Anyone else agree Souquet is possibly one of the top 5 most dangerous players ever?

Febreze said:
I have, especially of late, been extremley impressed with Ralf Souquet. He played the best pool ive ever seen at the Derby, and the fact that he almost always places high in or wins tournaments is a testament to his consistency. I think he is one of the most consistent players who ever lived, i have never seen him play poorly. Anyone else rank him in the top 5 greats of all time?
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Very likely, but OMG so boring to watch.
 
Guess I'm in the minority here, but I love to watch Souquet play. He's probably my favorite player to watch. Everything that he does exudes discipline. I love to watch the way he approaches the table - you can SEE him make up his mind and come to a positive conclusion about what he's going to do. Very rarely do you see Souquet make a mental mistake, and that's because of his methodical approach to each and every shot. Once Souquet makes up his mind, his methodical approach to analysis extends to his execution as well - the man simply doesn't make many mistakes, hence his extraordinary consistency and boatload of wins. Souquet's gifts aren't physical, but he has a mental game that could give the 5-out to most other pros, and that's something that this admittedly overly analytical player truly admires (and aspires to).

-djb <-- agrees, Souquet isn't the fastest player, but would rather watch slow good play than fast bad play any day
 
it's so difficult to say who is in top5...
are we looking at current form, the entire career, top gamblers, top money-makers, top shot-makers, most consistent, pure talent...

all in all I'd definitely put him in all-around competition in top10....but one category he wins hands down...

most gentleman-like player EVER....so he plays slow...but I do not believe this is a sharking move...it's the way he plays...he doesn't do it to piss the other one off....just minimizing errors by focusing extra hard, planning, executing..

just my 0.02
 
top 5 in tournaments for sure but as we all know playing in a tournament is much different than gambling. i dont think he even gambles so i dunno if he's top 5 material.
 
in all this top 5 talk how am i the only person to mention archer. hot... whatever. good year or few years... whatever.

now do it for 20 years

ill take archr against anyone alive and i think ill come out on top more
 
Nick Varner

Definitely HOF player in Souquet, top 5 ever?, very hard for me to say that.

With all the mentioning of the best players of all-time, especially all-around, Nick Varner more than deserves to be ranked very high in that category. If I'm not mistaken, he is a world chamption in 14.1, 1-pocket, and 9 ball.

Even though he is not flashy or exciting to watch, I do enjoy watching RS in a match. Anybody who can continue to get shape like he does, should be a pleasure for any billiards lover to watch.
 
Klopek said:
Great player, great person, but if no one else will say it - boring to watch. I put him right up there with Charlie Williams on the slow play front. Just my opinion of course.
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Yep. I'd much rather watch Johnny Archer reorganize chalk.
 
Danktrees said:
top 5 in tournaments for sure but as we all know playing in a tournament is much different than gambling. i dont think he even gambles so i dunno if he's top 5 material.
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Yeah, all those other pro's are dogging it against him, letting him win titles in hopes they can get him to lose big playing for dough against them.

Give your head a shake. Tiger Woods makes millions winning tourneys. Think anyone wants to play him for $ on the golf course? "That Tiger, he's a great tournament player, but for $ I don't think he's that good."

BAH!
 
He is kinda slow

Klopek said:
Great player, great person, but if no one else will say it - boring to watch. I put him right up there with Charlie Williams on the slow play front. Just my opinion of course.
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I have played him a couple of times, and yea, he can be a pretty slow player. Very diliberate. But if you give him an edge of a ball, and he trys to pocket it, chances are he will cut it into the middle of the pocket. I haven't seen him miss to many balls that he was trying to make.
Not sure I would put him in the top 10 of all time as far as being dangerous at the table. But with todays players only, Yea, top 5 of todays players in tournaments.
 
You can go to accu-stats website and do a search on Souquet. I don't know if you can find somebody with more .900+ matches, but he certainly has a lot of them. He would definitely not be an easy draw on the tv table.

Maybe he is not exciting. Who cares...IMO you really can't find a better person to try and learn from. His pattern play and methodical approach make him and exceptional candidate to watch and learn from.

FWIW, I have always heard that Tiger does indeed gamble alot on the golf course. Giving up substantial handicaps of course.
 
DGunter said:
You can go to accu-stats website and do a search on Souquet. I don't know if you can find somebody with more .900+ matches, but he certainly has a lot of them. He would definitely not be an easy draw on the tv table.

