Efren

EFREN REYES WAS born Aug. 26, 1954, in Mexico, Pampanga. He is the middle son of nine children - five boys and four girls.His family was poor and his father worked as a barber. When Efren was five years old, his family sent him to stay with his uncle, who owned the Lucky 13 pool hall in Avenida, Manila. Efren was put to work as a billiard attendant. This is where he picked up the nickname "Bata" (The Kid).Efren did not actually pick up a pool cue until he was eight years old, but for the first three years at the Lucky 13, he still learned a lot about the game. Not only from watching the hustlers, the movie stars, and the celebrities that frequented his uncle's place, but also from his dreams. Efren's bed was the pool table."When I slept on the table, I dreamt about pool," he said. "I learned about pool from my dreams."Then at eight years old, he began living out the dreams."Just to be able to shoot," he said, "I stacked cases of Coke three high so I could play pool." After a shot, he would move the cases around the table so he could take another shot. Even though his uncle did not want him to play pool, Efren would play two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, when nobody was around. "I liked sleeping on the table because when I woke up I could play pool."He started gambling at nine years old. At 12, several of his rich Chinese friends, whom Efren met at the Lucky 13, tagged him along to different places like Bulacan, Olongapo, and Angeles for vacations. While there, they would pick up games. The friends would finance Efren against some of the best players in the Philippines. Once he beat the number two guy in the country."I watched all the good players and the weak players, too," he said. He practiced every shot. He had no teacher. "I learned the simple shots from the good players. English, draw, follow, how to put the cue ball in position. But what about the other shots? The good players don't know the invisible shots. A lot of times the weak players make these impossible shots. I learned a lot of trick shots from watching bad players."He said that at 16 he was the best player in the Philippines."At 18, 19, 20 years old," Efren said confidently, "nobody could beat me around the world. Even if you could run the table everytime, still, you could not beat me. When I was 20, I was strong."
Interestingly, he said this having never even been abroad at the time. He realized that he had been the best all along, when in 1985, he first went to America and finally watched all the best players.Efren dropped out of high school after two years in order to support his family by playing pool. He had financiers and he would play for maybe P100. Another source of income was the American GIs on nearby Clark Air Base. But he had developed a reputation and nobody would bet high with him.Because he had trouble finding competition, he stopped playing pocket billiards in 1976 to take up carom (three cushion billiards), which used to be popular in the Philippines. But he became so good at carom that, like pool, nobody wanted to play him. So he returned to pocket billiards.He found a sponsor in 1979 and made his first trip abroad to Japan, where he won $3,000 hustling and playing in tournaments. Six years later he made his first trip to America.His sponsor then was a local Filipino with connections in the States. He wanted Efren to hustle. By then, however, the word about Efren Reyes had reached the pool halls of America. But nobody in America knew what Efren looked like. So while in the States, Efren used the name of his friend, Cezar Morales.He played in and won the Red 9-Ball Open in Houston, Texas, which netted him a few thousand dollars. Then over the next three weeks, playing big money against all comers, Efren won $81,000. But he never saw his promised 50% share. His financier stole the money.In 1986, he returned to America at the invitation of another financier, a Filipino from Chicago. This man also cheated Efren. In 1987, he had another financier, but they did not get along. In 1988, Efren was financed by an American named Archibald Mitchell. This time Efren finally made money. And the rest is history, Efren Reyes, for the past 5 years has been at the top of the money list in tournament prize winning, not to mention endorsement deals and gambling. Efren is considered by the majority of the pool world to be the best player in the history of pool. His knowledge of all games, shots, safetys, and pattern play is unparalleled. He is also considered to be most fan's and professional player's favorite because of his humble ways and amicable personality. Efren Reyes is the true definition of the word "champion"