No dispute that Efren is the GOAT, but who is the 9 ball GOAT?

jasonlaus said:
I watched 1 pocket sets in Vegas, where $250,000 was won before lunch and those were fairly regular games when I was staying out there.
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There was a guy who lived semi-close and had a few pool tables, one of which was a snooker table.
He was probably a C to D level player, but had an insane amount of money.

His thing was to get you to bet ridiculous amounts on reds to where you would be way out of your comfort zone. 12ft table too.
 
sjm said:
No way.

But the matter of the 9-ball GOAT is no bargain.

Certainly, deeply embedded in the discussion are names like Lassiter, Sigel, Strickland, Varner, Archer, Hall, SVB and Pagulayan. Filler is probably in the discussion already because of all his major titles, but it's too early in his career to pass judgement.

If we're looking for who had the highest gear ever seen, it's easy. Earl Strickland routinely beat champion after champion 11-2 when he was on. I've never seen anyone who's "A" game was higher than that of Earl.

If we're looking for the guy who had the longest streak of sustained excellence, I'd go with Sigel.

If we're looking for the player that ran the table with the most grace, it's Buddy Hall.

If we're looking for the player who best combined offensive excellence with tactical excellence, it's Pagulayan, or possibly Varner.

I've discussed this with Nick Varner. He thinks it's Luther Lassiter, whose domination at Johnston City at a time when every Johnston City field had 25 future BCA hall of famers is almost unfathomable.

For this fan, however, I think sustained excellence should be the measure and Sigel mass-produced major titles for the length of his career. Sigel is the nine ball GOAT.
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If Sigel was playing today , competition, I'd say yes, Today Earl... Guy
 
Cornerman said:
I’ll debate. When they polled the players for greatest of all the various disciplines in the early 90’s, Varner was voted as the top 9-baller.

Player of the Decade for the 80’s had to be Sigel

90’s was Archer

00’s was Mika

Earl had bursts, and was the greatest player of 1988. Not 1987 (Sigel) or 1989 (Varner). But his high gear was higher than any else’s. Efren is not in the discussion.
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It is true that various other players that you cited dominated particular decades or years. However, Earl was right up there across all those eras. And as I mentioned before, the tournament record, especially US Open and World Championship is where he really pulls away.
 
WobblyStroke said:
Top gear Earl is the epitome of 9b pool. When the guy had his head right he went deep. When he went deep, he barely ever lost. When he got into finals, he won em all. To go undefeated in major finals is truly unbelievable when you consider he played more than 10 of em. He did lose a straight pool final, but that aint 9b...where he's the clear GOAT imo. Great shotmaker, excellent tactician (once Efren forced it out of him), and pretty much the purest stroke ever seen. Early 90s to early 2000s Earl, when he was playing smart pool and not just firing at everything and took his technique to a new level to boot, was the best player I ever saw.

Efren's great, but his break keeps him out of GOAT contention for 9b.
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Efren was stalling on his break.
 
2002 WPA World Nine-ball Championship

1997 World Pool Masters

1994 PBT World Nine-ball Championship

1991 WPA World Nine-ball Championship

1990 WPA World Nine-ball Championship

1990 WPA World Pool Champion
 
u12armresl said:
There was a guy who lived semi-close and had a few pool tables, one of which was a snooker table.
He was probably a C to D level player, but had an insane amount of money.

His thing was to get you to bet ridiculous amounts on reds to where you would be way out of your comfort zone. 12ft table too.
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Fatboy? I wanna hear stories!
 
FunChamp said:
2002 WPA World Nine-ball Championship

1997 World Pool Masters

1994 PBT World Nine-ball Championship

1991 WPA World Nine-ball Championship

1990 WPA World Nine-ball Championship

1990 WPA World Pool Champion
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1997 World Pool Masters wouldn’t count. And you have two 1990 titles. That said, you’re missing the 1988 Brunswick World 9-ball.
 
ideologist said:
You immediately understood the point, why celebrate someone who only hurt the game? Vegas blacklisted pool because of these dickheads.

They made their payday and hurt the game forever, no amount of stumpjumping in Oklahoma or romantic tales of action can counteract that.
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I’m curious on who has ever confirmed this dump?


The Challenge of Champions went on for a few years after the 1991 event and they still made a line on it. 🤷🏻‍♂️


Lots of bullshit accusations but I’ve never ever seen anything from anyone except opinions.
 
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