Filipino Idol

The Avenida Billiard Hall is the current hangout for the Manila gambling crowd. [Photo by Ted Lerner]

Reyes said he would be at the Avenida playing money games, but he is nowhere in sight. The stares, smiles and wide eyes of the mostly male crowd suggest that a foreigner has never been seen at the Avenida. They realize Efren must be the main attraction, so the throng parts and the path leads into a smaller room, also brightly lit and with two plastic tables inside, both of which are occupied, one with four men playing cards, the other with four men playing mahjong.

Reyes, wearing his protective glasses, a white t-shirt, blue jeans and red rubber slippers, sits at the mahjong table, pushing the white tiles with the Chinese characters in various directions and arranging his bankroll of peso notes in his drawer. According to one bearded man wearing a fedora hat, Efren arrived at the Avenida at 3 p.m. and immediately sat down at the mahjong table. The man says he will play Mahjong all night without letup until early in the morning. Then, with little or no sleep, he'll head to the airport for a trip down south for an exhibition.

The previous night in Angeles City, Efren had talked, albeit sparingly. Tonight he stays completely silent the whole time, barely nodding a greeting. He's completely engrossed in the mahjong game. Even the guys he's playing with say nothing to him. Although Reyes offers absolutely nothing by way of quotes, the whole scene seems to perfectly manifest the essence of what the Magician stands for, what he is all about, what makes him tick.

Whether it be pool, chess, cards, mahjong or the cockfights, Efren Reyes is a man who is clearly happiest and most comfortable when he is strategizing, plotting and thinking about the next shot, the next move, the next card, the next tile, the next rooster, and, always, always with a bet on the line. That amazing mind, which has wowed and mystified pool fans around the world for several decades, has to constantly be fed a steady diet of "action." The action is his elixir, his mental stimulation, his lifeblood.

"You know Filipinos. We're born gamblers," the bearded man says as he eyes Efren's mahjong game. And Reyes, a gambler among gamblers, a peasant hero to a nation, is held in the highest esteem by his people as perhaps the greatest one of them all when the money's on the line.

Previous Page Page 4 Next Page >

Top

Subscribe to Billiards Digest Magazine and get full featured stories like
this every month


Top

Since 1978, Billiards Digest magazine has been the pool world’s best source for news, tournament coverage, player profiles, bold editorials, and advice on how to play pool. Our instructors include superstars Nick Varner and Jeanette Lee. Every issue features the pool accessories and equipment you love — pool cues, pool tables, instruction aids and more. Columnists Mike Shamos and R.A. Dyer examine legends like Willie Mosconi and Minnesota Fats, and dig deep into the histories of pool games like 8-ball, 9-ball and straight pool.

Copyright © 1997-2003 Billiards Digest, All Rights Reserved
LUBY PUBLISHING INC.
122 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1506, Chicago IL 60603
Phone: 312-341-1110
Fax: 312-341-1469
Legal Disclaimer