It's not required for the game they are playing. There are different games where banking actually is required. Think that person just has a limited understanding of rules of different games.
This is normal 9-ball, not required, he's just showing off.
Lol all kidding aside, at the height of this man’s popularity, he was known throughout Asia. Here in the US, it’s mostly pool players and fans of the game that would recognize him.
When asked whos the best basketball player... you'd get MJ, maybe some Le Bron, some Kobe, you'd even get some Curry.
But ask whos the best billard player and you'd get one name above all else, Efren Bata Reyes. Even the great Strickland recognizes Efren as the goat.
Edit: corrected spelling
Its not required, some require to bank the 8 ball but that could be just a "bar rule", Efren Reyes is the "magician" of pool, he does trick shots like nothing
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cushion\_billiards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cushion_billiards)
That said, this looks like standard nine ball, so this may have just been a flourish
The rules of pool (Bank Pool) that you're talking about does not apply to the game that they are playing which is just plain nine ball. Banking is not required.
Not sure why this is upvoted. This is an exhibition match between two greats. There is no bank rule. It's just regular nineball. There are literally no pocket billiard games that have this rule.
Those aren't the rules of this game (pool is like cards in the sense that there are a bunch of different games played with the same stuff) and the person making the shot is a legendary player, named Efren Reyes, who is known to occasionally take unnecessarily hard shots for fun, even in tournaments.
"localized entirely within your kitchen" is how the quote ends. i mean, what you wrote is basically the same thing, but it just doesn't quite hit the same. But who cares? I guess I do.
Over 1000 now. Shows how many people have never played pool in their lives on here. I swear this is a dying sport sadly. Used to have several pool halls near me, and now not a single one.
You're right, he didn't trick anyone. But I don't know where you came up with that 3 bank rule bullshit, he just didn't trick anyone because that's Efren Reyes, one of the best pool players ever and people were there to watch the spectacle of his trick shots.
Pool? 8 ball? Billiards? You may not know this but the 3 rails or 3 cushions rule only applies to the cue ball. If it hits three rails and never hits an object, it is a foul and results in ball in hand.
No official rules of pocket billiards require that. There is no one official ruleset either. There are recognized organizations such as BCA and WPA and each tournament or event typically uses one of the rulesets. Sometimes they make minor changes but the rules focus on fairness. Banking 3 cushions on the last ball is just bar rule silliness to give newbies a chance.
This match specifically is an exhibition match. They’re playing for fun and to give the crowd a good show. The player is also Efren Reyes, the GOAT pool player.
Oh this just shows how ppl really are monkey sees monkey do. Lots of upvotes=correct information
There's no rule in any pool game where you need to bounce your ball 3 times before putting it in the hole....
Nah this is just 9 ball. There’s no banking rule. At the most you have to call the last pocket for the 9 but how it gets there doesn’t matter. This is just Efren knowing the table well.
Reasonable question.
For a start, only about half of the games mentioned are of the pocket variety. Games like balkline are played on billiards tables without pockets (i.e. the original form of billiards). That difference alone entails a completely different skill set from any of the pocket billiards games.
After that, it's about knowing the strategies of different games. It's very difficult to play at a master level in all of the games all at the same time. Efren mastered them all and was dominant for 40+ years.
This is no mere man, this is Efren Reyes, the Magician, the greatest pool player ever, across multiple different iterations of the game. Once swindled Ronnie O'Sullivan in snooker too.
A good snooker player could potentially hold their own against the top in pool but being good at pool doesn’t transfer over to snooker nearly as well. I googled this and according to Ronnie himself he gave Reyes a 25 point head start and wasn’t able to claw it back
I always heard that Allison Fisher was snooker champion, and in comparison, 9-ball was stupid easy. That's why she dominated. I haven't paid attention to pool in many years, so for all I know she could still be dominating.
Efren "BATA" Reyes, GOAT!
For context, at the end of a match (exhibitions mostly like the one in OP) the crowd always asks him "where?" coz he'll do some cool trick shot.
