Allison Fisher or Jean Balukas?

CrownCityCorey

CrownCityCorey

Sock it to 'em!
Silver Member
I conrgratulate Allison Fisher on her 50th tour win, however IMO she still has a long road ahead to match Jean's accomplishments in the game.

Here is a great read: Jean Balukas on Wikipedia

I got the chance to see Jean play before (in the 80's) and she was awe inspiring.
 
CrownCityCorey said:
I conrgratulate Allison Fisher on her 50th tour win, however IMO she still has a long road ahead to match Jean's accomplishments in the game.

Here is a great read: Jean Balukas on Wikipedia

I got the chance to see Jean play before (in the 80's) and she was awe inspiring.
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Jean Balukas could give Allison Fisher the 8 ball ..On my money!!(all $15.25 of it):p :p

Jean played about the 7 and the last two under a champion when she was at the top of her game ..She played stronger than any girl ! Period..point blank..end of story..they all could get weight.

I'm quite sure that if Jean decided to dust of the rust, and get in stroke for a match against Allison for big money,Allison would get clobbered.

Cliff Joyner gave Allison the six ball and shot her full of holes(years ago but still she was the best female player in the world not named Jean) and although cliff is an all around pool champion ..His 9ball game is a ball or two below a Morris ,or a Archer,etc....
 
Thanks for sharing the story. The only time I saw Jean shoot was in a 9-ball tournament in Cleveland, Ohio in the 70's(?). She won the break and ran the first 3 racks. She dominated.
 
Jean Balukas

Without a doubt Jean Balukas was the greatest woman player to play the game. According to the article (previously referenced) she won 16 womens tournaments in a row. I don't think that will ever be repeated.

I saw her play several times and she played like the men back then. Most women back then seem to poke it around the table but Jean had a great stroke. I really believe that if she continued to play in the mens division she would of eventually made the final four and even possibly won a mens (open) tournament. SHE WAS THAT GOOD!
 
Both of these gals can play!!!
At their best, I'd love to watch them match up!

I have seen both of them play and it seemed that Jean was more dominant but I'm not so sure that the competition is not better today.
 
I too have seen Allision and Jean play. I wouldn't be so quick to count Allision out. Don't forget Allision is dealing with a lot better group of players than Jean had to deal with on the tour. I don't think either one of them would have won by much if they played though. In a bet with both in there prime I guess I'd take Jean. It would depend on what odds Jay gave me:) Johnnyt
 
I asked johnny Ervolino one time when he was at my house who was better jean or Allison? He told me Jean would have robbed her. He said she broke the balls way better than Allison and she played like a man!!
 
If you ask ten people born from the 1940's to 1960's and ten younger guys from the 1970' to now, almost to the man the older will say Joe Louis was better than Ali, Ruth was better than Hank or Bonds, and Jean was better than Allision. Same with the younger saying the players and boxers are better now then in the past. Johnnyt
 
I'm old enough to have watched both play. Break nonwithstanding,
to me, Alison is definitely better than Jean ever was.
A little difficult to judge because I never saw Jean have any
competition like Karen Corr back then.
 
Balukas, without a doubt! I agree with Ervolino, Jean played like a man. So did Joannn Mason, but not at the same speed.
 
Both women two different era's. According to the artical Jean was womens champion in the 70's up until the 80's until she quit (or until LLO(J)) was around). Now how many women were actually compeating at the time? I cant imagine the quality of the women's actual playing ability was any good as it is today with players from around the world ( with the exception of JB of course). So to win all of those titles and string of tournament wins in a row, is really the result of weak competition for JB.

I have see most ( not all) of these women play on espn classics and some of accu stat tapes and I must say, most of those women were B rated players at best. So comparing Allison's era of pool playing with its current worldly competition and Jean Balukus's limited and weak competions is pretty close to comparing apples to oranges. I would think that Fisher and Corr could have beaten Balukus on any given day..
 
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I,myself have never seen Jean play or even what she looks like for that matter.In fact I had never heard of her until I came on this forum.My question is,is there any video's of her?What doe's she do now?Is she still involved with pool?Maybe some veterans can give me a quick run down of her pool life.It would be appreciated.:)
 
CrownCityCorey said:
I conrgratulate Allison Fisher on her 50th tour win, however IMO she still has a long road ahead to match Jean's accomplishments in the game.

