Ray Martin..."The Man"

Seth C. said:
Yes, he was terrific in these 8 ball matches in 2005. Now, for those who haven’t seen it, here he is in 2011, in his mid-70’s, taking out the then-defending champion of the World 14.1 Tournament - Oliver Ortmann. If you like to watch straight pool, you will be in heaven watching this match!

https://youtu.be/UcquCQEjHHs
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That was the year (2011) Ray was inducted into the 14.1 Hall of Fame, so they actually got him to play in the event. His match with Ortmann was in the group (round-robin) stage. Sigel and Parica were also in their group. Ray and Oliver both finished that group stage at 5-2. Ray then lost his next match and was out; Oliver won just one more match after the group stage.

Check out the 11th rack of this match -- it ran about 25 minutes starting at about 1:15. They played 12 innings each, with 17 safeties (12 in a row) and 4 intentional fouls.
 
lfigueroa said:
It is for this very same reason that some of us have to chuckle when comparisons are made between newer players and the elders when it comes to 14.1.

It’s not really close.

Lou Figueroa
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It really is all about the cue ball - the old timers who were great played the cue ball to a dime very consistently; but could still be great shotmakers, and execute power strokes fairly effortlessly- they were complete players!
 
IPT action, it brought a lot of pool players out retirement.
Ray Martin is one of the best pool ambassadors and to be able to see him play is a real bonus.
 
sjm said:
I was front and center when Ray won the 1978 PPPA World 14.1 Championship, topping the defending champion Allen Hopkins in the final. He was a very special player and merits mention among the greatest ever straight poolers. Only Mosconi, Greenleaf, Crane, Sigel and Varner were a clear cut above Ray at 14.1. Ray is more on a par with names like Balsis, Hopkins, Lassiter, Caras, and West. Ray was as classy as he was skillful --- a role model of the highest order.

I do not agree that he was just as capable at nine ball. Ray, as was true of several of the old straight pool masters, was not nearly as successful at nine ball when it replaced straight pool as the primary game.
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You left The Miz off your list. He belongs up there right behind Greenleaf and Mosconi. Definitely the best Straight Pool player of the modern era, no offense to Sigel and Varner.

Ha Ha, I see whare Chris busted you too. Don't worry, I do that stuff all the time. We've both seen so many great players. Guys I tend to leave out sometime (for whatever reason) are Ray, Dallas West and Jim Rempe. All great players!
 
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tonyboy59 said:
I have been a fan of Ray Martin since I first picked up his book "The 99 Critical Shots in Pool" a long time ago and revisit it often for tips. Seems his playing time was the late 60's through the 80's and couple of respectable placings in the early 90's. He's mostly known for his straight pool but is equally adept in 9-ball and 8-ball.

I ran across these two clips on YouTube where a then 69 year old Martin took on a young gun by the name of Corey Duel and a guy by the name of Efren Reyes (both needs no introduction). Watch what happens when they meet this elder billiard statesman in the 2005 "King of the Hill" 8-ball tourney where the IPT was trying to make their mark in the pool world and invited anyone to play for big money who was still able to handle a cue.

Watch the top one first (his match with Corey) then the second one with Efren. I watched both of these three times and never got bored...interesting commentary by Duel.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojLwMG5naNE&spfreload=10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6A5ELgtdMI&spfreload=10
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Thanks for this OP. "The Man" still hangs out in Raleigh and is a treasured asset.

Keith
 
Straightpool_99 said:
I watched the match against Deuel, and man, Deuels comments and haircut sure made it hard to cheer him on...
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:lol: that hair was getting him chicks back in twenty oh five! I agree on the comments, he was mad that the cool cat wouldn’t lay down just because he couldn’t get through the round robin.

That would kind of suck being in that situation but still
 
Diamond tables

Watching these IPT videos from 2005 and seeing simple misses,
I wonder when did diamond tables start being used in pro tournaments?
 
tonyboy59 said:
I have been a fan of Ray Martin since I first picked up his book "The 99 Critical Shots in Pool" a long time ago and revisit it often for tips. Seems his playing time was the late 60's through the 80's and couple of respectable placings in the early 90's. He's mostly known for his straight pool but is equally adept in 9-ball and 8-ball.

I ran across these two clips on YouTube where a then 69 year old Martin took on a young gun by the name of Corey Duel and a guy by the name of Efren Reyes (both needs no introduction). Watch what happens when they meet this elder billiard statesman in the 2005 "King of the Hill" 8-ball tourney where the IPT was trying to make their mark in the pool world and invited anyone to play for big money who was still able to handle a cue.

Watch the top one first (his match with Corey) then the second one with Efren. I watched both of these three times and never got bored...interesting commentary by Duel.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojLwMG5naNE&spfreload=10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6A5ELgtdMI&spfreload=10
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Ray is one of our last remaining living links and resources to the final 20 years when straight pool was still the game of choice in the 1960s and 1970s. As Ray is still active at Brass Rail Billiards in Raleigh, NC, not only as an instructor but also in still being able to demonstrate what he’s teaching through his playing, it’s amazing to me he is not absolutely swamped for lessons, at the very reasonable price that he charges. Once Ray is no longer with us, the last remaining link for passing down that 14.1 knowledge from players of that era will be gone.
 
