Earl "The Pearl" Strickland walks into a hall once where one Efren "The Magician" Reyes is standing and says "Race to 20 Nine Ball for $100,000?" After all, he wanted to prove that he was the best in the world.
Efren found a backer who nodded him in and some of the best pool ever played was in store. Reyes won by just one game.
Later, in 1996, Strickland ran 11 consecutive racks against Nick Mannino during the first "PCA" pool tournament where a standing rule allowed anyone who could break and run 10 racks to win $1 Million U.S.
Onlookers swear Strickland coldly fired in the last 9-ball for the money on a touchy combination.
Who's the best pool shooter ever ?
Billiards photo courtesy of Getty Images
Comments
Interesting question. I would say one is not better than the other for the following reasons. Some might say that Earl is because he had the potential to win $1M with those shots. However others would say that there is more pressure to potentially lose $100K of your own money versus winning some money. I personally think Earl running 10 racks of 9 ball in front of a large audience with $1M on the line is a much greater feat because any pro can beat another on any given day based on how each is shooting , how the balls role, etc. But to run 10 straight racks in 9 ball takes an extreme amount of skill. It also takes luck but much more skill. So in my book Earl is tops!
I vote for Willie Mosconi. I think he was the best ever.