Start time for Billiards has been changed to 12PM on Tuesday, June 30

Looking forward to a great competition, so keep those 8ball, 9ball, and straight pool registrations coming in! Tell a friend and get him or her on board. Registration has been extended until May 31st. I meet with the Federation in the morning.

Any news on the count of participants who have sent in their entry fee for each event (8-ball, 9-ball & 14.1) so far?

Your venue for the Fairfax 2015 WPFG Billiards Competition

Stopped by to look at Breakers Lounge - the home of your WPFG Billiards competition. Great place! Really glad to see everyone working to get STRAIGHT POOL added to the event list!!! Great job by all!

Your voices have been heard. The WPFG Pocket Billiards competition will now include a straight pool event (a.k.a. 14.1 Continuous). We will use the same Cue Sports International rulebook, with a new link available below for the 2014-2015 edition. Please skip to page 55 for the 14.1 Continuous rules. To accommodate straight pool, we will shorten the 9Ball event to a single day (likely races to 3, still double elimination). We will install either a race time limit or shorter races for a straight...Your voices have been heard. The WPFG Pocket Billiards competition will now include a straight pool event (a.k.a. 14.1 Continuous). We will use the same Cue Sports International rulebook, with a new link available below for the 2014-2015 edition. Please skip to page 55 for the 14.1 Continuous rules. To accommodate straight pool, we will shorten the 9Ball event to a single day (likely races to 3, still double elimination). We will install either a race time limit or shorter races for a straight pool event lasting two days. 8Ball will continue to be a two-day event. The flex day is now part of the official schedule. To bolster capacity, a second floor of tables in the smoking section will be made available on an "as needed" basis. Planning needs to remain fluid until registration is closed and first round matches can be bracketed (April 30th). Tentatively, we plan to shift the overall billiards schedule as follows: Day 1 (9Ball). Day 2 & 3 (Straight Pool). Day 4 & 5 (8Ball). We appreciate your patience. A huge thank you to 2 Lt. FCSO Tony Shobe, 2 Lt. FCPD Mark Kidd, and Breakers GM Shanna Lewis for making this possible.

Here’s a fresh link to the complete rulebook:
www.playcsipool.com/uploads/7/3/5/9/7359673/2014-2…
This resource includes rules for BCA 8Ball, 9Ball, and 14.1 Continuous. Show more

Eric Townsend.... you have misunderstood the "Joe Shmoe" comment and you are also misunderstanding all the comments of wanting to keep the Billiard event the same as it always has been.

It seems like you have to get the last word in, the problem is, you have been the one that is negative by making statements such as "rude or ill-behaved", "selfish and bratty"..... You want any competitors who are not attending this year's Games to stop lingering on this site. You just want them to go away even...Eric Townsend.... you have misunderstood the "Joe Shmoe" comment and you are also misunderstanding all the comments of wanting to keep the Billiard event the same as it always has been.

It seems like you have to get the last word in, the problem is, you have been the one that is negative by making statements such as "rude or ill-behaved", "selfish and bratty"..... You want any competitors who are not attending this year's Games to stop lingering on this site. You just want them to go away even if they have been competitors in past Games. They should have no opinion. Not good. How about taking some action and then writing something like..... I spoke to the board about reinstating the straight pool event and to see if we can get an extra day at the event site....... and they are looking into it.... Maybe that is what a person in your position should look into.

PS: I hope that all the competitors that do go have a wonderful time and I am sure they will. It is a wonderful event. Show more

Will there be separate men's/women's tourney's?

I see nothing wrong with playing a race to 4 or 5 in a 9-ball or 8-ball tournament. But..... taking out the straight pool (14.1) event is just a slap in the face. Yes, I am a police officer and I am happy that there are these games for our fellow fire & police. I am also a dedicated straight pool player and feel very strongly about that event. To me straight pool is on the top of the list when it comes to pool. Now the billiard event might not even be offered in the next games. It seems like...I see nothing wrong with playing a race to 4 or 5 in a 9-ball or 8-ball tournament. But..... taking out the straight pool (14.1) event is just a slap in the face. Yes, I am a police officer and I am happy that there are these games for our fellow fire & police. I am also a dedicated straight pool player and feel very strongly about that event. To me straight pool is on the top of the list when it comes to pool. Now the billiard event might not even be offered in the next games. It seems like the Billiard event has been thrown the bones of all the other sports that are offered. Has other sports such as golf, bowling, etc. been cut back? I bet not. I as a straight pool player can not attend these games without my favorite event. As it has been stated... the time & cost is too great to not play an event that has always been offered in the past. As for the people in charge of the WPFG, they need to know what the feelings & thoughts of players that attend these games. Reading these comments are a good thing, hopefully the event will improve instead of being done away with. Show more

I just don't get the inflexibility in thinking I'm seeing in some of the comments on this forum. Either you are committed to the notion of the World Police and Fire Games — that is, you're a respected police and fire professional who'd like to compete against and get to know others in your field — or you're not. If you're not fitting this profile, then this forum is not designed for you. It's designed for people making an honest consideration of the WPFG pocket billiards event. By posting...I just don't get the inflexibility in thinking I'm seeing in some of the comments on this forum. Either you are committed to the notion of the World Police and Fire Games — that is, you're a respected police and fire professional who'd like to compete against and get to know others in your field — or you're not. If you're not fitting this profile, then this forum is not designed for you. It's designed for people making an honest consideration of the WPFG pocket billiards event. By posting negative, often less than informed comments, you're choosing to hurt the World Police and Fire Games. I encourage anyone who would like to "get into it" to email me at eric.s.townsend@gmail.com or call me at 202-494-4326. I'm more than willing to discuss in a reasonable fashion.

FYI I play in a local 9ball tournament on Sunday nights. The races are to 3 on the winners and losers side. It is well attended (meaning by the number and quality of competitors, which includes professional poolplayers). I also compete in the BCAPL where it's round robin format and individual racks played with no races. This is also well attended. The format is decided on the national level. We don't decide the lack of races locally. BCAPL is the second largest amateur billiards organization in the world.

I mention the above two formats because shortening races or eliminating them (in the case of individual racks with BCAPL) has the effect of tightening up your game. You have to rise to the occasion sooner. You can't blow off a missed shot. Every move matters. I'm a fan of shorter than longer races as a result. I would like the WPFG races to fall somewhere between 4 and 7 wins needed, depending upon the number of competitors on the boards. Yes, we have limited tables and specific times when we can use them. Pool is very popular in this area. I am aware of races to 9 and higher, of course, but don't think they're necessary to determine a victor in an amateur level match. It's overkill. Show more