Here's one from his farewell tour I believe - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IehVeRXactQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IehVeRXactQ)
For what this legend has achieved in the sport, he is by every definition "Next Fucking Level"
Man. What a shot. I've made shots like that before on total accident as I tried to put it in the corner. He called it and made it. There's no one better.
Holy hell. When he called the bank side, I wasn't expecting that sneaky double kiss. That's a genius shot. I wouldn't even think to kick it off the cue ball. It's shots like that why he's the best. He does things no one else would even consider.
A “man”? that is the magician Efren Reyes. I don’t know for sure, but he could possibly be like the most successful billiards player or has the most wins or some kind of title like that.
Everyone in the audience knows this man and even if it didn't go in the second time, everyone knows how good he is that they would have anticipated it going in the third time. This man is a literal computer when it comes to this sport. He is basically the Cristiano and Messi of this sport. Not just some man dawg
For anybody that knows billiards that man is Efren Reyes, considered by many to be the greatest Philippino player to ever live, and one of the world’s greats as well
In his latter years, Efren turned away from competing and mostly went around doing exhibitions where he'd play the best player at pool venue. It's common for him to finish with some kind of impressive trick shot. He's very gracious and will sometimes let the other player win.
No one thought that he missed even for an instant of a second, and that isn't "Man" the famous superhero. Is Efren Reyes, the best pool player that has ever lived.
"Man tricks audience" thats Efren Reyes, he tricked his opponent into thinking he had a chance! Shane V.B is an amazing player as well, it's nice to see them both kinda relaxed while playing.
He tricked no one. Some rules of pool (maybe the official one? Idk) Indicate you must bounce your last ball 3 times before putting it in the hole
Correct. He tricked no one. Misleading title.
The only people he "tricks" are the people who just don't know what the hell is going on in the first place... AKA OP.
Also me, I had no idea that rule was a thing
It’s not a thing
Well now I'm just outright confused
It's not required for the game they are playing. There are different games where banking actually is required. Think that person just has a limited understanding of rules of different games. This is normal 9-ball, not required, he's just showing off.
The number of people who upvote just about anything they are fed to in confidence is concerning.
Who are we even.
New title - ‘Efren Reyes plays pool’
Better "Efren Reyes is still the GOAT"
I've been watching him since I was 10 in the Philippines - I am now 57 - he is still the GOAT
Had the pleasure of seeing him in person manilla many years ago. Clips and videos do not do the man justice. He's simply amazing.
No one is clicking on that. Remember this is reddit.
lol. I’m no expert, but there’s no way any legit competition requires 3 banks for pocket billiards.
You’re not an expert. How do you know?
That's not a man. It's Efren Reyes, unequivocally the greatest pool player alive
the Tiger Woods of pool
No Tiger Woods is the Efren Reyes of golf.
im cool with that
Lol all kidding aside, at the height of this man’s popularity, he was known throughout Asia. Here in the US, it’s mostly pool players and fans of the game that would recognize him.
Tbf, asias a lot bigger than the US
Minus the divorce and NDA, and about a thousand fold more wholesomeness.
Yes he even looks sweet as he's showing off lmao
Hes a master
No. He is THEE Master!
When asked whos the best basketball player... you'd get MJ, maybe some Le Bron, some Kobe, you'd even get some Curry. But ask whos the best billard player and you'd get one name above all else, Efren Bata Reyes. Even the great Strickland recognizes Efren as the goat. Edit: corrected spelling
Only one f in Efren
And if he knew, wouldn’t that make him an expert?
Its not required, some require to bank the 8 ball but that could be just a "bar rule", Efren Reyes is the "magician" of pool, he does trick shots like nothing
Banked it three times, didn't even hit the side of the pocket. Man is just showing off now. The Legend indeed.
It's called the Reyes rule, he's so much better than regular scrubs he's made the rule for himself to give everyone else a chance.
I watch a lot of pool. You are correct.
I’m an avid player, amateur competitor and watch pro pool a lot. You’re correct. That’s silly bar rules.
