Who are the best players in your area?

C

cwilmeth

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It seems like every state has there share of strong players. Players that are good enough to go pro but they can make more money by just gambling.
Where would James Walden be now if he would have cleaned up and went pro?
I think I can almost name the top 20 players in Oklahoma that do play pro.
I know, anything you do to make money to support yourself and your family is your profession. I just mean pro status.

1. Chip Compton
2. Joey Gray
3. Shane McMinn
4. Shawn King
5. Billy Dyke
6. Mike Douglas
7. Mark Dimmick
8. Jeff Melton
9. Andy Freidenhoff
10. Steve Deason
11. Brian Jones
12. David Weaver
13. Randy Estes
14. Dave Holland
15. James Walden
16. Steve Gregg
17. Allen Hanson
18. Mike Thomas
19. Sonny Tiger
20. Joe Carsons

I'm not ranking these players just putting them down as they come to mind. I didn't put Gabe or Danny Harriman down because they are pros
 
I fell out of touch with one of the best players in my area after the Pool Hall he worked for laid him off before going out of business.

Does anybody here know of an ex-Pro player that goes by "Fat Matt"?

I never did know his last name, but he toured and played against the best of them (Reyez, Archer, etc.). I used to take pool lessons from him years ago (95?). He used to work at a place called Cue Time for this young manager Ronnie, and I think he frequented other halls around Chicago, mostly on the South Side as far as I know. He liked to gamble. If you have heard of him, I would like to look his pro record up.
 
i can only speak for central Texas area but can name a few dont know all of their last names and such but o well...

Travis Gunn
Leroy Mathis
Carl Ray
Chen
Robert Stewart

If I think of more ill post later
 
Texas would be tough because it is so big...it would have to be broken down into about 5 areas...like 1. Dallas....2. Austin/SA...3. Houston....4. South Texas...5. West Texas...then there would be like 10-15 from each of these areas...this is just my opinion on this topic...of course the top 10 from Dallas would prolly be a higher caliber than the top 10 from West Texas...I think Big Truck could probably give the best overall rankings in each of these areas...with the exception of West Texas which I can try to do and prolly Sandman187 could help with this area...but it sounds kind of fun.
 
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Hera are a handful from West Texas...mainly Lubbock Amarillo Odessa...not really familiar with El Paso...anyway....and in no ranking order.

Shane Harvey
Pat Soto
Sean Black
Jason Dutchover
Jason Alvarez
Champ Massengill
Steve Patterson
Johnny Escalante
Rusty Cates
Dustin Bishop
Nu Kaentong
Darrell Hilliard

I am sure some are left off...and Sandman187 can fill in the rest from this area.

Thanks
Troyce
 
amarillopool said:
Texas would be tough because it is so big...it would have to be broken down into about 5 areas...like 1. Dallas....2. Austin/SA...3. Houston....4. South Texas...5. West Texas...then there would be like 10-15 from each of these areas...this is just my opinion on this topic...of course the top 10 from Dallas would prolly be a higher caliber than the top 10 from West Texas...I think Big Truck could probably give the best overall rankings in each of these areas...with the exception of West Texas which I can try to do and prolly Sandman187 could help with this area...but bit sounds kind of fun.
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Amarillo, You get your top players from Dallas (and I will throw in West TX) and come on down to Bogie's.

Cheers..
 
Oh I think Houston probably has the better players also...was just making a point that West Texas top players are not that caliber of the more populous areas...as i am sure Houston and Austin top 10 are also better.
 
amarillopool said:
Oh I think Houston probably has the better players also...was just making a point that West Texas top players are not that caliber of the more populous areas...as i am sure Houston and Austin top 10 are also better.
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Just messing with you...

FYI...DP has been known to go off because he thinks his game is so good. So tell all your players to look him up and lock it down. He will go off!!!
 
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I only see five pros there.

cwilmeth said:
It seems like every state has there share of strong players. Players that are good enough to go pro but they can make more money by just gambling.
Where would James Walden be now if he would have cleaned up and went pro?
I think I can almost name the top 20 players in Oklahoma that do play pro.
I know, anything you do to make money to support yourself and your family is your profession. I just mean pro status.

1. Chip Compton
2. Joey Gray
3. Shane McMinn
4. Shawn King
5. Billy Dyke
6. Mike Douglas
7. Mark Dimmick
8. Jeff Melton
9. Andy Freidenhoff
10. Steve Deason
11. Brian Jones
12. David Weaver
13. Randy Estes
14. Dave Holland
15. James Walden
16. Steve Gregg
17. Allen Hanson
18. Mike Thomas
19. Sonny Tiger
20. Joe Carsons

I'm not ranking these players just putting them down as they come to mind. I didn't put Gabe or Danny Harriman down because they are pros
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Hungarian Nut said:
Just messing with you...

FYI...David Parker has been known to go off because he thinks his game is so good. So tell all your players to look him up and lock it down. He will go off!!!
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I know DP a little bit...one of my friends that used to live here in Amarillo used to play him some at those state tournaments in Killeen...DP does have a lot of gamble in him!!
 
Druid said:
I fell out of touch with one of the best players in my area after the Pool Hall he worked for laid him off before going out of business.

Does anybody here know of an ex-Pro player that goes by "Fat Matt"?

