In the summer of 2017, Stephen Richmond competed in two events at which he finished as runner-up; to Donny Mills in a June stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour, and to Tommy Kennedy in an August stop on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. In both events, Richmond got into the hot seat, only to be defeated in the finals. On the weekend of February 3-4, competing in the Florida Pool Tour’s $5,000-added, 2018 Florida State Amateur 9-Ball Championships, that drew 122 entrants to Zingale’s Billiards Room & Sports Bar in Tallahassee, FL, Richmond opted for a different route. He advanced to the hot seat match, but was defeated by Miguel Batista. He returned from the semifinals to defeat Batista, and claim the event title; his first, according to our available records, since he won a stop on the Pure X Cues All American Tour in April of 2013.

 

Richmond and Batista got into their first of two matches, battling for the hot seat, following identical 7-5 victories in the winners’ side semifinals; Richmond, over Denny Singletary, and Batista, over Steve Foster. They then proceeded to battle each other to a 7-5 finish that sent Richmond to the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Singletary and Foster ran immediately into their second straight losses. Singletary went down in a double hill fight against Nick Applebee, who’d previously defeated Wesley White 5-1 and Matt Bulfin, also double hill. Foster was defeated 5-1 by Mike Delawder, who’d eliminated Jason Wells 5-3 and Rod Rentz 5-1 to reach him.

 

In what was described by tour officials as an “intense hill/hill (quarterfinal) match,” Applebee and Delawder fought back and forth for the right to meet Richmond in the semifinals. Applebee prevailed, only to be downed by an apparently determined Richmond 5-1.

 

In an extended race-to-9 final, Richmond and Batista came within a game of yet another double hill match. Richmond, though, pulled out in front to win it 9-7 and claim the event title.

 

A Second Chance event drew a full field of 64 entrants. It was won by Jeff Jordan.

 

Tour representatives thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality at their brand new location (1147 Apalachee Parkway), as well as sponsors Simonis, Aramith, Stroke-It-Wear, Crosby’s Billiards and Darts, and XL Press Co. The next stop on the Florida Pool Tour, the 2018 Florida State Open 10-Ball Championship, scheduled for March 3-4, will once again be hosted by Zingale’s.

 

Starcade Billiards had another great event over the weekend of October 14-15, where 50 of the top players in the region competed for a piece of the $4,100 purse and to take the $1,350 top prize. Top regional pros and talent were present, such as Ronnie Wiseman, Josh Kirby, Randy Jordan, Denny Singletary, Pablo Matheu, Stoney Stone, Josh Hillard, Denny Fox, Randy Jordan, Jeff Jordan, Jamie Baraks, JR Rossman, to name a few…

 

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.

With competitors like Mosconi Cup team member Sky Woodward, former US Open Champion Tommy Kennedy, Robb Saez and Shane McMinn (among others) on the entrant list, one might have been forgiven for expecting a series of marquee matchups in the final hours of the Florida State 10-Ball Open, held on the weekend of January 7-8. Instead, in what must surely have been a surprise to Calcutta participants, you had Daniel McKenny and Benji Buckley battling twice – hot seat and finals – with Buckley, who was the 2016 champion, taking the first and McKenny claiming the title by winning the last. The $4,000-added event drew 77 entrants to Zingale's Billiards and Sports Bar in Tallahassee, FL.

 

With the aforementioned marquee players at work on the loss side (none of whom would make it out of the 7/8 slots), McKenny and Buckley advanced to the winners' side semifinals; McKenny taking on Butch Croft, Buckley meeting Stoney Stone. McKenny moved into the hot seat match with a 7-1 victory over Croft, while Buckley downed Stone 7-4. For the second year in a row, Buckley claimed the hot seat, this time 7-2 and waited for McKenny to get back from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, the 'marquee four' found themselves battling in the second (9/12) money round. Saez eliminated Woodward 7-5, McMinn took care of Clint Nichols 7-1, and Denny Singletary finished Tommy Kennedy's weekend 7-5. Manny Perez knocked tour director Tony Crosby out of the running 7-4. McMinn and Saez were eliminated next; McMinn by Singletary, double hill, and Saez by Perez 7-3.

