Rick Nelson lines up a shot at Jersey Mike Giarlo’s inaugural “Just For Fun” billiards event January 8 at the Cottonwood Billiards Room. Sixteen players participated in the fun-filled event. (Photo by Gary Vacin)
Gary Vacin
Jersey Mike’s “Just For Fun” billiards event got off to a roaring start on January 8 as 16 players showed up for the inaugural event at the Cottonwood Billiards Room. The event drew the most persons ever to amass in the billiards room, as numerous others were on hand to view the competition.
The event kicked off at 10:00 a.m., and within a few minutes, 16 players were busily engaged in competition on all four tournament-quality tables. Mike’s goal of sponsoring a fun-filled event designed to bring together players of all abilities was met in spades, he said. The event featured six games of 8-Ball in several different variations. “I am so happy about the turnout, and everyone had a good time,” Mike said. “They all said they’d see me next week. I want to thank all who showed up. About half of them were players I hadn’t known before.”
The following players showed up for the first event of its kind: Jerry Topilka, Rich Schager, Felix Petrillo, Stan Hight, Dave Gehlbach, Ernie Gabbs, Neil Donohoe, Jefferey Bruno, Rick Boyd, Fred Salvatore, John Wolf, Rick Nelson and several others whose names were not available. Jersey Mike Giarlo also participated.