It had been almost exactly four years since Chris Karp had stepped into a Tri-State Tour winners' circle; April 30, 2011, to be precise, when he went undefeated through a field of 32 at Eastside Billiards in Manhattan. Three years and 11 months later, on March 21, he went undefeated through a field of 41, on hand for a $1,500-added Tri-State event, hosted by Steinway Cafe and Billiards in Astoria (Queens), New York.

 

In his seven-match run to the finish line, Karp went through a set of Tri-State veterans, beginning with Mike Strassberg, Luis Jimenez, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, and Bogie Uzdejczyk. Next up, in a winners' side semifinal, was Eddie Perez, while Koka Davladze met up with Sam Alvarez. Karp sent Perez packing to the loss side 7-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Alvarez, who'd dispatched Davladze 8-6. Karp took the hot seat 7-4 and waited on what turned out to be the return of Davladze.

 

On the loss side, Davladze ran into Uzdejczyk, who, following his defeat at the hands of Karp, had won two straight double hill matches against Jamiyl Adams and Stewart Warnock. Perez picked up Dave Shlemperis, who'd gotten by Delimelkonoglu 7-1 and Alberto Estevez 7-5. A 7-5 win for Shlemperis over Perez and a 7-4 victory for Davladze against Uzdejczyk, put them against each other in the quarterfinals.

 

Davladze then chalked up two straight 8-5 wins; over Shlemperis in the quarterfinals and Alvarez in the semifinals. Karp opened the finals against Davladze with three straight racks. They traded racks to 4-1, before Davladze checked in with three straight of his own, tying the match at 4-4. Karp got ahead by two, before Davladze checked in with what would prove to be his last rack. At 6-5, Karp surged ahead to win it 8-5.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Cafe and Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, March 29, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

For the past three years, Bogie Uzdejczyk has won at least one stop on the Tri-State or Predator Tours. He won two Tri-State stops in 2011, two more in 2012, and picked up a Predator win in 2013. One week after winning the first Tri-State Tour stop of 2014, he finished fifth in an Open/Pro Predator event behind Tony Robles, Mike Dechaine, Zion Zvi and Frankie Hernandez.  On Saturday, October 4, he claimed his fourth, undefeated Tri-State title of 2014. The $750-added event drew 23 entrants to Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

 

Uzdejczyk had to get by Chris Peralta twice to claim this most recent Tri-State title. Following wins against Duane Toney, Keith Adamik, and Hank Nguyen, Uzdejczyk faced Peralta for the first time in a winners' side semifinal, defeating him 7-4, as Robert Jew was busy defeating Teddy Lapadula 6-1. Uzdejczyk claimed the hot seat with a 9-6 win over Jew and waited on Peralta.

 

Peralta moved over and started his trek back to the finals against Nelson Tran, who'd defeated Dave Ascolese 7-1 and Harry Guevarez 7-4. LaPadula picked up Larry Chandler, who'd gotten by Ada Lio 7-3 and Roger Duronio 6-4. Peralta eliminated Tran 7-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced LaPadula, who'd finished Chandler's day 6-5.

 

Peralta, looking for his first Tri-State win, defeated LaPadula 7-5, and earned his first shot in a Tri-State final with a 7-3 win over Jew in the semifinals. He took the opening two racks in the finals, and after giving up one, re-established the two-rack lead at 3-1. Uzdejczyk took the next two to tie it up at 3-3, before Peralta regained the lead for the last time at 4-3. Over the next six, they traded racks, with Uzdejczyk maintaining the single-rack initiative. At 6-6, he did so for the last time, claiming the event title, as Peralta recorded his best finish on the Tri-State tour.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for October 11, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. 

With 2013 being the only exception, Bogie Uzdejczyk has won two events on the Tri-State Tour,  three out of the last four years. His only event victory last year was on the Predator Tour. He has apparently decided to make up for lost time. On Saturday, May 10, he chalked up his third win on the 2014 Tri-State Tour, following his January win in Brooklyn and a February victory in Queens; all by going undefeated. The $1,000-added AB-CD event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, where 43 entrants came out to play.

 

Uzdejczyk's AB trail went through Paul Raval, Doug Youmans, and Borana "Queen B" Andoni, before drawing Vincent Ferri in a winners' side semifinal. Andrew Cleary, in the meantime,  playing on the CD side of things initially, went through Bernie Vogelsang, Eddie Perez, Pat Mareno and Jessica Lynn Greibeslad, to face Jan Mierzwa in the other semifinal. Uzdejczyk defeated Ferri 7-4 and turned to face Cleary, who'd defeated Mierzwa 6-4. Uzdejczyk claimed his third Tri-State hot seat with an 8-6 win over Cleary, and waited on what turned out to be Mike Zimny.

