Best 1Pocket Player of the 80's - 90's

Baby Huey said:
I think the 80's belong to Hopkins. RA was done, Efren became the MAN in the 90's and forward. Grady, Joyner and Cornbread did not have his firepower running balls. Certainly Varner could compete at a very high level but Hopkins IMO reigned supreme back then.
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I knew a gent who hung out at Varner's pool room in that 80s era. And yes, it was said that Allen reigned supreme at one pocket. It was told to me that Nick's dad addressed who was the "best", to those who asked, sharing that "Allen knows he has an open invitation to come play Nicky some one pocket for whatever he can bet, and if he can win he can bust Owensboro...but we haven't seen him yet."
 
Cornerman said:
Yep. He was voted by his peers at the time in Billiards Digest in 1991 as the top one pocket player for a reason.

Here’s an interesting read when Hopkins gets inducted into the BCa Hall of Fame:

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It's interesting that Hopkins didn't get elected to the HOF until he was 56, according to the article.

Hopkins used to offer this proposition: he would break the balls at one pocket and without taking ball in hand would run out all 15 balls in four or five tries. Of course, they didn't have 4-inch pockets back then, but still.
 
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lfigueroa said:
A few days ago a pretty high power player here in STL opined that he was told Ronnie Allen was the best back then.

Having watched many, many Accu-Stats 1pocket tapes from that era I don''t think that's an accurate assessment. But, I was just starting my 1pocket journey way back then. Over the years I did have the chance to see and occasionally play some of the legends. And, certainly Ronnie was an incredibly creative player and a fore-runner to the hyper-aggressive play we often see today.

But for the cash, who do you think was the guy you'd put your dough on around that time?

Lou Figueroa
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Shannon Daulton
 
Matt_24 said:
I knew a gent who hung out at Varner's pool room in that 80s era. And yes, it was said that Allen reigned supreme at one pocket. It was told to me that Nick's dad addressed who was the "best", to those who asked, sharing that "Allen knows he has an open invitation to come play Nicky some one pocket for whatever he can bet, and if he can win he can bust Owensboro...but we haven't seen him yet."
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I had one Accustats one pocket of Hopkins versus Varner. I literally fell asleep watching the first game and woke up an hour later and it was still on the first game. Hopkins ended up beating Varner 3 to 2 I think. In the Billiards Digest Hopkins Hall of Fame Link, page 2 of the article has Buddy Hal talking about when Hopkins gave Efren a ball in one pocket and beating him.
 
Bob Jewett said:
It's interesting that Hopkins didn't get elected to the HOF until he was 56, according to the article.

Hopkins used to offer this proposition: he would break the balls at one pocket and without taking ball in hand would run out all 15 balls in four or five tries. Of course, they didn't have 4-inch pockets back then, but still.
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Allen Hopkins in my opinion was the best all around player, say 1980 - 1985. One of his proposition bets was to throw out all 15 balls

on the pool table and run all 15 without the cue ball hitting a rail. I personally witnessed this in either 1979 or 1980. It was the year that

he won $112,000 at The Rack in Detroit playing 1-pkt. He told me that he left thousands in $20 bills with the houseman as sort of security that he

could walk out with the rest of the cash.
 
thenuke said:
Allen Hopkins in my opinion was the best all around player, say 1980 - 1985. One of his proposition bets was to throw out all 15 balls

on the pool table and run all 15 without the cue ball hitting a rail. I personally witnessed this in either 1979 or 1980. It was the year that

he won $112,000 at The Rack in Detroit playing 1-pkt. He told me that he left thousands in $20 bills with the houseman as sort of security that he

could walk out with the rest of the cash.
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He did one of his 1p prop bets and ran 3racks,all 45, into his pocket without a miss. Stronger than cat piss right there.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
It's interesting that Hopkins didn't get elected to the HOF until he was 56, according to the article.

Hopkins used to offer this proposition: he would break the balls at one pocket and without taking ball in hand would run out all 15 balls in four or five tries. Of course, they didn't have 4-inch pockets back then, but still.
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Good enough drill. Lousy bet if you know anything about pool method
 
GideonF said:
The probably kept him out until then because nobody could bring themselves to vote for someone with a poke stroke like that! Every time I see him on video I’m shocked that it works so well.
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And not just the stroke. Sometimes (often) his whole body was still looking and standing at the path and table and his opponent , and he would fire away with amazing speed control.
 
Al
thenuke said:
Allen Hopkins in my opinion was the best all around player, say 1980 - 1985. One of his proposition bets was to throw out all 15 balls

on the pool table and run all 15 without the cue ball hitting a rail. I personally witnessed this in either 1979 or 1980. It was the year that

he won $112,000 at The Rack in Detroit playing 1-pkt. He told me that he left thousands in $20 bills with the houseman as sort of security that he

could walk out with the rest of the cash
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As an aside, Allen told me several years ago that he started superbilliardsexpo with the money he won playing Paul Brusloff at the Rack (Capitol Social Club). That was a great use of the funds!
 
Each generational level of cue sports has had the best ever component to it. Hopkins is no exception. In his time he was "The Best." That's until I saw Efren play the game in the 90's, 2000's and until about 2010. I thought no one could play the game any better and then comes Alex. Now maybe it's Filler and Gorst maybe just Filler. I hope I get to see someone better than Filler but that may take awhile.
 
What can us Old Fart Players .... Teach our Young Fart Players... Since they won't be playing the players of yesterday!!!
 
sjm said:
The 1990s in one pocket belonged to Efren.

The 1980s are a bit more complicated. The first names that come to mind are Nick Varner and Allen Hopkins. Allen, in particular, used to bet real high back then. I'm thinking that Jersey Red, Ronnie Allen and Eddie Kelly were all past their primes by then.
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Good call on Hopkins! I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves. He’s one of the best “all-around” players ever
 
westcoast said:
I agree- it is amazing how much movement he could get on the cue ball with such a stroke- mind boggling
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if the tip is delivered on-line and with proper speed what difference does it make how it looks? i've seen a LOT of 'pretty boy stroke' players come and go that couldn't play in crunch time. Allen was self-taught(got help from some greats as well) and could run 100 by the time he was 12-13yrs old. I'll take ugly and effective every time.
 
garczar said:
if the tip is delivered on-line and with proper speed what difference does it make how it looks? i've seen a LOT of 'pretty boy stroke' players come and go that couldn't play in crunch time. Allen was self-taught(got help from some greats as well) and could run 100 by the time he was 12-13yrs old. I'll take ugly and effective every time.
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lee van corteza has a poke stroke too. works for him.
 
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