1995 World 8-Ball Championship Efren Reyes VS Jeff Carter

from magician Reyes, the number one player on the professional pool tour tonight, these two competitors fight for a first prize of fifteen thousand dollars in the

world

eight-

ball

championship

Ryan presents the

world

professional pool tour 8-

ball

championship

from the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada presented by neuchi original custom choice of more top players than any other AMF Cube and Claymaster bringing comedy to the table hello and welcome to the Riviera Hotel and Casino here in Las Vegas Nevada and the World Championship of 8 Ball

1995

. I'm Tom Kelly with Jim mataya and Jim rempe, two former world champions, obviously here to lend their expertise on our broadcast.

Well, we have two great semi-finalists fighting for the championship. Carter goes against Reyes. Carter had a bit of It's easier to get to the final Jim, well, I spoke to Carter before this game, he's been playing very well all week, he's got a good attitude, he's got a good style, he's playing well, I like him in this game tonight, I know the experts say it's all Efren. Tonight I disagree, well Carter is undefeated like you said. Jim Rempe Efrén was here before he had a good streak. He could be one of the best in the world at this game.

He's won two of the last three, but he hasn't really had that. Very lucky in this the last few years, well the last two tournaments at the Riviera Hotel were nine ball and he lost the last two years, Johnny Archer and Earl Strickland, but he's at the top of his game, like you said, he won the The last two tournaments and he is playing very well and he is one of the best players of all time and I think he has something to prove here. I think he wants to win the World Championship. Carter could be in a position to be the center of attention of the camera.

He's playing for something he's never played for before a lot of pressure, do you think Jim? Well, I think a lot of that pressure was erased earlier with his victory over Johnny Archer. Johnny Arch is a two-time world champion. Jeff Carter showed that he can win. the best in the game regardless of what happens tonight, both guys The magnificent, well, he started with 66 of the best in the world and now they're down to two and we'll find out which one is the best for 19.95 Carter and Reyes. Jim, Jim and I will be back to start, we'll have the rules and we'll be late and then we'll have a break, but after we pause for this message and now ladies, it's time to meet the two contestants for The World 8 Ball Championship

1995

, first of all from the Philippines Manila, perhaps one of the best pool players in the world, a man who was ranked number one in this tournament, ladies and gentlemen, a warm round of applause for Efrén Reyes, accompanied by Gracie and Amy from the hit Riviera show lakage Efrén Reyes and now ladies and gentlemen the other contestant for World 8 Ball Championship honors is a man who is undefeated in the tournament so far he has battled his way to the finals his hometown Beloit Wisconsin live in Chicago a warm welcome if you will by Jeff Carter Jeff Carter is escorted to the um room by Heidi and Michelle, two of the beautiful showgirls from the hit Riviera show, crazy girls, Jeff Carter, Heidi and Michelle, let's review the rules who rule this contest as they fight for the 1995 world 8 ball. championship Rules Pro Express race 2-8 the first man to get eight games or frames wins 45 seconds to make his shot the winner goes on to break different balls can be used in the brake and the breaker has the option of not pushing and eight the ball is not neutral the eight ball at the break automatically wins that frame you must declare the pocket to win when pocketing the eight ball foul on all balls to the other shooter the referee has the final decision, of course, three successive fouls means you've lost the game and a timeout per rack for each player, okay, and now the two finalists at the table for the delay to see who has the chance for the first break, that It's Reyes on the left of the screen and Carter on the right and Carter walks. as if to say that Reyes is going to break first, but that is very close Mr.

