Joe Davis won four world billiards championship titles and 15 World Snooker Championship titles over a 20-year period during which he was undefeated. Other than in handicapped matches in which he conceded a start, he lost only four times, all of which came towards the end of his career and were against his brother Fred, Everton has said of Davis' influence on the game in the early 1920s;"In those days, the prevailing idea was to pot a red or two, a couple of colours and play safe but in the time he could spare from billiards Davis devoted considerable thought and practice to evolving the positional and breakbuilding shots, sequences and techniques which are taken for granted today".