Tournaments and Exhibitions
In 1924, at the age of 11, Mosconi was the juvenile straight pool champion and was regularly holding trick shot exhibitions. 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.
Upon his return, Mosconi entered one local tournament after another and according to his autobiography, "Willie's Game", he won them all. After a short while, Mosconi was making a living as a professional pool player. Willie claimed he never hustled anyone, beating everyone honestly: "I played everyone straight".
In 1933, Mosconi competed in the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) World Straight Pool Championship. He nearly won the title but lost in the final to Erwin Rudolph.
His performance garnered the attention of the president of Brunswick Corporation who immediately hired the young phenom. That same year, Mosconi embarked on a hectic cross-country exhibition tour promoting Brunswick products. Mosconi was joined by his idol and then World Champion Ralph Greenleaf, who was at the top of his game. In the end the scoreline read 57 wins for Greenleaf and a close 50 for the 20-year-old Mosconi.
From 1940 to 1941, a round-robin tournament series was sponsored by billiard halls, with eight invitational players. Mosconi was sponsored by a hall in New York City called McGirr's. He dominated this series, and ran 125 balls from the break five times when only two other players in history had ever done the same.
In 1944, Mosconi enlisted in the US Army, having already spent several years working within the defense industry. When World War II ended, he returned to a successful tournament career and renewed his affiliation with Brunswick.
After suffering a stroke in 1956, Mosconi slowed down on his tournament appearances in order to recover. He returned to the game at nearly 100% by 1957, when he once again won the BCA World Championship.
Mosconi retired from tournament play in 1966 but remained active in promoting the game. He consulted and appeared in several movies dealing with billiards, made game show appearances and wrote many articles on billiards, as well as co-authored some books.
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