Carter, it will be Carter, well, gentlemen, if the game is as close as that delay, we have eight very busy games ahead of us, a good night, they are ready to rack and roll, here is Carter, young man from Beloit, lives in Chicago, undefeated, 66 of the best players in the world started this tournament and now he is one of two and has not lost a match, said he broke 48 times without scratching in this tournament. I saw him in the semifinals and he hit the eight ball an unprecedented two times, I won't get anything. Oh I thought he had a stripe aimed at the side pocket wide open, yes he has a choice, he has a problem ball with the five and the nine, that's the only problem on the table and he will look to open that group first when he made the eight ball in two breaks in the semi-final victory over Archer, why it was easy, eight to four, he goes for the strike, see here. you need to get these balls out as soon as you can, you try to do it right there, but you're not successful, you could possibly do it here Jimmy, if you cut the 14 in the corner pocket, cross the cue ball and maybe hit it, but on the other hand, he might be forced to not have a shot after that, well yeah that's the problem Jim, look if he breaks the group with that particular ball, there is no ball around him to have a key shot after breaking the cluster. would like to leave the 14 there and break the group with another ball yell for this game 45 seconds a timeout is being taken each player is allowed one timeout per game to contemplate strategy and then obviously they are not just playing this shot but they are two or three ahead the prize money breakdown first prize is fifteen thousand dollars second seventy five hundred so the worst either of these two men will get tonight is 7500. third and fourth place are 5200 each one 3700 fifth and sixth and then twenty nine hundred prize money balance.

I made that position easily enjoyable. The nine ball is going to be a problem up there in the corner with the five. Well, the correct way to split this shot would be with the 12 ball on the cushion because if you come across the table, it doesn't matter where you hit the balls, you will still have a chance at the 14 ball. I think it will play the position on the ball. 12 here, try to reach the center of the table a little bit. a little strong, he can't make the 12 with theirs, but he has the 14. Look who would like to stop here so he can smash the balls that come out of the rail like this, regardless of what happened to the cue ball, He still would have had a shot with a 14 ball that didn't work, so he got a bad position here, so he'll have to shoot the 14 ball, let the cue ball come down somehow, whether it comes right back up here and then try to separate it from that ball, we don't know what it's going to do, but it seems like that's the only possible way.

Know. Jeff Carter. He started playing pool when he was 14 years old. He is looking at the bank shot. His parents gave him a fiberglass block. catalog order for Christmas and who would have thought that tonight he is also playing for the championship and that fiberglass stick has suddenly become an ecological wonder now in his house he tells you it is as pure as the snow well that he had to get that nine ball at least where he would have a chance to get it later, right? Yes, he had to do something. He went to the bank there and, well, he missed it.

Now we see Efrén Reyes considered among the best. in the world eight seven semi-finals Rick Jarvis wins and what an exciting semi-final encounter it was, he walked into a nice table here for his opening shot, the balls are all loose, he'll probably play for ball five on his next shot in the corner, yeah, rolls the cue ball straight into a five in the corner, as good a player as Aspen Reyes is, you'd have to consider him very lucky, wouldn't you, Jimmy, to be playing in the final tonight because that match belonged to him. Mark Jarvis several times yeah, well that's for sure, I mean he didn't really play at his level and he missed two balls or something during the match and that's a rarity when you watch him play and yet you know it only from Un bit of luck, why would Jarvis be playing here tonight like he didn't?

He hit some great shots, although I'll tell you what he came out swinging, yes he did, yes, all guns blazing and what a great attitude he had after that semi-final. -Final competition, even in defeat, a good shot, here he is simply going to draw the cue ball back, placing the seven ball in the body pocket. I hope you haven't taken it as far as you'd like. He's going to cut her in the corner. pocket and just run to this one, the 12 ball that's on the rail or the 10 ball like that, look at it as a foreigner, win the first game, so Reyes took advantage of an opportunity since Carter couldn't do much with the lost nine ball in a try. bank shot and finishing by cutting this eight ball in the corner requires a 1-0 lead in the game, a first man to eight will win.

I've noticed that both of them are having trouble with table speed, they haven't really gotten a line in their position and you have to go for the bench shot Reyes now to break the second game he has a one game lead nothing Carter watching closely over his shoulder while breaking he hit them solid hit the front ball trying to pocket a ball instead of the eight ball, something he didn't do much of in his semi-final win over Jarvis 8-7, he didn't do many balls at the break . Carter, on the other hand, hit the eight ball twice in his semifinal. final victory on the counterattack there is no better way to win no, you know, he shot that ball with his left hand, why would he shoot that ball with his left hand?

