EXCLUSIVE BOOK EXCERPT BD PRESENTS A SNEAK PEEK AT A NEW BOOK By “UNTOLD STORIES” cOLUMNIST R.A. DYER, CHRONICLING THE LIVES OF MINNESOTA FATS AND WILLIE MOSCONI AND HOW THEIR RIVALRY DEFINED POOL. The husTler -&- The Champ THE FUTURE RIVALS FIRST MET AS YOUNG MEN AT FRANKIE MASON’S POOLROOM IN PHILADELPHIA, WHERE RUDOLF WANDERONE — AKA MINNESOTA FATS — CHALLENGED STRAIGHT-AS-AN-ARROW WILLIE MOSCONI TO $50-PER-GAME ONE-POCKET. DYER RECONSTRUCTS THAT FATEFUL MEETING. O HE comes up the steps, strid- papers and the pool magazines, he took billiards. He has never held a job, and ing across wood floors looking fat to the road. And so here he comes, he’s so, exactly and precisely like Willie Sand well fed but no doubt with arrived in Philadelphia, and at his side Mosconi, he has sought refuge in pool- desperation behind a carefree façade. is that other back room player of shady halls. But unlike Willie, Wanderone The Depression then beat down upon repute, Babyface Alton Whitlow, and embraced this life with gusto. Unlike the nation; men were broke, families together they scan the room. Willie, Wanderone never cared about were starving — and maybe Rudolf Suckers, suckers everywhere, they looking like a lowlife scoundrel but Wanderone was too. Sometimes he must think. rather feared being mistaken for a pen- lived at home, sometimes not. He had If they were starving, they never let niless bum. During those days when foraged through the poolhalls of Man- on. If they were one loss away from joblessness defined America, Wan- hattan and Brooklyn and then, when homelessness, they never said. derone summed up his life’s meaning the easy pickings played out and when Wanderone has no known skill at with a flash of green, a nervous twitch, his name started appearing in the news- anything but cards, craps, and pocket a W. C. Fields taunt, an unquenchable J u l y 2 0 0 7 BILLIARDS DIGEST 47 The husTler -&- The Champ thirst for larceny. Hustling in small cast his larcenous eye upon him. derstanding of odds, an innate sense rooms and the big, moving, moving, “Hey, there, you, buddy. Why don’t of human psychology, and an ability moving brother, Wanderone reinvented you play me some one-hole, c’mon.” to deceive. Hustlers can victimize bet- himself. Carrying Babyface Whitlow’s Wanderone would appeal to the ter players, or they can victimize less- cue not out of deference but because houseman’s vanity and his arrogance er ones. They can victimize members they probably only had the one be- and taunt him into a game — because of the general public. The most low- tween them, Fats made his scratch the that is how the hustle worked. down of the hustling tribe can even best way he could. And he did so with C’mon, Buddy, he says. cannibalize his own financial backers. style. He has taken the houseman for a Hustlers employ a myriad of differ- So now Rudolf Walter Wanderone has chump. ent techniques, but most are simple come to Philadelphia flashing his $250 Let’s go! variations on two broad strategies. The cash money, calling it a fortune, and yet And so finally the houseman screws first is simply to “play on the lemon,” pledging to make it double. “Who wants together his cue. He steps out from which means to mask one’s true abil- some of . this?” he taunts. behind the counter. If he smiled that ity by purposefully making position It’s a siren call, as true as one ever day it would have been utterly with- errors, scratching, or missing balls. A hears in a second-floor poolroom. out warmth. Rudolf Walter Wanderone player on the lemon might typically “I say I’ll play anyone, anyone at may have miscalculated. win but only just barely. Or he might all. .” “Let’s see what you got,” says the win only slightly more games than the And who is there to hear this call but houseman. “I’m Willie Mosconi. Let’s other fellow. Or the hustler might win a man about Wanderone’s age, a man play some pool.” only when the stakes have grown to about Wanderone’s height, a man look- his liking. A man on the lemon cre- ing more irritated with every passing USTLERS TRAFFIC in impa- ates the comforting illusion that he moment. He’s there behind the counter, Htience, ignorance, greed, and ego. isn’t stealing another man’s money. he’s the houseman, and Wanderone has Their tools are personal charm, an un- And if played with subtlety—that is, if played with good humor and flat- tery—the hustler’s victim might keep losing for days. Mosconi made his living above board, through tournaments and exhibitions. The