Mike Sigel. aka "Captain Hook"

Mike Sigel, aka "Captain Hook"

One of the best 9-ball players ever, Sigel is reknowned for his defensive play.

Captain Hook

Hall Of Fame legend Mike Sigel ("Captain Hook") earned his moniker hooking opponents with lock safes though his offense is stellar also. Early in his phenomenal 9-ball career (most tournament wins in the 1980's and 90's) the Captain would break and run a game or two before playing defense so clamping, so vicious, his opponent would wish they made a living at ping-pong or darts instead of pool.

Having said that, Sigel hates to play defense! His cue used to have a little fishhook design as in "reel in the fish" for money!

Like many great 9-ballers, Sigel is a Straight Pool champ, whose Hi-Run is 346! He has won a record 106 pro tournaments (that's at major competition, not including many local and regional events). He has won amazing 10 world titles (five of them official recognized by the WPA as others are with now defunct pool organizations).

Sigel revived a stagnant career with the International Pool Tour (IPT), a brainchild of infomercial king Kevin Trudeau. Trudeau was rumored to have financed the IPT to help line the pockets of his best friend, Mike Sigel.

Sigel’s first historic match for the IPT was for “8-Ball Championship Of The World” against Loree Jon Jones, with both players then ranked far below the several top dozen men and women’s players in the world. Sigel handily won the $200,000 first prize and was later crushed by “The Magician,” Efren Reyes, in the match that followed.

There was considerably less than $200K on the line when I played Captain Hook, but he still shot the lights out with a smile on his face. For more than an hour of 9-ball during a thrilling exhibition, Sigel stroked the cue ball to positions I could not have bettered with ball-in-hand. The cue ball was propelled by Sigel just a foot or two away from each object ball along a golden angle, then straight in on every 9-ball.

I wanted to chop the ball in half to see the magic mechanism Sigel had hidden inside. But no need to do so—I was able to shoot the same cue ball as Sigel, to my personal dissatisfaction.

Mike Sigel is a great pool player and a great marketer and cue equipment promoter. A bright future remains for him.