1988 SIGEL-STRICKLAND-Hall 9-ball 3 Vegas matches

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

[@travo2112]

Earl truly has the most natural talent I've ever seen running a rack of 9ball. May be the most flawless and straight power stroke I've seen. I played w him at The Turning Stone Classic last year. Very cool guy, and f**king good!!!! He was nice and quiet back in '88 when he played. Refreshing.

[@henningsvensson4665]

Love these old-school matches! Thank you, Mr. Carlton!

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

Sigel was strong right up to 1992 when he ran a 150-and-out against Zuglan at the US Open 14.1 held in NYC. I saw it in-person and the every one of spectators was mesmerized. A virtually flawless run and easily one of the finest ever captured on video. Accu-Stats still sells plenty of the DVDs of it every year.

[@Salesman]

ray carlton I've seen parts of that match. Was it done in one inning?

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

Just noticed your post, Salesman. If a player runs "150-and-out" that phrase automatically connotes one inning. Zuglan lost the lag, broke, left Sigel a shot and Zuglan had to sit and watch Sigel's historic run. Game over.

[@SteveHanesFiddleMusic]

Always nice to see these older matches and the strong players of that era. Earl, Buddy, and Mike were all close to their peaks at the time so any of them could win any match at any time. You gotta be REAL impressed to see how good Earl shot back then and to think that he is capable of playing just a great today. Earl is for sure one of a kind and also one of the Greatest ALL time to play the game. Thanks for posting this video :) ........ Steve

[@bonhzeppelin9882]

Buddy was a bit past his prime, yet still so great he kept up with these guys, still beat them. Even beat Johnny Archer at his peak. He was DEVASTATING in the 70's.

[@joshuahaynes7413]

Bonhzeppelin bubby is easily a top 5 alltime player forsure.. earl just has that gear that ive never seen matched . When he hits it he goes into god mode and runs out the match

[@anon2414]

Now Earl is an annoying old grump

[@bonhzeppelin9882]

Thanks Ray! How I miss those days! Thanks for bringing them back alive for new generations to enjoy and be shock and awed! =)

[@freedomforthebrave]

Earl and efren are the best at spinning the ball around the table for position

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

And Buddy Hall and Sigel also but they wisely always the shortest reliable navigation route -- less goes wrong that way.

[@freedomforthebrave]

@@raycarltonbilliards5798 but his control on the cue ball is no joke

[@nimajnebrm]

Thanks for sharing this video!

[@fabio13fabio]

Great videos Ray Thank You for posting, hope you have others.

[@freedomforthebrave]

You can just tell earl loves the game

[@BladeRunner-td8be]

Buddy Hall is one of my favorite players. One thing about his stroke that always interested me as with other players Hopkins, Grady to name a couple, is that they play at an incredible level with very short strokes. Buddy's stroke is not as short as Hopkins or Grady but it's still a short stroke and I always wonder how they aim so precisely without having their cue move very much during their strokes.

[@debussychopin2766]

@john vonburg yeah these days everyone has the cue coming out of their chin

[@dsauce223]

I must have watched this a million times, and I still die laughing every time Earl says, "I know everything that's gonna' happen." Classic.

[@gpuppy1234]

Stickland and sigel two of my favorites. I wish there were more matches with these two on youtube

[@dastardlydaring5142]

At 17:50 when he pushes out and leaves Mike a long bank-combo, pro players of today almost never ever push out and give their opponent a full ball to work with, even if it's a bank. At the very least they would leave the cueball frozen on the rail to make it harder to work with. Even without the 9-ball bank that Sigel did, just leaving a cross-corner bank with a full cueball to work with is suicide today. If they don't take the bank they will lock you up better than Captain Hook (Sigel) was known for.

[@kevindean6600]

DastardlyDaring well. It looked like mike made him pay then as well.

[@Celticwolf503]

Pool had such Class back then

[@gradymoss2405]

Still has class .dont fool your self

[@724riff]

if you watch when mike makes his 9 on the break for maybe game 6 he has moved the cue ball to the area of where earl was breaking from and it was paying off .

[@Rickbearcat]

Good players learn from great players.

