Martin and the Gragos were happy with the result, Martin commenting the next day that they were “very happy” and that plans were moving forward “to do a lot more things, going into next year,” to include the creation of even more seating space and an upgraded streaming platform. Had that transient part of the crowd all arrived at the same time, it would have exceeded the arena’s capacity, so in a word, sold-out. While at any given moment during the match, there were generally about 40-45 of the arena’s 60-seat capacity watching it, an estimated 10-15 of those were individuals who slipped into the room to watch briefly before heading out to compete in the area of the venue hosting the Tri-Cups. “They saw our (FB) posts about the match, Garcia’s and Justin’s, too.”Īttendance got another boost because on the same day, the cities of Jacksonville, Morehead and Havelock, without a facility in their area to accommodate them, played their regional APA playoffs (known as the Tri-Cups) in the building before, during and after the exhibition match. “So yeah, it was people coming because they know Justin and knowing that Roland was one of the top players in the world,” he said. While personal-awareness-of- Justin-Martin was an important factor in drawing a crowd to Breaktime Billiards, Grago was also aware of the high-profile status of Garcia as a known, world-class competitor. Cue ( Tom Rossman) and Venom ( Florian Kohler) have been in attendance, this was the first such exhibition match since 2016. Though the room has since hosted tournaments at which personalities like Dr. Grago and his wife, Margaret have owned Breaktime Billiards since November, 2015 and hosted their first exhibition match, fan-participation event about four months later, when Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris were the competitors. “I take lessons from him, too once a week for about the last month and a half.” “Justin’s girlfriend (Katie Cool) is on our pool team here in Wilmington,” said Mike Tackett, seated at one of a number of folding tables and chairs on the opposite side of the table from the VIP area. ![]() “I think you’d have been hard-pressed to find someone in the crowd who didn’t know me personally,” said Martin. The crowd hovered throughout the match between 40 and 45 attendees, most of them with some form of personal relationship with Martin. All things considered, the match, the VIP Party, and expectations of attendance went smoothly and met expectations. In addition to the exhibition match itself, they arranged for a VIP after-party at which spectators who had paid to sit at four VIP high-top tables and chairs, positioned a few feet away from one of the pool table’s long rails, would hang out after the match, play some pool and socialize. “I don’t gamble,” he said, “and I’m always looking for new ways to compete, to find new ways to stay sharp, so I always felt like exhibition pool is a good answer.” As the lathe continued to turn and Martin kept his eyes focused on the task at hand, he’s asked what prompted the decision to organize the match. And then suggested that it would be Martin who would be doing the butt-kicking in the near future. Having arrived only a few hours before and still dealing with a bit of travel fatigue, Garcia yawned. Garcia, sitting a few feet away, is asked whether he intends to emerge victorious in the upcoming match. “We see each other out and about at the tournaments a lot and he’s definitely one of the few guys that I like to hang out with, spend time with out at the events.” “We’re good friends,” Martin explained, as he worked with a cue on a lathe in the Pro shop a few hours before the match. Garcia is currently the #1-ranked competitor in the Predator Pro Billiard series. tables and invited world-class pro player, Roland Garcia from the Philippines to be Martin’s opponent in the Exhibition match. In coordination with the room’s owners, Jim and Margaret Grago, they transformed a restaurant space within the facility into a 60-seat arena, dismantled and re-assembled one of the room’s nine, 9-ft. The event was organized by pro-player Justin Martin, who grew up and currently lives in Wilmington and for the past 15 months, has run the JUMP Billiards Pro Shop at Breaktime Billiards in the city. 10, two professionals squared off in a somewhat isolated venue in Wilmington, NC and played a double-hill exhibition match that was everything, as a spectator, one could hope for ups and downs, lead changes and at the end of a race-to-17, a single game to determine the winner. Exhibition and/or Challenge matches happen all the time, but on Saturday, Sept. ![]() It was, in many ways, emblematic of the much larger pool community that has come so far while continuing to have a long way to go.
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