With the bar having standing room only on this Monday night, you knew that this was a special event. Teams came from all over Southern California to gather for this momentous occasion.

The January 26th tournament was indeed a big deal in more ways then one. It was the first PongLeague tournament of 09, the first tournament at Buffalo Wild Wings, and the first tournament to have scorekeepers officiating the games using PongPilot’s. Never before have players been able to play in a tournament, where while they were playing, a scorekeeper was tracking over 27 different statistics via handheld PDA. This opportunity is what drove the majority of the teams to Buffalo Wild Wings on this night (besides the amazing wings, reasonably priced drinks and a prize pool of over $500 up for grabs).

With many high profiled shooters at the tournament, it seemed as though there were some heavy favorites amongst the crowd. Teams like Snipers.inc, GdUp, Team Beirut, May and Treanor/Walsh and The Cocksmen were just a few of the favorites. Not suprisingly many of the favorites were all teams from SCBP. SoCalBeerPong teams have long been noted for their skills and ability to come up clutch under pressure. But, the night did not belong to any of these teams the night belonged to Pocket Full of Change.

January 26th was ther first time players: Nick Rabbetts and Dustin played in a tournament together. Nick, also from Yugoslavian Pancakes, had a very consistent tournament; shooting well above average the entire night. In many of his games he went on 3 and 4 cup hit streaks. Dustin who once played as a part of Pure Filth, is a well known shooter to the SoCal faithful. Dustin did not disappoint; in the 3rd place match against May and Treanor/Walsh, (Peter Rusch and Brian Newell) Dustin hit fire and did not miss a single shot. Going into the finals, Pocket Full of Change had to win 2 games against the only team they had lost to all night, BirdFace Killers (Mike Leraas and Justin Fuller). This loss came in the winner brackets semi final round and they loss by 4 cups. However, Dustin maintained his streak from the 3rd place game, missing only one shot in the first game of the finals. Shooting 6 of 7, while Nick shot 4 of 6. This unheard of 9 cup hit streak could not have come at a better time and helped propel Pocket Full of Change through its first of two wins in the finals. After Dustin’ put on a shooting clinic, you could feel the morale of Mike and Justin slowly starting to slip away. As if getting beat by 6 cups in the first game was not bad enough, a supporter of Nick and Dustin’s splashed the table with quaters, pennies, nickels and dimes as soon as the last cup was made, snarling “Pocket Full of Change…..Bitch!”. The gesture was priceless, actually it was woth about 74 cents.

BirdFace Killers played a great tournament, but never really came back after that 1st loss. Dustin did not continue his hot streak into the last and final game, (if you can say 5 of 8 is not hot) but his partner Nick stayed consistent, just as he was all night (shooting 5 of 6) and that was enough to seal the victory.

A big thanks to all of the teams and supporters that came out. We could not have done this with out you. Look for more details about the next event soon.

To find out more about the players stats you can search for their profile using the search bar on the home page. Search their username. (Stats will be uploaded soon!).

Pocket Full Of Change:
cardinalwar
guest (Dustin did not have a profile, what a bummer).

BirdFace Killers:
bird
Face

May and Treanor/Walsh:
Peter
bnewell24

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