Sticks and tricks take over Hot Shots

TRICK SHOTS AT HOT SHOTS

Sticks and tricks take over Hot Shots

If you walk into the Hot Shots pool hall any day of the week, you won’t see showboating, fist pumping, excessive smack talk or any unnecessary roughness.

But Saturday night was an exception to that — to an extent — as a handful of players tried to make their way through the trick shot tournament by showing off their best, crazy shots on the felt.

Denny Ungs started playing pool when he was 5 years old. After taking a hiatus off for a number of years, he came back as a teenager, ran the tables at some local halls in Cedar Rapids and has been running the tables in Charles City for a while now.

His competition Saturday night, Russ Arends, also frequents Hot Shots. Arends plays league pool out of Hot Shots every Tuesday and Thursday night.

The two have played each other before — nearly everyone who comes in on Friday and Saturday nights has played each other a few times — and were playing for money Saturday night.

But that didn’t stop Arends from helping Ungs, and vice versa, when it came to trying to figure out how to line up some of the most difficult tricks shots.

“Whenever I see someone who is struggling, or really wants to learn, I’ll go out of my way to help them,” Ungs said. “Some people say, ‘Hey, you’re helping the competition. Stop that.’ But how am I supposed to get better if my competition sucks?”

Timed jumps, bending the balls around obstacles and crazy bounce shots off rails were just a few of the trick shots that players tired Saturday night. Arends jokingly said a couple times “this is just a stupid game.” He explained how he meant that seriously, but lightly.

“I say that lightly,” Arends said. “It’s a mental clearing for me. After I say that, it is sometimes a stupid game, I can come back and I’m already ready for my next shot.”

Although Ungs, Arends and the rest of the patrons at Hot Shots frequently play each other, the caliber of players that are coming out of Charles City are some of the highest in the state, Arends said.

Hot Shots owner Joe Hull won the trick shot tournament on the winner’s side of the bracket. Joe Carroll took home the winnings on the loser’s side of the bracket. Hull and Carroll split the winnings.

By Stephen Koenigsfeld sports@charlescitypress.com