Has Efren ever competed in 14.1?

[justadub]

That was my first and only straight pool tournament. I "got lucky" to win against Efren in the winner's side and he came back and won in the finals. Earl Strickland finished 4th and said a couple weeks before he had run over 400 balls in North Carolina.

When I first started practicing straight pool I couldn't hardly run a rack (it was easier to run them in rotation), then a friend loaned me a couple of books and I took a crash course. Three weeks later I was playing Efren Reyes, and Jimmy Rempe....it was a tough test for the TOI, however, "the touch" came through in the end.

Here's a LINK to see Efren Reyes playing Straight Pool at the Maine Event

I get such a charge out of the fact that all you amazingly great players were all in that pool room, here in little old Maine.

We play our league state championships there. I look around, and try to imagine what it looked like in there during that tournament.

 

[sfleinen]

The fact that he even got to the breakshot in that fashion shows a major breakdown somewhere. The fact that he shot it the way he did shows a lack of understanding in the game.

If he banked and lipping it out and broke the rack open like that and was forced to watch while someone ran 150-out, it would cure him of that carnival shit.

Hopkins, Sigel, Mizerak would have annihilated Efren repeatedly.

Dave, I have that Accu-Stats match -- Efren vs. Mike Sigel, 2000 14.1.

Mike had missed the breakshot (and missed the rack, too), and that was what Efren faced when he took over the table.

But I agree -- normally, that carnival pool gets cured right away when you're playing someone the caliber of those players you mentioned. You'll do that once in a match, and that would be your last time.

-Sean

 

[SpiderWebComm]

Dave, I have that Accu-Stats match -- Efren vs. Mike Sigel, 2000 14.1.

Mike had missed the breakshot (and missed the rack, too), and that was what Efren faced when he took over the table.

But I agree -- normally, that carnival pool gets cured right away when you're playing someone the caliber of those players you mentioned. You'll do that once in a match, and that would be your last time.

-Sean

To be fair to Sigel, I think that was his first event out of retirement, right? Prob all flinched-up from making cues.

Efren was never half of Sigel's speed playing 14.1, if Sigel was playing.

Efren has ascended to a "mystical" level to some degree where the real facts have somehow been forgotten. He just wasn't at the same level, never was. Didn't mean he couldn't win with abject retard-strength (like Earl did at 14.1 sometimes), but he couldn't keep beating a top elite 14.1 player.

 

[sfleinen]

To be fair to Sigel, I think that was his first event out of retirement, right? Prob all flinched-up from making cues.

Efren was never half of Sigel's speed playing 14.1, if Sigel was playing.

Efren has ascended to a "mystical" level to some degree where the real facts have somehow been forgotten. He just wasn't at the same level, never was. Didn't mean he couldn't win with abject retard-strength (like Earl did at 14.1 sometimes), but he couldn't keep beating a top elite 14.1 player.

That's true -- Sigel had come out of retirement and played terrible in that match, and Efren capitalized. Had Sigel been in stroke, that match would've been over far sooner. But at the same time, that match illustrates a great struggle, with Mike fighting his out-of-strokedness. It's a good match to pick up and keep in your library to study.

Efren gets the job done for what he knows -- which is mainly rotation pool and one pocket. He's deadly in 14.1 if you don't capitalize on the mistakes he hands you, or if you play safe on him and you underestimate his ability to "find" something to shoot at (e.g. something in the rack like a combo-carom, or something on the rail -- which Efren will bank with nary a second thought).

But a player of Sigel's caliber (when in stroke) always comes out on top.

-Sean

 

[CJ Wiley]

Steven's not normal in any way, shape, or Shining.

I get such a charge out of the fact that all you amazingly great players were all in that pool room, here in little old Maine.

We play our league state championships there. I look around, and try to imagine what it looked like in there during that tournament.

Yes, I had a great time there in Maine, the seafood was outstanding and the town of Portland was serene from what I remember.

Someone there offered to meet me in Bangor and introduce me to Steven King. They said he walked around town like a "normal" person......although it's hard for me to imagine Steven as being normal in any way, shape or Shining.

