Down memory lane, anyone?

gopi-1

gopi-1

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
efren_caesar.gif






Here's a rare pic of Efren waaay back in 1985 when he won his first
tournament (Houston Reds 9-Ball Open) here in the US.

Anybody here who was there who will give us a first hand account of what
was the crowd's reaction when a total unkown won it all? Also some behind
the scenes action of Effie against the best money players pool has to offer.

Any tidbits about the momentous event will be very much appreciated! :)
 
thnx
How good was Wade Crane then?
I am told he beat Buddy for some major cash sometime.
Efren beat Keith and Mike Sigel ( rotation ) for some cash during this tourney but he lost to Buddy playing 10 ball.
I've heard and read Efren felt he got cheated out of some money by his backer and fired him.
Efren was then deported for using Cesar Morales's passport.
Efren didn't come back until 1989 iirc with Billy Incardona acting as his US benefactor then.
 
surely classic! check out Buddy Hall in the back ground, and the guy to Efrens left looks like He knows a secret and aint tellin!:)
 
Gerry said:
surely classic! check out Buddy Hall in the back ground, and the guy to Efrens left looks like He knows a secret and aint tellin!:)
Click to expand...



I didn't even noticed that the great Buddy Hall was in that pic! :)
The guy on the left looks like Snooky Villanueva, at best an A player back in the days.
 
gopi-1 said:
I didn't even noticed that the great Buddy Hall was in that pic! :)
The guy on the left looks like Snooky Villanueva, at best an A player back in the days.
Click to expand...
The guy to Efren's right looks like a man named Dick.
He was Busta's backer one time.
 
I believe that Reyes came back to the states in 1988 - I'm pretty sure he won the McDermott Masters that year (someone correct me if I am wrong) He defeated Mike Sigel in the finals. That was the same tournament that Jean Balukas went head to head with the men and finished in the top half of the field, although the tourney drew only 47 players.
 
And no one mentioned the historical start of Accu-Stats as a magazine? Notice it's Vol 1 No. 1? Does anyone have these in their media collection. In all my years in pool I have never seen an Accu Stats magazine in person. Another 1st for Efren.

John
 
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JAM could probably give you some info on the magazine. I sent my copies to her for her research in writing Keith's story.
 
JoeyInCali said:
thnx
How good was Wade Crane then?
I am told he beat Buddy for some major cash sometime.
Efren beat Keith and Mike Sigel ( rotation ) for some cash during this tourney but he lost to Buddy playing 10 ball.
I've heard and read Efren felt he got cheated out of some money by his backer and fired him.
Efren was then deported for using Cesar Morales's passport.
Efren didn't come back until 1989 iirc with Billy Incardona acting as his US benefactor then.
Click to expand...

I've got a dvd with Wade Crane on it from the 80's in a ring game with Sigel, Fusco and Davenport. Crane won.
 
Do you by chance have the second volume of the king of the rings you mentioned? Tim 919 247 3391
 
I was living in Katy. Tx. When efrin came to town,I heard that somebody was taking all the money in town.I got to see him play at a pool room on I-10 just past the loop,can someone help me with the name? Lots of action in town at that time of all kinds! There was a coin flipper that could put nickels on a moving fan,(good player too).
 
I was at Red's during that tournament. I was told but never checked the tourney board that the most games anyone got on Efren were two in a race to ten. That was done by Wade Crane in the finals. Everyone else got the bagel or uno. That young man did things with a cue ball that would make you hear colors and see music. Just awesome!

Later, I read in a BD article, "The Thrilla from Manila", that Efren's backers were keeping upwards of 90% of his winnings. Even keeping just 10%, it was still more money than he had ever seen.

I believe the room you're thinking of was Le Cue right off of San Felipe. I saw Efren play at Cassidy's off I-10 and Antoine.

Strange, I lived in Katy also at the time. Right off of Mason Rd.
 
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stones

I lived off of clay rd,behind the daycare place.played tounaments all over, mondays at the place clay rd and Hwy6,17 tournaments to pick from any day of the week,I miss that town.We have had to cross paths.
 
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