Question about Jose Parica

cj has a house , money , retired, and a good happy life. that is a sign of success.
different than most of the other top players from any era.
 
I've always said CJ is the most successful pool players of all time. He turned himself into a millionaire and it started with his pool game and then went into business adventures. Unfortunately his game today is only a fraction of his old self, but I'm sure he wouldn't change anything.
 
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JAM said:
Yep. I was sitting next to Buddy Hall on the rail. When Keith missed that ball after saying, "You can put that in the internet," I cringed. The entire room broke out in laughter and cheers. Sally Timko of InsidePOOL replied, "We will." Everybody loved it except me. I turned to Buddy and said, "What am I going to do?" Buddy said, "Hope he gets another shot," which he did. Whew!

Meanwhile, on the live stream table, Efren and Busty were in a match. They started watching Keith and Alex, as were the entire audience. Efren started laughing. They eventually had to actually stop playing until The Keith and Alex Show ended. Johnny Archer was on the next table, and he also quit playing until Keith and Alex's match ended.

Across the room, high in the bleachers. Mika Immonen and Marcus Chamat laughed so hard that Marcus fell out of his bleacher seat. Everybody was having a good time except me. You could fry an egg on my head at that moment.

Billy Incardona and Jim Wych commentating for Accu-Stats. Billy Incardona: "Don't write a check with your mouth that you can't cash when you're at the table."

Check it out. I put it at the counter mark where it starts. You can hear Keith chirping in the background, and soon the cameras zoom in on their match:

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Thank you T411 for "liking" a couple of my previous posts on this old thread.

I just re-watched the "You can put that on the internet" thread between Keith McCready and Alex Pagulayan, and I can't believe I never noticed and/or thought about this previously. The last game in the hill-hill thriller, Keith bends down to shoot the 5 left-handed and pulls back. Keith accidentally moved the 9 ball. Instead of losing because of all-ball foul rule, Alex walked up to the table and moved the 9 ball back, allowing Keith to continue shooting for the win.

Shot I'm talking about --> Alex v. Keith at 2003 US Open
 
Positively Ralf said:
I was talking to an older coworker who followed pro pool on TV in the 80s and 90s and it is really fun always talking to him. He followed the game pretty hardcore and even went out to some non TV tournaments like the big ones out in California.

Anyways, he mentioned Jose Parica. He told me that he feels that Efren's star power, how everyone loved him and how much the TV executives always preferred him over others due to ratings overshadowed how much better Parica was that Efren. Now dont get him wrong, he knows TV is about entertainment and outside of Strickland, it was hard to find a better showman for the game than Efren.

So my question is for all of you who watched both at their best, was Parica considered the better player between he and Efren? Or is this the case of my coworker just liking Parica's game more than Efren's?
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There’s no doubt that Efren was better than Jose in pro tournaments, but some say in money matches Jose had a slight edge.
 
8intheside said:
There’s no doubt that Efren was better than Jose in pro tournaments, but some say in money matches Jose had a slight edge.
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... assuming we are talking 9ball, some would say Jose had a big edge, including me.
 
JAM said:
I feel the need to interject that when Efren first came to the States, he wouldn't play Keith McCready even, meaning no spot, in any game. Efren's backers steered him away from Keith. Fast forward to when Keith aged well into his 40s and 50s. Efren and Keith matched up many times in games of stake. Efren did spot Keith in one-pocket in the later years of Keith's life. The two of them didn't engage in games of stake in 9-ball very often, though. One-pocket was, and still is, the game of kings, veterans players, and champions.

I find these "Who's the Best" threads really challenging to read sometimes. When we'd go to regional tour events, I'd always get a kick out of somebody saying, with pride, "I beat Jim Rempe" or "I beat Keith McCready" or "I beat Jose Parica" or "I beat Earl Strickland." Of course, they were not in their prime, number one. Number two, in case you haven't noticed, 9-ball, with it's short races, is dependent on the break and whether the rack is fair. Let's be honest about it. The luck factor is major in 9-ball, unless, of course, it's an ahead game or a race to 100. 9-ball with its short races is quite different than one-pocket which requires cueing skills of all levels, e.g., defense/offense, banking, long shots, et cetera. The break in one-pocket doesn't usually determine the winner of the frame/game. This is why most seasoned pros prefer one-pocket for action.

Not taking anything away from Efren Reyes. Of course, he's the GOAT of pool. When you can get a photo of Efren smiling, you've got a pool treasure, and I got one. Why? Because Efren and Keith are good friends and remain that way today. They've both been through quite a few battles together and still have a great deal of respect for each other. Photo taken in 2003 at the U.S. Open in Virginia.
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Jam I love this post! I could not agree more! So many times on here I’ve bitten my tongue because it’s not worth the arguments. You could not have said it any better respectfully! 😉
 
book collector said:
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.
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Filler plays better than efren did
 
Island Drive said:
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.
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Da Dong is the nickname for Leonardo Andam, another filipino great! He made a run across the USA and beat everybody he played. Passed away a few years ago.
 
How old was Andam? I just finished watching a couple of his 1990s US Open matches. One against Jim Rempe and the other against Efren Reyes. He must not have been all that old - was he?
 
Island Drive said:
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.
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You may be referring to Leonardo "Dodong" Andam, a top pro who sadly died in a motorcycle accident in the Philippines in 2014, only 55 years old.
 
sjm said:
Parica was the better 9-ball player, even when Efren was selected to square off against Earl. Jose was the most feared money player in the 1990s and told me at the time that nobody would play him a ten ahead race at 9ball.

Efren, of course, was the better all-around player, but he was never the favorite over Jose at 9ball in the years in which they were both in their prime.
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Stu, that ten ahead story doesn't surprise me one bit! If anybody else needs confirmation as how good he was just ask Buddy (RIP) 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!
 
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jay helfert said:
No one and I mean NO ONE would gamble even with Jose at 9-Ball or Ten Ball for nearly twenty years! He was Amang (The Man) in the Philippines and he was THE MAN here as well. Interestingly though, Efren was still considered the better player at the Philippine's main game Rotation. Many don't know that in that game, which takes equal skill to One Pocket, Efren dominated for decades. Some of our top pros found out the hard way. Efren also excelled at One Pocket (we all know that), Snooker and Three Cushions. He may have been one of the top two All Around players of all time. Harold Worst is still the best in that category.

In my opinion, Jose Parica was the best 9-Ball or Ten Ball player I ever saw. His record in tournaments was good, but not great. He excelled in long matches where serious money was at stake. He seemed to thrive on pressure, and applied it liberally to his opponents. The next best pressure player was Dennis Orcollo who never flinched when big money was on the line.
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You would consider Jose to be a better 9-ball player than a prime Earl or Buddy..?In your opinion, what did he do better than them?
 
Tin Man said:
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!
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Well, she did beat Buddy and Sigel but I don't think she could have won a men's event.
 
Baby Huey said:
Regarding Jose's pool skills, I think he pocketed the object ball as good or better than anyone I ever saw. His nine/ten ball game was superior to Efren because of Jose having a better break. Jose would go weeks sometimes months and not play at all. He could practice for a couple of days and his game would be back 100%. In long sessions I would take him over anyone of his era. I just saw him a couple of weeks ago and he still looks like a little kid with that infectious smile of his and ready to play. HA
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In my opinion Earl is the best shotmaker that ever lived.Not only with regards of the difficulty of shots but the pressure under which he would execute them.According to Parica he nearly beat him every time in tournament play.If the have a gambling history is unbeknownst (a Gradysm) to me...
 
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