Archive Page

Hjorleifson goes undefeated to win 22nd Annual Jay Swanson (Swanee) Memorial

(l to r): Manny Perez & Eric Hjorleifson

It’s hard to know what causes the roller coaster of some careers in pool. Jobs, family, and a host of other influences can impact pool earnings in significant ways, including the distinct possibility of incomplete information. What may look in a given database (our own, included) like a severe drop in a player’s level of participation, may, in fact, just be just a gap in the information reported on his, or her activities.
 
Take Canada’s Erik Hjorleifson, for example, who just went undefeated to win the 22nd Annual Jay Swanson (“Swanee”) Memorial, held on the weekend of February 24-25. Fourteen years ago, he finished in the four-way tie for ninth place at the US Open 9-Ball Championships with three competitors well-known enough to be recognizable by their first names – Earl, Tony, and Ralf (Strickland, Robles and Souquet). A couple of years later (2006; his best recorded earnings year, to date, according to our records), Hjorleifson won two stops, back to back, on what’s known as the Canadian 30K Tour, and here in the US, finished runner-up to Dennis Hatch at a stop on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour. He won another Canadian 30K Tour stop the following year, and cashed in 10 other events, including Turning Stone VIII (17th). And then, though he continued to appear on payout lists, there were no major tour victories of any kind until he showed up as the winner of the Canadian Championship Men’s Open 10-Ball in 2014.
 
Though he hasn’t been inactive or absent from payouts lists since then (second to Mika Immonen at Turning Stone XXV in 2016, for example, and 25th at both Turning Stone XXVII and XXVIII in 2017), Hjorleifson does appear to have experienced a drop in competitive frequency. Whether his victory at the recent Jay Swanson Memorial is a sign that his personal roller coaster is rising again, remains to be seen, but it was definitely a significant move in the right direction. He went undefeated through the field of 128 entrants that split a $10,000 prize pool. The event was hosted by OnCue Billiards in La Mesa, CA.
 
Following victories over Naiel Tito, Victor Ignacio (double hill), Jose Mendoza, Ben Hrabina (all, save Ignacio, 8-4), and the patriarch of the Dominguez clan, Ernesto 8-6, Hjorleifson moved into a winners’ side semifinal match against Dave Hemmah. Manny Perez, in the meantime, the eventual runner-up, was looking for what would be his first major event victory. He got by Johnny Kang, Marshall Jung, Steven Choy, Justin Marks and the “Swanee” Memorial’s defending champion, Brian Parks, to face Hungary’s Vilmos Foldes (7th in the event last year) in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
Perez got into the hot seat match with an 8-4 victory over Foldes, and was joined by Hjorleifson, who’d sent Hemmah to the loss side 8-6. Hjorleifson claimed the hot seat 8-4 over Perez and sat in it to await his return.
 
On the loss side, Foldes picked up Mitch Ellerman, who, after being downed by Hemmah in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had gotten by Justin Marks 7-3, and Fach Garcia 7-4 to reach him. Garcia had previously eliminated the elder Dominguez, Ernest, which kept him (Ernesto) from an approaching match versus his son, Oscar (a matchup that the elder Dominguez traditionally forfeits). Hemmah picked up the son, Oscar, who, after his defeat at the hands of Foldes, in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had eliminated Mika Immonen 7-2 and Brian Parks 7-4.
 
Foldes advanced to the quarterfinals 7-2 over Ellerman, and was joined by Oscar Dominguez, who’d defeated Hemmah 7-5. Oscar eliminated Foldes in those quarterfinals and then, locked up in a double hill fight against Perez in the semifinals; a fight won by Perez to earn himself a second shot against Hjorleifson in the finals.
 
Hjorleifson completed his undefeated run. A repeat performance of the hot seat match 8-4 over Perez secured it.
 

Beau Runningen Wins First Annual Brendan Crockett Memorial

Beau Runningen (in Brendan Crockett’s favorite jacket) and Vilmos Foldes

Beau Runningen recovered from a second round loss, and went on to win the 1st Annual Brendan Crockett Memorial 10-Ball Tournament held at On Cue Billiards in La Mesa, California on June 10th – 11th. 

