Dr Pool

2009 Tour stop #1 Recap

The season started out a little bumpy. The truck after resting for the summer, decided it wasn’t going to fire. Despite attempts to jump it and use a generator to charge the batteries, she wouldn’t fire. Lupe and I went to Carquest on Friday morning at 7:30 and picked up two new batteries. We flew back from Rhinelander and installed them in the rain and the truck was ready. At 9:00 am we began to unload. Others pitched in to help. We had 24 tables and six lights hung in two different rooms with everything done by noon.

The 1:00 start 9-ball tourney drew an amazing 87 players and was finished through the weekend. The full field began at 6:30 Friday night. Actually 124 of the 128 showed due to emergencies and the payout stayed the same. The winner’s bracket played twice on Friday and everything sailed on Saturday. We brought back the final 16 (all in the money) for the consolation bracket and the final 12 in the main event. The tournament ended at 3:50 pm with a split between Roy Skenadore and Tim Sena, Roy awarded the first place plaque. (We kind of think that the plaque may be hanging in Berry’s room however!) Chad Hefke of Illinois took third in his first NACPT event. Chad a strong player made the trip with his father in law Ron Zech a national senior referee.

The nine ball became a three way split with Tony Gong, Ned Daniels and Snoop Dog Carrier. As with most of the tourneys, we offered a free last chance event, this time with a $1000 purse. The winner was Brad Kucharzak.

The tailgate party which was originally planned for Friday afternoon, was postponed to Saturday because of the forecast and the table situation. Saturday greeted us with 83 degrees and a perfect cookout. Brats, hot dogs and beer (provided by DR Pool and Mole Lake Casino) as well as potato salad, pasta salad and beans (prepared by my better half, Becky) were also available.

Plans for tailgate party II are already in the works to make it even better. The entry limit will be increased to 160 next August the same as it will be for January’s singles event this season.

I personally want to thank Mole Lake Casino and Lodge for being such a good host and to all my crew and helpers for making it a great start of the season.

DR Pool