[@michaelsimmons1048]

The billiards game is a classy intelligent game.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

I totally agree, Michael. It's infinitely challenging, creative and colorful. I've loved playing it and watching pros for decades. Besides Willie Mosconi, Efren and Earl are among my lifetime favorite tournament players to have met and watched in-person many times. Like Thorsten, Mika, and Ralf, they are all perfectionists, *as are all world-class champions no matter their country of origin.* Mosconi had a beautiful, quite original definition of the cue sports: *Physics learned by trial and error.*

[@danebutler1908]

TV billiards is classy, but dont forget about the gambling aspect of it when they’re behind closed doors.

[@idontfitin.3296]

David was one heck of a player

[@theburningelement.6447]

Devid is a very good player wish there were more videos of him

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

The only two others that I know of are commercially available ones: -- A match against Morris -- A very close race to 13 against Hopkins Both are stated to be available within the following listing: tinyurl.com/svgnlof

[@sceneable8437]

sigel is the epitome of great!

[@dsauce223]

He lost bro. lol

[@christopherwatson6090]

You misspelled Earl

[@EdWong2012]

Thanks Ray for the oldies but goodies. I started before Earl but didn't have the support and the seriousness although I was pretty good. We played shoot out, no safeties or ducking which taught you to make the tough shots. My mentor love to spin the ball and position play was the holy grail. Can't.believe Efrin is calling it a day and hanging it up. Needs to get in shape physically and teach the young folk what the old guys can do.

[@johnneely3160]

Sigel jumps when he shoots i'm amazed he does as well as he does

[@tomtucket6960]

Watch Alex Higgins a snooker player and I feel the same way about him he slams the balls in on those little pockets with rounded rails it’s amazing

[@hawaiianbadboi808]

One of my favorites... watched these matches at Hawaiian Brian's Billiards in Honolulu. I was young then ... Good all days.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

I played at Brian's when I wintered in Hawaii. Also at Maui Cue many times; is Maui Cue still busy days and evenings if you happen to know?

[@hawaiianbadboi808]

ray carlton billiards unfortunately Maui family Billiards is no longer in business. Only 1 small billards place here on Maui in Wailuku. Hawaiian Brian's is still going strong. Worked at both Holiday Cue and Hawaiian Brian's in my young days.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

Thanks for that info, Nelson. Good old days indeed.

[@TallBob1962]

Nice to see players having to stroke every shot due to normal speed cloth.

[@lockk132]

I'm from new Zealand my mate has the only American pool table in town and the surface is like glass just keeps on rolling bloody hard to get used to having grownup playing on English cloth

[@IMOJECUES]

I most definitely agree. Diamond tables and worsted cloth have pretty much taken the need to have a good stroke out of the game.

[@paleshelter4002]

Yes..not sure why they make cloth so fast nowadays..takes away some earned touch from the game!

[@matthewdinslage7179]

David Howard looks shockingly like Jim Rempe. At the start of the match I really thought it was Jim Rempe.

[@veronicahawthorne3452]

Better looking than Rempe I think.

[@EdWong2012]

Can anybody help me remember the greatest 8 and 9 ball shots I have ever seen. I think the match was between Hall and Pareca (Philippine player had to be Pareca unless there was another at that time) and Pareca made two near impossible shots. 8 ball in the middle of the top rail frozen and cue ball in the middle of the bottom rail near frozen and Pareca put the rail first shot in and from what I can remember ended up in the jaws of a corner pocket with the 9 ball another unbelievable across the table cut that he put in. The odds of anyone making those two shots where like winning a lottery.

[@smitty2868]

Thanks for the upload - I'm glad I got to see the huge pockets they provided for these matches. As an aside even in his prime Sigel wasn't as good as Efren IMO...

[@werliverpooltralalalala1988]

smitty2868 I'm inclined to agree with you on that.

[@squatch570]

@Charlie B People are just so ignorant about some of the great, past players like Sigel, Mataya, Liscotti, Rempe, Varner, Butera, etc and on... probably because there aren't a lot of events they've played that got recorded and Reyes and newer players began in an era when pool became more televised and recorded so they see more of the newer players. When asked who his favorite player is, Reyes replied, "Mike Sigel". That says it all right there!!

[@codeman4546]

Mike has won more times against each other according to them. I'll look for the link

[@rogerscottcathey]

Mike was happy and charming here. He was really scintillating.

