U.S. OPEN 2026, Frisco, Texas, August 25-30

Magictrat007 said:
I disagree
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Obviously you do, but Dennis's tournament resume in no way justifies such an assessment, nor does his record in action.

His relative lack of major titles is, in large part, because SVB wore him our for the length of his career, and SVB wore Dennis out in action matches, too, especially in their TAR encounters. Honestly, I never heard anyone ever opine at any time that they thought Dennis was the world's best player, let alone better than Shane. Your comment that Dennis was clearly the best for years is laughable.

FYI, Pagulayan was elected to the BCA Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, which was 2019. Dennis was on the ballot starting in 2020 and was not elected until his third year of eligibility in 2022. The BCA Hall of Famers saw Alex as a slam dunk election once he was eligible, but not Dennis.

Same thing with Darren Appleton, whose career also coincided with that of Dennis. Appleton won the World 9ball, the World 10ball, and two US Open 9ball titles, and was elected to the BCA Hall of Fame the first time he was on the ballot.

Dennis was an amazing player, but I think your memory is failing you on this one. During his peak years, which I'd say were 2012-18, there were a few that were a cut above,
 
markjames said:
right you are, correct, BUT
notice how recently, players have been
able to keep him off his ‘A’ game
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Josh was 3rd at the first WNT major this year, the European Open. He won the next WNT major in May at the UK Open. Yes, he was 9th at the last two WNT majors (Florida and Arizona), but is that your idea of a slump? He has outperformed every other WNT player in 2026. He's also the only player in the world with both a 9ball and a 10ball major in 2026, at the UK Open and Las Vegas Open respectively.

Every player dreams of having this kind of "slump."
 
garczar said:
He'll be 48, think he can still hang with all the kids today?
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No. He has trouble now just with all the young guns in the PI. He's lost a speed during his absence, just enough to make him very beatable by the .800 crew.
 
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sjm said:
Obviously you do, but Dennis's tournament resume in no way justifies such an assessment, nor does his record in action.

His relative lack of major titles is, in large part, because SVB wore him our for the length of his career, and SVB wore Dennis out in action matches, too, especially in their TAR encounters. Honestly, I never heard anyone ever opine at any time that they thought Dennis was the world's best player, let alone better than Shane. Your comment that Dennis was clearly the best for years is laughable.

FYI, Pagulayan was elected to the BCA Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, which was 2019. Dennis was on the ballot starting in 2020 and was not elected until his third year of eligibility in 2022. The BCA Hall of Famers saw Alex as a slam dunk election once he was eligible, but not Dennis.

Same thing with Darren Appleton, whose career also coincided with that of Dennis. Appleton won the World 9ball, the World 10ball, and two US Open 9ball titles, and was elected to the BCA Hall of Fame the first time he was on the ballot.

Dennis was an amazing player, but I think your memory is failing you on this one. During his peak years, which I'd say were 2012-18, there were a few that were a cut above,
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Dennis was the best all around player, winning multiple titles in every form of pool, big tables or small!
 
jay helfert said:
Dennis was the best all around player, winning multiple titles in every form of pool, big tables or small!
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I agree, Dennis is one of my favorite players of all time.

3x DCC MOT
2x DCC 9ball
2x DCC banks
Japan Open 9ball
China Open 9ball.
World Pool Masters
World Cup of Pool (w/ Lee Van)
WPA World 8ball
Endless high-stakes action games

And the list goes on...,

He is highly decorated and few have the resume he has. One of my personal goats. He may not have a WNT title or a US Open title, but he does have impressive and coveted titles under his belt.

Alex vs Dennis both in their prime? I'm taking Dennis in 9ball/10ball/8ball/straight pool/banks all day.

One Pocket is a toss-up.
 
markjames said:
right you are, correct, BUT
notice how recently, players have been
able to keep him off his ‘A’ game
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I don't think his opponents did that. That's entirely on him. I won't give them that much credit. I'd need to see more evidence during a longer period of time to hop on that train of thought. Filler is not really one to let his opponents throw him off his game, never been that way. Whatever is going on is internal I presume. Players are still in grave danger going against his "B" game.
 
sjm said:
Obviously you do, but Dennis's tournament resume in no way justifies such an assessment, nor does his record in action.

His relative lack of major titles is, in large part, because SVB wore him our for the length of his career, and SVB wore Dennis out in action matches, too, especially in their TAR encounters. Honestly, I never heard anyone ever opine at any time that they thought Dennis was the world's best player, let alone better than Shane. Your comment that Dennis was clearly the best for years is laughable.

FYI, Pagulayan was elected to the BCA Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, which was 2019. Dennis was on the ballot starting in 2020 and was not elected until his third year of eligibility in 2022. The BCA Hall of Famers saw Alex as a slam dunk election once he was eligible, but not Dennis.

Same thing with Darren Appleton, whose career also coincided with that of Dennis. Appleton won the World 9ball, the World 10ball, and two US Open 9ball titles, and was elected to the BCA Hall of Fame the first time he was on the ballot.

Dennis was an amazing player, but I think your memory is failing you on this one. During his peak years, which I'd say were 2012-18, there were a few that were a cut above,
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I'm sorry but I don't have Kelly Fisher or Thorsten Hohmann above Dennis. So I can't buy the BCA HOF argument vs Alex's induction. I personally think Corey should've been inducted 8 years ago when he turned 40, but here we are at last.

2020 BCA Hall of Fame - Kelly Fisher
2021 BCA Hall of Fame - Thorsten

They are both legends, but I don't think they possess greater skill than Dennis, despite their various titles. Same with Darren, he has way more major titles than Dennis but is a heavy underdog vs Dennis in his prime. Let's not forget that Dennis was one of the most feared money player of all time. His rivalry with Shane doesn't take away from that.
 
