Congratulations to our stop # 1, "Maine Event XII" winner, Jeremy Sossei ($1,000), second chance winner Dan Couture ($300) & $1,500 Joss Cue raffle winner Steve Therrien
I am excited to announce stop # 2 of my Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, "The Hudson Valley Fall Classic II", Sat & Sun Oct. 6 & 7, 2018 at "The Spot Billiards Cafe & Lounge" in Nanuet NY. The Spot has quickly become one of the east coasts premier rooms. Owners, Rhys & Lenore Donavan Chen, have succeeded in opening a very upscale room which caters to the needs of everyone. The Spot has 13 9 foot Diamond Pro Ams, 8 Diamond 7 footers and a Gold Crown for those Brunswick fans. There are pool and dart leagues 5 nights a week. There is also an arcade with all the latest games, a full bar, full pub menu with additional home made specials. They host live bands and events and even have an upper loft for special events, parties and pool action viewing from above. So please come down to show your appreciation to The Spot, to play or just watch another world class event. While you are there you could even win a $1,500 custom engraved Joss Cue in the raffle. Anyone can participate and you do not have to be present to win! The cue can be viewed here: https://josscues.com/joss-tour-2018-19-cue/
There are many nearby motels for those in need. Please call The Spot at 845-623-7768 or check out their Facebook page listing for The Hudson Valley Fall Classic post for a list of motels in the area.
This event at will consist of a $1500 added Saturday and Sunday Main Event (entry fee $120 for pro level – I will decide – or $70 for non pro level) and a $500 added second chance event on Sunday ($20 entry fee) only for those non pro level players eliminated from the main event on Saturday. All of our events are open to all players in good standing. All of our billiard parlor main events are double elimination, races to 9 on the winners side and races to 7 on the one loss side.
For those of you coming to play, please arrive on Saturday Oct. 6, BEFORE 11:30 AM in proper dress of NO T-shirts & NO shorts or sweat clothes please. Jeans, sneakers and a shirt with a collar works just fine at all of our billiard parlor events! If coming to watch, play will begin after sign in on Saturday and at 11am on Sunday.
For those of you who can't make it, there will be a free live stream provided by Upstate Al and The Spot Billiards Cafe & Lounge on Upstate Al's Facebook page.
For our complete Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour schedule, results and other pertinent tour info, please go to www.joss9balltour.com
Our third "Joss Junior 9-Ball Championship" will be played at Sharp Shooters Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam NY on Jan. 26 & 27, 2019. There will be an 18 & under division and a 12 and under division. Please contact Mike Zuglan regarding entry and more details. 518-356-7163. If you would like to offer any sponsorship items for this event, please contact me soon. Thank you in advance!
Please note that our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXXI 9-Ball Open (January 10-13, 2019) is fast approaching and will fill to capacity before you know it. If you would like to compete in this BCA, WPA official ranking event NOW is the time to enter to avoid being shut out! Our last Turning Stone event saw 35 players shut out! To enter you must contact me at 518-356-7163 or see me at any of our events Before the event is full. I have been actively collecting entries since our last Turning Stone event so I strongly urge everyone to act now!!
Please remember to spread the word to frequent your local billiard parlors and utilize the world class products of our most generous sponsors. They are the backbone of our sport and deserve our support!! Thank you & I will see you all at The Spot. Mike Zuglan
The Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour Is Proudly Sponsored By;
Nicolas Charette, TJs manager Steve Claude and Jeremy Sossei
Mike Zuglan’s Joss NE 9-Ball Tour kicked off their 2018-1019 season at TJ’s Classic Billiards on September 22nd – 23rd for “The Maine Event XXII”, and this event came down to a Joss Tour veteran against a player in their first ever regular season Joss Tour stop.
The veteran player was Jeremy Sossei, winner of over sixteen Joss Tour titles, who has been winning tour stops for over 10 years. Sossei has been away from the game for most of this year, with a win at the NE 9-Ball Open XXX back in February as his only appearance on the AzBilliards money list. Sossei has been spending his time on a new business that he opened, but hopes to be getting out to regularly compete again very soon.
The newcomer was Quebec’s Nicolas Charette, who got his Joss Tour feet wet at the Turning Stone Classic XXIX, but was in Waterville Maine for his first regular tour stop. Charette credited his appearance on this weekend to his love for the game. “I just enjoy playing tournaments, competing, traveling, experiencing different conditions. But really, I love the game” he said.