Oh, because he can do it, no, because of the balls, he's following all the balls and he didn't want to touch. nine or one. Isn't it good to have that kind of talent? Really interesting guy. The story of Reyes says that he came from his native Philippines, like Carlos Morales. He apologizes to Caesar Caesars why he changed the name of it. Don't know. maybe there's a passport story there and all, but he came and destroyed most of the good American players, he was winning everything and finally someone said there's no such guy. I was there, you were one of the guys, uh, no, I didn't play. at the tournament, but I was there and saw it with all the America's Best.

Well, he is here. I think he has a perfect angle on a 13 ball. He's going to hit the rail here right after the nine ball here and they had it while they were sitting. Right in the middle of the table here, you're on your way to a 2-0 lead, you're tied, you're going straight to the nine ball, you left an angle on the nine to go two-cushion for the eight ball in the side pocket. that you shoot this ball like this one comes two cushions back good bad again good, he still has the other pocket on the other side the call for the side pocket on the other side of the table, wow, okay, so he shoots it winning game number two , first band to reach eight wins and Reyes has a two zip lead over Carter, so taking Reyes two to none with the break again is Carter's only hope that Reyes gets nothing from the break and has the chance to play I don't think he can.

He made a ball today, well, it may not be much, but it's Carter's chance, how's the Shape Up table, gentlemen? Well, I think it looks pretty good. I mean, he has a tough shot to start with. I think they can cut the 12 ball. In the lower left corner he plays the stripes, he does, he only has one shot here. I mean, he has to make this ball into this corner pocket. I don't see any other type of shot unless he wants to shoot something up. here, but most guys like to start with the easiest shot and then get into position.

Cutters is a very accomplished player, but he's facing a guy that most people consider the best in the tournament and, psychologically, you'd think he knows he can't make a mistake if this guy is going to take his game away from him, well, He mentioned it before, he said, you know, the main thing is that I just hope to play well. I've been playing well all weekend and I'm not going. Feel bad if I lose as long as I play a good game and then that's a good attitude and he cut that ball very well. How about the position?

Jim Rooney. Well, he has a tough shot on the nine ball. He has to cut her back. corner pocket uh can you cut this ball here in this corner pocket looks like he's just shot I don't think he wants to hit the 10 ball on the side it looks too hard oh excuse me yeah you could be banking to give him money and groceries and clothes and this and that, Jeff spent it all at the pool hall, so I don't know how long he's been wearing that pair of pants or how long it's been since he got his hair cut.

Damn, all his money went to the pool hall. he, the original results of a misspent youth or something, coined that phrase button I thought it was me, well, here he is at the world championship, there's nothing wrong with that, no, it's a bench, at this point, The hard blow hit too hard, didn't it? He just missed it. Bank shots are different on every table, you know, any pool hall, any bar table or anything else, all the balls hit differently. I understand banking and have a feel for it, so here's Reyes back at work, now leading two games to none for thesolid that he is going to win. try to break that six and two on the cushion, you could do it right now and cut the five in the side pocket, let the cue ball come down here and break these two balls right on this shot, well, you put the seven ball right.

It opened a moment ago with a very nice movement of the bucket, it came out for both balls, it was an excellent shot, it bounced well off the rail too, didn't it, with a nice soft touch, it seems to do everything well enough. to win theThe magician knows how wavy his stroke is, his wavy, his stroke, he has a completely different style than the Americans, the one who can't argue with a Tom, he does the job, yes he does it, yes he does it and yet he has been defeated and has had some disappointments. moments in the best tournaments but he's on a good streak, he's won two of the last three he's been in, this got away from him, that's not the best position, isn't it at all?

Well, the only thing you can do here, I mean, you have a shot on a three ball, but it's hard to position yourself under a ball, you can shoot the three ball here, but it'll let the cue ball come down here somewhere, I It seems, and it will rise again like this, a lot of green. and he is serving the cue ball, he said the low cue ball, look at this shot and the crowd is informed, of course they are all excellent and great players, build your players and watch, appreciate the talent of this man. Nephron Reyes continues to advance, it makes him such a difficult player to beat as he is also a world class three cushion pool player and that is really useful in the pocket beard game while he is in the corner of the window and so on. easy has taken a huge 3-0 lead over Jeff tries harder in the race to the eight to win this 1995 8-ball world championship once again when he places the eight ball in the corner and takes a 3-0 lead .

