Mike Davis had him hill hill at the derby this year, and came oh so close to winning, but lost.
Who Will Be the Person to Beat Efren at One Pocket..
- Thread starter Robertduke
- Start date
belmicah said:Guys like Austin Murphy and Chuck Holyoke (and Landon Shuffet) are only 13 and 14 and are playing pretty good now. Get them to play one hole, and they have years on everyone else. Of course Efren may be 70 before they can beat him
that would give them a lot of weight considering Efren's age!
don't you think Efren needs some weight by then?
Hey peeps,
I think the majority of you guys are missing the point. Some got it, but most haven't.
What makes Efren the best in One Pocket is not really his pocketing ability. A lot of people named people like Chohan, Shuffet, etc as possible replacements. What it really comes down to is that Efren THINKS differently than everyone else in One Pocket.
He just makes it to the first opportunity before his opponents much more consistently than anyone else. That cannot be taught. Orcullo might, or he might not, be the guy that steps up to replace Efren in one Pocket. To tell you the truth, I have no reason to believe that he will, or that anyone else will. The only way to prove you have the potential to equal Efren in One Pocket is either to consistently place high in One Pocket events, or to beat Efren or Cliff straight up for the dough.
One Pocket is a funny game. It doesn't matter how good you are at running balls. As Efren says, and is mostly true, "Everyone can run out." But Efren still beats those people like they stole his cue.
So, please don't make the false assumption that just because these guys can shoot straight, and run a million balls, that they are a viable candidate to replace Efren. There's just no evidence to support that..
Russ
I think the majority of you guys are missing the point. Some got it, but most haven't.
What makes Efren the best in One Pocket is not really his pocketing ability. A lot of people named people like Chohan, Shuffet, etc as possible replacements. What it really comes down to is that Efren THINKS differently than everyone else in One Pocket.
He just makes it to the first opportunity before his opponents much more consistently than anyone else. That cannot be taught. Orcullo might, or he might not, be the guy that steps up to replace Efren in one Pocket. To tell you the truth, I have no reason to believe that he will, or that anyone else will. The only way to prove you have the potential to equal Efren in One Pocket is either to consistently place high in One Pocket events, or to beat Efren or Cliff straight up for the dough.
One Pocket is a funny game. It doesn't matter how good you are at running balls. As Efren says, and is mostly true, "Everyone can run out." But Efren still beats those people like they stole his cue.
So, please don't make the false assumption that just because these guys can shoot straight, and run a million balls, that they are a viable candidate to replace Efren. There's just no evidence to support that..
Russ
Russ Chewning said:
Great points, Russ. Ronnie Allen was the best one pocket player for ages. He was not the straightest shooter. He was the best one pocket thinker. The Miz shot straighter but couldn't win. Buddy, shot straighter but couldn't win. Sigel, Hubbart, Searcy, etc. all shot straighter than Ronnie but no one could win because Ronnie saw things they didn't.
Efren sees the things Ronnie saw and maybe even more, plus he shoots as straight as anyone in history. There should be a surtax on all of us who are fortunate enough to get to watch Efren play one pocket. Half going to Efren and the other half to a fund payable to the guy who finally knocks him off the top of the mountain. Then you might see Wu and all of those young kids studying the game.
Efren right now is missing balls he never use to miss both in 9 Ball & One Pocket. If he didn't need the action so much it would be a good time for him to take some kind of vacation. Many of the regulars at Hard Times commented on this last week. But he must have the action. He won a game of cards at HT last week and laughed and giggled like it was a World Championship. Love to watch him but there is a little edge missing, at least for now. Like someone on here mentioned--Age does take a silent toll.