 
Runningen’s weekend started off on the right foot with a 7-2 win over Reid Fleming, but was quickly derailed in his second match when he lost a 7-5 decision to Ramil Gallego. After that loss, Runningen went on an impressive seven match winning streak that included notable wins over Fach Garcia, Oscar Dominguez, Dave Hemmah, Ernesto Dominguez, Rodney Morris and Tyler Styer
 
Runningen rode that winning streak into the finals, where he faced previously unbeaten Vilmos Foldes. Vilmos’ run through the winner’s side includes wins over Michael Robinson, Melissa Herndon, Rey Lorenzo, Dave Hemmah, Rodney Morris and Tyler Styer. The final match started off close with the player tied at 1-1, but an uncharacteristic miss on the 10-ball in rack three seemed to start Foldes’ game unravelling. Runningen controlled the match from that point and easily defeated Foldes 11-4 for first place. 
 
While the tournament drew a field of 87 players, those players and the fans weren’t just there for the thrill of competition. They were all gathered to remember the short life of Brendan Crockett, who passed away almost a year ago with his brother Jefferson, in a car accident. 
 
Brendan was a regular competitor on the West Coast and the idea to hold a memorial tournament came together by Melissa Herndon and Desiree Dominguez pretty quickly. Herndon commented on the emotional weekend, “It was incredibly moving to see so many players show up to celebrate Brendan and play in the inaugural memorial tourney.  I heard a bunch of new stories about him, and it really felt like the weekend was about him and not just another tournament.  Brendan loved competition, and 10-ball was his favorite.  His friends, the sponsors, On Cue Billiards, and the players all came together to make this event into an event that Brendan would've loved…and we look forward to making the 2nd Annual Brendan Crockett Memorial 10-Ball Open an even bigger, badder tournament that draws more top name players! “
 
To help raise money at the event, Brendan’s father Bill raffled off a Bill Stroud Joss West cue from his personal collection. Bill Crockett is a cue collector and plans on raffling off a cue at this event each year. The tournament raised nearly $1500 for the Brendan Crockett Scholarship Fund. More information on this fund can be found online at Brendancrockett.org

Runningen Wins Arizona Mezz West State Tour Stop

Beau Runningen

On the weekend of July 11th and 12th, a very talented group of 79 pool players escaped the blistering heat of Phoenix, Arizona to compete in the Mezz West State Tour's 5th event of their 17 stop season. Room owners of Bull Shooters, Mike and Julie Bates have one of the premier pool rooms in the nation boasting a huge array of tables, full kitchen, and full bar catering to both the recreational and serious pool fan. This is the second time the tour has visited Bull Shooters and the players thoroughly enjoy the venue. 
 
Several of the tour "regulars" were in attendance who came from California and Nevada to compete against the top players from the Arizona area including Bernie Pettipiece, Tim Daniel, Bobby Emmons, Tres Kane among others. Leading the top half of the tournament board was co founder of the MWST, Oscar Dominguez with wins over Mike Massey, James Main, Nick De Leon, Bobby Emmons, Tim Daniel, and Beau Runningen setting up for the hot seat match.
 
The bottom half of the bracket was lead by one pocket specialist Bernie Pettipiece with wins over Marshall Anonby, Michael Langarica, John Ritonya, George Tehachea, and Mark Whitehead to face Dominguez for the hotseat.
 
Meanwhile on the one loss side, early tounament favorites such as Sal Butera, Dave Hemmah, Rodney Morris, Vilmos Foldes, Brian Parks, and Ernesto Dominguez all faced early defeats making the one loss side littered with top players and amateurs. Once the dust settled, it was former Junior National Champion Beau Runningen clawing his way through the B bracket with wins over Bobby Emmons, 17 year old sharpshooter Chris Robinson, and Bernie Pettipiece to set up an all Southern California finals between Dominguez and Runningen for the title in the single extended race finals. After a few critical mistakes by Oscar, Beau capitalized with solid safety play and firepower to take tour stop #5 and first prize.
 
The top female bonus was awarded to Melissa Herndon and we would like to thank all our sponsors and players for their continued support.
 
The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), Ozzy Reynolds and CSI (PlayCSIPool.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com). 
 
We would also like to thank Mike and Julie Bates, along with their two daughters and the entire Bull Shooters staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour. 
 

Oscar Dominguez Wins Mezz West State Tour Stop 3

Oscar Dominguez

The Mezz West State Tour travelled to gorgeous Stiix Billiards in Ventura, California over the weekend of May 23rd and 24th. The event attracted 93 players, which Rodney Morris, Oscar Dominguez, Sal Butera, Beau Runningen, Dave Hemmah and Vilmos Foldes were just a few heavy hitters that made it out to the tournament. Not to be taken lightly, the open players made their presence known with the attendance of Chris Robinson, Attila Csorba, Manny Herrera, Joey Chin, Geoff Somers and newcomer Brian Cady.
 
