GREATEST POOL MATCH of All Time – Reyes vs. Strickland – with the Famous Z-Shot

dr_dave

dr_dave

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FYI, I just posted a new video that shows highlights, provides some analysis, and shows options for several important shots from the greatest pool match of all time between Efren "Bata" "The Magician" Reyes and Earl "The Pearl" Strickland, the Finals of the 1995 Sands Regency Open XXI. Check it out:


Contents (with timestamp links):
0:00 – Intro
0:51 – Early Racks
2:00 – Golden Break
3:19 – Earl Rail-First Re-Creation
4:59 – Magician Golden Kick-Carom
6:35 – The Game Nobody Wanted to Win
8:11 – Largest Lead in the Match
8:47 – Earl’s Combo Re-Creation
10:39 – Hill-Hill Case Game
11:08 – Efren’s Draw Clearance Re-Creation
12:49 – Efren’s Famous Z Shot
15:36 – The Finish
16:19 – The Praise
17:17 – Shot Montage

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!
 
I would suggest you to also ad people go and sub accu stats youtube channel. I would like to they get big so they have motivation to bring these great matches for us to enjoy.
 
dr_dave said:
FYI, I just posted a new video that shows highlights, provides some analysis, and shows options for several important shots from the greatest pool match of all time between Efren "Bata" "The Magician" Reyes and Earl "The Pearl" Strickland, the Finals of the 1995 Sands Regency Open XXI. Check it out:


Contents (with timestamp links):
0:00 – Intro
0:51 – Early Racks
2:00 – Golden Break
3:19 – Earl Rail-First Re-Creation
4:59 – Magician Golden Kick-Carom
6:35 – The Game Nobody Wanted to Win
8:11 – Largest Lead in the Match
8:47 – Earl’s Combo Re-Creation
10:39 – Hill-Hill Case Game
11:08 – Efren’s Draw Clearance Re-Creation
12:49 – Efren’s Famous Z Shot
15:36 – The Finish
16:19 – The Praise
17:17 – Shot Montage

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!
dr_dave said:
FYI, I just posted a new video that shows highlights, provides some analysis, and shows options for several important shots from the greatest pool match of all time between Efren "Bata" "The Magician" Reyes and Earl "The Pearl" Strickland, the Finals of the 1995 Sands Regency Open XXI. Check it out:


Contents (with timestamp links):
0:00 – Intro
0:51 – Early Racks
2:00 – Golden Break
3:19 – Earl Rail-First Re-Creation
4:59 – Magician Golden Kick-Carom
6:35 – The Game Nobody Wanted to Win
8:11 – Largest Lead in the Match
8:47 – Earl’s Combo Re-Creation
10:39 – Hill-Hill Case Game
11:08 – Efren’s Draw Clearance Re-Creation
12:49 – Efren’s Famous Z Shot
15:36 – The Finish
16:19 – The Praise
17:17 – Shot Montage

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!
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Efren's awesome and Earl is a great American comeback story.
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Nice job. I particularly liked the many attempts to make the z bank. Even Earl came across as like-able :p ,
 
Nice job, Dave.

This is a good one for sure, although neither player played particularly well, with a lot of pocketing and defense/kicking errors by their standards. Nothing beats a match where the fortunes of the players change on a dime multiple times in a match. When it happens in a double hill rack, it's even better, and when it happens in an event final, better still. The last rack is one of the all-time nail biters and Efren's Z-kick is a shot for the ages.
 
Poolmanis said:
I would suggest you to also ad people go and sub accu stats youtube channel. I would like to they get big so they have motivation to bring these great matches for us to enjoy.
Click to expand...

Good point. I gave them a bigger mention in my previous video. I also link to their source videos in my Youtube video descriptions and pinned comments.
 
sjm said:
Nice job, Dave.
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Thanks!

sjm said:
This is a good one for sure, although neither player played particularly well, with a lot of pocketing and defense/kicking errors by their standards. Nothing beats a match where the fortunes of the players change on a dime multiple times in a match. When it happens in a double hill rack, it's even better, and when it happens in an event final, better still. The last rack is one of the all-time nail biters and Efren's Z-kick is a shot for the ages.
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Well stated.
 
sjm said:
Nice job, Dave.

This is a good one for sure, although neither player played particularly well, with a lot of pocketing and defense/kicking errors by their standards. Nothing beats a match where the fortunes of the players change on a dime multiple times in a match. When it happens in a double hill rack, it's even better, and when it happens in an event final, better still. The last rack is one of the all-time nail biters and Efren's Z-kick is a shot for the ages.
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Same with the Wu v. Kuo match you posted. I hadn't seen that one before. A sloppy match (more so than this one, obviously), but wow, what a finish!

Of course, for us in the U.S., nothing beats Earl v. The Magician in their prime.

Nice analysis and presentation, as always, Dr. Dave.
 
PoolPlayer4 said:
Same with the Wu v. Kuo match you posted. I hadn't seen that one before. A sloppy match (more so than this one, obviously), but wow, what a finish!

Of course, for us in the U.S., nothing beats Earl v. The Magician in their prime.

Nice analysis and presentation, as always, Dr. Dave.
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Yeah, a great climax will sometimes make a match that wasn't otherwise great a classic.

