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By Tiffany Pakkala, February 23, 2003

Last updated: Sunday, February 23, 2003 8:15 AM EST

Lying on a pool table with a pool ball balancing on his face, Rob Skrypzak was more than a little nervous.

The Mechanicsburg resident balanced the ball on a piece of chalk in his mouth while he waited for a blindfolded trick-shot expert to knock the ball from his mouth and into a corner pocket.

And Chef Anton did just that, using a white cue ball to knock the delicately balanced ball out of place.

"Naturally I was a little nervous, but I was very impressed," Skrypzak said after the feat, adding, "I still want to know how he got my watch."

The trickster had handed Skrypzak his own watch as a "prize" for being a good sport in the event.

Chef Anton, who has been the nation's trick-shot champion twice, was a featured entertainer at the Billiards for Benefits pool tournament at the Carlisle Moose Lodge Saturday night.

In addition to his trick-shooting abilities, Anton is also a magician known for his card tricks and hustling abilities. He says he hustled pool champion Minnesota Fats when he was just 9 years old, and has performed his tricks on celebrities, including Hulk Hogan and Martin Sheen.

In another trick, Anton wowed audience members when he set up a chain reaction of pool balls until one finally hit his top hat, causing playing cards to shoot out of it into the air. In what he calls his "signature trick," Anton then caught a specific card on his pool cue as it flew into the air. Or at least that's what spectators were led to believe.

True pool champion

But the hustler also has true abilities in pool-playing techniques; he won multiple collegiate championships, he says, and can "hold my own with just about any pool player."

But no one dared to challenge the hustler to a match Saturday.

Another main event at the Billiards for Benefits pool tournament was of course the actual tournament.

The benefit, organized by Tracee Clepper and Lisa Kochenour, consisted of men's and women's singles divisions of tournament play with cash prizes.

There was a race to the top three for both winners' and losers' brackets.

Clepper says 64 men and 29 women competed in the tournament, however she estimates "attendance was probably above 300."

Ten pool tables were in operation during the event.

A chili cook-off conducted by Cumberland Perry Vocational Technical students fed hungry onlookers, although some spectators turned bright red as they attempted to eat the extra-hot creations.

Also a magician

And before and after his performance, Chef Anton made his way through the crowd, performing magic tricks for spectators.

He did card tricks, slipped people's watches off, made balls disappear and reappear, and kept people guessing all day.

"I have a real natural ability for it," he laughs, adding that he "used to be a street hustler in New York. If I'm betting you that I can do it, there's a reason for that."

Born and raised in the Bronx, Anton says he learned to play pool at an early age.

"I've been playing pool since I was 4 or 5," Anton says. "And my grandmother was a pool hustler."

Dressed as a riverboat gambler in a top hat and bow tie, he appears at about 100 exhibitions every year, performs for celebrities and works at about 50 additional corporate trade shows.

He plays pool about eight hours a day to practice and rehearse - and, every now and then he shows up in some small town to play pool with unsuspecting locals.

Seeking out the people who think they can't be beat, he enjoys surprising them with his skills, although he never hustles them for more than a free drink.

Anton says he earned his stage name because of his connection with cooking; he used to run a catering business, and he also may have a pilot on cable's Food Network in the future, which will feature a mixture of cooking and magic.

But Saturday he just kept the event fun and exciting while people waited for their turns to compete.

Billiards for Benefits organizers aimed to raise $5,000 for the foundation this year; more than $3,000 was calculated by Saturday afternoon, but a final total has not yet been determined.

Proceeds will be donated to the local chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

A representative from JDRF was on hand at the event to give information about the cause.

Clepper says she and Kochenour decided to organize the benefit to show that there's more to billiards than just hanging out at the local bar.

On the Net:

www.chefanton.com