The MOST EPIC POOL MATCH of All Time

Man you are the Coolest guy on the site by far!! I never miss the opportunity to read, share and learn from your post!

Thanks for being you!

Thank you, and you're welcome. I aim to swerve. :geek:
 
Wow, what a fantastic video. Great job, Dave, not only in thoughtfully reviewing some of the play, but in capturing the magnitude of this hookup.

We've occasionally seen better played matches than this one, but considering the context of the match, there may never be a greater match than this one. As we so often note on the forum, the size of the moment is a huge ingredient in whether a match may be labeled as great. A case can be made that this was the biggest moment in my pool lifetime. Here's why:

1) The full FiIipino invasion was a few years old at this point, and the debate was raging over whether the top Filipinos had caught, or even passed, the top Americans as pool players.

2) The camaraderie that would eventually develop between the American and Filipino players didn't yet exist.

3) At least in my opinion, some of the American players resented the Filipino invasion.

What better way to try to settle it all than to take the greatest Filipino and the greatest American player of the time and have them match up in a battle unlike any ever seen in the nine ball era.

One can only hope that the game of pool will, at some point in the future, offer us a matchup as intriguing as this one was at the time. Thanks for a nice trip down memory lane.
 
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Wow, what a fantastic video. Great job, Dave, not only in thoughtfully reviewing some of the play, but in capturing the magnitude of this hookup.

We've occasionally seen better played matches than this one, but considering the context of the match, their may never be a greater match than this one. As we so often note on the forum, the size of the moment is a huge ingredient in whether a match may be labeled as great. A case can be made that this was the biggest moment in my pool lifetime. Here's why:

1) The full FiIipino invasion was a few years old at this point, and the debate was raging over whether the top Filipinos had caught, or even passed, the top Americans as pool players.

2) The camaraderie that would eventually develop between the American and Filipino players didn't yet exist.

3) At least in my opinion, some of the American players resented the Filipino invasion.

What better way to try to settle it all than to take the greatest Filipino and the greatest American player of the time and have them match up in a battle unlike any ever seen in the nine ball era.

One can only hope that the game of pool will, at some point in the future, offer us a matchup as intriguing as this one was at the time. Thanks for a nice trip down memory lane.

Thanks Stu. As always, very well stated. I'm glad you liked it.
 
Somebody PM'd me with the following "back story:"

The players weren't really playing for $100,000. The winner was guaranteed $65,000 and the loser $35,000; although, there was significant "side action," and the players most likely had a piece of that.

There was also a Part II shorter-race COM match that occurred soon after that Efren also won.


Has anybody heard these things or can verify them?

Anybody have info on these story items?
 
Somebody PM'd me with the following "back story:"







Has anybody heard these things or can verify them?

Thanks,
Dave
I was at a friend's house ( Riverside , CA ) where Efren was staying the day Mark Wilson called him about the COM match. I was there all night .
Efren was busy on the phone for a while looking for his manager, Rolando . Somehow , they could not locate him.
First, the match was actually supposed to be a race to 100. They changed it to 120 when they got to HK.
The parity was 75-25. Efren bought an insurance ( $10K ) from his American backer, Mark .
I asked Efren if he would have a saver with Earl. He said he would IF Earl asked him. Earl did not ask him .

Months later, I drove Efren to LAX for the ESPN tournament in Orlando, FL which he won .
I was at LAX when they were on the way back to the Philippines after Efren won that tournament .
Rolando told me the promoter of COM, Bob Moore, died from an apparent suicide .

There was COM 2 in the Philippines but was a shorter race and a lot less money . It was a tv event .
I have no idea who owns the tv rights .
 
Dave, here is what Wiki has to say about Bob Moore. I think the match was in November of 1996 (says Accu-Stats) and, apparently, Moore's suicide was in October of 1997.


Edit -- I now see you already linked to the Wiki info, Dave.
 
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FYI, I just posted a new video that might be the best 35 minutes of pool you’ll ever watch. I show highlights and comment on the most epic pool match of all time! It paired up Efren “Bata” “The Magician” Reyes against Earl “The Pearl” Strickland, arguably the two greatest 9-ball players of all time near the prime of their careers. It was a 3-day race to 120 called the “Color of Money” match. The $100,000 winner-take-all event was sponsored by Hong Kong’s Ridgway’s in 1997. Check it out:


Contents (with timestamp links):
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - Day 1 (to 35)
8:57 - Day 2 (to 70)
12:13 - Day 3 (to 120)
15:46 - The Comeback
34:45 - Wrap Up

As always, I look forward to your feedback, comments, questions, complaints, and requests.

Enjoy!
I will be watching later today.. thanks.
One of my faves was the epic Diliberto v Allen one pocket match.
 
I was at a friend's house ( Riverside , CA ) where Efren was staying the day Mark Wilson called him about the COM match. I was there all night .
Efren was busy on the phone for a while looking for his manager, Rolando . Somehow , they could not locate him.
First, the match was actually supposed to be a race to 100. They changed it to 120 when they got to HK.
The parity was 75-25. Efren bought an insurance ( $10K ) from his American backer, Mark .
I asked Efren if he would have a saver with Earl. He said he would IF Earl asked him. Earl did not ask him .

Months later, I drove Efren to LAX for the ESPN tournament in Orlando, FL which he won .
I was at LAX when they were on the way back to the Philippines after Efren won that tournament .
Rolando told me the promoter of COM, Bob Moore, died from an apparent suicide .

There was COM 2 in the Philippines but was a shorter race and a lot less money . It was a tv event .
I have no idea who owns the tv rights .

Thank you for sharing the info.
 
Thanks for all the hard work, Dave. My brother is an Emmy winning film editor and I know what was involved. You did a great job with an historic event. Enjoyed the 2 masters going at it.
 
Dave,

thanks for the video! Having edited a few things over the years, I understand the time and effort that went into this. Awesome stuff!

retirement looks good on you!
 
Thanks for all the hard work, Dave. My brother is an Emmy winning film editor and I know what was involved. You did a great job with an historic event. Enjoyed the 2 masters going at it.

I don't think I'll be winning any Emmy's, but I appreciate the positive feedback. Thanks.

PS: I love your user thumbnail image. I grew up in New Orleans and have been to and through Lafayette countless times.
 
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Dave,

thanks for the video! Having edited a few things over the years, I understand the time and effort that went into this. Awesome stuff!

retirement looks good on you!

Thanks! A video like this was simply not possible when I still had my "day job." Even though I've edited videos for about 15 years, it still always seems to take 2-3 times longer than I expect it to. This one took 8 full days of solid work. But I think it was worth it.
 
Thanks that was really enjoyable and probably a tremendous amount of work. The real drawback and I don't think anybody would disagree was those really large pockets.
 
Thanks that was really enjoyable and probably a tremendous amount of work. The real drawback and I don't think anybody would disagree was those really large pockets.

The "big pockets" certainly did help on quite a few shots.
 
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