Brian Rosenbaum, Ernesto Bayaua, Joey Torres and Robert Crane
Ernesto Bayaua went undefeated to capture the 39-player, open 8-ball division, while Sonny Bosshamer ran through a 47-player field, to secure the amateur 8-ball division, at the first stop on the 2018 Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour. Bayaua overwhelmed Brian Rosenbaum in the final, 3-0, while Bosshamer denied Lufkin’s Chad Reece in both sets of the true double elimination final, 3-2, 3-2.
Lake Jackson, Freeport, Stafford, Lufkin, Victoria, and San Antonio, were just a handful of cities represented by players competing in the Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour 8-ball event, held on January 13th-14th, 2018, at Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar in Houston, Texas. The Tour would like to acknowledge and thank all the new players who attended their first Tour event, some hailing from Houston’s North Harris County APA and Houston Best of Billiards leagues. Props go out to Ruth Paine, Alamo City 8-Ball Association operator, who was the lone, female competitor in the event. Many thanks to Mike Fabacher who provided the free, two-day live stream, and Michael Presley for his assistance in the booth. Once again, Tour title sponsor Poison by Predator Cues PoisonBilliards.com, and sponsors Cyclop Pool Balls facebook@CyclopPoolBalls, Ozone Billiards OzoneBilliards.com, APA of North Harris County facebook@APANorthHarrisCounty, OutsvilleBilliards.com, and VaporKnightsUSA.com, facilitated another successful event that paid out over $4,500 in prize money, to the top twelve finishers in each division.
In the open division, former Poison Lone Star Tour Champion and APA National Champion, Ernesto Bayaua, ran through Jake Jurgens, 3-1, Sonny Bosshamer, 3-1, and Kevin Frauenberger, 3-1, while Canada’s Robert Crane bested Lance Johnson, Steve Williams, 3-2, and Joey Torres, 3-1. Former Tour Champion, Brian Rosenbaum, overcame “Mikey Boy” Martinez, 3-1, Sylver Ochoa, 3-1, and Mark Cardenas, 3-1, while Doug Gray ousted Brian Humphrey, 3-2, Dave Ramirez, 3-1, Michael Presley, 3-0, and Chris Thompson, 3-2. On the west side, in the final twelve and in the money, Frauenberger slid by Curt Sheldon, 3-2, and Torres eliminated Ochoa, 3-2, while Cardenas cancelled Williams, 3-0, and Bosshamer terminated Thompson. On the winners’ side, Rosenbaum stopped Gray, 3-2, while Bayaua closed out Crane, 3-0. In the hot seat match, Bayaua made quick work of Rosenbaum, 3-0. On the flip side, Torres was on a tear, eliminating Frauenberger, 3-2, and Gray, 3-0, while Bosshamer overcame Cardenas, but fell to Crane. In turn, Torres eliminated Crane, but lost the next round to Rosenbaum, 3-1. With that win, Rosenbaum earned a rematch with Bayaua. In the finals, Bayaua won the flip and never looked back, running three racks against Rosenbaum, and going undefeated to win his first event of 2018.
In the amateur division, newcomer Shane Aguinaga of Freeport, Texas, made his way to the winners’ side final four, booking wins over Shelby Green, Chuck Adams, 3-2, Eboo Alali, 3-2, and Bill Fain, 3-1, while Sonny Bosshamer sliced through Brandon Anderson, 3-0, Brian Humphrey, 3-0, Robert Crane, 3-0, and Mark Cardenas, 3-1. Lufkin’s Chad Reece took charge, logging wins over Chris Gutierrez, Michael Presley, 3-0, Steve Siarski, 3-1, and Eric Hsu, 3-2, while Tony Scott took down John Frye, 3-0, Jake Jurgens, Lance Johnson, 3-0, and Will Felder, 3-1. On the west side, in the final twelve and in the money, Hsu fell to Frauenberger, 3-1, and Felder foiled Alali, 3-1, while Fain bested Williams, 3-1, and Siarski ousted Cardenas, 3-2. Winners’ side final four action witnessed Bosshamer defeat Aguinaga, 3-2, and Reece derail Scott, 3-1. Reece went on to end Bosshamer’s run, 3-1, winning his first hot-seat match, on Tour. Staying alive on the one loss side, Felder dusted off Frauenberger, 3-2, and Aguinaga, 3-0, while Fain ended Siarski, 3-1, only to fall short against Scott, 3-2. Felder slipped by Scott, and into the final four, but was denied by Bosshamer, 3-1. Once again, Bosshamer met up with Reece, in a battle to the bitter end. Reece faltered the first set, 3-2, sending the finals into overtime. In the second set, Bosshamer edged out Reece, 3-2, to win his first event of 2018.