The top half of the bracket was all about the “7”players with Brian Cady, Melissa Herndon, Manny Herrera and Joey Chin making it out of a tough top bracket to find themselves in the final eight winners side. The bracket included big names such as Brian Parks, Sal Butera and Dave Hemmah. Newcomer, Brian Cady made his way to the final eight winners by finding victory over tour regulars James Harris, Bob DePlachett and Justin Logan before running into Manny Herrera in the final eight. Manny found himself there after wins over Rich Hodge, Spencer Ladin, Jay Beatty and Chino Reyes. The match between Brian and Manny went HILL-HILL with Brian taking the W, securing him into the final four winners of the event to face off against LA local Joey Chin. Joey Chin secured his spot in the final four by winning against Mark Anthony Hernandez, Brook Thomason, Sal Butera and Chris Santana before running into Melissa Herndon in the final eight. Melissa took wins over Juan Smith, Geoff Somer and Bob Jocz. The Melissa and Joey match up went HILL-HILL as well, with Joey making a great out to secure the win. In the final four, Brian Cady vs Joey Chin was one to be seen. The match stayed tied the entire set, eventually reaching HILL-HILL once again, with Brian Cady moving onto the hot seat match. 
 
The bottom bracket was also loaded with killers like Oscar Dominguez, Rodney Morris, Vilmos Foldes, Corey Harper, Attila Csorba, Daminen Rebman, Beau Runningen and young-gun Chris Robinson. Making their way to the final eight winners were Attila Csorba with wins over Frank “The Barber” Almanza, Ashton Schaffer and Rhiyan Qi, where he was met with  top player Corey Harper. Corey Harper found his way there with wins over Rodney Morris, a match that he was down 8-2 in and grinded back to win 9-8, Henry Brodt and Marshall Anonby. The match between Csorba and Harper was heavily one sided, with Csorba taking the win and moving on the final four winners , where he would meet Oscar Dominguez who took wins over Cole Gibbons, Dan Aguiar, Vilmos Foldes and Chris Robinson.  The face-off between Dominguez and Csorba was a tough one, but in the end Csorba made a few errors that Dominguez took advantage of, allowing Dominguez to be victorious 9-5 and sending him to face Brian Cady in the hot seat match. 
 
In the hot seat match, Dominguez showed complete domination over Cady winning 9-4, without Cady making too many errors. Cady would then travel to the loser side and await his chance to make it to the finals. 
 
The losers side was a battle with Dave Hemmah winning 7 matches straight until being knocked out by Chris Robinson and forcing him to take 7th/8th. Chris Robinson went on to knock out Joey Chin, before losing to Attila Csorba, forcing him to take 4th place in the 93 player field. Csorba would now face a determined Cady for his chance in the finals. Cady out played Csorba winning 9-5 and giving him another chance at Dominguez in the finals. 
 
During the finals, each player struggled with the break, forcing several dry breaks and push outs. In the end Dominguez took advantage of every error Cady made found himself winning 11-6. This was the first ever win for Dominguez on the MWST and would push him into the #1 spot in the point rankings.
 
The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com). 
We would also like to thank owners Jerry and Peggy Matchin, along with the entire Stiix Ventura Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour. 

Morris wins Mezz West State Tour Stop 2

Rodney Morris

The Mezz West State Tour held its second stop in beautiful Northridge, CA over the weekend of May 9th and 10th. This 9 ball event attracted 90 players, including Mika Immonen, Oscar Dominguez, Rodney Morris and Vilmos Foldes. This event was held at Plush Pocket Billiards, which is an old school style pool room which has 17 nine foot tables and 3 Diamond bar tables. 
 
The event started with a heavy hitter top and bottom bracket. The top bracket held big gun players; Brian Parks, Fach Garcia, Oscar Dominguez, Mika Immonen and Johnny Kang. Making their way through the top half of the upper bracket was Fach Garcia who had wins over Justin Marks, Jaden Brock, Al Moreno and Attile Corsba. He was met in the final four winners by Oscar Dominguez who had wins over James Harris, Laurie Butera, Sal Butera, and Mika Immonen. Garcia was up early leading 7-2. But in true Dominguez style Oscar grinded back to eventually win 9-7 sending him to the hot seat match. 
 
The lower bracket was even tougher with heavy hitters like Rodney Morris, Melissa Herndon, Vilmos Foldes, Danny Gohkul, Dave Hemmah and Ernesto Dominguez. Melissa Herndon showed her dominance with wins over Dave Hemmah, Shaun Smallwood, Manny Herrea, Henry Bodt and Aaron Estrada. She was met in the final four winners by “Rocket” Rodney Morris who had wins over Dave Martineau, Jeremy Long, Danny Gohkul and Vilmos Foldes. This was tight match with it tied at 3, 4 and 5. Eventually the “Rocket” took off, winning 9-6.  
 
