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!
The hot seat match of the 37th Annual Midwest Bar Table Classic, held on the weekend of October 21-22, featured two former winners of the event; one, Brian Groce, from 14 years ago (2003) and the other, Steve Oaks, from 34 years ago (1983).
“It was the best match of the whole tournament,” said event director, John Klotz, of the double hill battle that eventually put Groce in the hot seat. “There were one or two mistakes in the first couple of games, but from there to the end, it was just beautiful pool.”
The quality of the hot seat match led to hopes for a re-match in the finals, which did not materialize. Instead, a relative upstart, Brandon Thomas, who finished fifth in the 2015 Classic, downed Oaks (who’d sent him to the loss side) in the semifinals. Groce survived a first-set loss in the double elimination finals to win the second set and capture his fifth Midwest Classic title; his previous four coming in 2003, 2002, 2001, & 1998.
Previously hosted by Brickyard Billiards in Indianapolis, the $2,000-added, 37th Annual Midwest Bar Table Classic drew a full field of 64 entrants to a new location – John Wayne’s Pub, also in Indianapolis. While a host of familiar names and faces appeared on the brackets, the two-time defending champion of the event, Billy Thorpe, was not among them. Thorpe was making plans for attendance at the US Open 9-Ball Championships and gearing up for his first-ever appearance as a member of the USA Mosconi Cup team this coming December.
Following victories over Korey Harris, Mike France, Jayme Goodwin, and Ronnie Solgot, Groce stepped into a winners’ side semifinal against Jeremy Edwards, in what would prove to be the first of two-straight double hill matches that would put Groce in the hot seat. Oaks, in the meantime, having gotten by Dathan Schmidt, Chuck Thurnall, Alan Pham and Trent Vaught, faced Brandon Thomas in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Groce chalked up his first double hill win in a row, over Edwards, as Oaks sent Thomas to the loss side 9-6. The ‘best match of the tournament’ was on. When the dust settled, Groce was in the hot seat, and Oaks was on his way to a fateful match against Thomas in the semifinals.
On the loss side, Thomas began his trek back to the finals against Clay Carmen, who’d moved into the money rounds with wins over Dave Grau, a double hill win over Brian Winters, and then, eliminated Molly Bontrager, double hill, as well. Edwards picked up Alex Olinger, who was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had included money-round victories over Louis Demarco 7-4, a double hill win over Martin Zayala, Jr. and another double hill win, over Trent Vaught.
Thomas defeated Carmen 7-2, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Edwards, who’d eliminated Olinger 7-4. Thomas took the quarterfinal match over Edwards 7-5, and then spoiled any hopes for a Groce/Oaks re-match with a 7-5 victory over Oaks in the semifinals.
Thomas used his momentum to take the opening set of the true double elimination final against Groce 7-3. Groce, though, caught a literal second wind and defeated Thomas by the same 7-3 score in the second set to secure the title to his fifth Midwest Bar Table Classic.
Event director John Klotz thanked Chuck Thomas, owner of John Wayne’s Pub for his debut hospitality, hosting the event, as well as sponsors Accu-Rack and Diamond Billiard Tables.
It was pool heaven Sept 20th – 24th at Dave Cole’s Carom Room in Beloit, WI. This year’s Fall Classic had three events – a sixteen player one pocket tournament, a sixteen player Saturday Night 10 Ball and the main event – the Fall Classic 10 Ball Championship. No jump cues were allowed in any of the three events.
The one pocket event was filled with top notch talent and sponsored by Durbin Custom Cues, Kamui, Simonis and Aramith. It had a $500 entry fee and was single elimination – race to five. First round surprises included a couple of 5-0 thrashings – Jayson Shaw over Joey Gray and Tony Chohan over Skyler Woodward. Second round saw Chip Compton and Jayson Shaw advance to a chance for a finals slot as well as Larry Nevel and Jeremy Jones.
Jayson defeated Chip 5-3 to lock up his seat in the finals and Jeremy defeated Larry in a 5-4 nailbiter to capture the other berth.
The finals was all Jeremy as he took it down with a score of 5-2 over Jayson. Congratulations to JJ for a great finish!!! Good tournament, Jayson! And, thanks again to our sponsors!
Play started that evening in the main event. A full field of 96 players put up their $150 entry fees in the main event. It was bar box 10 ball, race to 9 with alternate breaks. The tournament chart was filled with names that any pool aficionado would recognize.
First round action saw red hot John Morra defeating Chip Compton and Charlie Bryant over Shane McMinn with 25% of the field receiving first rounds byes. Second round saw it tightening up a bit with Skyler Woodward taking down fellow young gun Tyler Styer, Joey Gray over Brian Groce, Jeremy Jones over foreign phenom Can Salim and Jason Klatt sending Houston Open runner-up Devin Poteet west.
