Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No!! It’s Pinoy “SUPERMAN” Roberto Gomez. Roberto “Superman” Gomez and four other well-known Pinoy pool players were invited to play in the prestigious PARTYPOKER.net WORLD POOL MASTERS 2010 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from May 12-16, 2010. Roberto Gomez, as we fondly call him, was invited at the last moment by Luke Riches, one of the event tournament directors of this event, presented by Matchroom Sport based in UK. Gomez, became famous not only in the Philippines but around the world, especially in the United Kingdom when he almost snapped the 2007 edition of the 9-Ball World Pool Championship in Manila.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No!! It’s Pinoy “SUPERMAN” Roberto Gomez
Why and How did they call him Superman? Efren “Bata” Reyes would be the right person to answer this question. The legendary cue master was the one who baptized and gave him this moniker due to some reason. When I asked him why, he said to me, he (Gomez) is super good, super nice, super strong, super star, he is Superman. Since then, everybody calls him by that nickname. According to Superman himself, he had beaten Efren in the tournament 7 times in a row, and every time he beats “The Magician”, the living legend says in Tagalog, “super galing mo, para kang si Superman”.
The other four Filipinos invited before Gomez are, Lee Van Corteza from Digos City, Davao del Sur, Alex Pagulayan of Toronto, Canada, Francisco Bustamante of Tarlac City, Tarlac, and my one and only idol, Efren Reyes of Angeles City, Pampanga.
Gomez, who is from Zamboanga City in Mindanao, speaks 5 different dialects/languages. Zamboanga’s Chavacano, a local dialect with 70-80% Spanish words and a mixture of Bisaya, Cebuano, and Tagalog. He was also hired and worked as a field news reporter with GMA 7 in Zamboanga City. He’s one of the best pool players from Mindanao. Other notable pool players from the island of promise are Leonardo “Dodong” Andam of General Santos City, Dennis “Surigao” Orcollo of Bislig, Surigao del Norte, Gandy Valle, and Leonardo Didal of Davao City, and Lee Van Corteza from Digos City, Davao del Sur.
On the other hand, Efren Reyes and Roberto Gomez confirmed their attendance to play in the 1st Annual Hard Times-Mezz Cue 10-Ball Tournament to be held at the “world-famous” Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, Ca. from May 7th-9th, 2010.
The month of May would be a very busy month not only for pool players but also for billiard fans all over the world. This is the largest gathering of men & women, from a beginner, amateurs, pro-am, professionals, juniors, and seniors, former and current world champions, you name it, you can find them, watch them only at the Riviera Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas starting on May 12-22, 2010. One week later, Hollywood Billiards will be hosting another tournament, the Seminole 10-ball tour with a guaranteed $8,500 added and will be streamed live on the Internet.
It’s an engaging piece that celebrates Roberto Gomez’s accomplishments and introduces Filipino pride in the international pool scene. Let me know if you’d like further help with this!