Totally agree. Talent is not all you need for success in a competitive confrontation. Fats figured out early on WHY Eddie was playing; Eddie was playing for glory. Just like in poker, if you can deduce WHY other players are playing, you are half-way to beating them.
Fats was certainly NOT drinking real alcohol. The scene where they order drinks, Fats give the man his money, then almost as an after thought says "get it at Johnny's". That is a signal. So Fats is drinking, at most, 1/3 the amount of alcohol or less with ice, while Eddie is downing straight liquor. A common tactic in poker and pool.
Fats is not as talented as Eddie, that's true. But Fats is better than Eddie drunk, Eddie tired, or Eddie frustrated. Fats never lets himself into those areas. Fats knows his own limits, whereas Eddie did not understand himself.
Fats played the man, Eddie played pool. Result, the better man won the first confrontation.

I realize it's been more than a year but I had to reply to this post. The way it is worded you seem to think that the Minnesota Fats character in the book and movie is based on the pool player who later called himself Minnesota Fats. That's not how it happened. The guy who called himself Minnesota Fats was a second-rate con artist who took the name after the book was written and falsely claimed the character was based on him.

Consider what happened when a cocky Eddie, leading by $1,000 at 4 AM raised the bet from $200 to $1,000 per game. Fats calls for Preacher and asks for some white tap and whiskey, ice and a glass. But Fats doesn't ACCEPT the bet until after Eddie then follows by asking Preacher to bring him some JTS Bourbon, no ice, no glass. Then Fats accepts the bet, and tells Preacher to get it at Johnny's (a signal for Preacher to get Bert, and possibly to cut his whiskey).

1. Fats knew he was in trouble, and sought to get Eddie drinking. Fats' whiskey would be cut a bit from ice, and perhaps much more if Preacher cut Fat's whiskey with water and fruit juice. So Fats' slightly (or significantly) cut whiskey against Eddie's straight bourbon would give Fats an edge.
2. Fats probably realized Eddie had been shooting pool since 10 am or so, some 18 hours straight. Fats might have slept during the day, arriving at the pool hall fresh and rested at 8 PM. With 8 hours played, and many hours of pool shooting ahead of them, Fats would soon gain an edge as Eddie, particularly a drinking Eddie, would tire.
3. Fats wanted his money man Bert for backing and advice. Later, Eddie was up $18,000 and Fats was unsure about continuing. Then Bert told him "Stay with this kid, he's a loser." It was good advice. Bert probably realized better than Fats that Eddie was over-tired, had drunk more, and was likely to burn out. As he did.

You don't have to judge the character of Eddie from his shot selection in the games you see in the movie. Even Fats makes a lot of bank shots, which are rarely used in straight pool, unless you're in a really bad situation.
I think the director / production just wanted to put in the movie some spectacular shots for the audience. Eddie even makes a bank-kick-combo shot which have 0,1% to success in real life come on!
There's no real technical reliability from this point of view.

Novices always assume that the best player is the one who wins. And those who don't hustle assume that the best player is the best hustler.
Felson was the best? In what world? Anybody can have the shots. It takes skill to know how to win. One very easy way to see Felson's amateurishness is to look at his masse shot. Only a fool would take that shot. Sure, they all practice it, but in a game you are giving up position for random placement. Most of straight pool is simply setting up your opponent for a bad shot until somebody leaves a wide open shot.
There would be no nine ball except the real Minnesota (New York) Fats could not compete with the likes of Mosconi in straight pool; but undoubtedly the Fat Man was the more proficient hustler, despite not being close to the best player. The Fat Man was known for "poke and hope" shots. Because he hustled, he often won with such bad strategy against much lesser players. And because he hustled, he didn't go head to head with the best except televised matches. He knew where the money was, and that's all he cared about.
Mairzy doats and dozy doats, but liddle lamzi nothing.

BTW > It's "J T S Brown. No ice. No glass."

