Davis became a professional billiards player in 1919 at the age of 18. Joe's first professional billiards match was against Albert Raynor of Sheffield. It was a week long match of the first to 8,000 points and was played at Brampton Coliseum, just outside Chesterfield. Albert conceded 1,000 points to Davis from the start. The match finished on 14 February 1920 and resulted in a victory for Davis by 145 points. Davis's best breaks in the final session of that game were 120, 106, 93 and 92. His highest of the match was 160. By the end of March 1920, Davis's highest recorded break in billiards was 468.