By: Jeff Barnes
The city of Philadelphia is rich with history. It was here that the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. The streets of Philadelphia provided the gritty setting for Rocky Balboa to become one of the most beloved sports characters of all time. And a cheese steak is not a cheese steak unless it comes from Pat's or Geno's in South Philly. Or so I’m told.
Like every great city, however, it’s the people that bring Philadelphia to life. And in the City of Brotherly Love it’s a 31-year-old corporate sales rep, a husband and father, who has spent the last couple of years dominating the world of beer pong. His name is Kevin Kessler.
At first glance, with his designer shoes, tight jeans and vintage Duke jersey, Kessler looks like a harmless, unassuming guy who has wandered away from the fraternity houses in Durham, North Carolina. But on the beer pong table, the La Salle University graduate transforms into a ferocious competitor.
Similar to many players, Kessler first got his feet wet dominating elbow rule tournaments in college. For someone now regarded as one of, if not the best, competitive beer pong players in the world, that kind of feeling is nothing new for Kessler.
“I always kind of thought I was the best, even when I was 19 and 21,” Kessler says of his early pong career. “I always wondered if anyone could beat me at this game. I've always had the belief.”
He finally got a chance to prove himself in the now-defunct Philly beer pong circuit. It took some cash games with Kris Fraser and pong tournaments at small bars in Philadelphia and that was all she wrote. The competitive pong monster had swallowed Kessler. He was all in. After a successful singles and doubles run at World Pong Tour’s 2009 Atlantic City Beer Pong Championship, everyone who wanted to keep their money knew to stay away from that guy Kessler.
I always kind of thought I was the best, even when I was 19 and 21. I always wondered if anyone could beat me at this game. I've always had the belief.
“It kind of launched me into the hungriness of wanting to play for more,” he says.
From there, Kessler’s story arc is a familiar one. Now regarded as one of the premier players in the game, Kessler racked up tournament wins and partner requests in the months leading up to the World Series of Beer Pong V in Las Vegas. For his first World Series of Beer Pong experience, Kessler teamed up with veteran Deep Chakrabarty and “Ask About Us” placed third overall in their major debut.
Kessler and Deep were two players that most did not want to face on the beer pong tables. Like Deep, Kessler will do and say almost anything to make an opponent miss. For some, his trash talk sometimes borders on too much, but for Kessler, it’s all part of the game.
“On a local level, I kind of just go about my business. I’ll bring it when I need to bring it,” he says. “I want to make them uncomfortable, make them doubt and judge themselves. It kind of gets me juiced up, gets me hyped and gets me going.”
In the competitive pong landscape, there is much debate over what ingredients make the best beer pong team. One school of thought believes that chemistry between two players is the key to a successful partnership. And then there is the other school of thought: The two best players make the best team. Kessler adheres to the latter.
“I don’t think there’s ‘set plays’ that need to be drawn up for beer pong,” he says.
I beat myself up over my decision to dump Deep. It just came down to ‘how do you pass up the best player in the world?’
So it came as no surprise to many when Kessler, despite a respectable third-place finish in Vegas, teamed up with Michael “Pop” Popielarski, who had just repeated as World Series of Beer Pong champion, for last summer’s Atlantic City event. Their team “No Introduction Necessary” was favored by many to win the top prize. From the leftovers, Pop’s former partner Ron Hamilton teamed up with Kessler’s former partner Deep to create “Welcome to the Jungle.” In one of the most dramatic beer pong series ever, Ron and Deep exacted their revenge against their former partners, eliminating them from the final day of the tournament en route to a second-place overall finish. It’s a decision that, to this day, continues to haunt Kessler.
“I beat myself up over my decision to dump Deep,” he says. “It just came down to ‘how do you pass up the best player in the world?’”
Because of the highest of expectations, by most accounts Pop and Kessler’s performance was considered a tremendous disappointment. In the Atlantic City aftermath, a plethora of “he said, she said” stories of blame surrounded the two. Rumors swirled of each player dropping the other, straining the relationship between Pop and Kessler. The two have not played a major tournament together since. Still, Kessler insists that any perceived disrespect was unintentional.
“I do view him as the best player in the world,” Kessler says of Pop. “I didn’t wait to see the ‘Lebron James Decision’ to see if he’d drop me. I didn’t want to hold him back. I would be stupid to drop the best player in the world for anyone. It definitely hurt our relationship,” he says.
Like most men his age, Kessler’s priorities changed last September when he and his smoking-hot wife welcomed the birth of their first child. Cash game monies went toward diapers, and after a respectable, but also disappointing finish again in this past World Series of Beer Pong, Kessler knew his time in the beer pong world was dwindling.
Hopefully I’ll be out there when I’m 35-40 shooting the shit with everyone. Maybe one of these days I’ll win the big one.
“After The World Series of Beer Pong VI, I had a reality check,” he says. “I knew the days of me playing as frequently as I was were over.”
While keeping his baby dressed in fresh Wu-Tang apparel, tending to the needs of his gorgeous wife and watching the Phillies now take most of Kessler’s free time, he still finds the time to hone his skills and keep his reputation as one of the game’s best.
“Thank god for the Skype,” Kessler says. “That’s the only way I’m able to stay competitive with some of the best players.”
And competitive he is. Despite a laundry list of personal beer pong accomplishments, Kessler finds himself in the company of other top players in the sports world: The best to never win a title. While he’s notched big wins with many of the game’s best (and not-so-best) players, Kessler does not shy away from his preference to play his best in singles play. “Whenever I’m shooting, I feel like it’s all on me, I’m in control,” he says. “I feel more comfortable with the ball in my own hand.“
While he’s still unsure who he will be playing with this year in Las Vegas, Kessler already has partners lined up for the next few tournaments. In June, he has plans to play in Atlantic City with Jason Chichester and in July he’ll be teaming up with Brandon Marx for BPONG’s Return to Mesquite: A $10,000 Mega Satellite Event.
Although the priorities are changing, Kessler doesn’t plan to leave the world of beer pong anytime soon.
“Hopefully I’ll be out there when I’m 35-40 shooting the shit with everyone,” Kessler says. “Maybe one of these daysI’ll win the
big one.”
