Rack em’ up, the pool tournament is back at the Monument

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - League pool players in the state of South Dakota have gathered at the Monument for the state valley pool championship.

The tournament is broken into two events: 9-ball and 8-ball.

Tournament player Cecil Lagrande has been playing pool for more than 30 years and explained the difference between the two tournaments.

“Nine ball has nine balls on the table and you shoot it in numerical rotation, so, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. And eight ball there is 15 balls on the table, you shoot either stripes or solids in any rotation and eight ball is the last ball you have to shoot in,” said Lagrande.

This event happens every other year and will wrap up on Sunday, with the champions being announced.

“The winners are playing primarily for bragging rights, obviously we got trophies, there’s a bit of money involved as well. Mainly it’s the prestige of doing well and winning their division,” said Joe Sefrna, tournament director.

Around 1000 people from all over the state gathered to play, which can result in an eight and out for the city.

“It’s important that we have our building full with any kind of event. Having an event like this that has been coming for so long is something we want to keep. It brings outside visitors in, it brings people who normally don’t come on a regular basis, so it’s just a great economic impact, great to have the building full and it’s a variety, it’s something for everybody,” said Priscilla Dominguez, director of corporate sales and marketing, the Monument.

According to Michigan State University, hosting sporting events is good for the economy because it brings in money from people out of state and creates jobs.

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