Efren Reyes was born August 26, 1954, in Mexico, Pampanga in the Philippines. He is the middle son of nine children, 5 boys and four girls. His family was poor and his father worked as a barber. When Efren was five years old, his family sent him to stay with his uncle who owned the “Lucky 13” pool hall in Rizal, Manila.
“I learned about pool in my dreams, and at that young age, he began living out the dreams… ‘Just to be able to shoot,’” he said. “I stacked three high cases of Coke so I could play pool”
Efren took up work as a billiard attendant, and this is where he picked up the nickname “Bata” (The Kid). Efren’s bed was the pool table. He actually picked up a pool cue when he was eight years old. “When I slept on the table, I dream about pool,” he said. “I learned about pool in my dreams, and at that young age, he began living out the dreams… ‘Just to be able to shoot,’” he said. “I stacked three high cases of Coke so I could play pool.”
Even though his uncle did not want him to play pool, he would play two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening when nobody was around. “I would like to sleep on the table because when I wake up I could play pool.” Jose “Amang” Parica was the most popular pool player in the Philippines at that time. Big-time gambling lords tried and attempted to bring these two archrivals to the table to no avail; they tried to avoid each other as much as possible.
But, with proper and right sponsors, they were able to put up a trilogy, a one-on-one match between these two soon-to-be legends in pool. They could fill up a coliseum once they played each other, with gamblers inside the venue and bettors outside, which was televised live on local television. In 1978, Amang left the Philippines to compete in international tournaments in the U.S. In 1984, Efren followed him to the U.S.A. By now, the story is a part of the Efren Reyes legend: Under the pseudonym Cesar Morales, he popped up at Red’s 9-Ball Open in Houston and dominated a field full of America’s best.
Sportswriter John Grissim ran into Reyes in Manila in the late ’70s and went so far as to say he could give America’s top pros the 8 and the break. By 1985, Efren was already the No. 1 player in the Philippines, though only a few Americans would have recognized his name. But nobody knew Reyes by face, so he slipped into Red’s as Cesar Morales. The stick-figured 30-year-old did not attract too much attention when the 108-player bracket was drawn.
Efren Reyes ran through Bobby Hunter, Danny DiLiberto, and Mike Gulyassy by identical 10-6 margins. Claiming only his brother joined him on the trip across the Pacific, Reyes attracted an entourage of Filipino supporters, who brazenly gave away games on the wire while betting on their new hero.
In the hot-seat, Reyes faced Wade Crane, who was also playing under the alias Billy Johnson. Hometown fans chanted “USA! USA!” while the Morales crew responded with “Manila, Manila.” Up 5-2, Wade Crane couldn’t lock up his opponent, and Reyes jumped and banked and kicked his way to a 10-7 victory. Crane sent local boy Earl Strickland home in 3rd place to earn another shot at the Filipino. If the Texan hoped the carnival-like setting would rattle the newcomer, they found out how difficult that was in a matter of minutes.
In the race to 12 final, Reyes completely disheartened the crowd from the start. He collected the first six racks, finally chuckling to himself when he missed a shot on the seventh game. Crane scrapped his way back to within two games, 7-5, but the day was all Reyes. With awesome position play and artistic shot-making, Efren approached the case 9-ball and went on winning the tournament, walking away $10,000 richer.
The only slip-up Efren had was on his way out the door when he signed a few autographs as “Efren Reyes.” The stunned crowd was just coming to terms with this Morales character. So, who the heck was Efren Reyes?
More than 23 years later, everyone in the billiard universe can answer that question.