The Hitman meets the Korean Dragon 2004

Thorsten started spending most of his time traveling away from home. During one of the tournaments in 2004, he was invited to play in the Florida Open, which is promoted by Charlie Williams. They became close friends and Thorsten began to spend a lot of time in Florida.

Charlie convinced Thorsten to consider moving to the U.S. Pool had been slowing down in Germany and sponsors were becoming harder and harder to find. Just recently, Rodney “the Rocket” Morris, had moved to Spring Hill, Florida to become the house pro of the popular pool hall, Capone’s. Charlie had the idea of relocating Thorsten from Germany to Florida, but the first step was to find a home pool hall for him.

In September, 2004 Thorsten was introduced to Jeff Scott, owner of Bankshot Billiards (aka Bankshots) in Jacksonville, Florida. Jeff took a long drive with Platinum Billiards owner, Shane Sinnot, to Atlanta just to meet Thorsten, who was playing a tournament at that time. One week later, Thorsten visited Bankshots, which had recently opened as an upscale pool hall with over 10,000 square ft. and 22 Olhausen pool tables.

By the end of the year, Thorsten officially became Bankshot’s first house pro. He practiced there, gave lessons and represented the room during his tournaments. In the beginning, he was staying with the owners, Jeff and Joan Scott, but soon Thorsten made a lot of new friends. Two of them were Dan Laski and his girlfriend Deirdre Haefeli, who were looking for a roommate for their new house. It was just a 5 minute drive from Bankshots. In April, 2005 Thorsten moved into the “Dome”.

2005

Charlie realized that Thorsten needed some help finding sponsors and getting his name out, so in May, 2005, Dragon Promotions became Thorsten’s management.

2005 was another great year for Thorsten. After winning the European Straight Pool Championships for the first time with a tournament average of 50 balls per inning (Thorsten ran three times 125 and out, including semi-final and final) and he demolished one of America’s favorites, Johnny Archer, in the BCA Open Final with a 7-0 white wash on ESPN.

In September, Cue and Case, became Thorsten’s sponsor.

His new cue: Lucasi with a Universal SmartShaft.

Just two weeks after receiving his new cue, Thorsten won the Sudden Death 7-Ball against Corey Deuel on ESPN and the following week, the World Pool League against Fransisco Bustamante in the final.

Thorsten became busier and busier, but Bankshots wanted Thorsten to spend more time at the pool room, so they finally decided end their business relationship. Thorsten still resided in Jacksonville, FL.

The big news in the world of pool was the International Pool Tour. Founded by infomercial king, Kevin Trudeau, the tour promised never-before-seen high class pool event production with an unprecedented amount of prize money. Thorsten was selected to be one of the 43 players to compete in the first event called “King of the Hill” in Orlando Florida, but after being abstinent of 8-Ball for a long time, he turned into a spectator after the second day of the tournament. Efren Reyes won the King of the Hill and the $150,000 US prize.

2006

The new year, after spending several weeks in Fulda with coach Michael, started promising with a tournament win in Verona at the Turningstone Classic 6.

In July, Thorsten snapped of the first modern World Pool Championships held at the Hilton Hotel in East Brunswick, New Jersey. He only needed three innings race to 200 to defeat his German fellow, Thomas Engert, and win this title that was important to him. Thorsten also eliminated US-top player, John Schmidt, with a 174 balls and out unfinished run.

After winning the event the main sponsor, Randy Goldwater, invited him for a few days to stay in New York City. They became friends and Thorsten ended up staying in the big apple for the entire summer. He practiced every day at New York’s finest, Amsterdam Billiards, mostly playing Straight Pool and 8-Ball, getting ready for the IPT season.