NC State One Pocket and 10-Ball Open tournaments on event horizon
On Saturday, November 9, Hunter White recorded his 4th 2019 victory* on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, besting his 2016 best-number-of-wins total by one in what is already his best earnings year to date. White went undefeated, though he and Michael Dill opted out of a final match, allowing their hot seat match to stand and agreeing to a split in the top two prizes. The $500-added event drew 28 entrants to Break & Run Billiards in Chesnee, SC.
Their hot seat match followed a 6-4 victory by Dill over Mike Bumgarner and a 9-5 win by White over Justin Duncan in the two winners’ side semifinals. White then downed Dill 9-2 and in effect, claimed the hot seat and official event victory.
Duncan and Bumgarner moved to the loss side and into the first money round. Duncan picked up Hank Powell, who’d defeated Justin Clark and Steven Ellis, both 7-4, to reach him. Bumgarner drew Blade Best, who’d recently eliminated Matt Lucas 6-4 and Corey Edwards 6-3.
Duncan defeated Powell 6-5 (Powell racing to 7) and in the quarterfinals, faced Bumgarner, who survived a double hill battle versus Best (7-5; Best racing to 6). Bumgarner then defeated Duncan 7-5 in those quarterfinals.
In what proved to be the final match of the night, Dill defeated Bumgarner 6-1 in the semifinals. He and White opted out of the final, split the top two cash prizes and called it a night, leaving the undefeated White as the event’s official winner.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Break & Run for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball.
For the next two weeks, action on the tour will shift to Sandford, NC, where Speak Eazy Billiards will host two back-to-back, $2,000-added events – The North Carolina State One Pocket Open, set for the long weekend of November 15-17 and on the weekend of November 23-24, the NC State 10-Ball Open. The One Pocket event will play host to a maximum of 32 players. Both events are being sponsored by Beasley Custom Cues.
Earlier this year, in February, we reported on a victory for Jason Evans on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, which, in a career that’s spanned almost 20 years, was his first recorded victory in a major event. His best recorded earnings year (2002) came as the result of placing 3rd at a stop on the Joss Tour, 17th at the IBC Championships and three cash finishes at that year’s Derby City Classic. He has a way to go before he can match his earnings from that year, but on Saturday, October 5, he chalked up his second win* on the 2019 Q City 9-Ball Tour. He went undefeated at the event, but split the top two prizes when he and junior competitor Joey Tate, whom he’d defeated, double hill in the hot seat match, opted out of a final match. The $1,000-added event drew 39 entrants to The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.
Evans advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Blade Best, while Tate squared off against Brent Hensley. Evans got into the hot seat match with a 9-4 victory over Best, as Tate was locked up in a straight-up race to 7, double hill fight against Hensley. Tate won it and then, in what proved to be the event finals, a second straight double hill match, fell to Evans 9-6 (Tate racing to 7).
Woodrum fell to Best 6-3, as Ailstock was busy downing Hensley 6-5 (Hensley racing to 7). Ailstock defeated Best 6-4 in the quarterfinals that followed, and with the notion of a rematch against Evans in the finals, squared off against Tate in the semifinals.
Tate, though, stopped Ailstock’s four-match, loss-side run with a 7-4 win in those semifinals. He and Evans opted out of the final, awarding the undefeated Evans the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at The Clubhouse, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (October 12-13), will be hosted by Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.
Tournaments won by players who’ve lost a single match and have returned from the loss side of a double elimination bracket to defeat the undefeated occupant of the hot seat are fairly common; most common when the loser of the hot seat match plays one match on the loss side (in the semifinals) and earns a rematch against the undefeated occupant of the hot seat. Less common is the player who loses his first match early and has to win a significant number of matches, say 10 or more, before even getting the chance to meet the hot seat occupant. Even less common is the player who loses his opening match, wins 10 or more loss-side matches, and then defeats the hot seat occupant to capture his first-ever event title.
