It’s been a good year for Pascal Dufresne, his best to-date, capped this past weekend (December 14-15) with a come-from-the-loss-side win at the 2019, $9,930-added Predator Pro Am Amateur Tour Championships, which drew 93 entrants to the event’s annual host, Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY. Dufresne cashed in seven events this year; three on the Tri-State Tour, including two wins (April and September) and four on the Predator Pro Am Tour, including victories in March and this most recent event in the tour’s season finale. He also made an appearance at the 14:1 American Straight Pool Championships in October and though he failed to cash in the event, he was responsible for a computer program, utilized by the Billiards Sports Network that ran the event’s live stream that analyzed the performance of the event’s competitors.

 

Dufresne’s path to the winners’ circle began with back-to-back wins over Hector Torres and Chris Kelly, both 7-3, before he ran into Julie Ha, who moved his trip to the loss-side of the tracks with a 7-4 win. Ha moved on to a double hill win over Matthew Harricharan, which brought her to a winners’ side semifinal match against Alberto Estevez. Meanwhile, Ryan Dayrit, who’d gotten by Erick Carrasco 7-3, Brandonne Alli 7-1 and Ray Lee 7-4, chalked up two straight double hill wins over Pauls Carpenter and Lyons to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Jim Gutierrez.

 

Ha locked up in a second straight double hill fight, against Estevez, but it was Estevez who moved on to the hot seat match. He was joined by Dayrit, who’d defeated Gutierrez 7-3. Dayrit claimed the hot seat and what proved to be his last win 7-4 over Estevez.

 

Ha moved to the loss side and ran into an immediate rematch against Dufresne, who’d chalked up loss side wins #3 and #4 against Matthew Harricharan, double hill, and Dave Shlemperis 7-2 to reach her. Gutierrez drew a rematch, as well, against Jose Kuilan, whom he’d sent to the loss side in a double hill, third round battle and who’d subsequently gone on to win three, almost four straight, loss-side double hill matches; against Irene Kim (6-5), Chris Ganley (6-5), Corey Avallone (6-5) and Ray Lee (6-4).

 

Dufresne and Kuilan mounted successful rematch campaigns and eliminated Ha and Gutierrez; Dufresne 7-3 over Ha and Kuilan 6-3 over Gutierrez. Dufresne then won the subsequent quarterfinal battle against Kuilan 7-4.

 

A double hill semifinal followed, with Dufresne prevailing over Estevez to earn his spot in the finals against Dayrit. In the extended race-to-9 battle, Dufresne reached his target ‘7’ ahead of Dayrit, extending the race, and added the two he needed to win it.

 

Robles thanked Holden Chin, Matthew Harricharan, Troy Deocharran, and Joshua Friedberg’s Raxx staff for their hospitality, his own Predator Pro Am staff (to include his lovely wife, Gail) and title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine and Billiards Digest. The Predator Pro Am Tour will open its 2020 season at Steinway Billiards with an event scheduled for the weekend of January 18-19, 2020. 

 

Miguel Laboy brought about 14 years of competitive pool experience and a lot of regional tour victories to the September 14-15 stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour. Before he earned the event title, however, he had to get by two particular competitors with a total of about three years of experience, both of them looking for their first regional tour event victory. Laboy would end up going undefeated at the $1,000-added event that drew 68 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY, but not before he’d dispatched one of the relative newcomers (Julien Tierney) twice (winners’ side semifinals and finals) and the other to the loss side (Bianca Martinez) in the battle for the hot seat.

 

As Laboy was busy sending Tierney to the loss side 8-5 in one of the winners’ side semifinals, Martinez was locked up in a double hill fight with Erick Carrasco that she eventually won. Martinez began the hot seat match against Laboy with ‘six beads on the wire’ in a race to 11. She’d fail to add another bead to that wire, as Laboy claimed the hot seat (officially) 11-6.

 

On the loss side, another relative newcomer was making some competitive noise. Amanda Andries had lost her opening match to Marisol Palacio and set out on a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that would take her as far as the quarterfinals where she’d run into Tierney. She chalked up wins #7 and #8 against Corey Avallone 6-3 and shut out Brandonne Alli to draw Carrasco. Tierney, in the meantime, picked up Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz-Forman, who arrived on the heels of two straight double hill wins, over Chris Kelly and Abel Rosario.

