Filipino Pool Hall prince

Efren Bata Reyes: The King of pool

Pool is very popular in the Philippines and the top player in the world at the moment is a Filipino called Efren “Bata” Reyes.

Well, when I was 8 or 9 when I started playing pool. My cousin played pool and after school he used to come into school to pick me up and take me to a place we called St. Elizabeth.

At first I just watched him and his friends and then one day he let me try and I got interested. I’ve been spellbound by pool since that day. We always played pool after school - 4 or 5 times a week. He taught me to play. He started to teach me from the the first moment he saw me pick up a pool cue because he could see that I had talent. He helped me to build and improve my game.

In my country there are lots of places you can play pool on the streets under the awnings of street stores. And you can play in bars and malls. The best place to play pool is in a bar because the pool table is better than the table in the street. In the street the people are careless with the table and the baize is sometimes ripped up by clumsy show offs. But it's expensive playing in bars I felt guilty. The money was meant for school: for stationary and textbooks.

But I realised I was really good when was 10 or 11 and I started beating pool players 8 or ten years older. I started playing for money. When people bet in the Filipino pool hall it is crowded. There are men of all ages and there are no women. After the game the men sometimes get into fights.

The only dream that I have had since I was a kid is to be a player in world cup pool tournament. I am going to give it a shot this year. Now I am in London I am going to enter the London Pool Tournament. The top prize money is £200,000.

By "Chubsz" T- Bone Bonifacio