Ray Martin (born 1936) is an American professional

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

player, nicknamed "Cool Cat". He acquired his nickname when he calmly won a world title in 1971 in California when during the event an earthquake was in progress.

Professional career

He held the World Champion title in

straight pool Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a Cue sports, cue sport in which two competing players attempt to as many s as possible without playing a . The game was the primary version of Pool (cue sports), pool play ...

in 1971, 1974 and 1978. In 1994, Martin was inducted into the

Billiard Congress of America The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body for cue sports in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

.BCA Hall of Fame
, ''BCA-Pool.com''. Retrieved June 15, 2007 He is a winner of three

World Straight Pool Championship The World Straight Pool Championship is a top-level competition for straight pool, also known as "14.1 continuous". History In 1910, Jerome Keough invented straight pool as a way to increase the challenge over previous continuous games. Soon afte ...

titles. He has also won several

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle o ...

tournaments, including the 1980 Lake Tahoe Invitational, the 1981 King of the Hill Pool Championship, and the 1983 Music City Open. He finished 4th and 5th, respectively in the 1992 and 1993 BCA US Opens. From 1989 to 1991 he served as a contributing editor and wrote the Nine-Ball Safeties column for '' The Snap Magazine''.

Titles & Achievements

* 1968 New Jersey State 14.1 Tournament * 1970 New York State 14.1 Tournament * 1971 BCA World Straight Pool Championship * 1971 National Billiard Player of the Year * 1972 New Jersey State 14.1 Tournament * 1974 BCA World Straight Pool Championship * 1978 Connecticut State 14.1 Tournament * 1978 PPPA World Straight Pool Championship * 1980 Atlantic City Invitational 14.1 * 1980 Lake Tahoe Invitational All-Around * 1981 King of the Hill Pool Championship * 1983

Music City Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, located on the Cumberland River. Nashville had a population of 689,447 at the 20 ...

Open 9-Ball * 1983 Florida 9-Ball Championship * 1992 Florida International 9-Ball Classic * 1993 Florida Open 9-Ball * 1994 Palm Harbour Open 9-Ball * 1994

Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame This is the list of people inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's hall of fame to honor outstanding people who, through their competitive skills and dedication, have enriched the sport and industry. Two categories have been established in ...

* 1995 Fat Cat's 9-Ball Tournament

Books

*''The 99 Critical Shots in Pool'' (1977). Co-authored with Rosser Reeves

References

American pool players Living people 1936 births Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Straight pool world champions {{US-pool-bio-stub