The Hustler by Walter S. Tevis

Fine.

Hardcover. To Fast Eddie Felson there was only one thing that mattered; to make the big time and the big money in the world of pool billiards by beating the best in the country. Hustling suckers in one-horse towns and knocking off Johnny Varges in a match for good stakes were just practice for his goal. Now he was ready, he thought, for the big time.
In a silence punctuated only by the click of shiny balls on the green-topped table, Eddie and Minnesota Fats pit nerve against skill in a fantastic match with high stakes, a game over an unbroken thirty-six hours. It is a contest that teaches Eddie some things he had not known about guts, stamina, and `character'—the difference between winners and losers.
But it proves a hard and painful lesson to learn. It takes a tender interlude with a born loser like Sarah to give the lesson meaning, and the shrewd advice and backing of Bert, the professional gambler, to put it into practice. Bert knows that talent without character is useless and stakes Eddie to a dramatic return match with Fats for all or nothing. When it is over Eddie knows all there is about big-time pool, about Bert, and a great deal more about himself.
For real excitement, atmosphere, and taut writing The Hustler is one of those rare novels that holds the reader from start to finish. And in Walter Tevis there is the promise of a gifted and exciting new writer.