Efren -> One of the Greatest Ever

td873

td873

C is for Cookie
Silver Member
After a grueling tournment spanning 8 days - with matches running every day in round robin format - Efren took the trophy and the cash. He's over 50 and had to compete with young guns half his age and players that work out as if they were in the NFL. What an amazing feat. Oh, and it's the SECOND time he's won an IPT event...

So, Efren has won domestic and foregn titles, was inducted into the hall of fame, competes with the best in the world even though he's over 50 - and wins. He plays all games - and plays at the highest level.

Anyone have doubts he's the best that ever lived?

-td
 
efren

what efren has done is an amazing feat by itself.

but the greatest ever - people differ in this because people's standards are different.

But for me I do believe he is the best ever just because of the level of competition in our generation and age defying capabilities he exhibits.
 
Efren is the only player who made the final 6 in the last 3 IPT tournaments and won 2 of them against the best in the world, including fellow world and U.S. Open champions. How is that for consistency?
 
JoeyInCali said:
I hope he wins a million dollars this year. :D
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When you add his guaranteed minimum at the upcoming KOH, he will have earned just under $1 million. That will certainly help support his extended family in the Philippines!
 
td873 said:
After a grueling tournment spanning 8 days - with matches running every day in round robin format - Efren took the trophy and the cash. He's over 50 and had to compete with young guns half his age and players that work out as if they were in the NFL. What an amazing feat. Oh, and it's the SECOND time he's won an IPT event...

So, Efren has won domestic and foregn titles, was inducted into the hall of fame, competes with the best in the world even though he's over 50 - and wins. He plays all games - and plays at the highest level.

Anyone have doubts he's the best that ever lived?

-td
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Never doubted it for a minute. :cool:

Greatest to ever play in the televised era. Check

Half a million dollar pot, biggest prize money ever in pool. Check

World Pool Championship. Most prestigious 9-ball event when it came under the watch of Matchroom Sport. He won the first one. Check

Derby City Classic Master of the Table. 1-pocket, 8-ball, 9-ball. Check

All of the above past the age of 45. Check

US Open. Check

Reputation as a money game player. Check

He entered the US in his 30s. (2006 at 52 years old. He entered 1986 or 85)

Since we're seeing people win the US Open before their thirties, is it possible that Efren was actually hitting his prime when he first entered?

Or was he a better player before he got to the US? :eek:
 
bengus said:
Never doubted it for a minute. :cool:

Greatest to ever play in the televised era. Check

Half a million dollar pot, biggest prize money ever in pool. Check

World Pool Championship. Most prestigious 9-ball event when it came under the watch of Matchroom Sport. He won the first one. Check

Derby City Classic Master of the Table. 1-pocket, 8-ball, 9-ball. Check

All of the above past the age of 45. Check

US Open. Check

Reputation as a money game player. Check

He entered the US in his 30s. (2006 at 52 years old. He entered 1986 or 85)

Since we're seeing people win the US Open before their thirties, is it possible that Efren was actually hitting his prime when he first entered?

Or was he a better player before he got to the US? :eek:
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I remember reading somewhere that Efren said he played much better when he was 19 or 20. That's scary!
 
rossaroni said:
I remember reading somewhere that Efren said he played much better when he was 19 or 20. That's scary!
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This is the street story in Manila. Around the Mid-70s he won a series of betting matches against Jose Parica and was therefore granted the title of King of local billiards by the serious aficionados.

If that was around 1975 or 76, that would make Efren 19 or 20 when he beat Parica.

I first saw Efren Reyes as a little kid in the early 80s (81-82) when he beat Jose Parica in a televised tournament. It was like Derby City Classic, with three events (Rotation and 9-ball I'm sure of... I think the other one was 8-ball) and he won all of them. Luat was a 17-year old teenager who made his televised debut at the time. That would make Efren around his mid-20s.

By that time, he couldn't make a living in gambling matches because of the enormous handicaps they would ask facing him. He instead started learning balkline billiards and started making a living off of that.

Around 85-86, he left for the US. But he was a legend way before that.

He cemented his claim as the top guy in the Philippines when he came back to face Parica in a one-on-one match to finally settle who's the number one Filipino. Efren won that.
 
