When talking about the greatest pro pool player of all time, there’s no doubt that Efren “Bata” Reyes is the one. There are several reasons why he’s considered as such even though there are many other great pro pool players like Earl “the Pearl” Strickland, Ralf “the Kaiser” Souquet, Johnny “the Scorpion” Archer, and even another great Filipino pro pool player, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, who have achievements as many as Reyes. So, why does it have to be Reyes? Well, here are the 4 reasons why Reyes is the greatest pro pool player of all time.
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Number 4. The best all-around player. To make it simple, we can just look at Efren “Bata” Reyes’ achievements in pool tournaments as a starter. After we see all of Reyes’ achievements in tournaments, we’ll surely find a very intriguing fact about Reyes. The fact is that Reyes has rarely become the most recurring champion of an annual pool tournament.
First of all, if Reyes is considered as the greatest pro pool for winning the alternative of the 1999 WPA World 9-Ball Championship, the 1999 World Professional Pool Championship, then Earl “the Pearl” Strickland would deserve the title better than Reyes because he has won the annual tournament 3 times, while Reyes has only won it once. It goes the same with the WPA World 8-Ball Championship because Reyes has also won it once, just like other champions of the annual tournament.
The US Open 9-Ball Championship is also the same in this case because Reyes has only won it once but both Strickland and Shane “the Dakota Kid” Van Boening have won it 5 times.
In this case, the only tournament that has Reyes as its most recurring champion is the World Pool League. However, he’s not the only most recurring champion in the World Pool League as well because Jim Rempe has the same number of tournament wins in that annual tournament.
So, it can be said that Reyes has won almost all available pool tournaments in the world along his career as a pro pool player, while other great pro pool players mostly have won many times in certain tournaments but have never won in other tournaments. This is why Reyes is considered as an all-around player and that surely makes him the greatest pro pool player of all time.
Number 3. Being inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame. In order to be able to be considered as a pool legend, a pro pool player surely has to be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame or BCA Hall of Fame. The induction into the BCA Hall of Fame is like a final and highest achievement that a pro pool player can get.
The induction is only possible after a pro pool player collects a significant amount of achievements in pool sport. Those achievements can be from winning pool tournaments or from giving contributions to the pool sport itself.
So, there are many factors that must be fulfilled in order to be able to be inducted in to the BCA Hall of Fame. In this case, Efren “Bata” Reyes was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 2003, making him the first Asian pro pool player to be inducted into the hall of fame. With that induction, Reyes more than deserves to be called a pool legend.
Numer 2. Passing his legacy to the next generation. If other pro pool players are too busy in making their own names in pool tournaments, Efren “Bata” Reyes is very much different from them. Reyes has never hesitated to show his skills on pool table to whoever demands him to do that.
So, unlike most other pro pool players who just think about themselves, Reyes always think about the future of the pool sport. In this case, of course more great pro pool players will surely make the pool sport itself greater.
That’s why as mentioned before, Reyes has never hesitated to show his skills to teach the next generation of pro pool players on how to become a great one.
This attitude of course draws a lot praise from pool players and fans, which surely take part in the acknowledgement of Reyes as the greatest pro pool player of all time.
Number 1. The best all-around player. To make it simple, we can just look at Efren “Bata” Reyes’ achievements in pool tournaments as a starter. After we see all of Reyes’ achievements in tournaments, we’ll surely find a very intriguing fact about Reyes. The fact is that Reyes has rarely become the most recurring champion of an annual pool tournament.
First of all, if Reyes is considered as the greatest pro pool for winning the alternative of the 1999 WPA World 9-Ball Championship, the 1999 World Professional Pool Championship, then Earl “the Pearl” Strickland would deserve the title better than Reyes because he has won the annual tournament 3 times, while Reyes has only won it once.
It goes the same with the WPA World 8-Ball Championship because Reyes has also won it once, just like other champions of the annual tournament.
The US Open 9-Ball Championship is also the same in this case because Reyes has only won it once but both Strickland and Shane “the Dakota Kid” Van Boening have won it 5 times. In this case, the only tournament that has Reyes as its most recurring champion is the World Pool League.
However, he’s not the only most recurring champion in the World Pool League as well because Jim Rempe has the same number of tournament wins in that annual tournament.
So, it can be said that Reyes has won almost all available pool tournaments in the world along his career as a pro pool player, while other great pro pool players mostly have won many times in certain tournaments but have never won in other tournaments.
This is why Reyes is considered as an all-around player and that surely makes him the greatest pro pool player of all time.
