Dwaine Bowman’s Leisure Time Billiards & Sports Bar in East Moline, IL hosted its 2nd Annual Bar Box Classic over the past several days.Featuring three divisions – Eight Ball, One Pocket and Ten Ball – a total of $16,000 was added by local sponsors. They included Jacoby Cues, Behnke Trailers, Bull Carbon, Diveney Cues, Andy Billiard Cloth, Comfort Inn, PoolActionTV.com and Anytime Billiards of Clive, IA.
The $4,000 added Eight Ball division began on Wednesday evening with a players auction followed by players meeting and the draw. Forty eight players paid a $300 entry – the format was double elimination, winner breaks and races to nine.
Last year’s third place finisher, Jesse Bowman, shot straight out of the chute after drawing a bye and sent Benny Conway Jr, Gordy Vanderveer Fedor Gorst and Alex Pagulayan to the one loss side before arriving at the hot seat match.
Brian Groce also went undefeated in his march to the hot seat. After drawing a first round bye, his victims included Will Thomsen, Gene Albrecht and Blake Baker before he wentto the wire with Corey Deuel. After surviving that match, Brian beat Jesse Bowman and locked up his berth in the finals. Jesse headed west to await an opponent.
Roberto Gomez won his first two matches over Tony Ehlers and Chris Lawson before being felled by compadre Alex Pagulayan. Once on the one loss side, he defeated Marty Heldenbrand, Ray Skendore, Blake Baker, Brandon Heldenbrand and exacted his revenge on Alex 9-8. He then defeated Gene Albrecht to finally play Jesse Bowman for the remaining spot in the finals.
It was a battle but Roberto eked out a win – 9-8. Jesse, again, finished in third place.
As this was true double elimination, Gomez had to defeat Groce twice to claim the title. In dead punch after winning seven matches in a row to arrive at the finals, Roberto won the first set 9-6 and then the second 9-3. Congratulations, Roberto for a hard fought win! Good tournament, Brian!
The $2,000 added One Pocket Division began on Thursday evening after the players auction, meeting & draw. Played on nine footers, twelve players paid a $500 entry fee into this single elimination, race to four, winner break event.
With his one pocket game on the improve, Fedor Gorst arrived at the finals after defeating Randy Jordan, Robert Frost and Alex Pagulayan. His opponent, Jesse Bowman drew a first round bye and then beat Roberto Gomez and Corey Deuel. Due to time constraints, Jesse and Fedor decided to split the purse. Congratulations to both players!
The $10,000 added Ten Ball Division began on Friday night. Ninety six players paid a $150 entry fee into this double elimination event. Racing to nine with alternate breaks, there were no jump cues allowed. This old schooler really enjoyed watching the safety battles!
Following the players auction, meeting and draw, the matches began.
Houston Rodriguez began his journey to the final four on the winner’s side with victories over Bob Smith, Donny Thompson, Ricky Evans, Alex Pagulayan and Gene Albrecht.
Roberto Gomez caught a bye and then worked his way past Jeff Berger, David Kelly, Warren Kiamco and Benny Conway Jr. He then defeated Rodriguez and advanced to the hot seat match.
In the lower portion of the bracket, Robert Frost defeated Kash Keaton, Greg Pitts, Tom Tan, Bobby McGrath and Mike Banks Jr to arrive in the final four.
Home court hero Jesse Bowman also drew a first round bye and then sent Joey Dyer, Adam Thomas, Ryan Ponton and Jimmy Nosavan west before he was defeated by Frost who moved into the other spot in the hot seat match.
Frost was then defeated by Gomez 9-6 and was sent to the one loss side while Gomez cooled his heels awaiting an opponent for the final match.
After losing his third round match to Ryan Ponton, Fedor Gorst clawed his way past Josh Ray, Kristina Tkach, Warren Kiamco, Kash Keaton, Mike Banks Jr, Randy Jordan, Houston Rodriguez and Jesse Bowman before encountering Robert Frost.
