The eighteenth annual Tri-State Tour Invitational Tournament took place June 27 & 28, 2015, at Steinway Café and  Billiards in Astoria, NY. The weekend was a huge success for the tour with 14 A & A+ Players, 30 B & B+ Players, 32 C & C+ Players and 16 D & D+ Players who earned their way in to compete in their respective classes and play for their chance to be named the Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion. Steinway Café and Billiards hosted the event for the first time and the players could not be happier about the venue. Steinway Café and Billiards owner Manny Stamatakis and the staff including Anna and George were very professional, helpful and gracious. Manny donated the room and all the table time. Their generosity and support to the players and the event were exemplary. The staff and everyone at the room assured the events success. Steinway Café and Billiards is an excellent venue for the event with professionally maintained tables, a clean a fresh atmosphere and some of the best food in NYC.  

 

As each day began, organizers John Leyman, Todd Fleitman & Rick Shellhouse congratulated the players on reaching the top of their classes for the season and handed out awards to the top players of the year in each class. The Tri-State Tour added $4000 in cash prizes and the sponsors Ozone Billiards, Fury Cues, Kamui Tips, Sterling Gaming, Cue-Sight, Capelle’s Pool Books, Billiards Digest, Pool & Billiards, Professor-Q-Ball’s News, Blue Book Publications, Steinway Café and Billiards, Amsterdam Billiards, and Romer’s Trophies went out of their way to provide the event with excellent equipment and prizes. The sponsors as the Tri-State has always maintained are owed a debt a gratitude for their dedication to the game and the players, their efforts and generosity are what always make the event so special and such a great success and without their continued support of the sport and the players this event could not happen. 

 

Awards were presented to the top 3 players in each class, the Most Improved Player of the Year, and Sportsman of the Year. The most improved player went to Chumreon Sutcharitakul. He has grown into an extremely good and competent player over the past year dominating events and raising from a lower B level player to a strong A level player. Each year the tour awards one player the “Sportsperson of the Year” award. It is awarded to someone the tour believes exemplifies what a player should be and how they should act and this year’s award went to Mike Strassberg. Mike is always there to lend a helping hand, has nothing but positive things to say about the other players and never complains. His great attitude is what other players should strive to emulate. 

 

The top players of the year in the their respective classes were Chris Derewonski taking down the Open Class, Miguel Laboy winning the A+/A class, Arturo Reyes B+ player, Chumreon Sutcharitakul B player, Ramon Feliciano C+ player, Mike Strassberg returning again this yeat as the C player and Mike Davie D+/D class player of the year and returning again as the Ladies Player of the Year was Ada Lio. For a full list of winners for all the classes and events, please see the web site www.thetristatetour.com. 

 

The action in the tournament got going around eleven on Saturday morning, June 27 with the B+ and B class players along with the D+/D players kicking off the event.  The B+ class saw two players dominate the event and meet each other in the hot seat match, B+ player of the year Arturo Reyes and Alberto Estevez. Both players played very strong all day defeating their opponents handily but Arturo could not be stopped, beating Alberto 7-3 in both the hot seat match and the finals. The B Class event for the second year in a row was dominated by Yomaylin Feliz-Forman even sending the most improved player Chumreon Suctharitakul to the one loss side beating him 7-1 all while being 6 months pregnant. Dave Shlemperis who lost his second match of the day to Eddie Medina 7-5 battled back on the one loss side of the chart winning 5 matches in a row against such strong players as Meshak Daniel, Jamiyl Adams, Chumreon Suctharitakul, Eddie Medina this time 7-6 in Dave’s favor and Luis Jimenez to get to the finals. In the finals Yomaylin took an early lead but Dave battled back and went ahead and then won the set 9-7.

 

The D+/D class saw Jim Gutierrez and Jessica Herpel battle their way to the hot seat match where Jim played well and did everything right and won the set 7-1. Irene Kim, Jim’s significant other after losing to Jessica Herpel fought back on the one loss side to meet Jessica again in the semifinal match. But the rolls by this time of the event were favoring Jessica and she won the match 7-5. In the finals the games at first were traded back and forth with Jim getting on the hill first but the rolls kept going in Jessica’s favor and she battled on to force an extended race final and finished the set with a ball in hand and a 7/9 combo for the win.