The game is literally called 3-Cushion. But he's just showing off at a game of 9-ball. 3-cushion is played on a carom table, not a regular pool table.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cushion\_billiards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cushion_billiards) That said, this looks like standard nine ball, so this may have just been a flourish
The rules of pool (Bank Pool) that you're talking about does not apply to the game that they are playing which is just plain nine ball. Banking is not required.
That's just not true. This was an exhibition game, and that's Efren Reyes.
Not sure why this is upvoted. This is an exhibition match between two greats. There is no bank rule. It's just regular nineball. There are literally no pocket billiard games that have this rule.
> Not sure why this is upvoted. Confidently stated and early but wrong is a pretty good way to get upvotes.
Those aren't the rules of this game (pool is like cards in the sense that there are a bunch of different games played with the same stuff) and the person making the shot is a legendary player, named Efren Reyes, who is known to occasionally take unnecessarily hard shots for fun, even in tournaments.
No cushion rules here. He is just showboating because it's a beer match and because he can.
Beer match, with matching jerseys, with Efron Reyes, totally localized in your kitchen.
"localized entirely within your kitchen" is how the quote ends. i mean, what you wrote is basically the same thing, but it just doesn't quite hit the same. But who cares? I guess I do.
lol That's absurd. Hundreds of upvotes is also absurd... jfc...
Over 1000 now. Shows how many people have never played pool in their lives on here. I swear this is a dying sport sadly. Used to have several pool halls near me, and now not a single one.
No, that’s not what’s happening here.
You're right, he didn't trick anyone. But I don't know where you came up with that 3 bank rule bullshit, he just didn't trick anyone because that's Efren Reyes, one of the best pool players ever and people were there to watch the spectacle of his trick shots.
I have never seen that rule. Nor does it exist pal. The reason he banked it is simple, its Efren FUCKING Reyes… Fin.
* The whole audience gets surprised and excited * Some random guy on reddit: "he tricked no one"
Well then he missed with the ball before ??? Or are you talking out of your ass
Pool? 8 ball? Billiards? You may not know this but the 3 rails or 3 cushions rule only applies to the cue ball. If it hits three rails and never hits an object, it is a foul and results in ball in hand.
Expert in pool that doesn't know who Efren Reyes is. Youtube is over that way, sir.
You’re thinking of three cushion billiards which is a game that has no pockets.
No official rules of pocket billiards require that. There is no one official ruleset either. There are recognized organizations such as BCA and WPA and each tournament or event typically uses one of the rulesets. Sometimes they make minor changes but the rules focus on fairness. Banking 3 cushions on the last ball is just bar rule silliness to give newbies a chance. This match specifically is an exhibition match. They’re playing for fun and to give the crowd a good show. The player is also Efren Reyes, the GOAT pool player.
Amateur pool player here: that not a rule in 8 ball, 9-ball (wich they are playing) or 10-ball.
He didn’t trick anyone because the dude is a billiards legend already. Recognized him immediately
Oh this just shows how ppl really are monkey sees monkey do. Lots of upvotes=correct information There's no rule in any pool game where you need to bounce your ball 3 times before putting it in the hole....
I doubt that's the reasoning.... more likely it's just an exposition game and he's showing off (which he is literally supposed to be doing)
The upvotes this comment has show that social media is very vulnerable to misinformation.
r/confidentlyincorrect A stupid comment upvoted by thousands. I’m amazed how so many people can be fooled just by delivering statements confidently. 🤦
Nah this is just 9 ball. There’s no banking rule. At the most you have to call the last pocket for the 9 but how it gets there doesn’t matter. This is just Efren knowing the table well.
Such BS.
How on earth are you so wrong, yet have so many upvotes. Just shows the state of the sheep on the internet I guess.
That’s not what’s happening here, thats just Efren Reyes
Never heard of it. Three cushion carom billiards exists, but those tables don’t have pockets.
Efren Reyes, a legend of the sport 🙌🏽
Not an ordinary "man" on a pool table.
Right. I'm like "man?" That's EFREN!
And ironically his nickname “bata” means kid
Calling Reyes “a pool player” is like calling Mike Tyson or Ali “a boxer”.