 

Andries advanced to the quarterfinals when job obligations forced Carrasco to forfeit. Tierney joined her after downing “Smiley” 7-3. Tierney ended Andries’ loss-side run 8-5 (Andries started with ‘three on the wire’) and then defeatEd Martinez (who also started with ‘three on the wire’) 8-6 for a shot at Laboy, waiting for him in the hot seat.

 

The relative ‘youngsters’ were edged out of the day, with clear indications that they’ll be back and will need to be reckoned with. Laboy completed his undefeated run with an 8-3 victory over Tierney in the finals.

 

A Second Chance event that drew 16 entrants saw Dave Callaghan take home the $160 first-place prize, with Thomas Schreiber as runner-up ($100). Lidio Ramirez and Euryel Castillo each took home $30 in the tie for third.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar 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 next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for this weekend, Sept. 21-22, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

Max Watanabe had his best earnings year to date in 2018 and though he has a way to go to catch up and make 2019 an even better year, he’s doing what he needs to do to make that happen. Last week (August 4), he went undefeated at a stop on the Tri-State Tour, downing Dave Shlemperis twice. This week, on Sunday, August 11 at a $1,000-added Predator Pro Am Tour stop at Steinway Billiards that drew 64 entrants, he got sent to the loss side by Hector Torres in the battle for the hot seat and came back to defeat Torres in the finals. If you’re making a move to improve the second half of any given year, there’s nothing like back-to-back tour victories to signal that you’re on the right track.

 

Watanabe’s trip was almost derailed at the outset, as he opened his campaign with two double hill wins; one against Vinko Rumora and a second against Jose Estevez. He got a little traction with a 7-2 win over Miguel Laboy and a 7-4 victory over Elvis Rodriguez, which set him up in a winners’ side semifinal match against Abel Rosario. Hector Torres, in the meantime, got by Ron Bernardo, Paul Lyons, and Brandonne Alli before having to survive a double hill win over Mike Callaghan, which set him (Torres) up to face Ray Lee in the other winners’ side semifinal.

 

Torres downed Lee 7-1, while Watanabe locked up in his third double hill battle of the weekend against Rosario and won it. He survived three double hill matches out of five he played to get to the hot seat match, but Watanabe didn’t have an ‘answer’ for Torres, who defeated him 8-1 to claim the hot seat.

 

Over on the loss side, Ray Lee ran into an immediate rematch against Kanami Chau, who’d been defeated by him in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then chalked up two straight double hill wins, over Ryan Dayrit and Joe Morace, to face him a second time. Rosario picked up Luis Jimenez, who was working on a four-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently included a 7-3 win over Chris Kelly and a double hill victory over Jaydev Zaveri.

 

Chau chalked up her third straight double hill win and advanced to the quarterfinals over Lee. She was joined by Rosario, who’d ended Jimenez’ loss-side run, double hill, as well. Seven of the tour stop’s final 14 matches required a single deciding game.

 

The quarterfinal match between Rosario and Chau came within a game of double hill, but Rosario edged out in front to take it 9-7. Watanabe, though, anxious apparently for a second shot at Torres in the hot seat, gave up only a single rack to Rosario in the semifinals that followed.

 

Watanabe took full advantage of that second shot. He downEd Torres 10-7 in the final to claim his second straight event title in as many weeks.

 

A Second Chance event drew 14 entrants. Elvis Rodriguez and Irene Kim advanced through the single elimination bracket to meet each other in the finals. Rodriguez had defeated Duc Lam to play in the finals. Kim had eliminated Akiko Taniyama to join him. Rodriguez took home the top $140 prize, after downing Kim 11-6 in the finals. Kim took home the $100 second prize, while Lam and Taniyama pocketed $20 each.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiards Magazine and Billiards Digest. The Predator Pro Am Tour will return to Steinway Billiards on Labor Day weekend (Aug. 31 – Sept. 2) for the $3,000-added ($1,500 Amateur, $1,500 Pro) Eastern States Championships.

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.

Robles and Reyes battle in exhibition at Amsterdam Billiards

 

Tony Robles took a brief break from his duties as tour director of the Predator Pro Am Tour on the weekend of Oct. 20-21, and welcomed Efren Reyes to the Big Apple, on the occasion of what has been dubbed his Farewell Tour. As a field of 44 amateur competitors began their battles at a Predator Pro Am Tour stop at The Spot in Nanuet, NY, Robles and Reyes squared off in a series of exhibition matches at Amsterdam Billiards in lower Manhattan.

