Miguel Laboy, like a lot of players in the New York City tri-state area, splits his tournament time between the Predator Pro Am Tour and the Tri-State Tour. Over the past five years, including his best earnings year (2014), a majority of his event victories have come on the Tri-State Tour; a total of seven in those five years. Having chalked up his first victory on the Predator Pro Am Tour this past September, Laboy backed it up on the weekend of October 26-27, by recording his second Predator Pro Am win. The $1,000-added event drew 62 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

He’d gone undefeated in his earlier win on the Predator Pro Am Tour, but on this weekend, he had to come from fairly deep on the loss side to secure the win. It was Brooke Meyer who sent him to the loss side and from where Laboy launched a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that brought him to the finals and the eventual win. Meyer, in the meantime, advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Bryan Toolsee. Kanami Chau and Zain Sundaram squared off in the other one.

 

Meyer failed to arrive on time for his winners’ side semifinal match and forfeited to Toolsee. Chau sent Sundaram to the loss side 7-4 and joined Toolsee in the battle for the hot seat. They battled to double hill before Toolsee prevailed and Chau moved west to meet Laboy in the semifinals.

 

Laboy, after winning his third and fourth loss-side match against Ernesto Gomez 8-4 and George Poltorak 8-6, picked up a rematch against Meyer, who’d returned to the competition. Sundaram drew Mark Joseph, who’d recently picked up a forfeit win from Stephen Motilal and eliminated Debra Pritchett 7-4.

 

Laboy and Sundaram advanced to the quarterfinals; Laboy with a successful 7-2 rematch against Meyer and Sundaram downing Mark Joseph 7-5. Laboy then ended Sundaram’s weekend with a 9-4 win in the quarterfinals.

 

Laboy and Kanami Chau locked up in a semifinal bout that almost came to double hill. Laboy, though, edged out in front at the end and defeated her 11-9.

 

Coincidentally, both Laboy and hot seat occupant,  Bryan Toolsee were looking to record their second Predator Pro Am Tour victory. Toolsee’s first had come almost exactly a year ago (November 18), when he’d gone undefeated at a Cue Bar event to make 2018 his official best earnings year. Laboy completed his loss-side run and claimed the event title with a 9-3 victory in the finals.

 

A Second Chance event drew eight entrants. KC Clayton and Duc Lam fought to double hill in the finals, with Clayton prevailing to take home the $100 first-place prize. Lam took home $50 as the runner-up.

 

Tour director Tony Robles, who’s been making something of a living lately of thanking Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, did so again. He also thanked title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, Poolonthenet.com, Capelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Billiards Digest and his own Predator Pro Am team, to include his lovely wife, Gail. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for this weekend, November 2-3, will be hosted by The Spot in Nanuet.

They are two of the New York Tri-State area’s heavyweights, so to speak, and they clashed in the finals of the Predator Pro Am Tour’s September 21-22 stop at Steinway Billiards. Lidio Ramirez, the tour’s second-ranked A+ player (behind Miguel Laboy, who won the stop last weekend) was looking to chalk up his first 2019 victory, having finished as runner-up twice; once, on the Predator Tour (April) and once, on the Tri-State Tour (July). Matt Klein, the tour’s #1-ranked B+ competitor (ahead of Jaydev Zaveri) and in the midst of his best earnings year to date, by far, entered the tournament with three wins on the 2018-2019 Tri-State Tour, and two runner-up finishes on the Predator Pro Am, including the Empire State Championships. He’s been 1st, 2nd or 3rd in seven of the 11 tournaments in which he’s cashed in 2019.

 

They didn’t meet until the finals. Ramirez advanced to the hot seat, while Klein lost his opening round match and chalked up 10 loss-side wins to face Ramirez in the finals. Ramirez completed an undefeated run with a victory in the finals of the $1,000-added event that drew 71 entrants to Steinway in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

With Klein at work on the loss side of the bracket, Ramirez advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Ricky Geronimo. The other winners’ side semifinal matched Luis Carrasco against Hannah Fields, who was making only her second appearance on the Predator Pro Am Tour.

 

Ramirez and Geronimo fought to double hill before Ramirez prevailed and moved on to the hot seat match. He was joined by Fields, who’d defeated Carrasco 8-6 in what she described (via Facebook) as “the most challenging and exhausting match (she’d) ever had.

