On the weekend of September 15-16th, 2018, thirty-seven women descended onto the great state of Texas’s capital to battle for the top prize at the Jerry Olivier’s Ladies Tour’s 4th Stop, held at Slick Willie’s on Burnett Road.  The September event in Austin is significant to the members of the JO Tour, as it is the stop where we take the time to remember one of our own, Emma Stewart Davis who, three years ago, left us unexpectedly.  We know you’re watching, Emma!

 

On hand to show his support for the women and to provide cue repair services, was renowned cue maker and tour sponsor, Jerry Olivier.  Jerry has always been a staunch supporter of women’s billiards and it was no different this weekend.    Thank you, Jerry, for all that you do!  You can check out his cues on jocues.com or talk to him about having a custom cue made!

 

At the pre-tournament player’s meeting Saturday morning, it was revealed that one of the original Hunters/OB/JO Cues Tour Board Members was resigning.  After dedicating 20+ years to the tour, Shayla Neris decided it was time to close this chapter in her life and forge on as a full-time player.  “It was just time” Shayla says, “but I’ll be back as a player and not on the board!”  We will miss her and the time and effort she has devoted to helping make this tour a success!  

 

Onto the battles… with $2000 added to the prize money, the women were ready to fight.  Saturday began with 37 but ended with 12.  On the A side, the returning Sunday matches would be Natalie Mans (Houston) vs Michelle Cortez (Austin) and Jennifer Kraber (Austin) vs Tam Trinh (Austin).  Natalie’s quest started with wins against Margaret Fox (Austin) 7-6, Tina Soto (Dallas) 7-4, Veronica “Pistol” Perez (Austin) 7-5, and Teresa Garland (Houston) 7-5.  Michelle took on the always tough opponent “Bye,” Tera Saunders (Dallas) 7-2, Gail Roles (College Station) 7-3, and Darcy Durham (Austin) 7-0.  Jennifer’s day consisted of Nicole Menitz (Austin) 7-3, Kitty Poutthaung (Dallas) 7-4, Orietta Strickland (Dallas) 7-5, and Kimberly Brown (Waco) 7-1.  Tam stacked up wins against the always tough “Bye,” Melissa Smith (Denton) 7-6, Kim Pierce (Austin) 7-5, and Belinda Lee (Houston) 7-5.  The one-loss side had 8 women returning on Sunday.  Matchups were Yvonne “The Casher” Asher (Houston) vs Kimberly Brown (Waco); Rachel Hurst (Austin) vs Belinda Lee (Houston); Kelly Isaac (Waco) vs Teresa Garland (Houston); and Orietta Strickland (Dallas) vs Darcy Durham (Austin).  

 

With the one loss side returning at 10am on Sunday, Yvonne defeated Kimberly 7-3, Belinda defeated Rachel 7-4, Teresa defeated Kelly 7-6, and Orietta defeated Darcy 7-1.  However, they did not leave empty-handed as they shared the winnings for 9th through 12th at $35 each.  Free play for the weekend!  On the No Loss Side, Michelle was victorious over Natalie 7-2 and Tam over Jennifer in a hill-hill thriller.  As those matches progressed, the one loss side women were at it again and this time it would be Belinda barely edging out Yvonne in another hill-hill thriller and Orietta defeating Teresa 7-5.  Yvonne and Teresa, both members of the JO Ladies Tour Board and sponsored by Jerry Olivier, went home with the 7-8th place finishes at $95 each.  (Yes, Yvonne “the Casher” Asher lived up to her new nickname…)

 

The fight to advance past 5-6th matched up two friends who are also road partners and opponents who had already faced each other the day before – Belinda vs Natalie and Orietta vs Jennifer.  Belinda and Orietta ended up victorious in those matches, 7-3 and 7-4 respectively, but Natalie and Jennifer earned $170 each for their 5th-6th finish.  

