Was watching some videos of Willie Mosconi - very impressive. But then I saw a video of Chris Melling. Oh, wow. :eek:
If he were resurrected, could Willie beat someone like Melling?
One game of 8 Ball isn’t much of a comparison to Mosconi’s career in the more difficult game of Straight Pool and his unbroken run of 526 consecutive balls without a miss.
In what sense do you think straight pool is more difficult? It’s a game of great skill and concentration, for sure, but at each shot you can pot any ball on the table, so the average shot is easier than other games where you are restricted to one specific ball or half the balls.
And I don’t think the notion that Mosconi’s official record might never be broken really means much in itself. The main reason for that is that straight pool is seldom played competitively nowadays. In fact, there are claims of longer runs in unofficial practice sessions, where straight pool is now more likely to be played.
I’m not dismissing the idea that Mosconi may have been the greatest player ever. I’m just not sure we really have any way to make a convincing comparison.
8 Ball is a short game. Straight pool success comes from making it through the next break and retaining possession of the cue. That’s the amazing part of Mosconi’s run, he had to keep sinking balls on the breaks to continue straight through.
Sinking off the break is not so amazing when you look at the size of the table (small) and the size of pockets (large) he was playing. A small table doesn’t make the rest of the play easier, but it considerably increases the chance of potting off the break.
It’s not just a break. He had to sink 14 balls leaving one, the other 14 would be reracked, and then he’d have to call a shot which would have to be the one free ball, and break the rest in that process. He doesn’t get another free break along the way. And he played the game on plenty of large tables too. Frankly I have never heard anyone claim that 8 Ball is a more difficult game than Straight Pool. 8 Ball and 9 Ball competitions are popular now because they move along faster and are more entertaining to watch, not because it’s the most difficult game to play.
TriPolar’s description was a little hard to follow. In straight pool, you have to call a ball and pocket on every shot. When there’s only one object ball left on the table, the other 14 are re-racked and play continues. Typically, you want to have a shot on that last ball so that you can sink it (in the called pocket) and break up the rack of 14 balls so you’ll have another shot, and another after that, etc. It’s not that hard for a good player to run a rack of balls. To finish one rack, and continue on the next one, while making a called shot every time, is the tough part.
I went to the semi-final of a straight pool tournament in New York City about 15 years ago. The score was 30 to 39; the game was to 150. One guy ran 120 to win. He was so good he made it look easy. It isn’t.
Here’s a video of a long run. It starts with several of the break shots, if you can see them behind the on-screen titles.
FWIW I have known two pool players who came out of retirement after not playing at all for several years to win a major tournament.
Ed ‘Champagne Eddie’ Kelly was working as a blackjack dealer at the Las Vegas Sands (where I was working.) On a whim he signed up for a tournament and won it in 1993.
Another hustler I knew, Bruce (don’t remember his last name) had left Las Vegas around 1980 to return to somewhere in the midwest to run his family’s business. He showed up (again at the Las Vegas Sands) in the late 1990s to win a 9 ball tournament, having not played pool at all during the intervening years.