Notable matches in the third round had Jones beating Klatt and saw two Wisconsin straight shooting legends battle it out – Jeff Carter took down Jayme Goodwin in a close match.
Fourth round pitted Jayson Shaw over Carter with Shaw prevailing. Sharik Sayed sent Morra to the one loss side while Justin Bergman did the same to Alex Olinger.
It wasn’t getting any easier in the fifth round. Jones and Bergman duked it out with Bergman taking the win. Other matches included Tony Chohan over Chad Elston, Shaw defeating Sayed and Jesse Bowman taking care of Alex Pagulayan.
Saturday night, while the main event was in progress, saw sixteen players vying for the cheese in a $500 entry, race to seven, winner break bar box 10 ball event. When the smoke cleared, there were two players remaining – Sky Woodward and Justin Bergman.
Fans anticipated a real showdown between the two young guns. However, showing why he is widely considered to be the best bar box player in the country, Sky never gave Justin any air and cruised to a 7-0 victory. Congratulations to Sky for a well-played event! Good job, Justin!
Back to the main event, it was now down to the final twelve players with Shaw vs. Bowman and Chohan vs. Bergman being the final four on the winners side. Jayson motored out to a 6-2 lead until Bowman found his gear and took it down 9-7. Tony then defeated Justin 9-6 in the other quarter-final match. This set up the hot seat match with Tony defeating Jesse 9-5 and arriving undefeated to the hot seat. Jesse moved west to see who emerged from the pack for the semi-final.
In the end, it came down to Alex and Jayson being the two remaining players on the one loss side of the chart. Alex was taking no prisoners as he knocked Jayson out of the running with a 9-5 score. This left Jayson with a well-deserved fourth place finish.
The match for the other finals spot was a barnburner! Both Jesse and Alex wanted it badly and it finally climaxed at an 8-8 score. Alex secured the win leaving a very disappointed Jesse having to settle for a hard fought third place.
Since this event was true double elimination, defending champion Alex would have to defeat Tony twice to claim the title. While both players made very few errors, Alex won the first set 9-5 forcing a second set.
A determined Tony Chohan notched game after game and by what appeared to be the end of the match, led by a score of 8-3. Finally leaving his opponent a little daylight, Alex began grinding it out. Slowly and methodically, he tied it up at 8-8! One game for it all and it was Tony’s break! He smashed the balls but came up empty and the Lion roared to claim the title!
What a finish!!! Tony played a great event while a determined Alex showed once again why he is a future Hall of Famer! Good tournament, Tony! And, congratulations to Alex for defending his Carom Room Fall Classic title!
As usual, Dave Coles and his staff went out of their way to provide a first class event for the players and fans. We want to thank them for their hospitality and also thank the event sponsors: Allied Games, Behnke Enterprises, Jacoby Cues, Valley Door and Diveney Cues. Thank you, all!!!
PoolActionTV.com, as always, would like to thank our fans and sponsors for another top-notch stream with excellent commentary by Jeremy Jones and Larry Schwartz. Our sponsors include Steve Lomax of Lomax Custom Cues, John Barton of JB Cases, James Hanshew of Hanshew Custom Cues, Mike Durbin of Durbin Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith, GoPlayPool.com, Kamui and Club Billiards of Wichita, KS.
Our next stop is the 2nd Annual John Guffey Memorial to be held September 28th through Oct 1st at Club Billiards in Wichita, KS. Hope to see you there!!!
Sitting in the hot seat, Shane Winters watched Justin Bergman complete a nine-match, loss-side winning streak to meet him in the finals of the 32nd Annual Midwest Bar Table 9-Ball Classic. While certainly no stranger to pressure situations, it likely gave Winters some pause as he squared up for the opening set of a potential two-set final. Even more so, when Bergman took that opening set. Winters hung on, though, taking the second set to claim the title. The $1,500-added event drew 64 entrants to Brickyard Billiards in Indianapolis, IN.
Bergman had been sent to the loss side in the second round of play by Alex Olinger, who advanced to a winners' side quarterfinal against Danny Smith. Smith sent him over for an eventual re-match against Bergman while he went on to face Winters in a winners' side semifinal. Brandon Thomas and Brian Groce met up in the other one. Winters advanced to the hot seat match 9-7 over Smith and was joined by Groce, who sent Thomas west 9-3. Winters claimed the hot seat 9-4 over Groce and watched, as Bergman crept closer and closer.