Here is a great read: Jean Balukas on Wikipedia

I got the chance to see Jean play before (in the 80's) and she was awe inspiring.
Click to expand...

I strongly disagree.

I saw nearly all of Jean's career up close, at least from 1976 and on. In fact, if there are five people alive that saw more of her matches in the World championships live than me, I'd be surprised, and I've probably attended close to 50 WPBA events in which Allison Fisher played. Yes, Jean has the higher title count, but the competition was weak back then. In fact, the typical field size in the women's World Straight Pool championships was eight back then, and I've got the programs to prove it. Jean was an exceptional straight pool player, but consider Allison's one straight pool endeavor at the 2000 BCA US Open 14.1 Championships. Allison won the high run prize and in the final against veterna straight pooler Loree Jon Jones, she dominated, gettng to 100 without missing a single ball. You'll never convince me that Allison couldn't have played straight pool at least as well as Jean if she wanted to. Still, Jean gets the nod in straight pool. To my knowledge, however, only three current BCA Hall of Famer competed in any of those events, and that would be Dorothy Wise, Loree Jon Jones, and Ewa Mataya Laurance.

Jean won the lion's share at nine ball in the early day's of women's nine ball, but not against tough fields like those of recent times. Allison's 50 titles in an era in which women's fields were far deeper rates as far, far, superior to anything Jean accomplished in competitive nine ball. Allison won her titles in an era in which a) current hall of famers Loree Jon Jones, Ewa Mataya Laurance, and Robin Dodson, b) near certain future hall of famers Karen Corr, Vivian Villareal, Jeanette Lee, and Belinda Calhoun, and c) potetntial BCA hall of famers Ga Young Kim, Xiaoting Pan, Kelly Fisher and Jasmin Ouschan have been in the mix.

Many choose to deify Jean based on her exploits against men, but such accomplishments are irrelevant. Allison opted not to compete against men, but Karen Corr, who has won about half as many WPBA titles as Allison, has had great success, including multiple Joss tour titles, competing against men in an era in which men's fields are far deeper than ever before. Does anyone doubt that Allison would have surpassed Karen's resume in men's tournaments if she cared to?

Yes, Jean won sixteen consecutive titles at one point, but taking the competition into account, to me, Allison's eight straight WPBA titles in 1996-97 represents the most reamrkable achievement in the history of Women's pro pool.

Jean gets the nod in straight pool, Allison in nine ball. They are the two greatest that have ever played women's pro pool. Nonetheless, this comparison is about as close to a dead heat as you can get. I simply refuse to give one the nod over the other.
 
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jimmy-leggs said:
I,myself have never seen Jean play or even what she looks like for that matter.In fact I had never heard of her until I came on this forum.My question is,is there any video's of her?What doe's she do now?Is she still involved with pool?Maybe some veterans can give me a quick run down of her pool life.It would be appreciated.:)
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Jean lives in Brooklyn where she runs her family's business, a pool hall, Hall of Fame Billiards. She is still a fairly young woman, 48, she started very very young. I believe she was just 11 when she played in her first U.S. Open.

When I lived in NY, her pool hall held a weekly 9 ball tournament, on Thursdays, that she plays in sometimes... she is very funny and told me she was amazed at the caliber of the players on the tour now. I just wished I'd played in that tournament more often, (I think I only played in once) just to have the chance to play her.

She also has pictures of Allison visivisitingting her pool hall. I am sure they have played, they seem to be pretty good friends. I think they have very different styles...but I agree with SJM, it is a toss up.

I think Jasmin's style is very reminiscent of Jean's ....
 
sjm said:
I strongly disagree.

I saw nearly all of Jean's career up close, at least from 1976 and on. In fact, if there are five people alive that saw more of her matches in the World championships live than me, I'd be surprised, and I've probably attended close to 50 WPBA events in which Allison Fisher played. Yes, Jean has the higher title count, but the competition was weak back then. In fact, the typical field size in the women's World Straight Pool championships was eight back then, and I've got the programs to prove it. Jean was an exceptional straight pool player, but consider Allison's one straight pool endeavor at the 2000 BCA US Open 14.1 Championships. Allison won the high run prize and in the final against veterna straight pooler Loree Jon Jones, she dominated, gettng to 100 without missing a single ball. You'll never convince me that Allison couldn't have played straight pool at least as well as Jean if she wanted to. Still, Jean gets the nod in straight pool. To my knowledge, however, only three current BCA Hall of Famer competed in any of those events, and that would be Dorothy Wise, Loree Jon Jones, and Ewa Mataya Laurance.