Kris_b1104 said:
I'm sorry but I don't have Kelly Fisher or Thorsten Hohmann above Dennis. So I can't buy the BCA HOF argument vs Alex's induction. I personally think Corey should've been inducted 8 years ago when he turned 40, but here we are at last.

2020 BCA Hall of Fame - Kelly Fisher
2021 BCA Hall of Fame - Thorsten

They are both legends, but I don't think they possess greater skill than Dennis, despite their various titles. Same with Darren, he has way more major titles than Dennis but is a heavy underdog vs Dennis in his prime. Let's not forget that Dennis was one of the most feared money player of all time. His rivalry with Shane doesn't take away from that.
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There’s actually an interview with Darren Appleton and Shane Van Boening I think possibly a TAR interview but I could be wrong. To the best player in the world was and they both said DENNIS. it’s just a fact at one point for a few years he was the best player in the world.
 
Kris_b1104 said:
I agree, Dennis is one of my favorite players of all time.

3x DCC MOT
2x DCC 9ball
2x DCC banks
Japan Open 9ball
China Open 9ball.
World Pool Masters
World Cup of Pool (w/ Lee Van)
WPA World 8ball
Endless high-stakes action games

And the list goes on...,

He is highly decorated and few have the resume he has. One of my personal goats. He may not have a WNT title or a US Open title, but he does have impressive and coveted titles under his belt.

Alex vs Dennis both in their prime? I'm taking Dennis in 9ball/10ball/8ball/straight pool/banks all day.

One Pocket is a toss-up.
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Bingo!
 
jay helfert said:
Dennis was the best all around player, winning multiple titles in every form of pool, big tables or small!
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Not the best player, but he was, at times, along with Alex, the guy to beat for the DCC all-around, so I can see where you are coming from. His skills were legendary, and nobody questions that.

Of course, that was not the contention of the poster that raised this topic, who claimed that Dennis was clearly the best player in the world for years., neither suggesting nor meaning that all-around play was to be the measure, nor suggesting that those years were non-consecutive.

I was a big fan of Dennis, but his resume of major titles is very light compared to some of his greatest contemporaries, especially Shane, Darren and Alex. The others were winning US Open 9ball events and World championships with Dennis found in virtually every field over which each prevailed. Dennis never won these.

Darren Appleton, one of Dennis' greatest rivals, won the World Championship at 9ball, 10ball, English 8ball and Heyball. Add that to his WPA World Team Championship and two US Open 9ball titles and you've got a mind-blowing all-around player, one whose resume tops that of Dennis even in all-around play.

Dennis was also never Billiards Digest Player of the Year, so at no point was he considered the best player in the world by the most important voice in the Billiards media.

I was one of Dennis' biggest fans, but if he was intermittently the best all-around player, he was certainly not worthy of being called the world's best pool player at any point of his career. Nonetheless, his legacy as a superstar of the highest order is safe.
 
Kris_b1104 said:
I don't think his opponents did that. That's entirely on him. I won't give them that much credit. I'd need to see more evidence during a longer period of time to hop on that train of thought. Filler is not really one to let his opponents throw him off his game, never been that way. Whatever is going on is internal I presume. Players are still in grave danger going against his "B" game.
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filler won the qatar open sick as a dog, his "b" game is great. but he has been fiddling with his stroke and even asked darren about it, which is comical (and darren told him as much), if you watch him there are more pre-strokes than there used to be.
 
Alex Pagulayan is pure genius at the table. No matter how many titles he has won, his induction into the BCA Hall of Fame is richly deserved.

A few other names being mentioned in this thread seem to be getting support based largely on results and titles. And accomplishments certainly matter. But one fact worth keeping in mind is that the player list, as an example. at the 2026 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship looks vastly different from the rosters of the same event in the 1980s and 1990s, when the field was made up of a much greater majority of American players. In fact, the majority of pool tournament rosters back in the day were 90%+ Americans.

The game is far more global today, and the depth of international talent is extraordinary. Comparing accomplishments across eras isn't always as simple as counting trophies.
 
skogstokig said:
filler won the qatar open sick as a dog, his "b" game is great. but he has been fiddling with his stroke and even asked darren about it, which is comical (and darren told him as much), if you watch him there are more pre-strokes than there used to be.
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I love Shane Van Boening and admire his accomplishments, which are many more than those of most BCA Hall of Famers. But if you ask me who the best player in the world is today, my answer is Joshua Filler.

When Filler is on, I don't believe there is a person on the face of the planet who can beat him.

Every pool champion has a streak of greatness, some longer than others. Earl Strickland's lasted for decades. Shane Van Boening is still streaking. And I believe Joshua Filler's streak has begun. He's on a roll, and his name belongs in the conversation as one of the best, if not the best player in the world today. Like Shane and Earl, Filler puts in the hours, hours and hours and hours of practice.

Champions have their moments. The truly great ones have eras. I think we're watching Joshua Filler's era begin.
 
The match I'm looking forward to today is Eklent Kaci v. Earl Strickland. The pool will be good. The personalities? That’s the bonus.

Last time the two met was in 2019 at the Masters when Big Kaci defeated Earl 7-2, but it was the post-match interview that was—well, you have to see it. It was pure Earl. Young 20-year-old Kaci was giggling, trying to maintain his stoic Albanian composure. The interviewer didn't have a chance against Earl. Love him or hate him, there's never a dull moment when Earl is in the house. He's not shy.

The post-match interview: Kaci v. Strickland 2019

On YouTube:
 
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straightline said:
Is the info public?
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ye but geolocked, i set my vpn to england:

S

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