 

The hot seat match was a great display of Austin women’s billiard skills.  Michelle and Tam battled it out, trading blows until it was another hill-hill matchup.  In the end, Michelle was victorious.  Meanwhile on the other side, Belinda and Orietta had to face each other and after the score was tied 4-4, Orietta made a charge and beat Belinda 7-4 while earning a 9 ball on the snap lottery ticket!  Belinda went home with the 4th place prize at $335. 

 

Tam went to the one loss side seeking revenge but she had to go through Orietta first.  Orietta would prove that she’s 2017 Tour Champion for a reason and beat Tam 7-3.  In a true double elimination format, Orietta would have to defeat Michelle twice in order to go home as the winner.  Michelle had other plans – she beat Orietta 7-3 and called it a day earning her the nickname Michelle “The Conqueror” Cortez.  Congratulations to Michelle!  This is her second win in three years at this particular stop!  For their efforts, Tam went home with $450 for 3rd place, Orietta went home with $600 for 2nd, and Michelle, went home with the top prize of $770!  Not bad for a weekend of doing a labor of love!

 

Not to be forgotten were the women of the “Best of the Rest” Tournament held on Sunday.  Twelve women returned to duke it out and the winner was Gail “Thunder” Roles (College Station).  Board member Monica Anderson (Dallas) came in 2nd. Austin’s own Kim “Texas Heat”Pierce, who is also a Jerry Olivier sponsored player, finished 3rd and Tina Soto (Dallas) 4th.  Congratulations to these ladies for taking another shot and winning!

 

As always, the stop was a combination of fun, laughter, and serious concentration to hone in the pool skills.  We look forward to seeing everyone at the Championship Stop at Legend’s Billiards the weekend of November 3-4, where the hosts Mindy and Craig Cohen have generously added in an additional $1000 to make it a total of $3000 to the prize fund!!!  So come on out and join us!  We welcome players of all skill levels and look forward to meeting new players!  More details of the final stop will be out soon so be sure to check out the website joladiestour.com for the most up to date information!  Tickets are available for cue raffles!  Please contact Yvonne Asher for more details!

 

The Press Box in Charlotte, NC, one of the most beautiful pool rooms in the country, was host of the Charlotte 9-Ball Classic September 12-13, 2015.  Tiger SMART kicked off its Fall season in style.  Owner, Chris Babilonia and family, again showed utmost hospitality as they continue to add features designed for functionality and aesthetic.

 

During the players meeting, Tiger SMART members paid homage to Emma Stewart Davis, OB Cues Tour member, with a moment of silence to honor our dear sister in pool who was unexpectedly taken last Wednesday.  Our prayers go out to the family.

 

The field may have been the toughest thus far.  Day 1 saw Tiffany Finnan and Kathleen Lawless make it to the final four on the winner’s side with wins over Marianne Merrill 7-5 and Lisa Cossette 7-3 for Tiffany and wins over Caitlin Elie 7-1 and Buffy Jolie 7-2 for Kathleen.  Joining Finnan and Lawless in the final four in the winner’s bracket were Belinda Calhoun and Dana Aft with wins over Holly Sholes 7-6 and Teresa Moore 7-0 for Belinda and wins over Cheryl Pritchard 7-4 and Christy Norris 7-4 for Dana.  This left two matches which were won by Finnan over Lawless 7-3 and Calhoun over Aft 7-4.

 

It would be Norris and Cossette who would make it back for Sunday with wins over Merrill 7-3; Teresa Moore 7-3; and Kathleen Lawless 7-2 for Christy and wins over Pritchard 7-6; Sholes 7-6; and Dana Aft 7-6 for the trifecta of hill-hill matches for Lisa.

 

The first round saw Norris defeat Cossette 7-0 leaving Cossette in fourth place. In the hot seat match, Calhoun defeated Finnan 7-3 setting up the semi-final match between Norris and Finnan won by Norris 7-2.

 

The final is one set, race to 9.  Norris got off to a quick start and led 3-0.  Calhoun tied it at 3. Racks were exchanged for 4-4. Norris then went in the lead by two 6-4 and Belinda cut it to one 5-6.  It was Norris all the way from there for a 9-5 victory and a successful defense of her Charlotte 9-Ball Classic title. 