 

Zimny, who was among the final eight on the winners' side, had been denied a winners' side semifinal match by Ferri. He moved to the loss side and began his five-match march to the finals. He took out Youmans 7-2 and Andoni 7-4 to draw a re-match versus Ferri. Jan Mierzwa drew Dave Jusis, who'd eliminated Ed Huth and Eddie DaCosta, both 6-2.

 

Zimny took the re-match over Ferri 7-5, as Mierzwa defeated Jusis 6-3. Zimny completed his loss-side run with a 7-3 win over Mierzwa in the quarterfinals and a 7-2 victory over Cleary in the semifinals. 

 

Zimny got out to an early lead over Uzdejczyk in the finals, and was ahead by three when he reached seven games, forcing an extension to nine games. Uzdejczyk broke and ran the next rack, and then won four more to stop Zimny in his tracks and claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, May 17, will be hosted by House of Billiards on Staten Island. The following weekend – May 24-26 – the 4th Annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament, with Amateur and Pro events and sponsored by the Tri-State, Predator and Mezz Tours, will be held at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY.

Stewart Warnock came out of the gate fast on Sunday, April 27, chalking up a shutout in his first match, and following through with an undefeated run through five other opponents to capture the event title on a Tri-State Tour stop. The $1,000-added event drew 52 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.

 

Ari Hirshfeld was on the receiving end of Warnock's opening-round shutout, before Bogie Uzdejczyk, Robert Pamilar, and Kapriel Delimelkonoglu went down, moving Warnock into a winners' side semifinal against Vinny Ferri. Jaydev Zaveri, in the meantime, who'd end up facing Warnock twice, faced Kevin Ippolitto. Warnock defeated Ferri 8-5, and met up with Zaveri, who'd downed Ippolitto 7-6. Warnock took the first of two against Zaveri 9-7 and waited in the hot seat for the second.

 

On the loss side, Lidio Ramirez was putting together an eight-match winning streak that had started when he fell in the opening round to Mike Pruitt. Halfway through the run, he defeated Wilfredo Albay 7-6, and Basdeo Sookhai 7-5, which set him up to face Ferri. Ippolitto, in the meantime, met up with David Gumbs, who'd defeated Yurgos Hatziefthimiou 7-4 and Shane Torres 7-5, to reach him.

 

Ramirez got by Ferri 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Ippolitto, who'd eliminated Gumbs 7-2. Ramirez completed his loss-side run with a 10-7 win over Ippolitto, and then ran into Zaveri, who stopped him 8-5 for a second chance against Warnock.

 

Like Warnock in the tournament, Zaveri came out of the starting gate in the finals, fast. He opened up a 4-0 lead, before Warnock responded. He responded, though, with a vengeance, chalking up nine straight to take the match and the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is scheduled for May 3 at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

On Sunday, April 13, Jessica "Asia" Cycak, last seen battling Karen Corr in the finals of a stop on the JPNEWT tour, worked her way, undefeated, through a field of 45 entrants on hand, for a stop on the Tri-State Tour. The $1,500-added event, marking Cycak's first victory on the tour, was hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY. 

 

Having worked her way through Rajesh Vannala, Miguel Laboy, and Luis Jimenez, Cycak faced Thomas Rice in a winners' side final four matchup, while Sam Hoffman faced Will Morales. Cycak sent Rice to the losers' bracket and in the battle for the hot seat, squared off against Hoffman, who'd sent Morales over 6-3. Cycak downed Hoffman 7-4 and waited in the hot seat for what turned out to be the return of John Morrison.

 

Morrison, who'd been defeated by Hoffman, worked his way through the losers' bracket, defeating Vagif Alekberov 7-3 and Bob Toomey 6-4, to pick up Morales. Rice drew Jamiyl Adams, who'd gotten by Tri V. Chau 7-4 and Bogie Uzdejczyk 7-5. Morrison and Rice defeated Morales and Adams by the same 7-3 score and faced each other in the quarterfinals.

 

Morrison ended Rice's day 8-4, earning himself a much-anticipated re-match against Hoffman in the semifinals. Morrison exacted his revenge 6-4 for a shot at Cycak in the hot seat. He took advantage, jumping out to a 2-0 lead before Cycak responded with seven straight to claim her first Tri-State title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for April 19, will be hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

Mike Zimny went undefeated through a field of 62 entrants, on hand for the 4th Annual Paul Fanelli Memorial Tournament on the weekend of April 5-6. For the second year in a row, the event was held to benefit Lots of Love 4 Lindsay, a fund created initially to raise money for a heart transplant for a two-year-old named Lindsay Loeb and now, a little short of a year after that transplant was performed successfully, continues to help the Loeb family with medical expenses. The event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, and though independent, ranking points for participating players were assigned to the Tri-State Tour. The event was live streamed via AZBTv.