 

On Sunday, play resumed at 11 AM with the A+/A players and the C+ class and C class arriving to do battle. The A+/A Class saw one player in the finals undefeated while his opponent had lost his first match of the day. This was an almost exact replay of how the event went from the year before except instead of being in the hot seat undefeated Juan Guzman had to battle back from a first round loss to get to the finals. This year Tony Liang who won on the hill 7-6 in the first round then two 7-1 matches and then another 7-6 match found himself in the finals where he went on to beat last years A class champion Juan Guzman 7-3.

 

In the C+ class Chris DeCaprio sent Ambi Estevez to the one loss side in the third round with a score of 6-2 and then beat Frankie Scanlon 6-3 to get into the hot seat. Ambi Estevez who fell one match short of the finals the year before would not be deterred this year and won against Dennis Kennedy, Mike Esposito and Frankie Scanlon to get to the finals. In a match that could have went either way Ambi prevailed and won the match 8-5. The C class was totally taken over by Robert Jew who bested all opponents including his buddy and the player who he came to the event with Eddie Perez in the finals. Eddie last year’s sportsman of the year played very good all day but lost to Raul Calderon in the third round and then beat Raul in the semifinals 6-4.

 

This left our 6 class champions to do battle for the Grand Champion title. Robert Jew continued his dominating ways and beat Ambi Estevez 6-3 to win the C+/C playoff and then Jessica Herpel in the C/D playoff 6-0. In the B+/B class playoff Dave Shlemperis executed well very well and bested Arturo Reyes in the match 7-3. But in the A/B playoffs Dave just could not get going right away and fell behind. He caught some wind and started to battle back but by that time it was just too late and Tony Liang went on to win the match 7-3. With the overall finals of the event set, the 2 most dominate players of the event matched up to do battle. And both players played well and traded games with Tony Liang pulling ahead in the middle of the match, never to look back. He won the set 9-6 to become that 2014-2015 Tri-State Tour Invitational Grand Champion.

 

Pastras' effort was almost derailed early, when he faced Brett Fenstermacher in the opening round. He survived a double hill battle in that opening round, and went on to defeat Ed Crespo, and Dave Ascolese, putting him into a winners' side semifinal against Gary Murgia. LaPadula, in the meantime, squared off against Dennis Kennedy. LaPadula defeated Kennedy, double hill, while Pastras got by Murgia 7-4. Pastras moved into his first hot seat with a 7-4 win over LaPadula.

 

On the loss side, Murgia drew Brian Cap, who'd benefited from a forfeit (by Ascolese) and defeated Ed Crespo, double hill. Kennedy got Allison Honeymar, who'd been awarded a loss-side bye and then defeated Frankie Scanlon 6-3. Murgia defeated Cap 7-2, as Kennedy got by Honeymar 6-5.

 

Kennedy took the quarterfinal match 7-3 over Murgia, but ran into something of a buzz saw. LaPadula shut him out in the subsequent semifinals (he'd been responsible for sending Kennedy to the loss side), and got his second crack at the 'new kid on the block,' Pastras.

 

LaPadula established his credentials with two straight racks at the outset of the finals. He and Pastras then traded racks to a 3-1, LaPadula lead, before Pastras evened things up with two racks of his own. It went back forth to a 5-5 tie, before Pastras pulled away with another two in a row to win it 7-5 and claim his first Tri-State title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Clifton Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, January 31 at the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

Dinko Busanich and Frank Sieczka let the single match they played during the Tri-State Tour stop on Saturday, December 6, stand as the end result. Reports coming out of Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, where the $1,000-added event that drew 53 entrants was held, suggest that the possible final would have competed with Sunday's sunrise. Busanich, having defeated Sieczka in the hot seat match, took the first place title. He and Sieczka split the top two prizes.

 

Busanich defeated Brian Cap, double hill to get into the hot seat match. Sieczka, in the meantime, downed Dennis Kennedy 6-3. Busanich and Sieczka then locked up in a double hill battle that proved to be the winning match.

 

On the loss side, Cap picked up Jan Mierzwa, who'd defeated Stewart Warnock 7-4 and Keith Adamik 7-1. Kennedy drew Lenore Chen, who'd eliminated Jaydev Zaveri 6-5 and Mike Strassburg 6-2. Cap finished Mierzwa 7-4, as Chen downed Kennedy 6-3.

 

Cap took the quarterfinal match 7-4 over Chen, but fell to Sieczka 7-5 in the semifinals. Busanich and Sieczka opted out of the final match, leaving Busanich to claim the event title, while the two split the first and second place prizes.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. 

