EFREN REYES-BUSTAMANTE-ARCHER US Open semis+final 

Y55

You're quite welcome, Brian. Glad it brought back happy memories with your dad. Few things are more valuable than those familial collections in your mind.

I love to tell this story.. Willards 9-ball jamboree in 1992.. Over 500 of the best players on the planet.. Bustamante first trip to America.. He gets in action with CJ Wiley giving CJ the wild 8 ball (which is just an excuse to play, really... Literally means nothing to players of their caliber).. Bustamante wins 2 sets without missing a ball and just robs CJ, who was playing as well as anyone at the time.. After it’s over, Incardona tells Bustamante’s stakehorse he can play Buddy Hall and win the town, if he wants.. The offer is politely declined.. Then Incardona tells the guy Efren can play Buddy and win whatever he wants.. And that offer is politely declined, as well.. Buddy Hall is the greatest 9-ball player ever, bar none..

Actually he was 31 in 1995 born in 1963

@@jacobjones5269 ppo

Attyyy

Attyyyy

+kabayanhustler Call by Buddy was superb, unbelievable shot!

I don't think the first one was "lucky" though. That was a typical Efren play. He's been in the US for 12 years or so by 1995 when this game was played., so they should have not been surprised that Efren can do those kind of shots. On the other that kick safe shot by Efren is phenomenal.

One of the best pool commentators in every way, for sure. He's everything you'd want in that role.

a very fantastic shot

I totally agree with you. It was an absolutely world-class safety shot. What an inspiring display of skill, knowledge, and visualization on the part of Efren.

That's a very interesting POV! I don't know if I would have considered that as a possibility for distraction, but that makes total sense.

the snowdawg thats the kinda pool playing I prefer to watch myself...its more excited to watch real skill offensive play instead of safety play over and over

I was at this Open, 25 years later I still cant believe Reed won it

Awkward but it works and works only for him☺️

Thanks for the kind words. Good to hear your feedback.

Thank You Ray ..... great

ray carlton

Thanks to you as well, Alan. Check out my newest upload (on January 27, 2017) Reyes vs Archer in a race to 11 for 20K

Well said, Mike. I was in the audience for this exciting semis & finals series. Seems like yesterday. Crowd was mesmerized and dazzled.

And look at Johnny's *legendary sportsmanship* with this beaming smile at 2:10:45 as he congratulates Efren in *clear admiration* of the extraordinary skill displayed in the cited kicksafe that led to the victory.

@@raycarltonbilliards5798 Yeah, A big respect also to Johnny Archer

Well you came to the right place, Billy.

@@raycarltonbilliards5798 too bad Reed Pierce dont have any videos, would love to see him play, I remember watching these on Sportsouth, recording the matches on VHS tapes, they all burned up in a fire

". . . would love to see him play" He "don't have any videos" Yes he does -- here you go . . . six videos of him: store.accu-stats.com/search.php?search_query=pierce He plays: Wetch, Robles, Takahashi, Le Bron, Reyes, Bustamante. Excellent commentary.

Yeah that's true. They are the ones who created bank/trick shots for these new players to learn. And one last thing, is that they play better position for their next shot.

You may be thinking of the Danny Medina cuts, Ed, in the '86 match in the Atlantic City casino against Jose Garcia. I've posted some time ago that match and also the Hall-Parica one you may have in mind. Those cuts are common road player proposition bets, and as you may already know are accomplished by curving the CB with heavy inside english and a rail-first hit on the OB.

ray carlton billiards - thanks for the info, I did have a VHS copy but that tape got corrupted years ago. Yeah I know the technique and could make them way back when but not under the pressure of tournament game being filmed. What funny is I started shooting pool before Earl the Pearl pickup a cure stick. Being from Hawaii we never had the action or tournament play to get to the pro ranks. I was a very good natural player that had a little informal instruction from a gambler and played a game that wouldn't have been good professionally. We shot out and the idea if safety play never came into the picture. I learned to use English in ways you don't see in the pro tournaments. Efren is the closest that style and I too slept in pool halls or stayed up all night playing. I wish I had the opportunity to try pool professionally. Like Paul Newman in The Color of Money said (if I remember correctly) about the sweetness of money won. I very much enjoy your videos.

