As the field is filling up at an AWBT event, players are used to seeing the same group of regulars arrive to throw their hat in the ring. Williams, Store, Cortez, Mello, etc. So, it probably came as a pretty big surprise to most of them when they saw WPBA veteran, Vivian "The Texas Tornado" Villarreal walk into Main Street Billiards for the third tour stop on July 8th and 9th. While Villarreal might have been the most experienced player in the field, she was joined by the largest field at an AWBT stop this season, 37 players. 

 

When play got underway, Villarreal quickly laid to rest any doubts as to who the favorite was at this event. Villarreal spun her way through the winner’s side on Saturday with identical 7-1 wins over Beth Orth, Claudia Morado and road partner, Barbara Lee. Villarreal was joined by New Mexico’s Pearl Ortiz, Bernie Store and Priscilla Hernandez on the winner’s side at the end of Saturday play. The left side of the board was also full of dangerous opponents in the form of Jaye Succo, Barbara Lee, Heather Cortez and Sara Miller. 

 

Sunday play looked a lot like what the fans had watched on Saturday, with Villarreal getting things underway with a 7-1 win over Ortiz, and then a 7-2 win over Bernie Store to take the hot-seat. 

 

On the one loss side, Barbara Lee eliminated Succo and Hernandez, but couldn’t get by Ortiz and settled for 4th place. Ortiz then dropped the semi-final match to Store 7-2, setting up a rematch between Store and Villarreal in the finals. 

 

While most fans might have expected another lopsided score in the extended final match, Store had other plans completely. “Vivian shoots very fast, and I caught myself shooting at her pace in the first match. In the second match, I concentrated on playing at my usual pace, and it helped a lot” said Store after the event. Store came out and ran the first rack to remind Villarreal that she wasn’t going to just hand her the title. The players battled back and forth, until Store held the lead at 6-5 in the race to 9. From there though, it was all Villarreal, as she won four straight games for the 9-6 win and first place. 

 

Two players in the event earned invites for an upcoming North American Pool Tour (NAPT) stop in Illinois. Barbara Lee’s 4th place finish earned her one spot, with Justin Bishop earning the second.

 

Fourteen players returned to Main Street on Sunday for the second chance tournament, where Veronica Poore turned in a dominating performance to take first. Veronica lost a total of two racks over five complete matches, and was never challenged on her way to first place.

The first stop of the AWBT was the weekend of March 18th and 19th at Bull Shooters. With a late start to the season all the ladies were ready and eager to get going. The first event of the season drew 33 entrants in the Main event and another 15 entrants in the second chance event. The opening event drew entrants from 4 different states and although a majority were locals the out of towners were ready to put up a fight. 

 

This was the first time there was a handicap put in place to make the event more competitive and also with the hopes of growing the AWBT. The players were put into three groups A+,A and B with the A+ players racing to 7 games, the A players racing to 6 games and B players racing to 5 games. There was a ton of discussion but after day one the players seem to adjust quick and with the amount of hill/hill matches the new format seemed to be a success!

 

As the Main Event wound down and the Dust settled it would come down to Rae Evans from California and Susan Williams from Arizona. The two ladies never gave an inch and we saw our first HILL/HILL final of the season, after Susan made a combo on the 10 ball which appeared to end the match the cue ball drifted into the corner pocket leaving a 4 ball run for Rae to complete to earn the 1st AWBT title of the year. 

 

The second chance event saw 15 entrants battling for the 200 prize fund and it was Tracie Hamman winning 1st place followed by Lynor Johnson in 2nd. The 3rd and 4th positions went to Melissa Doherty and Beth Orth. 

 

We would like to thank all of our sponsors and Bull Shooters. Bull Shooters added 580.00 for the weekend and another 200.00 from sponsor money totaling 780.00 added. Sponsors include, Las Glorias Grill, Slikster, Sophia’s House Cleaning and Your way Logistics. 

 

We hope to see you at the next event in MAY where we will have a total of $1000.00 added Fargo event! The dates will be MAY 6th and 7th at Skip and Jan’s. See you there!

 

Last but not least this is the first year with Chris Adams and Junior Flores handling the AWBT and I (Chris Adams) could not do it without Junior, we look forward to the rest of the year and hope to continue this positive progress! Thanks again to all the 

ladies that came out and we will see you in MAY!

 

 

After her win over Store, Cortez went on to defeat Nina Tagley in the final four and then Amanda Pulley for the hot-seat 7-3.

 

On the one loss side, Store got down to business with wins over Justine Bishop, Beth Orth, Jaye Succo (a hill-hill nail biter), Tagley and then Pulley in the semi-finals.

 

As is always the case on the AWBT, the finals were an extended race to 9 and Store cruised to a comfortable 9-5 victory for first place.

 

Sixteen players came back to Bullshooters on Sunday to compete in the second chance event, where Pearl Ortiz defeated Justine Bishop in the finals for first place. 

 

In addition to the ladies events, the AWBT also held their first “Balls Only” event where Jason Melm completed an undefeated run with back to back wins over James Main in the finals for first place and $310 in prize money.