Serving pool players, pool rooms, and sponsors, since 2009, the Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year as the longest-running billiards tour in the south. A special 10th Anniversary Event will be held for players who compete in at least two events between now, and July 7th, 2018. Players are strongly encouraged to meet the eligibility requirements, in order to gain entrance into this event. The next tour stop will be open and amateur 9-ball, held on February 10th-11th, at Bogies West, 9638 Jones Road, Houston, Texas. For more information, including access to the free live stream, visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.
On the weekend of July 9-10, the Omega Billiards Tour was hosted by Pucketts in Fort Worth, Texas. The staff and owners treated the players well with great service and an amazing atmosphere. The tables were re-felted in preparation and the players really appreciated the care.
We were able to extend the field to 83 players for this sixth stop of the 2016 season with guaranteed $1,500-added!
Norman and Crispian were fighting hard in that match for the hotseat and while tied at 4-4, Crispian pulled away and won 7-4 for a guaranteed spot in the finals.
After Chris (Woody) Smith lost to Crispian earlier, he then went on to defeat Jake Hulsey 7-1, CJ Wiley 7-3, Mike Voelkering 7-4, and Alberto Nieto 7-2. Woody then met up with Norman Small in the semi-finals and it was a great hill-hill thriller! Norman would come out on top and find himself in the finals! Woody would finish his highest finish to date (3rd) and played great all weekend!
The finals was another great match for the fans and it would be yet another hill-hill nail biter! It was Crispian’s break and he made a ball on the break and then ran out the hill-hill case game and captured his first Omega title for 2016! Big congrats to Crispian going undefeated! Norman would have his highest finish yet with 2nd place and we’ll see him soon back in the finals. Congrats to both Norman and Woody for their fantastic finishes!
4th place was filled by Alberto Nieto, 5th/6th places were filled by Roman Bayda and Mike Voelkering, and 7th/8th places were filled by CJ Wiley and Omar Bengochea.
Congrats to ALL the players and fans and sponsors for another great event!
A HUGE thank you goes out to our sponsors Omega Billiards Supply, OB Cues, and BCAPL/CSI. We would also like to give a big thanks to our additional sponsors, Irving Ink and Thread, AZBilliards.com, Pool School, and BilliardsPress.com.
This year OB Cues is our Ranking sponsor and will be donating three OB Cues to the top ranked 3 players at the end of the year! BCAPL/CSI has joined again and will be giving away 5 BCAPL free entry fees the 2017 BCAPL Nationals.
Tournament Director Melinda Bailey would like to thank Pucketts owners and staff for their awesome hospitality all weekend! She would also like to thank her fabulous team: Heather Farr and Ginger Abadilla.
A big thank you also goes out to Michael Hoang, main sponsor of the Tour and owner of Omega Billiards Supply in Hurst, TX. Michael and Omega Billiards Supply are well known for the huge booths at many large tournaments across the country.
The next stop will be held August 6-7 at Wizards in Richardson, Texas. $1,500 added and already full with 100 players. We have ten stops total in 2016. Pool is alive and thriving in Texas!
On the weekend of January 9-10, the Omega Billiards Tour Season Finale was hosted by Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas. The staff and owners treated the players well with great service and an amazing atmosphere, and they took care of all us all weekend long covering very long hours and we very much appreciate each and every one of them!
