Masters of Cue Sports

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Chris Santana
Silver Member
Hey all. So I'm working on a huge upcoming project that I'll be unveiling soon that features the 16 Masters of Cue Sports that have ever lived.

I am mostly interested in the PROs, not so much the hustlers (I will be doing a series on those later). Also, I am taking all things considered - not just their winning ability (which is most important) - but also their personality, charisma, and maybe how they changed the game for the better. I know there aren't many Filipinos here, but I am thinking more big picture, since many of the late greats were around before the Filipino invasion in the 70s and 80s.

Here are my picks; I watch a lot of pool and have seen many of the legends, but my picks may differ from those who truly know the pros better than me. If you have a suggestion, list it, and I may replace my picks with what some of you think (these are in no particular order).

1. Earl Strickland
2. Efren Reyes
3. Shane van Boening
4. Willie Mosconi
5. Luther Lassiter
6. Irving Crane
7. Alex Pagulayan
8. Johnny Archer
9. Buddy Hall
10. Nick Varner
11. Mike Sigel
12. Steve Mizerak
13. Thorsten Hohmann
14. Francisco Bustamante
15. Sang Lee
16. Ronnie O'Sullivan
 
Good list. I can name a few others that aren't on there, but I don't know who they would replace

Willie Hoppe
Stephen Hendry
Steve Davis
John Schmidt
Grady Matthews
Corey Deuel
Mika Immonen
Niels Fijen
Jose Parica

It's really tough to narrow it down to just 16 players. Maybe bump it up to 30, and break it down by eras below. 5 players per era. You could also just keep it at 16 if it's easier for you. Either way, it sounds like it will be cool, and I look forward to the finished project.

1900-1920
1921-1940
1941-1960
1961-1980
1981-1990
1991-Present
 
Good list. I can name a few others that aren't on there, but I don't know who they would replace

Willie Hoppe
Stephen Hendry
Steve Davis
John Schmidt
Grady Matthews
Corey Deuel
Mika Immonen
Niels Fijen
Jose Parica

It's really tough to narrow it down to just 16 players. Maybe bump it up to 30, and break it down by eras below. 5 players per era. You could also just keep it at 16 if it's easier for you. Either way, it sounds like it will be cool, and I look forward to the finished project.

1900-1920
1921-1940
1941-1960
1961-1980
1981-1990
1991-Present

Some good ones in there! I totally forgot about Hendry and Parica. It has to be 16 though, there will be 32 others in a separate pro category. Thanks!
 
Good list. I can name a few others that aren't on there, but I don't know who they would replace

Willie Hoppe
Stephen Hendry
Steve Davis
John Schmidt
Grady Matthews
Corey Deuel
Mika Immonen
Niels Fijen
Jose Parica

It's really tough to narrow it down to just 16 players. Maybe bump it up to 30, and break it down by eras below. 5 players per era. You could also just keep it at 16 if it's easier for you. Either way, it sounds like it will be cool, and I look forward to the finished project.

1900-1920
1921-1940
1941-1960
1961-1980
1981-1990
1991-Present

I will agree that it is TOUGH and everybody will have their own choices, but I AGREE with you about Willie Hoppe. I don't think any list of pool can leave him out unless you aren't including "billiards". He was the GREATEST billiards player of his time and some will go even farther and say EVER.
 
I will agree that it is TOUGH and everybody will have their own choices, but I AGREE with you about Willie Hoppe. I don't think any list of pool can leave him out unless you aren't including "billiards". He was the GREATEST billiards player of his time and some will go even farther and say EVER.

I think you're right. I originally had him in there, but I replaced him with O'Sullivan. Oh man this is tough.
 
Its tough to narrow it down to the top16 of all time but a name that always rings in my head as one of the greats is Mark Tademy...Dont forget Keith Mccready either...They may be more on the "hustler" side of things but surely they are noteworthy
 
I will agree that it is TOUGH and everybody will have their own choices, but I AGREE with you about Willie Hoppe. I don't think any list of pool can leave him out unless you aren't including "billiards". He was the GREATEST billiards player of his time and some will go even farther and say EVER.

I saw Sang Lee's name on there, so I was surprised to not see Hoppe's. I honestly know very little about billiard players, but I know those are two of the biggest names.

I think you're right. I originally had him in there, but I replaced him with O'Sullivan. Oh man this is tough.

Ronnie definitely deserves a spot.
 
How about Ralph Greenleaf? He used to kick Mosconi's ass.

Greenleaf has won a total of 20 World Pocket Billiards Champioship titles from 1919 to 1937. In his obituary in 1950, the New York Times said of Greenleaf: “What Babe Ruth did to baseball, Dempsey did for fighting, Tilden did for tennis.. Greenleaf did for billiards.”

How about Walter Lindrum who held the World Professional Billiards Championship from 1933 until his retirement in 1950.

I think you are going to have to list your players by era, as mentioned above by Beiber, or by category. There are WAY too MANY people to clump into GREATEST 16 EVER...it is like comparing apples to oranges. They are both tasty fruits, but which one is actually BETTER.

Aloha and I can't wait to see your project when you are ready to unveil it.
 