Look at it once again how easily Reyes makes it to the zero card. This is a big game right here, I mean Jeff is starting to feel it slipping away from him, yeah he needs to win this game, well he got a break when Reyes didn't do anything at the last break and he needs that break again and a chance to get it. on the table, wow, there goes the solid, the last ball, Jeff thinks it's his shot, I wish I had his shot, that one too right now, my prediction doesn't look very good. I predicted Carter would be doubly tough tonight and he beat Efron Reyes, he's behind three nothings.

Tom, well, it's going to be a long way to go, although things haven't changed drastically from time to time in this game. Two champions sitting with me know this very well, but I'm telling you, Reyes just isn't making any mistakes with these two balls down here. or the problems on this shelf because there is no key ball to get to them by winning the first three games, which takes enormous pressure off of Efron Tom. It's always good to take the lead now, uh, Carter, on the other hand, he. You will know that he starts to want to win, he will win a game and take away that advantage.

She's left behind four nothing five nothing he's in serious trouble coming down for the two balls right now the cue ball escaped a bad shot of any kind. of shot right now, well everyone likes all of them, someone likes all of the shots in this game, in this case I guess Carter is sitting there thinking, get ready and do something when you get this chance, safety here, good shot , it's a good shot unless you can see this ball here. my car just needs to make some shots and get some confidence back here and get back into this game looks like he's playing 11 ball in the side pocket little hole there's no hmm there's one there perfect guy well um he had his nerves are under control with not that? uh, I didn't really think he had much food, yeah, well, like I said before, I like the way Jeffrey takes these balls off the tables and has a good knowledge of the type of game he keeps. he's very well conditioned himself you know he eats the right food he gets enough sleep he practices hard every day he takes the game very, very seriously just put me in he needs to win to win behind three nothing's going to break the eight ball on the shot here, position where he can reach it later, wow, look, he's looking right now, when he shoots the tin ball in the corner pocket, he's looking where he's going to hit the eight, you know, just to make sure, look maybe up and then hit the six and then have a shot and a 15 ball I guess you want it right in the middle of the table, isn't it right around where you eat the six?

Now it's nice, so it's okay, the ball in the corner down here. well, it looks like it's right away, it's straight in, it's probably going to draw the cue ball back to the sideline where it's there, in other words, it's going to shoot the 13 here, it's going to draw the cue ball back here for the 15 in the side pocket. . I think he's going to follow this and then he'll play the 15 on the side but he's following you, yes, said the High cue ball, this is what my experts predicted, that's what put it in the side pocket or carried it to the final and that's it. a good question right now is about which pocket you are most comfortable with right now it's not an easy shot in the corner it's not an easy shot in the side if you shoot in the corner it disturbs the six ball you just want to slowly pinch this arc with a low shot hit the cue ball very low and hit it soft do you have a chance to scratch this also in the second?

No I dont think so. Taking it, he rolled again oh rolled oh missed there. well, I think if you had shot that shot with a low English, like a low English gym with your left hand, to spin that ball and keep the cue ball out there, I think it would have been better than rolling when you roll a ball like that. your life in your hands they say you don't know what's going to happen, so Reyes is now looking to build a 4-0 lead, what do we do with this one? He came up very short on this shot now that he has a bit of an advantage.

The problem is what he does extremely well, although I mean he can hit this ball with a low forehand, like he really spins this ball. Killing the ball, that's what he's doing. I think killing the ball does it better than anyone else and the eight ball in the corner. and that will make the score 4-0 for Reyes, so the Chargers had some opportunities. He came up a little short, the last chance was probably the best he had, but Reyes is not a man you give a chance to and he. I'll put that table at 56,000 and go through it.

Watch him cut the Pie ball back and what a beautiful shot, that slow spin. I mean, you have to shrug your shoulders really well and really keep hitting it low right. and that's just you spin the ball but you kill the cube over the top it doesn't have much speed Kings four nothing about Foreigner Carter is the best ref we've ever had Elias has at least one in the side pocket I don't I don't see what it was I think Now he has the solid in that last game where he pocketed those five balls that turned out to be the winning shot time, that's the difference, I think, with the style of the Filipino players compared to the American players.

