Ping-Pong Champ Hustled Gold Bars, Watches, and Broke Cigarettes for Breakfast
KEY POINTS
- •Marty Reisman, a New York ping-pong prodigy nicknamed 'The Needle,’ won 22 titles including the 1949 British Open at Wembley.
- •He supplemented his income with a colorful range of hustles—from smuggling gold bars in Hong Kong to selling nylon stockings back in NYC.
- •After losing to Japan’s foam-rubber paddle innovator Hiroji Satoh in 1952, Reisman tracked him to Japan and beat him in a public rematch.
Meet Marty Reisman: New York’s ‘Needle,’ a skinny kid turned legendary ping-pong wizard who crushed lattes and cigarettes alike with lightning 115 mph forehands dubbed 'The Atomic Blast' back in 1949 at Wembley Stadium. This James Bond of table tennis didn’t just fling balls—he smuggled gold bars out of Hong Kong for $1,000 a pop (25 times!), peddled nylon stockings on NYC streets for five times their price, and waddled through customs sporting two dozen hidden Rolexes. His trick shots included whacking balls with paddle handles, playing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' on pots and pans, and shattering cigarettes with impeccable aim, all while hustling the 1950s world tour with Harlem Globetrotters. His revenge quest? Single-handedly demolished Japan’s foamy-paddle pioneer, Hiroji Satoh, humiliating him so badly he never returned to international play. Chalamet’s 'Marty Supreme' captures this madness: between snagging gangster dogs and flirting with Gwyneth, it’s less ping-pong, more a crime drama embedded in bounce shots and streetwise scams.
Share the Story
When your ping-pong game includes smuggling gold, selling stockings, and breaking cigarettes mid-smash, 'hustle' isn’t just a Netflix series, it’s an Olympic sport.
Forget steroids—Marty Reisman powered his ping-pong empire on smuggled gold bars and pawnshop watches. That’s how real champions play.
Only Marty could lose to a foam rubber paddle and then stalk his rival across continents like it’s table tennis meets Ocean’s Eleven.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 12/25/2025 | Author: Jason Guerrasio
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