Houston’s David Mendiola tore through a field of 55 competitors in the amateur 9-ball division, beating Steve Lenz in the finals, 5-2, 5-3, to win his first, Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour title. Ernesto Bayaua went undefeated in the 50-player, open 9-ball division, defeating Manny Chau in the finals, 7-1, securing his second, consecutive win of 2018.
On February 10th-11th, 2018, the Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour held its second stop of the season at Bogies Billiards West in Houston, Texas. The tournament amassed 94 players from cities throughout Texas and Louisiana, with a payout in excess of $7,000. The Tour would like to thank Bogies West and staff, title sponsor Poison by Predator Cues PoisonBilliards.com, and sponsors Cyclop Pool Balls Facebook@CyclopPoolBalls, Ozone Billiards OzoneBilliards.com, APA of North Harris County Facebook@APANorthHarrisCounty, OutsvilleBilliards.com, and www.VaporKnightsUSA.com for facilitating another successful event for the Poison Lone Star Tour players.
In the amateur division, David Mendiola made his way to the final four with wins over Kenneth Espina, 5-2, Bob Valliere, 5-4, Steve Williams, 5-0, and Rudy Sanchez, 5-0, while Steve Lenz took care of Jim Shipman, 5-0, Burak Temel, 5-4, and Dallas’ Joe Pelayo, 5-1. Beaumont’s Carl Honey bested San Antonio’s Scott Spiegel, Richard “The Black Diamond” Stuart, Louisiana’s Shane LeBlanc, 5-3, and Bill Fuller, 5-3, while Brian Rosenbaum tagged Ron Wrobleski, Jong Yoo, 5-4, Angelo Martin, 5-1, and John Braud. On the one loss side, Yoo eliminated Fuller, 5-1, while Joey Bourgeois ended Braud, 5-3. Following five match wins, Chris Rogers went on to eliminate Sanchez, 5-2, while Pelayo slid by Felder, 5-4. Cruising to the hot seat, Lenz dealt Mendiola a blow, 5-2, while Rosenbaum denied Honey, 5-4. Lenz dusted off Rosenbaum for the hot seat, 5-3, seemingly on the road to a second, amateur division victory. On the west side, rounding out the final eight, Fuller fell to Bourgeois, and Pelayo denied Rogers, 5-2. Mendiola eliminated Bourgeois, 5-4, and Honey curbed Pelayo, 5-2. Mendiola forged ahead, edging out Honey, 5-4, and Rosenbaum, 5-4, earning himself a rematch with Lenz. In the finals, a collected Lenz attempted to fend off a relentless Mendiola, and it was a fight to the finish. Mendiola latched on, claiming the first set, 5-2. In the second set, Lenz tried to turn it around, but Mendiola’s momentum was too strong. The Houston player closed out the second set, 5-3, to win his first-ever, Poison Lone Star Tour title.
In the open 9-ball division, Ernesto Bayaua was unstoppable. He secured wins over Dallas’ Vic Sorto, 7-1, Brian Rosenbaum, 7-2, Robert Wendel, 7-2, and New York’s Dale Briones, 7-2, while Denis Strickland overwhelmed Richie Richeson, 7-5, Joe Pelayo, 7-2, and Jong Yoo, 7-0. Young gun, Joey Torres, overcame Ronjan Mathur, Manny Chau, 7-5, and Bob Valliere, 7-1, while Lufkin’s Chad Reece bested Shane LeBlanc, 7-2, Joey Bourgeois, 7-4, and Chris Rogers, 7-5. Bayaua squeezed by Strickland, 7-6, while Torres tamed Reece, 7-5, pitting two Houston locals for the hot seat match. Bayaua made quick work of Torres, 7-1, which marked his twelfth, consecutive match win in the first two events. On the one loss side, following a third round upset by Chris Rogers, Tommy Tokoph took out Jong Yoo, while Chau overcame Briones, 5-3. LeBlanc took out Valliere, 5-1, and Felder extinguished Rogers, 5-2. Chau powered through Tokoph, 5-0, and Reece, 5-1, while LeBlanc finished off Felder, 5-2, but fell to Strickland, 5-0. Chau, the 2017 Tour Champion, sent home Strickland, 5-3, and Torres, 5-2, for a final match up against 2016 Tour Champion, Bayaua. With an incredible seven match wins to his credit, Chau headed into the finals with an undefeated Bayaua. In the final set, Bayaua set the pace, took the lead, and never looked back. Bayaua defeated Chau, 7-1, winning his second Tour event, and marking his thirteenth, straight match win this year.
Special “congratulations” to Joe Pelayo of Dallas, Texas, on securing his highest, Poison Lone Star Tour finish to date! The Tour would also like to recognize Ruth Paine of San Antonio, Texas, for her assistance with the production of this event. Match recordings on the live stream table were facilitated by www.SouthernStreaming.com, and are now available for viewing in their online library.
The next event will be held March 10th-11th, 2018, at Fat Rack’s Sports Bar and Billiards in San Antonio, Texas. For more information, please visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.
The Poison by Predator tour held its third stop of the year on June 2, 2012 at Bogies Billiards in Houston, Texas. Bogies added a generous $1,000 to the players’ purse for the one-day, 9-ball event that paid out in excess of $3,500. The field consisted of 38 “b” players which included tour regulars Brent Thomas, Victor Rojas, Brian Rosenbaum, Valian Charles, Mark Fusina, Danny Lee, Anthony Demetro, and many more!