 

“It was fun, we both played smart and neither of us backed down,” she went on to say. “He made me work for every ball but eventually I capitalized and won by a hair.”

 

She described the subsequent hot seat match versus Ramirez as “humbling.” She watched Ramirez (as she put it) “run her (posterior) over,” as he claimed the hot seat 11-8 (she started the match with seven on the wire).

 

Over on the loss side, Klein chalked up wins # 6 and #7 against John Stiles (7-4) and Bryan Toolsee (7-3) to draw Geronimo. Carrasco picked up his second straight female opponent, Debra Pritchett, who’d defeated KC Clayton 6-1 and Jason Goberdhan (the tour’s #2-ranked C+ player, just behind Tony Ignomirello) 7-5.

 

Carrasco downed Pritchett 7-4, as Geronimo ended up on the wrong side of his second straight double hill fight, losing to Klein 7-6. Klein then ended Carrasco’s short, loss-side run 7-4 in the quarterfinals.

 

Hannah Fields would describe her semifinal meetup with Klein as “an amazingly fun match.” She noted in her FB report that his “personality” made the beating she received at his hands feel like “less of an ass-kicking” than it was. Klein’s 10-7 victory (Fields started with five on the wire, racing to the 10), gave him the chance to chalk up his first 2019 Predator Pro Am Tour title.

 

Ramirez had other ideas, like chalking up his first 2019 victory, period. And he did it. He downed Klein 7-5 to claim the event title.

 

A full-field, 16-entrant Second Chance event saw Ray Feliciano and Gary Bozigian battle to double hill in the finals, before Feliciano prevailed to take home the $160 first-place prize. Bozigian was the $100 runner-up. Tenzin Jorden and Suzzie Wong each won $30 for their 3rd place tie.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, Poolonthenet.com, Capelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Billiards Digest and his own Predator Pro Am team, to include his lovely wife, Gail. The Predator Pro Am Tour will return to Steinway Billiards in a little less than a month, when they host the $7,000-added Steinway Classic from October 15-17. Two days later, on the weekend of October 19-20, Robles’ Silent Assassin Productions, with the sponsorship of Dr. Michael Fedak, will bring the 6th Annual NYC 8-Ball Championships to Steinway Billiards.

The two finalists in the Predator Pro Am Tour stop on the weekend of November 17-18 were experiencing moderate milestones in their careers as pool players. The tour’s highest-rated D+ player and second highest rated female, Suzzie Wong entered the tournament, already experiencing her best recorded earnings year, to date. Her opponent in the finals, Bryan Toolsee, #4 on the tour’s list of B players, went undefeated through the field of 66, on-hand for the $1,000-added amateur event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY. The victory added enough to his 2018 earnings to make it officially his best recorded earnings year, to date.

 

They met twice, in the hot seat match and finals. Toolsee had advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against another top-rated female on the tour, Rhio “Annie” Flores, who is #7 on the tour’s top-ranked females (and the only A player on the list; Jennifer Baretta plays as an A++) and Flores is #5 among its top-rated A players. Wong, in the meantime, squared off against Ron Chau. The possibility of an all-female hot seat match was strong.

 

Wong defeated Chau 7-4, and the all-female hot seat match came within a game of happening. Toolsee, though, prevailed in a double hill battle against Flores, and then downed Wong 8-5 to settle into the hot seat, awaiting her return.

 

On the loss side, Flores picked up Josh Friedberg, who’d eliminated Justin Muller 7-3 and Chris Kelly 7-5 to reach her. Chau drew Greg Matos, who’d recently defeated Dave Callaghan 7-5 and just did survive a double hill match versus Ron Bernardo. Matos then defeated Chau to advance to the quarterfinals, as Friedberg dashed any hopes of an all-female final by eliminating Flores to join him.

 

Matos and Friedberg came within a game of making it a double hill quarterfinal, but Matos pulled out in front to win it 8-6. Wong ended Matos’ loss-side streak with a 7-3 win in the semifinals.

