The name Willie Mosconi has become synonymous with pocket billiards, particularly straight pool, and the late Mosconi's legend lives on in the magic number 526, his high run in straight pool. The beautiful game of straight pool (or 14.1 continuous) is played with all 15 balls wherein you shoot 14 balls while leaving a remaining ball to help break open the new rack and continue your run. It was the professional pocket billiard game of the 40's and 50's until the now more popular rotation games have taken over.

Today, we're fortunate to have one of the straight pool masters of our own time, John Schmidt, AKA "Mr. 400". This awe inspiring role model has been a strong advocate for the game since he first tried it in 1996. Currently residing in Florida, Schmidt was born in Keokuk, Iowa and has since lived in over 20 states. He played his first rack of straight pool in 1996 after mentor Bobby Hunter said, "If you could run about a hundred balls everyday you could pretty much go out on the pro tour." The challenge of that statement drove Schmidt to countless hours of practicing nothing but straight pool.

The Chicken or the Egg

Q: What game came first: straight pool or the other games?

A: I hit my first few pool balls in '92. I had jobs and just used a house cue when I did play pool. Pool was like this fun little hobby I had on the side. And then I got into it seriously in '96 when I met Bobby. Within about a year and a half, two years, I'd run over 200 four or five times. In '96 and '97, I was running 100 within 4-5 tries but I was already a pretty good pool player by the time I saw my first rack of straight pool. I already knew how to play 9-ball pretty good. I didn't own my own pool stick until '96 and in '96 I ran over 200.

In the Beginning

Q: What was your initial impression of the game?

A: I thought it was interesting, hard, and a real fair game.

He [Hunter] was the first person I saw play it and then I picked up a few Accu-Stats videos and I played it and managed to get pretty good at the game. And once I got about three or four runs over 200 under my belt, I hit the road and pretty much went out and gambled playing 9-ball and one-pocket on the road. Straight pool gave me the confidence to go out on the road and gamble with people.

Q: Can you recall the first big number you put up that you got excited about?

A: Oh yeah, my first run over 100. It was 112. My highest previous run before that was a 42. I had just got into straight pool and I ran a 42 and had a bunch of 30's and 40's and I just got rollin' one day and I ran 112 and that was like the most exciting day. I couldn't believe I did it. And then, after that, I believed that I could run 100 so I ran 100, hundreds of times over the next couple years and managed to run probably two runs over two hundred and then, of course the 400 ball run I ran in Milton a few years ago, that was really a big deal to me. I couldn't believe I did that.

Back then, I was playing nothing but pool every day. No golf, no nothing.

Within a 4-day period, Schmidt had runs of 400, 268, and 282. At the top of his game, he had also won two back to back pro events, defeating Mika Immonen in the finals of the Florida tour. Schmidt recalls

When I ran my first 112, I was like, "Well, how long is it gonna take me to do it again?" and it took me maybe a week. But then all of a sudden, I did 100 on back to back days, and then it was two 100's in one day and then it got to where I was mad if I didn't run 100 in a day and then it got to where I could do it every single day. That was when I realized, "Okay, I'm good enough to go out on the road and play for money," and straight pool gave me a lot of confidence.

Today, Schmidt has runs of 400 and 402, nearly seventy runs of 200 or more, and eight 200 plus runs on his 9-foot Diamond pro-am. He currently holds the highest recorded run on a Diamond with 294.

Q: What do you think it would take for you to break 500 or 526?

A: Just an easier table to play on. I think the misconception with me is that I wake up every day and play eight hours of straight pool on a bucket table and none of the pros do that, myself included. I have a 9-foot Diamond in my house. If I could put a loose table with brand new cloth and play straight pool 8 hours a day, within a couple years I might, and that's a big might, be able to pull it off.

The fact that I have a Diamond with kind of humid conditions down here, there's no chance of me ever running over 500. The 294 I consider a miracle in itself. If the financial incentive were there to break Mosconi's run, I would try it. Me and about six or eight other guys would have a legit chance to do it but it still would be extremely tough.

Schmidt on Straight Pool

Q: Would you say straight pool is your favorite game?

A: It's one of them. I actually like playing all the games. One-pocket is a lot of fun to play. I look forward to playing that but straight pool's right up there. Even though I've run over 100 a million times I still get a kick out of doing it. It's like a sense of accomplishment like "I've still got it!"

Q: What is it about the game that you love so much?

A: The shot making is tough to put the big runs together and the cue ball control. I like the fact that there's very little luck involved. When you miss, your opponent almost always has a shot and vice versa.

Basically, it's very little luck, a lot of skill, and I get a kick out of the number too because it's a way to measure how I'm playing by the run. If I run 200 balls, I know I'm playing good. There's just no other way to look at it. But, sometimes when you play 9-ball, you'll run a lot of racks but that's because after the break you've got easy shots or easy layouts and you'll feel like you're playing the greatest pool of your life when you're not really. When you're playing straight pool, it doesn't camouflage your mistakes or playing bad. If you're playing good, the numbers will show it.

