It’s no secret that pool is one of the most popular games in the world. Regardless of your skill level, there’s a game for you to play and enjoy with friends or on your own.
With so many great players over time, it can be difficult to decide who deserves the top spot as “The Greatest Pool Player Ever.”
In this article, we will take a look at some of our favourite best pool players of all times!
Famous Pool Players of All Time
In this blog post, we’re going to be looking at the best pool players in history. Many greats deserve to be on this list-champions like Walter Lindrum and Joe Davis who dominated the sport for decades, or more recent legends like Efren Reyes and Johnny Archer.
Efren “Bata” Reyes
The “Philippine Tornado”, nicknamed for his speed, is a legendary player from the Philippines, and he is one of the best pool player ever.
He was one of only six people who competed at what many consider pool’s first international tournament: 1974’s International Nine-ball Tournament held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In his career, he won the Derby City Classic 14 times and the World Pool League twice.
Bata won this event with an undefeated record that included defeating American legend Irving Crane among others during the final match before retiring from competitive play less than three years later at age 27 due to diabetes which had caused blindness in one eye.
In 2005 Efren’s peers voted him “Player of the Year,” making him only the second person (after Johnny Archer) to be unanimously named Player of the Year twice by members of APA (American Poolplayers Association).
In 2007, he was awarded by Guinness World Records for having racked up more than 20 international titles over his lifetime!
He also holds various world records such as 100 consecutive breaks from the break made without fouls or misses.
Mike Sigel
Mike Sigel is one of the best players in the history of pocket billiards. He won the World 8-Ball Championship in 1976 and world open nine ball championship in 1977.
The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) has voted him the greatest player of the 20th century.
He has won ten World Championships and six U.S. Open championships. He has won forty-eight 14.1 (straight pool) and nine 9-Ball titles during the 1980s.
He was the 1979 PPPA World Open champion with a tournament high run of 133, and won the event again in 1981.
In 1985 and 1988, he ran the table of the World Straight Pool Tournament, earning himself a pair of World Straight Pool titles. Somewhat less flamboyantly, he also won the 1989 World Straight Pool Championship.
In 1992, Sigel won the last of his professional victories. When he was ranked number 2 in the world in 1994, it was the end of his 21-year career.
Shane Van Boening
nicknamed the “Van Goon”, is an American professional pool player from Las Vegas, Nevada. He has won thirteen major championships in his career and earned over $350,000 (USD) as a prize money earner.
Van Boening also carries weight on tour with JJ’s Billiards to promote their brand of table timepieces for use by players during matches.
He is s best known for his game break and run with a long ball. Shane is currently ranked number one player in the world, according to the prestigious The Billiards Congress of America (BCA).
He is one of only two best players in the world to have been inducted into both PPA (Professional Pool Players Association) and BCAPL (Billiard Congress of America Player’s Hall of Fame). His game break and run with a long ball is best known.
Shane is currently ranked number one player in the world, according to the prestigious The Billiards Congress of America (BCA).
He is one of only two best players in the world to have been inducted into both PPA (Professional Pool Players Association) and BCAPL (Billiard Congress of America Player’s Hall of Fame). His game break and run with a long ball are best known.
He has won thirteen major championships in his career and earned over USD 350,000 as a prize money earner. Van Boening also carries weight on tour with JJ’s Billiards to promote their brand of table timepieces for use by players during matches.
Earl Stickland
Earl “The Pearl” Stickland was born in the small town of Hubbard, Texas on June 27th, 1944. His father died when he was just six years old and after his mother remarried Earl started playing pool to earn money for the family.
He became an accomplished player at a very young age before moving up to hustling other players as they were considered easy marks since they had no idea how good he really was…
After many successful games by Earl Stickland, it led him into filling out bar queues where he would play until closing time!
He was the first person to ever be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1982. He is one of the best pool players of all time and is especially known for his trick shots.
He defeated James Pulley for the title after playing him off for 100 hours over 25 days. In 2016, he defeated France’s David Cepera to take that year’s championship as well. He now has six world titles overall; three consecutive UPA/WPA World Nine Ball Championships (1999).
Rudolf Walter Wanderone
better known as Minnesota Fats is arguably one of the best pool players in history. Born to Hungarian immigrants and raised on a farm near Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley, he was orphaned at 12 years old when his family died from influenza.
It wasn’t until age 18 that Walter became interested in playing pool after watching others play in local bars back home where he grew up.
His nickname “Fats” came about because of his large size and love for food which made him an easy target for bullies who would taunt with the name “fatty.”
Born to Hungarian immigrants on a farm near Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley, he was orphaned at 12 when his family died from influenza which leads him to be raised by relatives.
It wasn’t until 18 that Walter became interested in playing pool after watching others play back home where he grew up, but it wasn’t until age 20 when got his nickname “Minnesota Fats” due to bullies.
Minnesota fats was the first person to make a million dollars playing pool. He was also, along with his best friend and rival Bobby Moore, one of the most accomplished players in worldwide competition during their careers.
Allison Fisher
Allison Fisher is an American pool player who is best known for being one of the few women to ever compete in an event at The World Series of Pool.
She has also been inducted into the Women’s Professional Billiard Association Hall of Fame and was named Female Player of the Year by the WPBA three times.
Allison Fisher was born in Miami, Florida on November 24th. Her parents were originally from Detroit, Michigan and moved to the area for a job opportunity when she was young.
Still living with her family Allison became interested in the pool at just nine years old after visiting a friend’s house who had their own table.
She wasn’t impressed with what she saw- so much that it took only one day before she purchased her first set of two pillows (to use as bumpers) and an inexpensive cue stick which cost less than five dollars!
From there, Allison would practice every chance that she could- even if it meant sneaking off during dinner time or watching some instructional videos besides school work!
Willie Mosconi
Willie Mosconi was born in 1901 and died on February 17, 1993. he is best known for his billiards exploits which include three world championships.
The first time he became an amateur champion of the world occurred on march 25th 1929 when Mr Mosconi beat john Robinson by a scoreline of 31 frames to 18.
with this victory came a prize money pot worth £500 pounds sterling – an incredible amount during that period.
Conclusion
We hope this article has given you a new perspective on some of the best pool players over time. Which one is your favorite? Do you know any other greats that should be included in this list? Let us know!
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