Rodolfo Luat (born December 8, 1957) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

professional

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...

player from

Angeles City , anthem = Himno ning Angeles (Angeles Hymn) , subdivision_type3 = District , subdivision_name3 = , established_title = Settled , established_date = 1796 , established_title1 = Chartere ...

. He holds many Asian titles and has won a few titles in U.S. Luat turned professional at age 16. He has titles in the Asian Championship and the Philippine Nine-ball Open in 1992. In 1996 Luat won the Camel Open 9-Ball Championship defeating

Nick Varner Nick Varner (born May 15, 1948, in Owensboro, Kentucky) is an American pool player who was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1992. Varner is a world champion and has won back to back U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships, i ...

in the finals. "Boy

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

" is a moniker he has carried since the 1970s because of his powerful break. During the 2003 Asian Nine-ball Tour, Luat commented that he broke so hard one time that he made a crack on the cue ball.

Career

In 1978, Luat represented Team Philippines in the Philippines-Japan Rotation Friendship Tournament, alongside Jose Parica,

Efren Reyes Efren Manalang Reyes (born August 26, 1954), popularly known by the nickname "Bata" (English: "Kid"), is a Filipino professional pool player. Reyes is widely considered one of the greatest pool players of all time. A winner of over 100 inte ...

, Jorge Dacer, and Manuel Flores. He won the Taiwan leg of the 2006

WPA Asian Nine-ball Tour The WPA Asian Nine-ball Tour (also known as the Guinness Asian 9-Ball Tour or San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour for sponsorship reasons) was an annual series of nine-ball pool tournaments around East and Southeast Asia. The tour began in 2003, and is ...

beating Hsia Hui-kai 11–7 in the finals. He participated in the 2006

International Pool Tour The International Pool Tour was a professional sports tour created in 2005 by Kevin Trudeau and hosted by Rebecca Grant. It aimed to elevate pool to the level of other modern sports. Closely modeled on the PGA Tour, the IPT offered the largest pri ...

IPT North American Open Eight-ball Championship held at

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

. Very skilled players in nine-ball have the tendency to sometimes pocket four or even five balls . Luat, at the 2005 Japan Open 9-Ball held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, sank ''six'' balls on the break,"NEWS - 03-24-05 Japan Open 9-Ball – Reyes defeats Luat"
by

Ralf Souquet Ralf Souquet ( ; born 29 November 1968) is a German professional pool player. His nickname is "The Kaiser". Since 1988, he has won more than 200 tournament titles, including 23 Euro Tour titles, 20 European Pool Championship and 12 German Pool ...

, ''Souquet.de'' blog, 2005; accessed February 11, 2007 Luat, 50, won the $15,000 top prize of the Bacolod leg, of the First Senate President

Manny Villar Manuel "Manny" Bamba Villar Jr. (; born December 13, 1949) is a Filipino billionaire businessman and former politician. He previously served as senator from 2001 to 2013 and as the President of the Senate of the Philippines from 2006 to 2008. ...

Cup, on November 16, 2008. At the Garden Royal Function Hall of Goldenfields Commercial Complex, Luat defeated

Ramil Gallego Ramil "Bebeng" Gallego (; ) (b. September 21, 1966 in Bacolod, Negros Occidental) is a Filipino professional pool player. As veteran player, Gallego has been competing in tournaments outside the Philippines, mainly in Japan. The Philippine publi ...

, 13-10.balita.ph, Luat bags title of Villar Cup Bacolod leg
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Titles and achievements

* 2008

Cup 9-ball Open * 2006 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour (Taiwan Leg) * 2000 Viking Nine-ball Tour Stop 27 * 1999 Southeast Asian Games Nine-ball Team * 1999 Northwest 9-Ball Open * 1996 Camel Open 9-Ball Championship * 1993 PBT

Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...

Team Championship * 1992 Asian Championship * 1992 Philippine 9-Ball Open * 1991 Asian Championship * 1991 Taipei World Cup * 1979 Philippines-Japan Team Rotation Competition * 1978 Philippines-Japan Team Rotation Competition

Personal life

Luat and his wife have two children, Geraldine Luat and Richard Bryan Luat.

References

External links

WPA World Nine-ball Championship bio of Luat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luat, Rodolfo Living people 1957 births Filipino pool players Sportspeople from Angeles City Place of birth missing (living people) Cue sports players at the 2010 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for the Philippines