Meanwhile on the losers side, Beau Runningen, Billy Dyke, Brian Parks, Jerry Lin, Johnny Kang, Ernesto Dominguez and Dave Hemmah were all duking it out. Beau Runningen made a tough fight winning four matches on the losers side before being beaten by Attila Corsba, forcing him to settle for 9th-12th. Attila then moved on to face “Iceman” Mika Immonen who was on fire and ran through him 9-3.  Mika would continue his streak by beating Melissa Herndon and then Dave Hemmah. Dave Hemmah had a great run with wins over Fach Garcia, Aaron Estrada, Vilmos Foldes, Johnny Kang, Sal Butera, Lawerence Rocheda and Mark Anthony. His loss to Immonen forced him to settle for 4th place. 
 
The hot seat match between Rodney Morris and Oscar Dominguez was a nail biter, with several break and runs, along with phenomenal safety play. The match went hill-hill, with Rodney Morris coming away with the win. This sent Dominguez to the 3rd place match to face Immonen. This match was heavily one sided and we did not see Immonen in his best performance, allowing Dominguez to win 9-2 and sending him to a rematch with Morris in the finals. 
 
The finals are an extended race to eleven and both Dominguez and Morris both breaking and running almost every rack. Both players played what could have been a 900 Accu- Stats. The match was tied the entire time at 7-7, 8-8,  9-9 and 10-10 (hill-hill). In the hill-hill game Dominguez was breaking. Dominguez broke in 2 balls, but had a tough opening shot on the two. He opted to play safe, but Morris played a great safe back. Dominguez executed an incredible kick-safe. Morris then kicked but accidentally made the two ball and was hooked on the three ball. Morris made an incredible kick and left Dominguez a tough cut on the three down the rail. Instead of trying to fire the shot, Dominguez played a creative safety. Morris made a good hit and left Dominguez still in a tough spot. Dominguez made the three, the four and played safe on the five. Morris then jumped in the five and ran out, winning the hill-hill set. 
 
The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com). 
 
We would also like to thank owner Steve, along with the entire Plush Pocket Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour. 

Rodney Morris Wins Mezz West State Tour Season Opener

Rodney Morris

The Mezz West State Tour returned the weekend of April 25th and 26th to the beautiful Hard Times Billiards of Sacramento, California. The first season was a huge success averaging 88 players per event. This second season started off with a bang accumulating a total of 114 players shattering the all time high of 96 players. Among the locals, strong talent from all over the west coast was in attendance including players from Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona. The railbirds and locals were treated to a great display of pool by some great talent including "Rocket" Rodney Morris  and "Iceman" Mika Immonen, alongside tour regulars Oscar and Ernesto Dominguez, Johnny Kang, Beau Runningen, Sal Butera and Amar Kang.  Several top amateur players also made an apperance including Tommy "Too Good" Soria, Kevin May, Spike Aiardo, Mark Chernin and Rylan Hartnett
 
With a field loaded with killers, there was no such thing as a "soft draw". The top of half of the bracket contained Sacramento Hard Times house pro Carl Wilson, Corey Harper, Johnny Kang, Jason Williams, Melissa Herndon, Spike Aiardo, Beau Runningen, Mika Immonen, Tommy Soria and Amar Kang. Battling through the top of that bracket was Phoenix's own Spike Aiardo with wins over Brandon Boatman, Mark Chernin, Jason Williams and Carl Wilson to reach the final four winners side of the event. Meeting him in there was a tough Mika Immonen, who had found victories over Patrick McLoud, Dirk Grundman, Chong Vang, Tommy Soria and Amar Kang. This match was heavily one sided with Mika pulling away to win 9-4, securing his place for the hot seat match. 
 
Meanwhile in the bottom bracket, Ernesto Dominguez, Oscar Dominguez, Rodney Morris, Vilmos Foldes, Jaynard Orque, Dave Hemmah, Bobby Emmons, Paul Silva and Sal Butera all battled it out. Coming through the top of that bracket was Oscar Dominguez with wins over Zaldy Rosaluna, Mike Mitchell, Paul Silva and Ernesto Dominguez to put him in the final four winner side. Vilmos Foldes was waiting for him in the bottom portion of the bracket with tough wins over Emerson Joiner, Dave Gomez, Rylan Hartnett and Rodney Morris. Foldes had Dominguez down 6 to 1 in the blink of an eye, but Dominguez showed heart grinding back to win 9-7 and securing his spot in the hotseat match to face Immonen.
 
