Mike Sigel (born July 11, 1952) is an American professional pool player.[1][2], nicknamed "Captain Hook." He earned the nickname from his ability to hook his opponents with safety plays.[3]
Sigel has won over 102 major pool tournaments, including 3 US Open Nine-ball Championship tournaments and 5 world pocket billiard championship titles. Sigel was named "Player of the Year" three times by Billiards Digest and Pool and Billiards, pool industry trade magazines, and in 1989, at the age of 35, was the youngest ever to be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame.[4]
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Sigel is Jewish, and was born in Rochester, New York.[5][6][7][8] His mother Ruth was aggravated with at times, because as she said "he wouldn't go to Hebrew school because he was too tired from playing pool nights."[9]
Sigel became pro in the early 1970s at the Johnson City, Illinois, All-Around Tournament, under the auspices of pool players like Joe Balsis, Steve Mizerak, Ray Martin, and Irving Crane.[10] Sigel has the ability to shoot pool both left-handed and right-handed.
In 2005, Sigel won the IPT World Eight-ball Championship, a challenge match between him and Loree Jon Jones. The victory earned him $150,000.[11] That same year, he was seeded in the final of the King of the Hill Eight-ball Shootout, the next event of the IPT. There he met Efren Reyes, who played his way through the tournament. In the match, Reyes bested him with little trouble. Reyes took home $200,000 and Sigel got $100,000 for second.[12]
He played himself in the movie Baltimore Bullet. He was also the technical advisor, instructor, and sports choreographer for the shots made by Paul Newman and Tom Cruise in the Academy Award-winning film The Color of Money.[13]
Today, he lives in Orlando, Florida, and his focus is to play pool and promote the International Pool Tour.
Sigel was a dominant player in the 1980s and has been on the cover of numerous trade magazines such as Billiards Digest, Pool and Billiards, InsidePOOL, Billiard News, and Bike Week. He has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Life, People, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Playboy, Parade, Baltimore Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, Silver Screen, and Cigar Aficionado.[14]
In December 2010, Sigel launched his official web site dedicated to giving lessons and offering Mike Sigel Cues and Cases to the public.[13]
Sigel was inducted into the Rochester Jewish Sports Hall of Fame,[15] and in 2011 was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[16]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Inaugural champion |
US Open Nine-ball Champion 1976 |
Succeeded by Allen Hopkins |
| Preceded by Louie Roberts |
US Open Nine-ball Champion 1980 |
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| Preceded by David Howard |
US Open Nine-ball Champion 1983 |
Succeeded by Earl Strickland |
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