 

Singletary drew Stone, coming off his defeat in the winners' side semifinal, and Perez picked up Croft, coming off his. Singletary and Croft got right back into the swing of things and advanced to the quarterfinals; Singletary 7-3 over Stone, Croft surviving a double hill fight against Perez.

 

The quarterfinals were, at minimum, a $300 contest (the payout difference between 3rd and 4th place) and went double hill. Croft denied Stone a second shot against Buckley with the double hill win that gave him a shot. The semifinals were a $500 minimum battle (the difference between 2nd and 3rd place) and it almost went double hill. At the end, though, McKenny edged ahead by two 7-5 to get his second shot (an absolute $1,000 contest) against the reigning event champion, Buckley.

 

McKenny pulled it off. For the second match in a row, he was able to get ahead by two at the end to win it (9-7) and snatch the Florida State 10-Ball title away from Buckley.

 

A $1,000-added Second Chance event, which drew 50 entrants, saw Jamie Baraks go undefeated to claim the title. Baraks and Matt Bulfin, after shutting out their opponents (Jessie Middlebrooks and George Saunders, respectively) in the two winners' side semifinals, squared off in the hot seat match, won by Baraks 4-1. Bulfin downed Rod Rentz, double hill, in the semifinals, before Baraks defeated him a second time 5-3 in the finals. 

 

Tour director Tony Crosby thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality and contribution to the prize money.  Crosby also noted that anyone interested in sponsoring the Florida Pool Tour should visit the tour Web site (http://www.floridapooltour.com) for contact information.

Mike Zingale of Zingale's Billiards in Tallahassee , FL made a phone call, and invited Shannon Daulton and his Great Southern Billiard Tour down for a visit. They went, on the weekend of December 5-6, and ran a $1,200-added tournament that drew 32 entrants and saw Kenny Wilson come back from a loss in the hot seat match and double dip Clint Nichols in the finals to claim the event title.

 

Their first clash followed a 7-4 victory by Wilson over Denny Singletary, and a 6-5 win by Nichols, over Nick Applebee in the winners' side semifinals. Nichols then took the first of three over Wilson, decisively, 6-1, and sat in the hot seat, waiting for the next two.

 

Singletary and Applebee moved over to the loss side and were immediately defeated a second time. Applebee fell, 7-2, to Chris Gentile, who'd recently defeated Jason Wells 7-2 and Jesse Middlebrooks 7-6 (Middlebrooks racing to 8). Singletary ran into Randy Jordan, who'd been defeated by Wilson in the second round, and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. Jordan chalked up loss-side wins #3 and #4 against Lee Sanders 9-4 and Derek Fowler 9-5. 

 

Gentile downed Applebee 7-2, as Jordan was eliminating Singletary 9-5. Jordan took the quarterfinal match that followed 9-6, to earn a second shot against Wilson. Wilson ended Jordan's loss-side streak, defeating him a second time, 7-7 (same as the first time, Jordan racing to 9), and earning his own second (and third) shot against Nichols in the hot seat.

 

Five years ago, Wilson had chalked up his first win on the GSBT, by advancing to the hot seat, and holding off a loss-side challenge by Brian White, who entered the finals on the heels of a nine-match, loss-side winning streak. On this most recent weekend, Wilson chalked up his second tour victory with a 7-4 win in the opening set of the true double elimination final and a double hill win in the second set. 

 

Tour director Shannon Daulton was quite pleased with his tour's first visit to Zingale's, which also hosts Tommy Kennedy's Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, and Tony Crosby's Florida Pool Tour.

 

"It was a real pleasure to work with Mike (Zingale)," said Daulton. "It's such a player-friendly room (with) an elevated bar for viewing and separate areas for league and tournament play;  just a hell of a layout.

 

"The entire staff at Zingale's was on-point the whole weekend," he added, "and I'll bet Mike served as many drinks as his staff did."

