Pool teams play for chance to go to national tournament

Area pool players have one last day to get out from behind the eight ball and go to Las Vegas.

Amateur league pool players began the American Legion pool championship Friday night at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. The event ends at 2 p.m. today with four winning teams eligible to participate in the national team tournament in Las Vegas in August.

"We all want to go to Vegas," said Phillip Ellison, who plays on two teams from Illinois, Team Chaos and Super Saiyns. "We play pool yearround to prepare for this. The best competition is here."

Josh Kirk, who also plays on two teams, The Da-Nite Shooters and City Limits, both of Murphysboro, Ill., said, "Performance is different everywhere you play. The tables here are level, the cloth is better and the ball rolls faster."

Fast balls also require fast thinking for pool players.

"The whole game can be riding on one shot," said Jason Goben of Jackson, a first-year team member of Cape Fear. "You feel like you let your team down when you don't make a shot."

Three playoffs a year

League operator Rick Brown said 87 teams of five to eight players each will compete over the weekend. This includes teams from Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas. Sessions are played in the summer, fall and spring, ending with two weeks of playoffs at the end of each session. The American Poolplayers Association has national tournaments for each session -- team championships in the summer, amateur championships in the fall and singles championships in the spring.

The weekend event results in roughly $100,000 spent in the Cape Girardeau area on lodging and other expenses, Brown said. The American Legion and St. Mary's Cathedral are providing concessions for visitors and players. Profits from beer sales help fund Legion baseball.

Goben started playing straight eight-ball at Lloyd's in Jackson, where a fellow player asked him to join the team.

While the game is exciting, "it's a whole different ball game when you play league rules," he said.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133

WANT TO GO?

What: American Legion Pool Tournament

Where: A.C. Brase Arena, 410 Kiwanis Drive, Cape Girardeau

When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today

Cost: Free

Info: Call Rick Brown at 334-2289 for more information