I think the American players would have hit them five times with a lot more speed and taken advantage of where the cue ball is, but Efron has that delicate shot that does that too, a tough, difficult shot that you couldn't argue with that. , I mean. skill of a surgeon and he placed the cue ball right in line with the eight ball and turned it into a relatively easy four ball. Well, gentlemen, he's going to have to make a mistake and Carter's going to have to get up from the electric chair and explain. the combo here, yeah, he's not going to get up and go anywhere until he fails, unless maybe he throws a tomato at Efron or something.

I don't know Filipino players as a group. I would say the best players in the world today invaded the United States 10 years ago Tom and it's not just the great Efron Reyes, they have many excellent players, one player comes from the Philippines, you start to wonder how many champions they have there, regardless of the name let them come here, well, a break. For Carter, he needs to clear this table, otherwise we could be looking at a fight tonight. Well, this is a good opportunity to enter. I mean, the balls are wide open this time. Well, let's watch Carter and hope he can get out of this schneid. losing four games to none, the first man to get to eight wins it and that would be the 1995 World 8-Ball Championship.

We're here at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. He must take these balls off the table right now. The next 11 ball, you think so, I think he will just shoot this ball to the 12 ball and drag the cue ball back over the 14. He will get rid of the 14 next. They always want to get the. The balls on the rail come off the table as fast as you can. That can be a problem, not only because of the difficulty of doing them, but also because of trying to control the cue ball. It's very difficult when you are throwing balls over the rail, so always clean the balls. off the railing, so it's going to go with the 14 up in the other corner, if there's anything exactly, yeah, the 13 will be next, and then you've got the other two placed down there as well, right?

Yes, everything is at stake right now. The eight ball went in the middle and near the side pocket, there Carter tries to get up off the ground and get back into this game, it's not easy. King, escape chance, that's nice, foreigner, Kim Davenport, Johnny Archer, Nick Varner, we even had a lot of fun. the past Bill Staton, the man I beat for the world title in 1972, is there in the front row, you must have just been a wunderkind in the matinee of '72, well, there it is, a failed attempt at a triple of Kings. He opened the door and Carter took up the first game of him.

He's now four games to one, but I think the most important thing is not to say that's an important step, but now he has the rest and maybe he can get something that works in his favor and execute the game. table for a couple Carter wins the fifth game, this is again a game in which he is never too old to play well. The best games God ever created, the pool game, he got a pool table in your house and I'll tell you. something that you're going to have 60 70 years of fun with in one of these things, all you have to do is put a new cloth on it from time to time and that's not very frequent either and it's designed for children, women and seniors. younger people, it doesn't matter, anyone can have fun with this game, that's what makes it so good, any size, no strength needed, just enjoy the game, well, Carter couldn't make a ball fall and that's not really bad when Take a look at a couple of balls that are blocked five and nine that go for the solid ones just only five and nine, but that's the only problem, well, I had a 310 in there that blew up a moment ago, it must get to the five balls as soon as possible, otherwise how can you get them?

The nine balls just above. Can you still go out? He has to find a way here to park the ball. You will lower that white ball. that end of the table to break those, the only ball I see that can come down from the table to break the fireball with this uh is the only ball, I think that's what you're looking for right now, play in the position right up here with the one ball no, first he's going to throw the two balls for the four, four and then he's going to put the one in the side pocket and let the Cubs sit and break that combination in the corner, yeah, because it's a natural angle that comes out the 105.

I'm going to back this up a little bit to make it beautiful, right? Yes, he's going to break it right now. Well, I might even do it. I could not? Well, I don't think I can do it. You don't believe at five if you know it wouldn't come out. He is looking at the two balls. He could have a position and a two balls in the side pocket next to him, but it broke again. Yes, five and a corner. two on the side ball right in the middle of the table three balls against the rail fight against the rail now friend Reyes among the best potatoes the two balls pass in this pocket in the corner for his next shot textbook things that this guy shows us today yeah that was a great photo of me there, as far as I'm concerned this guy is right up there with the all-time best players we've ever had, guys like Mosconi, Luther Lassiter, Joe, Irving's bosses Crane, Ralph Green Leaf, or maybe it goes on and on. and those are yesterday's players, not to mention today's players, this guy is as good as anyone I've ever seen.

