In the final chapter of our seven-part conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston, the story comes full circle. Mary reflects on the closing years of her competitive career, the health battle that changed everything, and the determination that carried her back to the table playing better, in some ways, than ever before.

With candor, wit, and hard-earned perspective, Mary shares how she rebuilt her game after serious illness, teaching herself how to swing her arm again, refining her fundamentals, and discovering new ways to aim that she wishes she’d known from the beginning. She looks back on the stamina demands of tournament pool, the painful decision to retire, and the one shot from the 1989 U.S. Open she would take back if given a single career mulligan.

But this episode is about more than competition. It’s about legacy.

Mary tells the remarkable story of how a few forgotten boxes of photographs became an extraordinary accidental archive of pool history. What began as a personal trip down memory lane turned into a passion project that has preserved thousands upon thousands of images of players, tournaments, and moments that might otherwise have been lost. In doing so, Mary has become the game’s unofficial historian, reconnecting generations of fans and players with the sport’s rich past.

She also opens up about life after touring professionally, from dealing poker and caring for family to writing, commentary, and chronicling the people and personalities who built the game she loves.

Asked how she hopes to be remembered, Mary’s answer says it all: as both a survivor and a steward of pool’s history.

This moving and memorable finale is a fitting close to the life story of a woman whose impact on the game extends far beyond the titles she won.

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Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

In Episode 6 of our seven-part conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston, the story moves from championship pool to one of the most beloved rooms in the game’s history—and then to a life-altering challenge that few champions ever face.

Mary reflects on the late 1980s, when she stepped away from the tour at the height of her powers to open Cue-Topia in Las Vegas. What began simply as a place for players to gather soon became something legendary. Inspired by a Philadelphia poolroom whose walls were covered with snapshots of the game’s greats, Mary began building her own Wall of Fame—hundreds of photographs celebrating the personalities and champions who passed through her doors. Soon, players from around the world were making Cue-Topia a must-visit stop, spending hours studying the photos and reliving the stories behind them.

Along the way, Mary shares remarkable memories of the game’s icons—late-night conversations with Willie Mosconi, reflections on Ralph Greenleaf’s brilliance, and encounters with road players and champions who defined an era when reputation—and action—mattered more than publicity.

Even while running the room, Mary proved she still had the champion’s touch, returning to tournament play and capturing major titles including the 1989 Brunswick World Open Nine-Ball Championship.

But this episode also reveals one of the most dramatic chapters of her life. After a medical crisis that led to emergency brain surgery and partial paralysis, Mary faced a devastating prognosis. Doctors warned she might never walk again. What followed was a test of willpower, resilience, and the same competitive fire that made her one of the game’s elite.

From building a gathering place for pool’s legends to battling back from a life-threatening setback, this chapter of Mary Kenniston’s story is unforgettable—raw, inspiring, and deeply human.

It’s another remarkable installment in the life story of one of pool’s most respected champions.

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Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on:

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Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

In Part 5 of the Legends of the Cue conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston, the road stories, rivalries, and tournament triumphs keep coming.

Mary takes listeners back to the mid-1980s pool scene in Los Angeles, where action, personalities, and opportunity collided in smoky poolrooms and late-night gambling sessions. From becoming the house pro at a bustling barroom to matching up with future stars like Kelly Simpson (later Kelly Oyama), Mary recounts the hustling culture that helped sharpen her competitive edge.

The conversation moves through legendary rooms like Hollywood Billiards, where Mary found pristine tables, tough weekly tournaments, and a chance to test herself against top male players—sometimes beating them along the way. These were the years when Mary balanced road action with tournament play, building a reputation as one of the most formidable women in the game.

A highlight of the episode is Mary’s unforgettable story from the 1984 McDermott Masters, featuring a dramatic hill-hill match against Lori Shampo that ended with one of the most hilarious and memorable moments ever witnessed in a pool tournament.

Along the way, Mary reflects on the rise of the women’s professional game, the dominance of Jean Balukas, and the competitive environment that pushed everyone to improve. She also shares her perspective on the era when women’s pool was striving for mainstream recognition—and the pivotal players who helped elevate the sport.

By 1987, all of Mary’s experience—action games, road matches, and relentless competition—came together as she captured three WPBA tournament victories in a single season, firmly establishing herself among the elite players of her generation.

It’s another entertaining and revealing chapter in the remarkable life story of one of pool’s true pioneers.

In this episode, Mary Kenniston proves once again that in the golden era of pool, every match came with a story.

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Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

In Part 4 of our seven-part conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston, the road keeps rolling and the stories keep getting better.

Mary takes us deep into the action-heavy pool world of the early 1980s, from Houston to Fayetteville, Rocky Mount, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area. With her trademark honesty and sharp wit, she recalls the thrill of finding games, protecting her cover, and learning how to survive in a world where toughness, timing, and table smarts meant everything. Whether she was matching up in smoky poolrooms, drawing crowds on bar tables in Southern California, or navigating the nonstop action of Houston’s legendary rooms, Mary was building a reputation the hard way—one set at a time.

This episode is packed with unforgettable road stories: high-stakes lessons from Buddy Hall and New York Blackie, a return trip that turned the tables on a doubter, colorful characters from the gambling scene, and a chilling reminder of the ugliness that still existed in parts of the country during that era. Mary also shares how her hustler’s instincts carried beyond the pool table, as she built a successful jewelry clientele in California before deciding it was time to move on yet again.

What comes through in this chapter of Mary’s life is her resilience, adaptability, and fearless independence. She could win in the poolroom, win in business, and hold her own anywhere she landed.

Part 4 is a vivid portrait of pool’s action years—raw, funny, sometimes harsh, and always compelling—told by one of the game’s true originals.