Meet Josh Heeter. According to our records, he has cashed in only two events on the Viking Cues’ Q-City 9-Ball Tour, finishing third in 2016, and runner-up to Scott Roberts in 2017. On the weekend of January 12-13, he signed on to a $1,000-added Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball event, which drew 60 entrants to Steakhorse Restaurant & Billiards in Spartanburg, SC. Heeter was awarded an opening round bye and lost his first match to Mark Duncan. He proceeded to embark on an 11-match, loss-side trip that propelled him into a final match against the tour’s reigning Bar Box Champion, Brian White, and defeated him twice (the second time, in a double hill fight), to earn his first-ever regional tour title anywhere by winning a total of 13 straight matches. We’ll catch up with him on the loss side in a minute.
In the meantime, while Heeter was busy on the loss side, chalking up his 11, White advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against June Bug. Mike Bumgarner and Blade Best squared off in the other one. Each had won, at this point, four matches. White downed Bug 11-1 and in the hot seat match faced Bumgarner, who’d defeated Best 7-2 (five matches each). White won his sixth by defeating Bumgarner 11-1 and claiming the hot seat.
Over on the loss side, Best was the competitor who drew Heeter, eight matches into his loss-side run. He’d most recently eliminated veteran competitor Keith Bennett 8-6 (Bennett racing to 11) and Chris Tuten 8-4. Bug picked up Matt Harrell, who’d most recently shut out Jacob Brooks and then downed the tour’s most prolific event champion, JT Ringgold 6-6 (Ringgold racing to 11).
Heeter chalked up win #9, 8-2 over Best, as Harrell got by Bug 6-5. In the ensuing quarterfinals, Heeter sent Harrell home 8-2, as well. Heeter earned his spot in the finals and loss-side win #11 with an 8-5 win over Bumgarner.
With White racing to 11, Heeter (racing to 8) took the first set of the true double elimination final 8-3. Heeter jumped out to an early, commanding lead in the second set and reached the hill first at 7-2. White put up a furious charge and won eight straight games to knot the match at 7-10. Heeter, though, stayed calm (apparently) and chalked up the deciding game to claim his first regional tour title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Dayne Miller and his Steakhorse staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Jan. 19-20), will be a $250-added event, hosted by Mickey Milligan’s in New Bern, NC.
If your favorite dictionary doesn’t define ‘frustration’ with pictures of countless pool players who’ve endured long, loss-side journeys, only to be defeated, double hill, in a tournament final, it probably should. Jason Rogers qualified for this hypothetical photo gallery by losing his opening match and winning nine on the loss side to reach the finals of the January 27-28 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City-9-Ball Tour, hosted by Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC. Rogers was defeated in that final match by Don Lilly, who, in so doing, completed an undefeated run through a field of 34, a little less than a quarter of which (8) were women.
One of those women, Lauren Kauffman, was responsible for sending Rogers to the loss side in the opening round of play. She would go on to earn free entry to a future tournament for being the top female finisher at the event. Rogers, in the meantime, began his loss-side trek, as Lilly advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Bo Blakely. Walt Baldwin and Phillip Skibo squared off in the other one.
Lilly and Blakely battled to double hill before Lilly advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Baldwin, who’d sent Skibo to the loss side 8-7 (Skibo racing to 9). Lilly claimed the hot seat 6-4 over Baldwin and waited for what would turn out to be some anxious moments in his final match against Rogers.
On the loss side, Rogers and his opening round opponent, Kauffman, worked their way toward a meeting just outside the first money round. With four notches on his loss-side belt, Rogers downed a player known only as “Shaft” 8-4, while Kauffman defeated Blade Best, double hill. Both matches in the battle for 7th/8th place saw the winners shut out their opponents; Rogers’ re-match against Kauffman (8-0) and Mickey Hucks’ victory over Billie Spatafora (6-0).