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How about Ralph Greenleaf? He used to kick Mosconi's ass.

Greenleaf has won a total of 20 World Pocket Billiards Champioship titles from 1919 to 1937. In his obituary in 1950, the New York Times said of Greenleaf: “What Babe Ruth did to baseball, Dempsey did for fighting, Tilden did for tennis.. Greenleaf did for billiards.”

Good point. Also one of my original entries, replaced by Lassiter. I think Greenleaf is more appropriate.
 
Best European pool player ever is Ralf Souquet. Obviously, Greenleaf needs to be on this list. Take out Alex and put in Parica. Take out Sang Lee and put in either Thorbjorn Blohmdahl or Raymond Ceulemans. I'd pick Johnny Archer over Bustamante.
 
Best European pool player ever is Ralf Souquet. Obviously, Greenleaf needs to be on this list. Take out Alex and put in Parica. Take out Sang Lee and put in either Thorbjorn Blohmdahl or Raymond Ceulemans. I'd pick Johnny Archer over Bustamante.

Noted. I used Lee because he's really the only billiards play I'm at all familiar with. Thorbjorn is a better player? Thanks for the heads-up
 
List needs Harold Worst. One of only three people to ever hold both a world pool and a world billiards championship
 
Hey all. So I'm working on a huge upcoming project that I'll be unveiling soon that features the 16 Masters of Cue Sports that have ever lived.

I am mostly interested in the PROs, not so much the hustlers (I will be doing a series on those later). Also, I am taking all things considered - not just their winning ability (which is most important) - but also their personality, charisma, and maybe how they changed the game for the better. I know there aren't many Filipinos here, but I am thinking more big picture, since many of the late greats were around before the Filipino invasion in the 70s and 80s.

Here are my picks; I watch a lot of pool and have seen many of the legends, but my picks may differ from those who truly know the pros better than me. If you have a suggestion, list it, and I may replace my picks with what some of you think (these are in no particular order).

1. Earl Strickland
2. Efren Reyes
3. Shane van Boening
4. Willie Mosconi
5. Luther Lassiter
6. Irving Crane
7. Alex Pagulayan
8. Johnny Archer
9. Buddy Hall
10. Nick Varner
11. Mike Sigel
12. Steve Mizerak
13. Thorsten Hohmann
14. Francisco Bustamante
15. Sang Lee
16. Ronnie O'Sullivan

Not sure what your project is? Whether or not it is serious or just fun. But one thing is for sure, if it's a serious list then no American Pool player will feature in your top 3, surely?

The term; Master of Cue Sports will surely conclude that the players who are proven in ALL or as many of the cue sports disciplines in existence feature at the top?

For this reason and this reason alone PLEASE, can we all agree that Mr. Steve Davis OBE sit on top of this perch?

Here is a link to Willie Hoppe Wikipedia page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Hoppe - Will take 5 minutes to read
Here is a link to Davis' Wikipedia page - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Davis - Will require a full hour to digest
 
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Not sure what your project is? Whether or not it is serious or just fun. But one thing is for sure, if it's a serious list then no American Pool player will feature in your top 3, surely?

The term; Master of Cue Sports will surely conclude that the players who are proven in ALL or as many of the cue sports disciplines in existence feature at the top?

For this reason and this reason alone PLEASE, can we all agree that Mr. Steve Davis MBE sit on top of this perch?

You're absolutely right, I will see where I can fit him in (I will update my list soon). The project is serious, and without divulging too much information, I will tell you that it is a series of collectible products that will be sold in limited edition quantities for the serious pool player/collector.
 
You're absolutely right, I will see where I can fit him in (I will update my list soon). The project is serious, and without divulging too much information, I will tell you that it is a series of collectible products that will be sold in limited edition quantities for the serious pool player/collector.

All looks very interesting!
Be sure to keep us updated :thumbup:
 
You have decided to go with quite an American-heavy field. I begun to list an alternative list but then realized that I was myself missing too many great players, and I am known to have a bad memory...

Still, since your chosen topic as the Masters of Cue Sports, not only pool, I do wonder how you have chosen players like SVB before those as

Ceulemans
Hoppe
Blomdahl
O'Sullivan
White
Davis
A. Higgins
Hendry,

... just to mention some. To me, this kind of listing seems like an impossible task.
 
You have decided to go with quite an American-heavy field. I begun to list an alternative list but then realized that I was myself missing too many great players, and I am known to have a bad memory...

Still, since your chosen topic as the Masters of Cue Sports, not only pool, I do wonder how you have chosen players like SVB before those as

Ceulemans
Hoppe
Blomdahl
O'Sullivan
White
Davis
A. Higgins
Hendry,

... just to mention some. To me, this kind of listing seems like an impossible task.

We all have different opinions on the matter. Ultimately, I will have to make hard decisions, but I am trying to include all disciplines. I didn't include women or trick shot artists like Massey, Venom, or Allison Fisher. I do believe though that there are far more pool players than Snooker or billiards, more men than women, and American pool has a longer history and influence on pool than the other games - in my opinion. Therefore, looking at the BIG picture, the list should reflect that.
 
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