Kelly Pool - Association With Gambling

Association With Gambling

Kelly pool has long been associated with gambling—so much so, that it was made illegal in some municipalities in the US and Canada. In the state of Montana, for example, the playing of kelly pool was punishable by a $25 fine until the law was repealed in 1964. Likewise, the playing of kelly pool was banned in the Canadian province of Manitoba at least as of 1918. Gambling exploits associated with kelly pool were often depicted in Clare Briggs' comic strip of the same name, which centered on the game. The Kelly Pool strip (panel pictured at right), ran in the New York Tribune's sports section from 1912 to 1917.

From the early- to mid-20th century numerous newspaper stories cover indictments of kelly pool as a bastion of gambling. In February 1908, the county attorney of Oklahoma City denounced kelly pool, declaring "that it comes with in the pale of the law against gambling", and issued orders to the city's sheriff's department to enforce a moratorium. In April 1912 a Vincennes, Indiana resident was indicted for embezzling $11,000 from the brick company he managed reportedly due "to his infatuation with 'pea' pool and shaking dice". The following month, Mayor Mudge of Edwardsville, Illinois announced that "effective at once ... poolrooms ... must do away with all forms of gambling, including Kelly Pool." In the same vein, in 1914 Judge J.A. McIlvaine of a Washington, Pennsylvania court, in passing sentence on a pool room proprietor who allowed pea pool games to be wagered on in his establishment, announced that persons committing similar crimes would "be severely punished ... This is the most pernicious form of gambling for it starts youths to higher grades of crime."

In January 1916 a Washington D.C. billiard hall proprietor was fined $100 by a Police Court judge for allowing the game to be played at his establishment. The United States Attorney handling the case told reporters "There is considerable playing of this Kelly pool in the poolrooms of the city, where many young men lose their entire week's wages on a single Saturday night, and I propose to have it stopped, if possible." In April 1922, Charleston, West Virginia's then mayor, Grant P. Hall, declared "baseball pools, pay-ball, Kelly pool and all other forms of gambling in billiard parlors and cigar stores must cease forthwith." Likewise, in December of the same year, Oxford, Ohio's then mayor, J. M. Hughes, declared a war on all forms of gambling, announcing in the local newspaper that "schemes of chance ... Kelly pool ... are contrary to law." In 1934, sports promoter and notorious gambler Jack Doyle's billiard establishment was raided and he, along with 14 patrons, were arrested for placing bets on Kelly pool.