BCA Pool League National 9-Ball and one-Pocket Championships UnderwayBy Tom Martin, InsidePOOL Staff  Hundreds of players from across the country have flocked to the pool tournament Mecca that is Las Vegas. This $20,000 guaranteed added multi-tournament event is being held at the spacious convention area of the Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. The men’s and women’s singles tournaments, a four-tier handicapped race to 9 (men) and 8 (women) with 145 and 31 players, respectively, are well into the latter stages of the event, both events scheduled to wrap up Thursday afternoon. Fifty-one of the country’s top one-pocket players are here to compete for the right to be called U.S. Open Champion. The field is packed with stars, both young “shooting” stars and several of the old guard as well. Cliff Joyner, Shannon Daulton, Marco Marquez, and Scott Frost bear the flag for the younger generation, while recent BCA Hall of Fame inductee “Champagne” Eddie Kelly, the infamous Ronnie Allen, and Bobby Hunter are also here to take their shot at the title. The race-to-4 format one-pocket event will run through Saturday, and to this point there have been no upsets, aside from a hill-hill loss by Kelly in his second round match with New York native Antonio Rodriguez.
Other events scheduled for this week include a six-man, $1,000-entry, winner-takes-all ring-game, a 10-ball and bank-pool tournament, as well as the team tournaments for both men and women. The tournament room, like everything else in Vegas, is open for “business” 24 hours, and a lot of extracurricular activity and mini-tournaments are expected. All games are being played on Diamond Smart tables, and Diamond president Greg Sullivan is participating in the one-pocket event. Several vendors are on hand for the event, including Justis Cases, Esperitu Custom Cues, Morris Custom Cues, and Omega. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the BCA Pool Leagues.
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