Was Rempe and Varner better All-Around Players than Sigel, Strickland, and Archer?

Island Drive said:
Keep in mind, Varner in his prime, went to the Philippines and played Efren in his prime and beat em on his home court. Never heard of ANY other player on the planet EVER went to the Phillipines to play him that I know of and beat em. :)

Varner in his prime was probably thee best all around player of all time. The KY Colonel had ZERO rattle, and the tougher the game the tougher he played. He was a good listener and was taught by Hubert Cokes in the 70's then Hal Nix.

Nicky never did drugs and he was never a big drinker....only drug problem he ever had was Cigarettes, and he finally quit that.
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Right on, Bill. I still consider Nick Varner to be the most cerebral American pool player of the last 50 years, and yes, including Irving Crane. Nick was a killer for sure, and is quite clearly in the conversation for greatest all-around player ever.

FYI, you should hear Varner talk about Lassiter. He does so with awe and reverence.
 
I never used the words “rabid racist “ to refer to Mosconi! Pool, and America was and is racist, that’s America’s track record. I don’t need anybody to tell me Varner and Rempe’s Titles, or that they were great All-Around Players, I read up on ALL the Champions. Even Parica is underrated, was overlooked for the HOF, and beat nearly everyone, including Effren. Rempe and Varner don’t get the credit that they deserve, which is why I asked why.
 
I was asking for insight, from those that know and understand the Pool business, in depth, because just knowing what Titles someone won, doesn’t give you the complete understanding of why some Stars remain in relative obscurity. That even happens to Hall-of-Farmers! Obviously, the ones mentioned are HOF members, except some pure Road Warriors that didn’t play in, and/or didn’t care about playing for Trophies. Fats mentioned that he didn’t care about Tournaments, and Bugs didn’t either, among others. It’s a fact that as accomplished as Varner and Rempe were and are, they aren’t talked about as often, or as glowingly, as Hall, Strickland, and Sigel, but played a wider variety of games. Parica himself, said that he doesn’t know why Efren is more revered than himself. Rempe sure doesn’t mind telling anybody how great he was. Parica was overlooked for the Hall-of-Fame for years, and everyone knows that some less-deserving players made it, while he waited, and waited, before his induction. If I read up on every Champion in the Record books, from Ponzi, and Taberski, to Hohmann, its hard to believe that I wouldn’t know what Varner and Rempe won, but that’s not the totality of who they were. Americans, and people around the World have criticized Strickland, not his Greatness, and that’s part of who he is.
 
LeftyIke said:
I was asking for insight, from those that know and understand the Pool business, in depth, because just knowing what Titles someone won, doesn’t give you the complete understanding of why some Stars remain in relative obscurity. That even happens to Hall-of-Farmers! Obviously, the ones mentioned are HOF members, except some pure Road Warriors that didn’t play in, and/or didn’t care about playing for Trophies. Fats mentioned that he didn’t care about Tournaments, and Bugs didn’t either, among others. It’s a fact that as accomplished as Varner and Rempe were and are, they aren’t talked about as often, or as glowingly, as Hall, Strickland, and Sigel, but played a wider variety of games. Parica himself, said that he doesn’t know why Efren is more revered than himself. Rempe sure doesn’t mind telling anybody how great he was. Parica was overlooked for the Hall-of-Fame for years, and everyone knows that some less-deserving players made it, while he waited, and waited, before his induction. If I read up on every Champion in the Record books, from Ponzi, and Taberski, to Hohmann, its hard to believe that I wouldn’t know what Varner and Rempe won, but that’s not the totality of who they were. Americans, and people around the World have criticized Strickland, not his Greatness, and that’s part of who he is.
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jesuschristdudehaveyouneverheardofusingthefooking ENTER key?

It's one thing to have moronic opinions based on absolutely nothing, but completely another to communicate those opinions like a first grader.
 
I don’t care what you say or think Russ. I’m not your child, I don’t value your opinion, and your are I’ll-mannered.
 
1) Nick & Mike

2) Earl & Johny

nippin @ their heels...Jimmy

Buddy would be in the mix if he had any interest in straight pool
 
As far as tournament play, Sigel has to be #1. He had a winning record against Varner overall, who was one of his biggest rivals and best friends. Mizerak and Sigel were the dominant 14.1 players of their era, with Nick, Rempe and Hopkins not far behind. Sigel was also the best 9-Ball player in tournaments, along with Earl. Again Nick was nearly as good and nearly as successful, but not quite. Varner's Bank Pool game is celebrated but Sigel played just as good, and as good as Nick was in One Pocket, Sigel also did better in tournament play.

