Sky Woodward Wins 42nd Annual Texas Open

Troy Reed with winner Sky Woodward

By: Markus Noé

Skinny Bob's Billiards in Round Rock, Texas hosted the 42nd edition of the historic Texas Open September 3rd-7th. This appears to be more of a pool festival than a traditional tournament as there were divisions for Jack and Jill scotch doubles, single elimination race to three 25$ entry 128 player max tournament as well as a $100 entry ring game. This was all a lead up to the Men's and Women's main events.

The Men's division boasted a full field of 128 players with $7000 added. Names that jumped out at me as favorites for this event were Justin Bergman, Charlie Bryant, Robb Saez, Sky Woodward and Shane Mcminn to name a few. There has been a saying in pool for a while that "there is no money in pool" however again and again the American pool community are showing that this is simply not true. The tournament payout for this event was $19,800 while the calcutta payout was $44,865. It might be hard to find thousands from sponsors but there is no shortage of gamblers that are willing to dish out money on their favorite players.

Young Guns Sky Woodward and Justin Bergman both easily won their first two matches en route to play each other. This had the makings for an interesting match up, however Woodward had figured something out on the break which allowed him to run several racks. At this level in a winner break format when one player gets an edge on the break it usually signifies the end for their opponent, and this was the case as Woodward went on to win 9-2.    

Bergman was not done yet as he was quoted on Facebook saying, "I copied Sky Woodward's break and last 3 matches I could of easily ran the set out 9-0, 9-0, and 9-1." This knowledge helped him cruise through the losers side bracket right up until the 4th place match where he lost a close one 9-8 to Robb Saez. 

Saez went on to lose in 3rd place to a top talent and crowd favorite Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant 9-5. There he met up with the undefeated Woodward in this true double elimination final. Bryant was able to force a second and deciding set as he won the first one 9-6. In the the final set of the tournament Woodward returned the favor beating him 9-6 to become this years champion. 

In the women's division Vivian Villarreal dominated this 32 player field. I am not as familiar with the top female players in the area but from what I saw she was the main standout winning several matches by a scoreline of 7-0. I would like to congratulate Villarreal, Woodward and everyone else who had success at the most recent edition of the Texas Open.

This event was streamed by Ray Hansen from www.poolactiontv.com , he is responsible for streaming many of the top events in the area. Make sure to check out the website frequently for upcoming events.



Men's Division Top 3 Payout. Tournament/Calcutta

1. Sky Woodward  $5,700/$10,765
2.Charlie Bryant    $3,170/$7200
3.Robb Saez             $1,980/$4,900


Women's Division Top 3 Payout/Calcutta

1. Vivian Villarreal $1,080/$2,176
2. Jennifer Kraber $720/$1,385
3. Liz Lovely        $540/$900