The hotseat was one sided with Dominguez breaking and running 4 racks on Immonen, allowing him to find victory 9-4. Mika would then travel to the one loss side to battle a tough Rodney Morris for his second shot at the finals. Rocket was in dead stroke at this point with wins over Tommy Soria, Geoff Somer, Spike Airado and Amar Kang. Immonen and Morris exchanged break and runs back and forth until it was 4-4. Rodney slowly pulled away winning 9-5. The finals are one extended race to 11 and Morris handled an exhausted Dominguez very easily winning the event 11-4. 
 
This Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com). 
We would also like to thank Karen, Mike and Rachel Markulis, along with the entire Hard Times Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour. 

Bezdan Wins Mezz West State Tour Top Gun Event

After 11 events on the Mezz West State Tour, a total of 32 invited players came to Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, CA to compete in the year end event for its 12th and final event of Season 1. The invited players were chosen based off a points system based off the Camel Pro Tour rankings. The top players accumulated points based off their performances to play in a special year end event of $2000 added prize money plus the membership dues collected throughout the season which totaled to 5750 off of 231 total members. In addition, as a bonus, the top 16 ranked players did not pay an entry fee while the 17-32nd ranked players paid a standard $65 entry fee.
 
The top half of the board was led by co founder of the MWST, Oscar Dominguez with wins over the Filipino veteran, Ramon Mistica 9-4, followed by wins over Johnny Kang 9-4, Dave Hemmah 9-5, and Ernesto Dominguez 9-0, to lead up to the hot seat match. The bottom half of the bracket was dominated by Hungarian sharpshooter, Attila Bezdan, with wins over Phil Prentice 9-3, Ramin Bahktiari 9-3, Melissa Herndon 9-4, and road companion Vilmos Foldes 9-4. The hot seat match was one sided as Attila came out firing balls in from all angles putting pressure on Dominguez. After a few failed safeties, Attila ran away with the match with a 9-5 score. 
 
Meanwhile on the losers side, Rodrigo Geronimo who lost his first match to Tang Hoa 8-4, had grinded through seven matches against Kevin May 9-3, Beau Runningen 9-7, Chris Fangre 9-3, Melissa Herndon 9-5, Tang Hoa 9-4,Ernesto Domiguez 9-4 and Ruben Bautista 9-7 to reach the 3rd place match against Oscar Dominguez. Rodrigo looked hungry to reach the finals and took a quick 5-1 lead over Dominguez. It wasnt until Geronimo missed a crucial 2 ball in the side pocket to widen the lead to 6-1 that Dominguez had a chance to take control of the table. Winning that game and then the next 3, Dominguez was able to tie it up 5. The following 6 games were each nail biters, with each player playing inspirational kick, jump and safety shots. Dominguez fell behind once again 7-5, but in his true fashion, showed a lot of heart to come back and win the match 9-7 sending him back to the finals to seek revenge on Bezdan.
 
The finals was one to be seen. Bezdan played flawless, only missing two balls the entire set. He pocketed every ball on the table as if they had eyes and controlled the cue ball at a top notch level. His break was also in top gear, leaving Dominguez helpless. Attila Bezdan went on to easily win the set 8-2. His victory was well deserved, as he was the best player on this day.  All of us on the Mezz West State Tour will surely miss him next season and would like to congratulate him on his very great accomplishment. 
 
We would like to again thank all of the players and sponsors who make all of this possible: Mezz Cues (miki-mezz.com), West State Billiards Supply (weststatebilliardsupply.com), ZAN tips (Zan-tip.com), Kurzweils Country Meats (kurzweilscountrymeats.com), AZbilliards.com, NYCGrind.com, POVPool.com, Marty Carey Jump Q, ontherailtv.com, Turtle Racks, and fast&loose designs.

Orcullo comes from the loss side to win 5th Annual Hard Times 10-Ball Open

Dennis Orcollo

Dennis Orcullo may have rightly earned the headline as the undefeated winner of the 5th Annual Hard Times 10-Ball Open, but in many respects, Mexico's Ruben Bautista may have been the story. The $5,000-added event drew 63 entrants to Hard Times in Bellflower, CA and as has been the case since its inception five years ago, it drew the top names in the sport; not all of them, but a lot of them, including Orcullo, Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, Warren Kiamco, Mike Immonen, Rodney Morris, and a host of Taiwanese players like Ko Ping Chang, Ko Pin-Yi, Yu Hsuan Cheng and Jung Lin Chang.
 
