One of the greats of the game of pool, and a guy that most people who don’t even know pool will have heard of is Steve Mizerak.  He was born in the year of 1944 in New Jersey, in lived until May of 2006.  He was a dominant player of the game of pool and an expert at the game of straight pool.

The Miz as he was nicknamed was taught by his father the game of pool.  His father was actually the champion of the state of New Jersey for many years.  When he was a young age of 13 Steve won his first championship which was the Perth Amboy Championship.  Also this year when he was only 13 he turned professional.  However during the full next year he did not enter into one event, not because he didn’t try but they wouldn’t let him come into the tournament, they told him that he was way too good.  While the year of 1960 was hard on pool, the popularity seemed to decline, and more hustlers were getting into the game.  It was at this point that the Miz decided he should attend college because he would not be able to earn a good living if he only played pool.

Earning a degree in teaching he took up the job and actually was a teacher for thirteen years.  But then he started to become famous not only for his pool, but for appearances in commercials, and the movie “The Color of Money”.  

While in 1987 and 88 he played a snooker challenge with then champion Steve Davis and he won.  The Miz also operated a few pool halls in Florida which he also owned.  He began playing in senior tours for pool in 1996 and even hosted some of them in his pool hall.

Unfortunately in 2001 the Miz had a stroke which stopped his pool playing because of physical challenges.  He lived until the year of 2006, when the world lost a great pool player.

One thing you have to wonder about Mizerak’s life is if he’s been allowed to play in those tournaments at age 13 how much more would the game have become thanks to his skill.