1961 and the national media onslaught was on. In his SI piece, Fox really played up the “hustler” angle of the event. Emboldened by the success of the first tournament, for the second year (1962) George expanded the tournament from just One Pocket to the unique all-around format that became the hallmark of his tournaments, including Straight Pool and 9-Ball along with One Pocket. This was one of the first professional 9-Ball tournaments ever held, if not the first, and it was also the first all-around pool tournament. For ‘62 George pledged $10,000 in prizes. The tournament opened with a challenge match between Johnston City mayor Neil Thurmond and Herrin mayor Fred Henderson. This was the kind of promotional detail that George was so good at, and it undoubtably helped promote “legitimacy” with the two local mayors in attendance. All three divisions ran concurrently, which stretched out each discipline so that even if you were playing only in one division, you might need to stay the entire three weeks. The ’62 event was the first US integrated professional pool tournament, including black player Javanley 'Youngblood' Washington.
In 1963, the Jansco Brothers continued the same all-around format that was one of the hallmarks of Johnston City, with a $10,000 prize fund again. After a scouting mission on November 14, CBS came to Johnston City to cover the finals, which was the first time major TV covered either a 9-ball or One Pocket pool tournament. Following the success of the 1963 tournament and the excitement of having national TV coverage, George went to work making bigger and better plans for the next tournament. For the 1964 event, he and Paulie built an addition to the Show Bar, the first ever specially built pool tournament theatre (“The Pit”) in time for the ’64 tournament. A bidding war between CBS and ABC netted George a paid TV contract with ABC 'Wide World of Sports' for $8000, which helped boost the 1964 prize fund to $20,000. The BCA also sanctioned Johnston City for the first time that year, and the billiard press talked about George Jansco having “gone respectable.” Brunswick provided 4 tables, two of which were utilized in the pit. Prior to the ’64 event, George consulted with a lighting expert to design special large black curtain-skirted light boxes over the two feature tables, which he kept burning all night to avoid changes in the playing conditions. These unique lights provided unprecedented shadow-free table illumination, yet the deep canopies left the large crowds in shadow so the players could better focus on the match at hand. In 1965 George established the first modern player organization, the Billiard Players Association of America with the goals of improving tournaments, better promotion, more favorable image and greater status for players and most importantly, no restrictions on what tournaments players could enter. In 1966 the format was changed so that each division was held in a separate week to ease player’s travel concerns. The all-around champion format stayed the same. In 1967, for the first time, 9-Ball was played “On any foul (except the break), opponent may place the cue ball anywhere on the table.” In prior years, “push-out” was the standard for 9-Ball. Another innovation for ’67 was the first ever Amateur event in conjunction with the pro tournament at Johnston City. In 1968, George first began to include “Hustler” on his posters; although he was always hustler-friendly, he had generally left that label to the media, preferring instead to focus on lifting the image of the sport.
On June 4, 1969, George died of a “massive cerebral hemorrhage”, the very day that he had finalized plans to build his long dreamed of hotel.From 1969 on, Paulie took over running the JC and Stardust tournaments.
In 1970 there was a serious youth invasion, including young guns Cole Dickson & Jim Mataya in attendance, but it was unheralded 18-year-old Keith Thompson who won both the 9-Ball and the all around title that year. In 1971 Evelyn Dal Porto became the first woman entered at Johnston City, competing on equal footing with the men. In 1972 Paulie tried a spring Johnston City tournament with disappointing results. This was the only spring Johnston City tournament. The spring event also featured a women’s event, which was won by a young Jean Balukas. For what turned out to be the final Johnston City tournament in the fall of 1972, Paulie dropped Straight Pool, so this final tournament consisted only of One Pocket and 9-Ball. Including the spring “Tournament of Champions”, this came to a total of 13 Johnston City events. Only two players competed in every single one – Larry ‘Boston Shorty’ Johnston and Hubert ‘Daddy Warbucks’ Cokes.The fed’s (IRS, with the support of the Illinois Bureau of Investigation & Illinois State Police) raided the tournament for gambling early in the morning of Oct 26th, after seeing “newspaper reports of large-scale gambling taking place at the tournament.” The raid derailed the schedule for finishing the tournament, which had to be extended into the following week. Afterwards, Paulie railed against the press for lack of tournament coverage and vowed never to hold another tournament in Illinois – marking the end of an era for the Jansco’s and Johnston City. It should be noted that all reports indicate that the Jansco Brothers always paid out completely what they had promised in prize money – a fulfillment of commitment to the players that unfortunately has often been lacking among tournament promoters, even in recent years. After he retired from tournament promotion, Paulie once signed the back of a promotional photo, "I promoted more pool tournaments than anyone else on earth. I gave away more prize money than all of the other promoters combined."
We’re gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse: the best 100% cotton tee you’ve ever tried. Pre-shrunk fabric? Check. Side-seamed construction? Check. Best fit ever? Double check.
• 100% combed and ring-spun cotton (Heather colors contain polyester)
• Fabric weight: 4.2 oz/yd² (142 g/m²)
• Pre-shrunk fabric
• Side-seamed construction
• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping
• Blank product sourced from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, or the US
This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!