 Bautista was the event's 'dark horse.' As he had done in the 1st Annual Nick Varner Classic Pro event back in March, Bautista worked his way through the field (26 in the Varner Classic, 63 here) and emerged in possession of the hot seat. In Colorado, he went through (among others) Chip Compton, Johnny Archer and Mika Immonen. In California, he went through (among others) Warren Kiamco and Immonen (again). In both events, though, Bautista stumbled in the finals, allowing the Iceman to take him out twice in the finals in Colorado (losing the opening set in a case game), while Orcullo won eight of the Hard Times' final's last 11 games to snatch the victory away.
 
Kiamco was the player who sent Orcullo to the losers' bracket; 9-6 in a winners' side quarterfinal. Kiamco would advance to meet Immonen, while Bautista, who'd defeated Hard Times House Pro (and event tournament director) Dave Hemmah, would face Ko Pin-Yi. Immonen fell to Kiamco and Pin-Yi fell to Bautista, both 9-6. Bautista took the hot seat match 9-4 over Kiamco; his final win, as it turned out.
 
Orcullo moved over to begin his loss-side march back to the finals, opening with 9-4 win over Ernesto Dominguez. He backed that up with a 9-6 win over Yu-Hsuan Chen, which set him up to face Ko Pin-Yi, coming over from the winners' side semifinal. Immonen picked up Efren Reyes, who'd gotten by Hemmah 9-6 and survived a double hill battle versus Jung Lin Chang.
 
Orcullo and The Iceman advanced to the quarterfinals; Orcullo eliminating Pin-Yi 9-7, as Immonen was ending Reyes' run 9-4. Orcullo ended Immonen's bid for a second straight Hard Times 10-Ball title with a 9-5 win in the quarterfinals, and then wreaked his vengeance on Kiamco 9-4 in the semifinals.
 
Bautista took an early 6-3 lead in the single, race-to-11 finals, as announcers on the POVPool live stream, and viewers in the chat room tried to figure out who this man was, and what (little) they knew about him. He was mentioned as a "Mexican champion," though no one (me, included) could find corroborating evidence to support such a title. Bautista has appeared a grand total of five times in AZ payout lists since 2010; three times this year, including his runner-up finish in the Nick Varner Classic, and once each in 2010 (33rd in World 8-Ball Championships) and 2011 (25th in Turning Stone XVIII). 
 
Orcullo, in the meantime, was settling in, eventually catching up to Bautista to create a 6-6 tie. They battled back and forth through to 9-9, before Orcullo took command of the final two games. On the hill, Orcullo scratched on the break, and gave Bautista a golden (runout possibility) table, but Bautista could not take advantage. Orcullo ended up winning eight of the final match's last 11 games to claim the Hard Times 10-Ball Open title.
 
The event was streamed all weekend by POVPool (http://www.povpool.com), without whom, much of the reporting on this event would not have been possible. Our thanks to Dan Busch and his staff, not only for the stream, but for the willingness to fill in the informational blanks about match results when needed.

$5,000 Added – Hard Times 10-Ball Gears Up For Action!

‘Home Of Champions’ – Gears up! 

On July 11th-13th and for the 5th year in a row, Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower will be hosting its annual ‘Hard Times 10-Ball Open’ tournament.. With $5,000 added money and POV Pool’s live streaming preparations underway, it’ll be another unforgettable event. Won by Carlo Biado last year, he bested Alex Pagulayan in a landslide final battle, 11 games to 1. Hard Times 10 Ball always attracts an assorted field of the best from all over the world and we can only guess who will be this year’s champion to rise to the top. Past top finishers of this event have been, Dennis Orcullo, Shane VanBoening, Ralf Souquet, Wang Can, Rodney Morris, Manny Chau, Max Eberle, Scott Frost and many others.

 

Confirmed So Far…

The internationally known pool promoter, author and tournament director, Jay Helfert has confirmed with POV Pool that Warren Kiamco and Dennis Orcullo are confirmed for this years event. Also, widely known to be an agent and manager for two other players whilst on the West Coast, we have a confirmation from Brook Thomason thatFrancisco Bustamanteand Efren Reyes will also be competing. Reigning CSI, US Open 10-Ball Champion, Rodney Morris states that he will compete this year, just before flying to Japan for The Japan Open in Tokyo. And, there has been some discussion that Shane VanBoening may also make an appearance which, if this is the case, means it’s a matter of time before the rest will follow. And, as of June 16th we have a confirmation for Marie Lim, who is taking some of the entries, that the four traveling Taiwanese players, Ko Pin Yi, Ko Pin Chung, Chang Jun Ling and Cheng Yu Hsuan are also going to attend and compete. As they develop, more player and promotional updates can be found on The Hard Times 10-Ball’s, Facebook Event Page.