Jean won the lion's share at nine ball in the early day's of women's nine ball, but not against tough fields like those of recent times. Allison's 50 titles in an era in which women's fields were far deeper rates as far, far, superior to anything Jean accomplished in competitive nine ball. Allison won her titles in an era in which a) current hall of famers Loree Jon Jones, Ewa Mataya Laurance, and Robin Dodson, b) near certain future hall of famers Karen Corr, Vivian Villareal, Jeanette Lee, and Belinda Calhoun, and c) potetntial BCA hall of famers Ga Young Kim, Xiaoting Pan, Kelly Fisher and Jasmin Ouschan have been in the mix.

Many choose to deify Jean based on her exploits against men, but such accomplishments are irrelevant. Allison opted not to compete against men, but Karen Corr, who has won about half as many WPBA titles as Allison, has had great success, including multiple Joss tour titles, competing against men in an era in which men's fields are far deeper than ever before. Does anyone doubt that Allison would have surpassed Karen's resume in men's tournaments if she cared to?

Yes, Jean won sixteen consecutive titles at one point, but taking the competition into account, to me, Allison's eight straight WPBA titles in 1996-97 represents the most reamrkable achievement in the history of Women's pro pool.

Jean gets the nod in straight pool, Allison in nine ball. They are the two greatest that have ever played women's pro pool. Nonetheless, this comparison is about as close to a dead heat as you can get. I simply refuse to give one the nod over the other.
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I love the strength of your opinion on the matter!

Considering what I have seen with my own eyes; the all-around capability and completely developed stroke (especially the control) of Jean's beats the pokey snooker style of Allison's.

True though, Jean's competition was relatively weak in comparison to Allison's, so she of course deserve's nods.

Jean still, remains more of a "Pioneer" to the Women's game (overall pool-billiards IMO) than what Allison has done.

Also true that it is always an apples to oranges comparison and an all determining match will never happen.

I just feel that Jean still does not get enough of her due today. It sure would help though if she still competed :cool:

Allison by the way is a much more polished ambassador than Jean was.
 
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I got the chance to play her in that tournament -- which I think is still on hiatus these days -- a couple of years ago. I've never seen her in her prime, but I was knocked over by how she powered balls around these slow tables they have down in that dank basement there. She might not be as painstaking as Allison, but as far as pure pool talent, Jean struck me as way stronger, especially if you roll back the years. Who wins now? Well, if Jean were somehow inspired to put in a few hard months' work, I'd be betting on her, in 9 ball. As it was then, she still had the edge on Gerda, from what I could tell from being around there some.
 
Walt Frazier said:
Cliff Joyner gave Allison the six ball and shot her full of holes(years ago but still she was the best female player in the world not named Jean) and although cliff is an all around pool champion ..His 9ball game is a ball or two below a Morris ,or a Archer,etc....
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Did you happened to witness this match-up, because some people say it never happened? I used this match up one time to prove a point and the guy told me I was lying and that they never played.
I think that Jean and Allison would be a match-up for the ages. Just like in any sport, it is so hard to compare players of different eras. Of course, the competition is much harder today, but the way Jean dominated is hard to overlook.
 
Travis Bickle said:
I got the chance to play her in that tournament -- which I think is still on hiatus these days -- a couple of years ago. I've never seen her in her prime, but I was knocked over by how she powered balls around these slow tables they have down in that dank basement there. She might not be as painstaking as Allison, but as far as pure pool talent, Jean struck me as way stronger, especially if you roll back the years. Who wins now? Well, if Jean were somehow inspired to put in a few hard months' work, I'd be betting on her, in 9 ball. As it was then, she still had the edge on Gerda, from what I could tell from being around there some.
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I'm thinking if Jean played Gerda, she probably played Allision too. Maybe behind closed doors. Neither one will say who won so a challenge match can be set up when Allision feels she has nothing to lose if she loses to her.:D Johnnyt
 
My Dream girl Jean balukas was best in her time
My Diva allison fisher is best in her time which is different time from Jeans time.
In my heart & soul they both are all time best .Cheers
 
My money is on Allison. She plays in every event. If Jean wants to play her, she can step up and enter.
 
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