Ping! Good retort.

What are you talking about, you totally disagree with the post? With which part(s), exactly? I'm asking because it was a fairly long post, and so far I'm not seeing what it is you feel you disagree with me on.
To respond to your post though, there's nothing I disagree with here regarding the movie. The only thing I would argue about, and this is in a more general context (i.e. not being mutually exclusive, OR inclusive of the film), is the line:
That is what winners do, they will do anything to win.
For example, someone who takes PEDs, or has their competition's kneecap broken would be considered a winner? 'Cause, you know,
that's what winners do, they will do anything to win.

No matter how you cut it, Eddie lost in the first match. I dont care if Fats employed every trick, a win is a win. That is what winners do, they will do anything to win. It is up to Eddie to recognize those tricks and deal with them, for him to win.
Totally disagree with the post.
If I couldn't bite, I wouldn't growl.-chael sonnen

As it were, no one beat Eddie Felson but Eddie Felson
well, yes. you're right in your post. it's the whole point of the film. the film has nothing to do with his pool playing ability. it's not that that's in question. he's better than fats at pool, but not in control. he's a loser in life, despite being a winner at pool. that's why fats beats him in the end - he has no inner strength. just ability. witness how fats wipes down his cue, freshens himself up, and felson slumps in his chair. visual imagery showing the difference between the two. it's not so much about stamina, etc, as about self-control and inner character.
the whole film is about him learning the difference between being good at pool and being good at life, and it comes at a cost. it's why gordon's interested in him - he can profit off his talent because he's just a bum outside of it.

What dirty tricks? He just played on Eddie's obvious character weakness - his ego Eddie chose to drink to show off. And the game wasn't a tournament, it was a match between pool hustlers, and on that basis, Eddie lost.

How hard is it to start a sentence with a capital and to write out, "someone". Unfortunately, your writing looses its validity when you use text- speak instead of proper English. Additionally, if you're going to quote from the movie, it helps to use the actual quote instead of, "Dude"
It's never too late for remedial English.
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." Norman Maclean

Yes it is all revealed in that last line but I think the deeper meaning of "you play a great game of pool" has to do with everything other than the game itself. Eddie learned the hard way it takes more than just skill, as gordon explains it takes inner character and that its the whole hustle that makes the game. And I don't think that is dirty or of low character, it is the environment they are in.

must disagree, best line in the movie (apart from the monologue from Eddie when he explains to the girl how it feels when evtg connects, the cue being like a nerved limb) is @ the end when they show respect to one another (fats & fast:)
"dude u play a fine game of pool, u2 dude" xD that's the spirit.
anyway i perso found that movie depressing, a bit racist (roman, turk, jew hero, afromericans attendingzzz) & like so old school it doesn't really honor the game of pool, i saw much drink, cigarettes & pool-playing promotion (not that i don't indulge in any).
an interesting movie tho for som1 not born in this era & i get why many may have liked it back in the days.
''As Imbecile examines finger, Wise man sees who's watching Imbecile, & Moon gets intimacy.'' H.E

It was tragic how Eddie got played in that first game, almost unbelievable, really. The fat man refused to cry uncle, so what, the stack Eddie won off Fats said it all, if he had walked out while he was ahead there would have been no question who was the better player. So Fats had to resort to dirty tricks, which revealed Fats to not only be an inferior pool player, but really a person with no integrity, too. If they had been playing tournament pool Eddie would have sent the fat man home early in the set.

I haven't played serious pool since before you were born.

" the better hustler, that night (and day), was undoubtedly Minnesota Fats."
Agreed. Eddie got hustled, but good.

When Fats tells his guy to "Get it at Johnny's" I wondered if he might have a per-arranged thing with "Johnny's" to supply watered down booze. Just a thought.

Just to note: Fats obtained his bottle from another source because they didn't serve alcohol in that pool hall - which Eddie was told when he was in there earlier.

