9-Ball Tournament at Red Shoes in Alsip, IL. April 26, 2014 $500 Added

It is no secret for serious players in Chicago that Red Shoes consistently hosts some of best tournaments in the city. If you are from out of town and will be in Chicago on April 26th I highly recommend this tournament. Even if you go just looking for action you are sure to find someone at Red Shoes that will be willing to match up with you.

April 26th, 2014
9-Ball – Double Elimination
$500 Added – Based on a Full Field
Sign-Up Time – NOON
$50 Entry Fee – Includes Green Fees

 

Red Shoes Link 

 

Sharky’s Billiards Iowa $100 Entry Fee April 13, 2014

 

2902 East Kimberly Road Davenport, IA 52807 563-359-RACK

Sharky’s Billiards 9-Ball $1250 Added & Player Auction April 12, 2014

2014 Cleveland Ladies 9-Ball Open June 7, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here Is the link to Facebook Page.

The Derby City Classic Pool Tournament

The Derby City Classic Pool Tournament is taking place at the end of this month from Jan. 24 – Feb. 1. If you have a chance to play or go see this event I highly recommend that you do. Below is some of the previous match play video from previous Derby City action.

Efren Reyes clips Derby City 

Derby City Classic 10-ball ring game. This is a fun one to watch with Alex Pagulayan, Rodney Morris, and Corey Deuel. This is fun to watch but unfortunately even though it is a BCN video it does not have Billy Incardona commentating which would have made this much more fun to watch.

Final Game from 2012 9-Ball Stevie Moore vs. Shane Van Boening

 

Playing Pool for Your Health

If you’re like me you probably made a new year’s resolution to exercise more. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that one of my favorite activities which is of course playing pool has excellent health benefits. I think that pool is not often thought of in a positive light when it comes to your health because people are still thinking of poolrooms as smoke filled environments. In today’s world we’re seeing less and less public places tolerate smoking which has changed the dynamic of the poolroom.

I was pleasantly surprised when I went on health status.com typed in my weight and clicked billiards for activities and found out that if I play pool for 3 hours I will burn approximately 770 calories. That was great news to me because when I go to a tournament I always practice for at least an hour before the tournament and hopefully will win a couple of rounds before getting knocked out. I would say an average tournament night results in my playing at least 3 hours of pool. That means if I play only two tournaments a week I would be burning enough calories to lose over a pound every month.

It’s great that pool burns calories but we all know that that’s not the only secret to staying healthy. Pool also consists of a lot of stretching that a person would not normally do. It also requires you to stand on 1 foot at times helping you with your balance and leg strength. I’m not trying to convince anyone that playing pool is the equivalent of going to the gym and running on the treadmill but it’s definitely a little more exciting.

For those of you that are very serious about pool, you may want to consider meditation and stretching to help push yourself to the next level. Cardiovascular training can also be very helpful because in the competitive pool world being physically fit can give you a distinct advantage over your opponent. Many pool tournaments are packed into one weekend and require players to compete in several matches sometimes ranging over 12 hours or more each day. You’ll find the most pool players at the top of their game are also exercising regularly both their bodies and their minds. The next time you’re watching the semifinals or finals of a multi-day tournament ask yourself how many people there look like they are in poor shape. You can also look at the top players in the world and see that most of them appear to be in very good shape.

Why Dress Codes in Pool Tournaments?

It’s a shame that the promoters of pool have yet to figure out an effective format to really emphasize just how exciting pool can be, it seems like the marketing ideas are stuck in the 1980s.  Tournament directors are still requiring pool players to wear collar shirts, dress pants, and dress shoes.  When I walk into a poolroom today rarely will I see people wearing clothing that they would wear to church unless it’s Sunday afternoon and they couldn’t wait to get to the poolroom.  Most of the time I see people wearing comfortable clothing and comfortable shoes.  People dress this way because pool can be hard to play in constricting clothing, pool is a sport and bending over and reaching across a table can be difficult to do with a collared shirt that is tightly tucked into your dress pants.  It  makes perfect sense to wear comfortable shoes instead of slippery dress shoes when you know you may be on your feet for hours and sometimes balancing on 1 foot to reach a shot. It would be really nice to see a company like Nike take notice of the pool world.