 

West State Billiards named as Main Sponsor!

This year’s main sponsor or the event will be none other than Southern California’s West State Billiards, located in Fullerton, CA – Operating since 1946, West State Billiards will be providing brand new 860 Simonis Brand cloth for 20 tables, soon to be installed by the Dominguez Family (Ernesto and Oscar). Tournament direction will be led by professional pool player and longtime house-pro at Hard Times, Dave Hemmah. With the new equipment and strong tournament leadership the entrants of this year’s event can expect nothing but the best quality and service at this annual event.

 

Live Streaming and Video Coverage on POV Pool!

The 3 day event will be live-streamed for free and viewable at www.POVpool.com. Special guest commentators are expected and a few promotional surprises from sponsors are being arranged out for POV Pool supporters and viewers. POV Pool is sponsored by Kamui TipsOB CuesAutomated Entertainment and RunOut Apps. Additional promotional and editorial thanks also to,GoPlayPool, AZ Billiards, NYC Grind, Live Stream NewsInside Pool, Dave Hemmah, Marielle Lim, Mike Piyasambun, Hard Times Staff, Ashi Fachler, Geraldine Thibodeau.   

 

 

Information and Resources

Event Details

The 5th Annual Hard Times 10-Ball Tournament

$125 Entry – $150 After July 3rd, 2014

$5,000 Added

Open to 96 Players

Double Elimination Race to 9

10-Ball / Call Pocket

3-Fouls / Jumps Allowed / Measle Ball / Magic Rack (Optional)

Entry Form

 

For More Info

Hard Times 10-Ball’s Facebook ‘Event’ page

Hard Times Billiards Group Page

Live Stream Broadcast Page  POV Pool / Ustream

AZ Forum Discussion and Forum Questions  

Players Confirmed (As of June 17th)

Dennis Orcullo

Warren Kiamco

Efren Reyes

Francisco Bustamante

Dennis Hatch

Oscar Dominguez

Ernesto Dominguez

Ramon Mistica

Ko Pin Yi 

Ko Pin Chung

Chang Jung Lin

Cheng Yu Hsuan

 

Contact

Daniel Busch – povpool@gmail.com

Hard Times Billiards

17450 Bellflower Blvd.

Bellflower, CA 90706

562-867-7733

Louis Ulrich Claims Chet Itow Memorial


February 24th & 25th, 2012; there was certainly something for everyone in Mountain View, CA., thanks to the infamous California Billiard Club, its owner Chris Swart who hosted the 3rd Annual Chet Itow Memorial 9-Ball Tournament.  Nuclear engineer “Chet” who created and built this great venue was honored in the grand style, which was indicative of the great efforts that he put into the creation of the hall. The true “double elimination” event kicked off at noon on Saturday, February 25th with a race to 8 on both sides, and a winner break format.
 
Any one of the over 4,000 pool enthusiasts who tuned in this last weekend to Point Of View (POV) Pool’s free live internet coverage of this event, were treated to a multitude of not only legendary player match-ups, but also to a host of the unusual and dramatic antics that are ever present amongst these individuals.
 
Thanks to hall owner Chris Swart, a “$3000 Added” incentive packed the house and drew in 101 participants including many of the billiard worlds’ most elite players.  Locals as well as those who tuned into the live internet stream got their pool fixes watching the likes of Rodney “The Rocket” Morris, Jose Parica, Louis Ulrich, Santos Sambajon, Rafael Martinez, House Pro Dave Hemmah of Hard Times – Bellflower, “Team Mexico” – Oscar and Ernesto Dominguez, Amar Kang, and last but not least, world renowned champion and two time consecutive winner of the infamous “Swanee” – Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan.
 
Walk in patrons and attendees alike were packed in all weekend long, taking advantage of the 3000 sq ft plus “viewing” area, ordering from a fantastic full menu, and topping it all off with a trip to the fully stocked bar complete with an efficient and friendly staff.  In short, it was a setting for a pool player’s “Paradise”!
 
Early upsets in the event included last year’s winner, Santos Sambajon and runner up Oscar Dominguez. Also knocked were Alex Pagulayan, and long time veteran Jose Parica was pushed early to the one loss side by “Combination” Jason Williams, who eventually shot his way up to 4th place in the event! Jason Williams put on quite a show during the weekend and was motivated by an eagerness to play and win over Rodney “The Rocket” Morris. Those who remained to stroke their way up the chain included Rodney Morris, Ernesto Dominguez, Kevin May, Amar Kang, Rafael Martinez, Ed Ramos, and eventual winner, Louis Ulrich.
 
