Ronnie O'Sullivan's American Hustle
Meet your new history teachers, snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan and sports broadcaster Matt Smith, as they cross the pond to explore America’s 300 year history with the game of pool. The real-life mates travel the US to hunt down America’s most notorious pool hustlers while meeting a few characters along the way
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Ep 1New York
This week the boys hit the heights in the Big Apple, visiting Ellis Island, once New York’s gateway to America, and cruising in their very own Yellow Cab from historical pool scenes to street basketball games, sampling some classic New York street food, attempting to hustle local hot-shots – and tangling with pool-hall legends ‘Kid’ Delicious and Earl ‘The Pearl’ Strickland.
Ep 2Chicago
Ronnie and pal Matt are in Chicago, the ‘Windy City’, getting a taste of Americana watching baseball team the Cubs at Wrigley Field – and seeing if the snooker champ can turn his hand to this very different ballgame. After cruising the streets and jazz clubs once run by notorious mobster Al Capone, Ronnie tries shooting at a gun range – and certainly needs his killer instinct hustling the locals where iconic pool flick The Color Of Money was filmed – before he takes his sporting life in his hands facing the sassiest pool legend in the USA today… the ‘Black Widow’ Jeanette Lee.
Ep 3Memphis
Snooker champ Ronnie O’Sullivan and friend Matt Smith hit the birthplace of the blues on the latest leg of their epic US tour – starting with the Graceland home of Elvis Presley – but will Ronnie be allowed to play on the King’s own pool table? Elsewhere in this fascinating town they learn some inspiring lessons in the Civil Rights Museum and make a top-class pool-cue with a maestro of the craft. On the tables, an attempt to hustle the locals might just backfire – before Ronnie risks a sting in the tale from a man they call ‘The Scorpion’ – one of the greatest players in pool history.
Ep 4San Francisco
Snooker superstar Ronnie O’Sullivan and pal Matt Smith hit the streets of San Francisco in a Steve McQueen-style ’68 Mustang to try to hustle the locals – with some sleight of hand from Ronnie – before he plays pool against one of the game’s biggest ever money-earners. Along the way, they train with local NFL team the 49ers, check out the cyber-future of pool in nearby Silicon Valley – with disastrous results – and get the shocking real story of life behind bars at notorious former prison Alcatraz, from an inspiring ex-guard.
Sky History
GB
