Five of the top pool players in the world are competing this weekend at the sixth annual Wyoming Open in Saratoga.
Rodney Morris, Raj Hundal, Charlie Williams, Shane Van Boening and Stevie Moore are signed up. Van Boening just won the U.S. Open and is ranked No. 1 in the United States.
The team of Boening and Morris competed in the World Cup in the Philippines and are ranked No. 3 in the world. The team won the World Cup in 2008.
The news of the Wyoming Open spread even wider thanks to the efforts of Charlie Williams, who has been promoting the event on Facebook. On Jan. 24, Williams created the Wyoming Open page. By Thursday it had 1,700 fans.
This week the great hall at the Platte Valley Community Center will be converted into a giant pool room. Sportsman and Classic players will play at the community center Friday night and Saturday, the players will move downtown. Duke’s Bar & Grill is the bracket headquarters for the Sportsman Classic. They will play at the Hotel Wolf, Duke’s and The Rustic Bar, E.J. Glode, an organizer of the Wyoming Open said.
Players under 21 will play at the Hotel Wolf and players will have the option of playing in a smoking or non-smoking bar, Glode said. On Friday night, the Masters will play “Saratoga”, a pool game developed by Glode.
The Wyoming Open was the brainchild of 20 people who wanted to develop a world-class pool tournament to Saratoga and has grown from 111 pool players the first year, to 127 the second year and hosting 160 pool players for the past three years. The Wyoming Open has a capacity of 176 players, said Glode.
A change in this year’s competition, spectators will be charged $5 at the community center. Glode said they have been allowing people to watch for free for the past several years and it has been difficult to track how many people attend the event. The charge will help them track attendance and Glode said he believes it will add value to the event.
Saturday night, the organizers at the Wyoming Open will host a Calcutta for the final rounds of the Master’s Division. Bidders who buy a player will have their name put in for the chance at a $1,000 pool cue, which will be given away immediately after the Calcutta, Glode said.
For the first time this year, there is a Juniors Division, which begins at noon Sunday at the Platte Valley Community Center. The division will have two categories: 18 and under and 12 and under.
Glode said the Wyoming Open is adding a Hard Luck competition. He hopes to keep more out-of-town players for this 9-ball, $500 competition.
Glode, who is an avid pool player, began playing when he was 5 years old. “Dad was into pool at the time,” Glode said, “I told him I was going to beat him.” It took 35 years for Glode to be able to beat his dad, Glode said.
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