Newly-crowned Manny Villar Cup Isabela Leg champion Roberto Gomez left for Las Vegas yesterday for his long-awaited debut in the US pool circuit as he competes in the 9th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship slated on May 11 to 16 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino.
“I'm very excited that I will be finally playing in the US. I've been preparing hard for this,” said the 30-year-old stalwart of the star-studded Bugsy Promotions of businessman Perry Mariano, who came to prominence after finishing runner-up in the 2007 World Pool Championship.
“That victory in Isabela boosted my confidence, and I hope I could carry the momentum to Vegas,” added Gomez, who swept his five matches, including an 11-9 win over Warren Kiamco in the finals, to become the first two-time winner of the Villar Cup last week. He also won the Davao leg of the prestigious island-hopping series last year.
Gomez will be joined by fellow Bugsy mainstay and former world no.1 Dennis Orcollo, along with former world champion Alex Pagulayan, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Kiamco, Lee Van Corteza, Rodolfo Luat, and Jose “Amang” Parica in carrying the Philippine flag in that tough tournament organized by the Predator Group, an international billiards industry leader, in cooperation with Dragon Promotions and sponsored by JBETpoker.net.
“I'm also ready to rumble,” quipped Orcollo, who is tagged as the man-to-beat in the event that would gather 112 of the world's top cue artists.
“I don't care about whatever tag they'll give me, I will just do my best to win and once again give honor to our country,” he added.
Orcollo and Pagulayan will also see action in the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters, which begins May 8th also at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
