Dan Smith has been playing billiards for close to forty years and is one of the finest shooters to ever come out of the Corning area. Winning tournaments is second hand to Dan with wins spanning four decades. He began winning tournaments locally in the 1960s and then expanded his horizons with state and regional tournament victories. In 1970, Dan was listed with the great Alan Hopkins as one of the up and coming pool players in the United States. In 1998, he won the U.S. Open 9­Ball championship and the Empire­Ontario 9­Ball tournament, topping 56 of the top players in the country in the Grand Masters event. Dan has also won numerous 8­ball tourna​ments and 14­1 (straight pool) tournaments during his career. His best effort was a 239 ball run in straight pool. He is currently active in the Central New York 9­Ball Tour that will run seven dates during the year against the 48 best players in the state. Dan got his start in the game at Johnny's (Mr. Baldini) Pool Hall in Corning.