In fact, the city has never even enjoyed a spot on the map in the world of elite professional pool tournaments — until now.
Master Billiard & Cafe in Sunnyside is…
By Dustin Brown
New York City is the capital of a lot of things, but pool has never been one of them.
In fact, the city has never even enjoyed a spot on the map in the world of elite professional pool tournaments — until now.
Master Billiard & Cafe in Sunnyside is playing host to a three-day tournament from Aug. 15 to 17 that may very well transform the Queens Boulevard haunt into an annual destination in the international pool circuit.
“The tournament in August is unprecedented for New York. Anyone who is involved in the sport knows how puzzling it is that there really has not been a professional nine-ball event in New York City,” said the tournament’s director, Alexandra Dyer. “We will have some of the best players in the world competing in the field.”
The event will cast a spotlight on a pool hall that only three years ago was languishing from neglect when proprietor Benedict Min convinced the previous owner to sell him the business, which enjoys a prime location at the corner of Queens Boulevard and 39th Street.
“I told him, ‘If you’re not interested in running this business, sell it to me. I’m going to make this place a really nice place for people who love pool,’” said Min, sitting at a table in the cafe and bar area that overlooks the action at the pool tables. “I updated and modernized this place. It was so dark, we couldn’t even see what was going on on the other side of the hall.”
That’s no longer the case at Master Billiard, where more than two dozen pool and billiard tables are bathed in light through much of the night, giving the nocturnal hot-spot an eternal glow that creates the impression of a never-ending day for the night owls who frequent it.
Master Billiards is the ideal place for an insomniac, especially on tournament nights — Sundays for billiards, and Mondays and Thursdays for pool. Min, who immigrated from South Korea in 1972 to attend business school, spends his nights wide awake at the pool hall and only returns home to New Jersey as the sun is coming up.
Dyer runs the weekly Monday night nine-ball tournament, which starts around 9 p.m. and can run past 3 a.m. Although she earns her keep in the finance and management field, Dyer’s passion is pool — and her professional experience in organizing events has given her an edge when it comes to running pool tournaments.
“I’ve been playing pool since I’m 5 years old. My father taught me,” she said. “I have a love of the game that has never weakened.”
The hall is a wall-to-wall spread of tables, framed along two sides by a thin sliver of hardwood floor that serves as a bar and cafe.
The players enjoy a raucous camaraderie, with the hum of chatter not even dying down when Dyer and her co-director try to assemble the ranks and lay down the ground rules to get a Monday night tournament started.
“Now everybody is friends with everybody. They come by themselves,” Min said. “You don’t have to come here with your friends together to play a game.”
Instead, patrons can just arrive solo, hang around a bit and then latch onto one another for a few games.
When the big tournament arrives in August, only eight tables will be left in the playing area, which will be framed by arena seating for about 200 spectators.
The event will bring a seriousness to the sport that Min believes is well-deserved despite the nay-sayers who consider pool halls to be sources of trouble.
“You need years of practice to become a good player,” Min said. “Pool is an even harder game than playing golf. I don’t know why this game of pool doesn’t become an Olympic sport.”
Dyer expects Min’s commitment to pool will reap rewards for his hall.
“I think that over time that will in fact make Master Billiard a destination spot for players of high caliber who are coming into the city and who are looking for like individuals,” she said. “I think also what it will do is give a foundation for a major annual event in our sport in New York City, which we absolutely want to do. This is definitely not a one-time affair.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
