[1] In 1996, Strickland won the largest cash prize to date winning the PCA $1,000,000 Challenge by being the first player to run 10 consecutive racks in a tournament.

Strickland rose to national prominence in 1983 with a victory in Caesars Tahoe Billiard Classic defeating Steve Mizerak in the finals and winning $35,000.

At Mosconi Cup, from 1996 until 2005, Strickland holds the record for winning nine times along with Johnny Archer.

[5] Jimmy Mataya, who was present at the event, witnessed Strickland's last shot, a tough nine-ball combination in which Earl showed no fear and "fired it in with authority" to win the prize.

Unfortunately, due to expenses of the legal battle, Earl received less than a $1,000,000 and this resulted in negative publicity around it and led to a very premature demise of the new PCA tour.

For 2007, he was ranked #6 in Pool & Billiard Magazine's "Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players" poll.