William Joseph Mosconi (born June 27, 1913, died September 12, 1993), an American billiards player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is considered by most who knew him to be one of the best players in the history of the game. Between the years of 1941 and 1956, he won the United States states pool championship eighteen times. During those years, the game that was played was called straight pool, or 14.1 continuous, a form of pocket billiards considered by most top players to be more difficult than today's championship pool game 9-ball.

Willie Mosconi once ran 526 balls in a row in an exhibition of straight pool, a record that may never be beaten. He was the technical consultant for the movie The Hustler, in which had a cameo role as a "stakes holder". The movie resulted in a boom in the popularity of pool.

His father owned a pool hall and supposedly tried to keep him away from the game at first. At 19, due to his showing in a national event in Minneapolis, he played with the best players in the world and finished in the upper half.

He was hired by Brunswick which had touring professionals and promoted their products throughout the thirties.

From 1940 to 1941 a league was sponsored by billiard halls with 8 players, and a full round robin took place. Mosconi was sponsored by a hall in New York 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.

He continued to dominate pool into the mid 1950s in a manner few have equaled.

References

• Billiards: The Official Rules and Records Book 1992
• Billiard Digest, Vol 16, No. 2