Question about Jose Parica

[book collector]

The way you put this, it sounds like you are saying Parica had a little dog in him. No freaking way! Parica was one of the greatest money players that ever loved. I am not saying he was better than Efren but there was no dog in Parica.

Parica was a pitbull, all of the Philipino's I have seen, are pitbulls , not sure how you got that idea from what I posted. I have always been a big Parica fan , I just feel Efren performed better . and for a period of 35 years
Parica might have played twice as well as Efren , but his record does not show it. and if we are going to rate people on what someone says , Don Willis is the greatest player who ever lived. {But he isn't}
The mention of no dogging it by Efren , was because if you showed any sign of weakness to Parica , he played even better. I erased that equation with Efren. He missed fewer balls when the big pressure was on , than any player, I ever saw play.

 

[Tin Man]

I watched both live for many years at the US Open 9-Ball Championships. Jose was great, but, except for his 9-ball break, Efren was better.

Here's what Robert Byrne related in his book, "Byrne's Wonderful World of Pool and Billiards" in the chapter entitled "The Man Behind the Videotapes," which is about Pat Fleming and his TPA ratings:

A player's TPA has a powerful predictive value. For instance, when Efren Reyes and Jose Parica came to the United States from the Philippines, most observers ranked them as roughly equal, but Pat Fleming soon was able to tell that Reyes was far superior. His TPA was around .910 while Parica's was around .830. A difference that great means two different classes of player, even though it's hard to separate them by casual observation. In the same way, it was easy to see that Jean Balukas was a fully competitive player because she was racking up TPAs of .900 playing against men.

You can take this with a grain of salt if you like. Likewise, Jose may have been sandbagging to get better money matches. So, in the end, maybe only Amang knows for sure.

I'm skeptical of the sample size of Jean Balukas. I'm guessing she would have been the equivalent of a 720-750 Fargo Rated player today. Her high run in straight pool shows as 134 whereas all the top players today that play the game run multiple hundereds. I can see how she might have towered over the other women of that era, and how she might have turned in a few greats sets and beat some top players. But calling her competitive with the men implies she was on the same level, and I don't think this was quite it.

And NO WAY did she play better than Parica!

 

[sparkle84]

I'm skeptical of the sample size of Jean Balukas. I'm guessing she would have been the equivalent of a 720-750 Fargo Rated player today. Her high run in straight pool shows as 134 whereas all the top players today that play the game run multiple hundereds. I can see how she might have towered over the other women of that era, and how she might have turned in a few greats sets and beat some top players. But calling her competitive with the men implies she was on the same level, and I don't think this was quite it.

And NO WAY did she play better than Parica!

My guess would be closer to 700 even. That may seem low but you have to consider the conditions and LOC. I'm sure if she played today she'd be up there with the best.

As for Parica, there's no way there'd be an 80 pt. difference in Fargo between he and Efren.

I played him a couple times (got humiliated). The guy was other worldly on extreme cuts. Especially when slow spinning from distance. Never saw anyone even close in that regard.

 

[sjm]

Stu, that ten ahead story doesn't surprise me one bit! If anybody else needs confirmation as how good he was just ask Buddy or Rodney.

On a side note, during the 90's while working for UAL I had a Filippino co-worker named Alex who was a good player in his own right. At one tournament during the mid 90's at the Sands, he introduced me to both Efren and Jose both of whom greeted me warmly. During that evening after tournament hours we met and had drinks with Jose and his friends at the Sand's bar down on the main floor. I remember Jose being engaging and affable and like all pro's loved to tell stories of his past wins, but also unashamedly talked about his loses as well. I ended up getting bombed on gin and tonics and am lucky to remember it at all! A very enjoyable evening to say the least!

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

 

[PoolBum]

A player's TPA has a powerful predictive value. For instance, when Efren Reyes and Jose Parica came to the United States from the Philippines, most observers ranked them as roughly equal, but Pat Fleming soon was able to tell that Reyes was far superior. His TPA was around .910 while Parica's was around .830.

I'd have to see some serious proof that Parica's overall TPA was only around .830. Are you sure that wasn't just for one tournament?

 

[sjm]

I'm skeptical of the sample size of Jean Balukas. I'm guessing she would have been the equivalent of a 720-750 Fargo Rated player today. Her high run in straight pool shows as 134 whereas all the top players today that play the game run multiple hundereds. I can see how she might have towered over the other women of that era, and how she might have turned in a few greats sets and beat some top players. But calling her competitive with the men implies she was on the same level, and I don't think this was quite it.

And NO WAY did she play better than Parica!

I saw all of Jean's prime up close. I think that you've got her level of play at 9ball about right. No way she was ever 750, probably more like 725. Still, she was as talented as any woman that ever picked up a cue stick. She had nobody pushing her to reach her potential. She was winning everything in sight and had no reason to raise her level any higher than where it was.

Jean's main rivals, Robin Bell Dodson, Belinda Bearden Calhoun, Loree Jon Jones and Ewa Mataya Laurance, rarely beat her. Allison, on the other hand, had Karen Corr, Ga Young Kim, Gerda Hofstatter, Jasmin Ouschan and Jeanette Lee to push her to her to a higher and higher level. The bar has been raised again by Han Yu and Siming Chen and I suspect the level will go even higher. Comparisons across generations are near impossible.

