Alfredo de Oro

Alfredo de Oro (April 28, 1863 – April 22 or 23, 1948)[1][2] was a Cuban professional carom billiards and pool player who several times held the world title in both three-cushion billiards and straight pool simultaneously. He was posthumously inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 1967, one of the very few non-Americans to receive the honor.[3] He was ranked number 4 on the Billiards Digest 50 Greatest Players of the Century.[4]

In this Romance language name, the surname is de Oro, not Oro.
De Oro c. 1912

Biography

He was born April 28, 1863, in Manzanillo, Cuba.[5]

His first public appearance as a professional was in the fourth US National Fifteen-ball Championship, held in New York, February, 1887. He has been a winner of eleven World Championships. He won the World Continuous Pool Championship in a match against Jerome R. Keogh in New York, November, 1910, making the highest record run of 81. He also held the three-cushion championship title three times during 1910.

In 1912 he was defeated in pocket billiards by James Maturo of Denver, Colorado, in Philadelphia by a score of 150 to 136.[6] In 1914 he defeated Charles R. Morin in three-cushion billiards for the national championship.[7] De Oro was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 1967.[8]

Family

His son Alfredo de Oro Jr. was an amateur billiard player in turn, making it to the final round of the 1931 National Association of Amateur Billiard Players Championship (defeated by soon-to-be-pro Edward Lee).[9]

Career titles

Damon Runyon referenced Oro in his short story "Madame La Gimp", showing his name to be widely known in 1920s New York:

"Well, when I step in I see the judge miss a shot anybody can make blindfolded, but as soon as I give him the office I wish to speak to him, the judge hauls off and belts in every ball on the table, bingity-bing, the last shot being a bank that will make Al de Oro stop and think, because when it comes to pool, the old judge is just naturally a curly wolf."

References
  1. "de Oro, former cue star, dies" (PDF). Buffalo Courier express. p. 18.
  2. "Ex-cue champ dies" (PDF). BuffaloCourier express.
  3. "The BCA Hall of Fame" Archived March 31, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Billiard Congress of America, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States; accessed February 2, 2007
  4. "Billiards Digest 50 Greatest Players of the Century - AzBilliards.com". forums.azbilliards.com.
  5. "Alfredo de Oro passport application". United States Department of State. December 17, 1917. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  6. "Alfredo De Oro Defeated Again". The New York Times. April 6, 1912. Retrieved 2009-11-27. James Maturo of Denver defeated Alfredo De Oro of New York in to-night's pocket billiard match, by the score of 150 to 136. Maturo will play Edward Ralph of Hightstown, New Jersey, for the National championship trophy to-morrow. Maturo started the scoring with a run of 33. They were tied at 113 in the seventeenth inning and again in the twenty-first with 126 each.
  7. Davis, J G (January 7, 1914). "De Oro Increases Lead Over Morin. Champion Wins Second Block of Cue Match by Score of 50 to 39. Cuban Shows Strategy, but Few Brilliant Shots Are Made by Three Cushion Stars". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-09-06. Alfredo De Oro stuck a few additional rivets into his three cushion title by defeating Charley Morin, his challenger, 60 to 39. In the second block of their match for the Jordan Lambert trophy at Recital last night.
  8. "Hall of Fame Inductees, 1966-1968 - Billiards Congress of America". bca-pool.com. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  9. "Who Won". Time. Time Inc. March 9, 1931. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
  10. Billiards: The Official Rules and Records Book. Billiard Congress of America, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. 2006. ISBN 1-878493-16-7.


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