Johnny Archer (born November 12, 1968) is an American professional
pool
Pool may refer to:
Bodies of water
* Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming
* Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings
* Tide pool, a roc ...
player. He is nicknamed "the Scorpion" (his
zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...
sign is
Scorpio). He is a two time
World Nine-ball Champion & won a record 5
Sands Regency
J Resort, formerly the Sands Regency Casino Hotel, is a casino hotel in downtown Reno, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Jacobs Entertainment, Jacobs Entertainment, Inc.
History
The property that is now the J Resort was first opened in Febru ...
9-Ball Open titles. In 2009, Johnny Archer was nominated to be inducted into the
Billiard Congress of America
The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body for cue sports in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is ...
Hall of Fame.
Early days
Archer grew up with his two brothers and two sisters in
Twin City, Georgia
Twin City, formerly known as Graymont, is a city in Emanuel County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,642.
History
Twin City gets its name from the combining of two adjacent towns, Graymont and Summit ...
, and began playing pool at the age of 12.
Career

He is one of the most successful
nine-ball
Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle o ...
players of the 1990s and 2000s, having won the majority of the game's major tournaments at least once, culminating in his being named ''Billiards Digest'' Player of the Decade at the end of the 1990s. Archer is a two-time
WPA World Nine-ball Champion, winning in both 1992 when he defeated
Bobby Hunter, and later again in 1997 after beating
Lee Kun-fang of
Chinese Taipei
"Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan.
Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...
(
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
). He was also a runner-up the following year, losing in the final to
Kunihiko Takahashi of
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. He was the 1999 US Open champion, and has won over 100 professional tournaments throughout his career.
He has also been a regular on the US
Mosconi Cup team, having joined them a record seventeen times, winning on nine of those occasions.
In 2003, one of Archer's most successful years, he won tournaments such as Sudden Death Seven-ball and the first World Summit of Pool.
Archer also won the 2006
International Challenge of Champions by defeating
Thorsten Hohmann in the finals.
In 2007, he won the
Texas Hold 'Em Billiards Championship. While in the 2005 event the entire purse was awarded to the winner, in the 2007 event the purse was split.
["2005 Texas Hold'em Billiards Shootout"]
, at ''AZBilliards''["Johnny Archer Wins 2007 Texas Hold Em Billiards"]
, at ''AZBilliards''
The ''
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals with bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' ...
'' television show, on September 3, 2003, pitted Archer and
Jeremy Jones against each other in a
challenge match in
speed pool. The show had them timed against each other, to try to beat the record, which at that time stood at 1 minute 30 seconds to a full of balls and then pocket all fifteen balls, and then move to another table and do it again. Archer was the victor. The event was recorded in a warehouse in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
where other challenge matches were also taking place to beat records.
Archer rejoined the staff of ''Inside Pool Magazine'', where he writes a monthly instruction column.
For 2007, he was ranked #3 in ''Pool & Billiard Magazine''
's "Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players" poll.
Personal life
Archer lives in
Acworth, Georgia
Acworth is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, this city had a population of 22,440, up from 20,425 in 2010. Acworth is located in the foothills of the North Georg ...
, with his two children. He's an avid
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
er, and ascribes his strong pool break to playing a lot of
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
, noting similarities in having the timing right and using one's whole body in the stroke.
Archer Interview
, October 2, 1999, ''AzBilliards.com''. Retrieved August 5, 2007
Titles and achievements
References
External links
Archer's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Johnny
American pool players
1968 births
Living people
People from Waycross, Georgia
World champions in pool
WPA World Nine-ball Champions