Efren Reyes
Encyclopedia
Efren Manalang Reyes (born August 26, 1954) is a Filipino
professional pool
player and a two-time world champion. Reyes is considered by many to be the greatest all-around pool player in the history of the game. He is affectionately nicknamed "Bata" ("kid" in English) and "the Magician".
in 1954. He moved to Manila
with his family at the age of 5. In Manila, he worked as a billiards attendant at his uncle's billiards hall, where he started learning the various cue sports. Because he was not tall enough to reach the pool table, he played while standing on Coca-cola cases that he moved around. At night, while he was dreaming of playing pool, the pool table was his bed.
He is called Bata, which is Filipino for "Kid", because there was another older pool player named Efren when he was young. To distinguish between the two, he was referred to as Efren Bata.
Reyes began winning a number of tournaments in the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia. Thus, he started to gain attention and recognition worldwide. At the start of his career, he used aliases to hide his identity so he would be allowed to compete. By the mid-1990s, he had become one of the elite players of the Philippines, alongside Jose Parica
and Francisco Bustamante
.
Reyes' fame began when he won the US Open Nine Ball Championship in 1994 by defeating Nick Varner
in the finals. He was the first non-American to win the event.
Two years later, Efren Reyes and Earl Strickland
were chosen to face each other in an event called the Color of Money, named after the movie
. The event was a three-day race-to-120 challenge match of 9-ball. It was held in Hong Kong, with a winner-take-all prize of US$
100,000. Reyes won the match 120-117. This was the largest single-winning purse in a pool event.
Although Earl Strickland was the first to win the WPA World 9-ball Championship, Reyes, in 1999, became the first to win while it was broadcast on television. This tournament was not recognized at the time by the WPA, but Reyes was later retrospectively acknowledged as the winner of one of two world championships held in 1999. Nick Varner won the "official" world title. The two tournaments were merged for the following year, with both men listed as the champion for 1999. At the time, the Matchroom Sport
-organised event in Cardiff
, Wales
, was called the World Professional Pool Championship (despite the entry of many non-professional players).
In 2001, Reyes won the International Billiard Tournament. The event was held in Tokyo
, with over 700 players and a total purse of ¥
100M ($850K). Reyes dominated the event and beat Niels Feijen
in the finals 15-7 and earned the ¥20M ($170K) first prize. At the time, this was the biggest first prize in a pool tournament.
In 2002 he won the $50K winner-take-all International Challenge of Champions
, defeating Mika Immonen in a deciding rack after both players split sets.
Near the end of 2004, Reyes beat Marlon Manalo
to become the first-ever WPA World Eight Ball Champion. With the win, he became the first player in WPA history to win world championships in two different disciplines.
In December 2005, Reyes won the IPT
King of the Hill 8-Ball Shootout. Reyes won a record-breaking $200K for first place by beating fellow Hall of Fame member Mike "the Mouth" Sigel
two sets to none (8-0 and 8-5).
In 2006, Reyes and Francisco Bustamante
represented their country as Team Philippines in the inaugural World Cup of Pool. They defeated Team USA, Earl Strickland
and Rodney Morris
, to capture the title.
That same year, Reyes won the IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship
over Rodney Morris 8-6. He earned $500K which was the largest prize money tournament in the history of pocket billiards. Unfortunately, due to IPT's financial problems, he has not been able to claim much of this money as of 2007.
In 2009, the Filipino tandem of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante beat the German pair of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann by a grueling 11-9 score to take their second championship title. This, together with the semifinal finish of the other Filipino team of Ronato Alcano
and Dennis Orcollo, was the best performance by a host nation in the tournament's history.
In 2010, Reyes clinched his fifth title in the 12th annual Derby City Classic as the overall champion, making him the most successful player in the tournament's history.
