 | It's Saturday Night Pool on Versus!
Los Angeles, CA. (Sept 29th): Comcast-owned national sports network VERSUS (formerly OLN) is ready to rack up huge ratings with the new International Pool Tour "North American Open 8-Ball" series, to premiere Saturday September 30th at 7pm ET with a repeat scheduled for 1am ET.
VERSUS, which is seen in over 72 million U.S. households, scored major ratings success over the summer with the International Pool Tour's "King of the Hill 8-Ball Invitational" series. Both the network and IPT executives are projecting further ratings success with the new series, which will air for seven consecutive Saturday nights, with multiple repeats planned throughout the scheduled run. It is the first time in the history of pool that a major tv network has committed nearly two consecutive months of prime-time to the sport.
Each groundbreaking, action-packed "IPT North American Open 8-Ball" episode will be one-hour in length. The final program, featuring full coverage of the championship match, will be two hours. The programs will feature comprehensive and dynamic coverage of the key high-stakes matches of the North American Open tournament, which was held at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The shows will also present behind-the-scenes "reality" segments, colorful player profiles, tips from the pros and other special features which make IPT programming truly unique in the world of cue sports.
The announcers for the new International Pool Tour series will be Matt Vasgersian, one of the country's leading sportscasters, IPT founder Kevin Trudeau and Hall of Fame pool legend Mike "The Mouth" Sigel.
The IPT North American Open 8-Ball Championship tournament featured a total prize pool of over $2 million dollars, making it the richest and most competitive event in billiards history.
Efren Reyes Half a Million Richer!
USA fan hopes were dashed when Efren broke and ran out the final rack of the tight race to 8 to become the IPT's World 8-Ball champion, defeating Rodney "The Rocket" Morris. Efren now holds the record for the highest single payday in pool.
World Open 8-Ball Championship Update
 Rodney and Efren Reyes in the Finals
"I'm ready," said an elated Rodney Morris after he clinched the final six bracket. If I just play my game, I think I'll be fine. The money's not even a thought right now. I got one more race to eight. I gotta get eight games tomorrow and that's it. He'll never get eight."
"It just feels great to be playing Efren. He was my idol growing up, and he's the greatest. I got to watch him a lot of years. Ten years ago this month, I beat him in the finals of the U.S. Open, so I'm excited about that, and I'm excited doing it again. Eight-six would be nice. You heard it here first."
So, the World Championship title bout becomes USA vs. Philippines in a match for $500,000. The pool world is watching...
Half Way To A Half-Million Dollars
It was another day of nail-biting, heart-stopping drama as the field of 120 of the world's best pool players was whittled to 60. Tomorrow those 60 players will tackle 12 hours of back-to-back matches to move closer to the unprecedented $500,000 first prize, or a cut of the $3 million purse at the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship in Reno. Click here to see Thursday's groupings.
Some shocking eliminations today included Gabe Owen, who came into today undefeated, Nick van den Berg and Johnny Archer. Corey Deuel, who had the field's best games-won record at 70 percent after yesterday's competition, barely squeaked by today's test, advancing with just one win, and a few percentage points advantage in the stats over Edwin Montal. There are still three undefeated players in the running: Karl Boyes, Francisco Bustamante and Mick Hill. Click here to view all the up-to-the-minute stats, or here to view thousands of still photos from the photo gallery.
2006 International Pool Tour Money Rankings:
| Place |
Player Name
|
|
Prize Money |
|
|
| 1 |
Hohmann, Thorsten |
|
$350,000 |
|
|
| 2 |
Manalo, Marlon |
|
$99,000 |
|
|
| 3 |
Orcollo, Dennis |
|
$80,000 |
|
|
| 4 |
Reyes, Efren |
|
$65,000 |
|
|
| 5 |
Souquet, Ralf |
|
$50,000 |
|
|
| 6 |
Stalev, Evgeny |
|
$40,000 |
|
|
| 7 |
Chamat, Marcus |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 8 |
Peach, Daryl |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 9 |
Matlock, David |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 10 |
Appleton, Darren |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 11 |
Alcano, Ronato |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 12 |
Bustamante, Francisco |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 13 |
Pagulayan, Alex |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 14 |
Luat, Rodolfo |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 15 |
Owen, Gabriel |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 16 |
Diks, Rico |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 17 |
Nevel, Larry |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 18 |
Hann, Quinten |
|
$30,000 |
|
|
| 19 |
Lining, Antonio |
|
$17,000 |
|
|
| 20 |
Martinez, Rafael |
|
$17,000 |
|
|
| 21 |
Deuel, Corey |
|
$17,000 |
|
|
| 22 |
Adkins, Dee |
|
$17,000 |
|
|
| 23 |
Putnik, Ivica |
|
$17,000 |
|
|
| 24 |
Hill, Michael |
|
$17,000 |
|
|
| 25 |
Feijen, Niels |
|
$17,000 |
|
|
| 26 |
Strickland, Earl |
|
$17,000 |
|
|
| 27 |
Immonen, Mika |
|
$17,000 |
|
|
| 28 |
Kirkwood, Jason |
|
$17,000 |
|
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