Masters Of The Cue Ball

Cannonball55

Cannonball55

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This thread is all about the greatest cue ball wizards of all time . The guys that have otherwordly control of their rock . Not so much the gunslingers and the guys that are great shotmakers but use multiple rail position, no this is a discussion about the true cue ball masters, the guys that literally have the cue ball on a string and are pin point and exact about their position to the point where if they are off by a c%$t hair you will know it!

Masters Of The Cue Ball ( if you say it out loud and with authority it sounds like a super hero ) :wink:

Don Watson : Portland Don was a true cueball mechanic if there ever was one. This guy never got out of line, I mean never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, got out of line . He was a true master

Jim Rempe : King James played pool the way it's supposed to be played. He is textbook 101 from the top of his head to the bottom of his shoes, his 14:1 cue ball is so solid it's ridiculous! If you could build a pool frankenstein out of some of the best stuff that was available, I guarantee it would look a lot like Rempe ( not saying that rempe looks like frankenstein ):grin: He is pool's greatest ambassador

Buddy Hall : This man's 9ball cue ball control is absolutely unmatched! To call it legendary would'nt even scratch the surface. Talk about having a cue ball on a string! wow! He's not the most exciting player to watch play because ( like a noted road player would say ) all he shoots are easy shots ( because his cb is always perfect ) If he's not a Master of the Cueball then grits aint grocery, eggs ain't poultry & Mona Lisa was a man!

Jimmy Reid : If you watch this great champion play eight ball, its sortof like watching a surgeon at work! Jimmy Reid was so good at getting the perfect angle every time and falling just right every damn time . I'm telling you, Jimmy Reid's cue ball was jam up! especially in 8ball . If you all have never seen Jimmy play pool you guys have truely missed out on a true master.

Mike Sigel & Larry Hubbart : I group both of these guys together because they both were alike in that they played picture perfect shape. In the 80's there may have not been a better all around player in the world like Sigel. Out of line for him was missing his shape by an eigth of an inch, if you think i'm lying just ask him ...... he'll tell you

Efren Reyes : Some of you will disagree with me but all i have to do is to ask you why there is still no one in this world that would play Efren even 1P. Well, that is unless they are mad with their wallet ( or their stakehorses wallet but that's another thread ) Efren manipulates his cueball in 1P like a bonafide maestro! Efren is the only guy that I have ever seen that can execute three rails kicks like they are hangers! I mean, i have seen him do things with his cueball that are supernatural. Real X-files type of stuff " Skully, Skully, di you just see that?" A master and a gentlemen to boot.


These are just a few that come to mind, feel free to chime in
 
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Buddy Hall is who comes to mind, he has better control of his rock than anyone.

Great thread/first post!!:thumbup:
 
My little Fillipino champion Jose Parica he is a no frills, stopping on a dime, picture perfect shape playing, methodical, six balls ahead shooting runout machine.
 
I dont think there is any player that ever made 9ball look so easy as Earl when he was in gear. People don't give him enough credit for his cueball.
 
masters of the cue ball couldn't be complete without straight pool wizard Danny Barouty(my dark horse pick)

I Definately agree with Buddy

How about another one I haven't seen mentioned yet... Marco Marquez. I saw him do some realllly sick stuff playing one pocket in Mississippi a few years ago that really burnt into my memory.

Efren, Parica and Cliff belong on this list of course but I think they're both a little behind Alex and LeeVan for rotation games. I feel the opposite is true for onepocket

Of course this is all IN MY OPINION.

Thx for an interesting thread
 
1on1pooltournys said:
Don't forget Nick Varner. The only player (I believe) to beat Efren in a challenge match in the Phillipines.
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He did? i did'nt know that. The little kentucky colonel could play now
 
Fatboy said:
Buddy Hall is who comes to mind, he has better control of his rock than anyone.

Great thread/first post!!:thumbup:
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I gotta go aloong with you on this one. I had the good fortune to see Buddy play many times back in the mid 70's when eh had everyone scratching their heads just as Efren did a couple of years ago in Louisville.

