Nick Varner

Nick Varner is definitely a leader in the sport of cuesports. He is highly respected and honored by most all of his peers. His understanding of cuesports and its world speaks volumes. Nick Varner was most greatly deserving to be honorably inducted into the 1992 BCA Hall of Fame and the One Pocket Hall of Fame in 2005. He is an 8 time World Champion in 4 different disciplines and over 80 professional championships that include numerous national titles. As a joyous new father and grandfather, Nick still competes with the best players in the world. Many have said, "Watch him and learn, he is the greatest of teachers".

Personal Background

• Name: Nick Varner
• Known as: Speak softly and carry a big stick"
• Sex: Male
• Age: 59 years old
• Date of Birth: May 15, 1948
• Place of Birth: Owensboro, Kentucky
• Country: United States of America
• Nationality: American
• Hobbies: Playing pool
• Spouse: na
• Sports: Billiard

Achievements:

• 1970 ACU-I Intercolleagiate Championship
• 1979 Lexington All-Star Tournament
• 1980 Professional Pool Players Association World Open Pocket Billiard Championship
• 1980 and 1981 Billiard Congress of America National Eight-ball Championship
• 1982 Professional Pool Players Association World Nine-ball Champsionship

Trivia:

• Nick Varner was an ascending star on the professional pool scene after he won two ACU-I Intercollegiate Championships in 1970 while attending college. A cliche 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 earn over $100,000 in prize winnings accumulating 16 major nine-ball events and was Player of the Year in 1980 and 1989.

• Heralded as one of the sport's greatest ambassadors, Varner achieved unparalleled success in his chosen profession. Some of his accomplishments included being an author, a video star, a pool room proprietor, and a manufacturer's representative. He still enjoys today a prominent status as an exhibition star.

About Nick Varner on IPT

Nick Varner was born on May 15, 1948 in Owensboro, Kentucky. He is a world renowned competitor with an impressive career including being an eight-time World Champion, a two-time US Open Champion, a four-time Sands Regent Open Champion, and a five-time Player of the Year. He has won over eighty professional championships and is a two-time National Collegiate Champion. Nick has a 14.1 high run of 337, and was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 1992 and the One Pocket Hall of Fame in 2005. He was the Best All-Around Player and the Best 9-Ball Player in 1992. He was the number one ranked player in 1994 at the Professional Billiards Tour, was awarded Senior Tour Player of the Year in 1999, and the Pool and Billiard Magazine Player of the Year in 1980, 1982, 1989, and 1994. Nick was the Billiards Digest Player of the Year in 1980, 1989, and 1994. This celebrity’s reputation speaks for itself, as he served as the Captain of Team America, and has been a commentator on ESPN, FOX Sports, and Sky Sports.

• Name: Nick Varner
• Alias: The Kentucky Colonel
• Residence: United States
• D.O.B.: 5/15/1948  
• Age: 60

Statistics:

2006 North American Open - Las Vegas, NV
Matches - Games - Winning Method - Prize - Money Won
Total - Won - Lost - Win% - Total - Won - Lost - Win % - B&R - B&R%* - B&R%+ - 8 on B
13 - 8 - 5 - 61.54 - 152 - 86 - 66 - 56.58 - 30 - 34.88 - 19.74 - 0 - $10,000.00

2006 World Open - Reno, NV
Matches - Games - Winning Method - Prize - Money Won
Total - Won - Lost - Win% - Total - Won - Lost - Win % - B&R - B&R%* - B&R%+ - 8 on B
18 - 9 - 9 - 50 - 225 - 113 - 112 - 50.22 - 37 - 32.74 - 16.44 - 1 - $21,910.00

Cumilative Statistics
Prize Money Won - Total Matches Won - Game Winning % - Break and Runouts - 8 Balls on the Break
$31,910.00 - 17 - 52.79 - 67 - 1

Varner on Billiards Digest Magazine

What is Billiards Digest Magazine?