Antics were abound during the course of the tourney with Amar Kang giving Alex Pagulayan a mini Golf swing lesson before their match, and quite a commentary stint on POV Pool’s live stream with local Emilyn Callado.  And of course all were treated to the usual short riff of Alex’s legendary karaoke.  Guest commentators joining Daniel Busch, owner of POV Pool and co-commentator Barbara Lee, included Jeff Gregory, local “Women Power” stars Mary Rakin, Emilyn Callado and OMGWTF’s – Melinda Huang.  Additional commentators included, pool veteran – John Henderson of The Cue Sports Journal (Soon to re-launch), Scott White, Bucktooth (Who’s claim to fame is “beating everybody”), and Oscar Dominguez who stated “Well now everyone pretty much knows my life story”!
 
Unfortunate news during the event was for Jun Almoite, who had to forfeit on Saturday to attend to “The Princess of Pool” – Mary Avina, who fell ill enough for hospitalization due to a high fever associated with a bout of the flu.  The good news is, all is well and Mary is home and recovering.  Whew!
 
Wrapping up the event late Sunday night were semi final match-ups between Rodney Morris and Jason Williams, Kevin May and Amar Kang, and culminated with Louis Ulrich versus Ernesto Dominguez.  A shocking display of “doesn’t ANYONE want this 7 ball?” commenced between Amar and Alex, which lasted several innings before Amar finally got the pesky maroon into a pocket.
 
In another match between Louis Ulrich and Hillary Morse, Louis slammed in the 9 a stunning 4 times during the break-shot, which unfortunately was re-spotted due to the rule associated with the rack your own format for this event.  This proved to be a running theme on the “stream” table for many players during the break-shot, with the 9 ball usually en-route to the bottom left-hand corner and the 1-ball almost always hitting the rail below the left middle pocket and landing either into or very close to the top right-hand corner pocket. As a result, the best break show, which highlighted this phenomenon, was between Jason Williams and Rodney Morris, with a barrage of early 9 ball combinations and caroms that seriously shortened the length of the match. And in contrast was John Henderson vs. Arturo Rivera in a nip and tuck session, which literally lasted 16 games, and without either player having more than a 1-game lead.
 
Rounding up the finale was Louis Ulrich versus Ernesto Dominguez who would have had to win two races to 8 for the win due to the true double elimination format.  Ernesto took an early 3-0 lead over an obviously tired Louis and it looked like a double set was shaping up. Louis however managed to come back to tie it up, and then rally back and forth to create a hill-hill thriller. The nail biting final game found Ernesto running down to the perfectly lined up 9 with precision play, that is until he fails to close; missing an almost straight 9-ball and leaving a medium difficulty cut for Louis. After the stunned railbirds exhaled, Louis got up and with nary a thought, and sliced the 9-ball effortlessly for the win over a disappointed but ever gracious Ernesto.
 
The top final 8 payouts were Louis Ulrich, $3,000, Ernesto $1700, Rodney Morris $900, Jason Williams $550, Kevin May and Amar Kang at $250, and Rafael Martinez and Ed Ramos at $150.
 
POV Pools live Internet coverage and archived matches can be viewed by going to www.povpool.com.
 
 
Payouts for the 3rd Annual Chet Itow Memorial 9-Ball Tournament
 
1st – Louis Ulrich / $3,000
2nd – Ernesto Dominguez / $1,700
3rd – Rodney Morris / $900
4th – Jason Williams / $550
 
5th/6th – Kevin May / $250
5th/6th – Amar Kang / $250
 
7th/8th – Rafael Martinez / $150
7th/8th – Ed Ramos / $150
 
9th/12th – George Michaels / $100
9th/12th – Craig Oden / $100
9th/12th – Bryce Avila / $100
9th/12th – Dale Alpajora / $100
 
13th/16th – John Henderson / $75
13th/16th – Santos Sambajon / $75
13th/16th – Jose Parica / $75
13th/16th – Jeremy King / $75
 
17th/24th – Mark Tiu / $50
17th/24th – Mary Rakin / $50
17th/24th – Mike Tucci / $50
17th/24th – Alex Pagulayan / $50
17th/24th – George Pagulayan / $50
17th/24th – Jeff Padjan / $50
17th/24th – Ernesto Reyes / $50