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| Archived photo of John Morra |
On the weekend of March 7th most of the best players in the Northwest and a few from across the country descended on the Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, Oregon. This Casino has been a long time supporter of pool and has held WPBA pro events in the past. This weekends tournament has a 20 year history and in the last couple of years they have raised the added money to a level where they have been attracting some big names. This year the open men's event was billed as a 128 player, double knockout bar table 8 ball event with $13 000 added to the prize fund of $150 entries. There was also an open women's event that created some interest. Notables in attendance in the men's event were Shane Van Boeing, John Morra, Corey Deuel, Rodney Morris, Jayson Shaw, Rafael Martinez and numerous other top bar table players from the Northwest.
It should be noted that in the past year and a half there have to been a lot of new tournaments on the bar table that have been popping up on the scene. Most notably the Smokin Aces, White Diamonds, Andy Mercer Memorial and Carom Room tournaments, whereas the only major nine ball events remain the U.S. Open, Turning Stone, Derby City Classic and Super Billiards Expo. Also this year the U.S. Open 8 ball and 10 ball will be back but this time they will be played on the bar table, those events will carry a $15 000 first prize. The main thing that is driving the prize money in these tournaments is the Calcutta but if the players are fortunate enough to be able to participate in that the amount of prize money they can win is probably almost 15 times more, believe it or not, than the total prize money they can win on the 9 foot.
Whether this is a good thing or not for pro pool is a multi-layered answer but my gut reaction is that one of the complaints about the game is that it is already too offensive on 9 foots and the game is even more offensive on the 7 foots, the size of the table just doesn't do justice to the talent of pro players. Others will say the general public most commonly plays on the 7 foot table and it is a good thing for pros to be playing on the same table. I think there is some merit in that. For me it will be interesting to see if American pro tournaments being played more on the 7 foot is just a fad or if it is here to stay.
Here's how they finished this weekend:
THE TOP 16 MONEY WINNERS
1st – Corey Deuel - $10,000
2nd – John Morra - $5,000
3rd – Shane Van Boening - $3,000
4th – Joshua Roberts- $2,000
5-6th – Taylor Anderson Matt Horner- $1,500
7-8th – Randy Baker , Danny Olson- $1,000
9-12th – Dan Louie Jayson Shaw, Rafael Martinez , Stan Tourangeau - $600
13-16 – Rodney "The Rocket" Morris Mike Stevens, Mike Massey Edmund Carrido - $300
Women's event results:
1st – Vivian Villarreal - $4,000
2nd – Cindy Sliva - $2,000
3rd – Kim Jones- $1,400
4th – Carissa Biggs- $900
5-6th – Stacy Allsup Linda Carter– $500
7-8th – Mary Coffman Kathie MacDonald– $250
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