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I've never paid for a pool lesson but if I was going to I'd seek out Ray Martin.
 
ChrisinNC said:
Once Ray is no longer with us, the last remaining link for passing down that 14.1 knowledge from players of that era will be gone.
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Wow, gotta disagree here, as Dallas West, Nick Varner, Mike Sigel and Allen Hopkins are all still alive, all of them contemporaries of Ray.
 
measureman said:
Ray was a generation before these guys.
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Not disagreeing with you, but I feel like Dallas West was closer to the timeframe as Mr. Martin. Ray is around 5 years older, but that is closer in age to the other 3 players mentioned.
 
sjm said:
Wow, gotta disagree here, as Dallas West, Nick Varner, Mike Sigel and Allen Hopkins are all still alive, all of them contemporaries of Ray.
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Dallas West 5 years younger, Buddy Hall 10 years younger, Jim Rempe 12 years younger, Alan Hopkins and Nick Varner 13 years younger, Mike Sigel 17 years younger. Yes, all of them played with Martin in the latter half of Ray’s prime years in the 1970s, but not in the early part of his prime years in the 1960s, which go back as far as players like Luther Wimpy Lassiter who were still actively playing tournaments at that time.
 
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ChrisinNC said:
Dallas West 5 years younger, Buddy Hall 10 years younger, Jim Rempe 12 years younger, Alan Hopkins and Nick Varner 13 years younger, Mike Sigel 17 years younger. Yes, all of them played with Martin in the latter half of Ray’s prime years in the 1970s, but not in the early part of his prime years in the 1960s, which go back as far as players like Luther Wimpy Lassiter who were still actively playing tournaments at that time.
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Ray's greatest successes came in the 1970's, not the 1960's, and, though a bit older than the others, he was not from a different generation of players than those mentioned. They all came from the golden age of straight pool, and they all competed together on the best pro pool tour back then, called the PPPA tour. Hopkins may well have been Ray's greatest rival.
 
Somebody told me the other day that Ray Martin and I share the same birthday, along with Ewa Laurance, Jackie Gleason, and Johnny Cash. :)

Listen to what Steve Mizerak had to say in May 1981 about how he got selected for the Miller Lite beer commercial for which he is fondly remembered:

When I was picked, they said we're all going to go over one morning and read the script at McCann-Erickson and shoot pool. I never got a script until I got there. Everyone else got a script beforehand, but me.

Now I got there, and I was the last. I don't know whether I was last on purpose or what, but the other three guys already had done their takes...one guy had 15, one had 21, and the other had 31...I took over 50 takes...I was in there 3-1/2 hours. Because I had so many takes, I figured I would never make it, but I got it!

The four pool players who read for the parts that Mizerak is referring to were, of course, Mizerak, and Ray Martin, Peter Margo, and Allen Hopkins. Just another interesting little American pool factoid.

Ray Martin has a Wiki page, but, unfortunately, as it is with most American champions from the past, there is not much data to gather to plant on his page. Everything in Wikipedia must be backed up with references. It's a real PITA to go to the trouble to create and add to a Wiki page only to have some bot delete everything you posted because you didn't back it up with references. Well, there aren't many references in American pool from Ray's era, other than the Natonal Billiards News, BD, and P&B Magazine. :sorry:

Ray Martin's Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Martin_(pool_player)

Did you know our own AzBilliards digitized the National Bililards News, what issues they could find? Check it out: http://www.azbilliards.com/goldmine/publications/1-the-national-billiard-news/

According to Wiki: Ray Martin (born 1936) is an American professional pool player, nicknamed "Cool Cat". He acquired his nickname when he calmly won a world title in 1971 in California when during the event an earthquake was in progress.

One thing for sure, at least at one time, the BCA and their industry darlings recognized his greatness and admitted him in their Hall of Fame. I guess he helped put money in their pockets.


 

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I have had a few interactions with Mr. Martin in my travels with Keith McCready. I do remember one time, the two of them had to play each other in a tournament. It was in the 2000s era. I am pretty sure it was at the Carolinas Open. The place was packed, and it was standing room only. In fact, if you didn't get a chair to sit in, you were stuck walking around the perimeter of the pool room like a lost refugee with no home. My feet were so damn swollen. I was in pain.

Finally, Keith's match with Ray comes on, and there was a chair for Keith to sit in. He knew I was in pain and let me sit there. I parked myself in the comfortable, sought-after chair. It was like heaven to sit down. What a relief.

Up walks Ray to his designated corner, and as he sets his cue case down, he looks at me and motions with his index finger, as if to say,"Uh-huh. Move it," without ever uttering the words. But I knew what he meant. He thought I was a shark, I guess. One thing about players from this era, they know all the tricks in the book, and I guess with Keith, he figured we were a team and that I was Keith's secret weapon to shark. But I wasn't.

Here's a vintage photo taken in 1979. Who can name all the players? :)
 

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