Greatest 9 Ball Player Dead/alive

[prewarhero]

The question is best 9ball player. Efren would take top list for best all around player. BUt if we answer this question of who and at their peak it would have to go to earl. I don't think there was anyone in history that could string racks together with such domination than he.

 

[Blackjack]

Luther Lassiter
Mike Sigel
Buddy Hall
Earl Strickland
Efren Reyes
Jose Parica

Just my picks. All of them equally great IMO.

 

[TX Poolnut]

I'm the greatest of all time. I just miss a lot.

 

[kevpull]

Earl Strickland!!!

 

[Voodoo Daddy]

Luther Lassiter
Mike Sigel
Buddy Hall
Earl Strickland
Efren Reyes
Jose Parica

Just my picks. All of them equally great IMO.

Some solid company there Dave...you can remove all but one name for me.

Greatest 9-Ball player alive or dead...
Cecil Paul "BUDDY" Hall

 

[Biggz]

Hey Keith, I've always ejoyed reading your posts here even before I joined this great site. It's good to see a legend like yourself chiming in. You answer people's questions, sharing your stories etc.. Keep em coming Keith. We appreciate it so much.

 

[bob c]

To stay at the top of the world in pool is a very hard proposition .To be the best for more than a year or two is extremely difficult . The pressure to maintain your reputation and ranking is very tiring and stressful . Many players have had a time which they were almost unbeatable for a year or so....varner..hall..siegel..earl . Only efren IMO has been recognized as the best player for more than TWO decades .

Which decades would that be? Johnny Archer was Billiards Digest's Player of the Decade in the 1990s. Sigel & Hall were at the top of the food chain for much more than "a year or so".

IMO there is no correct answer to this question.

 

[atthecat]

I would say Earl Strickland is the best 9 ball player ever. Amazing resume during an tough era. Earl's high run in straight pool is 408!

 

[maha]

there is really so little difference between the best at anything. but my vote is for lassiter. i have seen him play many times for the cash and he never misses and is always close to his ball.
the more modern players play different and make better tough shots. but it really comes down to the breaks. old time pool the break wasnt as strong.
so if they rotated breaks or had a neutral party break i dont think anyone could beat lassiter or willis.
present day nine ball is who has the best break. not necessarily the hardest but who can make one the most and stay open.

 

[Blackjack]

Some solid company there Dave...you can remove all but one name for me.

Greatest 9-Ball player alive or dead...
Cecil Paul "BUDDY" Hall

I agree with you, Steve. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody that hit the balls as sweet as Buddy Hall. IMO, nobody comes close - well... maybe Keith.. but he'd probably disagree with me.

 

[Black-Balled]

In my mind Efren Reyes is the Best today and the best of all time. I dont think anyone plays the game like him. He has better cueball control than everyone who has ever played the game nobody kicks or plays saftey"s like he does. In fact i dont think ive ever seen him miss to many banks, So my vote is for BATA!

BIH was a rare occurrence in Lassiter's day.

Careful, some things can be brought back from the dead.

 

[JAM]

I agree with you, Steve. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody that hit the balls as sweet as Buddy Hall. IMO, nobody comes close - well... maybe Keith.. but he'd probably disagree with me.

I always knew you had good taste, Blackjack!

Seeing that .gif file, I am reminded of what was going on during that match. LOL! It was the first time they ever used the red-dotted cueball at the U.S. Open in 2003. And that is my all-time favorite tournament shirt of Keith's, his lucky black sparkle shirt. LOL!

Keith respects Buddy Hall to the utmost. The two of them, believe it or not, traveled together on occasion. One such time, a tournament in North Carolina, I think it was, ended, but there was another one in Tennessee beginning that weekend. Keith was broke dog, but he wanted to go to the tournament. Buddy Hall lent him a helping hand.

Buddy said he'd stakehorse Keith, with one proviso. I'll save the story for another time, but suffice it to say, Buddy always had a calming, good, positive influence on Keith's game! :wink:

Oh, yeah, Keith won that tournament that Buddy backed him on. When Buddy talks, Keith listens. :grin-square:

 

[Black-Balled]

I always knew you had good taste, Blackjack!
..I am reminded of what was going on during that match. LOL! It was the first time they ever used the red-dotted cueball at the U.S. Open in 2003. :wink:... :grin-square:

And the rest of the story is...