second broad strategy is “shark- ing,” and this is when a hustler behaves in disruptive or disconcerting ways to the hustler brags about his supposed Philadelphia during the 1930s was low, another hustler of very ill repute. throw his opponent off. This can be skill and daring, but loudly, “Look at the top city in the nation for pocket With their gold bracelets, their wide as subtle as removing one’s handker- this shot! Lookee here!” he might say. billiards. Former national champion ties, and their cocked fedoras, they chief while an opponent is shooting. Or: “Here it goes! Here it goes! Here it Andrew Ponzi made his home there. were roadmen of the most dandified It can be as overt as making physical goes — beautiful!” The more obnox- And then there was George Kelly, a sort. Straightaway they got to a table, threats. Sometimes the player getting ious, the more ridiculous, the flakier, national-class player, and and they began playing sharked doesn’t even realize he’s get- the better. The key is to not play well, Jimmy Caras, another fu- back and forth, and Fats ting sharked. Take, for example, those not even close to well — again, to play ture world champion. Even starts flashing his turd- sometimes very funny hustlers who on the lemon — and to affect a vulgar the great Ralph Greenleaf sized wad of cash, and disarm their opponents with nonstop swagger that verges on the imbecilic. spent some of those years in he brags about his ability jokes and pratfalls. This sort of sharking Fats was perfect Philly, mostly in Allinger’s to pocket balls and prob- Now when New York Fats met Wil- for. but also sometimes over at ably also his ability to lay lie Mosconi that first time in Phila- Typically the hustler’s relentless Frankie Mason’s. Greatness women. delphia it appears that Fats combined crowing combined with his seeming attracted greatness to the Fats’ patner, Whitlow. If they were playing both of these techniques into a single ineptitude will lure in a mark. And City of Brotherly Love, so one-pocket, Fats cer- ploy. Dubbed “The Big Hoorah,” Fats’ typically this mark will be some sort when hustlers came looking to hook tainly wouldn’t have been showing hustle allowed him to use all of his of local poolroom hero who would be their fish there, they’d be wise not to everything he had. He’d run twos and athletic and psychological skills, but utterly helpless against a professional. cast their lines too far. The Philadel- threes certainly, but never fours and it did not require him to depend too If the hustler has done his work, the phians of the 1930s and 1940s played fives. He also would have been pass- heavily on those attributes he always local’s own pride will drive up the wa- pool at terrifying levels. ing on those crazy-ass banks. He sure- held in short supply: patience and hu- ger while his ire will unbalance his as-shit wasn’t hitting three-railers or mility. Under ordinary circumstances shot making. Hence, the Big Hoorah ANDERONE WOULD have been running out. All the while Fats would the ploy might have given him a good is the perfect combination of sharking Wspecifically aware of Mosconi’s have been working Willie’s nerves chance of success. Of course, playing and hustling. The hustle also rewards reputation as an intimidating straight- like a boxer on the heavy bag, crow- Willie Mosconi does not constitute or- an itinerant player like Fats, who then pool player. But Wanderone also ing about each and every damn shot, dinary circumstances. had neither the desire nor the pa- knew that Willie was the houseman, bragging about obvious luck, making In a nutshell, this is how the “Big tience to stick around any single room the guardian of the till, and that he Willie ache with his nonstop stupid Hoorah” is supposed to work: The for long. Flit in. Piss off the helpless would have to get through him if he prattle. For good measure Fats also Fats (with Hubert Cokes, right) hustler walks into the poolroom, locals. Take their money. Clear out. was going to really score that day at turned his taunts to the back room embraced the hustler lifestyle. maybe with a confederate, and starts The disadvantage is also clear: not Frankie Mason’s. At Wanderone’s side, card players, the old Italian cronies knocking balls around. All the while every local is helpless. remember, was Babyface Alton Whit- beneath the bluish white haze of cigar 48 BILLIARDS DIGEST J u l y 2 0 0 7 J u l y 2 0 0 7 BILLIARDS DIGEST 49 The husTler -&- The Champ smoke. Save me a seat! Fats said.