 

The GSBT will return to Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC, this coming weekend (December 12-13) and will conclude its 2015 season with a Christmas tournament, scheduled for December 19-20, at Legends Billiards, in Inman, SC.

It was technically stops # 7 and #8 on the Shark Billiard Tour, or as tour representative Kristen Bennington put it, "or 7 and 7A." Whichever. It was a double stop on Memorial Day weekend at Zingale's in Tallahassee, FL; a $1,000-added event that drew 48 on Saturday, May 23, and a $500-added event that drew 38. Jeff Jordan took the Saturday event. Jesse Middlebrooks was the runner-up and then went on to win the Sunday tournament, with Josh Lewis playing the runner-up role.

 

Five of the players among the final 12 on each day competed in both tournaments, all improving from Saturday to Sunday, except for Jeff Abernathy, who finished 4th on Saturday, and in the tie for 9/12 on Sunday. Josh Lewis went from 9/12 on Saturday to runner-up on Sunday. Chris Gentile improved from a 7/8 on Saturday to 4th on Sunday, and Benji Buckley advanced two slots from 9/12 to 5/6. And of course, Middlebrooks, who took second on Saturday and won Sunday.

 

With Middlebrooks already at work on the loss side, Saturday's event saw Jeff Jordan advance to the hot seat. He'd sent Doug Johnson to the loss side 8-4 in one winners' side semifinal, while Tour Director Nick Applebee sent Howie Gordon loss-side packing 8-5 in the other. Jordan gave up only one rack to Applebee and claimed the hot seat.

 

 

Middlebrooks, in the meantime, got by Jamie Chapman and Detroit Griffin 6-2, to draw Gordon. Johnson picked up Jeff Abernathy, on his way to a fourth place finish and fresh off victories over Josh Lewis 6-4 and Chris Gentile 6-3. Gordon and Johnson picked up their second straight losses; Gordon 6-2 to Middlebrooks and Johnson 6-3 to Abernathy. Middlebrooks took the quarterfinal match over Abernathy 6-4 and then battled to double hill against Applebee in the semifinals. Middlebrooks prevailed and then, in the finals, was defeated by Jeff Jordan 11-7.

 

Having spent time there on Saturday, Middlebrooks wanted no part of the loss side on Sunday. He advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Josh Lewis while Denny Singletary and Derek Fowler met in the other. It was Singletary 8-6 over Fowler and Middlebrooks  8-5 over Lewis. Middlebrooks claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Singletary, guaranteeing himself at least as high a finish as he'd chalked up on Saturday.

 

On the loss side, Benji Buckley advanced past Arthur Win 6-2 and survived a double hill battle against Randy Jordan, to draw Lewis. Fowler picked up Chris Gentile, recent double hill winner over Jeff Abernathy and 6-4 winner over Raymond Linares.  Lewis eliminated Buckley 6-2 and in the quarterfinals faced Gentile, who'd defeated Fowler 6-4. Lewis took the quarterfinal match against Gentile 6-4 and got a second shot at Middlebrooks with a commanding 6-1 victory over Singletary in the semifinals. 

 

Lewis carried that momentum into the finals, opening up a three-point lead (4-1) early. He would chalk up only two more racks in the next dozen games, as Middlebrook battled back to claim the event title 11-6.

 

Tour director Nick Applebee made note of $100 prize to the top junior player in Sunday's event, Bobby Bruce, Jr. He thanked Applebee thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality, as well as Kristen Bennington and all the players who came out to support the tour. Stop # 8 on the Shark Billiard Tour, scheduled for Saturday, June 6, will be hosted by Anastasia Billiards in St. Augustine, FL.

