The Life of Riley - 8 Ball Pool

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8 Ball

8 Ball Pool
I first started to play 8 ball when I was 9 years old. My parents took me to a local juniors league and I played in a team called "Hot Shots" with my sister and my cousin! My cousin had a 6ft snooker table which we used to practice on but it wasn't long before I had discovered I had a talent for the game. My parents had bought me a 4ft table a few years earlier and I remember organising my first competition for money aged 7 or 8, it was on my own table so I won of course.

After trying my hand at snooker in my teens I eventually started playing 8 ball again when I was asked to play for a local pub team when I was just 15 years old. My father wasn't too thrilled about me playing in pubs at such a young age but he gave me permission and my team went on to win the league. This success attracted various challenges and stake horses which resulted in large money games in front of even larger crowds most weekends. Over the next few years I got the better of all the best players in town. At 19 I gave up full time pool to go to University, despite this I still managed to win some national competitions and beat full time Pro's for money in my spare time.

After many years at University, travelling and working in the IT industry I rediscovered my passion for pool in 2003. I signed up for a local team in Sydney, Australia and we won the league. Our prize for this success was not the usual plastic cup but a trip to Las Vegas no less, to play in BCA National Championships. Amazingly after so long away from the game I managed to place 13th out of almost 2000 entries which earnt me a not too shabby $1500 for my troubles!

Below is a series of date listed articles about my most memorable 8 ball experiences.

Latest Articles:

Worlds Top 100 Pool Players - voted 93rd by my peers! - 23 May 2007

Coming soon...

2007 BCA Grand Masters - 14 May 2007

ENTRIES

HIGH RUN

RESULT

13th

PRIZE

Coming soon...

2006 Euro Tour, Spain - 15 December 2006

ENTRIES

256

HIGH RUN

3 Racks

RESULT

129th

PRIZE

I arrived in Spain with a descent chance of moving up the rankings close, unfortunately two lapse's in concentration resulted in an early bath! I was 8-5 up and cruising against Fazanes (who finished 5th) before losing 5 games in a row and the match. Amazingly I did exactly the same thing when leading Davettas 8-5 in my next match!

MORE >>

World & European Ranking - 30 October 2006

Am am currently ranked 60th on the WPA world ranking list and 40th on the European ranking list.
This is still based mainly on my 9th place finish in the World Straight Pool Championships, but my reasonable Euro Tour results have also helped. I hope to break into the top 32 of the Euro Tour and pssibly the top 50 in the world after the next Euro Tour event in Malaga in December.

MORE >>

2005 VNEA 8 Ball Championships - 28 May 2005

ENTRIES

1000

HIGH RUN

1 Racks

RESULT

17th

PRIZE

$1000

Runners, all results, program scan and other pics. Travis and Rev Dave 5:3, sick as dog.. shares. $100 matches, 7:3 and 5:1, stiffed! Team fucked up. Sctoch doubles

2005 BCA Masters - 13 May 2005

ENTRIES

200

HIGH RUN

RESULT

25th

PRIZE

$300

MORE >>

Efren - 05 February 2005

ENTRIES

HIGH RUN

RESULT

2nd

PRIZE

$-200

I had been trying to find Efren "The Magician" Reyes for about two weeks. I was a stranger in Manila and I had all but given up hope of locating this legend when my luck finally changed. I met a guy who knew Efren and after a couple of phone calls the Match was on. I had 30 minutes to get to the other side of Manila to play Efren Reyes, the greatest pool player that ever lived for my hard earned cash.

MORE >>

Australia NSW 2004 Ranking List - 13 December 2004

ENTRIES

200

HIGH RUN

RESULT

2nd

PRIZE

In only my second year and despite only playing 6 out of the 9 events, I finished ranked 2nd in the New South Wales rankings. In the 6 events I played in I accumilated more points than any other player which makes me wonder if I would have topped the overall rankings if I had played in all the available events.

MORE >>

Australia NSW State Championship - 11 July 2004

ENTRIES

128

HIGH RUN

RESULT

2nd

PRIZE

$1000

In what turned out to be another marathon weekend I managed to make the final of the NSW state championships which where held at the colyton hotel for the first time. Playing best of 9 frames with only 7 tables and almost 128 of the best players in the state nationwide ensured the first day lasted late into the night.

MORE >>

2004 VNEA 8 Ball Championships - 28 May 2004

ENTRIES

1000

HIGH RUN

RESULT

33rd

PRIZE

$650

After finishing 13th in the 2003 BCA open I was determined to return to Vegas to pit my skills against the best players in America and the world. This year however I would be playing in the VNEA event as I missed the deadline for the BCA. Over 1000 runners turned up for the open 8 ball all hoping to take home the US$8000 first prize.

