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Eddie: “You miss? Now, you don’t leave much when you miss do ya, Fat Man?” Minnesota Fats: “That’s what the game’s all about.” And it still is all about that, but you can pocket the sleazy characters in smoke-filled back alley pool halls. That is just so yesterday.

Today’s competitive pool world is very much a family-friendly affair going on in spacious non-polluted locations like Stix on 36 , 3645 U.S. 36, on the city's east side.



The new Decatur venue , as much restaurant as pool hall, opened this year and invites players to step outside if they want to smoke. The business just got done hosting the American Poolplayers Association qualifiers for the APA World Championship happening in Las Vegas in August. The qualifiers were staged over two weekends that concluded Sunday.

Hundreds of men and women, ages 18 to 80, arrived from all over Central Illinois to shoot it out in eight- and nine-ball events with sudden death elimination. Deb Wilson, a member of the splendidly named “Rackless Intentions” team from Champaign, was getting ready for a crucial game late Sunday morning. She and her four fellow players were hoping to secure a berth among the nine teams headed to those Sin City world championships, where the prize money is valued in the millions of dollars.

“I would say there are a lot of emotions in pool," Wilson said. "It’s a rollercoaster. “But it's so satisfying when you win and when you are part of a team.

And, when you lose, the team is there .

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