Nick Varner (born May 15, 1948, in
Owensboro, Kentucky) is an American pool player who was inducted into the
Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame This is the list of people inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's hall of fame to honour outstanding people who, through their competitive skills and dedication, have enriched the sport and industry. Two categories have been established in ...
in 1992. Varner is a world champion and has won back to back
U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship
The U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship is an annual professional men's nine-ball pool tournament that began in its current form in 1976. The U.S. Open is one of the most sought-after titles in nine-ball and in pool generally. Traditionally, winners of ...
s, in addition to winning the
1999 WPA World Nine-ball Championship at 51 years old.
Career
Nick D. Varner graduated from Tell City High School in Tell City, Indiana in 1966. Varner learned to play pool in his father's (Nick Varner) pool hall in Grandview, Indiana. After graduating from high school, Varner gained notoriety on the professional pool scene after he won two ACU-I Intercollegiate Championships while attending Purdue University and playing "money games" at an on campus pool room called "The Hole". A cliché given to Varner was "Speak softly and carry a big stick" because of the way he conducted himself as well as his competitive endeavors.
In 1989, Varner became only the second man to
Mike Sigel
Michael Sigel (born July 11, 1953) is an American professional pool player nicknamed "Captain Hook." He earned the nickname from his ability to hook his opponents with safety plays. Sigel has the ability to shoot pool both left-handed and righ ...
, to earn over $100,000 in prize winnings in single year, accumulating an unprecedented 11 out of 22
Nine-ball events that year. He was named Player of the Year in 1980, 1982, 1989, 1994, by the pool media, including the National Billiard News and Billiards Digest Magazine.
He also represented Team USA eight times at the
Mosconi Cup
The Mosconi Cup is an annual nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1994 between teams representing Europe and the United States. Named after American pool player Willie Mosconi, the event is comparable to the Ryder Cup in golf and the Weber ...
, four times as a non-playing team captain.
Varner is also an author, a video personality, a pool room proprietor, a manufacturer's representative, and an
exhibition player.
[''The Snap'', "Players of the Year", by Kreole Freddie, page 8, February/March 1980. Retrieved June 17, 2007]
Varner has won world pocket billiard championship's and is considered one of the best all-around players of all time, winning titles in
Nine-ball,
Eight-ball,
Straight Pool,
One Pocket
One-pocket is a pool game. Unlike other games played on a pool table where any can be used to score , only one pocket for each player is used in this game. The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any obje ...
and
Bank Pool.
Varner is the only player to be inducted into the
BCA,
Straight Pool,
One Pocket
One-pocket is a pool game. Unlike other games played on a pool table where any can be used to score , only one pocket for each player is used in this game. The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any obje ...
and
Bank Pool Hall of Fame.
Career titles and achievements
References
External links
"bio on NickVarner.com""Nick Varner Custom Cues" Nick Varner Custom Cues
"Nick Varner Player Profile" ''InternationalPoolTour.com'', International Pool Tour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varner, Nick
American pool players
1948 births
Living people
People from Owensboro, Kentucky
World champions in pool
WPA World Nine-ball Champions