I never did know his last name, but he toured and played against the best of them (Reyez, Archer, etc.). I used to take pool lessons from him years ago (95?). He used to work at a place called Cue Time for this young manager Ronnie, and I think he frequented other halls around Chicago, mostly on the South Side as far as I know. He liked to gamble. If you have heard of him, I would like to look his pro record up.
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Matt Fudachz (sp?) Have no clue how it is spelled but I felieve he passed away a few years ago. Super nice guy.
 
dogginda9 said:
Matt Fudachz (sp?) Have no clue how it is spelled but I felieve he passed away a few years ago. Super nice guy.
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I did some googling and found the spelling to be "Matt Fudacz". It was neat to find some old 80's Acu-Stats of him playing One Pocket in the Pros. That has to be him. Super nice guy. One Pocket was his favorite game. I watched him play that against Mike Massey once and he just BARELY lost to Mike. I then took on Mike in 9-ball and barely lost, but I think he was going easy on me. All good hustlers "barely" lose right? ;)

Sorry to hear that it sounds like he passed away. I'll let me friends and family who remember him know about that news.

Thanks!
 
Ur still way off. Joe Carson plays 6 speed at best. Steve Gregg is a big gambler but doesn't play better than 7 speed and nowhere near the top 20 on any list. Sonny Tiger can get the 7 ball from two dozen players in Oklahoma City. You don't even list John Gabriel, Joe Tomkowski, Shawn Morris, even Caleb Moore however burnt out he is. Some local house pro's should even make this list before a lot of these guys. There are half a dozen 9 speeds in OKC that play better than anybody but the top 5 or 6 on this list and I'm sure there are just as many Tulsa guys that I don't see play every week. Andy hasn't lived in Oklahoma in a long while. Gabe could be considered Oklahoma or Kansas but he isn't there. Sean King lost with the 7 ball against Jeff Melton and you watched it happen. I'm not even that familiar with the Tulsa players but you have several mediocre players way overrated.

If I'm putting that list together for pros in Oklahoma, there are really only 5 guys or so that play top speed and then we hit about 30 shortstops that all play somewhere between 9 and 10 speed depending on the day and how their mix is running.

I'm really not trying to knock your list even though that's what I've ended up doing. But you hit 5 of the top 10 in the state then it fell off the cliff.

IMHO I put in no particular order

Gabe Owen? He stays in Tulsa a lot but where does he fit in?
Chip Compton
Shane McMinn
James Walden
Joey Grey
Brian Jones

After that you have a little fall off to John Gabriel, Billy Dyke and Jeff Melton then after that its a whole bunch of shortstops.

I guess I wouldn't be so critical if you hadn't missed so badly on 4 or 5 guys on a list of top 20 in the state.

Sorry if I come off negative but it wasn't intentional.


cwilmeth said:
I'm talking non rated players.
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list

amarillopool said:
Hera are a handful from West Texas...mainly Lubbock Amarillo Odessa...not really familiar with El Paso...anyway....and in no ranking order.

Shane Harvey
Pat Soto
Sean Black
Jason Dutchover
Jason Alvarez
Champ Massengill
Steve Patterson
Johnny Escalante
Rusty Cates
Dustin Bishop
Nu Kaentong
Darrell Hilliard

I am sure some are left off...and Sandman187 can fill in the rest from this area.

Thanks
Troyce
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I agree with all your picks. If i were to add any....hmmm. I think i would probably go with...

1. Shane Harvey
2 Pat Soto
3 Sean Black
4 Jason Dutchover
5 Jason Alvarez
6 Champ Massengill
7 Steve Patterson
8 Johnny Escalante
9 Rusty Cates
10 Dustin Bishop
11 Nu Kaentong
12 Darrell Hilliard
13 jay Thurman
14 Casey armor
15 Ruben Flores
16 Jody hall
17 Freddy Mendoza
18 Ramon Rodriguez (El paso)
19 Donnie Ottaberry
20 Big Dick Mona

LOL....ok. I threw in the last one cuz i couldn't decide between jason jones, david hernandez, vernon richardson, and a few others. If Ron Griffis was still around, i would have added him to the list. Or hippy dave.
 
I'm not that familiar with Texas players just because I haven't been there gambling that much but I agree Rusty Cates plays good. I've seen him. I've seen Pat Soto and Jason Alvarez too. They all play good.

Sandmann187 said:
I agree with all your picks. If i were to add any....hmmm. I think i would probably go with...

1. Shane Harvey
2 Pat Soto
3 Sean Black
4 Jason Dutchover
5 Jason Alvarez
6 Champ Massengill
7 Steve Patterson
8 Johnny Escalante
9 Rusty Cates
10 Dustin Bishop
11 Nu Kaentong
12 Darrell Hilliard
13 jay Thurman
14 Casey armor
15 Ruben Flores
16 Jody hall
17 Freddy Mendoza
18 Ramon Rodriguez (El paso)
19 Donnie Ottaberry
20 Big Dick Mona

LOL....ok. I threw in the last one cuz i couldn't decide between jason jones, david hernandez, vernon richardson, and a few others. If Ron Griffis was still around, i would have added him to the list. Or hippy dave.
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Ok, let me rephrase what I'm trying to accomplish. Im more or less listing non proplayers. If you looked in Billiards digest you wouldnt see their name. I mentioned Gabe. He is considered pro. But not on the list for that reason.
I just completely forgot about John Gabriel. For that I apologize.
Kaleb yeah he still plays real good and should have been on the list.
As far as the Melton/King match I left before that kicked off. Melton was playing Cory Blankenship when I left. Giving him the 7 as well. Heard Sean beat Melton with the 7. I should have stayed.

The players I mentioned were playing when Cactus Jacks used to have theirr big monthly 8 Ball tournament. It drew in a lot of the good Oklahoma players. Some have passed on. Rion Richman/ Tyler Strawn. RIP.
Back then carsons played good. But there was Donald Harjo that I didn't mention. Hillbilly was around at the time along with Greg ( Spanky ) Houge.
K.C. Frazier was play. Jay Rucker. I'm getting old. Forgetting things.
 
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