charlieb said:
I think the culprit is his health, not so much his age. There are still people in their 60's and 70's that can string racks of 9ball, and play great one pocket (Grady is a perfect example). Obviously, we all know Efren is younger than that, and can do that, but he has more 'off' days than he normally would have about a decade ago. Smoking really hurt his body, and I was told that he has Emphysema. I wouldn't be surprised if he takes some kind of medication, because he is travelling non-stop, and seems to get sick quite often. What keeps him going is his love for the game, and his generosity towards his people. All the money he wins, he spreads it around quite a bit in his country. He is a very good man. When he is in stroke, he is still practically unbeatable. Again, he is having more 'off' days than he did in the past, so that's why people are assuming that he has passed the torch. I honestly think he is going to win another US Open or WPC, sometime in the near future.
cuetechasaurus said:
I noticed that his face appeared to be swollen or puffy on some of the more recent Accustats videos, which could be caused by some emphysema meds. Most of the meds in this class tend to jack your system as well, almost like having a stimulant on board.
I'm not sure how this would affect his play - it could even have a positive effect if the dosage was managed.
Ken
Funny you say off day. Today at Hard Times in front of a packed crowd, he was playing one pocket even with Rafael Martinez, and Efren got out to 3 ahead. But after about 2 hours or so, it was back to even at which point Efren nodded and took his cue apart. I didn't get the sensation that he was totally on his game today having seen him play numerous times in the past. He did make a few awe-inspiring shots including one close range masse cut shot to come back for the next ball.charlieb said:
I think we need to appreciate him while he's still got his magic because the day will come when it won't be there.
TorranceChris said:Funny you say off day. Today at Hard Times in front of a packed crowd, he was playing one pocket even with Rafael Martinez, and Efren got out to 3 ahead. But after about 2 hours or so, it was back to even at which point Efren nodded and took his cue apart. I didn't get the sensation that he was totally on his game today having seen him play numerous times in the past. He did make a few awe-inspiring shots including one close range masse cut shot to come back for the next ball.
Did Efren appeared to look tired or maybe just toyed around during the latter part of that match?
Hail Mary Shot said:Did Efren appeared to look tired or maybe just toyed around during the latter part of that match?
I think more tired than toying cuz he was tossing out his arm with a bemused look some of the time as if he wasn't happy with the quality of his shots, but I guess everyone is entitled to an off day, even Efren. Rafael was moving the balls pretty good himself.
TorranceChris said:
I see. He might have also turned down a hefty money game match if that was the case. just like any player would have.
Russ Chewning said:
While Efren does think better than anyone else in one pocket, I also think he is above probably anyone else in ball-running ability and being confident in executing really difficult shots that trap his opponents. At this point he is just unbelievable at nudging balls and playing position off of balls, and part of this is due to his world-class 3-cushion ability. I just wanted to note that not only is he at the top when it comes to thinking, he is also at the top when it comes to position play and execution.
TorranceChris said:Funny you say off day. Today at Hard Times in front of a packed crowd, he was playing one pocket even with Rafael Martinez, and Efren got out to 3 ahead. But after about 2 hours or so, it was back to even at which point Efren nodded and took his cue apart. I didn't get the sensation that he was totally on his game today having seen him play numerous times in the past. He did make a few awe-inspiring shots including one close range masse cut shot to come back for the next ball.
Has Efren been coming to Hard Times often lately?
How popular is game of one pocket world wide?
I know it's a big part of DCC and gambling scene, but is there an official World One Pocket Championships? I may be misinformed, but I don't think there is any.
Who is going to put serious practice time into this game if it is that obscure??
And people call straight pool dead...
I know it's a big part of DCC and gambling scene, but is there an official World One Pocket Championships? I may be misinformed, but I don't think there is any.
Who is going to put serious practice time into this game if it is that obscure??
And people call straight pool dead...
Takumi4G63 said:
I don't know if he is still in the area. Perhaps someone else online does as we have quite a few posters that play at Hard Times
Slider said:
Meds for actively deteriorating condition are always bad. Swollen face is a side effect. I wouldn't be surprise if he has reumathism and taking meds for it too. It's very common to old Filipinos.
TorranceChris said:I don't know if he is still in the area. Perhaps someone else online does as we have quite a few posters that play at Hard Times
Anyone?????