 

The final in the second chance event final was played by Buffy Jolie and Marianne Merrill.  Jolie won 5-1 over Merrill.

 

Congratulations to all the players for such fine performances.  Tiger SMARTs next tour stop will be October 24-25 in Hickory, NC at Randolph’s Billiards.

 

Many thanks to The Press Box, Tiger Products, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Balls, Ozone Billiards, and Quick-Clean for your continued support and for allowing Tiger SMART to grow.

On the hill at 8-7 in the opening set of a true double elimination final at the 41st Annual Texas Open over Labor day weekend, Robb Saez took aim at a 9-ball that was to have forced a second set against hot seat occupant, Charlie Bryant. The 9-ball dropped and the second set was . . . wait a minute . . . the cue ball is still traveling, and it drops, too, producing an audible gasp from a roomful of spectators, stunned commentary from the PoolActionTV commentators and a flurry of comments from the on-line chat room, watching the live stream. Bryant followed this most dramatic moment with a less dramatic, though decisive break-and-run rack, which earned him his second Texas Open title, and denied Saez his second. Bryant had won in 2010, Saez in 2011. Chip Compton took the title in 2012 and last year's champion (defeating Bryant in the finals) was Warren Kiamco.

 

One of the oldest, if not the oldest, pool tournaments in the country, the annual Texas Open has had its share of top name winners, including Shane Van Boening (2008), Buddy Hall (1998), Gabe Owen ('99), three-time winners Gilbert Martinez, Jr. ('90, '92 and '93) and Jeremy Jones ('94, '02, '03), and two-time champions CJ Wiley ('96, '97), and now, Bryant, of course. The Texas Open Trophy was named after Bob Vanover, who won the event a total of eight times, including six straight from 1981 to 1986.

 

The $3,000-added Open event drew the full field of 128 entrants to Skinny Bob's Billiards in Round Rock, TX. The $1,000-added Ladies event, in which Vivian Villareal successfully defended the title she'd won last year, drew 32 entrants.

 

In the Open event, the Hillbilly and Robb Saez met first in the hot seat match. Bryant had worked his way through five opponents to meet and defeat James Davis, Jr. 9-5 in a winners' side semifinal. Saez, whose five-match march to the winners' side semifinals had included wins over two former Texas Open champions (Jeremy Jones and David Henson), met and defeated Sean King 9-7. In their first of two, Bryant took the hot seat match 9-6.

 

The loss side still had some lurking former champions (Al Mason, Chip Compton, Henson and Jones, for example), but by the time James Davis, Jr. arrived from the winners' side final four, there was only the one – Jones – left. Davis drew Manny Chau, who'd defeated Barry Emerson and Junior Jueco to reach him. King drew Jones, who'd gotten by Tuan Tran and survived an epic, double hill battle against Shane Manaole.

 

Davis eliminated Chau 9-5 and in the quarterfinals, faced King who'd finished Jones' bid 9-3. King defeated Davis 9-7 and got a second chance against Saez in the semifinals. In another epic, live-streamed, double hill battle, Saez took down King a second time, and got his second chance at Bryant.

Neither player in what proved to be the only set of the finals ever had more than a two-game lead, and just when observers were beginning to feel a shift in momentum, the player down by two (Bryant or Saez, at different times) took command to tie things up. Saez took the lead at 8-7, and was hoping that the next game would not only re-establish a two-game lead, but win the opening set. The stunning drop of the cue ball as he shot at the 9-ball effectively ended the match, as Bryant followed up with a flawless rack to claim his second Texas Open title.

 

Texas Tornado repeats as Texas Open Ladies Champion

 

The ladies' event almost came to a Vivian Villareal versus Belinda Calhoun final. The Texas Tornado worked her way through five opponents to be in the hot seat for those finals. Belinda Calhoun dropped her opening match and won seven on the loss side before being eliminated in the semifinals by Julie Comitini.