 

The AWBT will be at Freezer’s for the second stop of the season on April 28th – 29th where they will be playing 9-ball on the 9 foot tables with $500 in added prize money.

The Arizona Women’s Billiards Tour held their last event of the 2014 season on November 15th – 16th at Bullshooters, and in addition to crowning a tournament winner, a tour points winner was yet to be crowned. While 2014 Points List winner Bernie Store held a decent sized lead on the points list, three players (Rebecca Wagner, Susan Williams and Sara Miller) were all within striking distance of the top spot. 

 

The pool gods showed their mischievous side on this weekend as Store, Wagner Williams, Miller and Arizona newcomer Tina Hess were all on the same side of the board. Toss in former event winner Jaye Succo, Leandra Gaff and Vegas’ Ashea Erdahl and the bottom half of the bracket was a veritable minefield for any players hoping to advance. The marquee matches got going early on Saturday with Wagner defeating Store 7-5, Succo beating Hess 7-6 and Miller sending Williams to the left side 7-2.

 

Wagner would find herself on the one loss side one round later, after a 7-4 loss to road partner Erdahl. Meanwhile, Miller was sending Succo west to fight it out on the one loss side. 

 

A couple of big surprises on Saturday were the eliminations of Susan Williams and Amanda Pulley. Williams won three straight on the one loss side, before dropping a 7-4 match to Store. Pulley held a sizable lead over Barbara Lee on the winners side but couldn’t get over the finish line and dropped the match 7-6. Pulley then lost to Store in her first match on the one loss side 7-4.

 

Sunday play got underway with four players left on each side of the board. Tucson’s Tracie Hamman handed Barbara Lee her first loss 7-4, and Ashea Erdahl sent Sara Miller to the one loss side 7-5. The next round would see Erdahl take the hot-seat with a 7-2 win over Hamman.

 

Bernie Store guaranteed herself the points list win with a 7-4 win over Susan Williams in her first match on Sunday. That would be as far as Store would get though, as she lost her next match to Sara Miller 7-4.  Rebecca Wagner also sent Barbara Lee back to California in 5th place with a quick 7-2 scoreline. Wagner didn’t stop there as she next eliminated Miller 7-3 to earn her spot in the semi-finals.

 

The semi-final match would turn out to be a heartbreaker for Hamman as she held leads at 4-1 and 6-5 but missed the case nine ball at hill-hill and couldn’t stop Wagner from winning the final game. 

 

The finals were an “all Vegas” affair between Wagner and Erdahl. Although the scoreline made it look close, Wagner was never really in any danger of losing the match and faded a late comeback from Erdahl for the 9-6 win and her third title of the season. Wagner ended up 5 points behind Store on the points list, quite an amazing feat considering she played in two less events than anyone else in the top four. 

 

The second chance tournament on Sunday saw Amanda Pulley bounce back from a hot-seat loss to Beth Orth and exact her revenge in the finals for first place.

 

Assistant Tour director Tres Kane gave his thanks to Mike and Julie Bates, and the staff of Bullshooters for hosting and adding $300 to the main event and $100 to the second chance event, Jose Gonzales of Las Glorias Grille for adding $100 to the main event and his partner Kristie Ortega for running another fine event.

 

The Arizona Women’s Billiards Tour crowned it’s fifth different event winner, and a rookie event winner, at the final stop of the 2013 season at Bull Shooters on November 16th and 17th.

 

Saturday play saw it’s fair share of early favorites taking losses much sooner than they had hoped. April winner (and current points leader) Bernie Store handed Stacy Allsup a loss early on Saturday, but Store would soon join Allsup on the left side of the board after a loss to tour veteran Susan Mello. 

 

June winner, Jaye Succo, dropped a winners side match to Susan Wilbur and was then eliminated by Sara Miller in her next match.

 

Miller ended her streak of cashes after a loss to Nancy Ann Kennedy was followed up with a loss to Bernie Store late on Saturday. 

 

Sunday morning brought eight players back with two time winner Susan Wililams facing Susan Wilbur and Susan Mello taking on Amanda Pulley. Both of these matches would be true battles with Pulley falling to Mello and Williams losing to Wilbur.

 

Meanwhile, Bernie Store was sending Jodie Villegas back to the one pocket table 7-5, and Nina Tagley was eliminating Stacey Allsup 7-6.

 

Next up on the one loss side was a battle between first and second place on the points list as points leader Bernie Store eliminated #2 ranked Susan Williams 7-5 to end Williams’ hopes for a tour points win for the year. The other one loss side match saw Pulley eliminate Nina Tagley in 5th place.

 

Back on the winners side, Susan Mello and Susan Wilbur were facing off in another battle. Mello looked to be running away with things at 5-1, but Wilbur won back to back games to get back within two at 5-3 before Mello win the final two games to the take her first hot-seat of the season.

 

On the one loss side, Bernie Store was taking on Amanda Pulley in a back and forth match. Pulley raced to a 4-1 lead, but Bernie soon righted her ship and clawed back to tie things up at 6-6. The comeback would prove to be for naught as Pulley dispatched Store 7-6 to end Store’s day in 4th place.