After almost a three year hiatus, Starcade Billiards returned to the tournament scene this past weekend and hosted their largest field to date. This year 113 players were in attendance vying for a slice of the biggest prize fund in Starcade's history. Several touring pros and top regional talent were present, as well as some from afar, such as Mike Davis Jr., Cliff Joyner, Scotty Townsend, Pablo Matheu, Jeff Abernathy, Justin Ledford, Tommy Kennedy, Jesse Middlebrook, Denny Singletary, Mike Delawder, Nick Applebee, Denny Singletary, Rick Howard, Jamie Baraks, JR Rossman, Kris Pitts, to name a few…

 

The purse was $1,500 added, $50 entry, 100% payout, no hidden fees, with $2,000 reserved for the king of the hill. 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.

 

This event proved to be a tough one, as some top players were upset with an early exit on the first day. Cliff Joyner and Scotty Townsend didn’t make it to the money. Winner’s brackets were races to nine and loser’s bracket matches were races to seven on both days.

 

Mike Davis was sent to the one-loss side by Jeff Abernathy. However, Mike worked the left side like a pro and avenged his early loss to Jeff by handing him a 4th place envelope.

Meanwhile, Jamie Baraks was in dead stroke and made it to the hot seat by defeating Nick Applebee. Mike was waiting for Nick and had momentum, setting up a final match with Jamie. The final match was a single race to 12. Mike took the crown by pocketing the last nine ball.

It's been a good year for TK-FLA, otherwise known as Tommy Kennedy. He started the year off with a win at the Florida State Open 10-Ball Championships, won the first stop on his own Tiger SE Open 9-Ball Tour, and was runner-up to Shane Van Boening in the Super Billiards Expo's Players Championship; all this, before baseball's opening day. On the weekend of August 9-10, Kennedy returned to Pockets Billiards in Dothan, AL, where he'd won that opening stop, and went undefeated through a field of 37 entrants, on-hand for a $1,000-added event.

 

It was Kennedy and Scotty Townsend battling for the hot seat in this one. Kennedy, having defeated Justin Gilsinan 9-4, and Townsend sending Randy Jordan west 9-2. Kennedy defeated Townsend and sat in the hot seat, waiting for what turned out to be Jordan.

 

Jordan moved over and picked up Brian White, who'd just finished a couple of easy rounds; a forfeit win over Rick Howard and a shutout of J.R. Rossman. Gilsinan was facing Matt Bulfin, who'd eliminated Craig Houghton 7-4 and Denny Singletary 9-7. Bulfin sent Gilsinan home 9-3, while Jordan was working and eventually defeating White 9-7.

 

Jordan took the quarterfinal match over Bulfin and his semifinal re-match against Townsend 9-6. Kennedy stopped the three-match, loss-side run with an 11-4 victory in the finals.

 

Kennedy thanked the ownership and staff at Pockets, as well as sponsors Tiger Products, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Mueller Recreational Products, Simonis Cloth, Chris Nitti Custom Cues, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues and David Adams. This coming weekend, August 16-17, the Miscue Lounge in Fort Myers, FL, will play host to two Tiger SE Open 9-Ball events; a $600-added Open and a $400 Amateur event.

Tommy Kennedy was ahead 2-1 in a game against Stoney Stone, during the March 1-2 stop on the Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, when things went a little south, as they say. Stone made a difficult jump shot and cleared the table to tie things at 2-2. Kennedy never got back to the table, as Stone went on a five-game run to win the match. Stone would advance to the hot seat, but Kennedy would come back, winning seven in a row on the loss side, to meet and defeat Stone in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 37 entrants to Pockets, in Dothan, AL.

 

As Kennedy was at work on the loss side, Stone advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Jared Stevens. Denny Singletary and Rick Howard met up in the other one. Stone got by Stevens 9-5 and in the winners' side final, met Singletary, who'd defeated Howard 9-6. Stone got into the hot seat 9-7 over Singletary and waited on TK.

 

It was Stevens who ran into Kennedy on the loss side. Kennedy had opened his seven-match, loss-side journey with victories over Scotty Townsend, Rob McGlothine, Jesse Middlebrooks and Jim Majors (forfeit), before drawing Stevens. Howard drew Matt Bulfin, who'd defeated Carl Salaski 7-3 and Mike Townsend (son to Scotty) 9-6 to reach him.

