PBS St Louis 2026 (Men’s World 8 Ball Championship, Mixed Doubles, Women’s Open, Bank Pool), 1-8 April, Half Million Prize Fund
- Thread starter spartan
- Start date
Andrew Zimmern famously featured pig snouts, locally known as "snoots," at Smoki O's BBQ during a 2013 visit to St. Louis. He was so impressed with the dish that he ranked Smoki O's snoots among his top 10 favorite barbecue dishes in the United States.
Well, yes, there's that as well as pig brain sandwiches at Schottzie's Bar & Grill if you're into that kind of thing.
Lou Figueroa
Badpenguin
Well-known member
Fried brain sandwich on rye bread with onions! Yum
World 8 Ball Championship starts today.
Format is long single set instead of PBS usual multiple sets.
Single elimination: single set, race to 10. Double elimination: single set, race to 8.
Double elimination to last 32, then single elimination.
Match Schedule https://probilliardseries.com/event/2026-saint-louis/8-ball-world-championship/matches/
Brackets https://cuescore.com/tournament/flowchart/?id=79438525
LIVE
T1 Sky Woodward vs Sean Mark Malayan
T2 Lee Van Corteza vs Moritz Neuhausen
T3 Payne McBride vs Jayson Shaw
T4 Felix Vogel vs Mark Spitzky
Format is long single set instead of PBS usual multiple sets.
Single elimination: single set, race to 10. Double elimination: single set, race to 8.
Double elimination to last 32, then single elimination.
Match Schedule https://probilliardseries.com/event/2026-saint-louis/8-ball-world-championship/matches/
Brackets https://cuescore.com/tournament/flowchart/?id=79438525
LIVE
T1 Sky Woodward vs Sean Mark Malayan
T2 Lee Van Corteza vs Moritz Neuhausen
T3 Payne McBride vs Jayson Shaw
T4 Felix Vogel vs Mark Spitzky
Any part of pig except brains, snout, eyes.
Love tail, neck, big intestines (must cleaned properly), stomach, liver. Also blood in soup with lots of condiments
Banking week for sure! Visited Ashville, NC last week and saw two guys playing bank pool. I’ve never seen it played before live. No one at my local hall plays bank pool. (one pocket is big).
The Predator bank pool tournament is also the first one I’ve ever watched. Read the rules beforehand so I would know what is going on.
Coincidentally, the month of April I dedicated to practicing banks. I’ll spend 30-60 minutes a day doing nothing but. I have an area of focus every month - kicks in March, breaking in Feb, and so on. I planned to do banks in April even before I knew about the Predator event.
I’ve been very impressed with Jayson Shaw. He beat Thorpe in the first round to send him to the loser’s side. Later he beat Woodward. I think Thorpe is the best banker in the world and Sky is in the top five.
Shaw was the superior tactician and defensive player, however, in his wins over Billy, Sky and Filler. He also played banks with the most medium consistent speed, and I think that was a difference.
Billy and Sky missed some shots they ordinarily make.
Justin Hall, who I’ve never seen before, was impressive. He played more higher speed shots than most others and was very accurate. Bergman was even better.
One thing I am not sure I like: The ability of players to pocket a ball when playing safe. Seems too easy of an out to me, and it lengthens the game.
Still, the defensive play in banks is something to behold.
The Predator bank pool tournament is also the first one I’ve ever watched. Read the rules beforehand so I would know what is going on.
Coincidentally, the month of April I dedicated to practicing banks. I’ll spend 30-60 minutes a day doing nothing but. I have an area of focus every month - kicks in March, breaking in Feb, and so on. I planned to do banks in April even before I knew about the Predator event.
I’ve been very impressed with Jayson Shaw. He beat Thorpe in the first round to send him to the loser’s side. Later he beat Woodward. I think Thorpe is the best banker in the world and Sky is in the top five.
Shaw was the superior tactician and defensive player, however, in his wins over Billy, Sky and Filler. He also played banks with the most medium consistent speed, and I think that was a difference.
Billy and Sky missed some shots they ordinarily make.
Justin Hall, who I’ve never seen before, was impressive. He played more higher speed shots than most others and was very accurate. Bergman was even better.
One thing I am not sure I like: The ability of players to pocket a ball when playing safe. Seems too easy of an out to me, and it lengthens the game.
Still, the defensive play in banks is something to behold.
Badpenguin
Well-known member
Was it multiple set matches last year?
The amount of break & runs in this tournament is going to be insane. Does anyone know if it's winner break or alternate break?
I don't think so. Bergman lives and breathes 8ball, Duong not so much. Bergman also beat him 5-3 in the PLP on very tight pockets playing 9ball. Duong is on a tear right now with a nice hotstreak, but you'd still have to give Bergman the edge.
The Men’s 8-ball Championship has 36 of the 72 players with 800 or better Fargos. Half the total.
Nearly all these 36 typically appear at most major events sponsored by the WNT, WPA or Predator.
Most of the Fargo 800 players who are missing are Filipinos - Chua, Raga, Roda, Ignacio, Regalario, etc. The Ko brothers are also absent as expected.
Among the Pinoys, Biado is the only Filipino living in the Philippines who makes most big events. Yet that hasn’t always been the case - he didn’t travel as much right before Covid.
Lee Van Corteza, who is now based in the U.S., is probably the next most traveled Pinoy, followed by De Luna and Chua.
