Top 5 pool players ever

MattPoland said:
1. SVB (Rang every bell, dominated over generations, raised the bar)
2. Reyes (All around dominance, raised the bar, greatest hype)
3. Mosconi (Pool’s Babe Ruth)
4. Strickland (The SVB before SVB)
5. Sigel (The SVB before Earl)
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I like the list but why is the Pearl "SVB before SVB" as opposed to SVB being like a new Earl? Good list though imo
 
MattPoland said:
Jayson is funny. His Mosconi Cup appearances are absolutely epic and resonate in the public consciousness at a primal level. And yet I look at his resume of titles and honestly would say he hasn’t accomplished enough to justify a BCA Hall of Fame induction let alone entered GOAT conversations by any stretch.
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He is definitely good enough to be in a goat discussion, now if he can just get the big wins he needs to be in the convo. Shaw is one of the most entertaining players I've ever watched and has such an incredible stroke.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Impossible to compare eras. Best every decade is about it. And best per decade should be on the dominant discipline only, not any fringe games. That means in 1960 it would have been straight pool. In 1990 9 ball. In 2010 10 ball. In 2020 9 ball again.
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You can do your goat list that way if you want, we won't stop you.
 
yes but all around playing is the real test. and in the far past they only played one or two games.

maybe best is just lists for the best at each game to be more fair.

and the test of time, not just a decade of playing at the top.
 
Here’s a fun list I came up with a couple years ago. I wasn’t trying to pick the top 5 of each era. I’m sure I flubbed a little for some of that. But I also wanted to illustrate the character of each era through its players and give at least a solid sampling. But more importantly, I was attempting to define each era.

Here’s my attempt at it.. (EDIT: Version 3)

1850-1870s: American 4 ball Era
> Phelan

1870s-1890s: Straight Rail Era
> Schaefer

1890s-1920: Balkline Era
> Hoppe

1921 -1930: Golden Era / Prohibition Era
> Greenleaf

1931-1940: Depression Era
> Greenleaf, Rudolph, Caras

1941-1960: First Decline
> Mosconi, Crane, Lassiter, Moore

1961-1974: Hustler Era / Johnston City Era
> Crane, Lassiter, Murphy, Mizerak

1975-1985: Second Decline
> Hall, Sigel, Hopkins, Mizerak

1986-1995: Color of Money Era
> Reyes, Strickland, Varner, Archer

1996-2005: Third Decline
> Reyes, Parica, Immonen, Daulton, Hohmann, Souquet

2006-2015: Rebuilding Era
> SVB, Appleton, Orcullo, Pagalayan, Wu, Ko

2015-Current: Matchroom Era
> Shaw, Filler, Gorst, Ouschan, SVB
 
9ballglue said:
He is definitely good enough to be in a goat discussion, now if he can just get the big wins he needs to be in the convo. Shaw is one of the most entertaining players I've ever watched and has such an incredible stroke.
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Honestly though. Look at Shaw’s list of titles. How many world championships? How many players have won more? How many US Opens? How many players won more? How many Matchroom Majors? How many players won more? Action matches? How many players won more? Honestly Albin and Darren are higher on the list when you look at actual titles.
 
Willie Mosconi, Ralph Greenleaf, Efren Reyes, and Mike Sigel, to me, must start the list. Had he not retired early, I believe Sigel would be #1. He was a top five nine ball player of all time and a top five straight pool player of all time with a huge title count despite retiring in his early 40s while still at the top of his game. Number 5 is pretty tough. It probably comes down to Varner, SVB, Lassiter, and Strickland, and one can make a case for all of them. Ten years from now, both Gorst and Filler will, in my opinion, make this list.

As so often noted on the forum, one can only measure players based on performance against their own contemporaries.

I think the top five women is a lot easier. Jean Balukas, Ruth McGinniis, Allison Fisher, and Karen Corr are obvious. Either Kelly Fisher or Ga Young Kim would be #5, but I'm leaning Kelly Fisher.

Finally, the thread title says pool, so I'm not sure why three cushion and snooker players have any relevance to the thread.
 
9ballglue said:
How do you think women should be judged by how they would compete against men? That's crazy.
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Women compete against women and are judged based on how they dominate their fields
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I agree…that was my point.
 
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I think it's comical that people think that these historical players such as Mosconi, Greenleaf or whomever would even be close to the top players of today. I think as with most sports or games there is a natural progression of skills and knowledge, and the athletes and or players become better and better as time goes on. When I started playing pool in the early 90's players like Efren, Strickland and Archer were the best players in the world. I don't think any of them at their best would have been a top 10 Fargo of today.
 
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wrldpro said:
Top 9 ball? Earl Strickland
Top 10 ball? SVB
Top 8 ball? Mike Sigel
Top one pocket? Efren Reyes
Top straight pool? Willie Mosconi
Top bank pool? Eddie Taylor
Top 3 cushion? Willie Hoppe
Top snooker? Ronnie O’Sullivan
Exhibition straight pool high runs? Jayson Shaw
All around Nick Varner
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Most creative 8 ball Corey
Most Creative 1pckt Chohan
All around in the future Filler.

Excellent list!
 
MattPoland said:
Jayson is funny. His Mosconi Cup appearances are absolutely epic and resonate in the public consciousness at a primal level. And yet I look at his resume of titles and honestly would say he hasn’t accomplished enough to justify a BCA Hall of Fame induction let alone entered GOAT conversations by any stretch.
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Him, Filler, and Earl made it look the easiest, along with a few others slightly down the list like Hatch
 
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