Billiards like Willie Hoppy used to play a lot of billiards and he played it very well, but his partner is very happy and says that he really is. and now he's up five games to one, but the only time you know he feels any emotion is when he makes a bad shot, he's laughing and talking to himself, other than he's like a guy doing a job in the first office man in eight wins it and of course it's the 1995 World 8-Ball Championship. Ephraim Reyes from the Philippines, two world champions resident and experts in Thailand, this guy is as good as this game has ever seen, without It doesn't matter what era you're talking about.

About how he doesn't make many mistakes and if you make one you end up having fun. What an accomplished player really has as his greatest asset is his concentration. You know that many times, when he is not practicing pool, you will see him playing chess and games. somake the shot to the net in a position to do it now back to the corner, this is a correct shot, you have it away from the uh, we have a chance to do it, we only have one chance with this shot, yeah, four-and-a-half tables half by nine feet about 15 by 30.

Look at all that green faced with an uphill battle behind seven talkers, you must have missed it, you know what the moment it hit it too, right? Had the right line here oh this isn't so easy I've been out I mean he's got the sixth guy he's got to roll the cue ball down he can't really spin it or do anything with it you get it nice and smooth yeah wow, what happened, that's almost too close to do anything, isn't it? What do you do with the shot? I have to try to make a new side pocket.

That's all you can do with one shot. The eight ball is sitting there waiting for you. Also, if he does, he can make this ball on the side of the world championship belong to him, yes, thanks, that cat can play this game, you better wake up Sony McDonald's, he is something that the world champion eight games for free, without effort, magnificent performance.by a magnificent pool player and apparently there is no game with that sticker those balls on that table there he is the cutter of life night large crowd present and they are standing towards a man, a woman and a child to support to the new champion they really appreciate a lot of talent and here's another look at Reyes as he wins the eight ball in the corner, he's smiling now, but I tell you the shot before that when he cut was that the two ball gentleman on the side was the one he made and it was a good shot what a magnificent shot that was really the one that won him the tournament the eight ball was the type of shot he could make even with the world championship on the line I'm not good at that I tell you what a shot Great job , he did very well, it was a magnificent tournament and a great championship match and now the winners get the spoils and a little conversation and Don Mackey, who is the commissioner of the professional pool tours, will take care of the tasks of money and trophies. and what have you done, we deliver it to you thank you Tom on behalf of the professional snooker tour and all the great players, the best players in the world as commissioner of the tour, it is a great pleasure for me to thank the many people who helped make this .

Two of those key people may be here with me tonight, one is Russell Bash, general manager of AMF, the other is Martin Gross, vice president of marketing for the Riviera and of course we have Jeff Carter with us and I would like congratulate him. Jeff, on behalf of the players and the professional Billiards tour for a magnificent tournament, Jeff, we really appreciate it and without further ado, I will allow Jeff, I will allow Russell, to present to you what you came here for, which is the see, congratulations to Jeff first of all, I would like to say a couple of thanks first to Riviera for their great hospitality towards Lion's Den for helping us get the tables here for Tony Morris for making them look great and play well. week and finally to the professional pool tour and Don Mackey for giving AMF the opportunity to sponsor this event on behalf of AMF playmaster and its global network of distributors.

I would like to congratulate you, Jeff, on an excellent tournament and present you with the second place check for 7,500. well, first of all I would like to thank all the fans for coming here and all the players because without the fans and the players we don't have tournaments, So I would like you to turn yourself in. A hand for that I also want to thank the Riviera and also the AMF for getting together and organizing this tournament. This is a great tournament and hopefully it will be a main event on our tour and hopefully it can be a perennial event and I'm looking forward to coming back here next year, thanks Jeff and now, one more presentation effort, if you like, we can have Mr.

