Who is the best woman player all time

[j2pac]

Recently apparently there was some artical on the 4 best players of all time that left Karen Korr of the list
A friend on FB to notice laughed and said the list starts with Allison and Karen
Mine starts with Jean Balukas and Lori Jon Jones , then Allison after those it gets murky because I don't know what the critera was Kelly Fisher and Ga young Kim are at or near the top of there game and IMHO have a higher gear

Who you got ?

1

I was going to say Earl, but then I decided Allison.
Just kidding Earl.
j2

 

[measureman]

Hard to answer that question.
But there are few players man or woman that had Allisons control of the cue ball in her prime.
And I've seen a bunch in 5 decades of watching pool.

 

[Rhea]

Siming is a beast but do you think men would be afraid to have her play in their tournaments? I mean for men to rally against Jean spoke a lot especially with the caliber of players you had back then.

Centenno scares me as she truly plays like a man in many ways from the break to her outright confidence of I can make anything from anywhere.

Yes I do, and Siming is better than Centenno, Siming is among the top 50 players in the entire world including men, and she is the only 1 in the top 50.

 

[Rhea]

Siming Chen currently plays the same or slightly better than Jonathan Pinegar aka Hennessee just for comparison.

 

[Skratch]

The best women players of all time are playing right now in China. I saw Jean, Allison and Karen in their primes and they don't play Siming Chen's speed. They are a few others over there in the same league as well. JMHO as always.

I would agree they are strong. But to call them the best, not so fast. They still need some time at the top to claim that title. My point is, if they were to stop playing, today, could you still call them the best knowing that others have accomplished so much more already?

We're only guessing that Jean/Karen/Current Asian women players will be great. Their records haven't reflected their potential accomplishments yet. Allison's record speaks for itself. I also agree that Records alone cannot justify the title, but all other measurements are a matter of opinion and are subjective. Personally, I think Ga Young Kim is on her way to taking the crown on this if she keeps her play up. She just has to catch up to what Allison/Karen/Jean have accomplished.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

My vote would be for Allison. She has proven herself time and again as a worthy champion. Jean and Karen are both in that discussion, but consistency is what separates them. Jean may have been the overall better player, but her choice to stop playing puts a dent in that armor. I disagree with the idea that you don't have to play long to be the better player. It is only a speculation of greatness and not actual accomplishment. Allison has proven in my mind, to compete at high levels against worthy opponents more consistently than any other woman player I know. I'm not putting down Jean/Karen accomplishments, but to put the tiara of The Best, you need consistency. Tiger Woods would be a great example of what I mean. Probably the best golfer we'll ever see, but hasn't yet matched the accomplishments needed to give him the crown. He still falls short until he gets back into the game and wins, consistently!

He's what, two tournament wins shy of Sam Snead's number for most wins?
Anyway, I agree with your assessment of Miss Fisher.

 

[sixpack]

It's way too early to include Chezka Centeno on that list, she just turned 17 and has a lot to prove, although she has the potential to be one of the best female players of all time...

Even though she's only 17 I've seen her play better than any other woman alive save Jean. I think of best in terms of how well they play. Not medals.

Each to his own.

 

[Skratch]

He's what, two tournament wins shy of Sam Snead's number for most wins?
Anyway, I agree with your assessment of Miss Fisher.

And he's 4 back from Jack's record for Majors which is the defacto gold standard for the best in golf. But this proves my point. He may have played some awesome golf, but falls short in this respect. Until he gets back on the horse and wins these final 4-5, he's still just a work in progress and not a completed. What the records show is consistency. Granted, I'm not a BIG Allison fan, I like Karen better as a player, I cant deny what she's done so far.

 

[PocketSpeed11]

My vote goes to Balukas

 

[sixpack]

And he's 4 back from Jack's record for Majors which is the defacto gold standard for the best in golf. But this proves my point. He may have played some awesome golf, but falls short in this respect. Until he gets back on the horse and wins these final 4-5, he's still just a work in progress and not a completed. What the records show is consistency. Granted, I'm not a BIG Allison fan, I like Karen better as a player, I cant deny what she's done so far.

He still played better than they did. Maybe didn't have the career numbers due to injury and stupidity. I would say he was a better golfer but a worse professional.

 

[Wedge]

Jean...Allison & Karen

I feel Jean, Allison and Karen are the top 3 of all time and number four is TBD.
Karen has and is playing a lot of Open Pro events. This is a tough list of tournaments for any player:
2015 American 14.1 Championship
2015 US Open 9 Ball
2016 Joss Turning Stone
2016 SBE Women's Pro Event
2016 Joss Turning Stone-August
2016 Tornado Open(Women's Pro and Scotch Doubles w/Corey Deuel)
2016 American 14.1 Championship
2016 US Open 9 Ball

No other female Pro throws herself into the mix like Karen does.

