Name Allen Hopkins | Role Pool player | |
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Allen hopkins vs mika immonen at the world 14 1 tournament
Allen Hopkins (born November 18, 1951, Elizabeth, New Jersey) is an American professional pocket billiards (pool) player, professional billiards color commentator and BCA Hall of Fame inductee. He promotes multiple annual pool events and still competes as a professional contender.
Contents
- Allen hopkins vs mika immonen at the world 14 1 tournament
- Amateur days
- Pool career
- Titles
- Sportscasting and event promotion
- References
Amateur days
At seven years old, after watching many tournaments on television, Allen began to play pool on a small table his parents bought for him. As an amateur, at the age of 12, Hopkins ran a prodigious 110 balls and took this talent to play against grown men.
Pool career
By the age of 17, he went professional and took 5th place in the 1969 US Open Nine-ball Championship.
In 1977, Hopkins earned the title in that event again as well as the PPPA World Nine-ball Championship and the World Straight Pool Championship. By 1981, he won the US Open Nine-ball Championship. In both 1986 and 1987, Hopkins was the champion of the Japan World Open.
Hopkins' professional career began in the 1970s and spanned over three decades. He served on the board of the now-defunct Professional Pool Players Association as well as president of the MPBA.
At the 1979 PPPA World Open 14.1 Pocket Billiard Championship in New York City, New York, Hopkins posted the largest victory margin in the event, defeating Richie Florence, 150-1.
In 1993, he saw victory in the Challenge of Champions.
Allen Hopkins has had a high run of 410 in straight pool (14.1 continuous), and has run 15-and-out three times, in the game of one-pocket.
In 2002, Hopkins triumphed in the Denver Ten-ball Open, defeating Earl Strickland, Filipino champion Jose Parica, Corey Deuel, David Matlock, and faced Shannon Daulton in a thrilling double-hill finals.
In 2008, he was inducted to the BCA Hall of Fame by the Billiard Congress of America.
Titles
Sportscasting and event promotion
Allen Hopkins Productions started the Super Billiards Expo, each year held in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, which has since become the biggest consumer-oriented expo in the Billiards industry trade show in the world, with multiple tournaments for amateur, seniors, women and men professional player levels.
He has combined efforts with Billiards International and promoted pocket billiards exhibitions like the Skins Billiards Championship, the Texas Hold'em Billiards Championship, and two short-lived competitions, the Million Dollar Nine-Ball Shootout, and (with business partner Mike Andrews) the Team DMIRO tour.