Professional Bowlers Association Sands Regency Regional Players Championships

Among the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA)’s nearly 3,500 regional competitors, winning the Sands Regency PBA Regional Players Invitational (RPI) ranks high on the wish list. But winning the 2010 edition at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., Dec. 14-16 also means an automatic berth in the “Elite” field for the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions and a shot at a
$250,000 prize.

The 42nd annual RPI will feature 84 of the country’s top regional players representing

PBA’s East, South, Central, Southwest, Midwest, West and Northwest
Regions who qualified for the event by finishing in the top 25 in points of their

respective regions. The 2010 RPI also is open – for the first time – to
PBA Senior players who finished in the top five in points in senior events within

their regions, or who qualified in special senior regional qualifying events.

The PBA Regional Players Invitational – one of two major championships the PBA

offers each year to its regional members – will offer a $6,000 first prize plus the

“Elite” field berth for the Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes in Las
Vegas Jan. 15-22.

In addition, all players will have an optional opportunity to compete for seven 
exemptions to bowl full-time on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour during the 
2011-12 season. All results in the RPI will be based on total pinfall for 37 
games of qualifying and match play.

Last year, Scott Norton of Costa Mesa, CA, won the 41st RPI at the National 
Bowling Stadium, and he converted his opportunity to compete on the Lumber 
Liquidators PBA Tour into a berth in the stepladder finals of the Chameleon 
Championship which airs Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.

The RPI will get started with a players’ reception hosted by the Sands Regency 
Hotel and Casino on Monday, Dec. 13. Following a practice session Tuesday 
morning, the entire field will bowl three seven-game qualifying rounds Tuesday 
and Wednesday. After 21 games, the top 16 will advance to bowl two eight-game 
round robin match play rounds on Thursday to determine the final standings.

Live coverage of the PBA Regional Players Invitational and the Tri-Regional 
Sands Regency Open leading into the RPI will be available on pba.com’s Xtra 
Frame video service. Bowling fans will be able to watch RPI and Tri-Regional 
coverage at no charge by taking advantage of Xtra Frame’s free trial 
subscription during the month of December.

Xtra Frame coverage of the Tri-Regional will include qualifying and semifinal 
rounds on Sunday, Dec. 12, at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Pacific, and the match play 
finals round at 9 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 13. RPI coverage will include qualifying 
rounds Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m., and Wednesday at 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., 
followed by eight-game match play rounds Thursday at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

To experience the “new” Xtra Frame at no cost during December, go to 
https://www.xtraframe.tv/pba/secure/registerform and choose the “Friends and 
Family” option. In the promotion code area, enter PBAFAF. When the complimentary 
subscription period ends on Dec. 31, fans will automatically convert to 
subscribers at the $7.99 monthly subscription rate unless they “opt out.”

The inaugural RPI was won by hall of famer Tom Hennessey, a member of the fabled 
Budweiser’s of St. Louis team, in Cincinnati in 1969 and since has become a 
launching pad for a number national touring players. Past champions who are 
currently PBA Tour exempt players include Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, TX 
(1999); Ritchie Allen, Columbia, SC (2004), and John Nolen, Waterford, MI 
(2008).

In addition to Norton, the other 2009 RPI qualifiers who earned 2010-11 Lumber 
Liquidators PBA Tour exemptions are: Bobby Hall II, Landover, MD; Ryan 
Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, NY; Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, WI; Chris Warren, 
Grants Pass, OR; Dave Beres, Greenfield, WI, and Jeff Zaffino Warren, PA.