He has topped the AZ Billiards Money List five times: in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2006, he set a record by earning $646K in a single year.
at the 2000 Billiard Congress of America Open 9-Ball Championship, veteran professional Billy Incardona stated that Reyes was "indisputably the best player in the world—especially when you consider all games—he can play any game as well as anyone, maybe better than anyone.... In my opinion we're watching probably the greatest player in my lifetime and I've been watching pool for the better part of forty years."
In 1995 Billiards Digest Magazine named Reyes the Player of the Year. The following year, when Reyes was ranked number one on the U.S.'s Pro Billiards Tour, the June 1996 issue of the magazine featured a poll of "billiard cognoscenti"—pro players, billiards writers, industry insiders and the like—to pick the best in billiards in various categories. Billiards' own elite named Reyes the best one-pocket player of all time. The magazine wrote, "While a bevy of one-pocket geniuses abound, Efren Reyes, whose prowess in one-pocket is sometimes obscured by his 9-ball stardom, was the popular pick. Is there anything Bata can't do?"
In 2003, he became the first Asian to be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America
's Hall of Fame.
Reyes was appointed Philippine Sports Ambassador of the 2005 South East Asian Games alongside some of the Philippines' greatest athletes (Allan Caidic
, Rafael Nepomuceno) to promote the event throughout the country.
For 2007, he was ranked #2 in Pool & Billiard Magazine' s "Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players" poll.
Other awards and honors include:
. Reyes also appeared in the 2007 short film Nineball.
In one episode of the TV series Magpakailanman, the story follows a young Efren Reyes (portrayed by actor Anjo Yllana
) in his early pool-playing days as he progresses from a money player to a tournament contender.
for "Kid"), given to him by friends at his regular pool hall
to distinguish him from an older Efren.
Reyes, along with the other "Filipino invasion" players revolutionized the way pool is played by their introduction to the sport of pinpoint precision kicking (going into a rail with the cue ball and then hitting an object ball). Reyes' ability to "kick safe" and to kick balls into intended pockets is legendary. This ability, coupled with his superb skill at other aspects of the game, led U.S. professionals to give him the appellation "The Magician." Before Reyes and his compatriots came over to the U.S., no one there had seen anything like their kicking skill set.
"[The] first time I came over to the states, I used an alias of Cesar Morales. Pool players in the US already knew Efren Reyes as a great shooter from the Philippines, but they [hadn't]...seen...[me]...in person." — Efren Reyes
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Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
professional pool
Pocket billiards
Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards or pool billiards , is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the , into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball...
player and a two-time world champion. Reyes is considered by many to be the greatest all-around pool player in the history of the game. He is affectionately nicknamed "Bata" ("kid" in English) and "the Magician".
Early life
Reyes was born in PampangaPampanga
Pampanga is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Pampanga is bordered by the provinces of Bataan and Zambales to the west, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija to the north, and Bulacan to the southeast...
in 1954. He moved to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
with his family at the age of 5. In Manila, he worked as a billiards attendant at his uncle's billiards hall, where he started learning the various cue sports. Because he was not tall enough to reach the pool table, he played while standing on Coca-cola cases that he moved around. At night, while he was dreaming of playing pool, the pool table was his bed.
He is called Bata, which is Filipino for "Kid", because there was another older pool player named Efren when he was young. To distinguish between the two, he was referred to as Efren Bata.
Career
Gambling from a young age, Reyes played three cushion billiards in the 1960s and 1970s. After establishing himself as a winner, he was discovered by promoters. This gave him the opportunity to compete in big time tournaments.Reyes began winning a number of tournaments in the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia. Thus, he started to gain attention and recognition worldwide. At the start of his career, he used aliases to hide his identity so he would be allowed to compete. By the mid-1990s, he had become one of the elite players of the Philippines, alongside Jose Parica
Jose Parica
Jose Parica is a Filipino professional pool player from Manila, nicknamed "Amang" and "the Giant Killer." As a Philippine Hall of Famer, he pioneered the "Filipino invasion" in the United States, especially in the game of nine-ball.Also known as "the King" and "the Legend" in Philippine pool,...
and Francisco Bustamante
Francisco Bustamante
Francisco Bustamante is a Filipino professional pocket billiards player from Tarlac, and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion., nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States.-Early life:Bustamante is the...