Maybe tournament directors are putting a dress code in place because they are thinking of pool as a respectable game instead of a competitive sport.  If you have walked into a poolroom in the last 10 years you know that the look and feel of poolrooms has changed.  Pool rooms have come a long way since the dark, dingy, thumb breaking pool rooms of the Hustler era. Today poolrooms are usually well-lit, comfortable and inviting to people from almost every walk of life.  Rooms today are filled with great equipment, flat screen TVs, tables that are kept in good condition and wall to wall carpeting. Also they usually are often combined with a restaurant type setting which is excellent for players in tournaments who would like to grab a bite to eat in between matches. When a new room opens these days it looks like a lot of money has been spent to make sure that it is a nice place that will attract customers both serious and recreational.

Why aren’t promoters encouraging pool players to wear clothing that is more suitable to the game?  I think one of the greatest things about pool is that it’s a sport defined by individuals. Is it because promoters are trying to copy England’s snooker players? Snooker draws much more sponsorship in England than pool does here but I would be really freaked out if I walked in the pool room and saw a bunch of people wearing black tuxedos to play a tournament!  One of the best things we do in America is allowing people the freedom of expression. Wouldn’t it be more fun to allow players to express who they are, couldn’t this attract new sponsors and players alike? I do understand that it wouldn’t be good to have vulgar language on shirts and that some type of dress code would need to be in place but why have such strict guidelines.

U.S. Open Nine Ball Championship Tournament Oct. 16 2011

2011 Brings the 36th Annual U.S.Open 9 Ball Championships.

The field is limited to 256 Players.

Entry to this 9 ball pool tournament  is $500.00

$50,000 Guaranteed added to tournament!

This will be played at Chesapeake Conference Center, in Chesapeake Virginia.

Click here for more information about the 2011 Nine Ball U.S. Open

Past winners:

2009 Nine Ball U.S. Open – Mika Immonen

2008 Nine Ball U.S. Open – Mika Immonen

2007 Nine Ball U.S. Open – Shane Van Boening

2006 Nine Ball U.S. Open – John Schmidt

2005 Nine Ball U.S. Open – Alex Pagulayan

2004 Nine Ball U.S. Open – Gabe Owen

2003 Nine Ball U.S. Open –  Jeremy Jones

2002 Nine Ball U.S. Open – Ralf Souquet

2001 Nine Ball U.S. Open – Corey Deuel

Pool Lessons From BCA Hall Of Fame Member Nick Varner At Red Shoes Billiards!

Nick Varner

8 Time World Champion

BCA Hall Of Fame Member

Instructional Clinic

Held At:

Red Shoes Billiards

 

 

 

 

 

Red Shoes Billiards is one of the best pool rooms in the Chicago area to find top-level players.

There always seems to be big name players at Red Shoes Billiards in Alsip.  Take a look at the Red Shoes website and

you will see past winners include John Zaksas, Jeff Carter, Ike Runnels, Sergio Perez, Chris Gentile and Tom Karabotsos.

Red Shoes also always seems to have a healthy tournament schedule which is probably what draws so many good players. This is a pool room that is a must see if your new to or just visiting Chicago. It is very close to Midway airport but even if you are coming into O’Hare this place is worth the trip.

The American Billiard Installers Association (ABIA)

Today we have an interview with Jeff Black, the founder and managing member of the American Billiard Installers Association (ABIA)…

What is the ABIA and how did it come into existence?

The ABIA is a trade organization made up of a group of technically skilled people that service, install, move, repair and replace cloth on billiard and pool tables. The organization was formed after the economic decline in early 2000 created a less than optimistic outlook for the industry of pool table retailers and service companies because pool tables are a luxury item and that seems to be the first type of item that consumers drop in a depressed economic environment. Prices for our materials were inflating while revenues were deflating and we saw a need for discounts based on higher group numbers.

In addition there were several billiard stores going out of business leaving their service employees who in some cases were less experienced all around to start their own small businesses to complete with traditional installation businesses, many of these installers only had experience working on the brands their stores sold. This created a need for raising standards through ABIA membership.

Who runs the organization?

There is a panel of members who are called upon for important decisions. This panel is made up of regular members and they are all in the industry performing day to day operations for their businesses. The group has volunteered to guide the direction of the ABIA since there has been nothing like the ABIA to represent the interest of the small billiard company in America.

In the beginning all important decisions were made by requesting input from the hundreds of members via email and telephone request. As membership grew this became cumbersome and the current panel was selected. The panel ensures that the organization keeps on track and is guided by a wide range of personalities and not just a small group of individuals. I am the founder and managing member of the organization, and I facilitate all actions and projects of the ABIA.