The Greatest by:
Don Akerlow DES MOINES, IA Imagine if you will, walking into a pool hall perhaps any pool hall or even your favorite. You look around and see the place is virtually full. A few tables in the back are open but 90% of the tables are full. Leagues, Juniors, a tournament that started on Friday and a 9-Ball tournament that started Saturday. This is a Sunday, late afternoon, where most pool halls would be dead as a door nail. Maybe some leagues playing but it’s the last day of a weekend. People are enjoying themselves, talking, engaging, playing pool. You have heard that pool is dying, maybe even dead. It is a myth, especially at Big Dog Billiards in Des Moines, Iowa. There were some 40 pool tables most of which I can assume were 7 footers. The atmosphere is on fire. The One Pocket Tournament is gearing up for the finals that is being live streamed. There are 4 players left in the 9-Ball. People interacting, watching, talking about this shot or that shot. Was I dreaming or was I somewhere back in the 80’s or maybe even the early 90’s? Where pool was jumping, pool was vibrant, pool was fun and the players were enthusiastic. Did I take a time machine back in time? I think not. I’m at Big Dog Billiards in Des Moines, Iowa and what I see I am pleased with. I immediately take out my camera and start shooting photos. Most of the players I don’t know but after watching them I know they are players.
Pool is not dead! Let me repeat myself, Pool is NOT dead! Let me back up to when the tournament started, on the weekend of June 20-22, 2014. There was wall to wall action. Players came from 20 states to participate at the tournaments. Starting Friday with a $1,000 entry One Pocket Tournament and $5,000 added to the pot. JOSH Almost $15,000 in the Calcutta. The winner would take home $10,000! There was a 16 player field for One Pocket promoted and organized by Scott Frost. One of the best One Pocket players in the country. The field saw notable players like Chip Compton, Justin Bergman, Joey Grey, Cliff Joyner, Jose Parica, Sylver Ochoa, Whitey Walker, Dee Atkins, Jeremy Jones, Danny Smith, Jason Chance, Troy Honeycutt, Richie Richardson, Josh Roberts and Justin Hall. In the finals from the one loss side was Josh Roberts from Columbia, South Carolina. Josh beat Cliff Joyner in the first round, then lost to Danny Smith in the 2nd round. Meeting up with and beating Jeremy Jones, then Jose Parica, Justin Hall, and in the point game of the one loss side meeting Scott Frost. Justin Bergman out of High Pockets Billiards in Memphis, TN, in the first round beat Jeremy Jones, then Whitey Walker, Justin Hall, and in the point
ROBERTS match Richie Richardson to await the winner of Josh Roberts and Richie Richardson. Josh won to meet Justin in the finals. Justin takes a 3-1 lead in a race to 4 then Josh ties it up hill-hill and wins the first set. Both Josh and Justin jump up to go lag for the second set when Ray Hansen from PoolActionTV who was live streaming all weekend needed time to set up the live streaming to stop and start for the second set. The players decided to take a break. Josh was playing like he was on fire. Josh is a younger player who may have shown less patience and wouldn’t wait for a better shot and sometimes he got over aggressive and sometimes he missed but even so he played like a veteran making shot after shot to win the second set to take down the One Pocket Championship. In conjunction with the One Pocket Tournament was the Hunter Cole Benefit 9-Ball Tournament with a packed field of 92 players all vying for first place prize money. Hunter has been battling cancer his whole life
The One Pocket Players 34 page July 2014
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