 

Villareal had sent Nicole McDaniel to the losers' bracket 7-2 in a winners' side semifinal and in the hot seat match, faced Comitini, who'd defeated Emma Stewart-Davis 7-5 (No confirmation of this, but Stewart-Davis and James Davis, Jr. may have been the Texas Open's premier newlyweds). Villareal took the first of two against Comitini 7-2, and was a single match away from reclaiming the Texas Open Ladies title.

 

The newlywed bride was the one who ran into Calhoun, who'd just eliminated loss-side opponents # 3 (Cindy Cole) and #4 (Kim Pierce). McDaniel picked up Michelle Cortez, who'd defeated Kim Sanders and Ricki Casper. Calhoun and McDaniel advanced to the quarterfinals, where Calhoun chalked up her final loss-side win 7-3.

 

Calhoun's run came to an end against Comitini in the semifinals, but not without a double hill fight. The Texas Tornado descended on the finals table, and swept Comitini out of contention, giving up only a single rack to defend her title.

No one was falling asleep this time as the action kept the spectators on the edge of their chair all evening.

 

The big story was the super play of the newcomers and local players. After 16 years, James Davis Jr.(Austin) had his best finish losing to Sean King (Oklahoma City) in the quarter-finals to grab 4th place. The match went back and forth, but Sean got the break he needed to face professional pool player Rob Saez in the Semi-finals. Sean is a Desert-storm vet making his first Texas Open appearance.

 

Rob and Sean were wearing the same shade of red shirt and it was difficult to tell them apart from a distance. Fortunately, every seat in the house at Skinny Bob’s billiards was a great seat and many people were standing on the bleachers watching the finals from the other side. Rob was wearing the latest edition championship pocket polo shirt that was sold in 6 colors this year.

 

Sean never trailed the entire match, but broke dry Hill-7. Rob was hooked on the 1 ball and had to jump to make the 1 ball and drew it back perfectly for shape on the 2 ball, then made perfect shots back to back, including a 3 ball bank to side pocket to tie the match 8-8. Rob made the 1 ball on the break and ran to the 8 but the cue ball ran a little too long. After cutting the 8 ball thin to the corner, the cue ball hit the edge of the side pocket preventing perfect shape on the 9 which is unusual for Rob as his 9 ball shots are usually perfect. Rob had missed a 9 when it was tied 5-5 with similar shape, but this time he made it. The crowd erupted in appreciation for both players who played their hearts out for the respectful crowd of about 150 patrons.

 

Charlie Bryant, professional pool player/instructor at American Pool Players Association, was competing with a new custom-made James Hanshew cue stick during the tournament. Rob was kicked to the elimination side by Charlie Bryant (Houston) in the hot-seat match and had to win twice if he was to claim the championship a second time in 4 years. Charlie Bryant was down 5-7 when Bryant breaks dry (nothing falls). Rob cuts the 1 thin to the corner, and cue ball runs too far for good shape on 2. The 2 and 7 were tied up on the side rail, and he plays a carom to pocket the 7 ball. He kicks the 2 ball two rails for side pocket and it falls but the 3 ball is hooked, and he kicks it safe leaving cue ball hidden behind the 8 and the 3 is near the 9 ball. Bryant is hooked on the 3 ball after the classic Rob Saez safety he had been making successfully all weekend. Bryant made a seemingly impossible jump-carom 3-9 ball combination across the length of the table to pocket the 9 in the corner pocket! The crowd goes wild! And yes he did plan it; it was not luck. Holy 9-ball combination batman! Maxifantasincredulous! Really, there ain’t enough superlatives in the Texas book to describe how great that shot was, y’all. 😉

 

The finals game-1 match was nearing the 2-hour mark and Bryant was down 7-8 when Rob breaks and makes the 7. Rob runs to the 9 and cue ball runs long of perfect shape. He makes the 9 in the corner but the cue ball spins off the side rail and falls in the top right-hand corner pocket for a foul and loss of game.   And yes Bryant did yell “Hillbilly-on-the-hill after all” in a modest kind of drawl realizing that he might have had to fight it out another 2-hours if Rob had made that shot.

