Efren Reyes Gambling Stories wanted (preferrably when he lost.)

X Breaker

X Breaker

AzB Silver Member
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After reading all the great stories about Reyes, and watching him play in person, I can't help but wonder, "has this guy ever lost gambling?"

I know I have never heard any stories in which Reyes lost in a match up, but come on, no one is that good...or is it really?
 
Buddy Hall

Well you know the Buddy Hall matchup that took place in Houston at Red's tournament in 1985 is going to come up. Per Buddy's biography, they played a 10 ahead set for 10K and Buddy won in less than two hours. I'm sure Grady could fill you in on this match.
 
JG-in-KY said:
Well you know the Buddy Hall matchup that took place in Houston at Red's tournament in 1985 is going to come up. Per Buddy's biography, they played a 10 ahead set for 10K and Buddy won in less than two hours. I'm sure Grady could fill you in on this match.
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I love your avatar, that is priceless.

I have heard about this but I did not know the details, I though they broke even or something. I would love to hear that story.

Did Reyes play Buddy again and get his money back?

Now you get me really curious...:)

Thanks,
Richard
 
JG-in-KY said:
Well you know the Buddy Hall matchup that took place in Houston at Red's tournament in 1985 is going to come up. Per Buddy's biography, they played a 10 ahead set for 10K and Buddy won in less than two hours. I'm sure Grady could fill you in on this match.
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Poker Paul told me about that match on Friday. He was at Red's when Cesar Morales was there. Phillipino Gene told Paul that there was a guy in the Phillipines that was the best in the world. But he wouldn't tell him his name. Paul was watching him play in the tournament, and he made one shot, Paul set it up for me, and he knew it was the guy Gene told him about. He watched every match Cesar played and when the tournament was over, they put him on Buddy, he had been playing tough in action all week and winning the tournament, with very little sleep. Then he played Buddy immediately after his last match, they didn't even let him go get dinner first. Paul said he was completely worn out.

Cheers,
RC
 
I don't know the details but I know McCready beat Reyes on a barbox quite a bit and made some cheese.......maybe someone here can fill in the blanks. Ronnie Alcano is reputed to have beaten Reyes in Rotation.
 
henho said:
I don't know the details but I know McCready beat Reyes on a barbox quite a bit and made some cheese.......maybe someone here can fill in the blanks. Ronnie Alcano is reputed to have beaten Reyes in Rotation.
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Wow, I would love to hear it from Keith if possible.
 
nipponbilliards said:
After reading all the great stories about Reyes, and watching him play in person, I can't help but wonder, "has this guy ever lost gambling?"

I know I have never heard any stories in which Reyes lost in a match up, but come on, no one is that good...or is it really?
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I watched him get ROBBED playing scratch pool with the russian Evgeny in Las Vegas in 2002.He had no shot at winning playing that game with him I know that.LOL
 
Ryan McCreesh said:
I watched him get ROBBED playing scratch pool with the russian Evgeny in Las Vegas in 2002.He had no shot at winning playing that game with him I know that.LOL
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What is "scratch" pool? Is that playing "even" or is it a unique game? Thanks


Adashka Chachula
 
JG-in-KY said:
Well you know the Buddy Hall matchup that took place in Houston at Red's tournament in 1985 is going to come up. Per Buddy's biography, they played a 10 ahead set for 10K and Buddy won in less than two hours. I'm sure Grady could fill you in on this match.
Click to expand...

I actually refereed that match. For the life of me I can't recall if they played ten ahead or a race to eleven. I thought the bet was 5K each for a 10K total.

There is a back story to that match. Efren and friends had won over 50K that week already, between the tournament, heavy side betting and after hours play. Efren seemed to be constantly in action with matches and gambling for the whole five days.

There was a lot of heat on Efren and his crew (all filipino outlaws) and some talk about someone possibly heisting them. Remember this is the heart of Texas and these guys were very much outsiders.

Whatever, Efren and friends may/must have been tipped off and realized the best thing to do was to give a little money back and take some heat off.
Efren did not play well in that match, certainly not close to the way he had played for five days prior. I DO remember that. He missed balls and failed to get out numerous times.

Buddy played his normal game which was good enough to win. And Efren and the crew paid up and quickly disappeared that same day, not to be seen again. One of the filipinos said they would be back to play some more, but that may have just been a cover story to buy some time.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
Efren's losses

Besides Keith on the bar table, he had a tough time trying to give Amarillo Slim 15-3 in One Pocket. I know he (his backers) lost 40K one time.

Also, he tried to give Little Al 11-5 at Hard Times for a couple of thou and got beat there too.

Cecil actually beat him in a big challenge match about ten years ago playing even. He had a major flashback.

Oh, and one more I remember (I was in). Efren tried to give Toby 9-6 at the Cue Club a few years back. They played four ahead for 10K (I was in for two). Bad game for Effie and Toby won easily.