 

Toolsee and Wong locked up in a final match that precisely duplicated their previous match, battling for the hot seat. Toolsee won it, a second time, 8-5 to claim the event title.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar for their hospitality, and wished all of the tour’s players, sponsors, venues and his own staff a Happy Thanksgiving. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for this weekend, November 24-25, will be its annual Thanksgiving Day weekend event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

When Rene Villalobos stepped to the tables during the Oct. 27-28 stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, he hadn’t cashed in a Predator event in over two and half years. In his last previous outing (March, 2016), he finished as runner-up to Arturo Reyes, who came within two matches of meeting him in this most recent semifinal. He had also yet to win a stop on the tour since he began competing in 2009. Villalobos’ battle for the hot seat in this most recent event was spoiled by the tour’s #2-ranked female and #2-ranked C+ player, Amy Yu. He returned from the semifinals to down Yu in the finals and claim the title. The $1,000-added event drew 76 entrants to Spin City Billiards in Queens, NY.

 

Villalobos and Yu advanced to the winners’ side semifinals, with Villalobos pitted against Elvis Rodriguez, and Yu facing Paul Carpenter. Yu sent Carpenter to the loss side 7-5, as Villalobos sent Rodriguez over 8-2. Yu claimed the hot seat 7-2 and waited on Villalobos’ return.

 

On the loss side, Carpenter and Rodriguez met up with Paul Lyons and Arturo Reyes, respectively. Lyons had downed Bob Toomey 7-4 and Ryan Dayrit 7-3 to reach Carpenter. Reyes had eliminated last week’s tour stop winner, Matthew Harricharan 7-4 and in a double hill battle, Bryan Toolsee.

 

Carpenter and Lyons locked up in double hill fight that eventually sent Carpenter to the quarterfinals. Rodriguez downed Reyes 7-2 to join him. At the start of those quarterfinals, a handicap advantage for Rodriguez gave Carpenter ‘five on the wire’ in a race to 10. Carpenter added two to his initial five, while Rodriguez chalked up the 10 he needed to advance to the semifinals.

 

Villalobos duplicated his effort against Rodriguez in the winners’ side semifinal and defeated him again 8-2. Villalobos, in a potentially extended race-to-11 final, chalked up the nine he needed to defeat Yu 9-4 and claim the event title.

 

A Second Chance event drew 11 entrants and saw Max Watanabe down Duc Lam in the finals to claim that title. Matthew Klein downed Marisol Palacios in the finals of a Third Chance event that drew eight entrants.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff of Spin City Billiards for hosting the event, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Billiards Digest and offered special thanks, as well, to tour assistants Thomas Schreiber, Marisol Palacios and Ambi Estevez. 

 

Though not an official stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, Robles’ Silent Assassin Productions will present the $12,000-added, 5th Annual NYC 8-Ball Championships, sponsored by Michael Fedak on the weekend of Nov. 3-4. The event will feature five divisions of play – Men’s Leisure,   Women’s Leisure, Mixed Open, Mixed Advanced, Mixed Masters and Grand Masters (Pro). The $12,000-added will be divided proportionately among the five divisions. The next regular stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 17-18, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens.

Lio joins growing list of female winners on Predator Pro Am Tour

 

Both winners on the most recent Predator Pro Am Tour stop on the weekend of February 10-11 came back from the loss side to claim victory in the event’s Amateur and Open-Pro events. Kudlik Marek came back from a loss in the hot seat match of the $250-added Open/Pro tournament (10-ball), which drew 21 entrants, to down Alex Kazakis in the finals. Ada Lio came back from a winners’ side semifinal in the $750-added, Double Points Amateur event (9-ball), which drew 89, to defeat Bryan Toolsee in the finals. The 13 amateurs who opted to compete in the Open/Pro event paid a reduced entry fee of $60 to sign on. Both events were hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

In the Open/Pro segment of the weekend’s activities (Sunday), Marek faced Alex Kazakis twice; first, in the hot seat match and then later, victoriously in the finals. Marek had sent Raphael Dabreo to the loss side, double hill, in one winners’ side semifinal, while Marek was busy downing tour director Tony Robles 7-5. Kazakis claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Marek, and waited on his return.

