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Formally known as pocket billiards mainly in North America, or even as pool billiards mostly in Europe and Australia, the game of pool is one of the most sophisticated and elegant indoor games in the world. It is from the family of cue sports and games, and some of the best pool players not only earns fame but a lot of money. This is one of the reasons why Chinese people try to excel in playing billiards. Billiards market in China is soaring like never before.
Billiards has some popular varieties, such as eight-ball and nine-ball. Six-pocket, on the other hand, is a superseded version. In fact, there are hundreds of pool games, some of which are formed by hybridizing aspects of the pool.
Professional pool players receive utmost respect for their precision, skill, patience, and focus. Apart from all their skills, there are some things that a good pool player must possess. They should have elegance and finesse.
Do you know any top billiard players? Check out our list of the top billiards players in the world:
Top Billiards Players Women's Category
Jeanette Lee
Also known as “The Black Widow,” Jeanette Lee is an American professional billiards player and has won more than 30 national and international titles. She was inaugurated into the WPBA Hall of Fame in 2012 and BCA Hall of Fame in the year 2013. She is currently ranked number 3 and was previously number 1 player in the world.
Ewa Mataya Laurance
Ewa is recognized for her position on the WPBA, as a sports commentator and as an ESPN sports writer. She is a Swedish-American professional pool player, also known as the “Leading Lady of Billiards.” In 2004, Ewa was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame.
Jennifer Barretta
Jennifer doesn’t just play well in billiards, but she also has a talent for acting. She was cast as the lead role in the film “9-Ball” and has made a one or two of other TV appearances. She was one of the top 25 sexiest female athletes, according to ESPN. Most importantly, Jennifer is one of the top ten female 9-ball players in the world.
Emily Duddy
In the summer of 2015, Emily was also one of the casts of the TruTV pool reality show “The Hustlers.” At the age of 26, she began her professional career. By 2010, she won the title “Rookie of the Year.” Emily is a WPBA Touring Pro.
Alison Fisher
Alison Fisher started playing snooker at a very young age of 7 years old. As an English professional pool player, she has quite a list under her belt. In total, Fisher has won more than 80 national titles and 11 world titles. The Billiard Congress of America inducted Fisher into the Hall of Fame in 2009.
Kim Ga-Young
At the age of 12, Kim was taught by her father how to play three-cushion billiards and began playing 9-Ball three years after. She is a South Korean professional player who competes in the Women’s Professional Billiard Association tour. Kim turned pro at the age of 20 in the 2003 BCA Open.
Jasmin Ouschan
Jasmin is an Australian professional pool player. She became a professional when she joined the Women’s Professional Billiard Association in 2007. Jasmin holds the record for being the first woman to reach a semi-final at a Men’s World Championship.
Top Billiards Players Men's Category
Rudolph Wanderone aka Minnesota Fats
Rudolph is known to be the most publicly recognized American pocket billiards player and entertainer in the United States. In 1984, he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame.
Steve Mizerak
Steve was also known as “The Miz.” He had a role in the famous pool movie, “The Color of Money.” In the 1970s and early 1980s, Steve was a world champion pool player. His specialty is in the game of 14.1 continuous and 9-Ball.
Ralph Greenleaf
People who witnessed Ralph play say that he could run 50 or more balls in Straight Pool without having his cue ball touch a single cushion along the rails. There’s even a pool room named after him in Richmond, Virginia in Hotel John Marshall. He was considered to be the greatest pool player ever, and he earned that fame due to his ability and charisma.
The New York Times stated, “What Babe Ruth did for baseball, Dempsey did for fighting, Tilden did for tennis… Greenleaf did for pocket billiards.”
Greenleaf won 20 times in the World Pocket Billiards Championship. He was one of the first three inaugural inductees in the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame in 1966. He is in third place on the list of “50 Greatest Players of the Century” as ranked by Billiards Digest Magazine.
Willie Mosconi
Between the years 1941 and 1957, Willie was a professional American pool player from Pennsylvania. He earned the World Straight Pool Championship an unmatched 15 times. Willie is recognized as one of the greatest pocket billiards of all time.
