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Wyoming Open fills local hotel rooms, brings pool stars and Hall of Famers ready to play

"Saratoga will have the greatest pool players in the world, per capita, during the Wyoming Open," this from Wyoming Open Director Monte Thayer as he describes the numerous professionals and Hall of Fame pool players coming to Saratoga to play in the region's premier billiards event.

In 2018, an American team won the Mosconi Cup held last December in London. That team, comprised of Shane Van Boening, Corey Deuel, Skyler Woodward, Billy Thorpe and Tyler Styer, will be in attendance and will be introduced to the public during an exhibition match of the locally-invented and fast-growing game of "Saratoga" tonight (Wednesday, April 3) at 7 p.m. at Duke's Bar and Grill and a presentation of the players, featuring a video tribute to their remarkable win at the Mosconi Cup, at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday at the Platte Valley Community Center (PVCC).

Other Billiards Congress of America Hall of Famers attending the Open are; Johnny Archer, Rodney Morris and Mike Massey.

Going Four-ward

To accommodate the growing popularity of the Open, the 12th annual event has been expanded to four days starting with a Pro-Am blind draw scotch doubles event at 3 p.m. on Thursday at the PVCC and continuing through Sunday with play spreading to bars across town in addition to the tables at the PVCC.

Brackets filled up quickly after the tournament was officially announced in February and though Thayer has seen some back and forth as some players have dropped out, he has quickly filled those spots. Most brackets, including the Sportsman and Classic Masters divisions, have up to 40 people on waiting lists to play and, as of March 27, there were only six Expert and four Women's Expert spots open for the tournament.

Filling up Rooms

The tournament fills up hotel spaces and rooms across Saratoga quickly each year and Thayer has a hand in helping with that. "I'm the only tournament runner in the nation that has to worry about getting people rooms," said Thayer with a weary smile.

While most rooms in town are full for the weekend, Thayer said he still had a player or two who needed Saturday rooms, but that some other players might leave after elimination Friday.

Free Dynamos

Original tournament organizer Ed Glode said that pool table manufacturer Valley Dynamo was bringing 20 brand-new tables to the Open to use for free during the event. Thayer said Valley Dynamo president Mick White heard about the tournament and visited last year's Wyoming Open and made the offer to bring as many tables as Thayer wanted. Thayer settled on 20 because it is easier to move tables currently available than it is to put the new tables together then take them back down and pack them exactly like they came.

Including the exhibition table in the PVCC lobby, there will be a total of 49 tables in use around town.

Bet on it

If you are of a mind, bets can be place on teams starting with a Calcutta on Thursday at 4 p.m. Thursday night's Calcutta will focus on the Masters Saratoga and Women's games. Saturday at 5:45 p.m. will let bettors wager on Master's 8-Ball and the finals for all divisions. Both Calcuttas will be held in the Great hall of the PVCC

Tricks-ibition

Anyone interested in seeing trick shot master Mike Massey perform an exhibition of his art should stop by the PVCC lobby on Saturday afternoon. The no-charge exhibition will run from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m.

Balls on the Net

For those unable to attend the Wyoming Open, the event will be live streamed on both ontherailtv.com and badrollinc.com. The Wyoming Open has been widely viewed in the past and garnered over 100,000 individual views during last year's event.

Josh Ramey, of badrollinc.com, will also be streaming "Wyoming Open: Behind the scenes" which will feature interviews of the Mosconi Cup winners, various players, spectators and the Wyoming Open organizers.

Money/Rules

The eight ball portion of the event is based on Valley National 8-Ball League Association (VNEA) rules, which can be found online at http://www.vnea.com and this year's event will have over $10,000 added to the total pot.

A "Saratoga" bracket will also be played during the event. Saratoga, a game created by original Open organizer Ed Glode, has been growing in popularity across the nation. The game is played with balls numbered 1 to 6 for both stripes and solids along with the black eight ball. Players must hit their own balls in numerical order from one to six to get to the winning eight ball.

Well-Liked Boost

Both Thayer and Glode said the Open is a favorite among many pool pros because of the friendliness and hospitality of people in the Valley and the two added that they try to keep people in the Valley during the event to give local businesses a springtime boost.

 

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