Alex Pagulayan lost in the opening match of the 2009 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters in Las Vegas against Holland's Nick van den Berg.

According to Billiards Magazines, Pool and Billiard News (BilliardsMagazines.com), Pagulayan, the defending champion, lost with a score of 2-8 in a race to 10 match.

Van der Berg, the reigning European Champion, dominated the match with a score of 6-1, until he eventually defeated Pagulayan, 8-2.

The opening match loss is a far cry from Pagulayan's 2008 result when he defeated Mika Immonen of Finland to become the World Pool Champion.

Meanwhile, another Filipino pool player prevailed at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dennis Orcollo won 7-3 against Canadian Tyler Edey. Orcollo was supposed to face Alain Martel of Canada but the latter was denied a visa.