Billy Incardona ("Cardone") correctly observed "Filipinos and most Asians know things about the cue ball that we don't know." You mention playing long before Earl; I had been playing semi-pro pool for ten years before Earl was even born. I agree that early playing without safeties does get you learning all about spin application very quickly.

Glad you enjoyed it, Chris!

Not only never won back to back us open, but never won a second us open title.

Never won another US Open, period.. Unless I missed one?..

Glad you like them, Michael. Per your physics playlist (and enjoyment of pool) I know you'll definitely relate to this quote by Willie Mosconi: *Pool is physics learned by trial and error."* *

There has only been 1 person to ever beat him playing even and the game they played was efrens worst game. He credits Mike Sigel as his fav most respected player because of it. He isnt the best player but in his prime he was as close as anyone probably. People often dont realize how good mike sigel really was because of the stupid 8ball match he played awful in and efren torched him.

Adrian Woodard Agreed..n Mike had not been actively participating in competition

I watched Buddy beat him 10 ahead for $10K.. That was in 1984.. Then I watched as both Bustamante and Efren duck Buddy in 1992.. They were told they could win as much as they can carry, and both of them politely declined..

+Parker Goodin Here you'll find 30 more that'll keep you busy for quite a while on my channel: ru-vid.com/show-UCxDXBU6sbgHwsBsrRQfFOLA?

Any pro, on any given day, has the potential to defeat any given opponent *with ease* (as you put it). Pros -- and most top athletic coaches -- know the very important difference between being *_Prepared_* (a full arsenal of all pool skills) for a match, and being *_Ready_* for a particular pool match. Quite often a severe trouncing is related to who was more *_Ready_* for that match. They're not automatons. Supernaturally self-confident Willie Mosconi, a Straight Pool specialist, was the closest to unwavering automaton-like perfection when winning 15 world titles. Virtually unbeatable for the title. He was never *_not Ready_* to win against any opponent. When a billiards news reporter asked whether he felt any pre-match pressure, Willie replied: "Pressure? I leave that to the other guy; I only have to play pool . . . he has to play Mosconi." True story.

Excellent observation, John. Extremely plausible. THX

and farts

My observation too

A better time stamp is 1:01:19 -- that's when the slo-mo extreme close-up begins. You'll see the white hit the rail, . . . bounce off the rail . . . contact yellow . . . but *NOT roll back to the rail* after contact with the yellow, so it *WAS a foul* A buddy of mine was in the live audience at the match and from where he was sitting he saw what the referree saw and confirms that the referree's call was accurate. A razor-thin situation for sure.

Bustamante is and was indeed a great gentleman on or off the table and it's very unfortunate for everyone that a slo-mo replay wasn't either available or asked for, at the time (25 years ago). The referree definitely had a difficult, instantaneous decision to make -- no one could argue with that. Sports fans are definitely free to interpret slow-motion replays in any manner they wish to and be confident that thousands of viewers will agree with their opinion while a similar number will not. Happens in any sport or with any Internet subject. Sports controversies are the least important ones in today's world and are actually probably a very welcome distraction from upsetting news of events far beyond our control. In any case, I'm certainly glad I was able to restore and digitize my home-recording of the live 1995 broadcast for whatever pleasure today's fans can continually derive in viewing it (and any others in my archived collection). Our beloved sport has given me many decades of pleasure in playing and competing in it, and I enjoy the opportunity of giving something back to the sport by way of preserving a bit of history for other generations.

it was a foul

I just like how they stopped the replay as soon as contact was made with the one ball. They didn’t let it play out.