Kings come here. Efrén, if you will, is a somewhat reluctant champion, what a magnificent performance he put on to win this 95. World Championship guy, just a textbook type game, congratulations to you. Don't continue if you play well. A year ago we were here on the Riviera playing the world nine ball championship and Efrén had a tremendous battle against Earl Strickland and he was in the At that time he was in his quest to have his first billiards tour title. Unfortunately, he came in second that night, but from that night on he played the best pool in the world, hands down, winning the US Open. won two major events on the pro circuit this year, now he's won the World Eight Ball Championship, he's one of the greatest of all time, ladies and gentlemen, Efrén Reyes, and now, for the check, sorry, yeah, It is a great pleasure for me to introduce you. a check for fifteen thousand dollars first place check uh to uh for a fellow AMF uh sponsor AMF puyat in the Philippines congratulations English and now Marty Gross will give you the cup that he launched he sought his first world championship on the pro tour Marty thank you Don Efrén, uh, it's my third year handing out trophies here and we're finally happy to give them to you, you've been working hard here for three years now and at the Riviera we're very happy to be the home of Billiards and Efrén again, welcome and congratulations, the third time's the charm, time laughs and while the public applauds the effort and of course Jeff uh we will remind you that we will return to speak with the two finalists and find out how the champion feels about his victory here in 1995, but first we will pause for this message , gentlemen, thank you very much, thank you, okay, Ephraim, well, we have quite a family group here, don't we?

I don't know if you would buy a used car. for many of us, but we certainly look good here Jim media Jim Rumbi there Efron Reyes our champion and Jeff Carter it was a magnificent final and you were very generous in your praise of Reyes, you thought and so did I and everyone did, I guess. What a magnificent performance, oh yes, he is without a doubt one of the best players to ever play this game and Jeff Carter is coming on strong now that he has nothing to feel bad about. He played a great tournament. He was undefeated upon arrival, I thought. he was going to win it all, but tonight it was the whole F and Reyes show, it was actually difficult to go out and, uh, you just know how to show your skills, you are a very talented player, but this guy wouldn't give you a chance, well, I think he got lucky, you know what I'm saying, play again, well, he played great and got shots and when he caught it, he took advantage of it and there were a couple of mistakes I made.

I don't think you call them our characteristic and uncharacteristic mistakes and he played very well so I couldn't get on track and I played better in this tournament on television than the last time I was on television so that's the From my point of view, I'm moving on, like Jim said, you had a great week, one loss, 66 of the best players in the world got together, you got to the final and you ran into a guy who was too good, right? Jim is absolutely right, I mean, when Ephron put his speed control on the table, he was unbeatable.

I mean, he was playing in the exact position, he knew where the cue ball was going and he made all the easy shots for him. What if this is the third time? Perfect timing for you, champ, huh, yeah, yeah, this is my turn and you made the most of it. Oh yeah, that's what he said. I was lucky this time, but Taya says the Philippines is full of great pool players, lots of them. maybe 32 players are good players, you mean we have to be careful with 32 players, you will bring them all here, any of them better than you, Efren, I don't think so, I think most of the hit ball players in the three in the world, not many of them better than you, frankly, you could have been a little lucky to get to the championship, you had a very difficult semi-final match, he won eight and seven when you got the title, you were simply magnificent, did you have ?

Did you feel lucky to have arrived here? Oh yes yes. I got lucky at this event last month. Yes, when I didn't have anything important, then I'm lucky. I think I'll win this in a moment. You were already down seven to five. Orchard. Because he always shot assuming that he had to win, but he defeated himself, he said that there are 32 better than him or as good as him. Are you coming out of retirement? Yes, I'm going to come out of retirement probably next year. I have to help my country, there are 32 more like him, hey, I think we better dig up Ralph Greenleaf and see if he can help us, and our congratulations to you, you are a magnificent champion and you played wonderfully, and Jeff, our congratulations You too, what a great tournament and we wish you success in the future and we now join Don Mackey, the commissioner of the professional pool tour.

Don, you are about to begin your fifth year as commissioner of the pro tour, how is the future of the pro tour? Look good, it looks great, after four years of hard work with all the guys in the Pro Tour, I can safely say that the Pro Tour will be here for a long time. We've had a chance in the last four years. to establish our logo and our credibility among snooker fans and the current situation for us is very bright, we have basically stopped seeking sponsorship within the snooker industry and are now seeking sponsorship from Fortune 500 companies that we believe have developed a number of events that players had never had before.

