Efren “Bata” Reyes was crowned as US Open One Pocket Champion after demolishing poker star Chris Gentile in the single set finals 5-2. The 12th U.S. Open One Pocket Championship was held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Efren “The Magician” Reyes goes to the final undefeated against the 64-player fielded on the tournament.
During the finals Reyes took a quick lead 3-1 from a scratch by Gentile. Reyes cut shot on the 3 ball, he then gave up game five but had the break up 3-2. Gentile chipped away at the stack and responded to Reyes’s moves but the effort of Gentile was not enough against the magic of Reyes.
With the win by “The Magician” he will bring home $8,000 for his winning effort. The win by a filipino in one of the international billiard event had made up the failure of the Filipinos to enter the finals of the World 10-Ball Championships in the Philippines.
The victory of the 56 year old Reyes last Sunday (Monday in Manila) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA had put once again the Philippines as one of the best billiard player in the world. Other notable players joining the tournament where fellow Filipino Alex Pagulayan who place fourth and Jose “Amang” Parica.
Former world champions Rick Strickland and other notable international cue artists were also present during the tournament. They were Corey Deuel, Sylver Ochoa, Brandon Schuff, Scott Frost, Jeremy Jones and banks king John Brumbeck.
According to AZ Billiards “one pocket championship was a double elimination format which features a mox of some of the best of the old school and some of the strongest of the new breed of one pocket aficionados”
The 12th US Open One Pocket Championship was produced by CueSports International (CSI) the parent company of the BCA Pool League and the USA Pool League.
