A List of the Greatest Pool Players of All-Time

jay helfert said:
Interesting post. I knew both players quite well, gambling with and against Jack Cooney and backing Parica in tournaments and watching him play so many times. First the latter, Jose Parica was the dominant rotation player of his era without question. ALL deferred to him in 9-Ball or Ten Ball. After he crushed Earl at Ten Ball, no one ever tried playing Jose even at either game. Buddy conveniently avoided him. Jose was to put it simply a better player than all the rest of the game's greats at that time. Not Sigel, not Varner, not Archer, not anybody was a match for him. Jose shot straighter, never missing a ball for hours on end and his cue ball control was something to marvel at. I could just sit and watch him roll that cue ball all day long. Yes, better even than the great Efren!

As for Jack he was the greatest money player the game had ever seen, and it was not even close. That he was a stone cold hustler, there is no doubt. But the fact that he was so successful at it set him apart. When all the other top hustlers were looking for four figure scores, Jack was making high five figure and six figure wins, and doing it a few times every year. Underneath all his hustling was a great pool player, perhaps the second best One Pocket player after Ronnie Allen. Jack was way too smart to match up with the other big guns of One Pocket like Shorty, Taylor, Bugs and Ervolino. It would only kill his action and he knew it. He did play one $100,000 set with James Walden at DCC some years back. That was Jack's swan song in pool and he went out on top.

I saw Jack's real speed when he had to show it, and he could come with any shot under pressure. His 9-Ball game was also top speed and he hid that fact well. A few very good players found out that it was not a good idea to challenge Jack at 9-Ball for big money.
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Parica spent a few weeks, maybe months, haunting the front table at Greenway by the door to get first bite of the apple if anybody came in wanting to gamble. I saw Buddy pass him by a few times but in fairness Parica didn't seem to be trying to get him in a game either. I think both figured they would be gambling.

I do hold Parica in greater respect than most. He didn't seem to have a personality to attract attention but he had a game that just kept me watching from across the room.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
Parica spent a few weeks, maybe months, haunting the front table at Greenway by the door to get first bite of the apple if anybody came in wanting to gamble. I saw Buddy pass him by a few times but in fairness Parica didn't seem to be trying to get him in a game either. I think both figured they would be gambling.

I do hold Parica in greater respect than most. He didn't seem to have a personality to attract attention but he had a game that just kept me watching from across the room.

Hu
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They were both too smart to play each other. ;)
 
jay helfert said:
Rags died at 40 in 1960. Worst died at 37 in 1966. I did not come on the pool scene until 1963 so I never saw Rags play, but he was also revered by all the top players of that era as the best of them all. And that assessment included Lassiter who was a contemporary of Rags. Lassiter may have been his equal at 9-Ball but at One Pocket the only other player mentioned in the same breath with Rags was Cincy Clem. It was always important to me to know about these great players, so I would ask people like George Rood and Marcel Camp about them. Rags probably should be considered a top ten player all time based on the recollections of his peers, but only because I never saw him play I did not include him. Rags was strictly a money player, having no interest in tournaments which paid a pittance compared to what he could win gambling.
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Thanks for this, Jay. Like you, I've always made it my business to chat with the old timers about legends of the past. I love hearing about the great players whose pool mastery preceded my days as a serious pool fan, which began in 1976.

The guys who told me the most about Rags were Eddie Taylor and John Ervolino, who spoke of him with an almost eerie reverence. Many have noted that Rags, who died in 1960, died shortly before the first edition of the Johnston City event, where he might have had a field day in his top form.

As for Worst, I am jealous that you saw him and I did not. Perhaps he missed my list for the same reason Rags missed yours.
 
sjm said:
For me, greatness is measured in titles
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Sarah Etherington
45m • 3:
•••
This:
Congratulations to the LA Dodgers for winning your second title. Just need to get that said!
Yesterday, however, I learned something I'd never really considered as we all sat glued to our screens these last seven games.
lil warn you - this is just my opinion, and you might disagree. That's okay.
I realized you can win a title and still not win a championship.
The LA Dodgers earned their title - points, stats, the whole package. Deep pockets built a powerhouse roster, but money can't buy the most human element of all: heart.
When wealth builds the best, it often pairs skill with entitlement, expectation, ego, and pride. Wins become the product of odds, not of grit and unity.
Last night, I saw the unexpected. The losers won and the winners lost Because real championship isn't about a scoreboard - it's about brotherhood, love, respect, and the fire that only comes from the struggle.
Toronto Blue Jays - YOU are the champions.
You won something no payroll could ever buy - our hearts.
You didn't let us down - You united a nation and lifted us up!!
Feel our love. Feel our pride. Let that be your trophy to raise.
 
markjames said:
Sarah Etherington
45m • 3:
•••
This:
Congratulations to the LA Dodgers for winning your second title. Just need to get that said!
Yesterday, however, I learned something I'd never really considered as we all sat glued to our screens these last seven games.
lil warn you - this is just my opinion, and you might disagree. That's okay.
I realized you can win a title and still not win a championship.
The LA Dodgers earned their title - points, stats, the whole package. Deep pockets built a powerhouse roster, but money can't buy the most human element of all: heart.
When wealth builds the best, it often pairs skill with entitlement, expectation, ego, and pride. Wins become the product of odds, not of grit and unity.
Last night, I saw the unexpected. The losers won and the winners lost Because real championship isn't about a scoreboard - it's about brotherhood, love, respect, and the fire that only comes from the struggle.
Toronto Blue Jays - YOU are the champions.
You won something no payroll could ever buy - our hearts.
You didn't let us down - You united a nation and lifted us up!!
Feel our love. Feel our pride. Let that be your trophy to raise.
Click to expand...
Good stuff here. Of course, we all love underdogs, and when it comes to team sports, teams may not enter the fray on equal footing. Whether it's the Dodgers, Manchester United or Bayern Munich, few are financially equipped to have a chance to beat them.

In individual sports, however, the fight is fair and the playing field is even, and it is not the losers that tend to win us over. With few exceptions, we only remember the winners. In the Hall of Fames of the individual sports like golf, tennis, boxing, and pool, we find those who won titles, not those who were lovable losers.
 
sjm said:
In the Hall of Fames of the individual sports like golf, tennis, boxing, and pool, we find those who won titles, not those who were lovable losers.
Click to expand...

true, but maybe that would be a more interesting discussion. or at least a less processed one
 
I'd throw Eddie Taylor in there as well...If for nothing else, probably the best bank pool player who ever lived...
So many great players, so little time.
 
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