Present Top Billiards Players
Johnny Archer
Johnny is an American professional pool player. In 2009, Johnny was inducted into the Congress of America’s Hall of Fame. In the past two decades. He won over 60 tournaments throughout his career.
Florian Kohler
Florian Kohler is a trick shot artist from France who just started playing pool when he was 18 years old. He invented the majority of his own trick shots and redefines the sport of trick shots. He has been featured on ESPN as he created his own trick shot videos entitled “Dude Perfect” and other known tv shows. Florian contributed to the improvement of the Mezz massé cue, which is designed to achieve his trick shots.
Efren Reyes
Also known as “The Magician,” Efren is a Filipino professional pool player. In the inaugural “Color of Money” event in1996, Reyes defeated Earl Strickland and took home the largest single event purse in pool history. He won over 70 international titles and is the only pool player in the world to win World Championships in two different disciplines in billiards. Many professional players have respect for him and consider Reyes to be the greatest pool player in the history of humankind.
During the 80s, he became famous for being a top-class player in his country. When he moved to the U.S., he won $80,000 a week for hustling. In 2003, Efren became the first Asian inductee in the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame. He was also placed in the second position in the poll of “Fans’ Top 20 Favorite Players” by Pool & Billiard Magazine in 2007.
Shane Van Boening
Currently ranked number 1 in the U.S., Shane is an American professional pool player. He was destined to play pool as he began at the age of 12. Shane’s family has a strong history of professional pool background. He succeeded in winning the first-ever World 10-Ball Championship.
Earl Strickland
Earl “The Pearl” is an American professional pool player who started his first tournament at the age of 15 years old. He was considered as one of the best 9-Ball players and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame in 2006. Earl is one of the most controversial players for his opinionated views and unpredictable behavior.
He has won five times in the U.S. Open Nine-Ball Championships and is the only player to win the WPA World Nine-Ball Championship two times consecutively. In 2013, he won the Turning Stone XXI 9-Ball Championship.
Mika Immonen
A Finnish professional 9-Ball player, known as “The Ice Man,” is a three-time world champion. In 2009, he won the Player of the Year award and was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame in 2014.
Darren Appleton
Darren started playing at the age of 12. He was formerly the number 1 ranked player in the British Style 8-Ball Pool. He has won over 50 major titles in his career and was considered the most successful British player of all time.
Andy Segal
Known as the number 1 ranked American Trick Shot Artist, Andy began as a professional 9-Ball player in the 1990s. He won 4 times in the WPA World Artistic Pool Championship, seven times in the ESPN Trick Shot Magic Championship, and the Masters Champion 6 times, among lots of other titles. He wrote a book labeling how to do 120 different trick shots entitled “Andy Segal’s Cue Magic.”
William DeYonker
He is identified as the fastest artistic pool player to rise from an amateur just starting to a top 10 ranked player. William, known as the “Gentleman,” has also tied the world record for the highest score in a trick shot tournament in 2015 and was the youngest trick shot artist to him a categorized artistic pool tournament at the age of 23. He won 1st place in the 2016 WPA World Artistic Pool Championships, making him number 1 ranked in the world after three years.
Present Top Kids (Under 18) in Billiards
Matthew Webber
He received 250 million views from his first trickshot video. Matthew is a 15-year-old prodigy and was featured on the front page of Sneaky Pete Mafia Magazine in 2016. He even guested on Steve Harvey’s show, Little Big Shots in 2015, and was also seen on ESPN Sports Center, Superkids Germany, and Galileo Germany. He is still uploading new trick shot videos.
Jaden Dupree
Jaden is constantly uploading new trick shot videos on YouTube. He also appeared on Super Athletes, Whistle Sports, The SPORT Bible, Ellen Tube, World Star, and Nickelodeon. Jaden is a 13-year-old artistic pool player with 12 million views on social media. He ended up winning tickets to next year’s Super Bowl.
April Lars
Her family helped coach her for playing on her family’s pool team. April has been a part of the Billiard Educational Foundation since she was ten where she finished in 2nd place in the National Championships.
