Despite their fancy terminology filled with references to “hundies,” “finding the forty” and “skeason,” skee-ball is not really all that complicated.
You roll a ball into a lane of an arcade game in order to get it to drop into a circular hole worth differing amounts of points.
Of course if it were just that simple, anyone could become a champion.
Instead it takes practice, stamina, strategy and a little bit of luck to win the sport’s greatest honor: winning the inaugural Skee-Ball iPhone App Tournament.
From February 12 to 14, the tournament is coming to Williamsburg’s Full Circle Bar, preceded by the Brewskee-Ball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, that Friday night.
For Brewskee-Ball League founder and Full Circle owner Eric Harris Pavony, it’s a long time coming.
“A lot of the time, to be honest, the best teams in the leagues are the ones who have been rolling for the longest period of time. Just like anything else, practice makes perfect. They put in the time and effort outside of the league to come in on off nights and practice,” said Pavony.
Competitors from throughout the country will flock to the bar on the second weekend in February to compete in the 64-field single-elimination tournament. Pavony says that Brooklyn-native William Ocean, San Francisco-native Joey The Cat, JaySkee from Austin, TX, and Adrian from Wilmington, DE, all number one seeds, will be the favorites and their strategies are as different as their localities.
“Some rollers, like all-stars William Ocean and The Ambassador, go for hundreds, or as we refer to them “hundos” — small point pockets on the top left and right of the board. They have developed into hybrid rollers,” said Pavony.
The winner gets their very own iPod Touch and will be inducted into the Brewskee Ball Hall of Fame. A weekend of high drama awaits.
The BrewSkee-Ball Tournament is February 12 at 8 pm, February 13 at 3 and 7 pm, and February 14 at 5 and 9 pm at Full Circle Bar (318 Grand St.). For more information, visit www.brewskeeball.com, e-mail info@brewskeeball.com or call (347) 725-4588.