The first meeting between Sossei and Charette went to the veteran 9-7 and he waited to see who he would play in the finals. Charette would face off against fellow countryman Tom Theriault in the semi-finals, but he would score a quick 7-3 win to earn another shot at Sossei in the finals.
Anyone expecting another close match between these two competitors was shocked to see the Canadian cueman score a decisive 9-2 win over Sossei in the first set of the finals. With the players now tied at one set each, a third set was played to determine a winner and Sossei pulled out a tight 7-5 win for Joss Tour Stop title #17.
Nine players came back on Sunday to compete in the second chance tournament where Dan Couture defeated Steve Reynolds two sets out of three for first place.
The Joss NE 9-Ball tour will be back in action on October 6th – 7th for the Hudson Valley Fall Classic at The Spot in Nanuet, New York.
Phil Harju (room owner), Cody Francis, Dave Hall and Mike Zuglan
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour wrapped up the first half of their season over the weekend of November 18th and 19th at Union Station Billiards in Portland, Maine where the field of 37 players came down to two local players fighting it out for their first Joss Tour wins.
Sunday matches on the winner’s side saw Bruce Nagle score a hill-hill win over Ivaylo Petrov and Cody Francis with a 9-7 win over Josh Rupard. Francis then went on to take the hot-seat with a 9-7 win over Nagle.
On the one loss side, Dave Hall was on a roll after a lopsided 9-2 loss to Mark Desjardin in his first match on Saturday. Hall bounced back with Saturday wins over Sam Hebert, Mike Dube and Xavier Libby to make it into the money on Sunday.
Sunday matches saw Hall pick up where he left off on Saturday, as he defeated Jim Hayden, Rupard, Jeremy Sossei and Nagle to earn his spot in the finals.
For two players playing for their first tour wins, Francis and Hall made the most of it. Hall, from nearby Portland Maine, handed hometown favorite Francis his first loss in the first set of the finals 9-6. Francis returned the favor in the second set of the finals and eliminated Hall 9-7 to take first place and $1,050 in prize money.
Sunday’s second chance tournament came down to Mark Stewart facing Chad Bazinet three times before a winner was crowned. Stewart won the first meeting in the hot-seat match 3-0, but Bazinet defeated Dan Couture in the semi-final match and was back for another shot at Stewart in the finals. Bazinet scored a 3-2 win in the first set of the finals, but Stewart came back to score a 3-2 win of his own for first place.
The tour now takes a break for the rest of 2017 and will be back in action on January 4th – 7th for the Turning Stone Classic XXIX at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, Ny. That event has a handful of spots left open and players are urged to contact Mike Zuglan at 518-356-7163 to lock down their place in the event,
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour kicked off their 19th season the same way they have kicked off their last four seasons; with a "Maine Event" stop at TJ's Classic Billiards in Waterville, Maine. And just like the last four years, Mike Dechaine was crowned the event winner.
This year's event, "The Maine Event IX", saw a field of fifty seven players in the main event. Dechaine and last season's point winner Jeremy Sossei were the players to beat all weekend as they navigated their halves of the bracket to meet up for the hot-seat. That match would be close, but would eventually go to Dechaine 9-7.
The two players would find themselves meeting again in the finals, after Sossei eliminated Kyle Pepin 9-4 in the semi-final match.
The final match would go one set. Sossei took the hill first at 8-7, but Dechaine quickly joined him at 8-8 and then won the case game for the hill-hill win.
The second chance tournament, on Sunday, drew twenty six players back to compete for their share of over $1000 in prize money. Ross Webster would lose the hot-seat to Dan Couture 3-1, but would come back to defeat Jamie Garrett in the semi-finals, and then double dip Couture 3-0 and 3-1 in the finals.
In addition to his seventh place finish, Colin Maloney was also the lucky winner of the $1700 Joss Custom Cue.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be at Salt City Billiards next weekend for another $1500/$500 added weekend.
January's Turning Stone Classic XXV is filling fast. This event will be the first Mosconi Cup points event of 2016 and players looking to get an early jump on those Mosconi Cup points are urged to contact Mike Zuglan as soon as possible at 518-356-7163 to get their name on the players list.
