How movies turned the American pool player into a cultural character.

Every town had one—the player who knew the tables, the room, and the game better than anybody else.

Morning players, afternoon regulars, night owls and the late action crowd—the old billiard room had a schedule all its own.

Chalk, action, dead balls, road men and railbirds—the language of the poolroom was almost a game of its own.

Buses, trains, small-town rooms, and the traveling players who learned that every poolroom had its own language.

Before television turned great matches into broadcasts, the best seat in the house was three feet from the table.

Before billiards became something you watched on television, the neighborhood poolroom was where people went to see who was around.