 

Hill-Hill. Bryant breaks and makes the 5 but the 1 ball appears to be hooked because the 6 and 7 are tied up with the cue ball. Bryant cuts the 1 ball thin enough to make it in the corner, but the cue ball kisses the 4 ball near the side pocket on its way to the 2 ball and almost scratches. His shape comes up short, but he cuts the 2 ball that was frozen against the side rail down the rail to the corner with perfect speed and angle, and makes the 6-7 combo, then has perfect position on the 8 ball. He makes a fist pump after making the 6-ball and points to the sky to thank the heavens for his good fortune after the 9 ball falls. He was presented with the beautiful Bob Vanover Trophy by Skinny Bob’s John Cielo at 2:20am Tuesday morning and smiling under that huge hillbilly beard. All competitors deserve a tremendous amount of applause for fantastic action all weekend, the 41st year of the annual championship.

 

2012/2013 Women’s Classic champion Vivian “The Texas Tornado” Villarreal (San Antonio, TX) faced a rematch of the hot-seat match against Julie Comitini in their race-to-7 final game 1. Vivian won the 1st meeting 7-4, and had to sit waiting for the elimination side final to finish. That game went Hill-Hill with Belinda Calhoun getting an early lead, but Julie kept her head down and stayed focused to come from behind. Comitini couldn’t get enough height on a jump shot in the Hill-1 game after an amazing safety by Vivian. Vivian had to break up a 7/8/9 tie-up to get shape and run out that last game to win 7-1 and claim her third Women’s championship in a row! Popular local ladies Nichole McDaniel G.t 4th place and Michelle Cortez and Emma Stewart-Davis got 5-6 place prizes.

 

Another big story that had everybody talking was popular young-gun player Junior Jueco (Austin, TX) who beat favorite 2012 champion Chip Compton (Oklahoma City) in a late Sunday winner-side match after being down 0-7. He won 9 in a row and will be an instant classic match on the PoolactionTV.com replays. Jueco lost to Sean King and received the 7-8 place prizes. Jueco looks like he has so much fun when he plays week after week, no wonder he’s so popular .

 

Congratulations to all!

 

Again this year they provided players with the Magic Ball Rack which is a diamond-shaped, thin vinyl template that has holes where you place the Aramith Belgium tournament billiard balls and get a perfect rack every time. The table has 2 spots marked on the felt where you align the top and the bottom hole, then just place the ball on a hole, and it self-centers itself to perfect spot. On TV, they have a surrogate racking specialist, but here the loser racks for the winner. It is important to have the head ball (one) touching the two balls directly behind it to get a good solid break. It is required to drive 4 balls to a rail on the break, else it is a foul.

 

Thursday night, the warm-up tournament was held and it was won by Tommy Tokoph (Albuquerque, NM) .  Tommy was working on running his second rack in a row and missed a 9-ball in the 3rd game that would have won the match, but let his competitor James Davis Sr. (Austin, TX) to the table for a safety and Tommy fouled and conceded the game. In the 5th game, tied 2-2, Davis runs to the 6b and missed a tough rail shot to let Tokoph back to the table, who then made the 6b on a tough cut to the corner pocket and used 3 rails to get shape on the 7 ball and ran out to make a great comeback victory 3-2 in the single-elimination race-to-3 format.

 

Bob also raffled a handmade “41st Annual Texas Open Championship” cue from James Hanshew of Hanshew Custom Cues. The lucky winner was Jeremy Jones.  This cue will be part of the Open history and Charlie Bryant donated a new jump cue to the raffle making it doubly special. 

 

Trivia question: Who made the Texas Open famous by running out 11 racks in a row in the championship bracket without missing a shot? The Texas Open trophy is named after him: The Bob Vanover trophy.

 

What does a pistol dream? To be Smoking HOT! I know some pool players that are looking for their chance to prove how hot they can be at this year’s Texas Open 9-ball championship. It is going to be fun and there are some changes this year I think I am going to like.