[@danebutler1908]

Buddy was 42 during this filming. Only 5 years older than me now but looks at least 15. Smoking and drinking and minimal sleep will age a man. He still my favorite pool player of all time and he earned all that weathering the old fashion way.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

Dane: Plenty of pro pool players (not all) who came up during most eras of the 20th century *would readily admit that they weren't especially healthy people* -- staying in pool halls most of their days and nights smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, and eating questionable bar food. Also -- as with all sports -- substance abuse was not unheard of. *There was an early-aging syndrome amongst quite a few of the advanced-skill-level pool players*. Today, many of the younger champions worldwide do now athletically keep themselves fit and healthy . . . *and by viewing the appearance of older aging professionals* _have learned the cost of not doing so_. A lot of the new pros run, workout, play other sports moderately -- beyond pool -- and in general, religiously avoid those anti-health negatives cited above.

[@tgh223]

when did buddy start drinking

[@kingstaff4]

I loved the outcome of the second set!

[@southsidejonny9997]

Buddy reminds me of and old school gambler, fearlessly knowing the odds and skills and just how clean his plate needs to be to judge the meal.

[@robertharris2018]

Back in the day David Howard was known as "Little David" around Atlanta where he played around town until he couldn't get a game, then ended up owning a pool room in Florida so the story goes.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

Not generally known was the fact that he attributed his explosive breaking power to his years of very advanced martial arts training. Only a fool tested his ability to physically defend himself when provoked to the limit anywhere in his road travels. Lightning-fast hands, arms and feet. ~ Ray C.

[@MetalSnakeBoogy]

Women of the 80s soooo hot.

[@wombra8314]

Death'sHead 70's!👋🏻🎱👄🎱🤚🏻

[@veronicahawthorne3452]

What ever happened to David Howard?? I’ve never seen him play and I’m 58 years old, following pool most of my life. He was such a great player, wow.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

He moved to Florida and owned a poolroom there for a number of years. ~ Ray C.

[@tjwaltz2010]

He's in Jacksonville last I heard

[@EdWong2012]

Why is it that you want to see Segal get beat really bad? Thanks for getting him Earl, you did great.

[@joshuahaynes7413]

Sigel is one of the best ever . Easily the best straight pool playwr ever .

[@vanni9283]

Guys in tuxes who smoke. Way to go! 😛

[@hang-the-93]

Last game had some bad racking there, 9 ball going towards that corner most of the time. It's like a greens keeper at a golf course building a trench to the hole.

[@rickvassell8349]

They have added one extension per rack, good adjustment.

[@dsauce223]

Strickland in the hay day.

[@TexasRobert1]

I think Strickland was just better than Sigel. Only Reyes could be expected to win against him.

[@TexasRobert1]

Kev Dav I see you've put some thought into your answer, but the subject of this video is 9-ball, and I am basing my opinion on performance especially in this game, and only on what I've seen and know, not what I've heard. Sigel peaked before Strickland and Reyes, so it doesn't make sense to look at game records between them in those days, but I have just never seen Sigel ever perform at the same level of play as in the 1990s. In that decade, both Strickland and Reyes, to me anyway, played better 9-ball than anyone else in recent decades ("Color of Money" videos are a good example). With regard to other games, Reyes in particular was especially versatile, and consistently dominated his opponents. Also, did Sigel really face the best players in the world when he won those tournaments (there was not as much money to justify players traveling as much as in later times)? Unless you can point me to some better performances by Sigel, I stand by what I wrote, and would more readily believe that he deserved the title of "most arrogant" of any of his living competitors than "best."

[@TexasRobert1]

Kev Dav Answers to your comments: Games in these ordinary tournaments are decided by relatively few games (race to about 9 for 9-ball), so tournament results don't necessarily help you rate the best players. I didn't base my decision on a single match, but my example was a good one: a race to 120 games! Sigel obviously peaked before Efren in terms of time periods. I am sure Mike, along with many other players still in their prime, have plenty of excuses for their bad play (marketing for Brunswick, really??), but I doubt you've ever heard any from Efren. Given the videos available, which are all the objective evidence I have to base my choice, I would happily bet on Efren over Mike if each were at the peak of their abilities.

[@TexasRobert1]

Kev Dav Just because Sigel was better than Earl and Efren (I have no way of validating this assertion), that doesn't mean they didn't develop into better players than Sigel later in life. All I know is that Earl and Efren were playing some really amazing pool in the 1990s, and I have seen no players of comparable skill before or since. I would appreciate it if you could specifically recommend some videos that demonstrate Sigel's superior playing ability. I'd like to watch them.