Miguel Laboy won his first Tri-State Tour stop in January. He's won three more since; one in August, another in September, and most recently, on Saturday, November 22 at a $1,000-added event that drew 64 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), New York. Twice, at House of Billiards on Staten Island, he had to defeat the room's owner, Dennis Kennedy to claim the title. In the middle of those two occasions, in August, he and his co-finalist, Lidio Ramirez, opted out of a final match, leaving Laboy undefeated and the official event winner.

 

In claiming his fourth Tri-State title, Laboy had to get by Paul Spaanstra twice. Following victories over Enoch Hooper, Juan Guzman (forfeit), Thomas Rice and Koka Davladze, Laboy met Spaanstra for the first time in a winners' side semifinal. Dave Fitzpatrick and Kevin Huynh met in the other. Laboy prevailed 8-5 over Spaanstra and in the hot seat match, met Fitzpatrick, who'd defeated Hunyh 6-2. Laboy claimed his fourth Tri-State hot seat 10-7 over Fitzpatrick and waited on the return of Spaanstra.

 

Spaanstra started his trip back to the finals against Davladze, who. after being sent over Laboy, had defeated Greg Ackerman 8-5, and Kyle Bubet 8-4. Huynh drew Steve Wade, who'd gotten by Albert Appleton and Thomas Schreiber, both 6-4. Spaanstra eliminated Davladze 8-4, and in the quarterfinals, met Wade, who'd defeated Huynh 6-3.

 

Spaanstra and Wade locked up in a double hill, quarterfinal fight that eventually advanced Spaanstra to the semifinals against Fitzpatrick. A 7-3 win there, and Spaanstra got his second crack at Laboy.

 

Spaanstra got off on the right foot, winning three straight. Laboy, though, answered promptly with three of his own. Spaanstra responded with four in a row to take his largest lead at 7-3. Laboy checked in with another three to narrow Spaanstra's lead to one at 7-6. Though Spaanstra won rack #14, it proved to be his last, as Laboy finished with four in a row to claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for November 29, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

It was a repeat of a matchup held in January at the House of Billiards on Staten Island. At that event, Miguel Laboy downed the owner of the room, Dennis Kennedy, twice, to claim his first Tri-State title. On Saturday, September 27, Laboy did it again, defeating Kennedy twice to capture his third Tri-State title (he'd won his second in August). The $1,000-added event on the last weekend in September drew 27 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.

 

As he'd done back in January, Laboy defeated Kennedy in both the hot seat match and finals. In the most recent event, Laboy had defeated Chumreon Sutcharitakul, Ben Castaneros, and Dave Ascolese before running into Luis Jimenez in a winners' side semifinal. Kennedy, in the meantime, faced Jennifer Pedutem. Laboy sent Jimenez to the losers' brackets 7-4, while Kennedy shut Pedutem out to join him in the hot seat match. Laboy defeated Kennedy 8-4 this time (it was 6-4 back in January), and once again, waited on Kennedy's return from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Pedutem picked up Larry Chandler, who'd defeated Michael Aro 6-3 and John McArthur 6-5. Jimenez drew Ron Gabia, who'd advanced past Arturo Reyes and Jimenez, both 7-5. Gabia moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-6 win over Jimenez, and faced Pedutem, who'd eliminated Chandler 8-6. Gabia got a shot against Kennedy with an 11-9 win over Pedutem.

 

Kennedy, though, most likely looking to reverse his fortunes from his January defeat by Laboy, downed Gabia 8-3 and earned his shot. He took early advantage of the chance he'd earned by getting out to a 3-0 lead in the finals.

 

Laboy responded quickly, tying the score at 3-3, but Kennedy came right back to regain the three-rack lead and extend it to four racks at 7-3. Laboy responded with three to pull within one, before Kennedy chalked up his eighth, thereby extending the race to 10 games. Laboy won his seventh, then his eighth to tie it, and his 9th to reach the hill. Kennedy won rack 18 to force a deciding rack, won by Laboy to claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, along with sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for October 4, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.

