Early Days
Mathews took up pool in the late 1950s while living in California. When he was 14 years old in San Mateo, Mathews began playing pool at a local bowling alley. When he reached 18, he commuted to nearby San Francisco to watch great pool players of this era, claiming it was very important to watch the game being played by those who know how. He took his game on the road in the 1960s and graduated to become a top player in straight pool, nine-ball, one-pocket, and bank pool. Straight pool was the game played in most American tournaments before the 1960s, but when television broadcast came to the fore, the shorter game of nine-ball replaced straight pool, and a professional player was required to play all games to survive. The era of straight pool played with clay or mud balls on 5-by-10 tables was replaced by the 4½-by-9's and the plastic balls that are commonly used today.
Over the next 35 years, Mathews captured several major titles in the four forms of the game, although he is best known for his successes in one-pocket.
Read more about this topic: Grady Mathews
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