The greatest 9 ball player ever.

Gilbertfan81 said:
This is another infamous Jose story. When John Kucharo was a top 15 ranked player in the world Jose spotted him the 7,8, and 9 on a tight 4 in pocket table and beat him a 10 ahead set for the cash. Soon after this John retired from professional pool, some said he just couldn't believe at his level that someone could spot him that much weight and get there!!
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I heard this story from Jose himself. He said the game was 7,8,9 & the break 15 ahead on a very tight table. Jose said he liked the game because John was a big breaker and Jose thought that his forearm would tighten up from breaking hard game after game. Jose said he lost the first 10 games in a row and his backer got very nervous. He said he only lost a handful of games after that and won the set very quickly after that.

I don't think Kucharo was close to top 15 in the world though. He did play very strong though. He finished 5th in the US open one year around that time.
 
CJ Wiley said:
We won $20,000 (there was more bet on the side) in the "middle" in about 2 hours (16 ahead). In the words of the immortal Efren Reyes "just got lucky". ;)

The Game was teaching very well that night.
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I think it was Jay Helfert who posted about this match in the past and said you were in top gear that particular night and no one on earth would have had a chance.
 
The reason Jose is not on that list is probably because of someone else that is not on that list that seemed to have his number. Johnny Archer. If Archer was not worthy of the list then someone Archer beat handily over and over should not be on there either.
 
There is a name that is not mentioned in this thread enough to suit me.
Wimpy was mentioned more than once....how about the man he wasn't anxious to play?

Harold Worst
 
pt109 said:
There is a name that is not mentioned in this thread enough to suit me.
Wimpy was mentioned more than once....how about the man he wasn't anxious to play?

Harold Worst
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You are right.
They ALL started whining for a spot when Worst was on the prowl.
 
Years down the road as they further bolster their resumes, SVB and Orcollo will certainly have to be in the discussion. Both have already accomplished so much and figure to have at least 10 years of success ahead of them
 
cueman said:
The reason Jose is not on that list is probably because of someone else that is not on that list that seemed to have his number. Johnny Archer. If Archer was not worthy of the list then someone Archer beat handily over and over should not be on there either.
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For the cash in his prime nobody went looking for archer.
 
The absolute best 9-Ball players I've seen in my life include: Jose Parica, Harold Worst, Earl Strickland, Luther Lassiter, Buddy Hall and Mike Sigel. Archer, Bustamante, Mizerak and Varner are right there too.

For money I would pick Jose, Worst, Buddy and Lassiter on top. In tournaments it has to be Earl, Buddy and Sigel. Pretty hard to differentiate among these six guys, but if I had to bet my life on one of them it would be Jose. He spanked everyone for over twenty years!

The only player I ever saw beat Parica for the cash was Keith in L.A. Keith spotted him the eight the first time he ever saw Jose. He had no idea who Jose was and he spotted all the Mexican champions the eight or more. Keith thought he was from south of the border. Keith ran over everybody back then (early 80's), especially if he didn't know you. Later on of course, when we all knew who Jose was, he got his revenge over Keith.

Worst, Lassiter and Buddy were tops overall when you take into consideration their ability to win money games or tournaments. Shane is the heir to that throne, but Orcollo and Ko are worthy challengers to him on any playing field.
 
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jay helfert said:
Earl was the best tournament 9-Ball player I ever saw. He ran more racks than anyone, match after match. I put Sigel second, although no pro wanted to draw Keith EVER! Parica is by far the best money player at Rotation games I ever saw. He beat everyone (Buddy ducked him!) and no one wanted to play him for 20 years! He was the Lassiter of modern times.

Harold Worst and Efren are the two best pool players I ever saw, for excelling at all games. Ronnie was the best One Pocket player, Efren included. Buddy was a great money player, the best in America, but Jose would have been the favorite if they played imo. NO ONE could (or did) beat Jose in his prime! Just like Lassiter, who reigned for over 20 years.

There have been many great champions, probably 40 or 50 guys who at one time were near unbeatable, the list just goes on and on. Billy Incardona, Bernie Schwartz, Greg Stevens, Keith, Buddy, Jimmy Reid, Billy Johnson/Wade Crane, Richie Florence, Denny Searcy, Johnny, Francisco, just to name a few. But for staying power at the top, I'll take Lassiter first and Parica second. I will say this as a fact, for nearly 20 years not one of the best players in the world, wanted to even discuss playing Parica for the cash. He gave weight to the world!

Right now it's Dennis O. who's the top dog in the pool world. Just ask his peers who the best player is. I guarantee you they will all say Dennis. Rodney proved that even the best can be beaten on a given day. It took an inspired performance to do it though. I think Dennis was a little worn down after four days of play night and day. He's off today to represent the Philippines in the World Games in Columbia. Flying now as I type this. Good luck my friend.
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Did not SVB roughly handle one Dennis O. out in Vegas at the action report match?
 
April 1996 CJ's Dallas TX

Pearl in his prime.........9 ball, nothing else quite like it. If you were lucky enough to see him run 11 in a row against Mannino under pressure, you'd understand.
 
Before my time but I believe Lassiter thought Don Sutton was the best 9 ball player ever and they were road partners.
 
jay helfert said:
In tournaments it has to be Earl, Buddy and Sigel.
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The good thing about tournaments (over say all of the huge rumors of the 70s-80s of these road players who don't miss for years etc...), is we have records. Sigel certainly has the best record of any listed in 9-Ball tournament play (and that in a shorter time than most). Earl's record would certainly be next (possibly Varner's), (and Earl's high gear is awesome). And when those two played each other, it was always great (and in the early 90s usually very close matches). Efren took quite a long time to win a major in 9-Ball back then. Jose's tournament record, not much.

I would have done Sigel, Earl, and Nick for tournaments personally.
 
jay helfert said:
The absolute best 9-Ball players I've seen in my life include: Jose Parica, Harold Worst, Earl Strickland, Luther Lassiter, Buddy Hall and Mike Sigel. Archer, Bustamante, Mizerak and Varner are right there too.

For money I would pick Jose, Worst, Buddy and Lassiter on top. In tournaments it has to be Earl, Buddy and Sigel. Pretty hard to differentiate among these six guys, but if I had to bet my life on one of them it would be Jose. He spanked everyone for over twenty years!

The only player I ever saw beat Parica for the cash was Keith in L.A. Keith spotted him the eight the first time he ever saw Jose. He had no idea who Jose was and he spotted all the Mexican champions the eight or more. Keith thought he was from south of the border. Keith ran over everybody back then (early 80's), especially if he didn't know you. Later on of course, when we all knew who Jose was, he got his revenge over Keith.

Worst, Lassiter and Buddy were tops overall when you take into consideration their ability to win money games or tournaments. Shane is the heir to that throne, but Orcollo and Ko are worthy challengers to him on any playing field.
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I suprised Cole Dicksons name hasn't come up. I'm sure you must have seen Cole play in his prime Jay.

Dale
 
westcoast said:
In a race to 100, yes- but Orcollo beat him in a previous match up- races to 25 or so in 8 ball and 10 ball and race to 8 in 1 pocket
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I can' t remember the score but if memory serves I think SVB beat Dennis by a substantial margin in the race to 100.

One must keep in mind that the Pinoy players really play well in humid conditions like the tournament room at Hardtimes in the summer with no AC.

The other thing about SVB is year after year he is usually ahead in the money. I like both of these guys they are both champions.
 
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