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Efren is a modest person. But he claims that now adays, he only plays 1/10th of how good he played when he was in his late 20's. The earliest footage I've seen him play is in the early 90's, and the way he shot then impressed me a bit more than he plays now. What I noticed was back then he seemed to have a more powerful stroke and break. And he would shoot these crazy table length cut shots jacked up on the rail, with inside english and fire them in perfectly. I don't see him do stuff like that now, he seems to be more of a percentage player. Can anyone shed some light on the differences between Efren's game when he was a young man and now? It would be much appreciated. :)
 
cuetechasaurus said:
Efren is a modest person. But he claims that now adays, he only plays 1/10th of how good he played when he was in his late 20's. The earliest footage I've seen him play is in the early 90's, and the way he shot then impressed me a bit more than he plays now. What I noticed was back then he seemed to have a more powerful stroke and break. And he would shoot these crazy table length cut shots jacked up on the rail, with inside english and fire them in perfectly. I don't see him do stuff like that now, he seems to be more of a percentage player. Can anyone shed some light on the differences between Efren's game when he was a young man and now? It would be much appreciated. :)
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I drove Efren one time to a money match. He was giving a local shortstop the orange crush AND the breaks. Efren was struggling in the first set ( he just arrived that day from the Philippines, not jetlag excuse ). He told me he shot the best in 1979 or so. He said back then, he didn't play safe. If he saw the ball, he pocketed it. Efren and the shortstop go hill hill and doubled-up the next set.
Efren wins the second set easily where he missed maybe two balls in the set ( race to 11 ). This was in 97.
In 94-95, Efren shot freakin lights out. Just ran over everyone those two years. Gave Jimmy Wetch the 7-ball in his own pool hall and beat him big cash.
Played CJ Wiley in his own room giving him 3 games to 17. Beat him for 20K .
 
I was at the first Tokyo 9-Ball where he won what was at the time, the largest purse ever in a tournament, then he won the KOH, and now this. He has won every event that has ever held the claim of having the largest purse of any tournament up to date. Goes to show that he's probably one of the best money players that ever lived. The larger the purse, the larger the chance that he'll come out on top. And considering that he still lives in the PI, his money has and will go very very far.
As far as how he plays today as compared to many years ago? On one hand, I do agree that todays players in general are greater in numbers as well as talent. But at the same time, I just don't see any of those 7-8 packs being thrown around like they were 10-15 years ago. It seems to me that todays Efren doesn't come close to the level of play that both Efren and Earl displayed in their well known Color of Money match. The way those two played back in the 80's and early 90's in my opinion hasn't been matched in recent years.
dave
 
He gained maturity, experience.

His stroke may have been wayyy better, but his knowledge and hability to calculate the "percentages" is now the best.

-Sensation
 
bengus said:
Never doubted it for a minute. :cool:

Greatest to ever play in the televised era. Check

Half a million dollar pot, biggest prize money ever in pool. Check

World Pool Championship. Most prestigious 9-ball event when it came under the watch of Matchroom Sport. He won the first one. Check

Derby City Classic Master of the Table. 1-pocket, 8-ball, 9-ball. Check

All of the above past the age of 45. Check

US Open. Check

Reputation as a money game player. Check

He entered the US in his 30s. (2006 at 52 years old. He entered 1986 or 85)

Since we're seeing people win the US Open before their thirties, is it possible that Efren was actually hitting his prime when he first entered?

Or was he a better player before he got to the US? :eek:
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So basically what you're saying is:

Check- check
Check- check-check- check- check.

Checkmate!

That's a lot of payCHECKs!:D
RJ

.....money talks, bull$hit walks
Efren's the greatest.
 
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...I've seen how Efren play in big tournaments,..the guy ponders hard before making a shot, his patience and dedication to the game once again propelled him to the top...:) :) :)
 
Oh yeah, Efren on Rotation. That's another, since no competitions exist for that discipline - he's probably been the best at the discipline since the mid-70s. That's a thirty year dominance and he's seen players come and go in that span.

I wonder if you had a rotation tournament, who would come out on top? Alcano's heavily into the game locally. But if the stakes were high enough? :p
 
After this year I dont know how you cant say Efren is the best EVER! theres just no comparison to him.

Twice now he's gone through the IPT tournaments and came out on top against the best players in the world. And the other time he was in the top 6? i believe.

Seriously its just crazy and baffling as to what Efren can do and he's 52? In any other sport, your consider'd over the hill when you hit 40, let alone 50! And considering he's doing this against guys who are sometimes 20-30yrs younger than him and doing this for 10hrs a day.

I mean i would say Efren probably has more pool talent in his pinky finger than I do in my whole body lol.
 
I'd still like to see Efren win another 9 ball title, but I still can't believe he got to 3 or 4 US Open finals in a row! :eek:

One thing I would like to see is Efren in next years Straight Pool world championships, imagine if he won that too! Come on Charlie, do whatever you can to get him there! :)
 
StormHotRod300 said:
Seriously its just crazy and baffling as to what Efren can do and he's 52? In any other sport, your consider'd over the hill when you hit 40, let alone 50!
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Nothing one can do with a cigarette in one's mouth is a sport. Pool is a game, like chess, golf, and sailing. Now sex... there's a sport! :D

And considering he's doing this against guys who are sometimes 20-30yrs younger than him and doing this for 10hrs a day.
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Age and treachery will beat youth and talent most of the time.
 
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