Willie Hoppe
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William Frederick Hoppe, (b. October 11, 1887, Cornwall on Hudson, New York, USA; d. February 1, 1959), known predominantly as Willie Hoppe, was an internationally renowned American professional carom billiards champion, and was posthumously inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 1966.
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[edit] Professional career
He won 51 world titles between 1906 and 1952. Other things that brought him to fame were his high runs in three forms of the sport. These are 2,000 in straight rail, 622 in 18.2 balkline, and 25 in three-cushion. He once made a tournament average of 1.333, a world record (at that time, but since broken).
Hoppe published his first book, Thirty Years of Billiards (ISBN 0486231267), in 1925, and followed this up many years later with the introductory work, Billiards As It Should Be Played (ISBN 0809288370), in 1941.
After winning the world title in 1952, Hoppe retired from title play and became a "goodwill ambassador" for the sport by conducting a series of exhibition matches.
In their column on how to pronounce names, Literary Digest said of Hoppe, "According to an intimate friend of many years' standing, it rimes[sic] with copy".[1]
[edit] Titles and tournament wins
- World 18.1 Balkline Champion (1906, 1908-1911, 1914-1927)
- World 18.2 Balkline Champion (1907, 1910-1920, 1923, 1924, 1927)
- World Three-cushion Champion (1936, 1940-1943, 1947-1952)
[edit] References
- ^ Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936
[edit] External links
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