GOAT Hunt

[markjames]

Ever hear of Earl Strickland?

maybe? not sure, tell us all about him

 

[8intheside]

Just stop. Please. It’s okay that you don’t know.

i Guess Earl doesn’t know either, and the majority of fans, and other professional players. But you’ve seen sigel live! Oooook lol

 

[ShootingArts]

Bata

I suspect you know but for those that don't, Bata translates "the kid". There was an older Efren who was pretty well known so to tell them apart Efren got the kid hung on him, one of many nicknames, I believe the first.

Hu

 

[8intheside]

Just stop. Please. It’s okay that you don’t know.

Reyes on a 2021 stamp of the Philippines
Numerous fellow professional players have credited Reyes with being the greatest living player in the world.[47][48] During ESPNtelevision commentary on a semi-final match between Reyes and Mika Immonen at the 2000 BCA Open Nine-ball Championship, veteran professional Billy Incardona stated that Reyes was "indisputably the best player in the world—especially when you consider all games—he can play any game as well as anyone, maybe better than anyone ... In my opinion we're watching probably the greatest player in my lifetime and I've been watching pool for the better part of forty years."[ I guess Billy doesn’t know either huh?

 

[markjames]

billy? incardona? who’s that tell us more

 

[straightline]

billy? incardona? who’s that tell us more

Not a lot of footage playing pool. I get the impression he's big wave surfing at the casinos.

 

[Mensabum]

now efren is a snooker champion too?

i see why the internet makes people so mean and angry

 

[Badpenguin]

No disrespect, but seeing it live doesn’t make you an authority or make your opinion any more valid than mine. since the criteria for being the best is murky, all we can do is go by popular opinion, and I think most would say Efren was PROBABLY the better player overall

"Popular opinion" is meaningless and will change with the wind. The key word is "popular", which has little to do with reality. Nor does how someone may have played snooker have much to do with measuring who may be GOAT in pool.

I started this little personal project to try and come up with a way to measure, based on metrics, who may have performed the best. The extreme least common denominator for that would be to measure number of major tournaments/championships won against their peers. Yes, it is a bit pointless but fun for me regardless.

 

[8intheside]

"Popular opinion" is meaningless and will change with the wind. The key word is "popular", which has little to do with reality. Nor does how someone may have played snooker have much to do with measuring who may be GOAT in pool.

I started this little personal project to try and come up with a way to measure, based on metrics, who may have performed the best. The extreme least common denominator for that would be to measure number of major tournaments/championships won against their peers. Yes, it is a bit pointless but fun for me regardless.

like Any sport there’s always going to be a debate on who the greatest is. Bill Russel has 11 championships, Michael Jordan has six, however hardly anyone would say bill Russel is better than MJ. i Don’t know the numbers, but I’m assuming Mike sigel has more tournamen wins than Efren and may have beaten him more in their matchups, but in my opinion and the opinion of many others Efren is the greatest of all time. So unless there’s a clear criteria on what makes someone the best, opinions absolutely matter., but it doesn’t make it a fact

 

[markjames]

I started this little personal project to try and come up with a way to measure, based on metrics, who may have performed the best.

the post isn’t about popular opinions

 

[Badpenguin]

Could have sworn I posted the spreadsheet I was using, here it is again.

 

[iusedtoberich]

How about Busty. He only won one world championship, very late in his career. However, I don’t think I would bet on a single other player mentioned in this entire thread to beat him.

 

[markjames]

the winner is important but i feel
like the second place finisher and
third and fourth deserve some recognition

 

[InsertCleverNameHere]

Gotta admit I didn't get to see MS play live at all. Not even once. But if tournament wins are what we are looking at he has to be up there near the very top his resume is extensive to say the least and covers all the pool disciplines(FFS Snooker has not a single damn thing to do with this conversation, why people don't get that is beyond me).

I'd like to add to the conversation that some folks simply don't play as well in the "sprint" or short term as they do in much longer format gambling matches. As many tournaments as Efren has won and with alll that fabulous performances STILL I think most people that know what they are talking about would say he's a better player gambling than in events.

Also want to agree with Cornerman that Shane is the best 8 ball player that I've seen. Alex Pagulayan(prime) is right there too imo but Shane, by a pretty good margin, is better than everyone I've personally seen.