Hawke's Bay cueist Bayden Jackson has been promising his family a trip to the Gold Coast for a while.
The father of two can deliver after winning the $10,000 first prize at last weekend's third annual national world two-shot rule, eight-ball tournament in Christchurch.
Jackson, 41, had one loss in seven matches and beat Otago's Simon Singleton 9-6 in the final.
"It's the biggest cash prize for a pool tournament in the country. We've never been to Australia and it will be good to have a holiday without any tournaments," Jackson said.
"If there is any money left I will be able to go to the world masters snooker tournament in Malta if I qualify."
For those unfamiliar with the two-shot rule format it is the most popular form of eight-ball played in Britain.
When a player fouls, two shots are conceded. Red and yellow balls are used instead of unders and overs and a smaller white ball than normal is used.
Jackson was always going to be tough to beat as he played these rules when he represented England for six years before moving to New Zealand in 2009.
"My previous experience carried me through," Jackson said.
"Basically New Zealand is 30 years behind the rest of the world with these rules. We're hoping this 64-player national tournament and the qualifying tournaments before it will promote the new rules better."
The Wardini Bookshop-Bepure-sponsored Jackson won the Manawatu-based qualifying tournament which catered for players from Manawatu, Hawke's Bay and Taranaki.
There aren't enough players in the Bay for the province to have its own qualifying tournament and there are eight regional qualifiers.
In his first match at the three-day, two-life nationals Jackson beat Wellingtonian Dion Perrit 9-1. This put him into the last 32 where he beat Otago's Danny Ryan 9-7.
The Ladz & Dads Barber Shop barber in Havelock North beat Nelson's Brent Simmonds 9-3 in his last 16 match. Jackson lost 9-7 to Singleton in his quarter-final.
This put Jackson into the losers draw where he beat his Taradale Club clubmate Dean Garnett 7-4.
Back in the winners' draw Jackson recovered from an 8-6 deficit in his semifinal to pip Otago's Neil Whalley 9-8 to secure his berth in the final where he was able to gain revenge for his sole loss.
His wife, Tara, was the third Bay player at the tournament. She lost in the last 32 of the main draw and was eliminated in the second round of the losers' section.
In the wake of his success Jackson, who won the Clubs NZ national eight-ball championship in 2013, was selected in the eight-strong New Zealand team to play in the world championships in England next June.
This weekend Jackson, who in 2011 became the first player to win the NZ Open and national snooker titles in the same year, will be back on the full-size table.
The New Zealand No2 is the top seed for the Hawke's Bay Open snooker tournament at the Havelock North Club, which will see 20 of the country's top players in action.
Waikato's Steve Robertson, who has a national ranking of five, is the second seed. Other Bay players capable of qualifying for post-section play include Mikey Stewart, David Judd and Paul Temple who boast national rankings of 8, 13 and 20, respectively.