There aren't too many losses on his resume though.
 
Thank you for sharing the story, Jay.

Efren pretty much won all the tournaments with the biggest prize. He must have been even more awesome when he was younger. I cannot imagine what it would be like to gamble 5 days and won over 50K, that is crazy!
 
jay helfert said:
Besides Keith on the bar table, he had a tough time trying to give Amarillo Slim 15-3 in One Pocket. I know he (his backers) lost 40K one time.

Also, he tried to give Little Al 11-5 at Hard Times for a couple of thou and got beat there too.

Cecil actually beat him in a big challenge match about ten years ago playing even. He had a major flashback.

Oh, and one more I remember (I was in). Efren tried to give Toby 9-6 at the Cue Club a few years back. They played four ahead for 10K (I was in for two). Bad game for Effie and Toby won easily.

There aren't too many losses on his resume though.
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On second thought, it may have been five ahead. Minor point.
 
Antonio and Efren have played Rotation 3 times and 9ball twice fairly while I was with Antonio. Antonio won all three rotation matches and two of three nineball matches. To Efren's credit his eyes were bothering him once, and another time was when he had a stomach virus. They played for around $200 each time. Antonio feels he has the better end playing Rotation type games and Efren is better at 1pkt, 8 ball, etc.
 
During my teen years I used to play a lot with Efren when he would come to town. Our usual 9 ball game would be the 7 out and the breaks and we would play for anywhere from $200 to $500 per set. I usually lost or broke even but I did manage to win $1,000 in a session that lasted about 24 hours. I know the 7 out and the breaks sounds like a ton of weight and is nothing to brag about winning that way, however Efren is so stinking strong that if you don't make a ball on the break, or have to push, or even make him kick, it seems like you are not the favorite to win no matter what the spot is.

If you ever get the chance to play Efren for money I highly recommend it. Regardless of what you win or lose, I'm sure you will be amazed at what he can do. It's definitely a whole different feeling when you're playing against him then watching him play on TV or at a tournament.
 
I remember in one of my Accustats Efren said he played his strongest when he was 19 or 20....:eek: Maybe rotation......but I won't believe 1 pocket...being that he learned that here....

Hey,....Maybe the reason all those guys came here at the same time was all the other Filipinos got pissed from losing so they bought them all a plane ticket here!:D

I had the chance to ask Efren to play once in Philly while He was practicing, but I didn't have the nads. I sat and watched him run balls for about 2 hours. His friend/backer guy nodded to me and looked at the table, and I just couldn't make myself move, other than the obligatory "no thanks I really suck"......:o

That was the first time I realized Efren loves to play as much as I do. I sometimes thought He played for the money and all, but He just felt like hitting balls all day like I do sometimes....very cool!

Gerry
 
Red's in Houston

henho said:
I don't know the details but I know McCready beat Reyes on a barbox quite a bit and made some cheese.......maybe someone here can fill in the blanks. Ronnie Alcano is reputed to have beaten Reyes in Rotation.
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At Red's in Houston, I was in with Keith playing Efren on the bar box. We played two sets, won the first, lost the second and pulled up.

the Beard
 
"Der aint gonna be no rematch!"

nipponbilliards said:
Did Reyes play Buddy again and get his money back?
Thanks,
Richard
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Buddy beat Efren early in the Tournament playing 10 ball. I missed seeing that match. However, after observing Efren taking everyone else apart for money and in the tournament, he reevaluated and decided "Der aint gonna be no rematch!" after Efren's backers asked for one. Our ten ball champions at that time were Buddy, Jimmy Reid and Allen Hopkins. Hopkins was our Rotation champ, Efren offered him the 15 ball.

the Beard

BTW, when did Keith do all his beating of Efren on the Bar table? Someone please explain. I was in with Keith, and we broke even is all I know of. It certainly did not occur at Red's
 
ribdoner said:
What is "scratch" pool? Is that playing "even" or is it a unique game? Thanks


Adashka Chachula
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I don't know the details of the rules, but it's a game built around scratching, meaning the ball you use as your cue ball is the ball you're trying to get in the hole.

Efren apparently got robbed by Evgeny Stalev, which would make sense, since Stalev has a background in pyramids, where you can use any ball as your cue ball, and sinking the cue ball counts the same as sinking an object ball. I found some videos online of him playing, and he makes some crazy shots hitting a cue ball into an object ball and pocketing both balls into insanely tight pockets (and when I say insanely tight, pyramids is played with 2.75" balls and 3.25" pockets). So I would guess he's probably better at scratching than anyone in the world who isn't a pyramids player --- and from what I can ascertain, he's the best of the best among pyramids players.

-Andrew
 
What's the real truth?

Hey, wait a minute! Jay says Efren got beat by Buddy AFTER winning the tournament, and Freddie says Efren got beat by Buddy EARLY in the tournament. They can't both be right...who's got the real scoop?:confused:

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
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