 

 

I am heading out to Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock to watch my friends in great 9-ball pool action Saturday August 30th  thru Monday September the 1st, 128 elite players from around the US and Texas will be competing for over $10,000 in Open Division prizes at the longest running 9-ball tournament in US history. This year, they have added a $25 9-ball race-to-three tournament on Thursday 8PM that is open to anyone. Saturday night, the ladies’ 9-ball event begins. Expanded to a 48-player field for the first time this year so more hot players likeAmanda Lampert and Jennifer Kraber will compete against other marquee ladies. More on that later.

 

 

Returning 2013 finals match players are champion Warren Kiamco(Phillipines) and runner-up Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant  (Houston, TX). Kiamco had knocked Bryant to the one-loss side. Bryant defeated Chip Compton in an elimination match to get his re-match as the crowd goes wild. Compton had to come-from behind facing Sylver Ochoa in their elimination match to face Bryant, but Ochoa lost ball-in-hand and the match after Chip broke and got a successful safe on a fortunate 9-ball kiss after a tough 3-ball kick shot in the hill-hill game.

 

 

In 2012, some of the most exciting moments included 80 year old Bob Vanover (8-time winner of Texas Open) thrilled the crowd with terrific ball control to put his opponent Gerald Jimenez in the loser’s bracket. Vanover played some astounding safety’s which induced about 6 Ball-in-Hand run-outs to win 9-7.

 

 

And I will never forget when 59-year old Gene Albrecht playing with broken ribs came up to me after winning his big day-2 2012 match against Chris Sharier 9-1 to make the final-32 players. Re-cap: Gene breaks up 8-1.  GA makes the 1 on the break and has no shot on the 2 on the other side of the table. He pushes out by kissing the 9 ball closer to the corner pocket as he is looking for the 3-9 combo later. CS makes him shoot the push-out shot and he plays a successful safety on the 2, gets ball-in-hand and makes the 3-9 combo to win and be part of the final 32 players. I was the only one who applauded and Gene came by and looks at me and right out of the “Color of Money” movie, he says “I’m Back!” Yes, you were Gene, he got tied for 9th.

 

 

The format is double-elimination, winner-breaks and every seat is a great seat. SkinnyBob says the secret is to sit on the top of the bleachers so that you can watch both sides and place bar orders easily.  I like being up-close and personal to the early round action on the Gold-Crown III 9’ tables with new blue Simonis 860 HR tournament cloth.

 

 

IMHO, the Texas Open is a better bargain than X-games, Formula1, and ACL fest for the thrill of being up-close to the extreme action and I don’t want to miss any of it. They have a new web-site this year that will allow keep track of the scheduled matches.

 

 

People from all over the Texas come to get out of the heat. Bob installs extra cooling, stadium seats inside for spectators and hire extra wait staff. Don’t forget the snack bar.  AZBilliards publishes the tournament brackets during play and has daily news about the world billiards scene. AZ also has columns by professional writers and publishes their own world rankings and money list.

 

 

The Open players’ meeting is Friday night. The ladies player’s meeting is planned for 6PM Saturday evening. This year, they are planning to do the draw early Friday night and announce the 9am and 10:30am Saturday matches so that players who have those 1st set of matches don’t have to hang around until 1am to find out their match is just a few hours away. Another great change for this year is a Friday 3PM $100 9-ball Ring-game, a game with lots of fast action.

 

 

I will take my wooden cue-stick shafts in to be conditioned by Ron Geyer of The Custom Cue Connection. It is always nice to play with a like-new shaft and Ron is known for his craft of using a lathe to hone the shaft perfectly smooth; There is usually a long line at his booth in the back.

 

 

The Skinny Bob’s Open T-shirt looks great this year and comes in 4 colors in Men’s and Women’s sizes with all the Open winner’s names on the back. They ran out last year so I will be getting mine early this year.