Fighting for the remaining seat in the finals, the match was neck and neck until Robert pulled away at the end. Final score 9-6. Fedor finished in third place.
Moving into the finals, Frost had to defeatGomez twice to claim the title. An early miss by Frost resulted in Gomez claiming an early four game lead – score 5-1. They traded games with Robert closing the gap – now 6-4. Roberto dug in and reached the hill – 8-5. He made a ball on the break and ran out for the win!
Congratulations to Roberto for not only snapping off this one but also the Eight Ball! Good tournament, Robert!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Dwaine Bowman and his fantastic staff for taking such good care of all the players and fans. We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Eric Gardner for doing a great job.
And, last not but least, we’d like to thank our sponsors and fans. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Diveney Cues, Aramith, Hanshew Jump Cues, EnviroAssessments, Lomax Custom Cues, Simonis, Durbin Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore and CR’s Sports Bar of Minneapolis, MN.
Our next stop is Big Dog Billiards in Des Moines, IA for the 7th Annual $18,000 added Midwest Billiards & Cue Expo. The dates are July 13th-17th – hope to see you there!
Rob and Heather Williams, owners of Racks On The Rocks in West Peoria, IL, were the hosts of the $40,000 Champions 8 Ball Challenge.
Played on seven foot Diamonds, it was a race to 80 over the course of three days. The format was winner breaks and take what you make.
So, after weeks of online woofing, Scott Frost and Bobby McGrath finally teed it up!
Scott opened up by winning the first eight games and from there it was pretty much back and forth. That head start, however, proved to be tough to overcome. Day One ended with a score of 30-21 Scott.
Day Two finished with Scott extending his lead by four more games – 60-47. He continued to extend his lead on Day Three as he closed out the match 80-60.
Congratulations to Scott for a convincing win! Well played, Bobby!
We’d like to thank our local sponsors for making this event happen. They are Simonis, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, BMP as well as Racks On The Rocks and PoolActionTV. We’d also like to thank the Rack On The Rocks staff for taking such good care of the players and fans.
PoolActionTV would also like to thank our fans and sponsors as well as Larry Schwartz, Jeremy Jones and Ray Hansen for their expert commentary.
Our sponsors include JB Cases, Diamond Billiard Products, Castillo Leather Goods, Durbin Custom Cues, Simonis, Lomax Custom Cues, IPKT, Hanshew Jump Cues, Team StraightPoolEye, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the 48th Annual Texas Open! This year’s extravaganza begins with the One Pocket event and includes the Ladies 9 Ball, a Nine Ball Mini, a Ladies 10 Ball Ring Game, 10 Ball Banks and, of course the Nine Ball Open. Held at Skinny Bob’s in Round Rock, TX, play starts on Monday and runs through Sunday (August 23rd-29th). Hope to see you there!
The numbers came as a bit of surprise to tour directors Herman and Angela Parker, who were expecting a modest but respectable 30-or-so players to show up for the June 6-7 stop on their Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. Instead, the event, hosted by Randolph Billiards in Hickory, NC played host to 53 entrants. Mike Bumgarner, who, according to our records, entered the tournament looking for his first win on the tour, found it. He went undefeated through the field, downing separate opponents in the hot seat match (Dalton Messer) and final (Hunter White).
Bumgarner and Zac Leonard met in one of the winners’ side semifinals, as Messer and Hunter White met in the other one. Bumgarner sent Leonard to the loss side 7-4, and was joined in the hot seat by Messer, who’d defeated White, double hill (6-8 with White racing to 9). Bumgarner sent Messer to a second meeting against White in the semifinals, claiming the hot set 7-2.
On the loss side, Hunter White began his trip back to the finals against Jose Irizarry, who’d defeated Jeff Abernathy (racing to 9) 6-2 and picked up a forfeit victory over Hunter Zayas to reach him. Zac Leonard drew Matt Harrell, who’d recently eliminated Travis Guerra 7-3 and Bobby McGrath 7-6 (McGrath racing to 10).
