tomatoshooter
Well-known member
No idea. He probably realized he wasn't going to be one of the 4 guys making a living as a pool player and got a real job. I liked their announcing work, it felt like watching the game with a couple of friends.
Rafael Martinez.....??
- Thread starter garczar
- Start date
The first time I saw Rafael was sometime in the 80's at the Reno Open. I asked myself who is that little guy going through everyone like a buzz saw. He won that tournament and I think the payout was $10K. A week or so later there was a tournament at California Billiards in Mtn View CA. Rafael showed up and he was broke. He was drinking a lot. He won that tournament beating Keith McCreedy handily. I speak fluent Spanish, so I got to know him a bit during that tournament.
Over the next few years, he often showed up at Cal Billiard mostly for tournaments but sometimes passing through. I sometimes put him up at a hotel also he could stay longer and often we went out for meals, so I got to know him much better. He gave me several pool tips and sometimes lessons. i can tell you this. He did not grow up playing 3C. I asked him this very question. I think people assume this because in Mexico they play a lot of 3C. He grew up playing pocket pool and was taught by his father. He added his father would not show him everything he knew. He uses no aiming system. After the lessons he would tell me not to share this with anyone "you don't want to give the serpent wings" was his exact words. He stopped drinking and about a year ago I ran into a Mexican guy at the new Cal Billiards now in Fremont CA, who showed me a picture of Rafeal in Mexico. The guy told me the picture was a week or two old and Rafeal was beating everyone down there.
One story if you may. One day Rafael and I went out to lunch. After lunch we returned to Cal Billiards we began. One of the regulars told me that there was a guy there asking to play 9 ball for $50 a game. The guy was playing by himself, and I had never seen him before. He was about mid 40's in age. Knowing outsiders had to present a DL to play, I asked the cashier where the guy's DL said he was from. The cashier said Oregon. I went up to the guy and asked if still wanted a game. Right away he said yes, but then pointed to a young kid, about age 20'ish, playing by himself far on the other side of the room. I then pointed to Rafael and said fine that is the guy that he has to play. I told Rafael what I knew about the guys and told him I would stake him. Rafael said fine and added that guy can't beat me. I asked if he knew the kid and he said not but added I have been up in that whole area and if he could beat me, I would have known about him. Anyways, I wish I had a better ending but before the match could get started a bunch of the local guys rushed up to me with their money to get in on the action. As soon as the Oregon guy saw this he backed out.
Chen and Hillbilly were the top guys then and Jeremy Jones.I saw RM at a few Fast Eddies tour stops in Texas when that was going on still. There was a guy named Jui Lung Chen that seemed to be the top guy at most of those events from what I remember. Marco Marquez was at a few as well.
LOL this is cool...a quick google turned this up- I lived up to my Name Sake at this event btw.
Hillbilly Wins The Austin Fast Eddies Event
Hillbilly Wins The Austin Fast Eddies Event Hillbilly Wins The Austin Fast Eddies Event AZ Billiards July 9, 2006 The Fast Eddie’s Olhausen 9-Ball Tour held it’s 7th event of the…www.hillbillyonthehill.com
Rafael was kicked out of the Men's Pro Pool Tour back in the 80's for pulling a knife during his match at a Big event.
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tomatoshooter
Well-known member
Gotta wait until the match is over before you whip out the blade.
tomatoshooter
Well-known member
That's a lot of firepower! I'm watching Martinez-Archer 94 SRO semifinal, so I'll have to watch that later.
Watched that last night. Some of the shots he (had) to make....
pace of play was brilliant. no shot clock needed there!
tomatoshooter
Well-known member
He was a gunslinger, that's for sure! What a match. They both made some errors but they also both made amazing shots. If every match was like this pool would be a major spectator sport.
Great match!
Martinez has a monster stroke and somehow Earl hung in there.I enjoyed the commentary also...
They made some uncharacteristic errors at the beginning. Rafael certainly faded toward the end and kind of gave away the match, although Earl's play improved quite a bit at the the end of the match
phreaticus
Well-known member
Super fun match to watch. I forget what exact game it was, but somewhere in middle of the set, Earl broke dry & left the 1b barely visible, blocked & very long - Rafael caromed it in & ran out - spectacular!
tomatoshooter
Well-known member
Well he has won 6 world championships. I think the main reason Martinez hasn't won one is that he rarely plays safe if he has any shot at all. He shoots about as well as anybody, can move the cue ball as well as anybody, and often sees shots that no one besides Efren would see.
tomatoshooter
Well-known member
He's a walking highlight reel.
In the freewheeling department Rafael could give Rodney Morris the 6-out.
Years ago I watched Rafael win a tourney in the Pacific North West. I had never seen or heard of him before that. He played in control for most of the event, rarely would he try the crazy fastballs.
I kept thinking during the matches that someone would take him out, but after the weekend was over, no one even came close and there were some heavy hitters there.
I never noticed during that tourney his odd chalking habits.
Not often will you find someone who takes on tough cuts and makes them at warp speed.