The highly anticipated 10th Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic was a great success any way you
look at it, from the stellar play and swarming spectator crowd, to the huge money
involved. This year saw the appearance of marque first timers Joshua Filler and Shane
Van Boening— two of the top players in the world and two of the most popular players
in the world — both making their Buffalo’s debut. And fans of those two were not
disappointed, as they finished first and third respectively, with local favorite Tony
Chohan taking second.
There was a lot of pre-tournament chatter about how despite his unquestionable talent,
Filler in particular might struggle in the unique Buffalo’s environment, facing the
seasoned One Pocket experts this tournament always draws. But Joshua played it smart
and showed up at Buffalos nearly a week early. He immediately immersed himself in the
unique Buffalo’s environment and spirit by playing 3 race to 5 cash sets against Tony
Chohan (losing the first, then winning the next two, including a 50 minute 5-0 thrashing
in the last set!). He also ground out 7 hours of a one against two challenge match (with a
handicap involved) against local gambler Lil John Macias & Robbie Langford that
sharpened his feel for the TV table along with his moving skills. Although Filler got the
worst of that match, it turned out it was a good investment, because when the
tournament started, Joshua was ready!
Buffalo’s 10th Annual Pro Classic kicked off Tuesday night with a $200 entry, $1000
added One Ball One Pocket tournament that drew a field of 44 players, including most
of the pretournament One Pocket favorites, along with mix of amateurs and pros. The
single elimination race to 4 format also included a spirited calcutta that raised $28,900.
Joshua Filler defeated Josh Roberts in a hill-hill final to win, setting the tone for Filler’s
Pro Classic week.
Wednesday evening the focus shifted to the main event as auctioneer Ray Hansen ran
up a record high calcutta for any pro tournament of $378,350, on top of the $20,000
added, $2000 entry fee with 36 players. That made for a total prize fund of $470,350 —
the richest ever for a One Pocket tournament. The first blind bid of $46,000 set the
stage for the calcutta, and gave a pretty good picture of which players the smart money
thought were the pre-tournament favorites this year. First blind bid Fedor Gorst and
Shane Van Boening both went for 46K, closely followed by Filler at 41K, and Tony
Chohan at 29K, with Roberto Gomez right behind at 28K, and 2023 winner Evan Lunda
at 21K.
Thursday night featured a short break in the action to induct OnePocket.org founder
Steve Booth in to the One Pocket Hall of Fame for meritorious service promoting the
game around the world. Alex Pagulayan was the great player inductee, present by
attorney and tournament sponsor Joseph Long in absentia, as Alex was in China this
year.
There were great matches galore throughout this tournament, with all the champions present! For example, Tony Chohan versus Fedor Gorst on the winner’s side went hill-hill and down to the last few balls to win, but ultimately Tony prevailed in this one. This was played on the feature TV table, streamed by PoolActionTV.com, so subscribers can go back and watch this, along with all the other streamed matches, on demand if they missed it.
In another thrilling late round match, Shane Van Boening and Roberto Gomez battled to
hill-hill, and down to an extended end game where both players had ever so close
chances to win before Van Boening finally sealed it. He followed that with a win over Sky
Woodward, leading to his 3rd place finish in his first time here at Buffalo’s.
Dark horse Devin Poteet finished 5-6, knocking pre-tournament favorite Fedor Gorst
out of the tournament in a tense hill-hill battle on the TV table. Devin had also knocked
out prior champion Evan Lunda the round before, to make the money rounds, so he
definitely earned his way! There were reports that Gorst played through a fever of over
102, but he still toughed it out to a 7-8th finish.
Comeback player of the event would have to be Jeremy Jones, known more for his top
notch commentary than his tournament play these days. After moving through the field,
including wins over Billy Thorpe and Mickey Krause, Jones and fellow One Pocket
HOF’er Scott Frost drew each other to see who would advance into the final 8 money
rounds. It turned out to be a grueling overnight match, with Jeremy eventually
prevailing 5-3. That was a 9 PM match, but it finished the next morning around 6 AM,
with winner Jeremy Jones earning the privilege of facing America’s favorite, Shane Van
Boening at noon. Needless to say, SVB prevailed in that one, but 7-8th put Jeremy in
both the tournament and calcutta money for his efforts.
Final 1B1P results:
1st Joshua Filler
2nd Josh Roberts
3-4th Billy Thorpe & Sergio Rivas
5-8th Sky Woodward, Mickey Krause, Robbie Langford & Jeremy Jones
Final main One Pocket event results:
1st Joshua Filler
2nd Tony Chohan
3rd Shane Van Boening
4th Sky Woodward
5-6th Roberto Gomez & Devin Poteet
7-8th Jeremy Jones & Fedor Gorst