Cisero Murphy: The black pool player who conquered the shadows

A black man found his angle and racked up victory at the pool table.

Cisero Murphy was a professional pool player. He made history by winning world and national championships.

Murphy grew up in Brooklyn, New York in 1935. He dropped out of high school and worked as an auto mechanic. Joined a gym ran by the police athletic league to pursue a boxing career.

One night after practicing on the speed bag he checked out the gym’s pool hall. A few players lured Murphy to play. After humiliating defeats over time. He ditched the boxing gloves and focused on mastering the game of pool.

Murphy formed a deal with a pool parlor owner. In exchange for free use of a table, he would sweep up after closing. The owner agreed with the condition, that the overhead lamp wouldn’t be lit. Murphy learned to shoot pool in the shadows of the night.

The challenging conditions boosted Murphy’s pool skills. Using his famous “hesitation shot”, he planned and executed every move, allowing him to run the table for up to two hundred shots.

In 1953 Murphy won the New York City championship at age sixteen. In his twenties, he won the Eastern States 14.1 Championship six straight times.

In 1964 Billiard Room Proprietors Association of America (BRPAA), held a world tournament. Murphy was not allowed to enter. The BRPAA claimed he did not qualify despite a lack of standardized entry requirements. The Brooklyn NAACP and the 125th Street Billiard Players Association held a protest on his behalf.

Under pressure, the BRPAA invited Murphy to compete in the 14.1 World Straight Pool Championship. The longest running and oldest billiards tournament in the world. Held from January 29^th to March 6^th, 1965. Located at the American Billiard Parlor in Burbank, California.  

On March 6, 1965, Murphy won the championship on his first attempt. The BRPAA invited him to its New York tournament that same year.

Later in life, Murphy taught others how to play pool. He participated in city programs such as “Billiards in the streets” to teach pool to children and young adults. Visiting veteran’s hospitals, senior citizen homes, and mental hospitals giving trick shot exhibitions.

Murphy was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame 1995. He passed away in 1996. His first-born son named Cisero K. Murphy wrote an auto biography called “First Born: Being The First Born of The Champ Wasn’t Easy”. The book describes the irrational relationship between him and his legendary father.

Cartoon characters Aleki, Tyberious, and Maurice are created by Sterling Haynes