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Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com

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Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

In Part 3 of our conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston, the stories get even richer as she takes us deeper into pool’s road era—when instinct, nerve, and a well-kept spot book could mean the difference between surviving and going broke.

Mary shares her unforgettable friendship with the late Grady Mathews, from first meeting him in New Jersey to their daily phone calls during his final illness. Along the way, she paints a vivid portrait of Grady’s charm, intelligence, and larger-than-life presence, while Allison Fisher adds her own memories of traveling with “The Professor” on a whirlwind exhibition tour.

From there, Mary takes us on the road to Alabama, where backroom action, firehouse games, and a fired-up competitive streak produced some of her most memorable gambling stories. She recalls beating seasoned players, handling herself in a man’s world, and using anger as fuel to bring out her best game. She also reflects on a pivotal turning point in her life—how a failed job opportunity sent her back toward Norfolk, the U.S. Open, and ultimately a life built around pool.

This episode also opens a fascinating window into the hidden mechanics of road play: the handful of women out there matching up, the coded knowledge players carried from town to town, and the legendary “little black books” that tracked rooms, players, stakes, and weaknesses across the country. Mary even shares how that knowledge later helped top pros find action of their own.

And just when you think the episode couldn’t deliver one more great tale, Mary introduces us to Bucktooth—a millionaire jeweler, poolroom owner, and action-maker who could create a gambling scene out of thin air.

It’s a funny, revealing, and deeply authentic chapter in the life of one of pool’s great storytellers and archivists.

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Support the show

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Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com

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Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

In Part 2 of our conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston, the road opens up and the stories get even better.

Mary takes us back to the years just after college, when shorthand, typing, bookkeeping, and supermarket checkout speed hardly seemed like preparation for life in pool — yet all of it formed the determined, sharp-witted competitor she would become. From the earliest days of the women’s game in the Northeast, she recalls a time before a true professional tour existed, when players piled into cars, shared rooms, and relied on the generosity of room owners to create opportunities to compete.

She reflects on the emerging women’s scene, the dominance of Jean Balukas, the rise of LoreeJon, and the close-knit, scrappy environment that helped shape the WPBA in its earliest form. Mary also shares her own role in that history as one of the organization’s first secretary-treasurers.

Then the story shifts from tournaments to the road — and into the action. Mary paints a vivid picture of running through New Jersey, New York, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas, chasing games, making scores, and learning the realities of pool life in an era when action was everywhere and women players were still a novelty.

At the heart of this episode is a priceless encounter with Buddy Hall. What begins with Mary sharply putting him in his place turns into one of the most important moments of her development as a player, as Buddy helps reshape her fundamentals and elevate her game almost overnight.

This is a wonderful chapter in Mary Kenniston’s story — full of grit, humor, history, and the unforgettable characters who made pool’s golden road years so legendary.

Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text.

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Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on:

Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com

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Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

In this first installment of our conversation with WPBA Hall of Famer Mary Kenniston, we begin at the beginning—Long Island roots, a fiercely competitive childhood, and the natural athletic gifts that made her a standout long before she ever picked up a cue.

Mary takes us back to growing up in Suffolk County, where sports came as naturally as breathing. A tall, fearless tomboy with a sharp mind and a gift for competition, she excelled in nearly everything she tried—basketball, softball, field hockey, track, and more. She earned a basketball scholarship at a time when opportunities for women were rare, only to see that dream derailed by devastating knee injuries. But as Mary tells it, one closed door has a funny way of opening another.

That next door turned out to be a barroom pool table in Nebraska.

What began as boredom while tagging along with her boyfriend quickly became revelation. Within a remarkably short time, Mary was beating everyone in sight, winning bar tournaments, and realizing that pool offered something no other sport had: a challenge deep enough to keep humbling her. From there, the story only gets better. After moving back East, she discovered the legendary Guys and Dolls billiard room in New Jersey, where a chance meeting with an older mentor named Bob changed everything. He introduced her not only to the finer points of the game, but to the wider world of serious pool.

Along the way, Mary shares stories that are funny, candid, and unmistakably her own—from beating the boys in high school basketball to discovering, unexpectedly, that her own father had once been a player himself.

It’s the origin story of one of pool’s most distinctive voices—frank, fearless, gifted, and impossible to forget.

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Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on:

Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463

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Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

In the final installment of this four-part conversation on Legends of the Cue, Austrian Hall of Famer Gerda Hofstatter-Gregerson reflects on the closing chapters of her competitive career and the deeply personal choices that shaped the life that followed. Joined by Allison Fisher, Mark Wilson, and Mike Gonzalez, Gerda looks back on more European and Austrian titles, her 2009 straight pool success, and her final professional victory at the 2010 San Diego Classic.

This episode goes far beyond the scoreline. Gerda opens up about the mental side of championship pool, from learning to quiet the mind through meditation to understanding just how much confidence, discipline, and emotional control influence performance at the highest level. She also shares one of the most meaningful transitions of her life: stepping away from full-time competition to embrace motherhood and family life. In candid and heartfelt moments, Gerda explains why leaving the tour was not a sudden decision, but a natural evolution as her priorities changed and her world expanded beyond the pool room.

Listeners will also hear Gerda’s thoughts on today’s extraordinary level of women’s professional pool, her brief comeback after Hall of Fame recognition, and the immense pride she feels in being inducted into both the WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame. Along the way, there is laughter, warmth, and touching appreciation for the people who helped shape her journey—from family and mentors to close friends and fellow champions.

As this remarkable life story draws to a close, Gerda answers the show’s final questions with the same grace, humility, and perspective that defined her career. It is a fitting finish to the story of a world-class player, devoted mother, and beloved ambassador for the sport.

Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text.

Support the show

Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on:

Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1

Music by Lyrium.

About

"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPBA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”