The biggest professional pool trick shot event in the world is coming to Bluegrass Billiards, 9490 Blue Grass Road, Oct. 1-4.
Organizing the World Pool Association Championships is also one of the world’s top professional pool trick shot players, Steve “Blue Shark” Markle, a 2010 graduate of Archbishop Ryan.
While Markle, 34, was a star baseball player at Ryan, he’s gained fame as Pennsylvania’s only professional pool shot trick player. He is ranked 9th by the World Pool Association and 1st by the Billiard Congress of America.
Markle has more than 175 million views of his trick shot videos, many of which can be viewed at MarkleTrickShots.com and on TikTok and his Instagram and Facebook pages.
Most of the top players have nicknames, and Markle is known as “Blue Shark” due to his work as a Lower Makefield Township police officer.
The public is invited to attend the championship tournament at Bluegrass Billiards free of charge, and Markle’s friends are expected to show up in various shark costumes.
‘We want to have a successful event, and we always want spectators there,” he said. “It’s free entry, with a full menu and full bar.”
All guests will receive a free program and autograph card. Two former ESPN players and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famers – Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman and Mike Massey – will be in attendance. Rossman will serve as emcee.
For those who cannot attend in person, Billiard Sports Network will livestream the event.
Players qualify with a score, and pay an entry fee.
The tournament will consist of 24 players, who hail from 10 countries. The field features one woman, from Japan.
The WPA World Artistic Pool and WPA World Freestyle Artistic Pool championships will both be contested at Bluegrass Billiards, and Markle will compete in both formats. Play gets underway each day at 11 a.m.
Once the competition begins, players will score points by making shots using degrees of difficulty. The top 16 will advance from the preliminary round into the playoffs, where head-to-head competition will be used.
The top four finishers will receive prize money, trophies and medals.
Bluegrass Billiards will look like an arena during the tournament, with bleachers and eight tables used for competition.
What’s the allure of watching artistic pool rather than a regular game? Fans might see players make the cue ball curve or bounce in the air or pocket 10 balls at a time.
“It’s a lot cooler than pocketing one ball at a time,” Markle said. “It’s something a little different for spectators to see.” ••
For more information, visit wpa-apd.org or the WPA – Artistic Pool Division page on Facebook.
