Nick Varner

Nick Varner, born in 1948, is an American professional pool player who entered the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1992 and is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time. He learned the game in his father's pool hall in Grandview, Indiana, and drew attention by winning two ACU-I Intercollegiate Championships while at Purdue University. A multiple world champion, he won back-to-back U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships and, at 51, became the oldest winner of the WPA World Nine-ball Championship. In 1989 he won eight of the sixteen nine-ball events on the PBA tour and the PBA World 9-Ball Championship, and pool media named him Player of the Year in 1980, 1982, 1989 and 1994. He played for Team USA in the Mosconi Cup eight times, four of them as a non-playing captain.