We were able to extend the field to 97 players! Highest number so far on the Tour, and it was a great way to open the 2016 Omega Billiards Tour Season!
Always a top contender Daniel Herring had a heck of a tourney with wins over Trent Stith 7-2, Gary Pope 7-0, Thomas Barrington 7-1, Phillip Palmer 7-6, Tony Matthew 7-4, and Friday Abismo 7-2 to make it to the hotseat match. Tony Sulsar was making strides on the top half of the board with wins over Shane Minihan 8-6, Casey Dawson 8-0, a hill-hill thriller match over 18-year-old Devin Poteet 8-7, Eric Hsu 8-2, Larry Land 8-1, and Mike Voelkering 8-3.
The young gun Devin made a tear on the one-loss side after he lost hill-hill against Tony Sulsar. He defeated Noreen Moy 8-0, Jamie Welch 8-4, Nick Conner 8-5, Curtis Cardwell 8-4, Chris Ferguson 8-5, Crispian Ng 8-5, and Friday Abismo 8-4. Mike Voelkering would have a GREAT finish – he played with a lot of focus all weekend and placed an impressive 4th after a tough loss against Devin 8-5.
In the hotseat match Tony Sulsar and Daniel Herring were battling it out Daniel came on top 7-2. This meant rematch for Devin and Tony in the semi-final match and it was another nail biter and close match with Tony inching out the win 8-6. Congrats to Devin for his fantastic 3rd place!
Tony then got another chance at Daniel Herring in the finals. Tony would need to defeat Daniel twice, and twice he did, 8-2 and 8-4. BIG congrats for a hard fight to Daniel for placing an impressive 2nd place! And also to Tony Sulsar who made up for his lack of high finishes last year to start the season out with the FIRST PLACE title!
Congrats also to Friday and Greg Sandifer for 5th/6th place, and Tony Matthew and Crispian Ng for 7th/8th places.
Congrats to ALL the players and fans for a great event!
A HUGE thank you goes out to our sponsors Omega Billiards Supply, Predator Cues, BCAPL/CSI, and OB Cues. We would also like to give a big thanks to our additional sponsors, Irving Ink and Thread, AZBilliards.com, Pool School, and BilliardsPress.com.
This year OB Cues is our Ranking sponsor and will be donating three OB Cues to the top ranked 3 players at the end of the year! BCAPL/CSI has joined again and will be giving away 5 BCAPL free entry fees the 2017 BCAPL Nationals.
Tournament Director Melinda Bailey would like to thank Rusty’s Billiards owners and staff for their awesome hospitality all weekend! She would also like to thank her fabulous team: Heather Farr and Dana Speed.
A big thank you also goes out to Michael Hoang, main sponsor of the Tour and owner of Omega Billiards Supply in Hurst, TX. Michael and Omega Billiards Supply are well known for the huge booths at many large tournaments across the country.
The next stop will be held Feb 20-21 at The Billiard Den in Richardson, Texas. $1,500 added and limited to the first 80 PAID players (already full). We will have ten stops total again in 2016. Pool is alive and thriving in Texas!
On the weekend of September 12-13, the Omega Billiards Tour was hosted by Clicks Billiards in Arlington, Texas. The staff and owners treated the players well with great food and an amazing atmosphere, and they took care of all us all weekend long covering very long hours and we very much appreciate each and every one of them.
The field of 80 players was full again of top players and by Sunday afternoon everyone kept their eyes on 2014 Omega Tour Champion, Nick Conner, and newly-crowned Texas Open Champion, Sky Woodward. They seemed to be the players to beat in this $1,500-added tournament.
David Bell placed an impressive 3rd place (his highest finish yet) and Chris (Woody) Smith placed 4th – his highest finish yet as well. Both players played great all weekend and earnt those top spots for sure. Always tough to beat both Cory Anderson and Barry Emerson placed 5th/6th and traveling all the way from Houston (both) Mike Liang and Eric Hsu placed 7th/8th in the tough field of 80 players.