Buddy and Keith had a lotta trouble figuring out which was the right dot to hit. Keith figured it out first and Buddy got hizzelf a dose! 11-3 IIRC

If we're bringing back memories, that is!

 

[ironman]

Matt_24, yes sir, in the 70's and into the 80's, Buddy was tops. Into the 90's was us-open champ and player of the year some where in the early 90's.

buddy hall was tops. In the 70's when Buddy lived in Schreport, lousiana, [bad spelling] he gave all comers the 7, and beat them all for the cash.

Back then buddy had a few bull dogs and ran with them 7 to 8 miles every day. he was in good shape. Played all comers, and loved to gamble.

We all know with age, we tend to loose out game a little. However, at 57 buddy's still a threat.

Not as constant as once was, but still bad news if he starts stroken.

blud

It is hard for me to believe Buddy is only 57. He was 49 for about 11 years.

 

[JAM]

And the rest of the story is...

Buddy and Keith had a lotta trouble figuring out which was the right dot to hit. Keith figured it out first and Buddy got hizzelf a dose! 11-3 IIRC

If we're bringing back memories, that is!

I love Buddy Hall. He is the real deal!

 

[JAM]

It is hard for me to believe Buddy is only 57. He was 49 for about 11 years.

LOL! He'll be a birthday boy in a couple weeks, May 29th, and attain the age of 64 years young.

 

[ironman]

We played a couple of times, and it went back and forth, but David never got to play me at my best. And when David was in his prime, he was definitely a bar table specialist. But David is like me and you can easily get beaten up playing pool, and it takes a toll on you. Hope David is doing well.

I just heard yesterday that David is all the way out of it ans weighs about 225 pounds. What great talent he has though.

 

[ironman]

You are sooooooo telling the truth Blud. Those were the days.

Keith, did you ever get down with an old favorite of Blud's and mine, Greg "Freight Train" Stevens?.......$Bill

I had the grat pleasur in my youger days to spend some quality time with both Buddy and Greg.

In fact when Buddy gave Louie the 7 at Guys & Dolls in Shreveport, I was there from the coin toss to the very end. It ain't like Louie played badly either. He just couldnn't stop Buddy no matter what he did. Louie was talking to himself and answering himself.

In that room and on that table I think Buddy was hands down the best to play the game . He was just flawless and many came and tried to take him off.

When that match was over, Eddie Taylor looked at me and said, and I will never forget, " Kid, you may have just seen the best 9 ball that will ever be played. Just ask Louie"!!

Greg was a great player too, but very streaky and an obsessive gambler with more quirks than congress. He would stay up for days on end and around the 3rd day, he would find a way to go off like a Roman Candle.

When though, Greg was right and got his mixture right, I think he was the best shotmaker ever. They would fall over and over again for seemingly endless hours. He and Buddy were two completely different breeds. Buddy was like a relentless machine. Greg, lock and load and let em riip.

Greg was though one of the most outrageous characters I ever knew and could be just hilarious. He was one of a kind.

 

[ironman]

Question for Gremlin. I remember watching
Balukas play & she was great, but I don't
remember her being as strong as Alison
or Karen are today. Am I wrong?

Well, I don't want to argue with you about this one, just ask Buddy, David Howard, and jum Rempe about this one. She beat them back to back at the Clyde Childress years ago and had them passing around a petition to ban women from mens pool.

Allison and Karen are no doubt great players. If we could turn back the clock to those days and lock them in a room for 24 hours, well, I would have to take a ticket on Jean. That lady was a tough, tough one to handle.

If they all three had entered an open event at the same time, I promise you, the men would have been sweating far harder about Jean than Allison or Karen.

 

[crawfish]

Why is it that when the best of the best conversations come up, I am never mentioned? It's because I'm bald, isn't it. You guys are folicalludiced, or is it folically prejudiced? Anyway, my feelings are hurt that I didn't hit the top ten thousand this time. I have more than one APA break and run. Does Buddy? NO he does not. Granted, I have no titles and have only beat what most consider great players getting weight. But, I would at least like to be mentioned from time to time, you cold hearted fu#$ers.










Buddy, Earl, Johnny, Keith, Louie, Efren, Luther on any given day could knock it down.