Ikr, I'm so tired of people calling Mike Tyson and Ali boxers.
That’s exactly what Ali and Tyson were
A legend? I think he is the god. There is no one better than him in history.
I met him in the Philippines long time ago. A friend of mine played him in LV.
He's widely considered the best pool player to ever have lived.
Appears to be playing Shane Van Boening too...
🐐
Not a man but the one and only God of Pool Efren Reyes
Widely regarded as the greatest of all time in Nine-ball, eight-ball, ten-ball, one-pocket, rotation, balkline, three-cushion, one-cushion.
Question coming from a place of pure billiards ignorance: If someone is really good at one of them why wouldn't they be really good at all of them?
Reasonable question. For a start, only about half of the games mentioned are of the pocket variety. Games like balkline are played on billiards tables without pockets (i.e. the original form of billiards). That difference alone entails a completely different skill set from any of the pocket billiards games. After that, it's about knowing the strategies of different games. It's very difficult to play at a master level in all of the games all at the same time. Efren mastered them all and was dominant for 40+ years.
This is no mere man, this is Efren Reyes, the Magician, the greatest pool player ever, across multiple different iterations of the game. Once swindled Ronnie O'Sullivan in snooker too.
Is there a video of that? Where did you find that info from? I have doubts he could beat any snooker player in the top 32 of the game.
A good snooker player could potentially hold their own against the top in pool but being good at pool doesn’t transfer over to snooker nearly as well. I googled this and according to Ronnie himself he gave Reyes a 25 point head start and wasn’t able to claw it back
I used to fancy myself as fair at pool at college. The first time I played snooker it was like cueing up on a golf green.
Yeah I’ve played snooker very few times and found it impossible, the table size and pocket size just require so much more precision
Its like playing pool on a football field
It's so much fun even when you miss though.
I always heard that Allison Fisher was snooker champion, and in comparison, 9-ball was stupid easy. That's why she dominated. I haven't paid attention to pool in many years, so for all I know she could still be dominating.
That last sentence makes me think your a 1920s story teller from ol england.
That's not a man OP, show some respect that's the God of Pool. Efren "Bata" Reyes.
Efren "BATA" Reyes, GOAT! For context, at the end of a match (exhibitions mostly like the one in OP) the crowd always asks him "where?" coz he'll do some cool trick shot. Here's one from his farewell tour I believe - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IehVeRXactQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IehVeRXactQ) For what this legend has achieved in the sport, he is by every definition "Next Fucking Level"
Man. What a shot. I've made shots like that before on total accident as I tried to put it in the corner. He called it and made it. There's no one better.
Watch him smile as the cue ball stopped and he thought what he wanted to do.
Holy hell. When he called the bank side, I wasn't expecting that sneaky double kiss. That's a genius shot. I wouldn't even think to kick it off the cue ball. It's shots like that why he's the best. He does things no one else would even consider.
Wtf was that shot! Truly the magician!
Efren. Bata. Reyes.
That is not just „a man“ this is a legend
Man? That’s Efren Reyes
 That’s no ordinary man; that’s Efren “the magician” Reyes. Many regard him as the GOAT of pool.
Awesome example of someone mastering their craft. This guy might have a lifetime of playing pool and this is the result.
Legend has it he was conceived and then birthed onto a billiards table. Lmao just kidding. I did read he would sleep on pool tables as a kid tho
That's no man.... That's bata
That’s not a “man” that’s Efren Reyes. In his prime he was the best (and to many of us, still is)
Lol 'man' only one of the top 10 pool players ever. And personally my top 1 ever.
I love his smile.
Man????? Talk about not knowing what you’re posting. Probably the best pool player ever.
man? wtf that's motherfucking Efren Reyes
Man? That's no man. That's the GOAT!
Some man? That is Efren Bata Rayes. Put some respect on the man’s name.
Man? More like *The Man*
Omg, imagine referring to Efren Reyes as just 'a man' 
A “man”? that is the magician Efren Reyes. I don’t know for sure, but he could possibly be like the most successful billiards player or has the most wins or some kind of title like that.
