A field of 64 lucky players gathered Friday night at the Fort McDowell Resort & Casino in Phoenix, Arizona to compete for the largest grand prize in Arizona billiards history at the Poker Pool Final Tournament.
One round of play was completed with a couple surprises already. Three early favorites, Jimmy Adame (Mendoza), Bernie Pettipiece and Thor Skogan, are already on the one loss side after just one match.
In one of the most exciting matches of the evening on Friday, Arizona veteran Tommy Dilorenzo just barely escaped joining those players on the one loss. Dilorenzo found himself matched up against Vansel Stapleton (a 6 rated player). In this handicapped event, Dilorenzo would have to win six games before his opponent could win two. To make matters worse for Dilorenzo, he lost the first game to Stapleton. The match came down to hill-hill and Stapleton made his hand first, leaving Dilorezo one hand that would beat him and all of the balls Dilorenzo needed tied up in clusters. Dilorenzo however, showed why he is still a danger to take off any tournament he enters as he navigated the finals balls to secure the hand he needed to win the game and match.
All of the players are back in action today and will be joined by BCA Hall of Famer Loree Jon Jones, who is making a special appearance at the event this weekend.
Online brackets are posted and will be updated each night this weekend. For more information on Poker Pool, visit their site at www.playpokerpool.com.