In terms of quality of play, neither Wu vs Kuo 2005 nor this Strickland vs Reyes match compares to matches like a) the 2014 US Open 9-ball final between SVB and Orcullo or b) Wu vs Raga in the 2019 China Open 9-ball final, but because of the electrifying finish in each case, these matches are as memorable as the others.
 
dr_dave said:
Thank you, and you're welcome. I'm glad you liked it. These videos are a ton of work, so it is good to know people appreciate them.
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These videos are some of my favorites of all your work. It's great how you identify the "why" of misses and then show alternatives or play that would have led to a better result.
 
PoolPlayer4 said:
Same with the Wu v. Kuo match you posted. I hadn't seen that one before. A sloppy match (more so than this one, obviously), but wow, what a finish!
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I look forward to watching this one and maybe featuring it in a future video. I love watching Wu play ... so smooth, smart, composed, and lethal.


PoolPlayer4 said:
Of course, for us in the U.S., nothing beats Earl v. The Magician in their prime.
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Agreed (for outside the US too).


PoolPlayer4 said:
Nice analysis and presentation, as always, Dr. Dave.
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Thanks. These videos have been hard work but fun.
 
sjm said:
In terms of quality of play, neither Wu vs Kuo 2005 nor this Strickland vs Reyes match compares to matches like a) the 2014 US Open 9-ball final between SVB and Orcullo or b) Wu vs Raga in the 2019 China Open 9-ball final, but because of the electrifying finish in each case, these matches are as memorable as the others.
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Thanks to everybody for all the great match suggestions. I look forward to checking them out.
 
kling&allen said:
These videos are some of my favorites of all your work. It's great how you identify the "why" of misses and then show alternatives or play that would have led to a better result.
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I'm glad to hear it. Thanks for the feedback.
 
dr_dave said:
Thanks to everybody for all the great match suggestions. I look forward to checking them out.
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Pool's treasure chest is a deep one, Dave. I think it's wonderful that you're digging so deep into it, and the fact that so many of the great matches can now be reviewed will intrigue and instruct this generation of players and generations to come.

So many of the great matches I've seen just weren't recorded. I recall a match I watched at Great Gorge, New Jersey, during a 1996 PBT event, between Reyes and Bustamante. In an early round, Reyes did not miss a single shot in the entire match and Bustamante's only miss was on a bank shot. Bustamante prevailed 11-10 in what was probably the best played match I've ever witnessed. My guess is that both players were at least .960 Accu-stats. Should another match of that quality ever occur, the odds are we'll all get to see it, and, as importantly, we'll get to enjoy your analysis.

For example, Lee Van Corteza's superhuman effort in the final of the 2020 Derby City 9-ball, in which he shot .978 to demolish Josh Filler 11-4 to claim the title, was recorded for all to enjoy, and now it's available for pool players to enjoy and learn from. As Carly Simon sang, "these are the good old days."

The ample footage of competitive matches has opened up new worlds for all of us, and it's to our great benefit that you are so committed to using this footage to continue building a foundation for knowledge and learning in our sport. Keep up the good work and thanks for everything you do.
 
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sjm said:
Pool's treasure chest is a deep one, Dave. I think it's wonderful that you're digging so deep into it, and the fact that so many of the great matches can now be reviewed will intrigue and instruct this generation of players and generations to come.

So many of the great matches I've seen just weren't recorded. I recall a match I watched at Great Gorge, New Jersey, during a 1996 PBT event, between Reyes and Bustamante. In an early round, Reyes did not miss a single shot in the entire match and Bustamante's only miss was on a bank shot. Bustamante prevailed 11-10 in what was probably the best played match I've ever witnessed. My guess is that both players were at least .960 Accu-stats. Should another match of that quality ever occur, the odds are we'll all get to see it, and, as importantly, we'll get to enjoy your analysis.

For example, Lee Van Corteza's superhuman effort in the final of the 2020 Derby City 9-ball, in which he shot .978 to demolish Josh Filler 11-4 to claim the title, was recorded for all to enjoy, and now its available for pool players to enjoy and lean from. As Carly Simon sang, "these are the good old days."

The ample footage of competitive matches has opened up new worlds for all of us, and its to our great benefit that you are so committed to using this footage to continue building a foundation for knowledge and learning in our sport. Keep up the good work and thanks for everything you do.
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Thanks again for the wealth of suggestions. Thank you also for the kind and supportive feedback.

Best regards,
Dave
 
brilliant, as usual. it is the best end of a match ever. even the post-match interviews add beauty to it.

i'm beginning to believe in the satanic conspiracy, but efren probably has empirical data behind his estimation; i bet he has been buggered by so many compatriots to do the shot, or have them do the shot, to conclude that 23 is the number
 
skogstokig said:
brilliant, as usual
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Thanks!


skogstokig said:
it is the best end of a match ever. even the post-match interviews add beauty to it.
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Agreed. Earl was definitely on his best behavior ever, but his "unique personality" still showed through.


skogstokig said:
i'm beginning to believe in the satanic conspiracy, but efren probably has empirical data behind his estimation; i bet he has been buggered by so many compatriots to do the shot, or have them do the shot, to conclude that 23 is the number
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CueAnon is a powerful force. o_O

I think you are right. He knows the number is 23 from vast empirical evidence over a long period of time.
 
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