Allen Hopkins

Allen Hopkins is an American professional pocket billiards player, commentator and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductee, born on November 18, 1951, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and raised in Cranford, New Jersey, by adoptive parents. He began playing at seven on a small table his parents bought him and ran 110 balls as a twelve year old amateur. His professional career began in the 1970s and has spanned more than four decades. He won the 1977 World Straight Pool Championship, the 1978 and 1981 U.S. Open Nine-ball Championships and the 1990 Cleveland Open 10-Ball Classic, and he was the All Japan Championship all-around champion in 1986 and 1987. He co-founded the now defunct Professional Pool Players Association, served as president of the Professional Billiard Association and entered the BCA Hall of Fame in 2008.