[@TexasRobert1]

That's the problem with your whole argument: it is mostly hearsay.

[@TexasRobert1]

Those alleged wins by Sigel came in a different era, perhaps not when Earl and Efren were at their best (pool became more popular after that era, with more competition to contend with). If you are unable to reference Sigel's supposed greater ability in a few videos, there is no meaningful proof that he was able to compete with them, and what you've claimed so far is just hearsay.

[@RoeVenturesLLC]

12:02 David looks like a classic pool player

[@godjhaka7376]

His left arm does? That's all we see

[@SiLL-E-Meat]

1:38:59. I can tell by Mike Sigel's slippery comment that ole Earl was already pouting that he lost the lag 😁

[@Jay20757]

Would love to see a tournament like the mosconi cup but have all the legendary players go up against the younger ones

[@piratesfan1995able]

Earl used to be calm. Who knew

[@shayne.7770]

Ehhhh he broke cues in the early 80s too

[@PikeTheFalcon]

I can't get over how David Howard looks like Kylo Ren.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

Storm: Last week I read an intriguing article on an easy near-instantaneous way to *find any people in the world who look almost exactly like you* (if their image is anywhere on the Internet). Here's the link: tinyurl.com/y6nebc3b . Tell us how you made out.

[@frankfindout1505]

Lol

[@adamsisler9687]

I love practicing that 9 ball that sigel missed, a fun difficult shot-was sad he missed it

[@scottbacci8933]

Awesome share!!

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

[@rjohnson8ball]

At 28:30, did David Howard check the carom of the 6 off the 7 into the other corner pocket?

[@gabrielmartinez717]

Wow Mike was so damn good... Amazing

[@uvafan940]

He was much better than the current videos online portray. Mike's prime was the 70s and early 80s. But this tournament, or even after 1987, Mike was busy being wrapped up in sponsoring Brunswick. So he did not play much professionally afterwards. People often judge players off what they see in the here and now (video). But Mike beat Efren gambling. He beat Strickland gambling. He has beaten both more than they beat him. He has more professional titles than either (and that having played seriously for what 20 years less?). For a long time, 9-Ball was all Strickland had. Mike played all the games of the time. His best was 14.1. Efren's weakness was the 9-Ball break.

[@wombra8314]

uva fan nice one 👋🏻🎱👄🎱🤚🏻

[@Suppboio]

40:36 "Make em all, make em all" Mike is funny

[@earlycuyler8719]

Everybody says the other players have better brakes than Siegel but hes always making multiple balls and the nine ball is always moving if not going in! He made five balls on one brake!

[@joshuahaynes7413]

Clowers Hiball idk who said that because sigel was always known for his great break.

[@hang-the-93]

9 ball going in off the beak was bad racking by the ref. With a tight tack, 9 ball hardly moves. One of the 2 balls behind the 9 has to be off so the 9 ball shoots in the pocket. A good break is if you make the 1 or a corner ball. 9 on the break is luck or a bad rack.

[@bobbyjojo]

@@joshuahaynes7413 Mike has one of the worst breaks in the game period!

[@squatch570]

@@bobbyjojo LOL!!! Yeah, his break was so bad that he won 3 (THREE) US Open 9 Ball Championships with it... including dozens of other 9 ball events. Sit down and let the big boys play pool!

[@Sergio-pp1to]

EARL IS THE BEST!!!

[@ppaulsplace]

Nice Video

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

Nice compliment

[@djamo1969]

21:49 Nice call, Miz! Edit: 40:15 Not so nice call, Miz! 😂😂😂

[@이경석-w3w]

Mike Sigle Good Break Ace! 그렇죠 ray carlton 형제님?

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

그렇죠 형제님

[@이경석-w3w]

대박입니다

[@이경석-w3w]

당구 좋아하죠? 당구는 유일한 스포츠죠?

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

당구는 저에게 유일한 스포츠입니다. 그러나 선수들이 스포츠를 하는 동안 신체적으로 다치거나 다른 선수들을 다치게 하지 않는 한 거의 모든 스포츠가 세상에 기쁨을 가져다준다는 것은 확실히 기쁩니다.

[@이경석-w3w]

그렇군요! 저는 어릴때 경기도 봉알천에 사는데 아빠가 있는 곳에 당구장에 가봤죠

[@kevinbrand559]

all them titles and Efren Reyes made him look like a clown !!!