 

With hundreds of spectators on hand to watch and bid a bond farewell to the man who, for good reason, is known as The Magician, Reyes and Robles played three matches, one each in 9-Ball, 8-Ball and 10-Ball. Robles took the opening 9-ball series, double hill (9-8), but Reyes flexed his muscles a bit in the 8-ball series, 8-3.

 

“He crushed me,” said Robles, with more than just a hint of admiration for Reyes, who might well have been spending his last weekend in New York.

 

With the overall series of matches tied at 1-1, they played a short, race-to-3 series of 10-ball games. Robles won that short series, double hill, and with the gathered spectators and stream viewers on the Facebook page of Michael Yednak, they bid something of a ceremonial goodbye to one of the best players the sport has ever seen.

 

Meanwhile, up in Nanuet, NY, about 25 miles north on the west side of the Hudson River, the 44 amateurs were busy with their own quests for pool fame and fortune at the $1,000-added event, hosted by The Spot in Nanuet. Matthew Harricharan and Luis Carrasco battled twice to claim the event title; Carrasco taking the hot seat, with Harricharan coming back from a semifinal win to defeat Carrasco in the finals.

 

Carrasco advanced to the hot seat match with a 7-2 win over Mac Jankov. Harricharan advanced to the hot seat without sinking a ball as his scheduled opponent, Chris Kelly, failed to make it back to the second day of competition. Carrasco claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Harricharan and waited on his return from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Jankov picked up Amy Yu (the tour’s #3-ranked female player), who’d defeated Irene Kim 7-3 and Ambi Estevez 7-2 to reach him. Jankov defeated Yu 7-5 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Troy Deocharran, who’d defeated Rikki Ragoonanan 7-4 and Abel Rosario 7-3 to enter the races for the 5th place tie, leapfrogged to meet Jankov in the quarterfinals, as a result of Chris Kelly’s forfeiture of that match.

 

Jankov downed Deocharran in those quarterfinals 8-5, but had his run ended by Harricharan 9-7 in the semifinals. Harricharan squared off against Carrasco a second time in the finals and snatched the event title away from him 10-8.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked Rhys Chen and his staff at The Spot for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, NAPL, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), Ozone Billiards, the DeVito Team, and his Predator Pro Am staff. The next stop on the Predator Tour, scheduled for Oct. 27-28, will be hosted by Spin City Café and Billiards in Queens, NY.

Rosario comes from the loss side to avenge early loss to Rodriguez and capture Amateur title

 

Most tour directors tend not to play in their own tournaments, for obvious reasons. With the weight of tournament direction on their shoulders, it can be hard to concentrate on a given game at hand. The variety of organizational and player-related issues that can crop up when you’re trying to take aim at a ball can be daunting. Tommy Kennedy does it down in Florida fairly regularly on his Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. Mike Zuglan used to do it on the Joss Tour. The Texas Tornado (Vivian Villareal) does it in Texas.

 

Tony Robles plays regularly on his own Predator Pro Am Tour (when the stop includes an Open/Pro event), although until this past weekend (Sept. 15-16), he hadn’t (according to our records) won a stop on his own tour since 2014, when he won twice and was runner-up three times. His most recent effort was aided and abetted by a short field of eight entrants, as most of the would-have-been competitors were playing elsewhere in a qualifier for Accu-Stats’ International 9-Ball Open, which will be held in Norfolk, VA during the time slot which for over four decades was reserved for the US Open 9-Ball Championships, now run by Matchroom Sports and scheduled for April 2019 in Las Vegas.

 

Be that as it may, Tony Robles went through the short field in a series of four matches, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY and came out on top. In the meantime, the $750-added Amateur event drew one shy of the 64-player maximum-allowed. Abel Rosario won five on the loss side and came back to avenge an earlier loss to Elvis Rodriguez, defeating him in the finals to claim the Amateur title.

 

Robles’ trip to the winners’ circle started with a 7-0- defeat of Suzzie Wong in the opening round, which set him up to face Troy Deocharran in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Max Watanabe faced Alex Osipov in the other one. Robles got into the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Deocharran. He was joined by Watanabe, who’d sent Osipov west 7-4. Robles claimed the hot seat 7-3 and waited on Watanabe’s return.

