World's Top Pool Players Heat Up Chicago

The Poison Cues Challenge Match Series in Chicago started off with stop #1 at Pressure Billiards. Dragon Promotions with host Wahib Merchant presented pool champions Mika Immonen, Francisco Bustamante, and Charlie Williams to Chicago fans for a night of billiard fun and education.

All photos courtesy of Zarah Delrosario

The trio of champions started with a free one hour clinic teaching fans special tips on draw shots, drills, speed control, kicking, and the break. The room was packed with fans squeezing next to each other to get a glimpse of the instruction by some of pool's greatest. Next, a limited nine spots for VIPs were all sold out to challenge the pros in a race to 5 games playing 9-Ball. Although nobody could upset the champions, many won their share of games and excitement with one fortunate fan winning a new jump cue for winning four games, more than any other amateur.

"It's nice to see such a great crowd showing up for this event. It's a very hip and modern room with nice demographics," said Cindy Lee, CEO of Dragon Promotions.

In the main event, Predator Rep and P&B instructor Williams took on Mezz Cues Rep & US Open Champion Immonen (P&B Player of the Year) in a race to 5 10-Ball match. Immonen took a 3-1 lead before Williams mounted a comeback to tie at 4-4. A missed 3 ball by Mika gave Charlie a chance for an out and he ran down with two balls left. Unfortunately he missed position on the 8-Ball with the 10-Ball nearby, and gave Immonen the 5-4 win.

Next Williams was back again to take on Filipino terror Bustamante, sponsored by Puyat Sports. Both players used their thunderous breaks to open the balls up, but it was Williams who gained the most success. Williams kept control of the match as he won the first game and never lost control of the match. He finished off Bustamante for a 5-2 win.

Finally Bustamante had a chance to redeem himself against Immonen. He led the match early and went to the hill first leading 4-3. Mika then made a great bank to tie the match at 4-4. Mika broke the final rack and the cueball was kissed to the corner pocket. Fortunately it hung in the jaws and Immonen came with a great cut on the 2ball and ran out for the 5-4 win to stay undefeated for the first Poison Challenge Match. Williams record stands at 1-1 while Bustamante at 0-2.

To visit Pressure Billiards in Chicago head to 6318 N Clark St. (773) 743-POOL or visit www.pressurebilliards.com Palace Billiards will host the second installment of Chicago's Poison Challenge at 7:30 pm on Feb 7 in Villa Park, just minutes outside Chicago. Palace earlier in the day will be hosting the very prestigious and successful Predator Pro Pool School program developed by Dragon Promotions featuring Immonen, Bustamante, and Williams. The school continues through Sunday with students spending a total of 15 hours face to face with the champions, learning the secrets of professional pool. Palace Billiards info can be found at www.myspace.com/palacebilliards

For questions and info on hosting a challenge match exhibition or Pro Pool School, please contact DP at 407-782-4978 or visit www.dragonpromotions.com Poison Billiards, an international billiards industry leader, is a high-performance recreation pool cue producer focused on bringing cutting-edge designs, with Predator engineering for best-in-class playability, to billiards players worldwide. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, Poison Billiards is a division of The Predator Group whose core brands also include Predator Cues and Uni-Loc®. For more information regarding The Predator Group, visit www.thepredatorgroup.com. For information on Poison Billiards visit www.poisonbilliards.com.