I just think in those days smoking was still allowed, everybody, especially at a casino setting were chimneys, I've seen Reyes cough a lot too at matches before he quit smoking

There is more money bet on the match in the stands then the prize money of 20k the player wins for first.

he aimed for it, plus some luck

He made it at an event with a bag on his shoulder, and eventually he was just watching and alcada handed him a cue that he had never used before and he got down and made the same shot first try. Pretty sure he can just do that.

@@andrewverrett568 he can do it everyday Must have seen all kinds of shots

It's a bit patronizing to assume someone as gifted as Efren would be at this level and play just about any shot "for luck." I don't know why so many commentators feel the need to consistently dog on the best players in the world during these extremely intense matches, but it definitely irritates me lol. Perhaps they're not trying to "dog" the players as much as they are trying to keep the air space filled with words. But still... don't dog Efren!!!

Bunch of morons, I would have done this, I would have done that, Every shot, Tom Kelly was clueless

To me, there is visually a very remarkable Lincoln-esque quality about Johnny's appearance and the confident, erect way he carries himself. All of that coupled with an almost shy, soft-spoken manner when asked on-camera to comment about his own abilities is quite admirable and charming for many of his life-long fans.

@@raycarltonbilliards5798 Yeah! I see that too. He's always been a real gentleman.

Well-deserved fame. A superb player and pool-related businessman during his prime years.

Shirt appeared to be touching from the camera angle, but in fact it wasn't -- there was plenty of clearance. The ref could see better from his own viewpoint and would have immediately called it. As to announcer, Tom Kelly, his words hadn't "called" the foul, they were words correctly speculating: "if his shirt touches it *will be* a foul." A buddy of mine was in the audience and confirmed to me years ago that Pierce's shirt didn't touch a ball.

@@raycarltonbilliards5798 your friend was there too confirm that it wasn’t a foul and that the shirt didn’t touch?

No way, were I Buste, would I have rolled that kick on the one in that final rack soft like that. Like Dileberto says, "Smack it! And hope!"

I don't know what anyone thinks of alternating every two breaks. A compromise between winner break and alternating break.

