When did Efren FIRST come to the USA?

Rickw said:
First of all, to the poster that thinks a bunch of little Filipinos wouldn't be able to fend off an attack, you just don't know!

Also, this is a question for those that were in the thick of it back in the early 80's, do you think Parica could have been mistaken for Efren once in a while? I remember how everyone was freaking out about this one Filipino guy that was terrorizing the US playing pool. I never heard about a second one. Wasn't Jose around back then? If so, was he a force to be reckoned with? I would certainly think so.

Jose has told me personally that he has done things back in the early 80's that was attributed to Efren. He told me that he played a guy in Texas and ran 12 racks of 9b in a race to 13 and the guy just threw in the towel and he said that Efren was given credit for that.
Click to expand...
I think so.
Jose came here around 5 years before Efren did, I believe.
Unlike Efren, Jose was able to bet a US visa easily as his family was well-off.
Efren back then could have not possibly gotten a US visa.
Jose's father was a Manila cop. His family owned a pool hall in Manila.
Jose was already a travelling vet before Efren got here.
 
Rickw said:
First of all, to the poster that thinks a bunch of little Filipinos wouldn't be able to fend off an attack, you just don't know!

Also, this is a question for those that were in the thick of it back in the early 80's, do you think Parica could have been mistaken for Efren once in a while? I remember how everyone was freaking out about this one Filipino guy that was terrorizing the US playing pool. I never heard about a second one. Wasn't Jose around back then? If so, was he a force to be reckoned with? I would certainly think so.

Jose has told me personally that he has done things back in the early 80's that was attributed to Efren. He told me that he played a guy in Texas and ran 12 racks of 9b in a race to 13 and the guy just threw in the towel and he said that Efren was given credit for that.
Click to expand...
I think so.
Jose came here around 5 years before Efren did, I believe.
Unlike Efren, Jose was able to bet a US visa easily as his family was well-off.
Efren back then could have not possibly gotten a US visa.
Jose's father was a Manila cop. His family owned a pool hall in Manila.
Jose was already a travelling vet before Efren got here.
 
Jose came in about 1979 and 80 and played in the Straight pool in NYC. He finished something like 9th or 10th.
Afterward he gambled with Mizerak, getting like 25 balls to 150 and beat him.
Efren did not come to the US until Reds in 1985. And jose was the guy who terrorized the best American players in Dallas in the 80's (playing Ten Ball). That's another story.
 
Efren

Well I just got a hold of one guy about Efren. I talked to Stan Wilson who owned Chick's Billiards in Rochester, MN back in the 80's. He said he brought Efren over here a short time after the tournament at Red's. He wasn't for sure about the dates because he has been out of pool for years. He said he heard all about Efren in the Phillippines and in Texas after the Red's tournament from some of Efren's good friends, the Ramirez brothers. Stan came in contact and paid to have Efren come to Minnesota for his tournament.

It was a $4000 first prize and he said it drew some big names. The names Stan remembered showing up were Mike Massey, Dallas West and Danny Medina. He had another big added tournament a short time after the first and that was another huge success. Willie Munson showed up to one of those as well. Efren won the first one and he believes Jeff Carter won the second one. Stan thought it was funny because he said Efren won the first tournament with a $12 piece of shit cue. He said Jose Parica came up for the second tournament he hosted.

He believes there was an article in Billiards Digest in the mid 80's about this tournament. Maybe there is somebody out there that has that issue. I would be extremely interested in the article. I am also going to try to find some info abou this from the local paper.

Unfortunately, I was wrong about Efren coming to Rochester first. It was soon after he went to Texas. I am glad I was able to get a hold of somebody that still remember the information though.
 
Thanks for following through....

Only ERO's said:
Well I just got a hold of one guy about Efren. I talked to Stan Wilson who owned Chick's Billiards in Rochester, MN back in the 80's. He said he brought Efren over here a short time after the tournament at Red's. He wasn't for sure about the dates because he has been out of pool for years. He said he heard all about Efren in the Phillippines and in Texas after the Red's tournament from some of Efren's good friends, the Ramirez brothers. Stan came in contact and paid to have Efren come to Minnesota for his tournament.

It was a $4000 first prize and he said it drew some big names. The names Stan remembered showing up were Mike Massey, Dallas West and Danny Medina. He had another big added tournament a short time after the first and that was another huge success. Willie Munson showed up to one of those as well. Efren won the first one and he believes Jeff Carter won the second one. Stan thought it was funny because he said Efren won the first tournament with a $12 piece of shit cue. He said Jose Parica came up for the second tournament he hosted.

He believes there was an article in Billiards Digest in the mid 80's about this tournament. Maybe there is somebody out there that has that issue. I would be extremely interested in the article. I am also going to try to find some info abou this from the local paper.

Unfortunately, I was wrong about Efren coming to Rochester first. It was soon after he went to Texas. I am glad I was able to get a hold of somebody that still remember the information though.
Click to expand...
I appreciate you following through so well on this topic. You know, after looking at the 100+ posts in this thread, I don't really see any good basis for assuming that Efren came here prior to the Red's tournament in Houston in 1985. I know that's the conventional answer and it's tempting to think that he may have made one or more "secret" trips to this country in the several years prior to 1985. But we have really wrung this one out, haven't we? Again, my thanks to you and all the others who have contributed to the thread!!! Are we done?:)
 
The spelling of names seems to be quite the thing on this web site....as most people can't spell mine [Dieckman] the fact that I can't speel other's should be of no consequence.....so Efrem is Efren [sorry]

About Red's, sorry I am basically a carom player and not really up on pool history but I do remember these Red's Tourney's in Houston.....whether Red's came before or after Chris's seems to be kinda a moot point as they were both in the same year, seemingly fairly close to gether.....I mean come on guyzz [and girlzz] do we really want to establish THE EXACT DAY EFREN set foot in this country for the first time, or are we more interested in just some sort of general idea??? I have given you folks my input, AND I WAS THERE, at least in CHICAGO and saw him play. Houston, I was not at, so sorry..........can't report.