Young gun Sky Woodward made his way to the hotseat with wins over Joseph Pruiett 9-1, Ed Redman 9-1, Mike Voelkering 9-4, Mark Szabo hill hill (9-5) Chris Smith 9-4 and Cory Anderson 9-0. Nick Conner made his way to meet Sky in the hotseat with wins over Jay Murillo 8-4, Mike Liang 8-3, Frank Cherry 8-6, David Bell 8-3, and Berry Emerson 8-2. The hoteast was a GREAT match and it would go hill-hill! Sky would end up on top and sent Nick to the one-loss side where he defeated David Bell 8-4 for a rematch with Sky, this time in the finals. Again, it was a fantastic match of great shots and skill and again it went hill-hill! Would there be a second set in the true double elimination finals? Nope – Sky would win the match hill-hill and seal his first place at this Omega Billiards Tour Stop! Congrat’s to Sky for his great play in Texas the last week, and congrat’s to Nick for an impressive 2nd place against strong competitors (and the only one to get hill hill (twice) with Sky.
Congrats to ALL the players and fans for a great event!
A HUGE thank you goes out to our sponsors Omega Billiards Supply, Predator Cues, Poison Break Cues, BCAPL/CSI, and Lucasi and Players Cues. We would also like to give a big thanks to our additional sponsors, Hulsey Custom Cues, OB Cues, Irving Ink and Thread, Pro Billiard Service, AZBilliards.com, Billiards Digest, and BilliardsPress.com.
After eight stops this year (one more to go for the final point standings), Greg Sandifer has snuck to first place with 715 points, Daniel Herring is close by in second place with 710 points and Nick Conner has moved into the top 3 with 590 points. Close behind is Cory Anderson with 555 points (4th) and Crispian Ng with 480 points (5th). It’s a tight points race for the end of season Predator prizes! And only ONE more event to go for the rankings!
Tournament Director Melinda Bailey would like to thank Clicks owners and staff for their awesome hospitality all weekend!
A big thank you also goes out to Michael Hoang, main sponsor of the Tour and owner of Omega Billiards Supply in Hurst, TX. Michael and Omega Billiards Supply are well known for the huge booths at many large tournaments across the country.
The next stop of the Omega Billiards Tour will be October 10-11 at Speeds Billiards in Arlington, Texas. $1,500 added and limited to 80 players. Still 1 more stops left before the $4,500-added Season Finale! Pool is alive and thriving in Texas!
The Fourth event of The 2015 Viking Tour, Presented by Bogies West Billiards in Houston Texas, was held on June 13th. Sylver Ochoa went undefeated and was crowned Champion. All events will now be 9 ball with $500.00 added. First Place is also awarded a new Viking Cue. The next event will be held July 11th.
Sylver Ochoa was awarded the first place cash prize and a New Viking Cue. Sylver defeated Darrell Taylor 7-2, David Richardson 7-1, Denis Strickland 7-5, Joey Torres 7-4 and Eric Hsu 7-1 to win the hot seat. Eric defeated Marc Garza 7-4, Sonny B 7- 1, Bob Guzik 7-5 before falling to Sylver 7-1 in the hot seat match. Eric then defeated Joey Torres 7-5 to reach the finals where Sylver was undefeated and decided the winner of the 4th stop at The 2015 Viking Tour and his First win at the 2015 Viking Tour.
On the weekend of March 28-29, the Omega Billiards Tour was honored to play at a new host site, Pucketts in Fort Worth. The pool room, players, and fans were in for a treat as we had several out-of-state and out-of-town players that came to compete. In the end Kevin Chen from Houston would win the $,1,500 added event with 80 players!
