Jean Balukas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Jean Balukas

Jean Balukas performing in an exhibition in Grand Central Terminal in 1966
Born	(1959-06-28) 28 June 1959 (age 66) Brooklyn New York U.S.
Sport country	United States
Professional	1969
Tournament wins
Other titles	100
World Champion	Straight Pool (1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983), Nine-Ball (1988)
Ranking info

Jean Balukas (born June 28, 1959) is an American pool player. She is from Brooklyn, New York. Many people think she is one of the greatest pool players ever.

Jean was a "child prodigy," meaning she was super talented from a young age. She was like Billie Jean King in tennis, breaking new ground for women in pool. She won the Billiards Digest Player of the Year award five times. She was also the youngest person ever to join the BCA Hall of Fame. She was only the second woman to get this honor. Billiard Digest magazine ranked her among the top 15 greatest players of the 20th century.

Jean first got public attention at age 6. This was at a pool show in Grand Central Terminal in New York City. She later appeared on TV shows like I've Got a Secret. When she was just 9 years old, she placed 5th in a big pool championship. This was the 1969 U.S. Open straight pool event. In the next two U.S. Opens, she placed 4th and 3rd. From these early starts, Jean became the top woman in professional pool. She was unbeatable throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Jean won five WPBA World Straight Pool Championship titles. She also won the WPBA World 9-Ball Championship. She earned eight BCA U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship titles. Plus, she won four WPBA U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship titles. Jean won over 100 professional tournaments. She also had a record of 16 first-place wins in a row. At that time, she was the only woman to play against men in professional games. She stopped playing in 1988. This was due to a disagreement about her behavior during a match. She was at the peak of her skills when she left.

A Young Pool Star

Jean's father, Albert Balukas, owned a large pool hall in Bay Ridge, New York. It was called the Ovington Lounge. Jean started playing pool at age 4. She did not play at her father's hall. Instead, she played on a pool table in her home's basement. Her parents bought it to keep her four brothers from going to local pool rooms. Jean later said she rarely went to the pool hall. She felt uncomfortable there, as girls did not usually go in those days.

In 1965, a famous cue maker named George Balabushka made a special cue for Jean. It had ivory details. When she was 5 and 6, she practiced straight pool to 50 points. She did this after family dinners. Her father encouraged her but did not play with her. Many people thought someone taught her the game. But Jean said, "I taught myself to play pool."

First Public Appearances

In 1966, Jean's father's partner, Frank McGown, held a pool show. It was at Grand Central Terminal in New York City. With her parents' permission, 6-year-old Jean took part. This event brought her a lot of attention. Her amazing talent led her to appear on TV. She was on WNEW-TV's Wonderama that same year. Later, Jean and her younger sister Laura appeared on I've Got a Secret. The show's panelists could not guess that the two young sisters loved pool.

The next year, Jean played in another show. It was at the Carom Club in Manhattan. Jean was in second grade then. Her mother said Jean did her homework and took a nap before the match. Ads for the match called Jean "the Little Princess of Pocket Billiards." A reporter described her as "a little girl with honey-blond hair...wearing a short yellow dress and green leotards." She looked like a young Shirley Temple. She won against her opponent, Roland DeMarco, 50 to 42.

In 1969, at age 9, Jean played in her first big competition. It was the BCA U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship. She finished 5th among adult players. In the next two U.S. Opens, she placed 4th and 3rd. By then, she was quite famous. She had been on TV with stars like Willie Mosconi and Sammy Davis Jr.. She later appeared on TV many more times. This included an interview on The Mike Douglas Show in 1977.

Winning the U.S. Open

On August 18, 1972, Jean Balukas was 13 years old. She won the women's part of the BCA U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship. She beat five-time champion Dorothy Wise. Jean won $1,500. She was the youngest U.S. Open winner ever. She easily beat her opponent, Madelyn Whitlow, 75–32. The New York Times said Jean showed "precision shooting and near flawless strategy."

In 1973, at 14, Jean won her U.S. Open title again. She beat Donna Ries 75–72. She earned $2,000. Earlier, she had easily beaten Mieko Harada 75–1. In the 1974 U.S. Open, Jean won her third title in a row. She beat Harada again, but it was a very close game, 100–99. Jean was 15 years old.

In 1975, Jean beat Ries again in the semi-finals. She then faced and beat Harada in the finals. She won $3,000. In 1976, at 17, Jean won her fifth U.S. Open title in a row. She beat Gloria Walker 75–46. She won $1,700. Jean went on to win two more U.S. Open straight pool championships. This made it seven wins in a row. The competition stopped after 1978.

Beyond Pool

Jean was not just good at pool. She was also a great athlete overall. When she was 16, she was invited to Superstars. This was an ABC-TV show. It brought together top athletes from different sports. They competed in sports that were not their main ones. In 1976, she finished second. She won titles in tennis and bowling. The winner that year was speed skater Anne Henning. Other famous athletes also competed.