Rogers drew Blakely, while Hucks picked up Skibo. Rogers and Hucks advanced to the quarterfinals; Rogers 8-2 over Blakely and Hucks 6-3 over Skibo. Rogers gave up only a single rack to Hucks and won the quarterfinal match. He gave up three to win the semifinal against Baldwin 8-3.
Rogers, with the higher handicap, was racing to 8 in the final, with Lilly racing to 6. They battled to double hill before Lilly finished it to complete his undefeated run.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Corner Pockets, along with title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of February 2-3, will be hosted by Gate City Billiards Club in Greensboro, NC.
As the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour geared up for its first of two tour championships this coming weekend, the competitor who finished 7th in this past January’s tour championship, Blade Best, traveled to Bristol, TN on the weekend of October 21-22 to compete on the tour, and went undefeated to claim the title. The event drew 33 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Best, who faced separate opponents in the hot seat match and finals, got into the hot seat match following a 6-3 win over Brandon Stiltner in one of the two winners’ side semifinals. Randall Bowman, in the meantime, defeated Best’s eventual finals opponent, Doug Shulz 7-5. Best claimed the hot seat 6-4 and waited for Shulz to complete his three-match, loss-side trip to the finals.
Shulz and Adams advanced to the quarterfinals; Shulz, double hill over Bingham and Adams, 8-4 over Stiltner. Shulz took the next two matches by the same 8-2 score, over Adams in the quarterfinals, and Bowman in the semifinals. Best, though, ended Shulz’ run with a 6-5, single-set victory in the double elimination finals (Shulz racing to 8) to claim the event title.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her staff at Borderline Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour will be the first of two Tour Championships, the first, this weekend (October 28-29), will be a $1,000-added event on the bar tables of Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC. The event will be by invitation to the tour’s top 100 competitors. The full-table tour championship dates will be announced at a later date.
Blade Best and Taz Holliday split the top two prizes on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour stop on the weekend of July 29-30. As the undefeated player, Best chalked up the official title win of the event that drew 39 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Best advanced through the 64-player bracket to face Scott Howard in one of the winners' side semifinals, as Bill Eisenhard faced Brandon Kidwell in the other one. Kidwell had just sent Holliday to the loss side. Best sent Howard over 6-6 (Howard racing to 8), as Eisenhard was at work defeating Kidwell 7-3. Best claimed the hot seat over Eisenhard 6-5 (Eisenhard racing to 7) in what proved to be his last match.
On the loss side, Holliday opened his trip to the finals with a double hill win over renowned trick shot artist Chris Woodrum, and followed it with a shutout over Terry Lawson. This set Holliday up against Howard, coming over from his defeat in the winners' side semifinal. Kidwell picked up Jerry Varnado, who'd defeated Jerry Hilton 8-6 and Matt Shaw, double hill, to reach him.
Holliday won a double hill battle against Howard to advance to the quarterfinals. Varnado spoiled a Holliday/Kidwell re-match with an 8-1 victory over Kidwell to join Holliday.
Holliday eliminated Varnado 6-3 and then fought his third loss-side double hill match against Eisenhard in the semifinals, winning it for a shot against Best in the hot seat. They opted out of that final match, granting Best the official title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her staff at Borderline Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Aug. 5-6, will be hosted by Legends Billiards in Inman, SC.
In spite of an initial cancellation and a number of competing events (like Derby City), the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour set a participant record during its 2016 Tour Championships, held on the weekend of January 21-22. Hosted by The Brass Tap in Raleigh, NC, the $1,000-added event drew 82 entrants, breaking a previous entrant record by 13. The roster of competitors included two junior players, who finished among the event's final four. Emerging from the field, undefeated, was Joshua Padron, who downed one of those juniors, 16-year-old Hunter White, twice, to claim the event title.
Originally scheduled for the weekend of January 7-8, the event was canceled and re-scheduled when the Raleigh area went under a state of emergency, related to expected ice and snow storms. It was an unavoidable cancellation, which didn't prevent a list of potential participants, who'd had to travel some distance, from complaining about that cancellation in the pool world blog-o-sphere.