Maybe he is not exciting. Who cares...IMO you really can't find a better person to try and learn from. His pattern play and methodical approach make him and exceptional candidate to watch and learn from.

FWIW, I have always heard that Tiger does indeed gamble alot on the golf course. Giving up substantial handicaps of course.
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Do you think he makes more from tournaments, or gambling? I'm not sure I see many guys paying Tiger off to the tune of $1M+ for a weekend's worth of action.

I laugh histerically at anyone who talks about upper echelon players, questioning their abilities because they do not gamble. Some people do not like gambling - does not mean they do not have boatload of heart. Try shooting a shot for the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Yeah, it fails in comparison to that shot for $5k.
 
Klopek said:
Great player, great person, but if no one else will say it - boring to watch. I put him right up there with Charlie Williams on the slow play front. Just my opinion of course.
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I wouldn't go to that extreme to compare him to.....oh wait was thinking someone else. Ok, but very different preshot routine.

TJ
 
8ball 9ball 14.1 ??

DoomCue said:
Guess I'm in the minority here, but I love to watch Souquet play. He's probably my favorite player to watch. Everything that he does exudes discipline. I love to watch the way he approaches the table - you can SEE him make up his mind and come to a positive conclusion about what he's going to do. Very rarely do you see Souquet make a mental mistake, and that's because of his methodical approach to each and every shot. Once Souquet makes up his mind, his methodical approach to analysis extends to his execution as well - the man simply doesn't make many mistakes, hence his extraordinary consistency and boatload of wins. Souquet's gifts aren't physical, but he has a mental game that could give the 5-out to most other pros, and that's something that this admittedly overly analytical player truly admires (and aspires to).

-djb <-- agrees, Souquet isn't the fastest player, but would rather watch slow good play than fast bad play any day
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I agree,perfect analysis. If we were to grade the all time greats based on 8 ball,9 ball,and 14.1 we would be hard pressed to put 5 players ahead of Souquet.

Souquet plays the game the way it should be played,and anyone that says he's boring to watch really isn't watching how the man plays the game, they're probably watching the clock.Souquet is a learning tool to watch, not only for aspiring players but for top players as well.

Souquet doesn't play onepocket so it's really unfair to fine him based on that. But when you consider the games that he does play 8 ball 9 ball ,and 14.1,think about it,who would be in front of him?

#1 Sigel
#2 Mosconi
#3 Varner
#4 Reyes (14.1 ?)
Then comes the log jam. You place Souquet
Kelly,Lassiter,Hall,Mizerak,Hopkins,and probably a few I haven't mentioned.
 
Nick Varner also

sjm said:
I'd suggest Ralf has a more complete playing resume than any player of the last twenty years.

Ralf Souquet has won the World 9-Ball Championship
Ralf Souquet has won the US Open 9-ball Championship
Ralf Souquet has won the US Open 14.1 Championship
Ralf Souquet has won the BCA Open 9-ball Championship
Ralf Souquet has won the Derby City Classic 9-ball Championship
Ralf Souquet has won the World 8-Ball Championship

Ralf is, quite simply, running out of things to accomplish in the world of pool. Archer has won four of these six jewels, which is next best. Bustamante has not won even one of them, yet he somehow manages the occasional mention as one of the all-time greatest, a distinciton his playing resume does not merit.

Other than Efren, I believe that Ralf is the best pool player since Sigel.
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SJM,
I concur with you about Ralf's impeccable credentials. I would only add that Nick Varner's sterling accomplishments should not be forgotten in lieu of Ralf's more recent exploits.

Nick has won the World 9 Ball Championship 3 times (1982-1989-1999)
Nick has won the U.S. Open 9 Ball Championship back to back (1989-1990)
Nick has won the World 14.1 Championships twice, in 1980 & 1986.
Nick has won the 2000 Derby City Classic One Pocket Championship
Nick has won the 1999 Derby City Classic 9 Ball Banks Championship
Nick has won the 2000 World One Pocket Championship
Nick also has won the World 8 Ball Championship twice, in 1980 & 1994.

Also, both are the epitome of class and are fan favorites everywhere.

I think pool is very fortunate to have both Ralf & Nick.

Breaking it down even further, between the two of them, I would give the edge to Ralf in 14.1 and 8 ball. Nick would be my favorite in one pocket, banks and 9 ball. Although a strong case could certainly be made for Ralf in 9 ball as well.
 
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