Willie Hoppe figures the odds. On a three-cushion billiard shot, he gives himself a 50-50 chance. Last week in Boston's City Club, Willie made a 500,000-to-1 shot.
The onetime "boy wonder" clicked off 17 straight shots to tie the world's record for championship competition. Then he stretched the record to 20. After two legs of a thirteen-leg, city-by-city title tour, 57-year-old ex-Champ Willie had a slim 16-point lead over Champ Welker Cochran. He figures that the new confidence he has acquired from his record run is just the edge in odds he needs over...