"In spite of the cancellation, it was a tremendous field," said tour director Herman Parker. "If it hadn't been for Derby City, we'd have had 128."
In the year ahead, the tour will hold two tour championships, one in September and another at the end of the year, each catering to participation on different sized tables. One will play out on 'bar box' tables and the other, on standard 9-ft. tables.
Padron's victory and young Hunter White's standout performance in the runner-up category had a way of overshadowing a strong showing by Greg Burke. He and White traveled together to the championships from the Greenville/Spartanburg area. Burke lost his opening round match, and chalked up 11 matches (one bye) on the loss side of the bracket before meeting his traveling companion in the semifinals.
Padron advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Travis Guerra (runner-up on the preceding tour stop – January 14), while Hunter White squared off against Barry Mashburn. Padron downed Guerra 6-4, and in the hot seat match, faced, in their first of two, White, who'd downed Mashburn 8-4. Padron claimed the hot seat and waited for White to get back from the semifinals, against Burke, as it turned out.
On the loss side, the event's other notable junior, Peter Abatangelo (15), defeated Earl Davis 5-2, and in a meeting between pool student (Abatangelo) and teacher (George Crawford), Abatangelo prevailed, 5-1, to draw Guerra, fresh off his defeat at the hands of Padron. Mashburn had the misfortune of drawing Burke, who, by this time, had chalked up eight victories on the loss side, including David Brown 7-4 and Blade Best 7-2.
Abatangelo advanced to the quarterfinals 5-3 over Geurra, as Burke was downing loss-side opponent # 8 (Mashburn) 7-3, to join him. Burke was now poised to face two junior players in a row. He took care of the first one, Abatangelo, 7-2 in the quarterfinals, but then ran into his traveling companion, Hunter White. The two battled to double hill, before White chalked up the final game and advanced to the finals, presumably with his ride home not in jeopardy.
With White racing to 8, and Padron to 6, White had to win twice to claim the title. He didn't. Padron took the opening and only set 6-4 to become the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour's 2016 Champion.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at The Brass Tap for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, Ruthless Billiards, GoPlayPool.com, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for January 28-29, will be hosted by Gate City Billiards in Greensboro, NC.
It was probably one of those things that looked good in the window, but terrible when you got it home. The Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour made a stop at the Brass Tap in Raleigh on the weekend of October 29-30 and 39 entrants showed up to participate in a rare 8-ball event that proceeded the NC State 8-Ball Championships the following week in Cary, NC. They made a decision to finish it in one day, instead of asking people (some of whom traveled a good distance) to return on Sunday. Somewhere in the vicinity of around 3 a.m., the players left were probably wondering whether the one-day idea was such a good one. As it turned out, when it got down to three players, the semifinalists (J.T. Ringgold and Travis Guerra) opted out of their match, and left the hot seat occupant, Blade Best, to claim the event title, unopposed in a final match.
Ringgold may have been the most affected by the shortened event. He lost his first match on Saturday to Peter Abatangelo and then won eight on the loss side to advance to the semifinals, at which point he and Travis Guerra opted out of the match. Assuming a 50-50 split, Ringgold went home with $300 (half the 2nd – $400 – and 3rd – $200 – payouts), instead of a potential $600, which might have come his way had he a) defeated Guerra, and b) went on to face and defeat Best in the hot seat. We and they will never know if they made a "good deal."
It was Guerra and Best who battled for the hot seat in this one. Guerra had sent Justin Clark to the loss side, double hill, in one winners' side semifinal, while Best sent Mike Mullins west 5-3. Best claimed the hot seat 5-1 over Guerra and for all intents and purposes, his night was over.