 

Zimny advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Caroline Pao, as Scott Abramowitz squared off against Mike Strassberg. Zimny defeated Pao 7-3 and in the hot seat match, faced Abramowitz. who'd sent Strassberg to the losers' bracket 6-3. Zimny moved into the hot seat with a 7-4 win over Abramowitz and waited for what turned out to be the return of Pao.

 

Pao moved over and picked up Bogie Uzdejczyk, who'd defeated Vinnie Ferri 7-4 and Giovanni Husang 7-2 to reach her. Strassberg drew Gil Costello, who'd advanced past Ray Marisette 6-3 and survived a double hill match versus Jay Chiu. Pao returned to her winning ways with a 7-3 win over Uzdejczyk, while Strassberg's tournament came to an end at the hands of Costello 6-5.

 

Pao then defeated Costello 8-4 in the quarterfinals and then spoiled Abramowitz' bid for a re-match against Zimny with a 7-3 win in the semifinals. The re-match was hers. Zimny, though, completed his undefeated run with a 7-5 victory over Pao in the extended-race finals to claim the event title.

The last time Koka Davladze won a Tri-State Tour stop (September 14, 2013 at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY), he went undefeated through a field of 64 and opted out of a final match against runner-up Chris DeCaprio, with whom he split the top prize. On Saturday, March 8, he went undefeated through a shorter field of 24, during a $1,500-added Tri-State event, hosted by the same room. This time, though, he played a final match, coming from behind to defeat Keith Diaz and claim the top prize.

 

Davladze's path went through Andrzej Kaldan, and Luis Jimenez, before running into Keith Adamik in a winners' side semifinal. Diaz and Ambi Estevez met in the other one. Davladze advanced to the hot seat match 7-4 over Adamik, as Diaz was sending Estevez to the losers' bracket 6-4. In their first of two, Davladze defeated Diaz 9-6 and sat in the hot seat to await his return.

 

Keith Adamik moved to the loss side and ran immediately into Wesley Kennedy, who'd been defeated by Gary O'Callaghan in the opening round of play, and was in the midst of a five-match loss-side streak that would take him to the quarterfinals. He'd gotten by Luis Jimenez 7-3 and Bogie Uzdejczyk 7-5 to draw Adamik. Uzdejczyk had just spoiled Kennedy's chance for a re-match against O'Callaghan by defeating O'Callaghan 7-6. Estevez picked up Eddie Perez, who'd gotten by Mike Harrington 6-5 and Jud Parker 6-1, to reach him.

 

Kennedy completed his loss-side winning streak with a 7-4 victory over Adamik, while Estevez downed Perez 6-3. Estevez brought Kennedy's streak to an end with an 8-4 victory in the quarterfinals, and had his own streak broken by Diaz, 6-3, in the semifinals.

 

Diaz jumped out to a 4-0 lead in his re-match against Davladze in the finals, but Davladze roared back with a run of his own, to an eventual 5-5 tie. Diaz would only win one of the next five, as Davladze moved on to completed his undefeated run and claim the top prize, this time, all to himself.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. There will be two Tri-State events, at separate locations, on the weekend of March 22-23; the first on Saturday, March 22 will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, NY, and the second on Sunday, March 23, at On the Snap Billiards in Sayerville, NJ.

Bogie Uzdejczyk chalked up his second 2014 victory on the Tri-State Tour with an undefeated effort on a stop held Saturday, February 22. He and Stewart Warnock, whom he'd defeated already, opted out of a final match, choosing to split the top prizes. The $1,000-added event drew 36 entrants to The Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

Uzdejczyk's path went through Luis Jimenez, Meshak  Daniel, and Miguel Laboy before running into Warnock among the winners' side final four. Ryszard Szpila, in the meantime, met with Frank Sieczka. Uzdejczyk survived a double hill battle versus Warnock in the only match they would play, as Szpila advanced to the hot seat match with a 6-4 win over Sieczka. Uzdejczyk claimed the hot seat with an 8-6 win over Szpila, in effect, ending his efforts for the night.