.
Reyes' fame began when he won the US Open Nine Ball Championship in 1994 by defeating Nick Varner
Nick Varner
Nick Varner is an American pool player and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America in 1992.-Career:...
in the finals. He was the first non-American to win the event.
Two years later, Efren Reyes and Earl Strickland
Earl Strickland
Earl "The Pearl" Strickland is an American professional pool player and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 2006...
were chosen to face each other in an event called the Color of Money, named after the movie
The Color of Money
The Color of Money is a 1986 film directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Richard Price, based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis....
. The event was a three-day race-to-120 challenge match of 9-ball. It was held in Hong Kong, with a winner-take-all prize of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
100,000. Reyes won the match 120-117. This was the largest single-winning purse in a pool event.
Although Earl Strickland was the first to win the WPA World 9-ball Championship, Reyes, in 1999, became the first to win while it was broadcast on television. This tournament was not recognized at the time by the WPA, but Reyes was later retrospectively acknowledged as the winner of one of two world championships held in 1999. Nick Varner won the "official" world title. The two tournaments were merged for the following year, with both men listed as the champion for 1999. At the time, the Matchroom Sport
Matchroom Sport
Matchroom Sport is a sport event promotions company founded by the English entrepreneur Barry Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, golf , fishing, darts and poker...
-organised event in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, was called the World Professional Pool Championship (despite the entry of many non-professional players).
In 2001, Reyes won the International Billiard Tournament. The event was held in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, with over 700 players and a total purse of ¥
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
100M ($850K). Reyes dominated the event and beat Niels Feijen
Niels Feijen
Niels Feijen is a professional pool player, from the Hague, Netherlands. His nickname is "the Terminator".In 2001, Feijen reached the finals of a nine-ball tournament in Tokyo, Japan. The event had a field of more than 700 players and offered the largest prize money at that time. However, he lost...
in the finals 15-7 and earned the ¥20M ($170K) first prize. At the time, this was the biggest first prize in a pool tournament.
In 2002 he won the $50K winner-take-all International Challenge of Champions
International Challenge of Champions
The International Challenge of Champions is an annual nine-ball pool tournament held at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has always been broadcast on ESPN and is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association...
, defeating Mika Immonen in a deciding rack after both players split sets.
Near the end of 2004, Reyes beat Marlon Manalo
Marlon Manalo
Marlon Manalo is a Filipino professional pool player from Mandaluyong City, Philippines.-Career:...
to become the first-ever WPA World Eight Ball Champion. With the win, he became the first player in WPA history to win world championships in two different disciplines.
In December 2005, Reyes won the IPT
International Pool Tour
The International Pool Tour is a professional sports tour created in 2005 by Kevin Trudeau and hosted by Rebecca Grant. It aims to elevate pool to the level of other modern sports. Closely modeled on the PGA Tour, the IPT offered the largest prize funds in pool history in its first year. The tour...
King of the Hill 8-Ball Shootout. Reyes won a record-breaking $200K for first place by beating fellow Hall of Fame member Mike "the Mouth" Sigel
Mike Sigel
Mike Sigel is an American professional pool player.Sigel has won over 102 major pool tournaments, including 3 US Open Nine-ball Championship tournaments and 5 world pocket billiard championship titles...
two sets to none (8-0 and 8-5).
In 2006, Reyes and Francisco Bustamante
Francisco Bustamante
Francisco Bustamante is a Filipino professional pocket billiards player from Tarlac, and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion., nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States.-Early life:Bustamante is the...
represented their country as Team Philippines in the inaugural World Cup of Pool. They defeated Team USA, Earl Strickland
Earl Strickland
Earl "The Pearl" Strickland is an American professional pool player and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 2006...
and Rodney Morris
Rodney Morris
Rodney Morris is a professional pool player of Hawaiian descent. He currently resides in Spring Hill, Florida....
