In 2012 I got to attend the US Open 9 ball championship in Va Beach with my amazing girlfriend.  We were only there for about half the tournament, but had VIP seats on the Omega side of the arena.  The night we got there we immediately went to Q-Master Billiards to play a little to unwind from the trip and see who was around.  No sooner do we get assigned a table to play on than we look up, and discover that it is the 9 foot that John Schmidt made his infamous 403 high ball run in straight pool.  Schmidt happens to be one of my top five favorite players, so needless to say there was a bit of a “geek out” on my part.  Later I would run into Chris Melling, Karl Boyes, Phil Burford, Darren Appleton, and many other professionals both at the hotel and Q-masters (Karl was even nice enough to shoot me a few racks), and the list of pros I got to talk to included Efren Reyes, Shane Van Boening, Neils Fejin, Nick Van Denberg, Oscar Dominguez, Johnny Archer, Shannon Dalton, Ralph Souquet, and even Alex Pagulayan.  I’d seen these men only on tapes and at one or two events, but here they were all congregated. 

I want to encourage all my readers that if you are serious about pool, even if you can’t play in them, go to events such as the US Open, Turningstone, Derby City, and any others that come through your area.  It’s one thing to shoot pool in your own backyard or even across the country on smaller circuits.  But to watch these men make the cue ball dance, it truly is breath taking and a thing of beauty.

I also want to give a shout out to the many women we have playing on their professional tours as well.  I would greatly like to make time this year if I’m not able to go back to the US Open to find a way to make to the Women’s US Open.  This is a beautiful game that has evolved over the centuries, and these players are the best at what they do.  If you’re serious about pool, go see them.  You never know who you’ll meet, or what you’ll learn while you’re there.  I promise, it’s worth every expense to go.