Local pool team claims second place in national tourney

Jul. 5—Teamwork made the dream work for a pool team from Joplin after it finished in second place at the 28-team U.S. Professional Poolplayers Association National Championship in late June at Binions Casino in Las Vegas.

The only setback for the 8 Ball Squad from Joplin was in its UPA championship match in the modified double elimination tourney against Cue-less Shooters from North Carolina. The association's trademarked emblem carries just the letters UPA.

That 26-24 loss came on an unfortunate eight ball break against a team that the 8 Ball Squad had previously sent to the losers bracket after besting them 33-3. The 8 Ball Squad won the $2,500 second-place prize and a trophy in the amateur tournament, while North Carolina's team took home $5,000.

Under the rules of the modified double-elimination tournament, the North Carolina team needed just the one win over Joplin to claim the championship.

"We were undefeated from the start, all the way to the finals, waiting to play the winner of the losers bracket," shooter Steve Salmon said. "We actually beat them earlier, and we thought it was double elimination but found out later it was double elimination only up to the finals. The bad part was, we had already beaten them prior. We didn't know that upfront. It kind of caught us off-guard. We just didn't realize it."

Joplin team member Chad Wood was also taken aback by the setup of the tourney.

"It feels incomplete," Wood said. "We smoked them prior — we beat them 33-3. They beat us 26-24. They're the national champions, and we get second."

Despite falling one match short of the title, the Joplin players said they enjoyed the overall experience.

"I enjoyed every minute of it," teammate Cody Louviere said. "We connected and have a better friendship than before. I believe it's brought us closer together than before."

Salmon said the atmosphere at the tournament is what he remembers most.

"They had 16 tables in a room all laid out with shooters from all over the nation," Salmon said.

Wood said he was impressed by the level of sportsmanship at the tournament, with strangers stopping to compliment other players as they competed.

"As competitive as it was, people were very sportsmanlike," Wood said.

Salmon said that as first-time competitors at the tournament, his Joplin team received a lot of support from the other teams.

"We were kind of like the underdogs," Salmon said. "The other teams that had already lost were rooting for us, cheering us on to keep going. That was kind of neat."

Salmon said UPA handicaps are built-in, based on skill levels of the individual players that are set during their hometown leagues. Salmon said players are assigned skill levels from 1 to 10 with 10 being assigned to the most skilled players.

Salmon said teams can consist of as many as eight shooters, but only five shoot at a time with the other players sitting out matches. Of the five shooters, the cumulative skill level of the team in each match may not exceed 28. Winners must win a designated number of games depending on a complex graph that determines how many games they must win dependent on their skill level and the skill level of their opponent.

"If I'm a 5 and the person I am playing is a 4, it's like a 4-3 race," Salmon explained. "The higher-skilled player only has to win four (games), and the lower-skilled player only has to win three."

There were both lower-level and higher-level players in Vegas.

"It was truly a team effort," Salmon said of his team's performance.

"Mike Sprague (a team member) is a skill level 3. He played two skill level 8s, where he only needed to win two games to their five," Salmon said. "He beat both of them. If he hadn't done that, we wouldn't have won. That's why I say it is a team effort. He (Sprague) was kind of our MVP."

"Everybody who was on our team got a victory out there at least once," Wood said. "We just had a really good team with no weak spots."

Salmon agreed.

"Everyone that shot did something within their games to make it come together, to congeal at the right time to carry us from win to win. It was one step at a time all the way through." Salmon said. "It came down to everyone putting their best foot forward at the time when it mattered."

In addition to Sprague, Salmon, Louviere and Wood, Chris Fleetwood and Chuck Clark shot for the 8 Ball Squad in Vegas. Team member Jason Hamilton traveled with the squad but did not compete.

Louviere said the tournament was livestreamed at local bars on big screens with patrons offering support each day of the tournament.

"The league (UPA of Jasper) is run by Ray and Kellee Uber and is solely for Jasper County," Salmon said. "They started it at the end of the pandemic."

KAB Electric served as a sponsor for the team.

Killin' Time, another team from Joplin, also qualified for the Vegas tourney after winning a local qualifying tournament but was eliminated early.

The players said they hope their success leads to more people getting interested in joining a league.

"Our biggest struggle with our local league here is trying to get the lower-ranked players," Wood said. "We're in dire need of 2s and 3s, those beginning pool players. That's what we always struggle with."

Salmon added that there is no age minimum for players, citing that the Joplin league had players as young as 15. Minors do need to be accompanied by an adult guardian.

The players said information on joining a league is available from any of the bartenders at local bars. Bars currently hosting UPA leagues are OK Bar & Billiards, 66 Sports Bar and Restaurant, and Rumors Cocktail Lounge.

Louviere said he is motivated by the runner-up finish.

"We're going back, and we are going to take it next time," Louviere said.