Luis Jimenez, after a couple of unsuccessful runs competing against fellow amateurs on the Predator Tour this year, signed on to the September 20-21 stop on the Tri-State Tour, where he'd won two in a row, going undefeated, in June of 2013, and went undefeated again, through a field of 59 entrants. The $2,500-added event was hosted by Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

 

After victories over Dennis Kennedy, Mike Figueroa, Jaret Buyund, and T.J. Aguis, Jimenez met up with Nick Antonakis for a winners' side semifinal. Jose Mendez, in the meantime, faced Eric Grasman.  Jimenez sent Antonakis over 7-5, and was joined in the battle for the hot seat by Mendez, who'd defeated Grasman, also 7-5. Jimenez defeated Mendez 7-4 and waited on what turned out to be the return of Grasman.

 

On the loss side, Grasman began his three-match march back to the finals against Robert Pamilar, who'd shut out Miguel Laboy, and eliminated Koka Davladze 8-6. Antonakis picked up T.J. Aguis, who'd defeated Tony Ignomirello 6-1, and John Morrison 6-4. Grasman and Aguis advanced to the quarterfinals; Grasman 8-4 over Pamilar and Aguis 6-5 against Antonakis.

 

Grasman earned his rematch against Mendez with a 9-6 win over Aguis in the quarterfinals, and then successfully wreaked his vengeance against Mendez 7-2 in the semifinals. Jimenez completed his undefeated run with an 8-4 win over Grasman in the finals.

 

Tour representatives thanked Kevin and Isabel Buckley, owners of Gotham City Billiards, and their staff, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Barton, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, September 27, will be hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.

Peter Ziemak, returning to the Tri-State Tour after a brief hiatus, went undefeated to claim his first Tri-State title. He did so at the expense of Tri-State veteran, Tony Ignomirello, who had two shots at Ziemack, but fell short in both of them. The $1,000-added event drew 38 entrants to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. 

 

It wasn't easy for either of the finalists. Ziemack survived two straight double hill battles against Mike Zimny and Borana Andoni at the outset. A slightly less nerve-wracking victory over Smiley Feliz 8-4 put Ziemack in a winners' side semifinal against Jose Liz Domeneche. "Iggy," in the meantime, had his own two opening, double hill wins, against Lisa Peloso and Eddie Perez, before defeating Bob Toomey and Jason Critelli for a seat in the winners' side semifinals, against Frank Sieczka. Ziemak chalked up a third double hill win, over Domeneche, as Ignomirello sent Sieczka west 6-4. Ziemack got into the hot seat 9-7 over Iggy, which proved to be the final match between the two.

 

Domeneche moved to the losers' bracket and met up with Smiley Feliz, who'd gotten by Eric Gasman 8-6 and Ricardo Mejia 7-3. Sieczka faced Jason Critellii, who'd defeated Dennis Kennedy 6-2 and Dave Fitzpatrick 6-4. Smiley put up a fight, forcing a deciding game, but Domeneche moved on to the quarterfinals, where he met Critelli, who'd eliminated Sieczka 6-4. 

 

The prize in Critelli's eyes was a second shot at Ignomirello, who'd sent him to the loss side, but Domeneche got to him first, winning their quarterfinal match, 7-4. Like Critelli, Domeneche had his sights set on a re-match; his, against Ziemak in the hot seat. Ignomirello stopped that from happening,  defeating Domeneche 7-4 and, in effect, ending the night's proceedings. Ziemak and Iggy opted out of a final match, splitting the top two prizes, while declaring the undefeated Ziemak as the event's official winner.

 

Tour representatives once again thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.

 

Tri-State Tour representatives callEd Scott Simonetti's undefeated run through a field of 32 on Saturday, July 12, "the story of the day," noting that his play "reminded viewers of the Simonetti of old;" a reference, one assumes, to a year like 2010, which saw Simonetti win three stops on the Tri-State and one stop on the Predator Tour (to go along with 'money' finishes in nine other stops on both). The $1,000-added debut event of the Tri-State's 2013-2014 season on July 12 was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

 

Following victories over Tri Chau, Dave Ascolese, and Dave Jusis, Simonetti moved into a winners' side semifinal match against Jose Liz Domeneche. Dennis Kennedy, in the meantime, squared off against Ramon Feliciano. Simonetti moved into the hot seat match with an 8-5 win over Domeneche and faced Kennedy, who'd defeated Feliciano 6-5. Kennedy fought tooth and nail to secure a double hill win that left him in the hot seat, awaiting the return of what turned out to be Focused Apparel's Brian Russel.