Finally, as for Jean's high run, it means nothing. Women's world championship matches were races to 75 and only the final went to 100. Jean didn't practice much, and certainly played better 14.1 than many who'd run over 200 multiple times. Talk to the male pros of that era and they'll tell you she was a Top 30 player in the world at straight pool.

 

[maha]

you must compare at their peak not at the same time. two different scenarios if trying to define who was best.

don willis
jose
efrin
lassiter
mosconi
mizerack
buddy hall
mike segal and others

and others at their PEAK beat every single other person they played or was a favorite to.
who was better than who??

 

[sjm]

So this has me wondering how can one say who is the better player? If 9 ball is the premier test of skill, then it was Parica. But pool is not just 9 ball, it is onepocket, banks, 14.1, 8 Ball and more. My vote goes to Efren. And I would also like to cast a vote that the other games need more play.

It's all an academic discussion amongst pool fan(atic)s I guess. SJM, I always enjoy your well reasoned thoughts and of course your epic tourney recaps. Well played sir, keep at it please.

Yes, because of his all-around play, Efren must be viewed as having had the better career of the two. Still, he was never Jose's equal at 9ball, and this was in part due to his having a weak break. CJ Wiley had a habit of chasing down Efren for action because of that weak break, but he knew better than to even try Parica, who was at a higher level.

 

[jay helfert]

About Dennis, you said before he is no longer the player he once was? So did he end up finally flinching? In all seriousness, I've not had the opportunity to watch him play in forever, but his top tier play has been forever burned into my brain. So did he just stop playing or what? Just curious as a fan.

I think it's a combination of things, probably the most pressing (and depressing) his being unable to enter the United States where he made the bulk of his living for fifteen years. There are other factors which I prefer not to discuss publicly.

 

[jay helfert]

Yes, because of his all-around play, Efren must be viewed as having had the better career of the two. Still, he was never Jose's equal at 9ball, and this was in part due to his having a weak break. CJ Wiley had a habit of chasing down Efren for action because of that weak break, but he knew better than to even try Parica, who was at a higher level.

Bingo! Stu knows

 

[sparkle84]

I think it's a combination of things, probably the most pressing (and depressing) his being unable to enter the Unites States where he made the bulk of his living for fifteen years. There are other factors which I prefer not to discuss publicly.

Depressing is right. If I had to pick one guy to shoot a shot for my life it would be Dennis. Miss him.

 

[jmelvin23]

Jay how about? Do Dong?
Pinoy for sure but, not sure if the above name is correct.
Wore T shirts never dressed sharp but a monster, kind of looked like a raggedy bar table player.
He came to Denver in 80's.
Medina didn't like it on the 4 1/4'' GC table.

You're probably thinking of Leonardo Andam. Unfortunately he died in a motorcycle accident in 2014: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Andam

 

[Island Drive]

Yep, Andam thx Jay and for the link.
What did your Pinoy roommates, back at your old digs/day say about this man?

 

[pvc lou]

Bingo! Stu knows

Oh yea? Well, none of those guys ever beat me.

 

[Dead Money]

Oh yea? Well, none of those guys ever beat me.

Same.

Lots of good info here btw!

 

[nine_ball6970]

Here is an excerpt from his wiki page:

Parica had won over 100 international tournaments, including titles in the United States, the Philippines and Japan. In 1988, Parica participated in the Japanese circuit, winning the All Japan Championship in 9-Ball. That same year in Japan, he won the JPPA World 9-Ball Championship, sanctioned by the Japan Pool Players Association, which hosted the largest tournament at the time, with 900 players participating, which was a record number of participants in a tournament at the time. Parica beat Efren Reyes 9–3 in the finals, earning the first prize of $39,000 for his victory. This made Parica the first male Asian player to win a world championship in pocket billiards.

 

[Poolmanis]

Efren was better player always than Parica IMHO. Parica had way better break than Efren in 9-ball. That gave him edge over Efren on 9-ball..

 

[maha]

jose was also 5 years older so was past his peak at efrins peak.

apples and oranges.

 

[nine_ball6970]

Efren was better player always than Parica IMHO. Parica had way better break than Efren in 9-ball. That gave him edge over Efren on 9-ball..

That's kind of how I feel regarding svb. I think there are some players who play better than he does after the break but that doesn't take away from how great he is.

Parica was 50 when derby city started. He won a bank title at 52, one pocket title at 54 and all around at 53 in a year he didn't win any of the events. He won a number of one pocket tournaments in the 90s. It seems like he was a more well rounded player than most people give him credit for. I'd imagine he was pretty good at straight pool and 8 ball too.

 

[stevelomako]

One big difference between Efren and Jose

Efren only worried about playing pool and pool only and he always had the best of it.
He never gave up the nuts and if he saw he had the worst of it, he’d quit.
No shame about it because that’s what he was here for. He didn’t come to the States to be a sucker.

Now Jose…he had a lot of irons in the fire to do with gambling. He would give up the nuts in pool to play. He played all games and was the better one pocket player than Efren (Jose at gambling but Efren in tournaments) Jose also liked the ponies as much if not better than pool. He would hang out at the bar and was a funny son of a bitch.

They were both great great players but had different priorities.

Efren had his family in the Philippines to support.

Jose lived in California and his wife was a nurse who did well financially.