Efren Reyes

Reyes was born in Angeles in the Philippines in 1954. He moved to Manila with his family at the age of 4-5. 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.[4]

Reyes is often referred to as Bata, which is Tagalog 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. He was also called "Efrey" by his colleagues (Ef from Efren and rey from Reyes).

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.

In 1978, Reyes represented Team Philippines in the RP-Japan Pocket Billiards Tournament, alongside Jose Parica, Rodolfo Luat, Jorge Dacer, and Manuel Flores.[5]

In 1983, Reyes took on Pepito Dacer in the finals of the Philippine Professional Pocket Billiards Championships which was played in rotation. The finals was played in race-to-39, and the players played 11 racks on a weekly basis. On the seventh week of play, Reyes defeated Dacer 39-32.[6]

During the 1980s, when Reyes was considered a top-class player in his homeland but not yet internationally recognized, he went to the U.S. to hustle. Popular legend claims that Reyes earned $80,000 in a single week, making him a folk hero back home.[7]

Reyes began winning a number of tournaments in the U.S., Europe, and parts of Asia, garnering 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 1994 US Open Nine Ball Championship, 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 $100,000. Reyes won the match 120-117. The match demonstrated Reyes' will to win, overcoming a 17 game deficit on the last day on the final 3 hours of the match. This was the largest single-winning purse in a pool event.[1]

In 1999, Reyes won the first televised WPA World Nine-ball Championship. And though this tournament was not recognized at the time by the WPA, Reyes would subsequently be acknowledged as winner of one of that year's two world championships with Nick Varner winning 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).

Efren Reyes posing with a fan after winning a historic $200,000 at the 2005 IPT King of the Hill Shootout

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, beating Niels Feijen in the finals 15-7, earning ¥20M[8] ($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.[9]

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, 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, earning $500K—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.[10]

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,[11] 2002,[12] 2004,[13] 2005[14] and 2006.[15] In 2006, he set a record by earning $646K in a single year.[15]