Australia NSW Easter Cup - 12 April 2004

ENTRIES

HIGH RUN

RESULT

2nd

PRIZE

$200

This event was a NSW ranking event held in the Bald Face Stag in Leichardt, Sydney. There where more than 64 runners and the event was run over two days, Saturday the 10th and Monday the 12th of April. I had't played much pool but I decided to go along and try not to get bored like I usually do with the endless waiting. I played really well in patches and was lucky enough to get to the final.

MORE >>

2003 BCA 8 Ball Championships - 11 May 2003

ENTRIES

2000

HIGH RUN

RESULT

13th

PRIZE

$1500

I flew into Vegas after several weeks travelling in Bali, England and NYC. I had had a weeks snooker and 9 ball practice in Grimsby, England and I was hitting the ball ok. However I had only ever played a few times on the USA style bar box tables while travelling in 1995. I was confident that I could play well because the pockets are huge but I was unsure about how I would cope with the bigger balls.

MORE >>

Sydney 8 Ball League - 01 June 2002

ENTRIES

HIGH RUN

RESULT

1st

PRIZE

$1000

I had been living in Sydney for about a year and I hadn't found much pool action. But one day at work I met someone froma rival web agency who invited me to play for his pool team. I went along on the Monday night only to discover that they had a full team and I wasn't needed. A few months later I got a call asking me if I still wanted to play as the team was struggling to qualify.

MORE >>

London Singles - England Wild Card - 01 October 2000

After moving to London to work for a web development agency in April 2000 I started playing 8 ball again. I found out about a weekly competition that some of the best players in London played in. I managed to win it twice, finish runner up once and losing semi finalist once in the first 4 weeks. I then found out that the England 8 ball captain was playing in the event and he approached me asking if I wanted to play for the England team. Unfortunately I had already decided to move to australia so I was unable to take up his offer.

Grimsby Masters Singles - 01 June 1999

ENTRIES

HIGH RUN

RESULT

1st

PRIZE

$300

MORE >>

Beachcomber UK Open Singles - 21 May 1999

ENTRIES

128

HIGH RUN

RESULT

1st

PRIZE

$400

After several years out of the game to complete my degree I returned to Grimsby to await my results. Shortly after I arrived home I entered a national 8 ball event, the UK Open with Butch Reynolds and Ewen Robertson. I managed to make the final without dropping a frame where I just edged out my opponent 4:3 in a tight high quality final.

Beachcomber UK Open Team - 21 May 1999

ENTRIES

HIGH RUN

RESULT

1st

PRIZE

$250

After winning the singles event I was invited to play in the team competition with the England captain. We made it through to the semi final where the match finished tied so we had to play a single frame decider. I was playing so well that the England captain asked me if I wanted to play the play off game. I decided to let him play it as he had a good record against the opposition player. He won the frame and we went on to win in the final.

Reighton Sands UK Open Doubles - 01 May 1995

ENTRIES

HIGH RUN

RESULT

1st

PRIZE

$400

After winning the singles event I played the doubles with a young wayne camm. Wayne was still a very good player at the time but I remember him taking my advice on every shot. We won through some tight games against a couple of pro teams and managed to win the overall title in what turned out to be a great weekend for me. Wayne went on to turn professional and become one of the best players in the UK.

Reighton Sands UK Open Singles - 01 May 1995

ENTRIES

256

HIGH RUN

RESULT

1st

PRIZE

$500

In only my second attempt I managed to win the singles title. I don't remember much about the matches except that I got a little lucky in the semi final but won the final quite comfortably, oh and they game me the runner up trophy by mistake! I won somewhere in the region of 3-400 pounds and my first national title.

Reighton Sands UK Open Speed Pool - 01 May 1993

ENTRIES

128

HIGH RUN

RESULT

1st

PRIZE

$200

This tournament was my first major national tournament that I had been too. It was around the time when I was playing heavily and was cueing very well. I decided to have a go at a new speed pool challenge that had been touring the country. This game used an electronic machine that allowed a few seconds for every shot.

MORE >>

Grimsby Division 1 Singles - 01 May 1992

ENTRIES

128

HIGH RUN

RESULT

1st

PRIZE

TROPHY

Between 1990 and 1992 I managed to win the Grimsby and District Division 1 singles title 3 times in a row. The only other winner of the event was Butch Reynolds, for this achievment I got to keep the sheild.