Woodland Park Billiard Players Compete in World Championship
Trevor Phipps
To most people, playing pool is just a hobby they get to enjoy with friends and cold beverages, while hanging out in their favorite local watering hole.
But for some, it’s a competitive sport that gives participants a chance to travel the country and earn some serious cash.
Earlier this summer, the “Cloud Nine” pool team, which often plays out of the Jess’ Place Pool Hall in Woodland Park, won enough American Pool Players Association (APA) local matches to earn the title as the best billiard team in Southern Colorado. In fact, the team won a major qualifying tournament to give them a ticket to Las Vegas; not for fun, but to play in the APA World Championship and have a chance to take home the coveted $30,000 prize.
The team of five Pikes Peak region residents got a paid trip to Vegas to compete with the “best of the best” in front of a slew of video cameras and live audiences. Hundreds of teams from various countries infiltrated a large pool hall set up in Sin City last month.
The Woodland Park team won their first match to move on to the money round. But they then fell to the team that ended up going to the World Championship match. Overall, the team finished with a ranking of 129 out 793 teams. Their feat made them the best billiards team in the entire state of Colorado.
This is quite an honor for a pool team from Woodland Park.
The team formed a few years ago right after Jess’ Place opened their doors. Over half of the team can be seen at the local pool hall regularly practicing their craft and honing their skills.
On the competitive side of the sport, this group of Teller County residents spend their time driving down the Pass on a weekly basis to play in APA certified matches at various pool halls around Colorado Springs. The team was able to win enough matches to earn the chance to play in the local qualifying tournament for the world championship.
Once they got to Vegas they had a bye in the first round. During the second round of play, it was close but Jason Nichols, co-owner of Jess’ Place, (who is on the Cloud Nine team) was able to pick up a big win to send the team into the round in which all participants earn some cash.
When they got into the best top half of the competition, they met their ultimate challenge. During their last round of play, Nichols was paired up against a pool player who had previously beat the third best pool player in the world.
Nichols put forth his best game, but he fell short. Each time Nichols missed a shot, his opponent ran the table. Even when Nichols switched his pool strategy to defense, his skilled opponent could curve the cue ball around balls that were blocking his shot and still make it.
Nichols fell to the opponent in the second round they played. This eliminated the team from the world competition. But since the team made it far enough to enter the money round, they took home a $1,000 prize.
A One-of-a-kind Experience
Although their team didn’t win the top prize, Nichols described the experience as once-in-a lifetime opportunity.
Oddly enough, Nichols only started playing pool about three years ago, before he and his wife, Jessica Nichols, purchased Jess’ Place. He started by taking tips from local pool sharks to better his skills.
The Cloud Nine team started up a couple of years ago and Nichols joined when one team member moved out of the state. He started with a low ranking, but he was able to win enough matches as he improved his skills.
Being the newest member of the team, Nichols had big shoes to fill. But in the end, he was able to help his team make it to Vegas and get a chance at competing with the major billiard sharks in the world.
Overall, Nichols said the experience playing in Vegas was “fun and freaky.” All of the players played in a large pool hall at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino in front of a live audience while being streamed live online.
“It was quite the experience playing against all of those people,” Nichols said. “And actually, playing on live video was kind of fun. I also got to meet one of the legends of pool, ‘The Black Widow.’”
Nichols said that the experience was a bit nerve racking, but he took deep breaths to relax himself while playing. But Nichols said that he has become a better pool player after watching his opponents play, especially when he battled a highly skilled opponent.
In the end, Nichols said that the trip to Vegas definitely made him a better pool player. He now plans to take what he learned to improve his APA ranking and continue to help his team win more local and national tournaments.
For now, the team still plays in the Springs once a week in order to earn another chance to travel to Vegas. The team has already won enough matches to play in the qualifying tournament to return to Sin City next year.
