Making its return to the Matador campus in the tech and gaming getaway, the Games Room at CSUN hosted its billiards tournament on Nov. 13. From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., the highly-anticipated and packed event held an open sign-up to all students looking to compete for pool hall immortality.
The billiards tournament comes around every semester; this fall’s tournament had 19 students battling in pool play, formatted with a winners’ and losers’ bracket.
First-place honors were rewarded with a $25 gift card and their name sitting high in the raptures on the 2025 Games Room champions banner. Second place received a $15 gift card, and third place earned a $10 gift card as the winner of the losers’ bracket.
All five tables were used in a best-of-three first round, where the contestants alternated the tables based on randomly selected matchups. The first-round loser out of the first set of three games still had a shot, but would go to the losers’ bracket, which then turned to sudden death. Win or go home – though not literally forced to leave the premises – the students’ participation in the tournament would come to a close. This process repeated until the championship round.
In the semifinal, the losers’ bracket turned to placing third at best, with chances of winning the banner spot in the raptures of the Games Room dashed. Much like March Madness, the tournament concluded with a final four in the championship round. The last two losers in the semis competed for third place and were named the winner of the losers’ bracket, while the winners’ bracket battled to be crowned the king of pool for this semester at CSUN.
Roberto Ulloa and Seth Magnotti have held the title of champion for the last four semesters, including in this fall semester.
Ulloa was the reigning champion coming into the tournament, snatching Magnotti from the throne. He was the only player to have two titles under his belt, having his name on two banners. Leaving with a bitter feeling of falling short, Magnotti expressed his focus on returning to victory.
“I won in the fall my freshman year in 2023, and I had never played pool prior, so this space gave me a chance to play and connect with all these guys,” Magnotti said. “I won last fall as well, so that was awesome. It’s always in the fall apparently – I suck in the spring. I actually lost to Robert in the last tournament, and in the finals, I was actually up two to one in the series and couldn’t close due to not being able to hit my eight ball. That was unfortunate, so I have been practicing getting my form right in preparation for this semester’s tournament. I have high hopes to come out with a win this time.”
The saga continued in an anticipated rematch for the championship banner honors and the $25 gift card reward between Magnotti, the hungry for redemption two-time former champion, and the new top contender of the pool hall, Ulloa.
Explaining his approach to protecting his title, Ulloa didn’t seem nervous about Magnotti’s ambitions or other opponents, confident that if he was on his A game, history would repeat itself.
“An advantage I had the first time was I was able to prepare for my opponents and see how they play and practice,” Ulloa said. “This year, I wasn’t able to because of classes, but that doesn’t change anything. I know a lot of the people playing, and I know I can beat them.”
Added to the two-time championship list, Ulloa stood on business and proved his theory that he could win. Magnotti finished as runner-up for the second time in a row, losing the set 4-3 in the final game.
Coming in at third as the losers’ bracket’s last standing was Isaac Romero, who also had a nail-biting seven-game set that went to the final round.
The next billiards tournament will be held in the spring, featuring familiar faces aiming to get those bold letters spelling their names on the scarlet red banner. Upcoming Games Room tournaments can be found on CSUN News & Events page.