Buddy was an absolute perfectionist and played the game a notch above the best. He would take a simple pattern which looked like a no brainer and all of a sudden with the flick of his wrist get to th other side of a ball and then it might hit the whole rail that though it looked so simple, it was absolute genious.

When he caught his gear and got zoned, it like poetry in motion. I've not ween anyone match it in my lifetime.
 
huckster said:
My little Fillipino champion Jose Parica he is a no frills, stopping on a dime, picture perfect shape playing, methodical, six balls ahead shooting runout machine.
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Parica was the leader of the fillipino invasion. One helluva player!
 
Cannonball55 said:
This thread is all about the greatest cue ball wizards of all time . The guys that have otherwordly control of their rock . Not so much the gunslingers and the guys that are great shotmakers but use multiple rail position, no this is a discussion about the true cue ball masters, the guys that literally have the cue ball on a string and are pin point and exact about their position to the point where if they are off by a c%$t hair you will know it!

Masters Of The Cue Ball ( if you say it out loud and with authority it sounds like a super hero ) :wink:

Don Watson : Portland Don was a true cueball mechanic if there ever was one. This guy never got out of line, I mean never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, got out of line . He was a true master


since we're naming older players, Boston Shorty, after about 30 minutes of play got position 18" or so from the object ball with the proper angle. although short, he rarely had to use a crutch .he was a machine as was buddy.i haven't seen most of the later players. earl was all over the place, hence learning the jump shot, but "great". Greg stevens could put the cue ball anywhere he wanted it but didn't, position got in his way, he just turned his stroke loose and if he could see the next ball he was happy.
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If the criterion is "it's a huge surprise when they miss position by even a millimeter, and you can tell they're upset about it", then from all accounts I've heard Willie Mosconi is your guy.

-Andrew
 
Neil said:
Can't leave out Irving Crane. Playing 14.1, while still having a full rack, he would look at his wife in the stands. She would then let him know what ball to use as the next break ball. By the time he got through the rack, the ball she picked would be in perfect position for the next break shot. You don't get much better than that. It didn't seem to matter where it was, he would manuever it around to a good break position.
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Is that like the guy who has played and coached football all his life and after a score some little guy runs up with a cheat sheet to help him figure out whether to go for one or two ?
PS; Irving Crane was most def a great position player, not sure about the little woman.
 
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Neil said:
Nope, re-read it. His wife would pick the ball BEFORE he made the break shot. He would then manuever that ball to be his next break ball. Think about how difficult, and the cb control necessary, to do that.

Another one I heard of, but don't know if it is actual fact or just legend- Michael Euphemia could take a full rack, and tell you what balls were going in what pockets, and the order of making them, before he broke the rack open.
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oh yeah, i understood that, my question was why. the story about Euphemia would be amazing, and is also hard for an old fool like me to believe, but i've heard many great things about his game. i've heard of a game years ago that they shook the pills,and to win, you had to make your own ball playing rotation. make someone else's, he paid you, make your own everyone paid you. it was said some times a player made his ball on the break, as the regulars knew how to break to try and make one from any spot in the rack. i'm getting so feeble, i can't remember what they called this game ? like kelly pool ,but not.
 
I don't know that he controlled it as acurately as any of the guys listed in this post but Rod Curry could make that big ass cue ball of his get pretty active. One thing that I have allways admired about Buddy Hall is that his first shot may have english that few people are capable of using on it but from there he was in line so well that stop shots and middle ball would get him out.
 
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Neil said:
I can't say for sure on the why. But I would suspect it was for several reasons. To keep his wife feeling like she was a part of his game; to keep her interested in the shot by shot play; to challenge himself and keep his own mind sharp about just what he was doing.

He wouldn't do that all the time, but after his death, his wife revealed that was a little 'game' they played together. She said it didn't matter if the ball she picked ended up on the rail at the wrong end of the table, he would still get it positioned down by the rack!
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Thats a class act... Todays sport needs a few more like Mr. Crane.
 
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