MANILA, Philippines—The highly anticipated match between Filipino No. 1 Dennis Orcollo and German ace Ralf Souquet dubbed as Philippine Bigtime Billiards (PBB) Face Off Series gets under way Saturday at the Pagcor Airport Casino in Parañaque City.
“It’s anybody’s game,” said Orcollo, top player of Bugsy Promotions and the reigning World 8-Ball champion, of the 9 p.m. match.
The former fisherman from Bislig, Surigao del Sur, said the race-to-9, 10-ball duel is too close to call since it will be a winner’s-break affair.
Sports Betting at Mega Sports World has installed Orcollo the slight favorite at minus-2.5 as against Souquet’s plus-2.5 as of yesterday.
Under this setup, a $1 bet on Orcollo will win $1.40 while the same wager on Souquet will earn $2.50.
The Face Off marks another milestone for Philippine billiards as it will be aired worldwide through the Internet at www.megasportsworld.com and Solar Sports, Sky Channel 70 and Destiny Channel 34 every Saturday.
The PBB Face Off is a joint undertaking of Mega Sports World and BRKHRD Corp. in cooperation with Pagcor, PCSO, Accel, Diamond Table, Predator, Simonis cloth, Malungai Life Oil, I-Bar, Human Plus Probiotics, Golden Leaf Restaurant, Hermes Sports, and the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines.
The winner will get $5,000 while the loser will settle for $2,500.
Souquet, who guested in yesterday’s Scoop Forum at Kamayan Padre Faura, downed Orcollo, 8-5, during the World Pool Masters finals last September in Manila.
“It’s going to be a tough fight,” said Souquet who was accompanied by BRKHRD Corp.CEO and managing director Aurelio “Reli” de Leon at the Scoop forum.