Dennis is here now, on his way home after a very successful four month trip across the U.S. I'm very proud of him, not so much for winning this match, but for what he's doing back home in Butuan. He and his family have a very successful cafe and water store, and with the money he earned this trip he paid off all the equipment he needed to set up this business and is debt free now. We have had many talks about what he would do after his pool career is over and these conversations are beginning to bear fruit now. I didn't want to see him end up broke at 50 and struggling to survive, like so many other pool players I've known. Dennis is smart enough to know that he can't hold off all these young guns forever (he's 42 now), and that he needs to use his winnings now to prepare for the future. He made one interesting comment at breakfast this morning. I told him he is one of the best players I've ever seen shooting a tough shot under pressure. His response to me was that Filler shoots straighter under pressure than he does. A glaring admission from a great player, just to acknowledge a fellow competitor like that.
We barely talked about the match, but he was most proud of double dipping Shane in the finals of a recent tournament. He did tell me that he had learned some things about how he could be more competitive against Shane (my words, he said it a little more bluntly). He is going home now because he needs a break from pool, after playing non stop for four months and driving all over the country from tournament to tournament. He told me they drove 28 hours non stop from Dallas to Vegas for the tourney there and then back to OKC to play Shane. He'll be back for the World Ten Ball, U.S. Open and International 9-Ball in a couple of months. It's a good chance to see this unique and very talented pool player while he's still at the apex of his game. I plan to make it to Vegas to attend my first pool tournament in nearly two years.