 

On the loss side, Deocharran picked up George Texiera, who’d defeated Eugene Ok 7-4 to reach him. Osipov drew Matthew Harricharan, who’d eliminated Wong 7-1.

 

Harricharan and Texiera handed Osipov and Deocharran their second straight loss; Harricharan 7-4 over Osipov and Texiera 7-5 over Deocharran. Harricharan shut Texiera out in the quarterfinals that followed, and then, had his short, loss-side streak ended 7-3 by Watanabe in the semifinals. Robles defeated Watanabe a second time, 7-3 in the finals to complete his undefeated run.

 

Rosario wins first 2018 Predator stop with a five-match, loss-side run

 

Though he’d won a Tri-State stop earlier this year and cashed in eight Predator stops last year, including a runner-up finish in a January Amateur event, won by Max Watanabe, Abel Rosario had not won a stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour since November, 2015. In this most recent event, a winners’ side quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Elvis Rodriguez sent him to the loss side and a five-match winning streak gave him what proved to be a successful second shot at Rodriguez in the finals.

 

With Rosario at work on the loss side, Rodriguez moved on to a winners’ side semifinal against Jaydev Zaveri, as Greg Matos squared off against Jody Rubin in the other one. Rodriguez and Zaveri locked up in a double hill fight that could have sent Rodriguez to an early re-match against Rosario, but didn’t. Matos downed Rubin 6-2 to join Rodriguez in the hot seat match. Rodriguez defeated Matos 10-8 and in the hot seat, waited on the return of Rosario.

 

On the loss side, Rosario survived a double hill battle against Chris Kelly, and then defeated Michael Luster 7-4, to draw Zaveri. Rubin picked up Paul Carpenter, who’d defeated Tony Ignomirello and Ambi Estevez, both 7-4, to reach him. 

 

Two double hill fights advanced Rubin and Rosario to the quarterfinals; Rubin over Carpenter (6-5) and Rosario over Zaveri (7-6). Rosario won the quarterfinal match 9-7 over Rubin, and then earned his second shot at Rodriguez with an 8-4 win over Matos in the semifinals. He completed his Amateur-title run with a strong 9-2 victory over Rodriguez in the finals.

 

An 11-entrant Second Chance event saw Sly Vanchiro down Esteban Morell 7-5 in the finals to claim his $130 top prize. Morell pocketed $90.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, PoolOnTheNet.com, NAPL, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), Ozone Billiards, the DeVito Team, and his Predator Pro Am staff. The next stop on the Predator Tour, scheduled for Oct. 13-14, will be an Amateur event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. 

 

Xavier Romero, according to our records, chalked up his best earnings year, to date, in 2017, and came to the March 17-18 stop on the 2018 Predator Pro Am Tour, looking for his first win. He’d made it to the finals of a Predator stop twice last year; the first, about a year ago, and the most recent, one week before last Christmas. In both cases, he fought a double hill battle in the finals and lost; in the first, in March of last year, he fell victim to pool’s ‘three-foul’ rule against Chris Kelly in the deciding game, and back in December, Rhys Chen took the final game to win the tour’s Player’s Championships.

 

This past weekend, at the $1,000-added, Double Points Predator Pro Am event that drew 86 entrants to Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY, Romero battled twice against Suzzie Wong; once, in the hot seat match and again, in the finals. Although Wong had appeared in the finals of a Tri-State Tour event as recently as last month (February 25), and previously (November, 2017) won the Women’s Leisure Division of the 2017 NYC 8-Ball Championships, she became the first D/D+ player on the Predator Pro Am tour to ever make it to a final match. This, presumably, gave them both a lot to think about as they squared off in the finals. Romero won both the hot seat and final match to complete an undefeated run and claim the event title, but Wong cannot be replaced as the first D/D+ player (not just ‘woman’) to appear in the finals of a Predator Pro Am Tour stop.

 

Their first meeting followed a victory by Romero, over Duc Lam 8-4, and a Wong victory over Ramilo Tanglao 7-2 in the two winners’ side semifinals. Romero took the first of his two against Wong 8-6, leaving him in the hot seat, to think about his third appearance in the finals of a Predator Pro Am event in a year, as Wong moved over to battle for her right to a second shot at him.

 

On the loss side, Tanglao and Lam picked up two opponents who had downed their previous two loss-side opponents in double hill matches. Tanglao picked up Greg Matos, who’d defeated Kanami Chau and Ada Lio, both double hill, while Lam drew Eddie Kunz, who’d eliminated Junior Acosta and Jaydev Zaveri the same way.

