Skills are tested, beer is drunk and the air is full of lively competition as players from across the nation make their way to Harmonie German Club for the Australian Blackball National Championships on until 20 April.

“People know pool as just a game they play once in a while when they go to the pub, but when you’re watching somebody who knows what they’re doing, it is actually a really good spectator sport,” says competitor Paul Berger.

Competing across different categories including men’s, women’s, seniors (over 40s), masters (over 50s) and LDPD (learning difficulties, physical difficulties), participate in teams, pairs and solo events. They are all hoping to take home a title, a little cash and a trip to the 2024 World Championships in Bridlington, England this October.

Running from 8:30am to midnight each day, those playing are in it for the long game. The matches often rowdy and are live-streamed to more than 90 countries.

The reigning champions, the Cobras, are defending their title. Mick Norton, who has been playing pool since 1998, has competed at state and national levels for more than 20 years. Having represented Australia for the first time in 2015, he has also done so for the past four consecutive years and hopes to make it a fifth.

“Hopefully we go back-to-back and the team wins again. We’ve got a bit of pressure, but I am feeling confident we are going to go close,” says Mick.

It isn’t just the team categories Mick wants to excel in, he is hoping to score high across the board including solo, doubles and mixed doubles events.

“I’ve won the doubles before and last year I made both semis. I just want to get in the finals in the singles and I want to win the doubles with my teammate. We’ve won it once before and we did well overseas in the doubles,” he says.

In his first time being properly involved as a competitor, Paul is hoping to have fun and not embarrass himself. Along with being part of the competition, Paul is the CEO of Harmonie German Club, he says the 240 visiting players will contribute to the local economy with the three nearest motels booked out far in advance.

“It is a significant input into the local community. These people are all spending money, they’re all basically here on holiday going to restaurants and shops when they get free time,” says Paul.

In what is not his first rodeo, Gerard Johnston has been playing pool variants since he was 16 years old, learning on his step-father’s secondhand table.

“A chipboard base with water damage, it was like playing on a hill. I played on that until I was old enough to go to a pub, then got hooked on the atmosphere of a pub round,” says Gerard.

Friends since before they were teenagers, Doug Percy also learned to play on the lumpy table. Doug entered a competition a year after Gerard and neither has looked back since, now both in the masters division.

“I’ve had fantastic opportunities through pool, I’ve been lucky enough to represent internationally. The first time I went in 1996, I wasn’t playing, I was team manager and that was the first year that Australia won the world championships,” says Doug.

Another masters player, Jack Dehm has played variants for 30 years, from snooker to 8 ball and blackball. After turning 50, Jack joined the Masters division and has represented Australia three times.

“They are memories that last absolutely forever, the opportunity to travel somewhere else and play people at different levels is just tremendous,” says Jack.

Pool players are also punsters explains Gerard, with names like On Cue or Chicks with Sticks, his team The Four Chalkman of the Apocolypse needed a fifth player for the championships and had to drop back their name to The Chalkman.

Also in The Chalkman are Doug and Jack, the three men have been playing 8 ball together for 25 years. So, it was a natural adjustment that they would play blackball together when it came to Canberra around 4 years ago. Last year their team finished 3^rd in the national championships.

“We’re looking to at least do the same or a bit better this year. Gerard and I, we’re currently the reigning masters double champions as well,” says Doug.

Blackball is popular in England and the rules are similar to pool but have a few differences that change the course of the game, Paul describes it as Superleague versus NRL.

“It’s a very radical difference really. Where you play your skill shots and where you play your tactical shots between the two games can cause a huge difference to the result,” says Jack.

Unlike some sports where your body has a time limit on how long you can play, pool is one that people can play for decades on end. Long-term teammates often mean long-term friendships like Gerard, Doug and Jack.

“We have a lot of activities outside of the sport itself, we’re all lifelong friends. Relationships that you don’t see in a lot of other sports,” says Jack.

“It’s the community of 8 ball that attracts to me to it, especially in the ACT we’re recognised as having a really good association and a really good bunch of people. That’s why I am so focused on supporting it,” says Paul.

These friendships extended into the competitions, while they want to defeat their opponents, there is always time for a laugh and a beer. 

“You get to know people. You may not see them from one year to the next but you build such a rapport with these people, it’s like you’ve never been away,” says Doug.

The best in the nation will be on display across the championships, the men say some players are so good that the opponent won’t get a single shot in. Always wanting more competitors to test themselves against, the players say anyone interested should head on down to the German Club and see what it is all about.

“Outside of the pool fraternity, most people don’t even know there is a competition for pub pool,” says Gerard.

See who will win the title at the Australian Blackball National Championships at Harmonie German Club on 13-20 April, for more information visit; blackballaus.com.au

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