[4] In October 1887, Peall and Mitchell played each other at the Royal Aquarium in a 15,000-up match advertised as the "All-in Championship."

On the last day, Mitchell was almost 2,000 points behind Peall, but with a series of breaks including 801 and 912, recovered to win the match 15,000–13,733.

The second of these unofficial matches was staged in March 1888 at the same venue, and this time Peall won by a large margin, 15,00–6,753, including a record break of 2,031.

[5][6] Peall was the runner-up to Mitchell in the first of three "Championship of the World" tournaments promoted from 1889 to 1891 by billiard table manufacturers George Wright and Company, and won the other two.

[3] His highest break was 3,304, against Dawson in 1890, and it was reported that in his prime he could score 1,000 points in under an hour from the spot stroke.