Keith McCready - Part 1 (The Early Hustle: From Elmhurst to El Diablo)
In this first installment of our Legends of the Cue four-part series, hosts Mike Gonzalez, Allison Fisher, and Mark Wilson sit down with one of pool’s most electrifying personalities—Keith McCready—to trace the raw, unfiltered beginnings of a life that could only be described as cinematic.
Born in Elmhurst, Illinois, and raised under the California sun, Keith’s early years were anything but ordinary. By age ten, while most kids were trading baseball cards, he was already gambling, running pool tables, and learning the delicate art of survival. After losing his mother at a young age, Keith found refuge in the game—and in the smoky glow of California pool halls where legends like Louis Lemke and “Cowboy” Jimmy Moore tested his growing talent.
Adopted at 13 by Bob Wallace, the owner of a local poolroom, Keith’s new family gave him both stability and access to the best action on the West Coast. By fifteen, he was on the road, matching up against future world champions, and earning a nickname that captured his fearless spirit—El Diablo. His stories of those days—standing on Coke crates to reach the table, running 56 balls at age twelve, winning thousands at the racetrack before eighth grade, and learning from icons like Ronnie Allen—paint the portrait of a natural-born competitor with an edge as sharp as his stroke.
This episode captures the roots of a player whose talent, charisma, and streetwise grit later caught the eye of none other than Martin Scorsese, who cast him as Grady Seasons in The Color of Money. Join us as Keith McCready takes us back to where it all began—before the fame, before the film—when the hustle, the game, and the gamble were one and the same.
🎱 A story only Keith could tell, and only pool could create.
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About
"Legends of the Cue" is a pool history podcast featuring interviews with Pool Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around pocket billiards. We also plan to highlight memorable pool brands, events and venues. Focusing on the positive aspects of the sport, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher, Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, our podcast focuses on telling the life stories of pool's greatest, in their voices. Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”
McCready, Keith
Pool Professional
Born April 9, 1957, at a young age Keith moved to Anaheim, California with his father and brother. They all played pool and they got young Keith started when he was only about 8, which explains his sidewinder stroke. Keith is proud of that side arm stroke, and considers himself in good company, pointing to the legendary Ralph Greenleaf. The gambling started early on too, including small stakes ring games on a friend’s home table – an early preview of things to come!
Southern CA at that time had a ton of great players and high action rooms that attracted players from all over the country. As Keith’s game improved he began to spend more time in the top rooms, the money got higher, and the competition tougher. Before long, and while still in his teens, he was competing with the likes of Cole Dickson, Denny Searcy and Larry Lisciotti, and getting into the toughest ring games ever – payball on a Snooker table against the best players in the world.
He was supposed to be in school for much of that time, but in his last year he missed something like 130 days, often sleeping in the poolroom. When the State of CA made moves to take him away from his father (his mother had died from cancer when he was 10 or 11), Anaheim poolroom owner Bob Wallace took Keith in and adopted him, avoiding State custody. Making all that money gambling at such a young age created an awkward problem when Keith went to gym class one day. He decided to ask the Phys Ed coach to hold his cash because he didn’t want it stolen in the locker room. With that much cash coach thought Keith was doi… Read More