 

Tanglao advanced to the quarterfinals 7-2 over Matos, while Lam came out on top in Kunz’s third straight double hill match, to join him. Tanglao then earned himself a re-match against Wong with a 9-7 win over Lam.

 

Both semifinalists were looking to advance to a Predator final for the first time (Tanglao had won an event on the Tri-State, eight years ago), and fought to double hill for the right to do so. In the final game, Tanglao was able to line up the 9-ball for the win, and though it dropped, so, seconds later, did the cue ball, and Wong got her shot.

 

Though it might have been expected, Romero and Wong did not face a deciding game in the finals. Romero pulled out in front and finally won it 8-5 to claim his first Predator title.

 

A Second Chance event drew 12 entrants and was won Eugene Ok. Abel Rosario finished second.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Bar for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor 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, scheduled for the weekend of April 7-8, will be hosted by Steinway Billliards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

Alex Osipov has spent most of his pool career alternating between stops on the New York-based Predator and Tri-State Tours. According to our records, he’s chalked up two wins on the Predator Tour and cashed in 32 events on both tours over the past six years. His last win was recorded in January, last year. He added a third win on the Predator Tour on the weekend of September 16-17, navigating his way through a field of 73, stopping a loss-side bid by Gary O’Callaghan, and going undefeated to claim the event title. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

Advancing to a winners’ side semifinal, Osipov faced Brooke Meyer, who had just sent his eventual opponent in the finals, Callaghan, to the loss side. Chickie Romero, in the meantime, squared off against Kris Bisram. Osipov downed Meyer, double hill, and in the hot seat faced Romero, who’d sent Bisram west 7-3. Osipov sent Romero to a semifinal match against O’Callaghan 8-6, and waited in the hot seat for O’Callaghan to complete his loss-side run.

 

That five-match, loss-side run began with an 8-5 win over Omar Alli, and a double hill win over Mike Salerno, which set O’Callaghan up to face Meyer. Bisram drew Abel Rosario, who’d eliminated Xavier Romero 7-1 and Chris Kelly, double hill.

 

O’Callaghan and Rosario advanced to the quarterfinals; O’Callaghan, double hill over Meyer, and Rosario advancing by virtue of a forfeit by Bisram. O’Callaghan then downed Rosario 8-5 in those quarterfinals, before winning his third, loss-side, double hill fight, against Romero in the semifinals.

 

Osipov, though, stopped the run that would have given O’Callaghan his second September win on the Predator Tour (he won the September 2-3 stop at Steinway Billiards). Osipov claimed the event title with a 7-4 win in the finals.

 

The Predator Tour also hosted both a Second and Third Chance, single elimination tournament. The Second Chance drew 14 entrants and was won by Kevin Shin in a double hill final victory over Thomas Schreiber. Steven Molital and Eddie Kunz finished in the tie for third place. Mike Salerno picked up the win in the 12-entrant Third Chance tournament, downing Max Watanabe, double hill, in the finals. Erick Carrasco and Ambi Estevez finished in the tie for third place.  

What's known as the 'three-foul-rule' in billiards, which can be invoked in a variety of games (9-ball, 8-ball, and straight pool), is a rare occurrence. Perhaps not as rare as a full solar eclipse, perhaps, but there are so many variables involved with its application, that players are, by rule, warned of its potential invocation before it can occur, offering them the opportunity to avoid it, if they can. On the weekend of March 18-19, Xavier Romero was given the traditional two-foul warning during a stop on the Predator Tour, and what made this circumstance particularly rare was that he was warned during the last game of a double hill match and it was the finals. Romero committed the third foul, ceding the game, match and event title to Chris Kelly. The $1,000-added event drew 80 entrants to a new venue for the Predator Tour and the general public – The Spot in Nanuet, New York.

 

"This," said Predator Tour director Tony Robles, "is one of the most beautiful rooms, I've ever seen in my entire career."

 

According to Robles, The Spot, which was scheduled to open on March 23, opened on the weekend of March 18-19, specifically and only, to host the Predator Tour stop. They held what was called a 'soft opening' on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, to allow competitors on the tour to practice. Robles noted that there were 'still a few pictures to hang on the walls,' but beyond that and a few other details, the room was basically ready to go, and accommodated the tour's needs adequately. The room boasted 14 Diamond Tables, one Brunswick and eight, 7-ft. (bar box) Diamonds, along with a second, mezzanine level from which Upstate Al and the AZBilliardsTV  crew streamed the event live throughout the weekend. 

