt to pot as many billiard balls as possible without playing a foul. The game was the primary version of pool played in professional competition until it was superseded by faster-playing games like nine-ball and eight-ball in the 1980s.
Stephen Mizerak Jr., better known as Steve Mizerak, was an American pool player, considered one of the all-time greats, dominant during the 1970s and early 1980s in the game of Straight Pool, holding over 70 tournament victories in his career, and winning multiple pocket billiards title including a record 4 consecutive BCA U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship titles. Nicknamed "The Miz", he has a high run of 421 balls and a record for the highest balls per inning average in Straight Pool during his career. He was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
Jean Balukas is an American pool player from Brooklyn, New York, and ranks among the stellar players in the history of the sport. At least through the 1990s, when Allison Fisher began her ascendancy, Balukas was widely acknowledged as the sole candidate for greatest female player ever. Described as a "trailblazer, a child prodigy, a loner who rebelled against dress codes for women—the pool equivalent of Billie Jean King", she is a five-time Billiards Congress of America (BCA) Player of the Year, was the youngest inductee into the BCA Hall of Fame and the second woman given the honor, and was ranked fifteenth on Billiard Digest's Fifty Greatest Players of the [20th] Century.
Ralph Greenleaf was an American professional pool and carom billiards player. Greenleaf is widely considered one of the greatest pool players of all time. Between the years 1919 and 1938, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times.
Alfredo de Oro was a Cuban professional carom billiards and pool player who several times held the world title in both three-cushion billiards and straight pool simultaneously. He was posthumously inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 1967, the first non-American to receive the honor. He was ranked number 4 on the Billiards Digest 50 Greatest Players of the Century.
Michael Sigel is an American professional pool player nicknamed "Captain Hook." He earned the nickname from his ability to hook his opponents with safety plays. Sigel was dominant during the 1980s in 9-Ball and Straight Pool and has a high run of 339 balls in Straight Pool. Mike Sigel is widely considered one of the greatest pool players of all time. In the year 2000, Sigel was voted "Greatest Living Player of the Century" by Billiards Digest Magazine.
Three-cushion billiards, also called three-cushion carom, is a form of carom billiards. The object of the game is to carom the cue ball off both object balls while contacting the railcushions at least three times before contacting the second object ball. A point is scored for each successful carom. In most shots the cue ball hits the object balls one time each, although hitting them any number of times is allowed as long as both are hit. The cue ball may contact the cushions before or after hitting the first object ball. It does not have to contact three different cushions as long as it has been in contact with any cushion at least three times in total.
Allen Hopkins is an American professional pocket billiards (pool) player, professional billiards color commentator and BCA Hall of Fame inductee. He promotes multiple annual pool events and still competes as a professional contender.
Jimmy Mataya is an American professional pool player, nicknamed "Pretty Boy Floyd".
Luther Clement Lassiter, Jr., nicknamed Wimpy, was an American pool player from Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The winner of 7 world pocket billiard championships and numerous other titles, Lassiter is most well known for his wizardry in the game of nine-ball and is widely considered one of the greatest players in history, He was inducted into the Billiards Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 1983. That same year, he was also inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. He was ranked number 9 on the Billiards Digest 50 Greatest Players of the Century.
Larry Lisciotti was an American professional pool player and notable road hustler, nicknamed "the Prince of Pool".
Shane Van Boening is an American professional pool player from Rapid City, South Dakota. As of 2022, Van Boening is the number 1 ranked player in the "World Rankings" published by the Matchroom Pool and the "WPA Rankings" published by the World Pool-Billiard Association. Van Boening is a winner of over 100 professional titles.
The World Straight Pool Championship is a pool competition, that was held up until the game of Nine-ball became popularized in America. It was the most prestigious straight pool tournament up until the 2010s, when tournaments like the American 14.1 Straight Pool Championship and the European Pool Championship 14.1 that are still held annually, have gained prominence in recent years. During the tournament's early years, it was the only global professional title for straight pool. The event was revived in 2006, in part to restore the game's popularity in the United States. The World Straight Pool Championship was held in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010 and was sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), until ending in 2010, and with it the tournament's history of nearly 100 years. Ralph Greenleaf & Willie Mosconi are the most successful players having both won the tournament on 19 occasions. The oldest player to win the tournament is Irving Crane at 59 years old at the time of his victory. The youngest player to win the tournament is Ralph Greenleaf at 20 years old at the time of his first victory.
Dick Lane is a professional pocket billiards (pool) player from Dallas, Texas. In 1977, he reached the finals of the BCA U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship but lost to Tom Jennings despite leading 196–42 and being only four balls away from the championship.
James William Moore, known as Cowboy Jimmy Moore, was a world-class American pocket billiards (pool) player originally from Troup County, Georgia, and for most of his life a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, best known for his mastery in the game of straight pool.
Darren Appleton is an English pool player, best known for playing Eight-ball, Nine-ball and Ten-ball pool.
Masako Katsura, nicknamed "Katsy" and sometimes called the "First Lady of Billiards", was a Japanese carom billiards player who was most active in the 1950s. Katsura blazed a trail for women in the sport by competing and placing among the best in the male-dominated world of professional billiards. First learning the game from her brother-in-law and then under the tutelage of Japanese champion Kinrey Matsuyama, Katsura became Japan's only female professional player. In competition in Japan, she took second place in the country's national three-cushion billiards championship three times. In exhibition she was noted for running 10,000 points at the game of straight rail.
Frank Taberski (1889–1941) was a professional pocket billiards player from Schenectady, New York. Nicknamed "The Gray Fox," he won 14 world titles.
The U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship is a pool tournament held in the United States, and one of the few featuring the discipline of straight pool. The tournament has been held inconsistently and has been dormant since 2019. The tournament has been a less prestigious tournament since 2000, the last time the tournament was sanctioned by the Billiard Congress of America (BCA). The CueSports International (CSI) has sanctioned the event since, in 2007, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Steve Mizerak is the most successful player having won the tournament four times consecutively. The oldest player to win the tournament is Jimmy Caras at 58 years old at the time of his victory. The youngest player to win the tournament is Oliver Ortmann at 22 years old at the time of his victory.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Peretz, Howard G. (1999). It Ain't Over 'Til The Fat Lady Sings: The 100 Greatest Sports Finishes of All Time. New York: Barnes and Nobles Books. pp. 70–71. ISBN 0-7607-1707-9.
- 1 2 "MCC History 1975–1980". Middlesex County College. 2005. Retrieved 2007-09-28.[ dead link ]
- ↑ Mike DelNagro (June 27, 1977). "A hustler meets an artist". Sports Illustrated Vault. Retrieved 2018-04-09.