Ray Martin..."The Man"

tonyboy59 said:

I have been a fan of Ray Martin since I first picked up his book "The 99 Critical Shots in Pool" a long time ago and revisit it often for tips. Seems his playing time was the late 60's through the 80's and couple of respectable placings in the early 90's. He's mostly known for his straight pool but is equally adept in 9-ball and 8-ball.

I ran across these two clips on YouTube where a then 69 year old Martin took on a young gun by the name of Corey Duel and a guy by the name of Efren Reyes (both needs no introduction). Watch what happens when they meet this elder billiard statesman in the 2005 "King of the Hill" 8-ball tourney where the IPT was trying to make their mark in the pool world and invited anyone to play for big money who was still able to handle a cue.

Watch the top one first (his match with Corey) then the second one with Efren. I watched both of these three times and never got bored...interesting commentary by Duel.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojLwMG5naNE&spfreload=10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6A5ELgtdMI&spfreload=10

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tonyboy59 said:

Thanks fellas...it was amusing to watch these guys shoot against the old man. Corey was saying he was gonna lose to Ray Martin and I never saw Efren look worried before in any match. Ray made it seem like a walk in the park.

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sjm said:

I was front and center when Ray won the 1978 PPPA World 14.1 Championship, topping the defending champion Allen Hopkins in the final. He was a very special player and merits mention among the greatest ever straight poolers. Only Mosconi, Greenleaf, Crane, Sigel and Varner were a clear cut above Ray at 14.1. Ray is more on a par with names like Balsis, Hopkins, Lassiter, Caras, and West. Ray was as classy as he was skillful --- a role model of the highest order.

I do not agree that he was just as capable at nine ball. Ray, as was true of several of the old straight pool masters, was not nearly as successful at nine ball when it replaced straight pool as the primary game.

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tonyboy59 said:

I have been a fan of Ray Martin since I first picked up his book "The 99 Critical Shots in Pool" a long time ago and revisit it often for tips. Seems his playing time was the late 60's through the 80's and couple of respectable placings in the early 90's. He's mostly known for his straight pool but is equally adept in 9-ball and 8-ball.

I ran across these two clips on YouTube where a then 69 year old Martin took on a young gun by the name of Corey Duel and a guy by the name of Efren Reyes (both needs no introduction). Watch what happens when they meet this elder billiard statesman in the 2005 "King of the Hill" 8-ball tourney where the IPT was trying to make their mark in the pool world and invited anyone to play for big money who was still able to handle a cue.

Watch the top one first (his match with Corey) then the second one with Efren. I watched both of these three times and never got bored...interesting commentary by Duel.

Click to expand...

Straightpool_99 said:

I watched the match against Deuel, and man, Deuels comments and haircut sure made it hard to cheer him on. I had Mr. Martin as my favourite in that one. He has what I consider a perfect pace/rhytm for 8 ball and a very good temperament, which is more important in that game, I think, than any other. This guy must have been brutal in the peak of his career, when he still packed this much punch at that age. Would be quite something to watch a straightpool match from those days. I have watched some more recent matches of his, though. Great straight pool player, an inspiration for everyone who wants to keep playing as they get older.

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ChrisinNC said:

Did you miss naming The Miz to those 2 groups of players you mentioned? Which of those 2 groups would you put him in, if either?

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measureman said:

I watched Ray play straight pool in N.J. in the '60s.
But it was long ago and I don't remember a lot.

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