Top Pool Bar billiards event starts Tuesday

Top Pool Bar, in cooperation with Pacific Trading Co., will kick off a 9-ball billiards competition beginning Tuesday, Jan. 25, at Top Pool Bar in Garapan.

Dubbed simply as the Top Pool Bar Open 9-Ball Tournament, the competition, as its title suggests, is open to pool players of all skill levels.

Top Pool Bar manager Zheng Jian Qing explains, “We won’t discriminate against anyone. As long as you have the money to pay the entrance fee and you enter on time, then you’re in.”

He, however, said that to give the tournament a level-playing field, good players would be given handicaps. Zheng, an experienced cue artist himself who has done the rounds of Saipan’s pool venues, will determine the handicaps of the top players.

After failing to create much of a buzz for pool tournaments last year, Zheng has decided to make some alterations to pool competitions hosted by Top Pool Bar.

He expects the partnership with PTC, which is touting its Miller Lite brand during the tournament, would bring more participants to play and more patrons to watch the competition.

Entry fee for the 16-man, race-to-four games tournament is $15. The slightly higher entry fee, according to Zheng, assures winners an also bigger payday. The champion of the 9-ball event is guaranteed to receive $150, while the runner-up won’t go home empty handed and pocketing $90.

Zheng also said that the rules of the Billiards Congress of America would be applied during the competition. In addition, he said alternate breaks for players will be implemented and fishing and nine-ball-in-a-break are allowed.

Slots for the tournament cannot be called in and are on a first-come, first-serve basis.

As well as getting slots for the tournament, early birds also get a chance to practice for free on any of Top Pool Bar’s seven full-size billiard tables an hour before the competition.

Unlike other billiard halls on Saipan, Top Pool Bar boasts of 9-1/2-by-5-foot pool tables usually found in professional tournaments.

Top Pool Bar originally scheduled the weekly competition every Wednesdays, but scheduling conflict with the 2005 CNMI Billiards League, which also stages its competition on the fourth day of the week, prompted Zheng to reschedule the event to Tuesdays.

Top Pool Bar is located behind GIG Disco at the heart of the tourist district in Garapan.

For more information on the Top Pool Bar 9-Ball Open Tournament, call 233-6999 and look for Zheng.