This is exactly correct
Is Josh Filler the World's Best Pool Player?
- Thread starter sjm
- Start date
Google is biased or at minimum, self-promoting!
Well, it’s been six years since this thread was started. I believe it’s time to revisit the rankings. Filler currently holds the top spot in Fargo, Gorst had one of the most remarkable years ever, FSR the previous year, Shaw holds the straight pool record, and SVB, well, he’s SVB. In my opinion, it’s a close race between Filler and Gorst. All of these players are incredibly impressive, making it difficult to make a definitive choice. However, if I had to pick one, I think Filler has the intangible "it" factor.
sudocrushms
Well-known member
I don't think anyone is consistently beating Filler right now. The dude is just rolling: everything is going his way and he's been making the game look really easy.
Is this level sustainable? I dunno, we'll see.
That said: SVB, Gorst, FSR, plus a few others are capable of the same thing when everything is going well. Hopefully we'll be seeing more tournaments with *everyone* soon. Need WNT/WPA/MR/PBS/XYZ all to get their poop in a group and let everyone play...
Is this level sustainable? I dunno, we'll see.
That said: SVB, Gorst, FSR, plus a few others are capable of the same thing when everything is going well. Hopefully we'll be seeing more tournaments with *everyone* soon. Need WNT/WPA/MR/PBS/XYZ all to get their poop in a group and let everyone play...
Plus Ko Ping Han, who's also in the upper 700s... Crazy talent in that family.
WobblyStroke
Well-known member
Iron sharpens iron. Beating your brother is a powerful motivator, but when he's super good, you just gotta get super good too. The Ko's all seem like a pretty tightly knit bunch so all the hours they spend on the table together or discussing tactics really help all of them. But ye, a genetic predisposition for excelling at hand eye tasks and dealing with pressure well can't hurt. I'd bet their success has more to do with their top tier training partners than their top tier genetics.
THe Ko's are like mini team Poland. Those Poles really played, trained, and travelled as a team and they all improved immensely, to the point that it was common to see a few of them in the top 16 of majors. They shared knowledge and techniques and all got much better than they were when doing the standard lone wolf pool player thing. I think the Ko's are that on steroids.
Agreed
Being around greatness inspires greatness
sudocrushms
Well-known member
I love the improvement mentality in Europe and Asia. I've seen several groups that meet up for a week or more at a time to practice together. It's a fight to get to the top and stay there and everyone benefits from it -- especially us fans.
Other great examples: Kristina Tkach and Pia Filler. Pia's improvement from 1-2 years ago is enormous. They've definitely put in the work, but practicing consistently with one of the best players on the planet can't hurt.
8intheside
Well-known member
I’d say it’s a toss up between Filler and Fedor
snooker players have done this for years, grouping up. and if you draw the reasoning further, small area countries like the netherlands will sharpen more iron than a country with large distances, so it's even more important in the latter countries
... and it's has been for a few years now. They have been number one and number two by Fargo and on the money list for three years now, and their rivalry has become very special.
Filler is the better nine ball player, and 10ball is a tossup, but Fedor is the better bank pool player and one pocket player.
Both are very beatable by the other elite, but these days, to win a major, it is a safe bet you'll have to beat at least one of them along the way.
Realistically, Fedor and Josh are 1A and 1B, and everyone else is getting a stiff neck from looking up at them.
SVB is still in the conversation, he just beat Filler in the semi's of the US open last year, just won the world's in 2022. He won the premier league round robin, the bigfoot 10 ball. He won the 2024 us open banks, us open one pocket.
What's a guy gotta do to get some recognition??? LOL
What's a guy gotta do to get some recognition??? LOL
Shane is never out of the conversation and his longevity is well noted. Can't ever count him out, especially for the money.
wealmostlostdetroit
Member
Filler, closely followed by Gorst. Then probably 5-10 guys one tier lower - SVB, Ko, Chua, FSR, etc.
To the original question, and I know it was posed 6 years ago. No, Filler is not the best player in the world. He simply hasn’t got the separation required to make that conclusion. There is a significant number of players that routinely beat each other. They also occasionally lose to others, down the list. There is no Tiger of pool. This issue is also more muddled now, with the top group not playing each other, as much. Is Jon Rahm #1, after going to Liv? No, he is not. I’m not knocking Fillers’ game, anyone who does so, is delusional. None of the top players have gained the separation required to be clearly and definitively anointed, #1. If you look at the last twenty years, SVB probably came the closest, to accomplishing that.
Svb is currently #6 on Fargo's list. Can't argue with that. He is not the betting favorite over those above him in 9 ball. Id bet on Fedor again in another long race of 10 ball. But no one's money would be safe in that contest. Svb is a fine player, once in a generation. He can win most any event. He just doesn't win as many as a Filler or a Gorst ..not anymore anyway.
I probably replied 6 years ago, and probably said Filler was the best then. Now in 2025, Filler is still the best today.
Let's take Ameer out, because his robustness is 313, I just looked it up. If it gets to 1000 and is still in second place, we can revisit.
Filler is 11 point higher than Gorst, and a couple more than that over the rest of the TOP players. 11 points is a MILE. Don't forget, FargoRate is exponential. For Filler to get 11 points higher than EVERY other player on the planet, means he is head and shoulders better than the rest. 11 points is the difference between Shane and Yapp. No one on the planet would bet on Yapp to beat Shane if they played a long session.
Good opportunity to show FargoRate creep (or greater separation of pros to us bangers): #10 on the 2025 list is higher than #1 on the 2019 list. Does anyone believe there is no creep?