@@rogerscottcatheygreat idea 👍

Hi Bluedog: For your (and other viewers') pleasure, here's a dazzling career-long listing of his significant wins and various awards as a pro from 1985 up to 2019: ------------------------------------------------------ 2019 "6th Annual Junior Norris Memorial Shootout 9-Ball Champion" 2018 1st Asian Culture Day Lifetime Achievement Award (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) 2018 Taiwan Pool Classic (Team Philippines) 3rd 2018 The Break Room 8-Ball Classic 2016 Accu-Stats Make-It-Happen One-Pocket Invitational 2015 Accu-Stats Make-It-Happen One-Pocket Invitational 2014 MP Cup Gensan International Open 10-Ball 2014 Smokin' Aces One-Pocket Shootout 2014 Derby City Classic One-Pocket 2012 Chuck Markulis Memorial One-Pocket Division 2011 World Mixed Doubles Classic (with Rubilen Amit) 2011 US Open One Pocket Championship 2010 Spanish Open 2010 2010 Predator International Ten-Ball Championship 2010 Derby City Classic Master of the Table 2010 Derby City Classic Fatboy Challenge 10-Ball 2010 Derby City Classic Nine-Ball 2010 Asia vs. Europe Challenge Match 2009 World Mixed Doubles Classic (with Rubilen Amit) 2009 Galveston World Classic One Pocket 2009 World Cup of Pool (with Francisco Bustamante) 2007 Derby City Classic Master of the Table 2007 Derby City Classic One-Pocket 2006 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour (Indonesia Leg) 2006 IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship 2006 World Cup of Pool (with Francisco Bustamante) 2006 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour (Vietnam Leg) 2006 Derby City Classic One-Pocket 2005 IPT King of the Hill Eight-Ball Shootout 2005 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour (Indonesia Leg) 2005 All Japan Championship 2005 Derby City Classic Master of the Table 2005 Derby City Classic Nine-Ball 2005 Derby City Classic One-Pocket 2004 WPA World Eight-ball Championship 2004 On Cue 3: Intercontinental Conquest 2004 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour (Singapore Leg) 2004 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour (Vietnam Leg) 2004 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour (Taiwan Leg) 2004 Derby City Classic Master of the Table 2004 Derby City Classic One-Pocket 2003 Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame 2003 World Classic Billiards Tournament 2003 Las Vegas Nine-Ball Open 2003 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour (Manila Leg) 2003 Mid-Atlantic Nine-Ball Championship 2003 All Japan Championship 2002 Asian Games Eight-Ball singles 2002 World Pool League 2002 Cafe Puro Challenge of the Masters 2002 Shooters Labor Day Weekend Open Nine-Ball 2002 International Challenge of Champions 2001 World Pool League 2001 Tokyo Open 9-Ball 2001 US Masters Nine-Ball 2001 International Billiard Tournament 2001 Accu-Stats Eight-Ball Invitational 2001 The Color of Money II (vs. Earl Strickland) 2000 U.S. Open One-Pocket Championship 2000 PBT World Eight-Ball Championship 2000 Camel Pro Eight-Ball Championship 2000 Pennsylvania State Nine-Ball Championship 2000 USA Billiards Challenger Event 2 1999 ESPN Ultimate Nine-Ball Challenge 1999 ESPN Ultimate Shootout 1999 Sands Regency Open 29 Nine-Ball Championship 1999 World Professional Pool Championship 1999 Derby City Classic Master of the Table 1999 Derby City Classic One-Pocket 1998 World Eight-Ball Championship 1998 Camel South Jersey Ten-Ball Open 1997 PCA Shooters Challenge 1997 PCA Treasure Island Resort Event 1996 The Color of Money (vs. Earl Strickland) 1996 PBT World Eight-Ball Championship 1996 PBT Legends of Nine-Ball Championship 1996 Camel World Nine-Ball Championship 1996 PBT Western Open 1996 PBT Florida Flare Up III 1995 Sands Regency Open 21 Nine-Ball Championship 1995 PBT World Eight-Ball Championship 1995 Pro Tour Nine-Ball Championship 1995 Maine 14.1 Event 1995 Bicycle Club VII 1994 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships 1994 PBT Bicycle Club Invitational 1992 International Nine-Ball Classic 1992 World Nine-Ball Open (Tokyo) 1990 World Cup (Taipei) 1988 PBA McDermott Masters Nine-Ball 1986 Sands Regency Nine-Ball Championship 1985 Sands Regency Nine-Ball Championship 1985 Red's Nine-Ball Open 1985 Tar Heel Open 1985 Willard's Open 1985 Chicago Billiards Open --------------------------------------------------------------------------- He is the greatest all-around player in the 174-year history of professional pool , in my opinion

i agree

Facts

Yeah why did they pause it if it’s a good hit. Unless you don’t wanna show a player getting screwed.

A better time stamp is 1:01:19 -- that's when the slo-mo extreme close-up begins. On TV it looks like it did get back to the rail after contact with the OB, but it's tough to be certain. A buddy of mine was in the live audience at the match and from where he was sitting he saw what the ref saw and confirms that the ref's call was accurate. A razor-thin situation for sure.

Reyes, who? Efren was the best at the time! It Was a fact, indeed!! You still

Years back, Efren was the best pool player indeed !!

I have so much admiration for Efren bats Reyes!!

I was and will always be his follower.

End of argument.

Not predicting any shot of Efren's? Their prime function is giving their seasoned opinion on navigating any table's layout. And even allowing for Efren's unexpected magical solutions, the best commentators get the navigation right the vast majority of the time . . . or the producers wouldn't be inviting them back as often as they do. *I do get your point of course, in fact Archer himself -- when commentating -- has said multiple times: "Efren can surprise anyone no matter how long they've been around the game."*

The only problem I had with the announcers was the way they kept harping on Efren missing that 9. Yeah, he should'a made it, but the cue was quite near the rail and the side pocket and was by no means an easy shot.

foul on all balls!