, to capture the title.
That same year, Reyes won the IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship
IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship
The IPT World Open Eight-ball Championship was an eight-ball tournament held in Reno, Nevada by the International Pool Tour. It was the fourth and last event of the tour as of 2007. It was richest event in the history of cuesports. The total purse was $3M where $500K was offered to the winner.The...
over Rodney Morris 8-6. He earned $500K which was the largest prize money tournament in the history of pocket billiards. Unfortunately, due to IPT's financial problems, he has not been able to claim much of this money as of 2007.
In 2009, the Filipino tandem of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante beat the German pair of Ralf Souquet and Thorsten Hohmann by a grueling 11-9 score to take their second championship title. This, together with the semifinal finish of the other Filipino team of Ronato Alcano
Ronato Alcano
Ronato Alcano , is a Filipino professional pool player, nicknamed "Ronnie Calamba" and "the Volcano".-Career history:...
and Dennis Orcollo, was the best performance by a host nation in the tournament's history.
In 2010, Reyes clinched his fifth title in the 12th annual Derby City Classic as the overall champion, making him the most successful player in the tournament's history.
He has topped the AZ Billiards Money List five times: in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2006, he set a record by earning $646K in a single year.
Family
He is married to Susan Reyes. They have three children. His son, Frennie Reyes, once competed in the Asian Nine-ball Tour.Accolades
Numerous fellow professional players have credited Reyes with being the greatest living player in the world. During ESPN television commentary on a semi-finals match between Reyes and Mika ImmonenMika Immonen
Mika Immonen is a Finnish professional pool player, nicknamed "the Ice Man."He won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in Cardiff, Wales in 2001. That same year, he was the runner-up to Corey Deuel in the US Open Nine-ball ChampionshipHe has represented Team Europe on thirteen occasions in the...
at the 2000 Billiard Congress of America Open 9-Ball Championship, veteran professional Billy Incardona stated that Reyes was "indisputably the best player in the world—especially when you consider all games—he can play any game as well as anyone, maybe better than anyone.... In my opinion we're watching probably the greatest player in my lifetime and I've been watching pool for the better part of forty years."
In 1995 Billiards Digest Magazine named Reyes the Player of the Year. The following year, when Reyes was ranked number one on the U.S.'s Pro Billiards Tour, the June 1996 issue of the magazine featured a poll of "billiard cognoscenti"—pro players, billiards writers, industry insiders and the like—to pick the best in billiards in various categories. Billiards' own elite named Reyes the best one-pocket player of all time. The magazine wrote, "While a bevy of one-pocket geniuses abound, Efren Reyes, whose prowess in one-pocket is sometimes obscured by his 9-ball stardom, was the popular pick. Is there anything Bata can't do?"
In 2003, he became the first Asian to be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America
Billiard Congress of America
Billiard Congress of America is a governing body for cue sports in North America , the regional member organization of the World Pool-Billiard Association...
's Hall of Fame.
Reyes was appointed Philippine Sports Ambassador of the 2005 South East Asian Games alongside some of the Philippines' greatest athletes (Allan Caidic
Allan Caidic
Alan Vito Flores Caidic is a retired professional basketball player from the Philippines and is currently an assistant coach of the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the PBA...
, Rafael Nepomuceno) to promote the event throughout the country.
For 2007, he was ranked #2 in Pool & Billiard Magazine
Other awards and honors include:
- Philippine Legion of HonorPhilippine Legion of HonorThe Philippine Legion of Honor was established by President Manuel Roxas, through Philippine Army Circular No. 60 dated July 3, 1947. The Philippine Legion of Honor was patterned after the Legion of Merit of the United States of America, and was meant to honor both civilians and members of the...