White defeated Irizarry 9-2, as Harrell and Leonard duked it out in a double hill fight that did eventually send Harrell 7-6 to the quarterfinals against White. White then promptly shut Harrell out to earn a second shot against Messer in the semifinals.
White gave up only a single rack to Messer in those semifinals, finishing his three-match, loss-side trip with a 27-3 game record. He gave up a little over twice as many racks to Bumgarner in the final than he’d given up in his three matches on the loss side. With White racing to 9, Bumgarner prevailed 7-7 to claim his first tour title.
The Parkers thanked the ownership and staff at Randolph’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards, and Tickler Pool Ball Washing Machine. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (June 13-14), will be hosted by Janet Atwell at her room in Bristol, TN, Borderline Billiards.
He had to win two double hill matches out of his final three, but Taz Holliday did just that on the weekend of October 28-29 to complete an undefeated run and win the 2017 Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Bar Box Tour Championship. The $1,000-added, invitational event drew 77 entrants, representing seven states (FL, GA, NC, SC, VA, TN, and WV) to Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC.
Holliday’s first double hill fight of his final three matches came in a winners’ side semifinal against the higher-handicapped Bobby McGrath. With McGrath racing to 11, Holliday got into the hot seat match with a 6-10 win over him. Jason Potts, playing in the other winners’ side semifinal, defeated Brent Hensley 7-4. With Potts racing to 7, Holliday claimed the hot seat 6-5 and waited for Potts to come back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, McGrath picked up Michael Chapman, who’d defeated Justin Duncan 7-5 and Scott Roberts 7-3 to reach him. Hensley drew Jerry Ray Harris, who’d eliminated Bo Blakely 6-2 and survived a double hill fight versus Chris Gentile (6-8, Gentile racing to 9). Chapman and Harris handed McGrath and Hensley their second straight loss; Chapman 7-9 over McGrath (racing to 11) and Harris 6-2 over Hensley.
Chapman dropped Harris off in the quarterfinals 7-2, but had his modest loss-side streak ended by Potts in the semifinals 7-5. Holliday completed his undefeated run with a re-match double hill win over Potts in the finals.
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time for their hospitality, 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 $1,000-added, 3rd Annual North Carolina State 8-Ball Championships. Scheduled for November 4-5, this annual event has been won by Mike Davis over the past two years, and will be hosted by Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
Moving into the winners' side semifinals of a Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour stop, held on the weekend of March 4-5, it took two double hill wins against separate opponents for Billy Fowler to go undefeated and claim the title. The $500-added event drew 59 entrants to Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC.
The first of those two double hill wins came in one of the two winners' side semifinals, as Fowler sent Matt Bulfin to the loss side 7-8 (Bulfin racing to 9). Kirk Hixon, in the meantime, sent Fowler's eventual finals opponent, Bobby McGrath, to the loss side, in another double hill match (6-9; Hixon, racing to 10). By comparison, Fowler got into the hot seat easily, defeating Hixon 7-2.
Bulfin downed Davis, double hill (9-5), and in the quarterfinals, met up with McGrath, who, in a straight-up race to 10, had eliminated Hawkes 10-5. In a 10-9 race, McGrath then defeated Bulfin 10-3. With Hixon racing to 6 in the semifinals, McGrath ended his run 10-4 for a shot at Fowler in the hot seat. With McGrath racing to his 10, Fowler completed his undefeated run with a 7-7 victory in the finals.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, 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 this weekend (March 11-12), will be hosted by Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC.
The Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour paid its first, though according to tour director Herman Parker, hopefully not its last visit to Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, GA on the weekend of February 11-12. The $1,000-added event drew a strong field of 64 entrants ("9s, 10s, and 11s everywhere," said Parker) that came from near and far to play. Georgia was represented, of course, as was Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, the Philippines, and Illinois. It was, in fact, Peoria, IL's veteran competitor Bobby McGrath, who went undefeated to claim the event title.
