Jonathan Schwab

Are you ready for some foosball? Our House in Allston sponsored its weekly tournament last Wednesday and 20 people competed to win $80 and $25 gift certificate for first prize.

Randomly chosen teams of two duked it out in the double elimination tournament. It’s open to anyone who wants to play, but foosball isn’t just a frat house basement game any more.

Dave Nickerson, a self-proclaimed professional foosball player, said it was his third night at an Our House tournament. Nickerson, who plays rock and roll and lays carpet in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, is the foosball mentor of the open singles winner of last year’s Las Vegas foosball tournament, 20-year-old Billy Pappas. The proud mentor said his former student is one of the best young players the game has seen. But whether a player is 20 or 40 does not really matter in this game, Nickerson said.

“At any age and nearly any weight you can be great,” he said. “It’s very evenly matched.”

Luck factors into foosball to a certain extent but it doesn’t take you very far at tournaments like the ones at Our House, Nickerson added, and players are only as successful as the skills and strategies they use.

“You have to be a solid thinker,” said Nickerson, who grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts.

New England Foosball Association promoter Stephen Rogge was at the Tournament. Rogge is American but grew up in Singapore, playing and watching foosball matches

The best player in the house that night was Mike Philbrook, according to Nickerson. Philbrook wore a Whiteboy hat and cursed a-plenty.

The top national foosball tournament is in Las Vegas in September, offering a grand prize of $130, 000 and a player pool of more than 1,000 players on about 120 tables.

Jonathan Schwab can be reached at jschwab@theoysteronline.com

Corrections, March 2, 2006: This article originally and incorrectly stated that the players at Our House competed for $80 or a $25 gift certificate for first prize. The winning players get both, second prize is $40 and a $15 gift certificate, and the team that comes in third gets $20 and a bottle of champagne. This article originally and incorrectly also stated that Dave Nickerson is the father of Billy Pappas. He was his mentor.

02/22/2006   |   Permalink