Willie Hoppe - Billiard Player

At the young age of five, Willie Hoppe started learning how to play billiards. He played on the pool table in the hotel that his father owned and operated. Because he was so short, he would stand on a box in order to reach the table. By the age of nine, he became known as the “Boy Wonder” and by age fourteen, he was playing billiards professionally with men three times his age.

Willie Hoppe is thought by many billiard enthusiasts to be one of the greatest well-rounded, and all-around pool player of any era. His name was synonymous with the word “billiards” for over twenty five years due to his many victories and titles in the sport.

Some of Willie Hoppe’s accomplishments include:
*Willie Hoppe won his first world billiards title at the young age of thirteen.
*He won world titles in both 18.1 and 18.2 Balklin
*Hoppa won the Cushion Carom world title.

Willie Hoppe is also a very versatile player. When Balkine billiards was replaced by Three-Cushion Billiards as teh world championship game, Hoppe simply reconfigured and adjusted his game. Between 1936 and 1952, Willie Hoppe won the World Three-Cushion title eleven times.

Willie Hoppe was and excellent 18.1 Balkline and 18.2 Balkline player, winning the world 18.1 balkline championship by beating Maurice Vignaux of France on January 15, 1906 and by going on to win the title in 1908, from 1909 through 1911, and from 1914 through 1926. Although he lost the championship to Jake Schaefer Jr. in 1926, Willie Hoppe rightfully regained it in 1927, which was the last year in which competitive play took place for that type of billiards. He was also the world 18.2 balkline champion in 1907, from 1910 through 1920, from 1923 through 1924, and in 1927.

With the decline of Blakline Billiards, Willie Hoppe began focusing his game on three-cushion billiards in the 1930s. He won world championships in 1936, from 1940 through 1944, and from 1947 until he retired from professional billiards in 1952.

Willie Hoppe holds numerous records in the sport of billiards which still stand. In his array of records, he hold the one that was set for an incredible run of 622 in 18.2 balkline during an exhibition match in 1912. Additionally, Willie set records with runs of 20 points in three-cushion league play in 1927 and three-cushion match play in 1945, and he ran a record 25 points in a 1928 exhibition against Charles C. Peterson. His grand tournament average of 1.33 in 1950 is also a standing record.