best all around player ever

http://www.tropicanabowlingalley.com/ronnie.html

Above is link to Ronnie Allen describing who is best all time.

According to Ronnie Allen, the best ever all around player was Harold Worst. Ronnies opinion should carry more weight than every poster in this thread because:

1. He saw both Worst and Efren in their primes and played against both of them.
2. He is by far a better player than all the posters in this thread, and thus should be more qualified to distinguish the talent difference between two TOP TOP TOP players.
 
iusedtoberich said:
http://www.tropicanabowlingalley.com/ronnie.html

Above is link to Ronnie Allen describing who is best all time.

According to Ronnie Allen, the best ever all around player was Harold Worst. Ronnies opinion should carry more weight than every poster in this thread because:

1. He saw both Worst and Efren in their primes and played against both of them.
2. He is by far a better player than all the posters in this thread, and thus should be more qualified to distinguish the talent difference between two TOP TOP TOP players.
Click to expand...

Efren is great no doubt but we also get to see him all the time with video and tv.If all the matches from back when had been recorded I wonder what we wouldve seen
 
How about we agree that it's very subjective and basically impossible to determine a true answer to the OP's question? Now we can all get back to the important things in life, like Oreos and marathons of Law and Order SVU on USA all weekend.
 
asbani said:
Earl Strickland with no doubt, this guy has won so many major events that I think no one will beat in our lifetime, or probably even in the next generations to come, 5 US Opens, 6 times world champion? Thats huge.

beside he is excellent in other games, straight pool, 1 pocket.

but mainly because he's so good in 9ball, and I happen to love that game very much, thus I am leaning to Earl more.

close second is Efren reyes. very close, due to his ability in playing 3c , 1p, and 9b too.
Click to expand...

I think Earl is a great, great player. However, I think the slight edge has to go to Efren due to his superior mental outlook. Also, he did barely beat Earl in the race to 120 in 1996.
 
h2o4170 said:
Ok who do you think was the best all around player ever?
Click to expand...

I assume all-around includes all cue games, not just pool. I vote for Torbjorn Blomdahl. I think a lot of guys may underestimate how well he plays a whole lot of cue games. He's arguably the best 3-cushion player with countless world titles, he can match up against any pro in 8-ball, 9-ball or 10-ball, and he plays pretty sporty snooker. Super competitor.

-Ira
 
iralee said:
I assume all-around includes all cue games, not just pool. I vote for Torbjorn Blomdahl. I think a lot of guys may underestimate how well he plays a whole lot of cue games. He's arguably the best 3-cushion player with countless world titles, he can match up against any pro in 8-ball, 9-ball or 10-ball, and he plays pretty sporty snooker. Super competitor.

-Ira
Click to expand...

You're not supposed to drink the bongwater..
 
I think the op had pocket billiards in mind when posting this thread, Not including snooker or 3cush. Who's the best all around. 9ball,8ball,14.1,1-pocket,Banks, (10ball kind of new to the mainstream public),(7ball PLEASE),

Efren
Sigel
Varner
Hopkins(agree or not he won titles in 9ball, 1pocket,14.1, and was voted an all around champ)
Miz
Dalton
Parica

we could put quit a few player in the honorable mention catagory. Like: Buddy hall, Grady Mathews, Danny Harriman, Matlock, Archer, ext...and then of course the legends fron the 50's & 60's.

New breed? SChmit, Owens,?

It's hard to come up with many foreign players because 9ball (rotation pool), and 14.1 has been the dominate games over seas. Exept for Schmit, I can't think of any US players that can beat the Euroupeans at 14.1. 9 ball is dominated by filio's, and taiwan/chinese players.
 
Best all around player

May be a gentleman a lot of players never heard of. JR Norris from Witchita Falls Tx. He's in the Texas pool player hall of fame. He's still alive and in his mid to upper 70's. Stories told to me was he used to beat up on all the old pros. U.J. Puckett, Misconi, Cornbread Red. He even beat fats out of a few thousand.
I think if you were to google junior Norris you would see where I'm coming from. Next time you see Buddy Hall, ask him.
 
h2o4170 said:
Efren is great no doubt but we also get to see him all the time with video and tv.If all the matches from back when had been recorded I wonder what we wouldve seen
Click to expand...

well as i've said a number of times.....

you would have seen this:

Place: Johnston City Hustlers Jamboree

Harold worst is given a bet if he can run out 40 balls into 1 hole without a miss....and he beats it. They spaced them out evenly around the table i believe and he ran all 40 without hitting another ball.

He was the king of pushout.....so long as he could see it he knew he could make it...he would push out to unbelievable spots and RIP it in the hole.

Winner winner chicken dinner.....by a frigging mile and then some.

One of those people that are so great they dam near have to die young....and thats exactly what happened.