 

Robles and DaBreo got right back to business on the loss side; Robles downing Joey Korsiak 7-3 and DaBreo eliminating Jimmy Rivera 7-4. DaBreo then defeated Robles 7-4 in the quarterfinals to earn himself a re-match against Marek. Marek downed him a second time 7-4 in the semifinals to earn his own re-match against Kazakis. The two fought to double hill at 8-8, before Marek closed it out to claim the Open/Pro title.

 

Ada Lio gets by the boys to claim Amateur title

 

[photo id=48693|align=right]Ada Lio has been appearing on payout lists in the New York area for about five years, splitting her tournament time between the Tri-State and Predator Tours. As a D+/D player on the Tri-State Tour, she went undefeated, knocking off a couple of A players, to win a Tri-State event in September of 2014. At this most recent event (now playing as a “C”), she came back from a winners’ side semifinal loss to down Bryan Toolsee in the finals of the Amateur event, which played out over two days.

 

She was sent to the loss side by Matt Klein 7-5, as Toolsee was busy dominating Geovanni Hosang 7-0 in the other winners’ side semifinal. At double hill, poised to claim the hot seat, Klein missed a shot at the 9-ball, and left the door open for Toolsee. Toolsee walked in, sunk the 9-ball and sat in the hot seat, awaiting Lio’s return.

 

Lio picked up Erick Carrasco on the loss side, who’d defeated Ryan Dayrit and John Salmon, both 7-5, to reach her. Hosang drew Rikki Ragoonanan, fresh off two straight double hill wins against Dan McGinnis and Jim Curti. As had happened in the Open/Pro event, the two recent arrivals from the winners’ side bracket got right back to business; Lio, downing Carrasco 7-4, and Hosang, coming out on the win side of Ragoonanan’s third double hill match.

 

Lio and Hosang locked up in a double hill quarterfinal fight that eventually sent Lio to the semifinals against Klein. She gave up only a single rack to Klein in those semifinals (7-1) and got a shot at Toolsee in the hot seat. She took full advantage, defeating Toolsee 9-5 to claim the event title.

 

A Second Chance event on Sunday drew 15 entrants. Jason Carandang came out on top to win $150. Juan Guzman finished as runner-up to the tune of $90, while Ambi Estevez and Max Watanabe finished in the $30 tie for third place.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, NAPL, Ozone Billiards, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, BilliardsPress.com, AZBilliards, Billiards Digest and PoolMag.com. Robles also extended thanks to his entire Predator Staff, including his wife, Gail Robles, Mandy Wu, William Finnegan, Irene Kim, and Rob Omen. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour will be the 11th Annual Empire State Championships, scheduled for the weekend of February 24-25 at Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead (Long Island), NY.

 

Earl Strickland got by Wang Can twice; once in the battle for the hot seat, and again in the finals, to go undefeated on the January 19 stop on the Predator Tour (Open/Pro event). In a concurrently-run Amateur event, Tom Hagan came back from a defeat in the hot seat match versus Bryan Toolsee to meet and defeat him in the finals. The $500-added Open/Pro event drew 15 entrants, while the $500-added Amateur tournament drew 61; both to the Cue Bar in Bayside, Queens, NY.

 

Strickland and Can's first meeting followed Can's shutout over Omar Alli among the winners' side final four, and Strickland's 7-2 over Tony Robles. Strickland got into the hot seat 7-4 and waited on Can's return.

 

Robles moved over and met up with Jayson Shaw, who'd defeated Emily Duddy 7-1 and Yuri Kisneresain 7-2 to reach him. Alli drew Zion Zvi, who'd survived two straight double hill matches, versus Mike Nikolaev and Mhet Vergara. Robles eliminated Shaw, double hill, while Zvi ended Alli's day 7-3. Robles then defeated Zvi 7-5, before having his loss-side bid for a Strickland re-match derailed by Can 7-4.

 

All business, Strickland took command of the final match against Can (who apparently couldn't). The Pearl gave up only a single rack to claim the Open/Pro event title.

 

In the Amateur event, like Strickland and Can, Tom Hagan and Bryan Toolsee met twice; hot seat and finals, only with a different result. They'd gotten by their winners' side semifinals opponents (Toolsee against Kapriel Delimelkonoglu and Hagan versus Victor Nau) by the same 7-4 score. Toolsee got into the hot seat 8-2, and waited on Hagan's return.

