History of Pool

The history of Pool is a far more associated with the working class people than  the history of snooker. The game developed in America as a spin-off to the grand British game of Snooker. It was modified to suit the needs of the Americans who wanted a fast and easy to play game. They developed the table  with the large pockets and the rules suited to benefit the players at the table. The game was therefore unpredictable but it did not have the image to match snooker in its gentlemanly stance. It was far more an underground game played by characters and charismatic individuals. Individuals such as Ralph Greenleaf, who caught the eye of the ladies with his 'good looks' and young prodigy Willie Mosconi (right) were instrumental in bringing the game to national prominence. The popular game of the day and up until the 1980's was 14.1 which was basically you continue to pot balls until there is one left , the rest are racked up with the apex ball missing and you fire into them and carry on shooting. Mosconi has an unbeaten run of 526 in exhibition and he won 15 titles in the years 1940 and 1957. Mosconi, like Joe Davis before him led Pool in America to new levels and generated an interest at grass roots level.

Pool, being a game where the requirements of potting balls constantly was not the game to be unpredictable and won by the underdog, with the best player usually coming out on top. So a variation was devised and that was 9-Ball which meant that the only ball that counted was the nine ball itself. Therefore suddenly the game was not so clean cut and everyone had a chance. Underground hustling began with huge sums of money being put on the line and the gambling image of Pool took hold. Players like Mosconi who could pot balls in order earned big money from this opportunity obviously rarely losing.
 

 Into the seventies there were various personalities who elevated the game to a new level. Minnesota Fats' and 'Fast Eddie' were two of a multitude of charismatic players who burst onto the scene and generated interest.  The era of nicknames was there and Steve Mizerak also began playing in this era. Theimage of Pool being a gambling game was still there and players such as Effren Reyes and Earl Strickland started out as hustlers. The popular game was still 14.1 but the tournaments and interest began to lie with 9 Ball because of thecrowd appeal and unpredictability, and with the introduction of Pool onto TV.

 

The people wanted to see fast action rather than the slow 14.1 monotonous potting. Pool began to lose its hustler image but not its characters.

The 1980's was a golden era for the Pool world and saw the emergence of many stars into the game. Nick Varner, C.J. Wiley, Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer and many more arrived to tackle the stars in the amazingly glitzy fashion of America. The two movies, 'The Hustler' & 'The Color of Money' had not helped the image of the game and the emergence of youth was difficult as parents did not want their children to occupy this seedy world. But with the promotion of the game and the international coverage youngsters began taking up the game as the hustler was now replaced by organised tournaments and associations designed to keep the image of the game good in order to keep the interest high. Into the 1990's Britain began, with Sky TV., to get 9 ball onto their TV. and they liked what they saw. Clubs began to put American style tables into their clubs and the market began to grow. Barry Hearn staged the 1999 world championships at Cardiff as a taster of the 9 Ball game and the British was intrigued by the more watchable version of snooker. Also, the Mosconi cup between the best of the European players and the best of the Americans staged alternately never fails to capture the imagination of the public and gets good TV. time on Sky. Snooker players also value the game and players like Steve Davis and Jimmy White love the game and competitively take part in tournaments which captures the attention of the snooker fan even more.

The History of Pool is everything you expect of America. Controversial and full of characters. The contrast to snooker is the same as the culture. And the British are now embracing Pool and the game is set to take off here as face it, we love all things American.