By the time the event had whittled down to its final 12 players, McGrath was the only '10' left standing. He got into the hot seat match by defeating B.R. Tatum 10-4 in a winners' side semifinal. McGrath was joined by Esteban Hernandez (a 9), who'd just eliminated the senior representative of the Davis family, Duane Davis 9-4 (his two sons – Sean and Wes – were still alive and well on the loss side). In their first of two, McGrath claimed the hot seat 10-6 over Hernandez and waited in the hot seat for his return from the semifinals.
Over on the loss side, Tatum ran into Sean Davis, who'd been sent over by McGrath, and was in the midst of a six-match winning streak that would carry him to the semifinals. He'd most recently eliminated Ryan Williamson 9-3, and Jeff Crawford 9-4. Dad Duane Davis drew Justin Duncan, who'd gotten by Keith Yates, double hill, and Derek Fowler 5-1 (Fowler had eliminated Wes Davis in the previous round). Father and son were each a single match away from facing each other. Sean Davis did his part, defeating Tatum 9-2, but Dad was shut out by Duncan.
Sean moved on to defeat Duncan 9-4 in the quarterfinals, but had his loss-side streak ended by Hernandez, who, after defeating Dad in a winners' side semifinal, downed his son, Sean 9-7 in the event semifinals. McGrath, though, gave up two less racks in the finals than he'd given up battling for the hot seat, to complete his undefeated run and claim the event title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Mr.Cues II owner, Rick Sweet, and his staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, GoPlayPool.com, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (February 18-19), will be the $1,000-added NC State 9-Ball Championships, whose current title holder is Mike Davis. The event will be hosted by Brass Tap in Raleigh, NC.
While daytime temperatures in Des Moines, Iowa were still in the 80s, with overnight lows dipping into the upper 50s, Scott Frost and Shane Winters came to town. On the weekend of September 10-13, the two of them, separately, won Big Dog Billiards' $2,000-added 9-Ball Open and the $5,000-added One Pocket Championships. They both went undefeated; Winters, through a 9-ball field of 150 and Frost, through a One Pocket, 'pro' mine field of 11 entrants.
Almost, but not quite, trumping Winters' undefeated run through the 9-ball tournament, was Bobby McGrath, who lost his opening match, and proceeded to win 14 on the loss side before meeting up with Winters in the finals. Winters advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Steve Boutcher. Jody McLaughlin faced Bob Andrews in the other. Winters and McLaughlin chalked up 7-3 wins over Boutcher and Andrews, before Winters chalked up a third 7-3 score to claim the hot seat over McLaughlin.
With nine loss-side wins to his credit already, Bobby McGrath got by Ron Govafenski 7-2 and Randy Hanson 7-4 to meet Boutcher. Andrews drew Chris Siefkan, who'd eliminated Mike Bennett and Mitch Ellerman, both 7-5. Among the 144 already vanquished at this stage of the game were Mike Massey, Lee Brett, Gene Albrecht, and a not-seen-lately, presumably-out-of-retirement Sarah Rousey. McGrath chalked up win #12, 7-3, over Boutcher. Andrews defeated Siefkan 7-4. And then there were four.
McGrath defeated Andrews 7-3 in the quarterfinals, McLaughlin 7-4 in the semifinals, and it was down to two. The final match was Winters' eighth. It was McGrath's 15th. Winters took advantage of a 'gas tank' that had to be running on fumes, and completed his undefeated run 7-2 to claim the 9-ball title.
Frost and Roberts squared off in one of the winners' side semifinals, while Jones and Bowman met up in the other. Frost ended up getting by Roberts twice; the first time, double hill. Bowman defeated Jones 5-2. Frost claimed the hot seat 5-3 over Bowman.