And as to the question as to how old I was then, well if it was 1985, which it was, then I must have been somewhere around Jack Benny's Age, which is to say 39. It is just amazing how time flys.....and now I am a 60 year old man who can still beat 95% of the people who read this post at whatever game they might want to play....don't believe, come to my place as my guest and try me out........
Cheers, and luv u all.
The Dieckmaniac, Builder of Magik Wandzzzzz
 
Magik Wandzzzzz said:
The spelling of names seems to be quite the thing on this web site....as most people can't spell mine [Dieckman] the fact that I can't speel other's should be of no consequence.....so Efrem is Efren [sorry]

About Red's, sorry I am basically a carom player and not really up on pool history but I do remember these Red's Tourney's in Houston.....whether Red's came before or after Chris's seems to be kinda a moot point as they were both in the same year, seemingly fairly close to gether.....I mean come on guyzz [and girlzz] do we really want to establish THE EXACT DAY EFREN set foot in this country for the first time, or are we more interested in just some sort of general idea??? I have given you folks my input, AND I WAS THERE, at least in CHICAGO and saw him play. Houston, I was not at, so sorry..........can't report.

And as to the question as to how old I was then, well if it was 1985, which it was, then I must have been somewhere around Jack Benny's Age, which is to say 39. It is just amazing how time flys.....and now I am a 60 year old man who can still beat 95% of the people who read this post at whatever game they might want to play....don't believe, come to my place as my guest and try me out........
Cheers, and luv u all.
The Dieckmaniac, Builder of Magik Wandzzzzz
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of spelling man-If someone kept referring to you as 'Lieckman' -would you say he he couldnt spell your name or would you say he didnt know your name?
 
Grady said:
People forget that I won the One Pocket at Red's in 85', 83' too for that matter. Most memorable to me was Buddy beating Efren 10 ahead for $10,000 in about an hour. You can't say that Efren robbed everybody. At that time I would play anyone in the world One Pocket but there were no takers around Red's.
Click to expand...

I just started playing One Pocket about a year ago. I'm interested in what cue you use when playing. Thanks. BTW, I met you and Allison Fisher here in Tallahassee back when you did your tour here at Snookers.
 
BillPorter said:
I was having a friendly debate with a guy in the pool hall today about when Efren first came to this country. Any of you guys have a definite answer to the question? An answer you would be willing to wager on? Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...
For the cover of the Accu-Stats issue that covered the tournament at Red's in early 1985, see: http://www.sfbilliards.com/efren_caesar.gif
 
Wow! Thanks Bob!

Bob Jewett said:
For the cover of the Accu-Stats issue that covered the tournament at Red's in early 1985, see: http://www.sfbilliards.com/efren_caesar.gif
Click to expand...
What a neat image! I'm sure Accu-Stats wouldn't mind if I stick that image in a photo gallery of images from the old Red's tournaments. I notice that the date on the cover is Jan. 1 - Feb. 2, 1985. So I guess the tournament must have taken place in January of 1985. Anyway, thanks for digging that up!:)
 
BillPorter said:
... the date on the cover is Jan. 1 - Feb. 2, 1985. So I guess the tournament must have taken place in January of 1985. ..
Click to expand...
The dates of the tournament were Jan 28 - Feb 2, 1985, which was Monday through Saturday according to my calendar.

"Caesar" had the best TPA in the tournament with a 0.896. Even though he was not in the top 15 for break performance (balls on the break), he had the best percentage of runouts from the break (32.8%). He missed one kick in 26 attempts.

It's too bad that Pat Fleming didn't get more subscribers to his stats newsletter, but it did produce Accu-Stats videos.
 
Magik Wandzzzzz said:
The spelling of names seems to be quite the thing on this web site....as most people can't spell mine [Dieckman] the fact that I can't speel other's should be of no consequence.....so Efrem is Efren [sorry]

About Red's, sorry I am basically a carom player and not really up on pool history but I do remember these Red's Tourney's in Houston.....whether Red's came before or after Chris's seems to be kinda a moot point as they were both in the same year, seemingly fairly close to gether.....I mean come on guyzz [and girlzz] do we really want to establish THE EXACT DAY EFREN set foot in this country for the first time, or are we more interested in just some sort of general idea??? I have given you folks my input, AND I WAS THERE, at least in CHICAGO and saw him play. Houston, I was not at, so sorry..........can't report.

And as to the question as to how old I was then, well if it was 1985, which it was, then I must have been somewhere around Jack Benny's Age, which is to say 39. It is just amazing how time flys.....and now I am a 60 year old man who can still beat 95% of the people who read this post at whatever game they might want to play....don't believe, come to my place as my guest and try me out........
Cheers, and luv u all.
The Dieckmaniac, Builder of Magik Wandzzzzz
Click to expand...

And which place would that be? Would be fun to check out that claim :)
 
I read somewhere that efren once played carom almost exclusively. anyone know if he competed in any carom tournaments and what his record was like?
 
i do remember in orange county there was a place in anaheim called the orange county sports arena where they had bumper cars and pool tables. Keith was recent world champion and playing 1000 dollar sets and losing to guys we were calling the taiwanese. That was around 81. probably parica tho?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top