Other sportsman that come to mind are Walter Peyton, Lou Gherig, Rocky Marciano, Earl Munson....Worst is that kind of guy, he's is in the same air, and maybe even a step above a few of those legendary athletes and how they DOMINATED their sports.

-Grey Ghost-
 
> The story about Worst that intrigues me the most,is that his presence at the table was so intimidating that within a week of each other,2 different guys had a heart attack while fading his gear.

Anyone that was around Johnston City that I've asked said they eventually barred him from the ring games there,or everyone just quit.

He used to bust people giving 10-1 on him running 100 with a setup break shot.

He went to Argentina? and won a World 3-c title too. That's like going to Brazil to get your black belt in Ju-Jitsu,nearly impossible.

Other than Mosconi in the 50's,if I could time warp backwards and see the all time greats,Worst back then would be my first stop.

If we're strictly talking about the classic American pool games like 8,9,14.1,and one pocket,then the best all-around player in my lifetime has been Mike Sigel. I will say that Mike's 1-p cred is suspect. At his best,he just flat missed less than anyone else.

If we add 3-c and games like 15 ball rotation,and billiard games like balkline,I gotta say Efren.

I've said it before,I think these days the best all-around player is Thorsten,with John Schmidt very close. Tommy D.
 
It we are including all games on a pool table (9-Ball, One Pocket, 14.1, Banks and Rotation) I would have to put Harold Worst on top of my list. The man had no weaknesses and no fear of playing anyone at any game. If he was a little unfamiliar with the game (i.e. One Pocket), he could watch and practice for one week and beat the best players. He was coming after Ronnie before he died. Too bad, that would have been a classic. Like young Shane, Harold was not afraid of a bet either. He'd gamble with the best of them. That's why the hustlers respected him too.

Next on my list is close between Sigel and Mizerak. They both played all games at top speed but Mike banked better, so I give him the nod. Parica was another all around champion. Mizerak once tried to spot him forty (then thirty) going to 125. Disaster! And Jose played better Rotation than anyone else, besides Efren.

Efren is also in my top five all time. 1. Worst 2. Sigel 3. Mizerak 4. Parica 5. Efren
Buddy, Hopkins, Ed Kelly, Jersey Red, and Varner are the second team. That's a pretty strong top ten. Jimmy Fusco, Jim Rempe, Johnny Ervolino, Jimmy Moore, Danny Diliberto and Ray Martin are all honorable mention.
 
Junior Norris

cwilmeth said:
May be a gentleman a lot of players never heard of. JR Norris from Witchita Falls Tx. He's in the Texas pool player hall of fame. He's still alive and in his mid to upper 70's. Stories told to me was he used to beat up on all the old pros. U.J. Puckett, Misconi, Cornbread Red. He even beat fats out of a few thousand.
I think if you were to google junior Norris you would see where I'm coming from. Next time you see Buddy Hall, ask him.
Click to expand...


This was Junior in 1997.
I believe he would be 85 this year.


Ed
 

Attachments

  • Junior_Norris-1997.jpg
    Junior_Norris-1997.jpg
    45.3 KB · Views: 325
I think the best all-around cue sport player ever is Walter Lindrum.

Many of you probably haven't heard of him before but he was the greatest billiards player ever. He has the highest ever break, over 4000, which consisted of approx. 1900 consecutive scoring shots.

I started out playing snooker - the same type of table used in billiards - but now play 9 ball pretty much exclusively. But I've played a bit of billiards in my time and know how difficult it is.

Check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEW4Wzh5Ps it's from the 30's so it's black and white, but from 0:40 to 2:20 is a display of some the most brilliant cuemanship you will ever see.

The nursery cannon sequence is nothing short of genius, and if you think it looks easy then give it a try some time! ;) In this clip he takes a nursery cannon sequence around a corner pocket, something I've never seen done live although I knew he was able to do it from his incredibly high breaks. To call doing that difficult would be the understatement of the century! :wink:
 
iralee said:
I N I vote for Torbjorn Blomdahl. ...he can match up against any pro in 8-ball, 9-ball or 10-ball,
-Ira
Click to expand...

Snake Plisken said:
You're not supposed to drink the bongwater..
Click to expand...

With all due respect, Ira...

It is true. You are NOT supposed to drink the bong water!;) If Blomdahl wanted to put his bucks in action then there would be a long line of pool players wanting to play him. He might win a few sets to 11, but he doesn't like it in the long run.

BUt you did say one thing: super competitor. Very true. Who knows what the Man can do?!
 
Are there any other player on the planet living or dead still winning international tournament at the age of 56? Yes, there are lot of great players past and not so present, have show great skills, winning world championships, but when they reach their forties they slow down. They can't cope with younger generation's onslaught. But one 56 year old still spanking these youngster's behind.
 
The Lion

How about "The Lion" Alex Pagulayan. He has won every rotation major championship out there, One Pocket who wants to play him even?, straight pool didn't he crush Mr.400 once. If he only played with the same passion he has for his other interests..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top