#Pocket billiards bank shots professional#

That same year, Mosconi embarked on a hectic cross-country exhibition tour promoting Brunswick products. His performance garnered the attention of the president of Brunswick Corporation who immediately hired the young phenom. Erwin Rudolph won the title and Willie came in 5th place.

In 1933, Mosconi competed in the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) World Straight Pool Championship. Willie claimed he never hustled anyone, beating everyone honestly: 'I played everyone straight'.

#Pocket billiards bank shots professional#

After a short while, Mosconi was making a living as a professional pool player. Upon his return, Mosconi entered one local tournament after another and according to his autobiography, 'Willie's Game', he won them all. By the early 1930s, Mosconi had taken a brief hiatus from the game, but returned a few years later in the hopes of earning some money. In 1924, at the age of 11, Mosconi was the juvenile straight pool champion and was regularly holding trick shot exhibitions. The hall was packed, and though Greenleaf won that match, Mosconi played well enough to draw considerable attention and launch his professional career. In 1919, an exhibition match was arranged between six-year-old Mosconi and the reigning World Champion, Ralph Greenleaf. Joseph Mosconi began advertising challenge matches, and though Willie had to stand on a box in order to reach the table, he beat experienced players many years his senior. The young Mosconi was a prodigy and his father soon realized that he could use his son's talent to help earn money for their growing family.

He tried to keep his young son away from the game by hiding the billiard balls, but Willie improvised by practicing with an old broomstick and small potatoes from his mother's kitchen. Despite that, Joseph was strongly opposed to his son playing pocket billiards, preferring he become a Vaudeville performer. Mosconi's family lived above a pool hall William's father, Joseph Mosconi, owned. Mosconi set the officially-recognized straight pool high run world record of 526 consecutive balls in 1954. Mosconi pioneered and regularly employed numerous trick shots, set many records, and helped to popularize pool as a national recreation activity.ĭuring the 1940s and 1950s, the pocket billiards game most often played in competition was called straight pool, or 14.1 continuous, a form of pool considered by most top players to be more difficult than today's fast tournament game nine-ball. Pocket Billiards' – and he was among the first Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductees. For most of the 20th century, his name was essentially synonymous with pool in North America – he was nicknamed ' Mr. Between the years of 19, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times. Mosconi is widely considered one of the greatest pool players of all time. William Joseph Mosconi ( / m ɒ ˈ s k oʊ n i/ June 27, 1913 – September 17, 1993) was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Most people don’t talk about this factor, but you need to keep it in mind if you ever have a bank that isn’t straight.Mosconi (left) with Jimmy Moore at the 1953 World Straight Pool Championship

When you cut a ball spin is placed on it and this will greatly affect where you need to hit a bank. Spin can also result from cutting the object ball if the bank isn’t a straight on bank. When you do this some of that spin gets transferred onto the object ball which can alter the direction as well. Banking AnglesĪnother factor of banking is when you put unwanted spin on the cue ball. Getting used to using medium speed takes some practice, but knowing when to compress the rail can be helpful in tough situations. If you hit the object ball soft then it will come off the rail at a larger angle then expected. If you hit the ball hard the rail will compress and the angle it comes back will be shallow. Because the cushions are made out of rubber they will not bounce the cue ball back at a perfect angle every time. There are some factors that can affect whether this system is effective or not due to the physics on the table.