 

Kennedy advanced to the quarterfinals 9-3 over Stevens, where he was met by Bulfin, who'd eliminated Howard 9-6. Kennedy chalked up loss-side wins # 6 and # 7 by defeating Bulfin in the quarterfinals 9-7 and Singletary in the semifinals 9-5.

 

In his re-match against Stone in the finals, Kennedy reversed his fortunes by keeping Stone seated most of the time. He got out to an early lead, chalked up several break and run racks, held his own in safety play and ended up shutting out Stone out 11-0 to claim the event title.

 

Hayley Clucks took home $50 as the event's top female finisher. Joe Davis took home the same amount as the top senior finisher, and 14-year-old Trey Austin pocketed $25 as the top junior in the competition.

 

In his role as tour director, Kennedy thanked his assistants Bo Nelson and Joe Davis, along with Ronald Ready and his Pockets' staff. He also thanked signature sponsor Tiger Products, along with J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Simonis Cloth, Mueller Recreational Products and Andy Gilbert Cues. He also made special mention of sponsor Chris Nitti Custom Cues, noting that his victory in this event was his third straight playing with a Chris Nitti Cue.

Stevie Moore successfully worked his way through a field of 27, on-hand for the Saturday, December 7 stop on the Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, but not before being challenged by Scotty Townsend, who came from deep on the loss-side to meet him in the finals. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Game Land Billiards in Albany, GA, which added $235 to bring the top prize to $1,000.

 

Moore was among the final four winners, and faced Denny Singletary in one of the winners' side semifinals. Don Cossart met up with Stoney Stone in the other. Moore got into the hot seat match with a 9-5 victory over Singletary, as Cossart sent Stone over 9-7. Moore downed Cossart 9-5, claiming the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Townsend was working his way back, defeating James Parr and tour director Tommy Kennedy to draw Singletary.

 

"Scotty was really playing well," said Kennedy. "The best I've seen him play in two years."

 

Stone, in the meantime, drew Jesse Middlebrooks, who'd gotten by Randy Jordan and Adam Towery. By identical 7-4 scores, Townsend and Stone eliminated Singletary and Middlebrooks, and squared off in the quarterfinals. Townsend then dropped Stone into fourth place 7-5, and completed his loss-side run with a 7-3 victory over Cossart in the semifinals. 

 

It was, by this time, getting late. By mutual agreement, Townsend and Moore opted out of playing a final match, choosing to split the top two prizes, leaving Moore as the undefeated title winner.

 

Tour director Kennedy thanked Bo Nelson and the staff at Game Land Billiards for their hospitality and the added money. He also thanked sponsors Tiger Products, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Mueller Recreational Products, Chris Nitti Custom Cues, Chris Hightower of Cue Man Billiards, David Adams of Byron, GA and Simonis Cloth.

 

 

McGee and Kennedy were moved to the loss bracket in the same, winners' side final eight round; McGee, by Scotty Townsend and Kennedy, by Max Oliver. Townsend moved on to face Souvanthong, as Oliver drew Matt Bulfin. Souvanthong sent Townsend west 9-5, and in the battle for the hot seat, met Bulfin, who'd defeated Oliver 9-7. Souvanthong got into the hot seat 9-6 over Bulfin, and waited on McGee.

 

Townsend drew Kennedy, who'd defeated Stoney Stone, and then, Scotty Townsend's son, Michael; thus denying father (Scotty) and son (Michael) an opportunity to compete. Oliver had the misfortune of picking up the man he'd sent west, one match before – McGee, who'd gotten by Josh Hillard and Denny Singletary.

 

Kennedy followed his defeat of the Townsend son, by defeating the Townsend father 9-7. He was introduced, in the quarterfinals, to McGee, who'd eliminated Oliver 9-2. Kennedy learned all he needed to know about McGee, when the younger man allowed him only a single rack in the quarterfinals. 

 

McGee moved on and defeated Bulfin in the semifinals 9-5. In the single, race-to-11 final, Souvanthong put up a fight, but McGee edged ahead to win it by two, 11-9, and claim the event title.