I watched Raphael on Pro Pool Players .com and was very disappointed. Raphael still has tremendous ability he just doesn't look like he wants to win. He looks like he's bored with pool and is just going through the motions. Most of the time, he's two stroking shots. It's really disheartening when you know how much talent that man has!!!
Raphael Martinez
- Thread starter Rickw
- Start date
At least he's not dead. 
I hope he gets his act together.
I hope he gets his act together.
Fast Player
From what I've heard, Rafael has always been a fast player. He Finished 2nd in the Texas Open recently at 5am in the morning. He sure seemed to be having a good time to me!
(insert father bragging) My son had to play him in his second match!
He was happy though nervous. When down 8-0 in a race to nine, Ray Jr. was hooked and on the 4 ball. He made a length of the table kick followed by a 5-9 combo and a break and run. He lost 9-2, but had a great time. Rafael got a little serious after that 
but definetely was not bored. He played very well the entire tournament.
Ray
Rickw said:
From what I've heard, Rafael has always been a fast player. He Finished 2nd in the Texas Open recently at 5am in the morning. He sure seemed to be having a good time to me!
(insert father bragging) My son had to play him in his second match!
He was happy though nervous. When down 8-0 in a race to nine, Ray Jr. was hooked and on the 4 ball. He made a length of the table kick followed by a 5-9 combo and a break and run. He lost 9-2, but had a great time. Rafael got a little serious after that but definetely was not bored. He played very well the entire tournament. Ray
John Barton
New member
We used to sponsor Rafael and I once invited him to do a three day clinic for our pool club in Germany. Rafael is without a doubt one the most talented players on Earth. He is liable to win any tournament he plays in but definitely has some inner demons to conquer.
I would NEVER bet against Rafael no matter who he is playing, he can beat Yang, Shane, Orcullo, or lose to them badly depending on which Rafael shows up. Of course odds are that those players are going to win more sets but they are subject to lose any given set and by a wide margin against Rafael Martinez.
I personally think he is one of the coolest guys in pool. Great to hang out with and very personable. He has had a bit of a hard road as a player and the wear shows sometimes. I hope for the best and that he starts to post some big wins!
I would NEVER bet against Rafael no matter who he is playing, he can beat Yang, Shane, Orcullo, or lose to them badly depending on which Rafael shows up. Of course odds are that those players are going to win more sets but they are subject to lose any given set and by a wide margin against Rafael Martinez.
I personally think he is one of the coolest guys in pool. Great to hang out with and very personable. He has had a bit of a hard road as a player and the wear shows sometimes. I hope for the best and that he starts to post some big wins!
I agree, Rafael was a real special player in the early 90's. The ability is still there, you just don't see the same competitive fire he used to show. He used to be such an intense player. Now he looks like he's sleep walking during matches, and I see him struggling to beat guys he would have beaten giving up the 8 back then.Rickw said:
I couldnt agree anymore. Martinez is without a doubt an absolute monster on the table................when he shows up. It cracks me up that he "dies" every couple of years and disapears in to Mexico. Then he proceeds to come back from the dead and surprise alot of people by taking thier cash........lol. The man plays great.............................................just watch him some more......John Barton said:
John Barton said:
John,
Great post! What you said above is pretty much what I suspected. I believe he is a prodigy at pool and like many prodigies, he's a victim of his own inner demons.
I do enjoy watching him when he's into it! He definitely has some phenominal talent! Hopefully, we'll all get to watch him at his best again soon.
When he's in stroke he's more entertaining to watch than Efren. Rafael and Ernesto are probably the best two players to ever come out of Mexico, IMO.
Snapshot9 said:
I believe he was born on Feb 18, 1964
Ktown D said:
He does look older than he really is. More tired looking really. But, on page 80 of the Feb 1994 issue of BilliardsDigest, I re-checked and it says he was born on Feb 18, 1964. I keep stats on every pro player that I can find info on. It's all in a massive notebook. That's what I had marked down for him. But I double checked what I had with some of my source references and that D.O.B. is correct. In another article in 1993, he's refered to as 29 years old.
I agree with you that he looks older and worn down.
Ktown D said:
How old would you look if you had come back from the grave three times?
Raphael played over Labor day weekend at the Texas State 9 Ball Championships. He went through everyone one on the way to the finals like sh##t through a goose. He can still come with the stroke shots when he needs to. He hit one shot where he jacked up, cross banked the 4 ball in the corner and masse'd the cue ball the length of the table to get on the 5. Amazing!
He played Sylver Ochoa for the hot seat and was leading 4-1 in a race to 9. They got into a couple of safety battles and Sylver brought the score up to 4-3. Then, Sylver put a five pack on him. Raphael won one more game before Sylver shut him out.
Still has that phenonmenal stroke when he lets it out!
Stones
He played Sylver Ochoa for the hot seat and was leading 4-1 in a race to 9. They got into a couple of safety battles and Sylver brought the score up to 4-3. Then, Sylver put a five pack on him. Raphael won one more game before Sylver shut him out.
Still has that phenonmenal stroke when he lets it out!
Stones
John Barton
New member
Terry Ardeno said:
Terry,
You are scary.
Any chance you will put all that data online at some point? If you want to but find the work daunting get in touch with me and perhaps I can help you.
John
John Barton
New member
Stones said:
Speaking of awesome stroke shots: Here is one that Larry Nevel played AGAINST Rafael in a tournament in Germany. Rafael had just played a GREAT safety to cut off almost all avenues. Larry masses the cueball ito the rail at about the first diamond and kicks the two in to get shape on the 3 and run out. I think Larry won the match and the tournament from there.
I hope the Wei Table (cuetable) came up right - I really don't know how to use it and miss the old one. :-( I know the new one is much better but it's also harder to use.
John Barton said:Terry,
You are scary.
Any chance you will put all that data online at some point? If you want to but find the work daunting get in touch with me and perhaps I can help you.
John
John,
I sent some of the stuff to Mike here at AZB several months ago. I have no idea what his intentions are with it. I never heard anything back from him.
I asked my wife to make sure when I die that somebody who would use it gets my pool stats / notes. I wouldn't want somebody to be looking for them someday like the infamous Hayden Lingo One Pocket notes.
Seriously, someday, I would like to write a book on the great pool players.
I have so many ideas but so little time. Perhaps a series of books with a chapter devoted to each player, like a series of life overviews.
Thanks so much for your offer to help. I'm a dummy with computers so maybe one day, we can brain-storm.
Thanks for the kind comments also.
Terry