With four under his loss-side belt, Bergman downed Jonah Bunch 7-2 and successfully wreaked his vengeance on Olinger 7-4, to meet Thomas. Danny Smith drew Skyler Woodward, who'd been sent to the loss side by Groce, in a double hill fight, and then defeated Rick Schroeder and Clay Carmen, both 7-2. It was a much-anticipated quarterfinal matchup between Woodward and Bergman, once Woodward had eliminated Smith 7-4 and Bergman had dispatched Thomas, double hill.
Bergman chalked up his second straight double hill win in the quarterfinal match versus Woodward, and then downed Groce 7-3 in the semifinals. He took the opening set of the double elimination final 9-5, but Winters hung tough and claimed the event title with a 7-5 victory in the second set.
Shane Van Boening – Photo courtesy of Dave Thomson Mediumpool.com
LIVE from the Horseshoe Southern Indiana Resort and Casino, Elizabeth, IN
As a matter of historical interest, no one player has had a career "Grand Slam, i.e., won all three Derby City Classic Master of the Table divisions: Bank Pool, One Pocket and 9-Ball.
Efren Reyes has won both One-Pocket and 9-Ball; Shannon Daulton has captured 9-Ball and Bank Pool and, got close last year with a second against Efren in the One Pocket.
Will history be made? They're both in the last 3 in the Banks Division and very capable of taking any title but, we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Let's get you caught up.
Diamond BIG Foot 10-Ball Challenge.
Shane Van Boening and Jason Klatt opened Sunday's action on the Accu-Stats TV table at noon. Jason had been playing a 10 am, One-Pocket match while Shane waited, warming up BIG Foot. There's nothing like it to work out the body's early morning cobwebs.
Shane's work ethic is, without a doubt, a major contribution to his success. At every opportunity, he's practicing on BIG Foot.
When everyone else is doing whatever, last thing at night, he's in the Accu-Stats Arena running balls. "I actually practice more at tournaments than I do when I am at home," he confessed.
Jason, a little late to the table as Shane was in fine fettle, took time to adjust and clambered to a very admirable 8 before Shane dropped the hammer.
It was then John Morra and Alex Pagulayan stepped into the ring. John, like many, just couldn't get BIG Foot's tight jaws to devour any balls on the break.
Alex is more familiar with massive expanses of Simonis as he had spent a lot of last year on the UK snooker circuit.
His, seemingly, miniature body stretched across the slate, capitalized on every offer John presented. Morra wasn't allowed to regroup as he did so elegantly, yesterday, against Bustamante. He had to settle for 7 before Alex slammed the door.
22 year old, Manila native, Jeff Ignacio can play. In fact, last year, Efren commented that Jeff was then the best player in the Phillipines. Yet, sometimes, he missed the simplest of balls. "I am very quick, maybe too quick; Fast decision, fast release," he stated. "I have to learn to control my impulses."
10-Ball is the Filipino game of choice. After easily dismissing a struggling Orcollo, Jeff said that, when they match-up in the Phillipines, he usually gets the 9. "Yeah, but that was about 4 years ago," countered Orcollo.
He didn't need the 9 today. "I couldn't see clearly," Dennis defended after his defeat at 6, "I had only managed 4 hours sleep." (We'll blame it on the Jet lag).
Mika and Lee Vann closed out the evening session with Mika, up 5-2, getting sharked by a raised water bottle in his line of sight to a straight-in 5-ball.
Lee Vann jumped to the table and soon had overtaken Mika. Mika's demons were alive and well and the audience was aware of his distress. Enter good-buddy Rodney Morris. Rodney sat behind Mika's chair consoling while motivating him," "Shake it off, shake it off. You'll get your chance."
When that chance arose and Mika was back on the scoreboard, "Now, take a time out," insisted Rodney. Mika new that he was right.
Ten minutes later Mika's maturity as an athlete was apparent. He approached the game composed and courageous. The BIG Foot battled ensued until Corteza was on the hill and Mika had fought to 9,
Then, up jumped the devil. Remember we're on BIG Foot now. The slightest overhit can have devastating results. In Mika's safety attempt to tie up the cue ball, a millimeter made all the difference and Lee Vann was left a peek at the cash. He took it straight to the bank.
And then there were four: Shane versus 3 Filipinos. Surprised?
In Semi's #1, Corteza faced the fearless Ignacio.
Jeff started well and was ahead 3-1. Then his break stopped working, "And, I had 4 scratches," he commiserated.
With an 11-7 win, Lee Vann observed, "It seems I'm always coming from behind, Then, he gave me so many opportunities…and I took them," he smiled wryly.
Semi's #2: Shane's discipline of practice showed up and his ball pocketing, table speed, position play, were near flawless. Then you add, never mind the power, the precision of his break. When he completes his follow thru, his forefinger is circling the butt 6 inches behind the joint.