Wedge

 

[Tramp Steamer]

I feel Jean, Allison and Karen are the top 3 of all time and number four is TBD.
Karen has and is playing a lot of Open Pro events. This is a tough list of tournaments for any player:
2015 American 14.1 Championship
2015 US Open 9 Ball
2016 Joss Turning Stone
2016 SBE Women's Pro Event
2016 Joss Turning Stone-August
2016 Tornado Open(Women's Pro and Scotch Doubles w/Corey Deuel)
2016 American 14.1 Championship
2016 US Open 9 Ball
No other female Pro throws herself into the mix like Karen does.
Wedge

I think we can all agree that Jean, Allison, and Karen, are the top three females in pool.
Now. The question is......which one would you rather be with on a blind date, with you being the blind person. :smile:

 

[measureman]

I think we can all agree that Jean, Allison, and Karen, are the top three females in pool.
Now. The question is......which one would you rather be with on a blind date, with you being the blind person. :smile:

Karen.
Boobs trump everything else. Yeah i know................................

 

[Poolhall60561]

Jean -----------

 

[PoolBum]

And he's 4 back from Jack's record for Majors which is the defacto gold standard for the best in golf.

Not only that, but he's WAY behind Jack in overall performance in majors, as is everyone else, which should count as well in determining who the GOAT is, IMO.

If you look at top 10 finishes in majors, for example, Jack is way out in front with 73, while Tom Watson and Sam Snead are tied for second with 46 each. Tiger has 38.

Nicklaus is also way out in front for second-place finishes in majors, with 19. Tiger has 6.

And, when you look closely at Jack's second-place finishes, he easily could have won 28 majors overall.

 

[FranCrimi]

Depends on the game. In 14.1, I would say it's Jean, hands down. But Jean didn't like 9 Ball. She had real problems dealing with the luck factor of the game and it got into her head.

I think Allison and Karen are tied for the best all around players at this time but Karen just keeps getting stronger. I think she may wind up being the best ever.

 

[boogeyman]

Jean. I asked a top ranked woman player who has played against both Jean and Allison and she said Jean was the better player. I watched Jean play one time and she played as good as most of all of the men and had the ability to beat any of them in a race to 11. You have to remember that when she started beating some of the best men players in the world so they went from the Professional Billiard Association (PBA) to the Mens Professional Billiard Association (MPBA) for the sole purpose to keep her out of their tournaments.

One of the biggest reasons why some of the best women back then couldn't beat the men (excluding Jean) was because they couldn't break as hard as the men and the stroke had to be much stronger on slow tables. Jean had the power stroke and a pretty good break and as they said back then "she played like a man". Jean also won (as I recall) 13 tournaments in a row before she refused to pay a fine her peers put on her and she quit. Today with fast cloth and magic racks the game has become easier so today's players look better. Please note that I am not saying the best players today couldn't compete with the best players back then because they could. There is also a lot more great players today than back then.

For sure. I would say the best female player hands down is Jean Balukas.
(Although I would love to have seen Ruth McGinnis play).
I love that you hit on some of the hidden dynamics of the game in your reply,
namely, that players in the past [20 years] "look better" because of the faster cloth
and overall "more streamlined" playing conditions.

I didn't know that the MPBA was created to lock out Jean.

Jean was a beast. She had it all; stroke, break, mental toughness, and natural talent.
Her only shortcoming? She had a bit of a bad attitude.

 

[Johnnyt]

Jean was right about the 9 ball luck. None of the other women had a chance against her in 14.1. I wouldn't be surprised if they changed the game to 9 ball so they might get lucky and beat her once in awhile. Johnnyt

 

[one stroke]

Jean was right about the 9 ball luck. None of the other women had a chance against her in 14.1. I wouldn't be surprised if they changed the game to 9 ball so they might get lucky and beat her once in awhile. Johnnyt

Lori Jon Jones was the youngest to ever win a world 14-1 title male or female and has 8 world titles to her name and 5 time player of the yr also
Since 08 Kelly Fisher has been better than Karen or Allison and has a power game neither of the have or had
Ga young Kim IMHO is better than those 3 and I agree with Jay Siming Chen is at a whole nother level than all of them

The question was not the most accomplished it was who's the best , meaning skill wise. ,

I don't think anybody actualy believes Aron or Bonds was a better home run hitter than Babe

 

[ScottR]

Unless we're talking straight pool, the best ever was Allison Fisher. Her WPBA title count, which is about 50 or so, is incredible and she competed against much tougher fields than Jean Balukas ever faced. Allison also won major 9-ball titles all over the world.

Jean was the best all-around player ever, but Allison Fisher is hands down the best ever woman's nine baller, and Karen Corr is just as clearly second best.

Players like Ewa Laurence, Robin Dodson, Lori Jon Jones and Jeanette Lee, all fine players and deserving BCA Hall of Famers, are not even in the conversation.

The fourth best woman player ever was Ruth McGinnis, who owned a high run of over 130 in the days of the ten footer and had the fullest respect of Ralph Greenleaf.

I can't believe I am disagreeing with Stu!!

Jean is hands down the best female player I've ever seen. Allison has all my respect, but I don't think she could hang with Jean in an all around match (multiple games).

Scott