The Snap Magazine (originally titled Make It On the Snap, and not to be confused with several later magazines using the word "Snap" in their titles) is an American pool (pocket billiards) periodical that was published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The magazine has been described in various venues as "the best of all pool publications" (BilliardMemorabilia.com) and "among the best billiard publications ever" (Billiard Scoop).
Character
The Snap Magazine set many precedents in the world of billiard journalism. In addition to articles on never-before-covered aspects of the billiard world, the magazine featured profiles of formerly secretive hustlers and up-and-coming players (many of whom went on to become top pros), hard-hitting opinion pieces, humorous hustling and gambling stories, original photography, cartoons, billiard fiction, reports on hundreds of billiard tournaments from local to international, and controversial guest editorials. It also included instruction columns on all types of billiard play, including snooker, one-pocket, straight pool, nine-ball, eight-ball and other popular games.
History
Originally planned as a newsletter for the fledgling organization Southeastern Network of Amateur Pool Players (SNAPP), excitement surrounding the publication generated so many requests for advertising before the first issue was published that the publishers decided to discard the newsletter format in favor of a full-fledged, slick magazine.
Founders Rick Boling and "Kreole" Freddie Yates put together the first bi-monthly issue of Make It On the Snap in the summer of 1989 in Tallahassee, Florida, operating at "OTS Publications, a division of Billiard Enterprises of Florida", and it was an immediate success. The first issue featured Grady "the Professor" Mathews and Buddy "the Rifleman" Hall, as well as various other contributors. Traveling to pool tournaments and popular pool halls around the Southeast, representatives of the magazine began selling subscriptions, wholesale distribution packages and advertising, while the publishers worked on adding to the editorial staff and gathering stories from the field. By the time the second issue (October/November 1989) was published, a staff of professional editors, writers and contributors had been assembled, complemented by a group of advisors including such pool luminaries as Benny "The Goose" Conway, Ray "Cool Cat" Martin, Mike Massey, David Howard, Floyd Baxter, and Gene "The Glove" Catron.
The magazine grew and prospered until, in its second year, a series of unexpected financial reversals caused it to cease publication in December, 1991.
Covers and title
By the end of its first year of publication, the editors realized they had erred in starting off with an odd-months issue, so they took the opportunity to rectify this and also to redesign the cover and rename the magazine. The cover of the first issue of the second year carried a new and sleeker logo featuring the shortened name The Snap Magazine. While covers of earlier issues centered on photos of well-known and up-and-coming players, with the new design the publishers also initiated a policy of creating humorous and/or historically significant covers. These covers, many of which became famous among billiard aficionados, included such staged scenes as: a Neanderthal couple playing pool on a stone table using rocks for balls (history issue); a grizzled lobsterman checking his catch of 9-balls in an authentic lobster trap (New England issue); and a group of yuppie gamblers playing at a pool/craps table with 9-ball and 8-ball dice and a croupier using a modified cue stick to rake in the chips (gambling issue). Two of the most famous covers were for the Johnston City and collectible cues issues. On the former, rare photos of the famous "Pit" at Johnston City and a well-preserved copy of a Johnston City program appeared. The latter featured a photo of one of the rarest billiard cue-and-case combinations, with a cue built by master cue builder Gus Szamboti and a matching case by Fellini.
The magazine's title is based on the pool jargon phrase "", a reference to instantly winning a game of nine-ball by the on the or "snap".