 

"The ceilings are so high in this room," said Robles, "that you can see the entire room from up there."

 

So the new room, unique in Robles' experience, opened especially for the Predator Tour, and hosted a tournament that ended in a unique way; with the three-foul rule.

 

Kelly and Romero came into the tournament looking for their first recorded victory on the Predator Tour (Kelly had won a stop on the Tri-State Tour in 2016), and battled twice to earn it. They met first in a winners' side quarterfinal, with Kelly winning that match 7-3. Kelly moved on to face Corey Avallone in one winners' side semifinal, as Mike Salerno squared off against Max Watanabe in the other. Kelly advanced to the hot seat match 8-6 over Avallone, and was joined by Salerno, who survived a double hill match versus Watanabe. Kelly claimed the hot seat over Salerno 9-5.

 

On the loss side, Avallone and Watanabe immediately ran into their second straight loss. Avallone had the misfortune of running into Romero, who, following his defeat at the hands of Kelly, had defeated Chickie Romero (no relation) 7-5 and Amy Yu 7-3. Watanabe picked up Elvis Rodriguez, who was on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals, and included a most recent forfeit win over Liam Tully, and a double hill win over Chris Peralta.

 

Avallone fell to Romero 8-4, while Watanabe was being eliminated by Rodriguez 7-5. Rodriguez' loss-side streak would end with an 8-6 victory by Romero in the quarterfinals. Romero went on to defeat Salerno 9-4 in the semifinals for a second shot at Kelly in the hot seat.

 

As noted, Kelly and Romero battled this second time to double hill before Kelly played safe, creating the first foul (when Romero missed the relevant object ball, giving Kelly ball-in-hand), the second foul (ball-in-hand for Kelly again, along with a warning to Romero), and the third foul, which allowed him to claim the event title.

 

The tour stop included a Second and a Third Chance event. Both drew a full field of 16 entrants. The Second Chance event was won by Bob Toomey, who defeated Tom Acciavatti in the finals. Chickie Romero took home the top prize in the Third Chance event, with Stewart Warnock capturing the runner-up prize. 

 

Tour director Tony Robles extended a special thanks to the owners of The Spot in Nanuet – Lenore Donovan, Matt and Nira Aldrich (husband and wife), Tom Schunke, and Mark Pavlicek. The next stop on the Predator Tour, scheduled for April 22-23, will be a $1,000-added, A/D, double points event, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

Normally, when two finalists agree not to play a last match at an event, they split the top two prizes, while allowing the undefeated hot seat occupant at the time, to claim the event title. On Saturday, October 16, at a $1,000-added event on the Tri-State Tour that drew 51 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY, a work commitment forced the hot seat occupant, Alberto Estevez, to decline a final match. Thus, while they opted to split the top two prizes, the opponent he'd already defeated in the hot seat match, Jaydev Zaveri, was left to claim the event title.

 

Zaveri's path to the winners' circle, which ended at the conclusion of the hot seat match, included victories over Ambi Estevez (brother to Alberto), Suzanna Wong and Allison LaFleur, before running into Chris Kaiser in a winners' side semifinal. Alberto Estevez, in the meantime, met up with Chris Kelly. Zaveri and Estevez sent the two Chris-es to the loss side; Zaveri, defeating Kaiser 5-4 and Estevez downing Kelly 6-3. Estevez took the hot seat match against Zaveri 6-3, as well.

 

On the loss side, Chris Kelly picked up Miguel Laboy, who was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. He defeated Lidio Ramirez 6-3, and Brooke Meyer 6-4 to reach Kelly. Chris Kaiser drew Nicole Monaco, who'd gotten by Suzanna Wong and Allison LaFleur, both 7-5. LaBoy picked up a forfeit win over Chris Kelly, and in the quarterfinals, faced Kaiser, who'd ended Monaco's day 5-4.

 

Kaiser ended LaBoy's streak 9-3 in the quarterfinals, and then had his own streak ended with a double hill win by Zaveri in what proved to be the last match of the event, the semifinals. Zaveri and Estevez opted out the finals, and split the top two prizes.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for October 30, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.