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

whos the best

this is a question that is very debatable because it is an opinion. my opinion may not be correct but it is still the one i have. personally i think Keith McCready IN 1989 was
un-beatable at any game... but then again I still think Im the greatest player of all time.
 
Mich said:
Sigel was the best I ever saw period. First sighting at the Roosevelt in NYC for 14.1 in 92. Watched every match he played, memorizing. His 9 ball game was lethal, he could beat top pros with his B game. He never had a monster break but he just needed to make one ball and he could get out from anywhere. Like Buddy Hall said, No one shoots straighter than Mike Sigel. Great cue ball but it was his recovery prowess that was jaw dropping. Don't know why he retired so young. He had just beat everyone at Valley Forge in 9 ball when he called it quits.......
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92 was a peak Earl

I wonder how an extended series of matches between them could have gone removing Earl's break advantage, i.e. breakers gets a shot after the break even if a ball doesn't drop
 
Well this is a quote from Allen Hopkins in a phone conversation about few years back & he see said Sigel was best and i know i played them all. exact quote.
 
All Around

I'll still go with Efren for 'all around', which to me means all games.

If we were talking 9 ball, then I might give the edge to either Buddy or Earl.
Buddy's position play back in the day was amazing... and no one had a top
gear like Earl at his peak... see Earl vs. Varner, 9-0.
And again, if Mark Tadd hadn't quit for years, IMO he'd be killing it.

But for ALL games? The Magician.
 
If this thread were posted in 6 months or so, there might be a lot of different responses, except for Efren, of course. I'm referring to the burgeoning retinue of unprecedentedly straight-shooting foreigners.
Nevertheless, regardless of all-around skill, Earl deserves to be called the 2nd best player ever.
 
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PoolFoolKBH said:
Hey Jay, if this message finds you...'Bakersfield Bobby told me to tell you to give him a call....1-520-466-7149
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In case Jay never reads this post....look for any post that Jay has made...
...click on his AZ name....second option will be to send a PM to Jay
 
It's actually a pretty funny question. Who was or is the greatest, still living.

Still living - Mike Sigel.

Still playing - Probably Hohman, played more straight pool than the rest.

All the best,
WW
 
JoeyA said:
In a conversation with Buddy Hall this week he had this to say:

"Wimpy Lassiter was the best 9 ball player I ever saw. However, Eddie Taylor & Luther Lassiter both said I was the best 9 ball player they had ever seen."

JoeyA
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We have to ask Buddy if he's ever seen himself play then.
 
WildWing said:
It's actually a pretty funny question. Who was or is the greatest, still living.

Still living - Mike Sigel.

Still playing - Probably Hohman, played more straight pool than the rest.

All the best,
WW
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Still living - Sigel. I wish he never quit. Said the stress was too high for not enough money.

Still playing - Alex
 
WildWing said:
It's actually a pretty funny question. Who was or is the greatest, still living.

Still living - Mike Sigel.

Still playing - Probably Hohman, played more straight pool than the rest.

All the best,
WW
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That middle cue...is it a Palmer Rambow look-alike?
 
fan-tum said:
That middle cue...is it a Palmer Rambow look-alike?
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Good eye there. It's the second Gene Balner Palmer catalog, Model C. Very elusive, his tribute to the Rambow cue with the large ivory buttcap, in this case, implex. Believe Tate has one also.

It's not Gene's first Rambow tribute. In his first catalog, his model 4 was a Rambow tribute. The only one I'm aware of that has it is Jay (Type79).

Thanks for asking, and as always,

All the best,
WW
 

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I think Efron, Siegel, Varner and parica are all in the conversation on any given night in their respective primes relative to all games.

Earl greatest 9 ball player winner breaks ever.
 
WildWing said:
Good eye there. It's the second Gene Balner Palmer catalog, Model C. Very elusive, his tribute to the Rambow cue with the large ivory buttcap, in this case, implex. Believe Tate has one also.

It's not Gene's first Rambow tribute. In his first catalog, his model 4 was a Rambow tribute. The only one I'm aware of that has it is Jay (Type79).

Thanks for asking, and as always,

All the best,
WW
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Still got it too. :wink:
 
gesan said:
I think Efron, Siegel, Varner and parica are all in the conversation on any given night in their respective primes relative to all games.

Earl greatest 9 ball player winner breaks ever.
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When playing 9 ball and winner break on a 9'er, Earl, in his prime..... was in a class ALL BY HIMSELF. Not one person alive at the time, including the Magician, could play on Earl's level.

Efren was better at "billiard/pool" in general....by a tad/hair but Earl was a whole other level at 9 ball.

Yep, I'm a Pearl fan. I'm also a Magician fan as well.

As far as who's the best today? I have no idea.
 
Three of the Legends that are all great all around players of the game of pool.
 

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The player who was the best all around, and is still living, will be Efren until he dies.

A more interesting question is best all around right now, which is constantly subject to change. I put Orcullo ahead of Alex, and I don't see why Alex gets so many mentions. Orcullo plays rotation games a lot better, 14.1 a lot better, and one pocket almost even with Alex.
 
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