Jean's second-place win had a downside. She won $13,100 in prize money. Because of this, she lost her amateur status. This meant she could no longer play high school sports. She also could not get a college sports scholarship.

Jean won many other titles. This includes five wins at the WPBA World Straight Pool Championship. She won her first one in 1977. She was 18 years old. She beat Walker again, 100–57, and won $1,001. Jean has won more U.S. Open titles than any other player, male or female. Her average score in the U.S. Opens was much higher than her opponents'.

Competing Against Men

By the late 1960s, Jean was already playing exhibition matches. She played against top male players like Willie Mosconi and Irving Crane. These two were considered the "best in the world" for many years. In 1975, she played Willie Mosconi again on CBS' "Challenge of the Sexes." They played both eight-ball and nine-ball. Mosconi was 62 and not at his best. Jean was given a special advantage. She got all the breaks and the first shot. Mosconi lost both games. She later played other "Battle of the Sexes" matches on TV. She played against Minnesota Fats in 1977, Ray Martin in 1979, and Steve Mizerak in 1986.

Jean learned a lot from these matches. She also learned that male pool stars did not like losing in public. Especially not to children, and even less to girls. She remembered her brother Paul. "Whenever my brother Paul... beat me at pool... he would run through the house shouting 'I won, I beat her'." Jean said this made her work even harder at her game.

On August 6, 1978, Jean made history. She became the first woman to qualify for the men's division. This was for the PPPA World Straight Pool Championship. This tournament had been around for 60 years. She competed in both the women's and men's divisions.

Jean played against men in several competitions. One was a TV match on March 25, 1979, against men's champion Ray Martin. It was part of a "Challenge of the Sexes." In 1980, Jean played in the men's division again. She lost in the second round to Steve Mizerak. She finished 22nd overall in the tournament. Forty-two men were ranked below her. She also won the women's division of that tournament. She beat Billie Billings 100–75. The New York Times said her win was "expected but routine." She had only lost two games to women in eight years.

In 1987, Jean was going to play in both the men's and women's divisions of the B.C. Classic. This was a nine-ball competition. After some discussion, she only played on the men's side. She beat Keith McCready 11–3. He was a top-ranked male player. Jean tied for 9th place among many of the world's best players.

Stepping Away from Pool

In 1988, Jean was playing against Robin Bell. This was a televised match at the WPBA World 9-Ball Championship. Robin was Jean's best friend on the women's tour. Robin had never beaten Jean before. But she was playing very well in this tournament. Robin made the 9-ball on the break two games in a row. This made the score 5 to 2 in Robin's favor very quickly.

Players on TV wore small microphones. After Robin's second 9-ball break, Jean reportedly said something about Robin having very lucky shots. The referee warned her. Play continued, and Jean won the match 9–5. Jean later said her exact words were, "Some world championship... beat me with skill, not luck." Even though they were friends, Robin complained to the WPBA. The WPBA board decided to fine Jean $200 for her actions.

Jean was very upset about the fine. She refused to pay it. She felt that her competitors, who were also ranked players, should not have been the ones to decide on the fine. She thought an outside group should have made the decision. The two sides could not agree. Jean would not give in, and the WPBA would not let her play until she paid the fine. Vicki Paski, then president of the WPBA, said in 1992, "Just because she was our premier player doesn't mean she was above the rules."

Jean also felt pressure from playing against men. She heard comments like, "I’m gonna put on a dress and go play with the women." In early 1988, she decided not to play in the men's division of a Chicago tournament. Men complained it wasn't fair that she could play in both divisions when they could only play in one. Jean said she later found out that the top two women would be invited to play in the men's event. She felt betrayed.

Jean admitted she was under a lot of pressure. Much of it came from herself. After she became the best, she started getting nervous. "That’s when I started putting a lot of pressure on myself." She said, "Playing against the men, I learned to lose,... but [losing] hurt with the women because I was expected to win all the time." Jean said her break from pool was "a buildup of everything." She felt a bit tired and frustrated. She had a lot of bad feelings toward the pool world. The fine was her chance to leave. "You know, you're going to fine me? Well, see you later. That was my excuse to finally say I need a break."

Jean returned to Bay Ridge. She took over running her family's pool hall. She said, "I'm enjoying my life immensely... I have moved on." In 1992, The New York Times wrote that America's greatest woman pool player now only plays for fun.

Achievements

In 1975, when Jean was 15, people already called her the "best female pool player in the world." By 1987, her control over women's professional pool was amazing. The New York Times called it "breathtaking." Announcers stopped calling her "the Little Princess." They called her "the Queen." By then, she had won the BCA U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship eight times in nine years. She also won every single women's professional tournament she played in during that time – 16 in all.

She was named BCA Player of the Year five times. In 1985, she became the second woman to join the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame. She was also the youngest person ever to be inducted, at 25 years old. By 1988, Jean had won over 100 professional tournaments. She retired when she was just under 30. In 1999, Billiard Digest ranked Jean as the fifteenth greatest player of the century.

Titles and Awards