This series, for example, is a 15-week series and we thank Prime Network for giving us the opportunity to deliver the Pro Tour product to Pro Tour fans. Now we have a World Eight Ball Championship, as you saw the best players in the world. Then we move on to the US Open. From the US Open, we go into the Pro Tour Championship, the Pro Tour Championship to the World Nine-Ball and World Nine Ball Championships. Ultimately, we're going to the Legends event for the first time in the history of the game that we're covering the game as one Tour event to another and it gives fans a taste of what it's really like for these guys here on the live pro tour on weekend month after month playing professional pool.

We're very excited about the fact that we can give our fans an inside look at the game for 15 consecutive weeks and we can provide almost every shot of every game within every show, so in terms of our programming and our events, we've taken a tremendous step forward. We're giving our fans what they asked us to do, which is give them the entire event from start to finish without any serious editing and all that. so our programming is where we want it to be, we would like it to be live in the near future, hopefully we can set that threshold at 96 or 97, but certainly the events that we are producing now for our fans are like them, they are responding, They are watching our programs, that should bring more sponsorship, that brings more money, that comes, happy players and that's what I work for, we started the professional tour with the philosophy that the Probe Billiards tour is for the players.

The game belongs to the players. I'm one of the few commissioners in professional sports today who has the opportunity to represent the player side of the sports marketing equation and I'm not going to say that's my job. It's easier, but I think it makes it more pleasant. As for the overall progress of the tour, we just played an additional fifty thousand dollar event. We have the US Open with fifty thousand dollars added. The Pro Tour Championship has fifty thousand dollars added. The world nine ball has one hundred thousand added and the Legends are 50,000 added. Five years ago, those events didn't exist at that level, only the US Open was around, the other four didn't exist, so we've taken over the production of our events. coordination of our events promotion of our events financing of our events and little by little we are getting there uh uh I have enjoyed the work for the last four years and I hope to serve the players for another two years oh one of the points that this raises is There has been a lot of controversy within the billiards community, what do you think is causing it?

Well, basically I think it's ignorance, uh, I'm just joking, uh, but in all honesty, it's lack of information, well, what exactly is it? The controversy, as you see, the professional tour is creating many changes. We had an industry or, if you like, the billiards community, which is very diverse. You have to understand that 50 million people play pool today in the United States, which creates a tremendous infrastructure. In terms of the industry, pool halls, league operators, manufacturers, retailers, players, you have this huge group, this huge conglomerate and for the last 30 40 years everything seemed to go a certain way in a certain system and finally about five years ago years the players decided so.

It's about time your situation had to change because so many things have changed that naturally it has caused controversy, people know that the system tends to resist change at all times but the fact is that if the billion dollar industry analyzes take seriously what pro tour is achieving and understand the opportunity we provide them to stimulate the growth of the game to provide the general public with an understanding of their products and the services they provide; There is no other vehicle in billiards today that is doing quite whatis doing the pro tour we are reaching not only the entire United States but the entire world our programming reaches over 100 countries under Prime International the game is truly an international game it is played in over 100 countries around the world and It's time for someone to get closer to that Global Market.

We believe that by positioning our tour on networks like Prime, we are positioning the game to grow around the world. The strange thing is that the billion-dollar industry finds it difficult to understand what our goals and objectives are. . Simply what we are looking to do is establish the sport on its own for years, the players and the events were strictly dependent on the will of the snooker industry and the ability of the snooker industry to fund events like this one that we have come to. Beyond that, we now produce and finance our own events through our own sources, one of those sources is the ability to use the pro tour logo on products, so we generate income from the sale of products, products from billiards, we use those income to do television production. doing event production to provide benefits to players, this is a game that's about to do what golf did between, say, 1960 and 1975.

We're playing for the same money now that guys like Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer played and Jack Nicklaus in the early 70's we have been looking for the last four years to link the professional game directly to the grassroots of the industry and the players and of course the players are in the pool halls and the pool leagues in the America and the billion industry has a tremendous infrastructure of distributors across the country. What we are coming to market is a system called pro tour network. of distributors that will allow distributors to link directly to our programming and offer the public an official line of pro tour products available only through those distributors.

I predict that by the year 2000 we will be doing million dollar tournaments in professional pool tune in next week on Prime to see the best