AREA POOL PLAYERS WILL COMPETE IN LAS VEGAS

Gene Magnus isn't the top-ranked player on Jeff's New Crew pool team, but in league play every player makes an important contribution. Together the team has worked to qualify for a national tournament in Las Vegas.

"Our main goal was to have fun and then if we could, make it through the areawide tournament and qualify for Las Vegas," said Magnus, one of the owners of Clas Computers whose team plays once a week at Pockets. "And we did all of the above."

Jeff's New Crew is one of eight teams from the SEMO Recreational Pool Leagues that have qualified to go to Las Vegas in August to compete in the national American Poolplayers Association tournament. The amateur team pool competition should draw about 480 teams to play eight ball and nine ball, said Rick Brown, franchise owner for the area APA pool league that includes teams in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas.

Team pool is a way that everyone from the beginning to the experienced amateur can compete in tournament play, Brown said.

In team pool, members of each eight-person team are ranked from 2 to 7, with 2 being a beginner and 7 being a top player. Players compete against each other under a handicap system based on their rankings. For instance, when a 7 plays a 2 the top player must win seven games before the lower ranked player wins two games to win a point for his or her team.

"It doesn't happen a lot, but there is a chance that a 2 could beat a 7," Brown said.

Teams also play by the 23 rule, Brown said. Usually five of the eight players will complete in a match. The rankings of those five can't exceed 23. The team that first scores three points, where three of its players defeat their opponents, wins the match.

"In team play the 2s on the team are just as important as the 7s," Brown said.

"It's great and wonderful to have great players," Magnus said. "But you also have to have low-ranking and intermediate players."

And this makes the low-ranking players feel like they make as much a contribution to the team as their more skilled teammates, Magnus said.

Because of this, team pool leagues are increasing in popularity, Brown said. He started league play in the area in 1988 with six teams. Now there are 240 teams, and it keeps growing, Brown said.

"It's structured, there are set rules and people with different skill levels can compete," Brown said. "People do it for the same reason they would join a bowling league: It's fun."

Magnus agreed. He began team play about four years ago when an employee at Clas Computers recruited him for league play. He looks at it as a way to relax with friends, but that doesn't mean they aren't competitive.

"It's fun, but the competition is there," Magnus said.

Brown said there are leagues for women only, eight-ball teams and nine-ball teams played at billiard centers, nightclubs, taverns and pool halls throughout the area.

"There is a league going on somewhere just about every night," Brown said. Those interested in getting into a league should check where they play pool to see if league teams play there, or they can call Brown at 334-2289 for more information.

In May there was a women's only tournament, an eight-ball tournament and a nine-ball tournament. At those tournaments eight teams one woman's team, two nine-ball teams and five eight-ball teams qualified for the Las Vegas tournament. Team members receive free air fare and hotel rooms to get them to the tournament.

Magnus has been to the tournament in Las Vegas once before. The team he was on two years ago also qualified.

"It was pretty overwhelming," he said. "When you got up to the table, you'd start getting a bad case of nerves."

He said his team's philosophy for the national tournament will be the same as always. "We win as a team and we lose as a team," Magnus said. "It never fails that someone who loses a game will feel bad but generally comes back and wins a key game the next time."

Cape Girardeau eight-ball teams going to the Las Vegas tournament are:

* B.C. Sharpshooters -- Jamie Dodd II, Robert Allen, Mike Brawley, Linda Hodges, Tracy Dietrich, Robyn Dannenmueller, Lonnie Pearson and Randy Gordon.

* Jeff's New Crew -- Jeff Biester, Julie Briese, Michelle Enderle, Gene Magnus, Youn Gonzales, John Thomas and Dennis George.

Cape Girardeau nine-ball teams going to the Las Vegas tournament are:

* We're Back -- Jeff Biester, Chris Conklin, Christina Parrish, Robert Parrish, Chris Graham, Robert Fitzsimmons, Jeff Strack and Dawn Valleroy.

* Players.Com -- Michael Snider, John Long, Jerome Daniels, Brian Gremard, Don Gremard, Robert Groves, Jeanne Beals and Shelley Wankel.

• Jeff's New Crew plays at Pockets while the other three teams play at the Billiard Center.

Other eight-ball teams that qualified are That's Right and Out Laws from Harrisburg, Ill., and All Together from Muddy, Ill., and the women's team is Lakeview Dream Catchers from Herrin, Ill.