Rodney said he beat Parica for the cash in a 15 ahead set.
The greatest 9 ball player ever.
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Rodney said he beat Parica for the cash in a 15 ahead set.
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I heard that's right but Rodney got the 8-9 balls..
this is true SVB is on his way, but he there yet. I believe he will get there-he has the work ethic and stones. in 5-10 years then we can see, he also has less competition than Earl had back in the 80's or Wimpy etc.
if SVB is to legitimately be in this conversation, he MUST start taking down world tournaments the way earl strickland did in his prime. I'm actually going to upgrade Ralph Souquet over SVB from what I said before. 6 world pool masters, 9 ball world championship as well as a US Open. Not bad at all!
Imho
My opinion is that Earl was the best 9-ball player I ever saw, but for those who say Efren coulda been considered if only he could break as well as Earl or others, I cannot forget how he came back from (was it 17 racks down?) behind in the Color of Money match in Hong Kong and beat Earl in 9-ball.
I suggest you watch that match if you want to see some of the best 9-ball you may ever see.
My opinion is that Earl was the best 9-ball player I ever saw, but for those who say Efren coulda been considered if only he could break as well as Earl or others, I cannot forget how he came back from (was it 17 racks down?) behind in the Color of Money match in Hong Kong and beat Earl in 9-ball.
I suggest you watch that match if you want to see some of the best 9-ball you may ever see.
I think if you consider only tournament play then Earl has to be the greatest ever. But if you consider international events with the biggest prizes AND heads up match ups then it's probably a toss up between Buddy and Efren.
BUT
I would give the nod to Efren because he has continued to play for so long and continued to snap off events long after Buddy quit.
BUT
I would give the nod to Efren because he has continued to play for so long and continued to snap off events long after Buddy quit.
aces805
non iphone user
Must give credit to SVB for his heart and willingness to play for the cash. There are plenty of pros that are just nits and unwilling to play cash games unless they have a big edge. SVB is a true pro, in that he will play cash games all night long, then take down tourneys in the day. Very old school, road-warrior-like. He stays in good physical condition (unlike Buddy), doesn't abuse drugs or alcohol (unlike many other pros), and has the best 10-ball break in the game. Being that 10-ball is the dominant game today, based on all these factors, SVB is set up for the long haul.
Tournament play under the bright TV lights such as Mosconi Cup, World Championships etc are packed with pressure, but . . . if you get knocked out in a tourney you can still get in the money by placing less than first.
Now, cash games, a whole different story. A totally different kind of pressure. Always thought that if you threw all the top players in a room, gave them $20000 each, and locked the door until everyone was broke except one guy, somehow, some way, Efren would find a crack of daylight and end up as he says "just lucky." Then he would give you that toothless smile as he tugs at his shirt and scratches his head.
Tournament play under the bright TV lights such as Mosconi Cup, World Championships etc are packed with pressure, but . . . if you get knocked out in a tourney you can still get in the money by placing less than first.
Now, cash games, a whole different story. A totally different kind of pressure. Always thought that if you threw all the top players in a room, gave them $20000 each, and locked the door until everyone was broke except one guy, somehow, some way, Efren would find a crack of daylight and end up as he says "just lucky." Then he would give you that toothless smile as he tugs at his shirt and scratches his head.
Modern day best I have seen Buddy, Earl and Efren play the best 9 ball , before them was Lassiter, Don Willis, Harold Worst Jimmy Moore , Joe Procita , Before them George Rood and the guy he said was the best player ever, Rags Fitzpatrick.
If you ever heard Billy Incardona talk about playing Efren and how he felt he could not handle his one pocket game {nobody could} thats how George spoke of Rags. {and George hated to admit anyone beat him, but he was honest about it when they did .
He told me a story about being with a bunch of the other old timers {probably at the One Pocket Hall Of Fame} and everyone was telling of all the players they beat, George said "I told them I didn't belong there and they said", "why not ", he said "I lost sometimes, you guys always won!"
George played Lassiter Mosconi Willis and lots of the other top players 100 dollar a game nine ball in the late 40s early 50s and he did not feel outgunned by anyone except Rags.
There was another guy he told me about in Norfolk around 1950 and he said he was a very old man when he played him and George was playing great pool at the time and barely won, the guy was Thomas Hueston who had to have been near 70 years old.
George said he hated to think how good the guy played when he was young.
If you ever heard Billy Incardona talk about playing Efren and how he felt he could not handle his one pocket game {nobody could} thats how George spoke of Rags. {and George hated to admit anyone beat him, but he was honest about it when they did .
