Greatest American Player ever
This is a knowledgable group. You might be surprised how well Haorld Worst does in this poll.
I never saw Mr. Worst play but I believe the others here, that he was a great player at several games.
I realize it was no fault of his that he died at a young age , but to say he was the best ever seems ridiculous to me.
In my opinion to be the best ever, you have to beat all the other great players of your era repeatedly in many venues.
Just based on the short time he was able to play, this eliminates Mr. Worst for me.
Could of, would have, should have, has absolutely no bearing on reality.
If he had lived for many years longer, he may well have been the best ever , he did not, so you cannot speculate on how many titles or championships he would have won , based on his best performances.
It doesn't work that way.
Someone who would be argueably the best ever in my opinion is not even on the list.
Something that a lot of people I doubt know, was that Willie Mosconi actually played 3 cushion billiards at a high enough level to win tournaments but he never pursued it because he knew he couldn't beat Hoppe on a regular basis.
I hope no one thinks I am being disrespectful to Mr. Worst, I am not.
Just think of all the great golfers who have burst onto the scene and dominated for a couple of years and then for whatever reason, dropped off the radar.
Tiger Woods looked like he was going to keep destroying everyone for a hundred years , all of a sudden life jumped in and he can't win.
We have no way of knowing what would have happened had he lived longer, but we do know what he did in his lifetime, and for me it is not enough to warrant the best ever title.
