The Legendary Cisero Murphy: Trailblazer and Champion

The Legendary Cisero Murphy: Trailblazer and Champion

by | Feb 16, 2020 | Billiards Video, Cisero Murphy, Historic Players, Jersey Red, Jim Crow Pool, Willie Mosconi

Brooklyn’s Cisero Murphy smashed through professional pool’s color line. 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 race prejudice to gain the right to compete at the very top echelon of pool. A native...
BCA Hall of Fame: Janscos Inducted Posthumously

BCA Hall of Fame: Janscos Inducted Posthumously

by | Nov 8, 2019 | Billiards Video, Hall of Fame, Hustler Stories, Industry History, Jansco Brothers, Pool Videos, Tournaments

The legendary promoters were posthumously honored with 2019 BCA Hall of Fame induction. By R.A. Dyer It was in a nothing poolroom 300 miles from nowhere, a nothing poolroom with concrete walls, bleachers and overshot with the mingled odors of beer, cigarettes and desperation. For respectable pool players, the 1961 tournament at Johnston City’s too-hopefully named “Show Bar”...
Memories of the Johnston City Hustler Jamborees

Memories of the Johnston City Hustler Jamborees

by | Aug 2, 2019 | Billiards Video, Historic Players, Historic Rooms, Hustler Stories, Jansco Brothers, Minnesota Fats

Pool history includes plenty of examples of grander tournaments but few were as colorful as those in Johnston City. I have been thinking a lot lately about the famous 1960s Johnston City tournaments, especially given the recent selection of tournament founders George and Paulie Jansco for posthumous induction into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame.  The colorful tournaments in Southern...

Video: Legend Taberski Performs Trick Shots

by | Apr 7, 2019 | Billiards Video, Frank Taberski, Historic Players, Pool Videos

Here’s some footage of Frank Taberski performing a number of trick shots, including “Chinese Pool,” which was a popular variation of the game during the early 20th Century. Mike Shamos, in his excellent New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards, described Chinese Pool as a game “in which the cue ball is not stroked but is instead rolled down the groove formed by two cue...