Last week, September 21, Emerson Verano watched James "Doc" Pasciolla complete a six-match, loss-side run to meet him in the finals. Verano stopped the streak to claim the event title. On Sunday, September 29, looking to chalk up a second straight win on the Tri-State Tour, Verano was in the hot seat again, watching, this time, as ChristIan Smith completed a three-match, loss-side run to meet him in the finals; deja vu, all over again, as they say.

 

This time, though, the result was different. Smith, who'd been sent west by Verano from among the winners' side final four, came back to win the final match, and foil Verano's bid for a second straight Tri-State win. The $1,000-added, A-D handicapped event drew 27 entrants to On the Snap Billiards in Sayerville, NJ.

 

Smith advanced past Ed Culhane, Carl Yusuf Khan and Marco Dy to earn a spot in one of the winners' side semifinal matches, against Verano. Yomaylin "Smiley" Feliz and Tony Ignomirello squared off in the other. "Smiley" gave up only a single rack to Ignomirello and in the hot seat, met Verano, who'd survived a double hill struggle against Smith. Verano then defeated Feliz to sit in the Tri-State hot seat for the second week in a row.

 

Smith moved over and picked up Justin Muller, who'd defeated Marco Dy 7-3 and Rajesh Vanalla 7-4 to reach him. Ignomirello drew Christian Longo, who'd gotten by Danny Booth 7-3 and Jaydev Zaveri 6-3. Smith and Ignomirello advanced to the quarterfinal match; Smith, with a 7-2 win over Muller, and Ignomirello, double hill over Longo.

 

Smith and Ignomirello fought back and forth to a deciding game in the quarterfinals. Smith dropped the final 9-ball, and advanced to meet Feliz, eager for a re-match against Verano. Smith was eager, too, and downed Feliz 7-4 to earn his own re-match. 

 

Smith jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the finals, but Verano came right back to tie it. Smith then chalked up a six-pack that put him on the hill. Verano won the 11th game, but Smith won the 12th to complete his loss-side comeback and chalk up the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked On the Snap Billiards' owner-operator Bryant Mitchell, House Pro Daniel Cintron, and the staff for their attentiveness to players' needs, 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, October 5 at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

Emerson Verano, sitting in the hot seat, watched, as James "Doc" Pasciolla completed a six-match, loss-side run to meet him in the finals of the September 21 stop on the Tri-State Tour. Pasciolla had been at it on the loss side since the opening round, and eliminated five opponents (plus one by forfeit). Verano, though, stepped to the table and stopped the run to finish undefeated. The $1,000-added event drew 19 entrants to Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.

 

Verano's trip through the winners' bracket kept tightening. He opened with a 7-4 win over Fred Garcia, then gave up five to Chris Karp and in a winners' side semifinal, battled to double hill before winning over Steve Kaminow.  Verano's hot seat opponent, Andrew Cleary, had weathered some tough storms of his own, including two, successive double hill wins over Mike Guevara and Martin Carducci for the right to face Verano for the hot seat. Verano sent Cleary to the semifinals and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Pasciolla.

 

Pasciolla's loss-side trip began with a shutout over Mike Figueroa, and almost stalled in a double hill battle against Mike Guevara. He survived to earn a re-match against Motos, whom he defeated 6-3 to pick up Carducci, coming over from the winners' side semifinal. Kaminow drew Chris Karp, who'd defeated Mike Cardinale 7-2 and Eddie Medina, double hill.

 

Pasciolla rolled on through to the quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over Carducci, as Karp was busy defeating Kaminow, double hill. Pasciolla won his second, loss-side double hill battle against Karp and with a forfeit by Cleary, jumped right into the finals against Verano. Verano opened up with a six-pack, and though Pasciolla would win the next two, and then, three more, Verano completed his undefeated run 8-5 to claim his first Tri-State title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rockaway Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, a $1000-added, A-D handicapped 9-ball event, is scheduled for September 29 at On the Snap Billiards in Sayreville, NJ.

For the second time in as many weeks, Luis Jimenez has gone undefeated to win a stop on the Tri-State Tour. He did it in the opening weekend of June at Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ and on Saturday, June 15 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria; a $1,000-added event that drew 52 entrants.

 

In the earlier event, Jimenez faced different opponents in the hot seat and finals. In this latest win, he faced the same opponent – Rhio Anne Flores. After wins over Gail Glazebrook, Chris DeCaprio, and Michael Aro, he moved into a winners' side semifinal matchup against Ambi Estevez. Flores, in the meantime, faced Emerson Verano. Jimenez downed Estevez 6-2, as Flores was busy surviving a double hill match against Verano. Jimenez took the first of two against Flores 7-4, and waited on her return from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Verano picked up Lidio Ramirez, who'd been sent west by Flores and was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side streak that would set up a semifinal re-match. With four down and four to go, Ramirez faced and won two, back-to-back, double hill challenges from Manny Stamatakis and Bogie Uzdejczyk, which set him up to face Verano. Estevez, in the meantime, drew the youngster, 14-year-old Thomas Rice, who'd defeated DeCaprio, double hill, and Shivam Gupta 6-3 to reach him.

 

It was Ramirez and Rice who advanced to the quarterfinals; Ramirez, 7-4 over Verano and Rice, 6-2 over Estevez. Ramirez then ended Rice's day 8-4 to earn his re-match shot against Flores. Flores, though, took him down a second time 7-5 and earned her own re-match versus Jimenez.

 

Jimenez took a quick 2-0 lead in the finals, but Flores came right back with two racks of her own to tie it. They proved to be her last. Jimenez chalked up the requisite five in a row to claim his second June victory on the Tri-State.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Poison Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next Tri-State Tour stop, a $750-added, A-D handicapped event, is scheduled for June 22, at Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.