 

Next up was the match of the day as Amanda Pulley took on Susan Wilbur. This match started out firmly in Wilbur’s control as Pulley couldn’t seem to get anything together. Wilbur held a commanding 6-1 lead when Pulley started her comeback. The roles suddenly reversed and it was Wilbur who couldn’t close out a game and Pulley would took the reins of the match. Pulley won six straight games to earn a 7-6 victory and a spot in her first final match of the season.

 

The final extended race to nine match saw Susan Mello take an early 2-0 lead, but Amanda quickly erased that lead and tied the score at 2-2. Mello seemed to struggle closing out games in this match and Pulley was more than happy taking full advantage of those mistakes. Pulley won four more games to lead 6-2 before Mello would move another bead for herself. There would be no comeback for Mello as Pulley finished off the last two games for the lopsided 9-3 win and her first AWBT event win.

 

Sunday’s second chance tournament saw Terri Johnson-McCauley beat Beth Orth in the finals for first place.

 

Assistant Tour Director Tres Kane commented after the tournament, “The 2013 season was a great year for the AWBT with a lot of new faces winning and cashing.  We celebrated not only the great competition but also a wonderful fellowship that will carry us into a very robust and successful 2014 season.”

 

The AWBT wants to thank BullShooters owners  Mike and Julie Bates for hosting and adding a total of $400 to both tournaments. We want to thank Jose Gonzalez of Las Glorias Grille for adding $100 and the Friends of the AWBT for adding $200. Thanks to Kristie Ortega and her man Scooter for running another smooth tournament.

 

Don’t forget to come out and support the WPBA’s Regional Tour Championships at Bullshooters January 16-19.

The Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour held their June event at Skip & Jan’s Sports Bar in Tempe, Az on June 8th – 9th – and Jaye Succo showed the field of twenty players why matches aren’t decided on paper.

 

The field included the usual selection of top talent from Arizona, Las Vegas, New Mexico and Wisconsin; with top seeds that included Bernie Store, Susan Williams, Sara Miller and Vegas’ Stacy Allsup. 

 

Bernie Store looked like the player to beat early on this weekend as she scored day one wins over Tracie Hamman, Susan Wilbur and Sara Miller. On the opposite side of the board, Jaye Succo had day one wins over Lynor Johnson, Beth Orth and Amanda Pulley to remain undefeated going into Sunday play.

 

Two favorites that didn’t escape day one were Susan Williams and Stacy Allsup. After a first round bye, Williams dropped a hill-hill decision to Susan Wilbur and was eliminated two matches later by Tracie Hamman. Allsup’s day was even worse with a “two and out” performance.

 

Play got underway on Sunday with Bernie & Jaye being joined by six players on the one loss side. That number would be cut to four players on the one loss side with Orth defeating Hamman 7-6 and Wilbur defeating Justine Bishop 7-4.

 

Sara Miller would then end Orth’s day with a 7-1 scoreline, and Wilbur kept her tournament hopes alive with a 7-2 win over Amanda Pulley. 

 

The final four players would then be in action with Sara Miller snuffing out Susan Wilbur’s tournament hopes 7-3, while Bernie faced off against Jaye for the hot-seat.

 

On paper, the hot-seat match should have been a no-brainer. Bernie hasn’t finished lower than 2nd place all season and this would be Succo’s first time playing for an AWBT hot-seat. The race to seven match saw Bernie making her way to the hill first with a 6-3 lead. Neither player looked to be enjoying fighting with the tough pockets at Skip & Jan’s, and Bernie appeared to tighten up a little when she got to the hill. Jaye showed that she was more than capable of taking advantage of Bernie’s uncharacteristic careful play as she won the next four games to take the hot-seat 7-6.

 

On the one loss side, Bernie looked like the player we are all used to watching as she broke open a close 2-2 match to quickly dispatch Sara Miller 7-3 and earn the chance to redeem herself against Succo in the finals.

 

The final match was a race to nine and it would go all the way to the 17th game to determine a final winner. A 2-0 Store lead was tied up at 2-2. Bernie would then surge ahead 5-2, but Jaye clawed back to 5-4. It was then that Bernie took control of the match and raced to the hill at 8-5. Jaye would need to win four games before Bernie won one more. Jaye took the next rack, and then the next. Before the fans knew what had happened, Succo had erased another three rack deficit and tied the match at 8-8. The final game would be decided quickly when Store hung the 9-ball in the corner pocket and left an unmissable 1-9 combo. Succo did not miss the combo as she celebrated her first AWBT tour victory.

 

While fans who were not in attendance might have been surprised by these results, tour director Tres Kane showed no surprise at all. “Jaye is playing up to her ability today”, he said. “I have watched her playing Sunday night league against some of the top players in Phoenix and she has learned a lot over these last few months” he commented.

 

Succo definitely looked at the tournament as an accomplishment. After the event, she said “I’m ready for any challenge thrown my way. I knew I had to work my way up, as far as the standings and actually winning a stop, but I didn’t think it would happen this fast – especially against someone who shoots as well as Bernie.”