BD is a monthly, full-color, glossy magazine covering every aspect of billiards worldwide, written by the best professional billiard journalists. The magazine's content includes some of the best instructional columns anywhere with such high-caliber names as pool legends Mike Sigel and Nick Varner, professional and amateur coverage, industry news, personality profiles, billiards history and culture, and much more, including many unusual, innovative and highly informative billiard articles found in no other publication of any kind.

When Does it Come Out?
BD usually arrives in subscribers' mailboxes, at the newsstands and on the counters of finer billiard shops and rooms by the week before the issue date (i.e., the November issue would arrive around Oct. 24). However, because of postal inconsistencies, issues will sometimes arrive somewhat late, sometimes up to a full week. To find places to buy BD, click here.

When is the Annual Cue Issue?
This highly anticipated issue appears every April, each year with a different topic of focus on cues and cuemaking.

What Else Do I Need to Know?
When you subscribe to Billiards Digest through PoolDawg, you save 27% off the normal subscription price. Please allow 3-4 weeks for your subscription to start, as this is a monthly publication. Your subscription will not automatically renew.

Nick "Kentucky Colonel" Varner

Name: Nick "Kentucky Colonel" Varner

Little in Stature, Big in Heart: A top player throughout the 80's and into the present, the diminutive Nick, (about 5'4" in his stocking feet) is an all-around great pool professional.

For most of his younger years, Nick neglected the game he learned at home in Indiana where his father, a businessman, owned a small Billiards equipment showroom and pool hall. Five-year-old Nick was quite the sight pulling a soda case around a table so he could stand atop it to reach the playing surface.

A top local player by the time he graduated high school, the shy Nick put away his cue. One afternoon as a young man in college, however, his life changed forever.

Two Titans Meet: Nick wandered into his school's activity center and asked for a game of pool where the top stick, who would become reigning national champion of the A.C.U.I. Tournament, Richard Baumgarth, stepped to the challenge! Though he had not shot pool for months, Baumgarth was just four games ahead following a two-hour session.

Nick started to win after several afternoons of intense competition that thrilled him. Falling in love with pool again, he held daily practice sessions where he often ran a hundred or more shots in a row.

The College Champ: Later, Varner topped his local rival to arise supreme champion at the A.C.U.I.'s, playing his favorite game, Straight Pool. Some years ago, to the regret of many, A.C.U.I. became exclusively Eight Ball and later, Nine Ball, competition.

Nick repeated as champion in 1970, winning his second national title in Gainesville, Florida. He later named a line of his custom cues "The Gainesville". Nick is still the foremost competitor to emerge from collegiate competition successfully.

Decades of Dominance: Both Nick's gentle, disarming personality and his extraordinary skill at the table including his exquisite cue ball positioning insure his popularity with pool's fans. They have watched him become one the dominant players of pool history.

In 1989, Nick won half the Pro Pool Tour events he entered, scoring 11 titles, a record not likely to be equaled. Two of his Championships in 1989 included the World Championship and the US Open 9-Ball Championship.

His over 80 tournament championships, including 8 World Championships, placed him as a 1992 inductee into the Billiards Congress of America's Hall of Fame.

What Ben Burman Said: Writer Ben Lucien Burman wrote after watching Nick at New York's Players Club, "To watch Nick Varner at a pool table is like watching a portrait being painted by Rembrandt."

Career Highlights: Among many highlights, Varner is the sole player ever named World Champion in 5 different pool games, including Straight Pool, 9-Ball and One Pocket. Straight Pool is considered a premier test of skill, and at one practice session, Nick ran nearly 350 shots without a miss, a performance that kept his inning alive at the table for nearly three hours!

A Personal Memory: A kind and sincere man, I have fond remembrances of this living legend as do friends. Following one trick shot exhibition, Nick played all comers at Nine Ball, and I broke but left myself a difficult shot 2-ball. I played safe and we both sallied on defense for several minutes to the oohs of the crowd before Nick ran to the nine for the win.

Nick lingered a long time over his shot then bounced the nine off the point of the side pocket, setting me for the win! The crowd gasped at his near miss but from his big smile I knew Nick played a perfect shot, designed to encourage little ol' me in my meager efforts.