 

[IntoTheRail]

In addition:

2000 14.1 US Open (Roseland Ballroom, NYC)
- Efren def. Dallas West, and scores the high run of the tourney, 141

http://1vshop.com/Accu-Stats/store.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=000607&PNAME=Efren+Reyes+vs.+Dallas+West*+(DVD)

Many others, if you do a quick Google search:

https://google.com/webhp?sourceid=c...F-8#q="efren reyes" "straight pool" or "14.1"

-Sean

The best part about this match is that after he ran 141, he set up a decent break shot on the next rack, fires the object ball in the corner and COMPLETELY MISSES the stack with the cue ball. lol

You could tell he was super embarrassed about it, was pretty funny.

 

[Palmerfan]

In addition:

2000 14.1 US Open (Roseland Ballroom, NYC)
- Efren def. Dallas West, and scores the high run of the tourney, 141

http://1vshop.com/Accu-Stats/store.cgi?CMD=011&PROD=000607&PNAME=Efren+Reyes+vs.+Dallas+West*+(DVD)

Many others, if you do a quick Google search:

https://google.com/webhp?sourceid=c...F-8#q="efren reyes" "straight pool" or "14.1"

-Sean

There is also an Accu-stats tape available from the 2000 World 14.1 at Roseland with Efren vs Rempe...Efren destroyed him.

 

[dabarbr]

I have seen some youtube videos of him playing straight pool and he plays very differently. He doesn't play straight pool like a straight pool player would. He plays straight pool like he plays 9 ball and Earl plays very similar in the same regard. They play a lot more aggressively and have don't really play normal straight pool style. That's just my opinion from the videos I have seen.

That's the same impression that I got in the only video I saw him play. I forget who he was playing and who the commentators were but I do know that the commentators were experienced and knowledgeable straight pool players.

The commentators were doing their job and were suggesting what he would do, but they were unable to get any calls correct because Efren was playing the game Efren style. Meaning mostly that what he was doing was effective for him but out of character for an experienced straight pool play. Eventually the commentators decided to quit talking, keep quiet, and just watch. He did win that match.

 

[fan-tum]

I might add, it's somewhat unfortunate, both for us Efren fans and 14.1 fans that he didn't spend the necessary time to perfect his straight pool game. After seeing his incredible comeback against Earl in the Hong Kong 9 ball Challenge, it's clear that all he needs is the right motivation. I think he could've been virtually unbeatable in 14.1.

 

[CJ Wiley]

I admit if things were different when I was growing up, straight pool would be......

I might add, it's somewhat unfortunate, both for us Efren fans and 14.1 fans that he didn't spend the necessary time to perfect his straight pool game. After seeing his incredible comeback against Earl in the Hong Kong 9 ball Challenge, it's clear that all he needs is the right motivation. I think he could've been virtually unbeatable in 14.1.

Straight pool is too easy to hold Efren's attention. He's used to running all the balls in one pocket, having the 6 pockets available is a step backwards (as far as being challenging).

I like straight pool as a practice game, although it would not interest me for competition. Playing a game that requires sitting in a chair for 30 minutes at a time seems more like cards.....and I don't have the mentality for that game either.

To each their own, I admit if things were different when I was growing up, straight pool may have been my favorite game. My exposure was strictly 8-Ball and Rotation, with a bit of "Bottle Pool" thrown in once in awhile. 'The Games are the Teacher'

 

[WildWing]

To be fair to Sigel, I think that was his first event out of retirement, right? Prob all flinched-up from making cues.

Efren was never half of Sigel's speed playing 14.1, if Sigel was playing.

Efren has ascended to a "mystical" level to some degree where the real facts have somehow been forgotten. He just wasn't at the same level, never was. Didn't mean he couldn't win with abject retard-strength (like Earl did at 14.1 sometimes), but he couldn't keep beating a top elite 14.1 player.

Absolutely correct. The younger set keeps elevating Efren to the greatest ever, but there are some gates at the steeplechase they are constantly tripping over. Namely, Sigel's record in 14.1, playing the greats such as Lassiter, Hopkins, Varner, Rempe, West, Martin, Mizerak, and consistently getting the best of them.

"By their internet posts, you can tell their ages."