Who's the most intimidating player you've ever seen?

for me i have two guys for twom different reasons. earl was just intimadating with his antics and his stare. I played him in reno once and he made me feel like he would knife me in the parking lot if i had beaten me....intimadating
the other was Ronnie Allen, not an intimadating looking man infact he always had a smile and a joke for you but play him some one pocket and he could make balls from anywhere. i just didnt know where i could duck and at times would play safe on shots i may have shot at playing a different guy.... he had me intimadated for sure

On a bar table? Glenn Atwell...he'd stalk a table like a cat stalking a mouse.

pwd72s said:

On a bar table? Glenn Atwell...he'd stalk a table like a cat stalking a mouse.

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I was thinking of Atwell, too, since my limited experience includes him. It was like he dominated the regional GM events like they were nightly tournaments.

For me, would be Cornbread.... You could watch this C-C+ player for hours, but then if you asked him for a game.... All of a sudden, he was a WORLD BEATER. Not only could he shoot the eyes off the balls, but still make you think your winning the whole time. Once you've played him, then the next time... You would go into it thinking your a 7 year old kid going agains Mosconi! Now THATS intimidating! RIP Billy "Cornbred Red" Burge! We all miss you, especially those who have had the pleasure of being your punching bag. Lol

You have to have plenty of the Right Stuff if you have to sit next to Darren Appleton when he is in Locked Down Mode. He just looks so ferocious that the look is worth a couple of racks on the wire.

lol about shane, nowhere near the other names

agree with earl in the nineties
size and presence not ability dennis hatch

Bucky Bell

Surprised only one mention of Busty


Just look at his expressions sometimes.

pro9dg said:

You have to have plenty of the Right Stuff if you have to sit next to Darren Appleton when he is in Locked Down Mode. He just looks so ferocious that the look is worth a couple of racks on the wire.

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Neils'' look gives daz th 7!

1 word, 1 name; Ginky.

He was friends with my buddy Johnny B (aka New Rochelle Johnny). I used to love to watch Ginky play (Chelsea Billiards NYC). He appeared so fearless, so dominating. He would walk around the table like a lion stalking his prey. Given his unwavering Teflon confidence (and as so many know, he more than had the skills to back it up), he was a real normal, even humble guy the few times I had the opportunity to speak with him. Johnny B mentioned several time he was a real salt of the earth type of guy.

To put this in proper perspective, I've played Varner and Strickland (granted both were in charity exhibition type of set-ups). I've also seen many other pros play. Ginky just had something about him that made him seem more intimidating than any other player I've seen. -S

actionplayer said:

lol about shane, nowhere near the other names

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Then how come nobody will play him? Shane takes on anybody and has beat all the current world's best players.

I got lucky enough to play a 9 ball game with Buddy Hall at planet 9-ball in Tampa.back in 2001-2..well...really what happened is he broke,didn't make anything...I ran 2 balls...then watched him run out that rack and 3 more...lol

Niels Feijen has a massive presence at the table, very focused and almost machinelike, the terminator is definitely a perfect moniker, on TV he looks like a big man, he is actually only about 5'10" or so.

Harold Worst, without question.

Jose Parica, but there are many more that would make most players tighten it up a bit. Johnnyt

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black........

Grantstew said:

Niels Feijen has a massive presence at the table, very focused and almost machinelike, the terminator is definitely a perfect moniker, on TV he looks like a big man, he is actually only about 5'10" or so.

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I am 5' - 10 1/2" tall.

Niels is taller than you suggest. He is at least 1.83 meters tall.

But, yes, he has an intimidating table presence. He once told me "You play like a machine." And then beat me seven out of eight games in a row.

JoeyA

GoldenFlash said:

Harold Worst, without question.

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Good answer here, he scared the entire pool world with his ability at all games. He never thought anyone could beat him and no one truly believed they were the favorite over him. Even the most hardcore hustlers had mad respect for Harold.

Cornbread was an intimidating presence in the poolroom, not backing down from anyone or any game. Another name not mentioned was Keith. NO ONE wanted to draw him in a tournament or play him for the cash. If he was "right" he could flat outplay you. Sadly he was "wrong" as often as he was right. At his peak Keith was the most talented player of his era.

Mizerak was the dominant tournament player for a long time, the man to beat if you were going to win. Steve fully expected to win every tournament he played in and usually did. He was the acknowledged top player by his tournament peers in the early to mid 70's.

Buddy just wore everyone else out with his consistent strong play, winning more 9-Ball tournaments all over the country than anyone before or since. The Earl came along and ran over the rest of the pool players with his big game. He was the first and only guy who could make a 9' table look like a bar box. If Sigel made it to the finals, you were toast. He had the best nose for the goal line of anyone.

What a generation that was, with Sigel, Buddy, Earl, Miz, Varner, Hopkins, Rempe, Efren and Parica playing in many of the biggest tournaments. I was so fortunate to see all of them in action, along with Mataya, W. Crane, David Howard, Ray Martin, Jimmy Marino, Swanee, Keith, Fusco, Reid and other greats of the game. You had to do something to win a big tournament back then in the 70's and 80's. A lot of very good players couldn't get there, just hoping to finish high in the money.

sjm said:

Ditto for Sigel. I've never seen a player that had a greater killer instinct than Mike in his prime. Scary good and a very intimidating opponent.

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Ditto again. In the 80s, if you had to play Sigel in the finals, you surely had to be feeling pretty bad about your chances.

Here is something to think about. Is there anyone who had a winning record against Sigel (when he played at a competitive level consistently)? Reyes? Strickland? Varner? Mizerak? Rempe? Hall?