Match play began at approximately 2pm following the player auction. The swift races to 6, winner break format, produced numerous upsets throughout the day and into the evening. Brent Thomas took an early 6-5 hit from newcomer David Mendiola while Chris Penry upset tour regular Sonny Demetro. Mickey Woinicki ousted former champ Sonny “The Boss” Bosshamer 6-1 and Junior Jueco slid by Victor Rojas 6-4 to meet one another for the hot seat match. Rojas and Chauncey were defeated on the one-loss side by Demetro and Bosshamer respectively while Jueco secured the hot seat 6-1. Bosshamer punished Demetro and Woinicki to meet Jueco in the true double elimination final. Bosshamer took the first set 6-2 but lost his focus in overtime. Jueco ended the battle, 6-4, securing his first Poison Tour victory!
The Poison by Predator Tour would like to thank its exclusive venue host, Bogies Billiards and Games. Referee services were provided by BCA’s own Derrell Montgomery. Racks were provided by Delta-13 and measle cue balls compliments of Gulf Coast Billiards. Also, congratulations to Brittany McCombs who won the Poison Strychnine cue raffle.
The next Poison by Predator Tour 9-ball event is November 3rd and will be open to ANY and ALL amateurs who wish to participate! No qualification necessary!
Want to take your game to the next level? Visit www.poisonbilliards.com or www.predatorcues.com then call 713.825.1411 to place your order with Kim White, Authorized Predator/Poison Dealer.
The LSBT hosted its tenth stop of 2011 on August 27th-28th at Bogies Billiards in Houston, Texas. The event drew 53 competitors and 67 entries, fairing quite well in spite of a very recently scheduled event across town which overlapped the LSBT date set in early January. Bogies Billiards owner David Richardson added $1,000 to the ONE DAY EVENT, $500 to the Amateur and $500 to the Open divisions, which wrapped up late Saturday night!
The Open division winners’ side final 8 saw Chad Hensen defeat Rick Castillo 9-2, Sonny Bosshamer fall to Chris Young 9-4, Brian Rosenbaum overcome Nolan Edds 9-5, and Danny Roland best Sylver Ochoa 9-8. Young then fell to Hensen 9-4, and Rosenbaum defeated Roland 9-3. Hensen squeezed by Rosenbaum for the hot seat 9-8. On the east side, Bill Fuller was making his move after a first round loss to Rosenbaum. Joey Torres and Will Felder glided through the east side until they crossed paths. Torres advanced 7-4 but fell short to Chris Young 7-6. Fuller won 5 consecutive matches then eliminated Young 7-6 to meet Rosenbaum for the second time. Rosenbaum dealt Fuller a final blow, 7-3, but fell to Hensen in the final 9-8. This was Chad Hensen’s first Lone Star event and consequently his first win, congratulations!
The Lone Star Amateur division winners’ side final 8 yielded Brian Rosenbaum over Doug Gray 5-2, Victor Rojas over Tony Scott 5-4, Chad Hensen passing Chris Young 5-2, and Charlie Buckner squeezing past Rick Castillo 5-4. The east side saw Young defeat Eric Olivo 5-4, Will Felder eliminate Castillo, Joey Torres pass Gray, and David Mendiola fall to Tony Scott. The hot seat pitted an all too familiar match-up between Rosenbaum and Hensen, with Rosenbaum taking the seat 5-4. Back east, Torres and Felder were on a streak until Felder was stopped in 7th-8th by Young. Rojas ousted Young 5-0, then Torres, 5-1, but fell to Hensen 5-4. In the familiar final, Rosenbaum didn’t waste any time with Hensen, defeating him 5-3, and securing his first ever Lone Star tour win. Way to go Brian!
In the Junior division Joey Torres breezed through the bracket undefeated while Nick Calderaro finished a respectable second. Ladies champ Courtney Peters also went undefeated on Sunday delivering a final blow to Terry Petrosino 7-2.
Congratulations to David Mendiola who won a VX Jump Cue along with Jerald Jackson and Brittany McCombs who won a VX2.9 Break Jump and Nitro 6 cues respectively, donated by Poison by Predator.
Gulf Coast Billiards became the newest Lone
Star tour sponsor this past weekend when owner Gavin Miller donated 14 Pro Cup Aramith cue balls for the players to enjoy from here on out. For all your pool table or billiard product needs, contact GCB at www.GulfCoastBilliards.biz or call 832.894.1916. Longtime sponsors of the LSBT include Poison By Predator Cues www.predatorgroup.com, Delta-13 Rack www.delta-13.com, www.PoolWebsites.com, and the APA of North Harris County. Thank you for supporting pool in the great State of Texas!
The September 17th-18th Lone Star Event at Houston’s Sports Bar will be postponed until 2012. In lieu of this postponement, the Longhorn Amateur Tour will be hosting an evening 9-ball event on Saturday, September 17, at Bogies Billiards. Free practice starts at 8pm and matches will be called at 9pm sharp. All Amateur players are welcome! And don’t forget, Bogies has an 8-ball bar box tournament every Friday night with a break pot that’s up to $300!
The next Lone Star Event is October 29th -30th at Bogies Billiards & Games which is expanding its already 10,000 square feet room to accommodate poker tables, a pro-shop, and an additional bar! If you’ve never been, October 29th-30th is a great weekend to come by and visit the only 24 hour pool room in Houston. See you there!