On the loss side, Chance, Hall, Chohan, Smith and Bartram were gone by the time Jones picked up Deuel, who'd eliminated Chance and Smith, both 5-2. Roberts picked up Pagalayun, who'd eliminated Bartram 5-2. Deuel and Roberts got by Jones and Pagalayun 5-2, as well, and met up in the quarterfinals.
Roberts defeated Deuel 5-3, and then, downed Bowman 5-2 for a second shot at Frost, now in the hot seat. Based on their earlier, double-hill meeting, spectators and commentators on PoolActionTV's live stream (Jeremy Jones, among them) were expecting a similar struggle in the finals. Frost was not. He got out in front and stayed there to claim the One Pocket title 5-2.
A week ago, in Decatur, AL, Robb Saez won five matches on the loss-side, only to be denied by Justin Bergman in the finals of the River City Open. This week, from January 15-19, Saez was in Madison, TN for the 27th Annual Music City Open, and opted for the winners' side route to the finals. He stopped a seven-match, loss-side winning streak by Johnny Archer to claim the event title. The $6,000-added Open event drew 105 entrants to JOB Billiards in Madison, TN, while a concurrently-run, $1,000-added Ladies event, won by Brittany Bryant (separate story), drew 48 entrants.
A 16-entrant, single-elimination Midnight Madness event, held on Saturday night, saw Corey Deuel down Bobby McGrath in the finals to take the $4,800, first-place prize. Deuel had opened his Midnight Madness run with a victory over Johnny Archer, while McGrath, who collected $3,200 as the runner-up, defeated Robb Saez in one of the semifinals.
In the main event, while Archer was working his way back on the loss side, Saez advanced among the winners' side final four for a match against Deuel. Shane McMinn squared off against Danny Smith in the other winners' side semifinal. Saez downed Deuel 11-7, and in the hot seat match, met McMinn, who'd sent Smith to the loss side 11-8. Saez got into the hot seat 11-8 over McMinn, and watched Archer, as he fought back to meet him in the finals.
It was Deuel who had the misfortune of running into Archer on the loss side. Archer had four wins already, including an 11-7 victory over Nick Hickerson and an 11-5 win over Chuck Raulston. Smith drew Josh O'Neal, who'd sent Archer to the loss side and then, had himself been sent over by Saez. O'Neal picked up a forfeit win from the only female in the Open event, Brittany Bryant (a conflict with her participation in the Ladies event), and had eliminated Mike Dechaine 11-8.
O'Neal survived a double hill match against Smith to earn a himself a re-match against Archer, who'd eliminated Deuel 11-9. Archer got the best of the re-match, downing O'Neal 11-4, and then, defeated McMinn in the semifinals 11-7; Archer had taken an 8-0 lead in that semifinal match, before McMinn rallied to win seven of the final 10.
In the double elimination finals, Saez and Archer battled back and forth through to a tie at 6-6. Saez won four straight to reach the hill, but came up empty on the 17th rack, allowing Archer to clear the table. Archer made it 10-8 with a 7-9 combo, as the room buzzed with 'here comes Johnny' energy. Saez completed his undefeated run, winning the 19th rack and claiming the event title.
Last June, Justin Bergman raised a few pool eyebrows when he defeated Francisco Bustamante in the finals of the Southern Classic's One-Pocket event in Tunica. He'd already chalked up a win on the Simonis Cloth Classic Tour in May and two months after Tunica, won the Big Muddy Freeroll down in Cape Girardeaux, LA. Bergman opened his 2014 campaign with an undefeated victory in the River City 9-Ball Open, stopping a five-match, loss side bid by Robb Saez in the process. The $1,000-added event, held on the weekend of January 11-12, drew 52 entrants to 6 Pockets Bar & Billiards in Decatur, AL.
As Bergman was busy among the winners' side final eight, defeating Kenny Laftis 9-3, 'home room' favorite, Lane "Lights Out" Gatlin was working on Saez, eventually sending him on his loss-side way 9-4. Bergman then picked up Gatlin and sent him over after Saez 9-2. Robert Hall, in the meantime, defeated Bobby McGrath 9-4 to join Bergman in the battle for the hot seat. Bergman took that hot seat match 9-7, and waited on the return of Saez.