- Philippine Order of LakandulaOrder of LakandulaThe Order of Lakandula is one of the highest honors given by the Republic of the Philippines. It is an order of political and civic merit, awarded in memory of Lakandula’s dedication to the responsibilities of leadership, prudence, fortitude, courage and resolve in the service of one’s people.Its...
"Champion for Life Award" - Outstanding Filipino Awardee of the Jaycees
- Philippine Sportswriters Association Sportsman of the YearPSA Sportsman of the YearThe PSA Sportsman of the Year is given by the Philippine Sportswriters Association to the best Filipino athletes annually. It is one of the most prestigious sport-related awards in the Philippines...
1999, 2001 and 2006 - One Pocket Hall of Fame (inducted in 2004)
Films and television
In 2003, Reyes was featured in the Filipino movie Pakners with the late actor Fernando Poe, Jr.Fernando Poe, Jr.
Ronald Allan Poe y Kelley , better known as Fernando Poe, Jr. and colloquially known as FPJ and Da King, was a Filipino actor and cultural icon. From the 1950s, Poe played steadfast film heroes who fight for the common man, which won him respect and admiration...
. Reyes also appeared in the 2007 short film Nineball.
In one episode of the TV series Magpakailanman, the story follows a young Efren Reyes (portrayed by actor Anjo Yllana
Anjo Yllana
-Early life:Born Andres Jose Garchitorena Yllana, Jr. on April 24, 1968, the eldest of four brothers. His younger brothers include Jomari Yllana and Ryan Yllana.-Personal life:...
) in his early pool-playing days as he progresses from a money player to a tournament contender.
Nicknames and aliases
Reyes is often called by his nickname Bata" (FilipinoFilipino language
This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
for "Kid"), given to him by friends at his regular pool hall
Pool hall
A billiard/billiards, pool or snooker hall is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards...
to distinguish him from an older Efren.
Reyes, along with the other "Filipino invasion" players revolutionized the way pool is played by their introduction to the sport of pinpoint precision kicking (going into a rail with the cue ball and then hitting an object ball). Reyes' ability to "kick safe" and to kick balls into intended pockets is legendary. This ability, coupled with his superb skill at other aspects of the game, led U.S. professionals to give him the appellation "The Magician." Before Reyes and his compatriots came over to the U.S., no one there had seen anything like their kicking skill set.
"[The] first time I came over to the states, I used an alias of Cesar Morales. Pool players in the US already knew Efren Reyes as a great shooter from the Philippines, but they [hadn't]...seen...[me]...in person." — Efren Reyes
Titles and achievements
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ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming.... Ultimate Nine-ball Challenge ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming.... Ultimate Shootout World Pool-Billiard Association The World Pool-Billiard Association is the international governing body for pocket billiards . The group was formed in 1987, and was initially headed by a provisional board of directors consisting of representatives from Japan, the United States, Sweden, and Germany... World Nine-ball Championship (Cardiff, Wales) Derby City Classic The Derby City Classic is an annual pocket billiard convention held every January in Louisville, Kentucky. It is eight days long and offers various disciplines of pocket billiard competitions for pool players of all caliber. It is often referred to as the DCC.hui- History :The annual convention... Master of the Table Derby City Classic The Derby City Classic is an annual pocket billiard convention held every January in Louisville, Kentucky. It is eight days long and offers various disciplines of pocket billiard competitions for pool players of all caliber. It is often referred to as the DCC.hui- History :The annual convention... One-Pocket |
External links
- Efren Reyes Matches
- Video interview with Efren Reyes on Xtreme Pressbox
- Efren Reyes bio at AZBilliards
- Reyes bio at AllFact
- Gallery of images of Reyes winning the 2006 World Cup of Pool
- Gallery of images of Reyes, at Inside Pool magazine
- Reyes's nicknames, from BilliardsForum
- Video of Reyes in action, from ZippyVideos
- Efren Reyes One Pocket Hall of Fame
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