March marks the start of springtime, the start of daylight saving time, and the Andy Mercer Memorial 9-ball tournament at the Rum Runner Lounge in Las Vegas.
Every year at this time, sixty four pool players including World champions, touring pros, shortstops and bar hacks gather at the Rum Runner Lounge to compete in one of the best bar box tournaments in the country. Because of the unique format, almost all of them will have a chance to get deep, even in this strong field, if they play well. Past winners include Ismael “Morro” Paez, Brian Parks, Shane Van Boening, Scott Frost and Dennis Orcollo, but the list of champions is only part of what makes this tournament special.
Geno Hill and his staff at the Rum Runner treat every player and every sweater that shows up like VIPs. For the next three days, players from all over will come together to see familiar faces that have played in this event for years and welcome new comers and compete in one of the truly unique events of the year and crown a new champion.
This year, competing events have drawn off some of the recent champions, but this year’s version will still include Brian Parks, who won here in 2009, Ernesto Dominguez, another former Champion here, Oscar Dominguez, and Mike Massey, as well as a lot of other fantastic players, some of whom are familiar names and some who are not.
Local bar patrons who don’t compete in the tournament can get involved as well through the Calcutta which is held in conjunction with the players meeting on Thursday night, and Friday the players will draw their swords and do battle in races to 6, with alternate breaks, from a small break box breaking racks with the 9 on the spot.
Check back here for updates as the tournament progresses.