Saez opened his loss-side bid 7-3 over Daryl Biggart, followed up 7-2 over Laftis and missed a second shot at Gatlin, when he drew Bobby McGrath. Gatlin got Nick Hickerson, who'd eliminated Ron Justice 7-5 and Dustin Wilkins 7-3. Hickerson put the lights out on Gatlin 7-1 to face Saez, who'd just defeated McGrath 7-3.
The quarterfinal was one of only three double hill fights among the tournament's final 22 matches. Saez won it over Hickerson and then, downed Robert Hall 7-3. Bergman gave up only two racks in the race-to-9 to capture the event title.
6 Pockets owner Paul McLain thanked his staff, and their families, for the cooperation necessary to coordinate the event. He also thanked sponsors PoolActionTV for their live stream broadcast with Ray "Big Truck" Hansen, and local sponsors Supreme Beverage and Valley Budweiser.
In a buy-back situation at last June's Southern Classic in Tunica, MS, 20-year-old Skyler Woodward, who will very soon be losing the adjective "young," normally attached to his name, made it to the finals of the Southern Classic's Bank Pool Tournament at Harrah's Casino. He faced Alex Pagalayun, who's about six years away from being old enough for Hall of Fame eligibility. Woodward, who'd already used the 'buy back' option to stay in the tournament had to win twice because Pagalayun had yet to exercise the same option. Pagalayun prevailed, winning the first and only set 3-1 to finish an undefeated run. But Woodward, who'd finished tied for 70th place in the same tournament a year ago, had his reputation marker advanced a notch or two. In 2012, on our AZB Money Leaderboard, he was ranked 424th. Now, a year later, with three months to go, he's ranked 73rd.
Woodward's 'rep' continued to advance in the right direction, as he added an undefeated, September 28-29 weekend on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour to his list of 11 accomplishments (code for "in the money") in 2013. He was almost caught in this one by Jay Klatt, who mounted a five-match, loss-side streak to meet him in the finals. Klatt battled him to double hill before Woodward closed out the $2,150-added Open portion of the weekend's events that had drawn 50 entrants to Break Billiards in Cahokia, IL.
The weekend also featured a $350-added Ladies event that drew nine entrants and was won by Julia Gabriel. Like Woodward, Gabriel faced a different opponent in the hot seat match and finals. She downed Shelby Dawn in the hot seat match, but following victories over Annie Nord in the quarterfinals and Dawn in the semifinals, Allison Hardwick got the second chance against Gabriel. Gabriel completed her undefeated run through the short field with a 7-5 finals victory over Hardwick.
In the Open event, Woodward moved among the winners' side final four to meet up with Rich Sager. In the other winners' side semifinal, Steve Boucher faced Chuck Raulston, who had just sent Jay Klatt to the loss side. Woodward downed Sager 9-3, while Boucher was busy defeating Raulston 9-4. Woodward moved into the hot seat with a 9-4 win over Boucher and waited on Klatt.
Klatt, in the meantime, got right back to work. He defeated Mike Dunklin and Bobby McGrath, both 9-7, to pick up Sager. Raulston drew Shane McMinn, who'd gotten by Drake Nietoetter 9-7 and Jacob White 9-3. Klatt advanced 9-6 over Sager and, in the quarterfinals, got a second shot against Raulston, who'd defeated McMinn 9-4.
Klatt took full advantage of his re-match opportunity. He'd been defeated by Raulston 9-3, earlier. He defeated Raulston 9-5 in the quarterfinals and moved on to face Boucher in the semifinal. He took Boucher down 9-5 as well, and turned for his shot at Woodward in the hot seat. Needing to win two, Klatt's bid fell short with a double hill win in the opening set by Woodward.