On the loss side, Ringgold was halfway through his eight-match, loss-side run, when he downed Glenn Smith 9-4 and Al Boone, double hill (9-3) to pick up Clark. Mullins drew Rich Anderson, who'd recently shut out Matt Lucas, and downed Clay Davis 7-3. Ringgold advanced to the quarterfinals 9-3 over Clark, and was joined by Mullins, who, in a straight-up race to 7, had defeated Anderson, double hill.
Ringgold ended the tournament with a 9-3 win over Mullins. He and Guerra opted out of their semifinal match, and Best went into the books as the event winner.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at the Brass Tap, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks and Ruthless Billiards. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 5-6 will be the North Carolina State 8-Ball Championships, to be hosted by Breaktime Billiards in Cary, NC. In attendance will be defending champion, Mike Davis.
Jody Musselman survived a double hill opening set of the finals versus Scott Howard, who'd won five on the loss side for the right to meet him, and chalked up an undefeated win on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour on the weekend of October 22-23. The event drew 39 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
With his eventual finals opponent already at work on the loss side, Musselman advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Blade Best (who'd just sent Howard to the loss side). In the other winners' side semifinal, 15-year-old Dakota Harris, one of a few junior players who competed in the event, squared off against Mike Gann. Musselman sent Best to the loss side 6-1, and in the hot seat match, faced the teenager, Harris, who'd defeated Gann 6-6 (Gann racing to 8). Musselman sent Harris to the semifinals 6-4 and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Howard.
On the loss side, Howard opened his five-match, loss-side run with wins against Matt Shaw 7-1, and Dustin Coe 7-3 to draw Gann. Best drew another of the junior competitors, Eric Roberts (13), who was in the midst of his own six-match, loss-side run that would take him as far as the first money round, battling for advancement to the quarterfinals. He won his fifth and sixth loss- side matches against Steve Dye, double hill, and Rick Roper 5-4 (Roper racing to 7).
Best ended Roberts' run 5-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals against Howard, who'd eliminated Gann 7-5. Howard then downed both Best in the quarterfinals and Harris in the semifinals by a 7-3 score.
Howard would need to defeat Musselman twice in the true double elimination finals, and, racing to 7, win an extra rack to claim each set. The two battled to double hill (6-6) in the opening set, before Musselman completed his undefeated run and claimed the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Janet Atwell and her Borderline Billiards' staff, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks and Ruthless Billiards. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of October 29-30, will be hosted by Brass Tap in Raleigh, NC. An 8-ball event, the tournament will be a qualifier for the NC State 8-Ball Championships, scheduled for November 5-6 at Breaktime Billiards in Cary, NC.
Rob Moreno, a former Marine who's recently returned from Japan, where he became a master certified pool instructor and owner of two pool halls, has returned after 25 years and settled in Jacksonville, NC. He joined 24 other competitors at a stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour on the weekend of August 27-28, and went undefeated to win it. The event was hosted by Smokin' Cue in Charlotte, NC.
Playing as an "8" in a handicapped tournament, Moreno advanced to defeat David Lear 8-4 in a winners' side semifinal, as Taz Holliday downed Stevie McClinton 5-5 (McClinton racing to 7). Moreno claimed the hot seat in a double hill match over Holliday and waited on what turned out to be the return of Lear.
Lear moved to the loss side to meet Matt Lucas, who'd defeated Blade Best 4-2 and shut out Trey Frank to reach him. McClinton picked up Daniel Adams, who'd gotten by Edwin Delacueva 7-6 and Bruce Campbell 7-4.
Lear defeated Lucas 7-2 and, in the quarterfinals, faced McClinton, who'd eliminated Adams 7-3. Lear took care of McClinton 7-4, and by the same score, defeated Holliday in the semifinals. The wait did little to stem the Moreno tide, as he allowed Lear only a single rack to claim the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Smokin' Cue, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks, and Ruthless Billiards Apparel. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Labor Day weekend (Sept. 3-4), will be hosted by Janet Atwell's Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
