"Like an addiction": Port Charlotte pool players compete in monthly 9-ball tournament

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (WINK) — The sound of pool balls cracking echoed throughout Veterans Billiards as players competed in what is now a monthly 9-ball tournament.

For one woman, the event is another stop on her journey toward playing professionally in a sport that's seeing more women join its ranks. The crack of the break and the sound of another shot finding the pocket are sounds pool players never get tired of hearing.

"The sound of when the ball hits the pocket, it's like an addiction," Yaileen Rivera said. "Every time you make a shot, you just want to keep going."

The 27-year-old started playing pool just three years ago. The Miami native travels across the state chasing tournaments like this one.

"At first, I just started in the amateur league, and then I decided I wanted to go pro, so I'm on that journey now," Rivera said.

Rivera says pool has long been viewed as a sport dominated by men. But that's changing.

"It's grown a lot, because a lot more women are getting into it too now, so that's the good part, and that's what I want to do too," Rivera said.

Tournament organizer Kim Dyer has seen that growth firsthand. Dyer was born in 1986, and in 1996, his best friend's dad got a pool table.

"I never looked back," Dyer said. "All winter long, we'd sit inside and play pool by the fire, and it was just something that I connected with when I was a little kid."

After finding a few local events in Southwest Florida, he started creating his own. What he didn't realize was the community he'd built along the way.

"Family, but better than family," Dyer said. "Here, the pool community, we kind of pick and choose our family, our friends."