Now when it came to gambling, that's a whole other story. Both Nick and Mike did gamble, but Nick was a monster for the cash. Mike meanwhile had to be a little more careful. Efren schooled Mike in 9-Ball and Rotation at Red's in Houston. But I saw Mike hold his own playing Banks with Tony Fargo, who was one of the top Bankers in the country. Somehow I have the feeling that one day a long, long time ago these two guys matched up for the cash, as pool players are known to do when they first meet. I would bet that Nick came out on top when that happened.

Nick was a winner in pool and in life, so his all around accomplishments put him on top of my list of pool players. Mike was one of the greatest pool players who ever lived and could play all games at the highest level. That much is a certainty. Both were great all around players, two of the best ever. Let's just leave it at that.

I will only add this. It was a golden era in pool when Mike, Nick, Miz, Rempe, Hopkins, Buddy, Earl, Efren and Parica and a host of others were fighting for the money and the titles, and I was fortunate to see all of them play. I could name a couple of dozen other players from that era who were all capable of knocking off any one of the above on a given day as well. Mike, Nick, Buddy and Earl were the big winners overall though. Efren had a long cold spell when he couldn't win a 9-Ball tournament and Parica wasn't always here to play in them, but when he was....look out!

P.S. I didn't say anything about Johnny because he came along in the 90's when some of the other guys were winding down their careers. Of the above players, only Buddy, Earl, Efren and Parica remained active throughout the 90's. Nick continued to play, but had other priorities in business and family life by that time. Sigel retired in the early 90's and Mizerak's game fell off. Earl, Johnny, Buddy, Parica and Efren were the top guns, tournament wise in the 90's and beyond. I will add this; Buddy Hall had the longest and most successful career of all of them, over 30 years on top. He won more pool tournaments than anyone else by a wide margin. I'm guessing he won over 200 tournaments in his career, counting big and small tables. Of all the players mentioned, Buddy was the only one who dominated the bar tables as well as the big tables. He could switch back and forth week to week and day to day if necessary and never miss a beat. He was the most active of all the top players, riding the roads from state to state and chasing pool tournaments wherever they were being played, week after week, and winning, winning, winning! To this day, I doubt if anyone knows the highways east of the Mississippi better than Buddy Hall.
 
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Of Rempe, Varner, Sigel, Strickland, and Archer

Earl all day

the whole "all around concept" is somewhat overrated imo

ask any of those guys if they played a prime Earl even for cash more than once

he could and did make Miz look like a toddler

Efren, Parica, and Buddy might be a better comparison
 
I remember hearing/reading somewhere that Rempe went over to the UK to play snooker and held his own. Is that correct? And other than Corey more recently, have any of the other great American players ever done that?

Thanks,

Brian
 
bmccaslin said:
I remember hearing/reading somewhere that Rempe went over to the UK to play snooker and held his own. Is that correct? And other than Corey more recently, have any of the other great American players ever done that?

Thanks,

Brian
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Brian your correct, I think he did ok too.
 
smashmouth said:
Of Rempe, Varner, Sigel, Strickland, and Archer

Earl all day

the whole "all around concept" is somewhat overrated imo

ask any of those guys if they played a prime Earl even for cash more than once

he could and did make Miz look like a toddler

Efren, Parica, and Buddy might be a better comparison
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I think this is why the "overall player" concept is interesting. Maybe they wouldn't play Earl straight up in 9 ball, but what about other games? Was Earl a world beater in straight pool or 1 pocket?
 
jokrswylde said:
I think this is why the "overall player" concept is interesting. Maybe they wouldn't play Earl straight up in 9 ball, but what about other games? Was Earl a world beater in straight pool or 1 pocket?
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Earl did not do all games, like Varner.
 
jasonlaus said:
Problem is, Allison plays no where near Simings speed.
Jason
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Fair enough, like I said, I only saw Siming play a rack or two, ,I am going on other peoples views, who should know.
I looked at their Fargorates and it seems odd, that there are 13 Chinese women
rated higher than Allison.
So how does the Fargo rate differ between men and women? Or does it?
If a man is 760 and a woman is 760 do they play equal?
 
book collector said:
Fair enough, like I said, I only saw Siming play a rack or two, ,I am going on other peoples views, who should know.
I looked at their Fargorates and it seems odd, that there are 13 Chinese women
rated higher than Allison.
So how does the Fargo rate differ between men and women? Or does it?
If a man is 760 and a woman is 760 do they play equal?
[/https://youtu.be/_BtjTu-E9dU
https://youtu.be/Y3ShoYIyqAY
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All great player - it's hard to pick one as better at all games. Combination of 9 ball and 14.1 I'd probably give Sigel a slight edge in his prime. One pocket maybe Varner?
 
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