Fats #5

Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone, the legendary pool player, performs trick pool shots and gives insight into his philosophy on the game of pool. Comprised of one long take, Fats performs his famous "Railroad Shot" in addition to other trick shots for which he's become renowned. Fats also describes into his own playing style and explains other types of pool games that he's come into contact with over the years.

00:00Copy video clip URL Color bars

00:53Copy video clip URL Minnesota Fats begins setting up the pool table, recounting anecdotes about some of the more difficult tables he’s dealt with, and how he’s had to overcome those problems.

01:18Copy video clip URL Fats shoots the 8-ball into the corner pocket from across the table.

01:26Copy video clip URL Fats sets up the pool balls in an attempt to make an intricate shot in which 4 pool balls would be knocked into 2 corner pockets with one shot.

02:14Copy video clip URL The first attempt at the trick shot by Fats.

02:20Copy video clip URL Fats resets the balls on the table and attempts the trick shot a second time.

02:40Copy video clip URL Fats resets the balls once again and begins his third attempt at the shot.

03:22Copy video clip URL Fats’s fourth attempt at the shot proves more successful, though one ball is left over in the corner pocket.

03:47Copy video clip URL With a bank shot, Fats knocks in the one remaining ball in the corner.

03:59Copy video clip URL Fats begins setting up “The Railroad Shot”, which, he explains, he performed seventeen times on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

05:24Copy video clip URL Fats explains how the “Railroad Shot” works, then attempts to perform it for the first time.

05:50Copy video clip URL Fats resets the balls for the “Railroad Shot” once again.

05:59Copy video clip URL Fats describes how the “Railroad Shot” works once again, this time in deeper detail.

06:18Copy video clip URL Fats’s second attempt at the “Railroad Shot”.

06:30Copy video clip URL Fats sets the pool balls down in position once again to try and perform the “Railroad Shot” for a third time.

06:42Copy video clip URL Fats successfully performs the “Railroad Shot” trick shot.

07:50Copy video clip URL Fats spreads the pool balls out on the table and begins shooting them, one by one, into the pockets of the table.

08:15Copy video clip URL As he continues shooting pool balls into the pockets of the table individually, Fats explains what he believes to be the difference between great pool players and average ones. “Just pumping balls in ain’t everything; you’ve got to know where you’re going to stop at all times, when you’re going to go clean around the table, and know what diamonds to come off of.”

09:06Copy video clip URL Lining up his next shot, Fats states that he can predict every shot that’s going to be on the table with a given formation of pool balls.

10:25Copy video clip URL After making all of the pool balls into the pockets, Fats once again sets them up on the table. He goes on to describe the importance of knowing what one’s position is at all times during different games of pool. As an example, he describes a scenario in which a player would need to get into position for a bank shot. Fats then proceeds to make every single one of the balls into the pockets with varying strokes and bank shots.

12:23Copy video clip URL Fats tells about how renowned he is for his bank shots alone, then sets up a scenario in which the cue ball is directly across from the 8-ball, and a bank shot is required to sink it in. After explaining that it would be a better idea to bank the ball off of both sides of the table before sinking it in the pocket, Fats demonstrates the shot.

13:03Copy video clip URL Fats sets up another bank shot, this one requiring more power behind the cue ball to bank it off of two opposite sides of the table and into a corner pocket.

13:09Copy video clip URL Fats’s first attempt at the bank shot.

13:15Copy video clip URL Fats’s second attempt at the bank shot.

13:27Copy video clip URL Fats’s third attempt at the bank shot.

13:35Copy video clip URL Fats’s fourth attempt at the bank shot is successful.

13:53Copy video clip URL After hitting a shot, the cue ball comes to a quick halt. Fats explains that he is also famous for “unbelievable control of the cue ball.”

14:18Copy video clip URL Fats spreads the pool balls out onto the table and explains the rules for “Irish Pool”, a more complex game in which every shot is made by banking a given ball off of the cue ball. He then proceeds to knock in every ball by shooting it against the cue ball and into the pockets of the table.

18:15Copy video clip URL With the last pool ball on the table in “kick-in” position, Fats remarks that if he were in a real-life pool game, he would never miss that shot. “If I were playing for money, I wouldn’t miss this in a thousand years.”

18:51Copy video clip URL End of tape.