***
By my count, only 33 of the 72 players with 800 Fargos are regular travelers to the big WNT, WPA or Predator events. Here’s the list:
Joshua Filler
Fedor Gorst
Shane Van Boening
Aloysius Yapp
Carlo Biado
Jayson Shaw
Wojciech Szewczyk
Albin Ouschan
Eklent Kaci
Quoc Hoang Duong
Naoyuki Oi
Wiktor Zielinski
Alex Kazakis
Kun Lin Wu
Moritz Neuhausen
Daniel Maciol
Robbie Capito
Lee Van Corteza
David Alcaide
Oliver Szolnoki
Max Lechner
Sanjin Pehlivanovic
Mario He
Skyler Woodward
Kledio Kaci
Pijus Labutis
Denis Grabe
Aleksa Pecelj
Mieszko Fortunski
Marco Teutscher
Tobias Bongers
Konrad Juszczyszyn
Here’s the list of sub-800 players who turn up at most big events
Jonas Souto
Mateusz Sniegocki
Ralf Souquet
John Morra
Mickey Krause
Szymon Kural
Thorsten Hohmann
Nearly all these 36 typically appear at most major events sponsored by the WNT, WPA or Predator.
Most of the Fargo 800 players who are missing are Filipinos - Chua, Raga, Roda, Ignacio, Regalario, etc. The Ko brothers are also absent as expected.
Among the Pinoys, Biado is the only Filipino living in the Philippines who makes most big events. Yet that hasn’t always been the case - he didn’t travel as much right before Covid.
Lee Van Corteza, who is now based in the U.S., is probably the next most traveled Pinoy, followed by De Luna and Chua.
***
By my count, only 33 of the 72 players with 800 Fargos are regular travelers to the big WNT, WPA or Predator events. Here’s the list:
Joshua Filler
Fedor Gorst
Shane Van Boening
Aloysius Yapp
Carlo Biado
Jayson Shaw
Wojciech Szewczyk
Albin Ouschan
Eklent Kaci
Quoc Hoang Duong
Naoyuki Oi
Wiktor Zielinski
Alex Kazakis
Kun Lin Wu
Moritz Neuhausen
Daniel Maciol
Robbie Capito
Lee Van Corteza
David Alcaide
Oliver Szolnoki
Max Lechner
Sanjin Pehlivanovic
Mario He
Skyler Woodward
Kledio Kaci
Pijus Labutis
Denis Grabe
Aleksa Pecelj
Mieszko Fortunski
Marco Teutscher
Tobias Bongers
Konrad Juszczyszyn
Here’s the list of sub-800 players who turn up at most big events
Jonas Souto
Mateusz Sniegocki
Ralf Souquet
John Morra
Mickey Krause
Szymon Kural
Thorsten Hohmann
i believe jayson has won the DCC banks ring game. he's a great banker. justin hall is imo slightly better than bergman, i think in a long race he would be favorite, but it's tight. i'm happy to see bergman advance. i still think he's an outside tip for the 8-ball, even with a tough draw
A Shaw vs. Gorst bank pool final would be fireworks. They have a bit of a rivalry. But I'm rooting for the Berginator, Big Berg, the Berg Khalifa.
Same format last year.
Winner breaks.
No, the number of B&Rs probably won't be insane. You have to be successful on the break to make a B&R. In the matches I tracked last year, successful breaks were just 49% and B&Rs were 29% (60% of successful breaks).
Duong accidentally pockets the 8 ball in the wrong pocket and gives Bergman his first game lol.
Duong up 2-1
Looking at the top pros who travel the most, the list hasn’t changed a great deal since 2023.
By and large, Europe leads the way. More than 80% of the top travelers are European. I wonder if some of these players, especially the Poles and Germans, get more government support than others.
The most notable new player on the traveler list is probably Kledio Kaci. He didn’t start attending the biggest events regularly until 2024, but even then, his participation was limited. Last year was when he really spread his wings.
Arseni Sevastyanov appears to be aiming to join the group or regular travelers in 2026. Veteran Ruslan Chinakhov has also reemerged as a semi-regular on the world circuit.
Future aspirants to become global regulars include Emil Gangflot, Felix Vogel, Karl Gnadeberg and Walter Laikre. Jesus Atencio and Vitaly Patsura (Green card issue) would probably like to be in the mix as well.
Asian players are more selective. Only Biado, Yapp, Duong, Oi, Capito and, to a lesser extent, Chua and Wu Kun Lin, hit most big events.
Some players are pulling back. The Ko brothers most notably, but Shane Van Boening appears to be becoming more selective. Tyler Styer has been somewhat quiet, too.
Mickey Krause has dropped off the radar this year. He’s missed the Las Vegas Open, European Open and 8-ball championship.
By and large, Europe leads the way. More than 80% of the top travelers are European. I wonder if some of these players, especially the Poles and Germans, get more government support than others.
The most notable new player on the traveler list is probably Kledio Kaci. He didn’t start attending the biggest events regularly until 2024, but even then, his participation was limited. Last year was when he really spread his wings.
Arseni Sevastyanov appears to be aiming to join the group or regular travelers in 2026. Veteran Ruslan Chinakhov has also reemerged as a semi-regular on the world circuit.
Future aspirants to become global regulars include Emil Gangflot, Felix Vogel, Karl Gnadeberg and Walter Laikre. Jesus Atencio and Vitaly Patsura (Green card issue) would probably like to be in the mix as well.
Asian players are more selective. Only Biado, Yapp, Duong, Oi, Capito and, to a lesser extent, Chua and Wu Kun Lin, hit most big events.
Some players are pulling back. The Ko brothers most notably, but Shane Van Boening appears to be becoming more selective. Tyler Styer has been somewhat quiet, too.
Mickey Krause has dropped off the radar this year. He’s missed the Las Vegas Open, European Open and 8-ball championship.