Mark has been around pool his whole life. He started shooting pool when he was only 3 years old. He learned to play pool in the old pool halls, you know, the one on the square. The one where you used to have to yell for a rack. When you did, a guy would come over and rack the balls for a dime. The floors were oak and accented with cigarette burns. There was a platform where rows of old oak chairs were positioned so you could get a good view of the games. There were brass spittoons throughout the pool hall that no one ever seemed to be able to hit. There was a huge fan in the back that would suck air through the place to help get the smoke out. The language was rough but everyone seemed to know everyone and they were polite. There was an old red Coke machine with a big silver lever and you could get a cold soda for fifteen cents. There were no microwaves but they had an old convection oven that they would use to heat up sandwiches for a quarter. They had a snooker table that the old men would play golf on every afternoon. When I think of a pool hall that is what comes to mind.
Mark shot throughout his teens and joined the BCA Heart of America Pool Association at age 18 and is currently a BCA Retail Member. One of the functions of the HAPA was to go into Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary once a year and shoot the inmates in a pool tournament. They were pretty good! They had a lot of time to practice. The name of their team was ‘The Crooked Cues’.
Mark went on to run a successful contracting business and has owned an Insurance Agency for the last twenty years, which specializes in health insurance for the self-employed. He has over 500 agents in nineteen and is used to running a successful business.
Mark is also a Booking Agent for Paul Gerni, (22 time world trick-shot champion), Loree Jon Jones (BCA Hall of Fame), and Jennifer Baretta (#12 Rated woman player in the world).
Mark is committed to promoting the sport of pool and bringing pool products and services to the players. This is an evolving sport and we make the commitment to evolve along with it and do what it takes to make the player more successful.