 

Russel, who'd been sent to the loss side by Borana "Queen Bee" Andoni, embarked on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him all the way back to the finals. He got by Chau, Jan Mierzwa, Dave Jusis and Shin Sekine (who'd taken out Andoni for him), to draw Domeneche. Feliciano picked up Frank Sieczka, who'd shut out Robert Jew, and given up only a single rack to Dave Fitzpatrick.

 

Russel marched on, giving up only a single rack to Domeneche as Feliciano was allowing only a single rack to Sieczka. Russel defeated Feliciano 7-5 in the quarterfinal match that followed, and got a shot at Simonetti in the hot seat with a 7-4 win over Kennedy in the semifinals. Simonetti and Russel opted out of a final match, choosing to split the top prizes, leaving the undefeated Simonetti as the event's official title holder.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, to be hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside, NY, is scheduled for July 19.

Rhys Chen's trip through a field of 58 players, on hand for the Tri-State Tour's $1,000-added, A-D 9-Ball event on the weekend of June 14-15 went through host venue (Castle Billiards, East Rutherford, NJ) owner, John Trobiano twice. They met in the third round, when Trobiano sent Chen to the loss side to embark on a seven-match winning streak that would pass through Trobiano and eventually lead to a winning effort in the finals against ChristIan Smith. 

 

Smith, who advanced to the hot seat, defeated Don Montavalo, Carl Yusuf Khan, Shin Sekine, and Jose Liz Domeneche before running into Keith Adamik in a winners' side semifinal. Dennis Kennedy, in the meantime, squared off against Tony Ignomirello. Smith downed Adamik 7-1, as Kennedy was busy sending Ignomirello west 6-5. Smith gained the hot seat 9-8 over Kennedy, and waited on Chen.

 

Chen opened his loss-side campaign with victories over Antonio G.evara, Vinny Ferri, Domeneche and successfully wreaked his vengeance on Trobiano 7-5, to pick up Adamik. Ignomirello drew Dave Jusis, who'd gotten by Pat Mareno 6-2 and Jan Mierzwa 7-2.

 

Chen moved on to the quarterfinals (five down, three to go) with a 7-5 win over Adamik. He was joined by Jusis, who ended Ignomirello's day 6-3. Chen then eliminated Jusis 7-4 and defeated Kennedy in the semifinals 8-7. In the extended-race finals, Chen took an early and what proved to be insurmountable 3-1 lead. Smith would chalk up only one more, as Chen went on to reach seven games, extending the race to nine games, and then run out the final rack for a 9-4 win.

 

Tour representatives thanked John Trobiano and his staff at Castle Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for June 21, will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

He won his first Tri-State Tour stop four days before Christmas, coming from the loss side to take down Dennis Kennedy. On Saturday, February 1, Akbar Karmoeddien came from the loss side again (this time, playing only one match) to take down Paulo Valverde in the finals of the $1,250-added event that drew 42 entrants Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

 

Following wins over Michael Xie, Andrew Cleary, Pat Mareno and a double hill win over Allison Honeymar, Karmoeddien faced Keith Diaz in a winners' side semifinal. Valverde, in the meantime, squared off against Ambi Estevez. Karmoeddien advanced to the hot seat match 6-3 over Diaz, as Valverde survived a double hill battle versus Estevez. In their first of two, Valverde prevailed over Karmoeddien 6-3 to sit in the hot seat.

 

Diaz moved to the loss side and picked up Chris DeCaprio, who was in the midst of a four-match winning streak that would take him to the semifinals. DeCaprio had survived two straight double hill matches, against Mikes Harrington and Garetta, to pick up Diaz. Estevez drew James Rodriguez, who'd shut out Allison Honeymar and defeated Steve Wade 7-3.

 

Diaz and Estevez picked up their second straight losses; Diaz falling to DeCaprio 6-4 and Estevez being eliminated by Rodriguez 8-2. DeCaprio won the quarterfinal match against Rodriguez, 8-4 to complete his loss side run. Karmoeddien defeated DeCaprio, double hill to earn a second shot against Valverde in the hot seat.

 

Karmoeddien and Valverde would play 13 games in the finals, and until they'd completed nine of them, neither had more than a single game lead. Valverde took the initiative on each of the ties (beginning with 0-0), until they were knotted at four games apiece, at which point Karmoeddien took his first lead of the match. He followed it with a second win to go up 6-4, and Valverde came back to win rack # 11. Karmoeddien took two in a row to complete his second Tri-State win.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour is scheduled for Saturday, February 8, at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.