 

On the loss side, Warnock began a three-match winning streak to get back to the finals. His first opponent was Akbar Karmoeddien, who'd defeated Laboy 8-4 and Rob Mislivits 7-2. Sieczka drew Jan Mierzwa who'd gotten by Allison Honeymar 7-6 and Raymond Lee 6-4. Warnock downed Karmoeddien 7-4, and in the quarterfinals, met up with Mierzwa, who'd eliminated Sieczka 6-3.

 

Warnock dropped Mierzwa into fourth place and then defeated Szpila, fresh off his hot seat battle, 8-7. It was at this point that with long rides home ahead of them, Uzdejczyk and Warnock decided against a final match and chose to split the top prizes.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at The Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for March 1, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

Coming through the C-D side of a 59-player field, Dave Jusis met and defeated A-B player Scott Simonetti twice to claim the Tri-State Tour stop title, his first, on Saturday, February 8. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

 

Divided early, into A-B and C-D brackets, Jusis got by Gil Costello, Tony Ignomirello, Paul Wilkens, and Mike Farley, before meeting up with Mike Strassburg in the C-D final. Simonetti, in the meantime, defeated Geoff Bauer, Bob Labelestein, and Paul Raval before squaring off against Stewart Warnock in the A-B final. Jusis downed Strassburg double hill, to be met in the battle for the hot seat by Simonetti, who'd sent Warnock to the losers' bracket 7-3. Jusis sent Simonetti to the semifinals 9-7 and sat in the hot seat to await his return.

 

Strassburg moved over to pick up Paul Wilkens, who, after being defeated by Jusis in the third round, went on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He defeated Quinn Chen, Mike Figueroa, Eddie Perez and Mike Farley to face Strassburg. Warnock drew Bogie Uzdejczyk, who was on a six-match, loss-side streak of his own, having eliminated Chuck Giallorenzo, Roger Hanos, Mike Zimny, Geoff Bauer, Paul Raval and Max Watanabe.

 

Wilkens survived a double hill match against Strassburg and in the quarterfinals, faced Warnock, who'd ended Uzdejczyk's winning streak 7-1. Wilkens and Warnock locked horns in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Wilkens to meet Simonetti in the semifinals.

 

Simonetti, in what proved to be the final match of the evening, defeated Wilkens 9-7. He and Jusis opted out of playing a final match, allowing the undefeated Jusis to lay claim to the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards for their hospitality and continuing support of the tour, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Sunday, February 16, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.

To the best of his recollection, the last time Tony Robles met up with Mike Dechaine was over two years ago in Valley Forge. Dechaine had gotten the best of him 11-8 back then and when Dechaine took him down in the hot seat match of the January 12 stop on the Predator Tour, somewhere in that generally professional demeanor that doesn't over-dramatize a single defeat, there had to have been a quiet voice in the mental background, saying "Here we go again." Robles came back from the semifinals to down Dechaine in the finals of the $750-added Open Predator event that had drawn 26 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

"I had a chance to beat him at 10-2 in those finals," said Robles, "but he slipped in a couple of games on me."

 

By the time Robles moved among the winners' side final four, he'd already played what he would consider to be his "best match of the tournament" – a 7-3 win over Wang Can – which came at a point when he was nowhere near as tired as he was going to be at the end, and made "fewer errors." He moved on from that win to defeat Travis McKinney 7-2, as Dechaine was busy defeating Bogie Uzdejczyk 7-1. Dechaine took command of the hot seat match, giving up only two racks and waiting in the hot seat for Robles' return.

 

On the loss side, Zion Zvi was working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak, which had begun when he'd been defeated by Hunter Lombardo 7-1 in the event's opening round. Victories over Eddie Culhane 7-4 and a commanding 7-1 win over Earl "The Pearl" Strickland, set Zvi up to face McKinney. Uzdejczyk ran into Frankie Hernandez, who'd gotten by Kevin Guimond 7-2 and spoiled Wang Can's hopes of a re-match against Robles, by defeating him 7-4.

 

Hernandez took care of Uzdejczyk 7-3 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Zvi, who'd dropped McKinney 7-2. Zvi took that quarterfinal match against Hernandez 7-3, but had his loss-side run terminated by Robles in a double hill semifinal.

 

Robles left little room for doubt in the finals, taking command early, and staying out in front. He won it, ahead by six, at 11-5 to claim the event title. Beyond his tempered joy of winning this event on his own tour, Robles was elated by the overall turnout for the two weekend events (Open and Amateur) that had drawn a total of 131 players to Steinway Billiards. 

 

"Not to say that I'm not happy about winning the event," he said. "I am, but I'm happier about the turnout, which is more important to me than winning a tournament and watching your sport die."