Player Features

Erik Tijburg

After having a great experience at the 2008 APA National Team Championships, Erik Tijburg of Little Elm, Texas, was excited to be back in Vegas competing so soon.  He says he was more prepared for the whole national tournament experience this time, not so awestruck by everything.  Erik has been an APA member for about 1 ½ years now.  He currently plays 8-Ball, 9-Ball, Double Jeopardy and Masters formats 3 nights a week.   After playing in cash tournaments at a local bar, he was approached to join the APA League.  Ever since then, he plays non-stop!  Erik is in Vegas competing in the 8-Ball Classic, and as of Friday evening was vying for 17th place or higher!  He says that is the highest anyone has ever finished from his hometown.

Rob Hazemey

Rob Hazemey of Washington DC, has been an APA member 2 ½ years now.  He has never attended an APA National event before, so he is very excited to have made it so far.  For about 15 years now, Rob has been playing pool, deciding to join the APA after a co-worker talked about the League.  He is at the National Singles Championships competing in the 8-Ball Classic Red Tier.  On Friday, he achieved his very first break-and-run, and without even realizing it!  Rob says he likes being out in Vegas, enjoys watching the other matches and meeting all of the great people.  He even came upon some old friends.  Currently, he plays in the APA 3 nights a week.

Natalie Wilson & James Pellerin

When Natalie Wilson and James Pellerin of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada started playing in the CPA in 2005, they had no idea they would be meeting their mate.  The two have been together for a little over a year now and are getting married in Vegas at the Riviera on Saturday.  They got engaged on February 12 and about a month later, they both qualified to compete in the National Singles Championships.  Natalie is playing as a Skill Level 4 in the Yellow Tier of the 8-Ball Classic, while James is competing as a Skill Level 5 in the Red Tier of the 8-Ball Classic.  They always said, if either of them won a trip to Vegas, they would get married while there, and it was fate when they both qualified right after getting engaged.

Their wedding will be pool themed, with James wearing an 8-Ball tie and Natalie carrying an 8-Ball themed bouquet.  Their families have also come out for the wedding. In fact, Natalie’s mother and James’s father are playing in the MiniMania tournaments.  James and Natalie think it is great that they met their significant other doing something they love, especially it being in the CPA.

Tournament Action Officially Underway

The tournament action in the 8-Ball Classic and 9-Ball Shootout national events are officially underway.  The event kicked off with Opening Ceremony at 3:00 pm, which included the National Anthem and a welcome from APA President Renee Lyle.  Play will continue until Saturday when 3 winners will be crowned in the 9-Ball Shootout and 4 winners in the 8-Ball Classic, one winner in each Skill Level Tier.  The 8-Ball Classic champions will take home $15,000 in cash and prizes, while 9-Ball Shootout champions go home with $10,000 in cash and prizes.  The event will conclude with the annual PoolAPAlooza celebration on Saturday evening.

Jeremy & Natalie Alton

Jeremy and Natalie Alton of St. Louis, Mo., got married on Wednesday at the top of the Stratosphere in Vegas.  Jeremy is competing in the 8-Ball Classic.  Natalie is also an APA member and has been since 2006, while Jeremy has been a member since 2004.  It was Jeremy who convinced Natalie to start playing and the two now compete on a team together.  They even participated in the Jack & Jill Championship together in 2006.  The couple got engaged at the Singles Regional tournament in March in Cape Girardeau, Mo.  So, after Jeremy qualified for Nationals, they spur of the moment decided on Vegas for their nuptials.  Natalie’s mother and sister traveled in for the wedding, as well as some fellow League members.  Jeremy and Natalie initially met while working together at Walmart, and have been together for about 4 years now.

2-Year-Old Poolplaying Prodigy

At just 2 years old, Keith O’Dell, Jr. is already making headlines with his amazing poolplaying skills.  He has been playing since he was just 21 months old, after watching his father, Keith O’Dell, Sr. play in excess of 200 racks of 9-Ball each day at home.  Before Christmas, Keith, Jr. saw a small pool table at a store and begged his father to get him the table.  So, his parents, Keith, Sr. and Courtney, gave in and bought their son the table for Christmas.  Ever since then, he has been playing non-stop. 

All of the hype started when Keith, Sr. took a video of his son playing pool.  He showed the footage to some friends and they suggested that he put the footage on YouTube.  The next day, he searched for young poolplayers on the site, and found nothing, so he decided to upload the video of his son.  The very next day, they got phone calls from the media.  Since then, Keith, Jr. has been featured on CNN, Versus, Channel 9 and even an episode of Rachel Ray that will air this summer. 

Keith, Jr. can now even play on a full size pool table, and prefers it. The smaller table was getting too easy for him.  “We try to stay very laid back about it, we don’t ask him to play, he asks us to play,” Keith, Sr. said about his son becoming such a phenomenon.  Keith, Sr. and Courtney have been APA members for 3 years now.  They also have a 5-month-old son named David.  They are attending the National Singles Championships with Courtney’s parents, who are competing in the event.

Kim Starkey Sports APA Fingernails

Kim Starkey of Hemet, Calif., custom decorates her natural fingernails for every APA National tournament, Regional tournament and Southwest Challenge.  She has done it so much in fact, that people have come to expect it from her.  After searching for pool related decals, and no luck, she decided to start creating her own.  For this event, she is sporting the APA National Singles Championship logo, APA pool table light, Jack & Jill Championship logo, 8-Ball neon, APA logo, MiniMania logo, APA Leagues logo, just to name a few. 

Kim is at the tournament competing in the Jack & Jill Championship.  She has been an APA member for 8 years now.  She has attended each APA National event since 2001, having played in the 8-Ball Classic and 9-Ball Shootout, Jack & Jill Championship and MiniMania events.  Playing 4 days a week on 6 teams, poolplaying is a huge part of her life.

Jack & Jill Championship Underway

The Jack & Jill Championship action officially kicked off on Wednesday.  This preregistered event consists of 2-person male/female teams, with a combined Skill Level Limit of 10.  Registration occurred Wednesday morning from 8:00 am – Noon with the tournament action getting underway at 1:00 pm.  This event will continue until Friday when a winner is crowned.  Champions will take home $5,000, and the runners-up will go home $3,000 richer.