Did I tell you the story of how I beat Minnesota Fats in an exhibition 9-Ball game? I have the cue-ball to this day.My Uncle Max used to shoot with Fats in Chicago at pool tournaments.
Both the Marsh boys Max and Tom both excellent in pool
There was a grand opening of some dept store and they had a table set up. I showed up with an acquaintance to see what was going on just as Fats said he needed someone from the audience to play him.
Everybody was waving, and I just stepped through the ropes and picked up a pool cue. He turned, startled, and said, "Looks like we have a volunteer! You want to go first?"
I knew I was dead if I broke them, so I said:
"You break."
"Then you don't get to shoot!"
The crowd roared with laughter while my sperm curdled. Fats crashed the rack -- balls went absolutely everywhere. But in.
My turn now. Firm lip, chin up, bowels dissolving... I saw an easy shot and took it. Shot another. I was not planning on the next shot each time, just shooting to get it in and then go see where the cue ball was. Lining up on a third ball...
"THIS GUY IS A STRAAAAAIIGHT SHOOTER!"
I looked at him, and he took out an enormous handkerchief and blew his nose. This made his belly rise up a full six inches and drop down again. <-- To the applause of the crowd.
Now that I was fully concentrated, somehow I got the fourth ball in. Then missed.
Fats clearly felt like he needed to show who's who and Bob's yer uncle, so bingety-bang-pock-crack-zing in about thirty seconds, there was the last ball slap in front of a corner pocket with the cue ball about eight inches away.
Instead of simply sinking it straightaway, he did a three-bank shot to the far end and back. It hit the eight ball in.
And then the cue ball followed it. I won.
I distinctly heard Fats say, "Shit!"
But the crowd saw it as a masterful finish: No balls left on the table.
My acquaintance (later a screw in a prison) joined the crowd clustering around Fats -- and without my knowledge, palmed the cue ball out of the corner pocket.
He handed it to me in the parking lot. It still has the blue marks on it.