Previously, Alex was executing like he had found his pool form that eluded him on his return from the snooker circuit.
Unfortunately, today, against Shane, he didn't get a chance to use it.
Shane was on fire. Alex, always a gentleman, had to applaud him. And, when Alex did get to break, twice his cue ball found the pocket. He managed only 2 games before Shane had ensured his berth, again, in the finals.
Mosconi Cup, Team America captain and Accu-Stats commentator Mark Wilson reported that, "Shane displayed one of the most inspiring 10-Ball performances that he had ever witnessed." Shane had shot an Accu-Stats' Total Performance Average(TPA) of 957–on BIG Foot! If you missed the Pay-per -View, no worries, you can catch it, soon, on the DVD.
The Finals: it seemed that Corteza was boggled by Van Boening's power and ability and smothering of Alex. Shane was as comfortable on BIG Foot as he had ever been on any table. He showed no weakness; no sign of stress or nervousness. Lee Vann had slivers of opportunity that he could not quite capture. With Shane on the hill while he, too, had mustered only 2, he missed ball that he would have made in his sleep. Shane had shot him into submission.
By allowing only 4 games against him in the semi's and finals, is there a contender on the planet who can contain Shane?
We'll see in the One Pocket and 9-Ball.
Diamond Derby City Classic XVII: Bank Pool Division
From 413 candidates on Friday, by Monday, at 10am there were 30. At 6pm there were 12.
Cold, you may ask? Up 2-1, and needing one ball, while Efren needed 4, Scott made the perfect bank into the heart of the corner pocket.
He stepped forward to offer Efren his hand only to realize that the ball had slowed and hung up in the jaws.
Efren stepped up and, before Scott knew it, they were jousting over one ball. Efren bounced it off the short rail and nothing but net. 2-2.
He broke and ran 4. Scott's bank attempt got close but left a distant, long rail cross into the corner. Without a wobble, the "Magician" escaped again.
With 6 remaining, Efren persevered over Bobby Hunter, Shannon allowed Brian Groce a graceful exit and, old school Brumback learned young gun Hall.
They will redraw tomorrow evening, Each has only one life left. One lucky contender will get a bye straight into the Finals and you get to watch it all at accu-stats.com.
The One-Pocket Hall of Fame Banquet
Tuesday evening, Steve Booth will host the most entertaining night at the Derby, The One Pocket Hall of Fame Banquet at 6pm in Legends Bar near the food court in the Horseshoe Southern Indiana.
Needless to say, the evening will celebrate the life and times of the inimitable Freddy "The Beard" Bentivegna.
The George Fels Memorial Straight Pool Challenge got off to a raucous start when young Scot, Jayson Shaw, reached for a Guinness–The Book of records that is. By breaking all previous competition record runs, he strung together staggering 227.
"That was my first inning of my second attempt." noted Shaw. Players get 12 attempts, in groups of 4 break shots, to create a high run. The top 8 finishers switch to a single elimination format and the winner is determined on Saturday.
"In my first 4 attempts, I had couple of 50 somethings and a 6! I have run in the hundreds before so, I'm not going to let it get to me. So, I bought back in. I managed the 227 in my first inning. I got $300 for high run of the day"
Daily bonuses are distributed to the top 3 high runs.
Shaw continued his innings on Monday and secured a 165 before getting his cue ball stuck in the stack.
Mika Immonen heard all the commotion and decided, 227, thats' something to shoot at. When he got 100; no sweat, At 200, the texts were blazing around the resort. "Still going? Jayson texted tourney director Bill Maropulos, "Yup," Bill responded.
At 224, that's 16 consecutive racks, folks, Mika blasted the break shot. Jayson's 227 remains intact.
Nick Van Den Berg has a 149, Warren Kiamco-145, last year's winner Dennis Orcollo–127. There are double the entrants from last year and more big runs are expected. Jayson and Mika are pretty safe, although, John "Mr 400" Schmidt is in the house.
See two more days of qualifiers before the highest 8 square off in single eliminate at www.tvmike.tv
Diamond Derby City Classic XVII: One Pocket Division
The DCC success continues as 352 One Pocket players looked for a little luck at the Horseshoe. The usual suspects are torturing the meek. No upsets as of yet.
Diamond thanks its sponsors: The Horseshoe Southern Indiana, Cyclop Balls, Simonis Cloth, BCA Pool League, and BadBoys Billiard Productions.
Accu-Stats thanks its Arena Sponsors: Simonis Cloth, Cyclop Balls, OB Cues, Cue and Case, MEZZ Cues, Samsara Cues, and National Billiard Academy.
