Meaning behind Efren "I got Lucky"

ratnip

ratnip

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Anyone know the history behind Efren Manalang Reyes "I got Lucky"? I beleive the "lion" commented something where Efren Manalang Reyes told him:
"Efren Manalang Reyes is always lucky...lucky they invited him to the tournament":thumbup: Then Alex starts laughing of course.

Jay P.
 
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It is my uneducated guess that it came from a comment that Earl said in an interview after Efren had just beat him for the cheese in a tournament back around the early to mid-90's where Earl said afterward that Efren "got lucky".

Once again, I don't know, but I'm fairly certain I heard Earl utter these words after a tournament back in the 90's. If my theory is true, I imagine that Efren started muttering these words after many a great shooting performance to mock Earl for saying something that was probably a bit on the side of disrespect, and probably more on Efren's playful side than anything else.

Maniac
 
Maniac said:
It is my uneducated guess that it came from a comment that Earl said in an interview after Efren had just beat him for the cheese in a tournament back around the early to mid-90's where Earl said afterward that Efren "got lucky".

Once again, I don't know, but I'm fairly certain I heard Earl utter these words after a tournament back in the 90's. If my theory is true, I imagine that Efren started muttering these words after many a great shooting performance to mock Earl for saying something that was probably a bit on the side of disrespect, and probably more on Efren's playful side than anything else.

Maniac
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I could be wrong, but it strikes me as out of character for Efren to mock anyone.

I think Efren is just humble, and bragging or boasting or taking credit for being such a great player does not come natural to him.
 
another story

There are probably a million of them out there

The one I have been told is that when he first started playing around he beat Mizerak who made the comment that he would lock Efren up and Efren would kick 3 rails, make a good hit and leave Mizerak safe. Sounding a lot like Yogi Berra, Mizerak was quoted as saying how lucky Efren was as he did it to him all day long... it took a few more years for people to realize that Efren was good enough to actually be playing those shots.
 
Efren's a really humble guy, but because english is only his 3rd language, he can't express himself so well, and "I got lucky" is a bit lost in translation.

He says that all the time, in the local language, everytime he plays and wins tournaments.

What he really means is that "A little bit of good fortune and good rolls were on my side today, that's why I won."

He's not saying "I fluked it."

He readily admits that pool/billiards games all have some amount of luck needed to be successful. Have a bad luck night, and the object ball will always be in a less than ideal spot, and the game becomes harder than normal.
 
How can someone be on AZ Billiards (read billiards enthusiast) and misspell EFREN's name is beyond me... or did your keyboard get unlucky? :confused:
 
"I got lucky." Efren Reyes
Translation - "Who are these suckers who think I'm getting old?"
 
westcoast said:
Allen Hopkins would do that all the time too for some reason
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When Allen Hopkins was doing commentary on the Challenge of Champions one year he called Fong-pang Chao everything but his actual name. At one point he actually called him "Fang Pi".
 
ghost ball
How can someone be on AZ Billiards (read billiards enthusiast) and misspell EFREN's name is beyond me... or did your keyboard get unlucky?
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My bad on the misspelling...However, I am consistent! Didn't think this was a spelling contest. What did you win?
 
PoolBum said:
When Allen Hopkins was doing commentary on the Challenge of Champions one year he called Fong-pang Chao everything but his actual name. At one point he actually called him "Fang Pi".
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Yeah, I remember that. Allen doesn't strike me as the brightest fellow out there (of course his pool IQ is outstanding, but otherwise not very impressive). Speaking of Hopkins, I wonder why he stopped entering most tournaments. I mean he isn't that much older than Efren. Also, what happened to Sigel's comeback? He seems to have stopped playing as well
 
ratnip said:
My bad on the misspelling...However, I am consistent! Didn't think this was a spelling contest. What did you win?
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One doesn't exactly win...more like one doesn't lose.

I seem to recall more than a couple of folks who were never heard from again, after failing to correct repeated misspellings of Efren's name. Proceed with due caution.
 
BULAKENYO said:
Efren's a really humble guy, but because english is only his 3rd language, he can't express himself so well, and "I got lucky" is a bit lost in translation.

He says that all the time, in the local language, everytime he plays and wins tournaments.

What he really means is that "A little bit of good fortune and good rolls were on my side today, that's why I won."

He's not saying "I fluked it."

He readily admits that pool/billiards games all have some amount of luck needed to be successful. Have a bad luck night, and the object ball will always be in a less than ideal spot, and the game becomes harder than normal.
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Welcome to the forum!!! For your first post, you are pretty accurate. Based on your handle name, you are from Bulacan am I right? ( a province in PI)
As humble as Efren is, this new member hit it in the nuts. A local tv network in PI did an interview with Efren and he did say this. It's actually in youtube, unfortunately, the english subtitles were not finished through the whole video. He believes in "good fortune" and thus his superstitions about taking a shower and shirt that he's wearing and stuff...
 
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