My dealings with Gleason go back a long, long time. I was born and raised in New York and hung around the Times Square area. I had first started to play pool on 14th Street at Julians. An upstairs place where there were a lot of good players.

That is where I first saw Willie Mosconi play. One of the great moments of my life. You see, I had been playing pool on 14th Street for about 2 years. I was about 15 at the time. I had become pretty good. At the Kip’s Bay Boys Club, where I was sent during the day to keep me out of trouble, I learned to play and by the end of the year I was the NY Boy’s Club champion. So now I was about 15 and playing every chance I could with the better players at Julians.

Willie Mosconi comes in to play an exibition against one of 14th Streets best, Joe Batchlor. Joe was a very good player who in straight pool, which is what we played, could beat all of us. I remember the posters and the pictures and all the talk of who Willie Mosconi was.

The day arrives and Mosconi comes in to play. I watched him get ready and I am so impressed with his way of handling himself. Here was the best of the best and I was going to see it in person.

I will never forget the introduction. “Ladies and gentleman, 15 times World’s Pocket Billiard Champion, Willie Mosconi.”

I then watched a master at work. Such dedication and concentration combined with the greatest touch I had ever seen. He was in full command of the game and the situation at all times. I had never seen such power at work. Of course he crushed Batchlor and as I would later learn, anyone else he would play. Joe just couldn’t play his game. By the way, this game was played on a big table, a 5X10, that just isn’t seen anymore. Most poolrooms used 4 1/2 by 9 tables.

At the table, Willie never bragged or showed off. He just slowly and carefully kept at his business and shot ball after ball and continued this till he won the game. His concentration and ability to stay focused was awe inspiring to watch.

I decided that day that this game of pool could be played much better that I thought and I had so much to learn. I watched him play all that week. Afternoon and night. I would get there early to just watch him arrive and prepare and then play and I would later follow him on the street if he was going to dinner or something.

I knew I was watching a master and by being around him I could get the feel of what it is like to do what he does.

I know your probably wondering what this has to do with Gleason and Sinatra, but bear with me because it has everything to do with it because after seeing Mosconi at work, I dedicated myself to be the best I could at it. I would spend the next many years perfecting the skill of playing pool. And that meant going uptown.

So I had to now start going uptown to play. I had to go where the best players and action was. That bought me to the Times Square poolrooms. It was in that area, from 42nd to 51st on Broadway, that all the action was. On 43rd was Elkins, later known to movie goers as “Ames,” where the movie The Hustler was filmed. Also on 49th, above the Danceland was “7-11” the really main action joint. Here there was all kinds of gambling action. Card, dice, pool, numbers, bookmaking.

But in this area was also the capitol of the showbiz world. In the surrounding buildings were the offices of agents who handled the comics and all the entertainers that played the nightclubs - comics, singers, showgirls, dancers and headliners. In these buildings were also the offices of the song publishers and the agents for the songwriters who all hang around the area.

But I was here to play pool and get as good as I could and make some money. I played a lot of pool during the next few years. Played some big money matches, won some and lost some. The best hustlers in the country were at “7-11”. I tended to stay away from them in the beginning, just to survive. If I had only $15 I needed it to beat some others to generate a bankroll. I needed to pick on weaker players, like the entertainers and songwriters and actors who are out of work who have nothing else to do at the moment.

So I spent a lot of the time hustling these showbiz people. Some had big ego’s, great, that kept them playing this young fresh faced kid and as long as they kept playing I knew that I would end up with the money and I did. I loved it when some actor or entertainer would give me a lecture about being in the poolroom and being so young and wasting my time. They would play me to give me a lesson on how an older person had so much more experience and knowledge about the world and I would have to learn a hard lesson. I loved it!! I would beat them, but never too badly on any game. I didn’t want the great lesson they’re giving me to end. I just slowly, like Mosconi, take game after game. They keep paying me and some just never stop giving me the lecture. Of course, all the lectures stop when they run out of fucking money.

“7-11” is up the street from the Palace theater. Where they showed a movie and had stage shows all day long. All the people in the shows hung around the area so when if any of them came into the poolroom to play card or dice or pool I got a crack at them.

So I hustle pool for the next year or so and start playing the very good players. These games amongst the really good players attract a lot of attention and there is a lot of money bet on each side. At “7-11,” I played some very big money games and developed a reputation as a good money player.

If I lose the big match, then I go and hustle some tourists or some entertainer and build up a BR and try again.

During this time I was also getting involved in the dice and card games and getting very good at that too. I used to hustle some people into those games and help take them off. I would get a piece of the action.

Being so young and clean cut looking, I was the one who would hold the gaffed dice and marked cards on me till they were needed in case a policeman would happen to walk in. In the few times we were raided, I loved when the policeman would say “Hey, kid what are you doing here?” I tell him “I’m just looking for my brother.” Cop says “You’re too young to be in here. Get the hell out of here...” So I leave. “Yes sir, yes sir” I love to obey the law.

During this time I also started going up to McGirr’s on the 6th floor of Brill building where there was a very nice Billiard room. This was near the Sheraton Hotel.

And that is where I run into Jackie Gleason and some other notable people. Gleason had a Saturday night show on TV. He did it live and he loved to hang around McGirr’s to relax. He was a very good pool player. Probably the best in all of showbiz. So I was glad to get a chance to tangle with him. And it turned out he wanted a piece of me.

As I write this, I realize this is becoming a lot longer than I expected. I do apologize and if it’s alright with you I will continue this, a lot more about Gleason and Sinatra, in the next story.