Steve Cook (December 31, 1946 – October 21, 2003), was an American professional player and instructor of

pocket billiards Pool is a classification of cue sports played on a table with six pockets along the , into which balls are deposited. "Pool billiards" is sometimes hyphenated and/or spelled with a singular "billiard". The WPA itself uses "pool-billiard" in it ...

(pool). He is best known for the extremely challenging game of

one-pocket One-pocket is a pool game. Unlike other games played on a pool table where any can be used to score , only one pocket for each player is used in this game. The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any objec ...

, which Cook described as "the pool game for and creative abilities." He was nicknamed "Cookie Monster", and due to his unassuming appearance hiding world-class talent, "the

Clark Kent Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publish ...

of one-pocket". Cook was inducted into the One Pocket Hall of Fame in 2005. World champion Allen Hopkins said Cook was one of the best players in the world in the 1970s. A revised obituary for the website.

Early life

As a child, born in

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...

, Cook suffered debilitating bone deterioration in his right hip, from ages 5 to 10, preventing him from playing running sports, and leading to a focus on hand–eye coordination games. By his teens, Cook was a local champion at

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

(also winning the National Putter Tournament at 15), as well an accomplished bowler. He did not begin playing pool until age 14, but soon focused all of his sporting attention on the game. By 19, Cook had attracted a pro, Danny Jones, to play him in an

exhibition match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, and went on to place 23rd at his first Stardust Open Championship at the Stardust Resort & Hotel in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. He managed a

pool hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

, and in 1968 moved to

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

where he ran Dale Mabry Billiards with his friend and one-pocket mentor Lewis Alexander Goff for several years.

Professional career

in that era the premier one-pocket event. He was both One-pocket and All-around Champion at the 1970 Stardust Open event, at the age of 23. He competed in other events throughout the 1970s, including the US Open. After many years of victories in other events, Cook took the 1991 Legends of One Pocket Championship in Philadelphia (and was runner-up in that year's earlier Legends event in Columbia,SC), and later went on to win the 1993 Los Angeles Open. The obituary source incorrectly says "1992". The 1991 victory made him one of only two players to ever win both the Stardust and Legends of One Pocket titles. Aside from competing professionally, Cook served as the manager and house pro at Varsity Billiard Room in Tampa from the early 1970s to 1996, In this capacity, Steve did as much as he could to promote the game of pocket billiards. An example was that here he was, one of the best one-pocket players, and he would give one-pocket lessons at Varsity Billiards for $10.00 per hour. Most other professional players would charge $1000.00 a session for lessons. Steve really did what he could to help anyone improve their game. Cook was also one of a number of contributing authors to the one-pocket book ''Shots, Moves and Strategies: As Taught by the Game's Greatest Players'' (edited by Eddie Robin), now a highly sought-after collector's item. Market value at

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

350 and up, as of February 2009.

Titles

* 1970 Stardust Open One Pocket Championship * 1970 Stardust Open All-Around Championship * 1970 Birmingham Open One Pocket * 1972 Hoosier Open 14.1 Championship * 1973 Hoosier Open 14.1 Championship * 1974 Southeastern Open 9-Ball * 1974 Wisconsin Open 14.1 * 1979 Citrus Open 9-Ball * 1980 Birmingham Open 9-Ball * 1984 Florida State 9-Ball * 1987 Pool Room Open 9-Ball * 1988 Citrus Open 9-Ball * 1991 Legends of One Pocket Championship * 1993 Los Angeles Open One Pocket Championship * 2005 One Pocket Hall of Fame

Later life

In 1996, Cook returned to Lima, Ohio, to care for his mother after she suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. He continued playing in

the Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

, and occasionally in major events in Las Vegas and elsewhere. At the age of 56 he died in his sleep on October 21, 2003 in his hometown of Lima, of causes that were not disclosed in his obituary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Steve American pool players Sportspeople from Lima, Ohio 2003 deaths 1946 births