Trick Shot Competition at Corner Pocket

Expect to see amazing feats on the felt this weekend at (CPB) first annual trick shot competition this Saturday, Jan 21.  

Hosted by 20-year-old pool phenom Steve Markle, the contest is being co-sponsored by CPB and Dr. Cue productions.

Ranked 9th in the country by the Artistic Pool and Trick Shot
Association (APTSA), Bensalem native Markle splits his time between
plying his trade on the professional tour and attending Bucks County
Community College.

No need to be intimidated by Markle’s skill level.  The guy has been at
this trick shot thing for more than 12 years now. Besides, he says this weekend's is more of the amateur variety competition.

“Anyone can join,” said Markle.  “There are eight pre-selected shots
and they’re what we call ‘high make percentage’ shots.  So anyone can
do it really.  I wouldn’t say they’re easy, but they’re definitely
doable for amateurs.”

Markle said that each successful shot is worth one point.  Any tied
scores at the end of the competition will be decided by a series of
tie-breaker shots.

CPB regular, Tim Graves, is looking forward to trying his luck at the
contest.  Ranked as a 7 (the highest rank obtainable) by the APA,
Graves is far less confident in his trick shot ability than he is when
it comes to a game of 8 or 9 Ball.

"I've never done anything like this," said Graves, who's been to Vegas
a couple of times to participate in professional pool tournaments.
"When you're not playing real games, you kind of goof around once in a
while and do trick shots here and there.  But as far as a competition
goes - this is brand new territory for me."

Corner Pocket Billiards owner, Kevin Stier, went into a little more
detail about the event during a phone interview.

"Steve [Markle] is running the whole thing," said Stier.  "This kid's
ranked 9th in the country and 22nd in the world - the stuff he can do
is pretty amazing.  But this contest isn't going to be anywhere near
like that stuff.  Pretty much, if you can hold a pool stick, you have
a chance at making these shots."

Stier said there will be shot demonstrations starting at 3:30 PM.  The
contest itself will begin at 5.  The cost to enter is $10, with a $4
green fee (which goes to the pool hall for use of their tables.)

During the event, CPB will also be auctioning off a Poison VX Jump
Cue.  Retailing at $89, there's a chance it can be yours for a $5
raffle ticket.

Even those not participating are encouraged to attend and watch the competition unfold.  Stier said he’s expecting somewhere in the range of 30-50 spectators. 

For more information about the event, or to reserve your space in the
competition, you can contact Steve Markle at stevemarklepool@aol.com
or call directly at (267) 288-5940.

If you are interested in participating, be sure to act fast. With a cash prize going to the winner (and the three runners-up), spots in the tournament are filling up rather quickly.

At the time of publication, 11 of the 16 available spots are already spoken for.

Prize Structure (assuming all 16 spots are filled)

1st: $86.00
2nd: $43.00
3rd: $28.00
4th: $18.00
5th- 16th: $5.00 each