This year’s inductees into the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame are Edwin “Champagne Eddie” Kelly, 64, and Efren “The Magician” Reyes, 50. For two candidates to be inducted in one year, the second candidate’s votes must total at least 50 percent of the top player’s tally.

Edwin Kelly made his name during the peak of the legendary Johnston City (Illinois) tournaments in the 1960s. He won the one-pocket and 9-ball titles in 1966. The versatile Kelly won titles in four different games during his career: one-pocket, 14.1, straight pool, and three-cushion.

Efren Reyes was the leading figure of the Philippine “invasion” of the 1980s and 1990s. Among the most recent of his many major titles was the Tokyo 9-Ball International Billiard Tournament in 1991, which paid him $160,000 for first place. Reyes is considered by many to be the world’s best living 9-ball player.

(Michael Shamos, curator of The Billiard Archive, contributed to these player biographies)