Im sitting here kind of bored so what the hell..I'll do a review lol It was another great show at the expo!!! They made improvements and I've grown to like this location. Is the old valley forge...no and it never will. You don't know what you got until its gone. But things change and it is what it is.
Parking .... it was rough for many but if your an early riser like me (I was there by 8 830 every day) it wasn't bad at all. If you were heading back later for some pit action there was no problem.
General lay out.... Was great this year. The venders were laid out well. The table layout could be tweaked. There were a couple places where people were walking real close to the table where people were playing because it looked like a cut through.
The pro arena... They fixed my gripes! They brought back the bleachers on the free side. This year they did have a vip with soft chairs and a table in front of you (like the old expo days) That cost $20. They also had a second pro arena. Sadly I thought it was a practice room at first so I missed Stricklands 2nd round. Thankfully they put a large curtain up to cut out the sound and light from the rest of the vendors so it was dark and more quiet like you expect a pro arena to be.
The amateur tournament . ... Well it is what it is . I go for the show more then the tournament. I'm a good local player but I don't have a prayer against some of these guys that play for a living but some how technically aren't pro's lol. I always seem to catch a guy that makes it to the final bracket early and this year was no different. I beat a good player 5-0 then came back from being down 4-3 with back to back runs to win the 2nd 5-4. Then I played a young new york guy that played flawless. He ended up in the final 8 lol well I had fun.
Food- There food in the little lunch room isn't bad and not terribly over priced. There was a food truck out front that was serving bbq that I heard mixed reviews. I forget what they were called but they were selling these little pastries inside stuffed with different kinds of beef and chicken. They were only $2.50 a piece and they were kicking like van-dam lol seriously they were the bargain food of the show.
Vendors- It was packed with vendors .. as usual. There were a few resellers that didn't make the trip and meuller who last year didn't bring there huge store front this year was not there at all. I think the best deal I saw was a bk3 and air 2 for $500..That seemed like a steal.
It was a bad year for the Strickland haters lol he was well behaved. I didn't see him do much of anything. I will say after he got beat by mika .. who played FLAWLESS.. Strickland had tough layouts and couldn't quite get out and mika ran out smooth and clean.. Earl get saying to mika after wards "you know your not that good" lol mika just smiled and put his cue away. But there were no big out bursts. Earl played fantastic and kept his head.
Anyway the word on the street (Heard from a trusted source)is the expo is going back to philly next year so this may be the last year.
Thanks to Mr. hopkins for putting on another kick ass show. pool heaven honestly...
Parking .... it was rough for many but if your an early riser like me (I was there by 8 830 every day) it wasn't bad at all. If you were heading back later for some pit action there was no problem.
General lay out.... Was great this year. The venders were laid out well. The table layout could be tweaked. There were a couple places where people were walking real close to the table where people were playing because it looked like a cut through.
The pro arena... They fixed my gripes! They brought back the bleachers on the free side. This year they did have a vip with soft chairs and a table in front of you (like the old expo days) That cost $20. They also had a second pro arena. Sadly I thought it was a practice room at first so I missed Stricklands 2nd round. Thankfully they put a large curtain up to cut out the sound and light from the rest of the vendors so it was dark and more quiet like you expect a pro arena to be.
The amateur tournament . ... Well it is what it is . I go for the show more then the tournament. I'm a good local player but I don't have a prayer against some of these guys that play for a living but some how technically aren't pro's lol. I always seem to catch a guy that makes it to the final bracket early and this year was no different. I beat a good player 5-0 then came back from being down 4-3 with back to back runs to win the 2nd 5-4. Then I played a young new york guy that played flawless. He ended up in the final 8 lol well I had fun.
Food- There food in the little lunch room isn't bad and not terribly over priced. There was a food truck out front that was serving bbq that I heard mixed reviews. I forget what they were called but they were selling these little pastries inside stuffed with different kinds of beef and chicken. They were only $2.50 a piece and they were kicking like van-dam lol seriously they were the bargain food of the show.
Vendors- It was packed with vendors .. as usual. There were a few resellers that didn't make the trip and meuller who last year didn't bring there huge store front this year was not there at all. I think the best deal I saw was a bk3 and air 2 for $500..That seemed like a steal.
It was a bad year for the Strickland haters lol he was well behaved. I didn't see him do much of anything. I will say after he got beat by mika .. who played FLAWLESS.. Strickland had tough layouts and couldn't quite get out and mika ran out smooth and clean.. Earl get saying to mika after wards "you know your not that good" lol mika just smiled and put his cue away. But there were no big out bursts. Earl played fantastic and kept his head.
Anyway the word on the street (Heard from a trusted source)is the expo is going back to philly next year so this may be the last year.
Thanks to Mr. hopkins for putting on another kick ass show. pool heaven honestly...
Last edited:
