Who was/is best all around pool player, still alive today?

I think Johnny Archer should be in the conversation. Not sure what kind of one hole player he was though.
 
Cornerman said:
All around in their prime?

Nick Varner and Mike Sigel. I can’t honestly say that Efren was better than those two.

I think what Sigel accomplished really escapes most players who simply didn’t see him. When the game was transitioning from 14.1 to 9-ball, he dominated the tournament scene in both disciplines without missing a beat. There weren’t many one pocket tournaments, yet Sigel has a major tournament win.

The reason why we say that Varner has World Championships in 5 disciplines is because we include Grady Matthews’s World Bank Pool Championships held in Maine in November with 50 entrants, and we include the Derby City Bank Pool Division in 1999. That’s two “world championships” that might not stand the litmus test for many.

Nothing to sneeze at for Varner, my favorite player, but a little eye brow raising.

Efren clearly is the best at one pocket, and dominated the DCC all-around, but by the time DCC started, Sigel had quit the game years earlier, and Nick was on the slow down.
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Great post. I think Efren is great, but he has been elevated to a status higher than his actual skill level. Shots like the Z shot against Strickland elevate his legend,

I think an in his prime Efren would struggle with in their primes Sigel and Varner, and though Mosconi is known really only as the greatest snooker player, he was also one of the best 3 cushion players in the world. and I think would have beat pretty much anyone at any game. He toured with the world snooker champion past his prime and won half of the snooker matches.
 
johnnysd said:
Great post. I think Efren is great, but he has been elevated to a status higher than his actual skill level. Shots like the Z shot against Strickland elevate his legend,

I think an in his prime Efren would struggle with in their primes Sigel and Varner, and though Mosconi is known really only as the greatest snooker player, he was also one of the best 3 cushion players in the world. and I think would have beat pretty much anyone at any game. He toured with the world snooker champion past his prime and won half of the snooker matches.
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Mosconi toured with Greenleaf playing straight pool and won about half the games.
Not snooker.
 
Or, he could be talking about Cuelemans, the nine ball champ.

Enjoy these conversations though, while we have them. Generations from now, the discussion of the best all around player won't even include straight pool. It will only be rotation games, one pocket, and bar box whatever. Be glad we live in a generation when we can at least remember straight pool, and the ones who played it.

All the best,
WW
 
WildWing said:
Or, he could be talking about Cuelemans, the nine ball champ.

Enjoy these conversations though, while we have them. Generations from now, the discussion of the best all around player won't even include straight pool. It will only be rotation games, one pocket, and bar box whatever. Be glad we live in a generation when we can at least remember straight pool, and the ones who played it.

All the best,
WW
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Generations from now you will be hard pressed to even find a pool table.

museums maybe.
 
johnnysd said:
Great post. I think Efren is great, but he has been elevated to a status higher than his actual skill level. Shots like the Z shot against Strickland elevate his legend,

I think an in his prime Efren would struggle with in their primes Sigel and Varner, and though Mosconi is known really only as the greatest snooker player, he was also one of the best 3 cushion players in the world. and I think would have beat pretty much anyone at any game. He toured with the world snooker champion past his prime and won half of the snooker matches.
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Was this in the "World Series of Snooker"
 
measureman said:
Mosconi toured with Greenleaf playing straight pool and won about half the games.
Not snooker.
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I imagine johnnysd was talking about a tour Mosconi made with then-current world professional snooker champion Rex Williams. They went to 6 different cities in 17 days, playing 3 games of snooker and one game of 14.1 in each city. At the end of the tour, the score was 6-0 Mosconi in 14.1 and 11-7 Williams in snooker.

Mosconi was about 60, 20 years older than Williams.


[Info from Mosconi's autobiography.]
 
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A little further research indicates that Rex Williams was the "World Professional Billiards Champion" (English Billiards) not the world snooker champion. He also played snooker at a high level, but never won the world championship.

[So, either a mistake or a bit of exaggeration in Willie's autobio.]
 
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would be awesome if somebody could video interview Rex

they played on American 10ft snooker tables I think, Rex was a prime 40 against an aging and retired Mosconi 60, Rex got smoked
 
Mosconi at 60 yrs old - there still weren't too many players who could beat him at straight pool - and nobody HAD to beat him
 
the greatest tar match

Ten Ball or Nine Ball both players in their prime, efren or shane who wins? Race to 150 winner breaks.
 
1sttbone said:
Ten Ball or Nine Ball both players in their prime, efren or shane who wins? Race to 150 winner breaks.
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10 ball, Shane, simply because of the break. 9 ball could go either way, I will still bet on Shane simply because of the break. 15 ball, Efren.
I'm in the camp saying Efen is the greatest player ever.
 
pt109 said:
Ah, democracy at it’s finest.....probably a fair amount of voters who can’t hit the end rail.

Democracy carries the seed of it’s own destruction
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Tables are supposed to have end rails?????

wow...no wonder....:cool:



I had Danny DiLiberto tell me personally that HE was the greatest all around player ever.

Told as he was giving me lessons, so I had no reason to doubt it. He did get in the HoF soon after that.




Jeff Livingston
 
Efren

I'll still go with Efren for ALL games, living right now... there IS a
gentleman who struck fear into pro's and road players, who if he
got his game wired again, would be deadly.

That gentleman is Mark Tadd.
 
Gambling winner break or tourn.alt break? One Efrens in the park ,one he isnt.Nick is still alive so He has walked that walk.
 
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