 

On the loss side, Nau ran into Dave Shlemperis, who'd gotten by Eddie Culhane and Annie Flores, both 7-4. Delimelkonoglu picked up youngster Thomas Rice, who'd defeated Dan Saraguna 7-5 and James Stevens 7-4. Delimelkonoglu got back on the winning track with a 7-2 win over Rice. Nau's day came to an end, when Shlemperis eliminated him 7-4.

 

Shlemperis then did likewise to Delimelkonoglu, eliminating him 7-4 in the quarterfinals. Shlemperis put up a fight, forcing a deciding 13th game in the semifinals, but Hagan prevailed for a second shot against Toolsee. He took full advantage, defeating Toolsee 10-8 to claim the event title.

Raphael Dabreo closed out 2013 with an undefeated victory on the Tri-State Tour in late December. He opened proceedings in 2014 with an undefeated run through a field of 105, on-hand for the $750-added Amateur Predator Tour on the weekend of January 11-12. In so doing, he added a sixth tour win to a 'one-per-month' pace he'd initiated last August. The Amateur event, run concurrently with an Open event on January 12 (story) drew those 105 competitors to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

From among the winners' side final four, DaBreo sent Keith Adamik to the loss side 7-3. His hot seat and finals opponent, Bryan Toolsee, in the meantime, defeated Bryan Singh 7-5. In their first of two, DaBreo sent Toolsee to the semifinals 10-5. 

 

Moving to the loss side, Adamik picked up Jack Smith, who benefited from a forfeit by Eric Grasman and defeated Marco Dy 7-4. Singh drew Izac Horne, who'd gotten by Meshak Daniel 7-5 and Chickie Romero 7-4. Identical 7-5 victories over Smith and Singh, sent Adamik and Horne to the quarterfinals. Adamik prevailed in those quarterfinals 9-5, and was then defeated by Toolsee in the semifinals 8-2. DaBreo completed his undefeated run and claimed the Amateur event title with a 10-8 victory in the finals.

He's been chalking up undefeated wins at a pace of one per month since August; three on the Tri-State Tour (August, October and November) and one on the Predator Pro-Am Tour in September. He chalked up his fifth with a Tri-State victory on Saturday, December 28, once again, going undefeated; this time through a field of 43, on-hand for the $1,000-added event, hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

DaBreo advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Dave Shlemperis with earlier wins over Gary Murgia, Shivam Gupta, and Eric Tang (who would come within a single 9-ball, hanging in a corner pocket, of facing him a second time). Jamiyl Adams faced Bryan Toolsee in the other winners' side semifinal. DaBreo downed Shlemperis 8-5 and in the hot seat match, faced Adams, who'd sent Toolsee packing 6-2. DaBreo moved into familiar territory with a 9-5 win over Adams, and waited in the hot seat for his fifth different opponent in the five finals he'd been a part of since August.

 

On the loss side, Eric Tang started his comeback with a 7-1 win over Thomas Hagan, and then just did survive a double hill battle versus Miguel Laboy. This set him up to face Shlemperis. Toolsee drew Ramon Feliciano, who'd defeated Tony Ignomirello and Akbar Karmoeddien, who'd won the previous week's Tri-State stop, both 6-3.

 

Tang and Feliciano handed Shlemperis and Toolsee their second straight defeat; Tang, 7-5 over Shlemperis and Feliciano 6-3 over Toolsee. Tang then dropped Feliciano 7-4 in the quarterfinals, and was a single step away from facing DaBreo a second time. That single step was Jamiyl Adams. With the victory in sight, knotted at double hill, Tang hung the 9-ball in a corner pocket, allowing Adams to drop it and be the one to face DaBreo a second time.

 

Adams took advantage of that 'old school' intangible, momentum, to take a 4-0 lead in the finals, but DaBreo came right back with four of his own to tie it. They traded racks to 5-5, before DaBreo took two in a row. Adams took rack #13 to pull within one, but DaBreo finished it with another two to claim his fourth (and last) 2013 Tri-State title.

 

Tour representatives thanked their hosts at the Cue Bar in Bayside, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next Tri-State Tour stop, scheduled for January 4-5, will be hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.