In 1963, the Jansco Brothers continued the same all-around format that was one of the hallmarks of Johnston City, with a $10,000 prize fund again. After a scouting mission on November 14, CBS came to Johnston City to cover the finals, which was the first time major TV covered either a 9-ball or One Pocket pool tournament. Following the success of the 1963 tournament and the excitement of having national TV coverage, George went to work making bigger and better plans for the next tournament. For the 1964 event, he and Paulie built an addition to the Show Bar, the first ever specially built pool tournament theatre (“The Pit”) in time for the ’64 tournament. A bidding war between CBS and ABC netted George a paid TV contract with ABC 'Wide World of Sports' for $8000, which helped boost the 1964 prize fund to $20,000. The BCA also sanctioned Johnston City for the first time that year, and the billiard press talked about George Jansco having “gone respectable.” Brunswick provided 4 tables, two of which were utilized in the pit. Prior to the ’64 event, George consulted with a lighting expert to design special large black curtain-skirted light boxes over the two feature tables, which he kept burning all night to avoid changes in the playing conditions. These unique lights provided unprecedented shadow-free table illumination, yet the deep canopies left the large crowds in shadow so the players could better focus on the match at hand. In 1965 George established the first modern player organization, the Billiard Players Association of America with the goals of improving tournaments, better promotion, more favorable image and greater status for players and most importantly, no restrictions on what tournaments players could enter. In 1966 the format was changed so that each division was held in a separate week to ease player’s travel concerns. The all-around champion format stayed the same. In 1967, for the first time, 9-Ball was played “On any foul (except the break), opponent may place the cue ball anywhere on the table.” In prior years, “push-out” was the standard for 9-Ball. Another innovation for ’67 was the first ever Amateur event in conjunction with the pro tournament at Johnston City. In 1968, George first began to include “Hustler” on his posters; although he was always hustler-friendly, he had generally left that label to the media, preferring instead to focus on lifting the image of the sport.
On June 4, 1969, George died of a “massive cerebral hemorrhage”, the very day that he had finalized plans to build his long dreamed of hotel.From 1969 on, Paulie took over running the JC and Stardust tournaments.
In 1970 there was a serious youth invasion, including young guns Cole Dickson & Jim Mataya in attendance, but it was unheralded 18-year-old Keith Thompson who won both the 9-Ball and the all around title that year. In 1971 Evelyn Dal Porto became the first woman entered at Johnston City, competing on equal footing with the men. In 1972 Paulie tried a spring Johnston City tournament with disappointing results. This was the only spring Johnston City tournament. The spring event also featured a women’s event, which was won by a young Jean Balukas. For what turned out to be the final Johnston City tournament in the fall of 1972, Paulie dropped Straight Pool, so this final tournament consisted only of One Pocket and 9-Ball. Including the spring “Tournament of Champions”, this came to a total of 13 Johnston City events. Only two players competed in every single one – Larry ‘Boston Shorty’ Johnston and Hubert ‘Daddy Warbucks’ Cokes.The fed’s (IRS, with the support of the Illinois Bureau of Investigation & Illinois State Police) raided the tournament for gambling early in the morning of Oct 26th, after seeing “newspaper reports of large-scale gambling taking place at the tournament.” The raid derailed the schedule for finishing the tournament, which had to be extended into the following week. Afterwards, Paulie railed against the press for lack of tournament coverage and vowed never to hold another tournament in Illinois – marking the end of an era for the Jansco’s and Johnston City. It should be noted that all reports indicate that the Jansco Brothers always paid out completely what they had promised in prize money – a fulfillment of commitment to the players that unfortunately has often been lacking among tournament promoters, even in recent years. After he retired from tournament promotion, Paulie once signed the back of a promotional photo, "I promoted more pool tournaments than anyone else on earth. I gave away more prize money than all of the other promoters combined."
We’re gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse: the best 100% cotton tee you’ve ever tried. Pre-shrunk fabric? Check. Side-seamed construction? Check. Best fit ever? Double check.
• 100% combed and ring-spun cotton (Heather colors contain polyester)
• Fabric weight: 4.2 oz/yd² (142 g/m²)
• Pre-shrunk fabric
• Side-seamed construction
• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping
• Blank product sourced from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, or the US
This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!
Size guide
| LENGTH (inches) | WIDTH (inches) | CHEST (inches) | |
| S | 28 | 18 | 34-37 |
| M | 29 | 20 | 38-41 |
| L | 30 | 22 | 42-45 |
| XL | 31 | 24 | 46-49 |
| 2XL | 32 | 26 | 50-53 |
| 3XL | 33 | 28 | 54-57 |
| LENGTH (cm) | WIDTH (cm) | CHEST (cm) | |
| S | 71.1 | 45.7 | 86.4-94 |
| M | 73.7 | 50.8 | 96.5-104.1 |
| L | 76.2 | 55.9 | 106.7-114.3 |
| XL | 78.7 | 61 | 116.8-124.5 |
| 2XL | 81.3 | 66 | 127-134.6 |
| 3XL | 83.8 | 71.1 | 137.2-144.8 |