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

I don't view Mike's bad performance during the Dec. 2005 KOTH event with any joy. Over his playing lifetime he's one of the greats -- far greater than any of his critics. Realistically, no champion in any sport is as bad as the worst game he/she ever played, nor are they perpetually as good as the best game they've ever played. Sigel's nerves got the best of him on that occasion. Any top pro will admit to having had some tournament matches where their game and form went totally sideways under pressure or -- more often -- because of personal life distractions. Sigel had won 107 major tournaments prior to the Trudeau-promoted event, and his stroke and form were flawless during the practice days leading up to it. Willie Mosconi once said: "Professional pool can be a man-eater." His intensity on and off the table led to two heart attacks for him.

[@MetalSnakeBoogy]

Happens when you have difficulty playing on different tables and many other factors come into play.

[@wombra8314]

ray carlton billiards nice read, thanks 👋🏻🎱👄🎱🤚🏻

[@brucetimothy4525]

1:43:24 Strickland is not very talkative?? Well he is chatty kathy now. Sigel too keeps talking (both are annoying but great players) but never blames the audience for his mistakes.

[@observer991]

Earl complained about being straight in on the 6 ball in the last game but it wasn't straight at all. Look at it at 2:17:03. That was NOT a difficult shot by any means to go from the six to the nine but Earl made it much tougher than it was and missed it. Earl hit it with low-left very hard but all he needed to do was hit it with top-right and stroke it medium and he would have been straight in on the nine ball.

[@tgh223]

why dont u play him some thousand a set and we will see who needs to tell who how to shoot

[@Rickbearcat]

You are right. A stun run-through to the top rail and right back down to the 9 for the win.

[@markwhewell4265]

It doesn’t have to be completely straight it was straight enough to where he didn’t have enough of an angle to get position on the 9

[@choward874]

These old tables played so slow compared to todays cloth. Lol

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

Same with cars and planes.

[@choward874]

@@raycarltonbilliards5798 and women!

[@rogerscottcathey]

Buddy playing soft hits, a style one of his opponents once said was disgusting. He said he didn't care for it either. Here though, not much choice. The games where Efren has lost, it seemed his opponents had the ability to leave ugly, clumsy lays. Seems this is what Hall had to deal with alot.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

Buddy -- like any seasoned road player -- always knew how to rapidly adjust to *every* shortcoming in the playing conditions or circumstances. Also knew what self-defeatingly provoked his opponents (and thereby enriched Buddy).

[@SiLL-E-Meat]

1:54:20 Hey! Get your hand off the corner pocket buddy :-0

[@danebutler1908]

The hell?

[@we5xz-gt1]

Dave Nottingham 1:07:11 Pink shirt. R.I.P.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

***** Sitting on his left is former pro then-turned tournament promoter, Richie Florence in his 40s. Stan, is that Richie's teenaged son on Richie's left?

[@we5xz-gt1]

This isn't Stan ;)

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

***** In any case S. SH, sitting on his left is former pro then-turned tournament promoter, Richie Florence in his 40s. S. SH, is that Richie's teenaged son on Richie's left (if you happen to know)?

[@davidharrington50]

I know in this generation they fixed pool games because it's sad when u can make more money throwing a game than you can if you want to win

[@ABikerLife]

Earl got some crap rolls and still came out on top.. The shot at 2:17 I thought was routine easy punch out but was way too much force.. Both great players..

[@wombra8314]

ABikerLife ultimate timestamp challenge fail D: 👋🏻🎱👄🎱🤚🏻 ...it is a nice shot of howard tbf 😂😂😂👍

[@MetalSnakeBoogy]

What the commentators apparently don't know is that Mike is educating the fans about his shots.

[@marshalrodriguez4647]

terrible miss 2:17:17. more terrible 2:18:39.

[@raycarltonbilliards5798]

+marshal rodriguez From your perplexed indignation we can safely assume that you'd never, ever miss either one of them even when you're minutes away from the $8,000 difference between finishing second instead of first if you miss. ;-) Thanks for pointing them out though; 63,000 other viewers would never have even noticed them if you hadn't pointed them out. Good work. :- (

[@marshalrodriguez4647]

ray carlton i forgot to say thank you for this good video.

[@arpeemac]

+marshal rodriguez 2:17:17 apparently, they prefer drawing the cue ball in such situations instead of force-following it.