Shoot to Kill

Start doing trick shots in a bar or pool hall, and people take notice. If you actually sink your shots, you'll gather a crowd. And if you're a beautiful woman, you may need a police escort to get out of there. These facts of the felt were never more apparent than on a recent evening at Amsterdam Billiard Club, an upscale pool joint on Manhattan's Upper West Side, when Jennifer "Nine Millimeter" Barretta demonstrated her personal favorite pool tricks. Like clockwork a curious crowd materialized, drifting from the surrounding tables to form a raucously supportive ring around this rising star of the women's pool circuit. Only because we were on Barretta's home turf was the police escort unnecessary.

The crowd around Barretta hasn't always been this loving. She paid her dues at the now-defunct Midtown Billiards, which sat in the part of Hell's Kitchen where Lucifer still serves as fry cook. At 29, about two decades late to the table, Barretta had decided to get serious about pool and started playing at the parlor near her apartment. "It was full of hustlers, drug dealers, ex-cons," she recalls, describing a group hardly accustomed to the sight of a beautiful blonde with washboard abs strolling in the door and asking for a set of balls. "The first time I walked in there, it was like someone pulled the needle off the record player." But the stares and lewd remarks faded once her daily 14-hour practice sessions proved she was serious about her game. "I used to play all those guys," she says. "They took me under their wing and protected me when things got rough. I'm still friends with some of them. This one guy had been a top player back in the days of Willie Mosconi but was a big-time heroin addict. He used to pretend he was loaded and get businessmen into money games. Then when he won he'd run right out the door to get his fix." Is that where she learned all her trick shots? "Let me put it this way," she replies, her tone mocking the question. "Anywhere else, trick shots are a great icebreaker, but try something like that in Midtown and they'd probably shoot you."

Barretta estimates she'd played pool fewer than 20 times when she took her first lesson, in 1998. But in that first session her teacher predicted she could turn pro if she put in the hours. Six months later she was in her first official tournament and won her first match. That was almost seven years ago. Last year she cracked the ranks of the elite, becoming one of the top 16 female players in the world.

It's not surprising. You can sense Barretta's intensity from 100 paces. When she approaches the table for a shot, her sly smile abruptly vanishes, replaced by a mask of laser-sharp concentration. (We'd advise being paid up on your insurance if you plan on giving her a bad rack. In a masterful piece of understatement, she comments, "It's not such a good idea to talk to me while I'm shooting.") Then you see her moves on the table. Indeed, they're almost enough to make you ignore her painted-on low-rise jeans and wispy peasant blouse. Almost. When the ball drops, her smile is radiant. On the rare occasion that she misses a shot, you'll wonder who turned out the lights. There's a practical reason she brings such an intense game face to what most people consider a relaxing diversion. "If you're gambling, you can lose a couple of games and still play the rest of the night to get back up. In a tournament you have to bring your A-game every time. Miss one shot and your opponent will probably run the table," she explains.

Which is why we decided to ask for her snazziest tricks rather than take her on in nine ball. "Everyone loves to watch pool tricks, even people who've never picked up a cue in their life," she says. Better yet, the tricks she chose for us are far easier than they look, even for a novice player. "If you can hit the ball solidly and hard, with a little practice you can do these," Barretta promises. "It's all about the setup. And once you pull off a couple, people will just start coming up to you, whether to show you more or to ask you for a lesson." Okay, fellas--there's your cue.

Look for Barretta in the Women's Professional Billiard Association national championships, which take place November 10 to 13 and will be televised on ESPN. For details check wpba.com and jenniferbarretta.com.