The purse was $1,500 added, $50 entry, 100% payout, no hidden fees. Starcade Billiards does it right every single time. The format was double elimination, with 9 ball express rules in effect. Winner’s brackets matches were races to nine and loser’s bracket matches were races to seven on Saturday and race to nine for both sides on Sunday.
The Jordan “Cash” team was in top form from start to finish, with both brothers making it to the final four of the undefeated bracket. Jamie Baraks beat Jeff Jordan 9-5. But Randy Jordan easily bested local favorite, Josh Hillard, by a lop-sided score of 9-1. And then Randy proceeded to beat Jamie 9-5 to capture the hot seat.
Meanwhile, on the final four of the one loss side, Pablo Matheu eliminated Denny Singletary, and Stoney Stone gave Denny Fox his marching orders, as well. Then Jeff Jordan sent Pablo to the bleachers, and Josh Hillard handed Stoney Stone his marching orders. This left Jamie Baraks waiting for the winner between Jeff Jordan and Josh Hillard, with Josh besting Jeff 9-6.
So then there were only three…
Out of the three remaining, Jamie Baraks had 5 top 3 finishes, being the runner-up twice. And this time we would crown a new champion. All defending title holders had been eliminated. So Jamie squared off with Josh, and the winner would earn a rematch with Randy Jordan and another title attempt. Josh would earn the opportunity to redeem his previous title attempts with a 9-4 victory over Jamie. And these two have been knocking on the winning door for quite some time now.
Over the last two decades, I have personally witnessed Josh Hillard play in the finals of this tournament at least 3 times, possibly 4, losing to Tommy Kennedy, David Broxson, and Pablo Matheu – making this his 4th attempt to capture the much coveted title.
The championship match would be an extended single race to twelve. This time, however, Josh was holding the winning ticket with some really solid play and defeated Randy 12 to 7.
The purse was $1,500 added, $50 entry, 100% payout, no hidden fees. Starcade Billiards does it right every single time. Robert Harris, Harris Cues, co-sponsored the event and raffled off a beautiful $1,500 cue and awarded another cue to the Champion, as well. The format was double elimination, 9 ball express rules were effect, winner’s brackets races to nine and loser’s bracket races to seven on both days. However, this was the first time the Magic Rack was implemented. So it’s safe to say that many balls were made on the break, which amounted to many break-and-runs and some very lop-sided matches.
Mike Davis captured the hot seat basically uncontested, and it’s worthy to mention he skunked Tommy Kennedy 9-0, allowing him only one shot the entire match!
Meanwhile, Jamie Baraks and Nathan Rose were in dead stroke. Mike was waiting for the winner of the Rose-Baraks match, and it was Rose who prevailed this time. Baraks made it to the finals the past event in February this year where Davis also won, but this time had to settle for the 3rd place envelope of cash.
The final match was a single race to 12. Mike took the crown undefeated by a score of 12-3 over Rose.
We are proud to announce that Poison Pool Tour and Zingales Billiards & Sports Bar will be hosting the 2013 Florida State Open and Amateur Championships over two weekends in December and January. Zingales will play host for the second time and we look forward to it. With the room guaranteeing $10,000 between the two events, we are sure to see some of the top talent in Florida and its surrounding region. Zingales is a wonderful venue to have a championship tournament. With 20x 9ft Gold Crown tables and 2x 9ft Diamond tables, ample room, a full bar, full kitchen, and super awesome staff, we really do enjoy having the room on board to make a great event for all of the great players that support the sport, the tour and the venue.
First up is the Florida State Amateur 9-Ball Championship on December 14-15. This is actually 3 events in one, 1 Mini Tournament on Friday December 13th at 7:30 PM. The $4,000 added main event on Saturday Dec 14th with finals carrying over to Sunday, and the $1,000 added event on Sunday. Last year's event drew 107 top amateur players from all over and left only the cream of the crop to finish. Chris Adams would take the annual prestige that year by defeating Denny Fox in a nail-biting 1 rack shootout. Who will take top honors as Florida's best Amateur this year?.
Next up is the Florida State Open 10-Ball Championship on January 11-12. Again a 3 event finale with a Mini Tournament Friday Jan 10 at 7:30, followed by the $4,000 added main event Saturday, and $1000 added event on Sunday. Last year turned out a whole gang of top players, namely Donnie Mills and David Grossman who battled for the honors, seeing Grossman as the champion, after missing that 2 foot 10 ball to let Mills get to a 16th rack. Grossman moved through the 43 player field undefeated last year.
This year we will be offering registration to both events online, by check and cash at the event and on the tour website. Live streaming will also be available directly from the tour website, the event is limited to the first 128 paid player so pay early to avoid disappointment. www.poisonpooltour.com
A special thank you goes out to our tour sponsors, Poison Billiards, Robertson Billiards,Simonis Cloth, Diamond Billiard Products, Delta-13 Racks, Aramith, Stroke-It Wear, www.floridapooltablemovers.com Bar Box Digital, Robert Harris Cues, and Triple Cross Cues.
