Local pool players make championship shot

Team Lucky 7, an all-women team featuring Kahnawake pool players Missy Montour and Darleen Sylvestre-Thompson, will be heading to Las Vegas, Nevada later this year to compete in the American Poolplayers Association (APA) 8-Ball Championships.

The team punched their ticket to Las Vegas by winning the Canadian Pool Players Association Women’s League Championship of the Monteregie in St. Hyacinthe, defeating the Striking Ladies team on March 1.

“I wanted to win, but I did not go there thinking, ‘alright, today I’m going to win here and for sure we’re going to Vegas,’” said Montour.

“I don’t go in with that mindset, whatever happens, I was happy. Either you go to Vegas or you play in the Montreal International. I would have been happy with either one.”

This won’t be Montour’s first foray in Las Vegas for a pool championship. Despite only starting to play pool competitively semi-recently in 2017, this will be her third time going to Nevada to compete.

“I’m so excited, because it’s a lot of fun. I see the amount of people there, it’s crazy, insane, and it’s exciting,” said Montour.

“I love walking into the hotel for the first time when you arrive, and you have your pool cues on your back, and every single person in the hotel has pool cues in their hands. It’s just amazing.”

Montour has been a pool player long before playing competitively. When she quit smoking in 2017, she went looking for bars outside of town where she could play pool in a non-smoking environment. Afraid she would stick out, she instead found other, older pool players such as herself to play with. That’s where she got noticed by a coach, and she joined a competitive team.

She’s been playing for that team, The Fireballs, as well as a team in Akwesasne and the Lucky 7 ever since.

In particular, Montour said playing in Akwesasne has been preparing her well for the championships in Las Vegas.

“All the leagues here in Canada, they are played on a nine-foot table, but in Vegas, we play on a much smaller table. It’s a big difference,” said Montour.

“You might think a smaller table is going to be easier, but it’s not. On a nine-foot table, you know your surroundings, what you can do. All of a sudden, you win a tournament, and you’re in Vegas, and you’re on a little table, and nothing is working.”

In Akwesasne, they play on the same size of tables as those that will be played in Las Vegas.

“I have the best of both worlds. I have a little table in Akwesasne, and I have a bigger table here,” said Montour.

Sylvestre-Thompson has also been to Vegas to compete before, competing in the APA championships last year. She said that the experience changed a lot from when she had previously gone in the 1990s - but it’s still a great time.

“Seeing all those people there from all over the country, the United States, Canada, even other countries like Singapore and a few other places, playing for money, it’s exciting,” said Sylvestre-Thompson.

The money in question is a $50,000 prize purse, with $10,000 going to the winning team.

The championships will take place from April 28 to May 1 at the Westgate Resort.

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