Hoosier attorney is a master at 8-Ball

One day during his eighth grade year, Mike Dobosz’s parents moved a pool table into the basement.

Immediately, he was hooked on pool and never stopped playing.

“I instantly loved it,” said Dobosz, a long-time attorney in northern Indiana.

That love has made him a regular in 8-Ball competitions around the country.

In May, he placed fourth in the Valley National 8-Ball League World Pool Championships in Las Vegas, winning $1,400.

The competition hosts more than 4,000 pool league players from 27 states, six Canadian provinces and seven other countries.

There is a large room that has hundreds of pool tables lined up.

There are also side rooms with other pool tables where players may be making bets on games.

“I probably played three consecutive days, maybe 10 hours a day,” Dobosz said. “It’s hard. It’s trying to find some time to eat, trying to find some time to rest. But when you go deep into these tournaments, you just don’t lose right away. And when you go really, really deep in them to either win them or or get a top 10, you are playing constantly.”

He said he didn’t really get to enjoy Las Vegas as much as he might have wanted to. But playing pool is really why you are there, he added.

Prior to that competition, Dobosz placed first in the Illinois State Tournament, where he is currently the top player.

He played in the men’s senior singles with 19 other players. He took home $1,030.

Dobosz said at the tournament, he played until 4 a.m.

He also previously won American CueSports Midwest Championship in Davenport, Iowa, with that tournament including players from eight states.

In 2017, Dobosz was the top player in Indiana after competing in the Indiana Amusement & Music Operators Association State Championship.

“That was a dream,” Dobosz said. “I was on cloud nine. I really was. It was like an out of body experience.”

When he’s not competing in annual tournaments, Dobosz plays each week in local leagues.

He said that the purse players can win in those games is a couple thousand dollars, but they can also win a lot of money in the side room betting, with that money sometimes adding up to more than the winner’s purse.

“In high school, I’d play at parties and win dollar bills,” Dobosz said.

Practicing law

Dobosz is a partner at Hilbrich Cunningham Dobosz Vinovich & Sandoval LLP in Highland, where he focuses his practice on personal injury, medical malpractice, probate, and real estate law.

He has been with the firm since he graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington Law School in 1989.

Colleague Dan Vinovich said Dobosz is humble about his pool prowess.

“He’ll go to these (tournaments) every so often. He might tell me about it, or I might find out about it sometime later,” Vinovich said. “He is pretty humble about it.”

The two went to law school together and have been practicing law together for about 35 years.

Vinovich said he has played pool with Dobosz a few times over the years.

“If I get more than one turn, I’m lucky, but I’m not a very good pool player at all,” Vinovich said. “I know when to pick my battles, and that’s not one of them.”

Vinovich said Dobosz’s pool habit often limits his sleep.

“He’ll go to bed at like 3 a.m. on a regular night and wake up early. And so he probably gets three, four hours of sleep a night,” Vinovich said.

Dobosz confirmed he does go down to the basement and play a game of pool almost every night after his family goes to bed.

“I practice almost every night. It’s my way to relax after a long day and completely peels off any stress that I have,” Dobosz said.

He added that he is relaxing and practicing at the same time.

And that pool table he first learned how to play on sits in his basement today.

It’s now used as a laundry table.

He has another pool table that he practices on.•