He told me a story about being with a bunch of the other old timers {probably at the One Pocket Hall Of Fame} and everyone was telling of all the players they beat, George said "I told them I didn't belong there and they said", "why not ", he said "I lost sometimes, you guys always won!"
George played Lassiter Mosconi Willis and lots of the other top players 100 dollar a game nine ball in the late 40s early 50s and he did not feel outgunned by anyone except Rags.
There was another guy he told me about in Norfolk around 1950 and he said he was a very old man when he played him and George was playing great pool at the time and barely won, the guy was Thomas Hueston who had to have been near 70 years old.
George said he hated to think how good the guy played when he was young.
Great story. I didn't expect that.
I have to put Mike Sigel up there as the best TOURNAMENT 9-baller ever.
For the cash,I still remember the story about Sigel coming thru St. Louis and busting everyone,while on the way to play Buddy in Shreveport.
Tom Ferry,the legend on here,said he called down there to see how the cash he sent along with Mike and Larry Hubbart was doing.
Larry got on the phone and said Mike was in dead stroke,hadn't missed a single ball for 9 hours,and they were still 4 games STUCK. Tommy D.
For the cash,I still remember the story about Sigel coming thru St. Louis and busting everyone,while on the way to play Buddy in Shreveport.
Tom Ferry,the legend on here,said he called down there to see how the cash he sent along with Mike and Larry Hubbart was doing.
Larry got on the phone and said Mike was in dead stroke,hadn't missed a single ball for 9 hours,and they were still 4 games STUCK. Tommy D.
Buddy was good, but I saw a video of Mike Lebron beating him in Vegas.
Efren....nobody mentions he wins 3 cushion tournaments.
Who is the best pool player to ever empty out a car wash change machine?
Efren....nobody mentions he wins 3 cushion tournaments.
Who is the best pool player to ever empty out a car wash change machine?
You have listed many facts about Efren (he's my all time favorite player) and I agree with every one of them. IMO he is the greatest player. I was listening to Bill Incardona on an Accu-stats video and he was talking about Efren. I think it was at the Resorts International practice room and Billy said he was sitting in the room by himself and in walked Efren. Efren put his cue together and proceeded to run 3 consecutive racks of 15 ball rotation he then unscrewed his cue and left. Billy said he sat there in amazement at what he'd just watched Efren do. I have a copy of the race to 120 against Earl Strickland in Hong Kong and if 9 ball is his worst game he must play the rest of the games pretty well. Efren was down by 17 games on the third day and he came back and won the match playing some of the best 9 ball you will ever see!
James
Why do you have to be a Professional to be the "Best Ever"? David Matlock back in the day may have been beat on a Bar Box once in a great while..it happens. Day in and day out my Money was on Matlock. I Live in the Midwest and have seen a guy named "Larry" from Baltimore that was Hands down the best "Money 9-Ball" Player In my Opinion that i have ever seen.
Ask the players
I think the players are best qualified to pick.
Originally Posted by jay helfert View Post
I will say this as a fact, for nearly 20 years not one of the best players in the world, wanted to even discuss playing Parica for the cash. He gave weight to the world!
In 1984 at the Caesars Tahoe tournament, when everyone was raving about Parica and what he was doing to the US players, I heard Parica say, there is another player in the Philippines that is better.
I think the players are best qualified to pick.
Originally Posted by jay helfert View Post
I will say this as a fact, for nearly 20 years not one of the best players in the world, wanted to even discuss playing Parica for the cash. He gave weight to the world!
In 1984 at the Caesars Tahoe tournament, when everyone was raving about Parica and what he was doing to the US players, I heard Parica say, there is another player in the Philippines that is better.
That shit is laughable, at best.
Lebron's Vegas 'win' is largely regarded as one of the biggest black-eyes in the game.
Efren has less of a chance of winning a 3c major as Blomdahl (who? Exactly) does to win a pro pool event.
Larry Neudecker?
He was a beast, picking on us little folks, but I think he paled in comparison to the other names that are offered here.
Denny Searcy said Efren was the best he'd ever seen. That says alot.
maybe nobody
..in reading all the posts and all the different opinions about who was the best, it just occurred to me that maybe there is no one best player ever?
Maybe 5 or 6 of them on the same top rung who could beat each other on any given day...........that is my other opinion.......
..in reading all the posts and all the different opinions about who was the best, it just occurred to me that maybe there is no one best player ever?
Maybe 5 or 6 of them on the same top rung who could beat each other on any given day...........that is my other opinion.......