 

 

Again this year they are providing players with the Magic Ball Rackwhich is a diamond-shaped, thin vinyl template that has holes where you place the Aramith Belgium tournament billiard balls and get a perfect rack every time. The table has 2 spots marked on the felt where you align the top and the bottom hole, then just place the ball on a hole, and it self-centers itself to perfect spot. In 2010, they used a metal triangle rack called the Delta-13. Players have always complained about the racking process – it takes too much time and players can tilt the rack for an advantage. On TV, they have a surrogate racking specialist, but here the loser racks for the winner. It is important to have the head ball (one) touching the two balls directly behind it to get a good solid break. It is required to drive 4 balls to a rail on the break, else it is a foul.  We always play Texas Express Rules where the winner breaks, so I had to do a lot of racking. No more splinters.

 

There is a strategy to racking the balls called the 2-ball strategy. You want to place the 2-ball on the opposite side of the diamond from where the player breaks to increase the probability that the 2 will be far from the 1 after the break and make it harder for a run out. My daddy always told me, “Son, never run out of balls to shoot at too early”. But I think that only applies to 8-ball.

 

Bob is raffling a handmade “41st Annual Texas Open Championship” cue from James Hanshew of Hanshew Custom Cues. The lucky winner will be announced during the weekend. This cue will be part of the Open history, so I will buy my share of the raffle tickets this year. I have my lucky rock in my pocket, it could bring me luck this year. I wish I had one of those Hanshew jump-cues, they are sweet!

 

 

Trivia question: Who made the Texas Open famous by breaking and running out 11 racks in a row in the championship bracket without missing a shot? The Texas Open trophy is named after him: The Bob Vanover trophy. It would be fun to see if he can win a record 9th time!

 

The 2013 Women’s Classic finals was a re-match of the 2012 finals; Vivian “Texas Tornado” Villareal (San Antonio, TX), WPBA Touring Professional for over 10-years (19+ career titles) versus veteran WPBA Touring Professional Melissa “The Viper” Little (Westminister, Co). Watching Little come back from the one-loss side last year in the 1st final’s match looked like she was going to over-take 2012 champion Villareal, but it is so hard to beat “The Texas Tornado”  two times in a row with both players making masterful shots was amazing. I can see why Villareal got her nickname, she was shooting so fast I could hardly keep up. San Antonio is hot right now, just look at their pro-basketball team.

 

 

Kraber has been hot lately  – She is ranked 1st in the ladies OBCUEs Pool Tour rankings and won the Legends tour stop June 24th in League City over Lambert in a hill-hill match.  

 

 

In 2007, I bought Professional pool player and blogger Melinda Bailey“Mel” in the Calcutta and she won 3rd place in the ladies division.  That was fun winning on her. Bailey is the director of the Omega Billards Tour in D/FW area.

 

 

Local ladies Nicole McDaniel and Julia Rapp may see action against top players Bailey, Little, Villarreal, Belinda Calhoun, Veronica "Pistol" Perez, Emma Stewart, Kim Sanders, Amanda Lampert, Helen Hayes and Kim Pierce.

 

 

For Info :

 

Call/text/email Tournament Directors :

 

 James “Strop” Davis Sr 512-797-8947 Slowdeath53@yahoo.com

 

John Palmore 512-971-1889 John.palmore@gmail.com  

 

 Veronica “Pistol” Perez 512-721-8229 V7Perez74@yahoo.com

 

or call

 

 Skinny Bob’s 512-733-1111 Http://skinnybobs.com/texas-open/

 

Live Streaming provided by Http://PoolActionTV.com

It may have been Super Bowl Weekend February 1st-2nd but that didn’t stop the 52 ladies who showed up at Rusty’s in Arlington, TX to play in the first stop of 2014 on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. There were lots of new faces, lot of veterans, travelers from afar, as well as players who took off for a while but glad to see they are starting back up again. It was an awesome event to say the least and many, many strong match lineups all weekend long from champions all around. Additionally since it was Super Bowl Weekend, players were allowed to wear their favorite professional sports jerseys and here’s a snapshot of some of the ladies all dressed up: