Best One-Pocket Player in the History of The World?

Who's the Best One-Pocket Player in the History of the World??

  • Efren Reyes

    Votes: 185 73.7%

  • Rich Ford

    Votes: 4 1.6%

  • Jersey Red

    Votes: 8 3.2%

  • Grady Mathews

    Votes: 5 2.0%

  • Weenie Beanie

    Votes: 2 0.8%

  • Eddie Taylor

    Votes: 10 4.0%

  • Cliff Joyner

    Votes: 3 1.2%

  • Shannon Daulton

    Votes: 1 0.4%

  • Ronnie Allen

    Votes: 19 7.6%

  • Other

    Votes: 14 5.6%
  • Total voters
    251
The three R's: Rags, Ronnie, and Reyes.

sjm said:
According to onepocket.org, "Fellow Hall of Famers Eddie Taylor, ‘Squirrel’ Carpenter and ‘Weenie Beenie’ Staton all named ‘Rags’ as the greatest One Pocket player of his era."
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My guess is --of the few guys that got to see Rags, Ronnie, and Efren-- that they would vote each of them the best of all time for their respective styles of play.

Of the old-style, more strategic game, Rags was presumably the best, as attested to by the legends of that era. In the 1960's, Ronnie's aggressive shotmaking and constantly moving groups of balls towards his hole, made him the undisputed leader of the new pack. He re-invented one-pocket with his brilliant style of play. I saw him play Eddie Kelly in the 1960's, and I simply couldn't believe what I was witnessing.

Ronnie may have been the first guy to ever combine the agressiveness of 9-ball with the finesse of straight pool. Keep in mind-- all the players of that era were adept at the intricacies of working in close from straight pool. Today, very few players are accustomed to it. In 9-ball it's usually only necessary to roll the cueball into a one to two-foot circle for adequate position.

When Efren came to the one-pocket forefront in the 90's, his play was an impressive extension of Ronnie's style. His play is phenomenal, and few doubt that he's the best of all time. The 3 R's: Rags, Ronnie, and Reyes.

Doc
 
Calvin

gulfportdoc said:
My guess is --of the few guys that got to see Rags, Ronnie, and Efren-- that they would vote each of them the best of all time for their respective styles of play.

Of the old-style, more strategic game, Rags was presumably the best, as attested to by the legends of that era. In the 1960's, Ronnie's aggressive shotmaking and constantly moving groups of balls towards his hole, made him the undisputed leader of the new pack. He re-invented one-pocket with his brilliant style of play. I saw him play Eddie Kelly in the 1960's, and I simply couldn't believe what I was witnessing.

Ronnie may have been the first guy to ever combine the agressiveness of 9-ball with the finesse of straight pool. Keep in mind-- all the players of that era were adept at the intricacies of working in close from straight pool. Today, very few players are accustomed to it. In 9-ball it's usually only necessary to roll the cueball into a one to two-foot circle for adequate position.

When Efren came to the one-pocket forefront in the 90's, his play was an impressive extension of Ronnie's style. His play is phenomenal, and few doubt that he's the best of all time. The 3 R's: Rags, Ronnie, and Reyes.

Doc
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CALVIN From CA/Topeka KS

I've seen him play for a lot of CASH.........he seldom lost. One of the best in the 60's and 70's for the cash! Anyone else know him?
 
I personally asked Squirrel about Clem Metz's one pocket game and he told me that at one time there was only one person on earth he didn't feel confident he could beat playing one hole and that was Clem! He thought Clem was the best at that time. In fact it was during his time at the mike, during last years Hall of Fame Banquet. He also stated that no one's ever played better than Efren! Clem tells me that the best player he played was Hayden Lingo. Freddie tells a story of trying to track down and purchase a book that Hayden Lingo kept about one pocket shots, traps and situations. He tried to buy it from Hayden's widow who decided not to sell it to him. Damn shame! Freddie said he felt it could have been the "Holy Grail" of one pocket!


just more hot air!

Sherm


gulfportdoc said:
My guess is --of the few guys that got to see Rags, Ronnie, and Efren-- that they would vote each of them the best of all time for their respective styles of play.

Of the old-style, more strategic game, Rags was presumably the best, as attested to by the legends of that era. In the 1960's, Ronnie's aggressive shotmaking and constantly moving groups of balls towards his hole, made him the undisputed leader of the new pack. He re-invented one-pocket with his brilliant style of play. I saw him play Eddie Kelly in the 1960's, and I simply couldn't believe what I was witnessing.

Ronnie may have been the first guy to ever combine the agressiveness of 9-ball with the finesse of straight pool. Keep in mind-- all the players of that era were adept at the intricacies of working in close from straight pool. Today, very few players are accustomed to it. In 9-ball it's usually only necessary to roll the cueball into a one to two-foot circle for adequate position.

When Efren came to the one-pocket forefront in the 90's, his play was an impressive extension of Ronnie's style. His play is phenomenal, and few doubt that he's the best of all time. The 3 R's: Rags, Ronnie, and Reyes.

Doc
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oceanweb said:
While I'm on the subject of one pocket........

I walked into a little pool room a few years back looking for some one-pocket action. I'm talking maybe $20 or $40 a game....nothing serious.

So I get off the bus in Mauldin, SC and ask the lady at the ticket counter to give directions to the nearest pool room. She recommends a little place called Mr T's, then points down the street. I have nothing to lose except my pride, so I start walking toward the pool room. While I'm walking, her voice keeps ringing in my ears, whatever you do, don't play the "ayatollah of one hole-a". I figure that she's just pulling my chain, so I keep walking as I try to get the voice(s) out of my head. I finally get there and open the door. Over in the corner is a guy rolling a cue on the table. He keeps rolling the butt back and forth, and back and forth, with this glazed look in his eyes. Then he looks up at me and asks, "want to play a little one hole"?

So I tell him that "he's an unknown" but I'll try him some 8 to 6 for $20 a rack. He laughs under his breath and then accepts my offer. We flip for the break, he wins. He then proceeds to run 3 racks, and I mean "8-and-out".

I threw him $60 as I bolted for the door. I found our later his real name was "Rich Ford".....the best one pocker player I've ever known.

Now....I'm curious to see your vote.
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I would say reyes...But, on second thought I don't really care...It is like watching paint dry.
 
erikido said:
I would say reyes...But, on second thought I don't really care...It is like watching paint dry.
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thats what most 8 or 9 ballers say who don't understand the game. I used to say it myself before I realized what these guys are doing on the table playing one pocket. Take the finest points of 14.1 and 9ball and banks and you might just play good one hole....

Gerry
 
erikido said:
I would say reyes...But, on second thought I don't really care...It is like watching paint dry.
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What a boneheaded response! Are you a poolplayer? It's a shame you can't appreciate the finer things in life. One pocket is the chess game of pool. I guess you're a checkers kind of guy!! philw
 
I voted for Efren. Cause he's my idol. Cause TBH I haven't seen the others play (except for Grady). Cause he's filipino, and so am I.:D
 
I think Reyes has "killer" safeties, very good bumping cluster balls skill, and tremendous cue ball control
 
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I think Efren by far is the best I have ever seen. Sure he's not perfect and makes mistakes like we all do, but it's got to be his back ground in billiards that sets him apart from the rest. Being able to play billiards and come off of balls and bury the cueball is what he does best to kill the opponent IMO.

I'm not usually a band wagon kind of guy, but I'll be first in line for the Efren fan club.

Gerry
 
by "history of the world" does that mean i can go as far back as piltdown man?
 
Sometimes They Write Themselves

bruin70 said:
by "history of the world" does that mean i can go as far back as piltdown man?
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Hell, go farther back than that. Go back to when man first slimed out of the ooze and learned to walk while dragging his knuckles. i think he was called....... Breakup Man.

Doug :-)
 
One Pocket God!!!!!

I could not vote cause, Steve Cook was not on the poll.:mad:

http://www.onepocket.org/SteveCook.htm

Imho he was the best 1P player that ever walked the face of the earth.:D
 

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I also did not vote because of Steve not being on the list. I am biased being form Steve's home town but he was a heck of a guy and a great player. Jay Helfert told me in a tournament setting Steve was even with Ronnie. Gambling he said Steve was a little behind Ronnie because that was Ronnie's forte.
 
My humble opinion, it is hard to compare old-timers with the players of modern era just with one poll of a kind. At the same time there should be a poll "Which of them have you seen playing?" How many games?
For example, I've seen only three from the list (and there are some not listed who deserve it), therefore I felt I'm not entitled to vote.
P.S. When I first saw the poll and clicked to view the results I expected Ronnie Allen to be on top. Strange to see Efren being that far above anyone. Must be due to the reasons I started with. Everyone here watched Efren, how many of us watched Allen or Ford?
 
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