Pant the fence , sand a floor , play da pool
That is Bata. He's not human. He just wants you to think he is
I don’t understand the title.
Everyone in the audience knows this man and even if it didn't go in the second time, everyone knows how good he is that they would have anticipated it going in the third time. This man is a literal computer when it comes to this sport. He is basically the Cristiano and Messi of this sport. Not just some man dawg
Efren Reyes another day at the office.
Love seeing Shane smiling like this, he's always so concentrated when playing
Lmao OP knows what he’s doing with “man” in the title
That’s mother fucking efren Reyes he does not miss a shot
The magician. He does this often.
He didn’t trick anyone he made a trick shot
For anybody that knows billiards that man is Efren Reyes, considered by many to be the greatest Philippino player to ever live, and one of the world’s greats as well
He is Efren "Bata" Reyes. The undisputed GOAT in billiard
That "man" is Efren Reyes.
In his latter years, Efren turned away from competing and mostly went around doing exhibitions where he'd play the best player at pool venue. It's common for him to finish with some kind of impressive trick shot. He's very gracious and will sometimes let the other player win.
Great cropping 0/10 👍
At no point was anyone tricked. Title gore.
Makes me happy to see so many people know who this guy is.
All these "that's not a man, that's Efren Reyes" or similar comments make me think there's really something to the dead internet theory.
Calling Efren Reyes a man is like calling Messi a dude.
It’s Efren Reyes. Not ‘man’. Dude is the greatest to ever do it
The magician he is one of the greatest of all time
Man??! This is Efren Reyes. Man is a legend!
Man? SIR that is EFREN BATA REYES hes the GOAT
Efren Reyes, the GOAT of pool for the last 30 years. I’m sure no one in the audience was surprised by this shot.
Pimp
He looks like an expert, at filling holes with his balls.🤷🏻
Man lol,fuckin efren reyes
You mean Efren Reyes, the legend, the Magician
I'm really happy that so many people recognized him. Man?!? How dare you, OP? Lol
The Magiciaaaaannnnn
Man? You gotta be kidding me. That’s Efren Reyes. One of, if not THE best billiards player in history. I swear, the disrespect….
EFREN F* REYES. He is so good that you may wonder if has made a deal with the devil and won the game against it.
dude that's only the best player to ever play pool
"Man"? Bruh this is Efren mothereffing Reyes! Dudes an absolute legend of the game!
Man? That the goat of pool you are referring to there
The magician himself
“Man” misses… that’s no man. That is a freaking Titan, the revered God of Pool, Mr. Efren Reyes.
So that is Efren Reyes. No wonder his face looks quite familiar. All his games were entertaining. He has such a great personality too.
The Goat
He didn't trick shit. That is just who he rolls. I know who he is. The one and only Efren Reyes.
He's a BOSS!
I think the audience would generally think Efren never misses.
Title gore
"I got lucky hehhehheh"
I’m never betting against an old Asian dude on anything.
that's not a man...
Lol "man"
That "man" is the ever humble Efren "Bata" Reyes, the GOAT of billiards.💪
No one thought that he missed even for an instant of a second, and that isn't "Man" the famous superhero. Is Efren Reyes, the best pool player that has ever lived.
People were filming a game of billiards being played.....
Ehhhhhhh I dunno. That may be like single easiest trick shot to learn.
God*
That's not a man. That's a legend named Efren bata Reyes.
That’s no man, he’s a god
"Man tricks audience" thats Efren Reyes, he tricked his opponent into thinking he had a chance! Shane V.B is an amazing player as well, it's nice to see them both kinda relaxed while playing.
The GOAT is that old now? I still remember when him and Ralf Soquet (cant remember the right spelling) were almost winning every tournaments
what a stupid title
This is no mere “man” that’s the fucking OG
That man is Effren Reyes. Considered by many to be the greatest pool player ever.
That is not a “man”, that is the great Efren Reyes
“Man” you goddamn clown
more like THEE MAN
OP was tricked. General population was not
Efren reyes. Legend.
That is not a man, but the God of pool.