By Joe Lemire

Contributing Writer

There’s no place like Vegas.

A pool team from the Oneonta-based No Place Tavern will discover that Monday, when the American Poolplayers Association National Team Championships begin in Las Vegas.

"It’s not something we ever figured would happen," said captain and No Place owner Kevin DeSilva, whose team qualified in its first season of competition in the APA. "You need a lot of luck to go. Just getting there, we’ve already won."

[an error occurred while processing this directive]The eight-member squad will compete in a pool of 670 teams in the Open 8-Ball division, meaning players need only to call their pocket when attempting to sink the 8-ball.

The six-day, modified double-elimination tournament culminates Aug. 27 with an afternoon final to determine which team takes home the $25,000 first-place prize. The top 256 teams — approximately 38 percent of all entries — are guaranteed to win at least $1,000.

The APA is the world’s largest amateur pool league and is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the tournament this year.

No Place started its journey to Vegas with a victory last fall in one of Oneonta’s three 12-week city leagues. From there, the team traveled to Utica for a June 11-12 tournament featuring approximately 50 teams at Hippo’s Billiards. After losing its first match, No Place rebounded to win their next six before falling in the June 12 final.

As the runner-up, they returned to Hippo’s the following Sunday to square off against that weekend’s second-place team. The stakes, DeSilva said, were high.

"The winner goes to Vegas, the loser gets nothing," he said.

The match was a race to three victories, and a first-game loss by Jerry Loucks put No Place in an early deficit. But John Maier, James Leveille and DeSilva rallied to take the next three games, ending the suspense and assuring their trip to Vegas.

No Place’s team features various levels of experience and skill, with handicaps ranging from two to seven and corresponding to the number of games a player must win to defeat an opponent. For instance, DeSilva is one of four players, along with teammates Loucks, Arlu Whitaker and Dale Anderson, with a handicap of six.

DeSilva, 42, said he can’t even remember exactly when he started playing.

"Oh God, I’ve been playing for 25 years or more," he said. "Most of my team has been playing for quite a while."

Conversely, the lowest handicap of two belongs to Donna Maier, originally of Cherry Valley, who began playing in January. Her husband, John Maier, who is a five handicap, began playing when he was a child and has been competing competitively off and on for about three years.

Five players from each team compete in every match, with the cumulative handicap not to exceed 23. Also competing for No Place is Carol DeSilva, who has a three handicap.

The team seems to have its eyes set on a strong performance in the tournament. But there should be plenty of other highlights, especially for the first-time visitors.

"I’m very excited to see the lights and all the amazing casinos everyone talks about," Donna Maier said.

With any luck, No Place will bring some money home, meaning what happens in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas for once.