Danny McGoorty is another name mentioned often with Ray Cuelemans and Willie Hoppe. All three men are known pool hustlers that began in the old time when pool was yet to be considered a real profession. McGoorty has written a couple of different books on his own history. Although the books are no longer published, they are still available. You can find them used to find out more about the background. When researching McGoorty it was hard to find anything about his early life. It was admitted in his books that he began as a no name person. He would always be drunk when trying to hustle others for a game of pool. He became a car bum, and finally when life was so bad he managed to sober up.
It was, according to his book, a great thing that he sobered up. Had he not then his career as someone great in pool would never have happened. By stopping the drinking he was able to become a champion. It was one of the reasons he was able to play and be like Willie Hoppe.
Danny liked the game of three cushion like Jack Foreaker. He travelled in order to play games. In order to get games he definitely had to keep moving. When his name started becoming known it was essential to keep moving or else he would not be able to find a gullible player. According to Worst, a man who spent many years in on the circuit watching hustlers, Danny moved around every day of the year. He would stop in places like San Francisco. He would maybe be able to stay there for 10 days before those in the game would know who he was. He would then have to move on. Danny was known to give away a lot of points just to get a game. It lured in his mark.
It definitely made it difficult for him to go to big cities after a few years. When someone goes around hustling eventually people become wise. It would mean having to create a different act. If the person was able to come up with a new story and hide their identity it would be possible to start again. This is what many hustlers did like Danny McGoorty. It was also necessary for him to try other things besides pool like dice or track bets to make any money.
Danny didn’t like to lose his pride meaning he didn’t want to give up the circuit of playing pool for these other avenues. It also meant he would just play and play, moving around until he had enough money to find a place to sleep. He would forego meals in an effort to make certain he could play the games to find the money for these meals. Typically Danny needed to give the first game before he could actually start winning a good stake. Danny played all through the 1930s depression era as a means to make money.