Q: Which straight pool players did you admire when you were learning the game?

A: For sure, Mike Sigel, Jim Rempe, Allen Hopkins, Steve Mizerak, and even though I didn't know a lot about straight pool, I could just tell that they were playing the game right. I would watch those videos and then watch other guys play straight pool and it was like watching a Pinto race a Porsche. That's really what opened my mind up. I learned from watching those videos and my game went through the roof.

Q: Do you feel like there's a lot of pressure on you to put up big numbers during straight pool competitions?

A: Oh yeah, for sure. I don't want to go out there and run a bunch of small numbers. I feel pressure in the straight pool tournaments to do well because I'm supposed to be like this good straight pool player. The only thing is, in fairness to myself, I've only played six or eight straight pool tournaments in my life so I don't have a lot of experience actually playing match play straight pool. When I'm playing another human being and it matters and I have to play safe and stuff, I'm not quite as comfortable doing that. I'm still learning to run 30 and play safe and how to play safe and remember the guy's on a foul and just stuff like that. I still feel like I haven't ever played my absolute best straight pool in public. I still feel like against other humans, I dog it just a little bit.

Q: What do you practice most?

A: 10-ball and my 10-ball break because that's the weakest part of my game. When I hit balls, I'm probably playing 10-ball or the one-pocket ghost. I'll sprinkle straight pool in there but right now my cloth is just so old. It's just so tough.

Q: Why don't you think straight pool is as popular in the US as it is in Europe?

A: It's a long, slower game and when it's played it looks easy and the American culture just seems to want fast food, they want fast cars, they want everything right now.

Schmidt Shares

Q: Do you do anything to prepare your mental or physical stamina before you attempt a big run?

A: No, I don't really except that I just figured out a way to play straight pool, really, to play all pool games. If you watch me play I play quick, but I just don't waste a lot of energy. When shots are easy, I treat them like they're easy and when they're tough, maybe I'll treat them like they're tough but I don't burn a lot of physical and mental energy when I play which is part of the reason I can run big numbers because I don't wear my back out, I don't wear my mind out. I just zip around the table and I do what's necessary.

Q: How specifically has straight pool helped improve your other games?

A: The one thing that it's helped improve is my confidence. I know that if I can run 400 and somebody else who has played straight pool all their life has only run 200 then I've gotta be a little bit better player. It just gives me the confidence to know that whatever game we play I probably can hold my own because if I can run 400 then I've gotta be a good pool player. That's the thing that it's helped me with the most.

Q: How important is the opening break shot in straight pool?

A: It's huge and that's something else that I really don't have mastered. Sometimes I hit it good and sometimes I don't. Only once or twice a year when I have a straight pool tournament do I bother shooting that shot. I still feel like it's not my forte.

Q: What is single most important tip you ever received about the game?

A: Not to cross the line of the ball. Come into the path of the next object ball without crossing it as much as possible.

Schmidt believes straight pool is, "a great game to showcase the skills of a pool player."

It's a number. It's like bowling or golf where you have a handicap. You don't just say I'm a great golfer, you say I'm a zero handicap. Oh, you're right, you are a great golfer. Well, with pool, you actually get a little respect. You see how many people bring up the fact that I've run 400? That's because they understand that it's way more than they could run. It's the way it works in snooker too. Those guys don't just play snooker, they try to run centuries, they try to run maximums, they try to run perfect games and the audiences at home go, "Man, I've played snooker for 20 years and my high run at home is 38 points. This guy just shot a perfect game, 147. That's incredible." But, when they watch us play 9-ball on TV, the general public just goes, "Yeah, I can do that. Just put the ball in the hole." But when the commentator says John Schmidt just ran 240 in straight pool and now they go play straight pool and they can't run 30 balls they see how hard it is.

A lot of people don't like to play it because they don't want to attach a number to their ego. There's a lot of guys on tour that think they're great players that are going to struggle so bad to run 100 and they'll never run 200 and they don't really like the world to know that.

More Fun 411

Q: Do you wish there were more straight pool competitions in the US?

A: Oh sure. I wish every tournament was straight pool. The top players would win all the tournaments and I'd like to think that I'd be able to win some of them.

Q: Have you ever tried to play straight pool on an 8-foot or 7-foot table?

A: Yes, at the [Super Billiards] expo in '09, I ran a 182 without my glove, with borrowed cue. The 4 by 8 is the easiest table to play straight pool on. It's small enough to be easier but big enough to have some room. You can reach the break ball from everywhere.

Q: Any final thoughts?

A: If I had my druthers, what I'd really like to do is, I'd like to have some promotional company pay me to go around the country to different pool rooms and try to break Mosconi's record. Do straight pool exhibitions like Mosconi did. I'd really get a kick out of that. I would love to get to do that!

Schmidt currently has straight pool videos available through Accu-stats.com and Seyberts.com. The latest run of 294 on his Diamond, with self-commentary, will be available soon. He can be seen competing in most professional events and touring the country representing CSIPool along with Corey Deuel and Earl Strickland as Team CSI.