Friday night practice video:
POUGHKEEPSIE – Hundreds of pool players and spectators began arriving in Poughkeepsie on Friday for the American Poolplayers Association Hudson Valley Chapter (APA) pool tournament at the MJN Convention Center. The winning team travel to Las Vegas for the APA World Championship in August. Several players arrived on Friday to practice for Saturday and Sunday’s matches.
The staff at the MJN Convention Center, under the supervision of Facility Manager Franco Giangrasso, began setting the hall up earlier in the week including the positioning of 36 regulation tables and stringing lights for each table from the rafters.
Fifty of the teams will begin competition on Saturday morning and the MJN is expecting hundreds of spectators to attend as well. The competition will continue throughout the weekend.
The Hudson Valley APA (HVAPA) is the largest league in New York, covering Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester Counties. According to the HVAPA, you don’t have to be a pool shark, because everyone can play and anyone can win. The APA is designed for beginners and novices. The APA claims “No other organization in pool gives ordinary players a chance to win a share of nearly $1.5 million guaranteed cash and prizes paid out through its national tournaments.”