Regarding OP's original post:
Fats was a master.
He correctly read Eddie as an easy mark. What kind of a man would walk into another man's arena and demand a throw down? Only a man with tremendous ego, the kind of ego that can be toyed with and exploited.
Fats dropped some hay makers on Eddie early, because he wanted to see how Eddie would respond and if he would reveal his skill. He did, and Fats was able to determine that he was over matched by Eddie. He would need to take him down another way.
Fats drank on the rocks, and requested his bottle be obtained from another source. Fats drank with restraint, if at all, as OP cleverly observed. Eddie was swigging bourbon straight from the bottle. And yes, the physical difference would play a major part in the overall tolerance, if indeed Fats was imbibing.
Fats used alcohol and ultimately stamina to wear Eddie down, in effect, allowing Eddie to beat himself.
By the end of the movie, the lesson had been learned. Eddie went back to reclaim what was his; pool superiority. Fats by now was weary of the challenge, and knew he was a beaten man as soon as Eddie stood in front of him. He would simply allow the inevitable beating to run its course.

Yeah, I suppose its kinda up for debate whether he knew he had Fats beat but he just wanted to hear him admit it, or whether he believed Fats hadn't revealed his full game/skill (and I'm for this perspective due to the end of The Color of Money when he says he wants Vince's straight game kinda showing that he had come full circle since this opening sequence of The Hustler). The main reason its kind of subjective though is because it's all in the mind of the character; it's never fully revealed what he was thinking exactly.
In the end though, it probably doesn't matter, because as you said, he just wanted Fats to submit to him verbally.

overall good post by the OP. i agreed with most of it.
As far as the opening sequence with Eddie vs Fats.
I have to say I don't think Eddie was really beat at the beginning of the film. What seems really obvious is that Eddie, despite spanking the baby, didn't feel he had succeeded simply because Fats didn't call it quits. In Eddie's mind Fats would not be beaten until he was beaten so bad he had conceded his loss to Eddie;
Agreed. because you could tell he did not give a damn about the money it was all about the challenge and completely owning someone who was supposedly 'the best'.
so he did not want to just beat Fats but he wanted to beat him so bad that it could not even be debatable on who's better.
thus, Eddie was convinced Fats was toying with him or had not yet revealed his "best game" of straight pool.
this i don't see personally. it just came back to that Eddie wanted to have Fats admit defeat which is why he said the whole "it's not over until Fats says it's over" because once Fats said that in Eddie's mind that's all it took in order to admit that Fats could not touch Eddie.
but i definitely agree that he wanted to hear Fats say it was over which would basically be like admitting 'i just got owned by you. your the best and i can't beat you'.
THAT's what Eddie really wanted.

My Vote History
http://imdb.to/b5rrNh

At one point Fats looks to Bert for advice, and Bert says stay with this kid, he's a loser. Fats realized Eddie was the better player, but with Bert's encouragement realized he could probably out-last Eddie with the combination he ended up using.
But with a more-focused Eddie at the second match, Fats threw in the towel.

I've read the novel. For what it's worth it isn't better than the movie, but if you're a true fan of the movie it's worth a read because it does reveal insights that the movie merely hints at. A key moment of that initial game was when Eddie is crushing Fats and asks Fats if it's over. When Fats, after looking over at Gordon, doesn't concede, Eddie proclaims that he's the, "Best there is. Now even if you beat me, I'm still the best." That's when Gordon tells Fats, "Stay with this kid. He's a loser." The novel makes clear that Gordon recognized that Eddie had just given himself permission to lose. He had proclaimed himself the best, without yet beating the best, and even if he somehow lost, it was okay. As Gordon would later tell Eddie he was probably deciding how he could lose. And, "At the end of the game you count your money, that's how you find out who's best." As brilliant as Eddie was playing, and as cocky as he sounded, he pretty much quit on himself. Why? Once again, Gordon has the answer. "Winning can be heavy on your back, too. Like a monkey."