The United States will play host to the 2019 Pan American Snooker Championship as it commences today at Q Ball Snooker & Pool in Houston, Texas, until February 3.

The hosting of this year's Pan American Snooker Championship was offered to the United States Snooker Association (USSA) by the Pan American Billiards and Snooker Association (PABSA), and has attracted a full-field of 48 players who have assembled in Houston from four nations of the Pan American region: Bermuda, Brazil and Canada joining players from the United States to compete in this prestigious international snooker event.

The Championship will initially be played using a round-robin group format, with the 48 players having been drawn into eight groups of 6 players:

The winner of each group will advance into the round of 16, with the group runners-up and third place players going onto compete in the round of 24. The eight round of 24 winners will then match-up with the group winners in the round of 16.

All round of 24, round of 16 and quarterfinal ties will be played over the best-of-7 frames, with the semifinals being contested over the best-of-9 frames, and the final will be the first player to win six frames in the best-of-11 frames match.

Not only will the champion be crowned the 2019 Pan American Snooker Champion on Sunday evening, but will also be awarded the opportunity to compete as a professional player on the multimillion dollar World Snooker Tour for the 2019-20 & 2020-21 seasons.

Former professional player Igor Figueiredo will start as favorite to win the title, fresh from his victory in Houston in the United States qualifying event of the 2019 World Seniors Snooker Championship.

The United States challenge is headed by the reigning United States National Snooker Champion, Ahmed Aly Elsayed, who is also joined by top professional pool player, Corey Deuel, who won his National Championship in Houston back in 2013. Another former United States National Snooker Champion competing is the two-time title winner, Ajeya Prabhakar.

Alan Morris, the Executive Director of the USSA, said: "This is such an exciting snooker event for the United States to host, with such a huge prize on offer for the eventual champion.

"Over recent weeks I have been working extensively with my friend and USSA colleague, Ajeya Prabhakar, on the organization of this Championship, but it is Ajeya who must take all of the credit in securing this event for the United States with his instrumental role in PABSA."

Morris added: "I would also like to thank Mr. Sayed Hassan, the proprietor of Q Ball Snooker & Pool in Houston too, for his support in the hosting of this Championship, and to all the players who will be competing in Houston - I hope you have a fantastic experience."

During the Championship, PABSA will hold their first meeting with Mr. Jason Ferguson, the chairman of both the World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA) and the World Snooker Federation (WSF), being present.

Results and reports from the 2019 Pan American Snooker Championship will appear here on SnookerUSA.com.