Junior National players Devin Poteet (18 years old) from Kentucky and Nick Evans (17 years old) from Ohio came to compete, along with young-phenom Skyler Woodward (only 22 years old) from Kentucky. Kevin Cheng from Houston also came to play and he is a Taiwan sensation and now a crowd favorite here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Also coming from afar was Chris Fields who was celebrating her birthday week in Texas, all the way from Florida.
But don’t let the out-of-towners fool you – there was plenty of tough action right here from the area players!
After a great opening day on Saturday, there was still a lot of great competing going on. By Sunday afternoon, Amos Bush had defeated Chris Fields 8-1, Tim Rice 8-3 and Jay Murillo 8-5 to earn his spot to play in the hotseat. Kevin Cheng defeated Cory Anderson 9-3, Tony Sulsar 9-4, and Alberto Nieto 9-2 to meet up with Amos.
Amos put up a GREAT fight and was the ONLY player to get on the hill with Kevin (and did so in the hotseat match), but Kevin prevailed 9-7 in that match to wait to see who he played in the finals.
On the one-loss side, Daniel Herring was fighting tough. He lost his very first match Saturday morning and clawed through Jeff Georges, David Franklin, Eric Hsu, Norman Small, Bruce Foster, Tony Sulsar, and Jay Murillo to play for 4th place. Daniel then ran into a determined Albert Nieto. On Sunday, Alberto had already defeated Robert Sifuentes 7-4 and Bruce Foster 7-1 before losing to Kevin Cheng. From there Alberto defeated Daniel 7-3 then Amos Bush hill-hill in the semi-finals to win a spot in the finals against Kevin Cheng. Alberto played some really good pool and earned that spot in the finals.
However, Kevin Cheng would continue his stellar play and defeated Alberto in the finals 9-3 and claim the top first place prize!
A HUGE thank you goes out to our sponsors Omega Billiards Supply, Predator Cues, Poison Break Cues, BCAPL/CSI, and Lucasi and Players Cues. We would also like to give a big thanks to our additional sponsors, Hulsey Custom Cues, OB Cues, Irving Ink and Thread, Pro Billiard Service, AZBilliards.com, Billiards Digest, and BilliardsPress.com.
After three stops so far this year, Daniel Herring is in first place on the Predator Player Points Tracker with 460 points. Cory Anderson is in second with 295 points and Nick Conner is in third place with 220 points.
Tournament Director Melinda Bailey would like to thank the Pucketts owners and staff for their awesome hospitality all weekend! They worked hard to get the place ready for all the players.
A big thank you also goes out to Michael Hoang, main sponsor of the Tour and owner of Omega Billiards Supply in Hurst, TX. Michael and Omega Billiards Supply are well known for the huge booths at many of the large tournaments across the country.
The next stop of the Omega Billiards Tour will be April 25-26 at JR Pockets in Denton, Texas. $1,500 added and limited to 80 players. Still 5 more stops left before the $4,500 Season Finale! Pool is alive and thriving in Texas! Check out the website for more details: http://www.omegabilliardstour.com/
Chase Rudder dominated the Open 9-Ball division in this past weekend’s $1,000 added Poison by Predator Tour event which spawned 57 entries overall, held at Bogies Billiards & Sports Bar in Houston, Texas. Rudder annihilated North Carolina’s Younger Chapman, 9-1, in the final after an undefeated run where he held each of his victims at 4 games or less. Chapman, Great Southern Billiards Tour player and North Carolina State Senior Champion, succumbed to Rudder in the hot seat match, 9-1, after an impressive showing which included wins over resident players Brent Thomas and Bill Fuller. The final four winners’ side saw #7 ranked Raul Escobedo fall to Rudder 9-4, while #9 ranked Will Felder fell to Chapman, 9-5. After a first round blow at the hands of Eric Hsu, Sonny “The Boss” Bosshamer won 6 consecutive matches including wins over Andy Jethwa, 7-6, and Escobedo, 7-1, but was stopped dead in his tracks by Felder, 7-2. Once again, Felder was defeated by Chapman, 7-4, settling for a respectable third place finish.
The Amateur 9-ball division saw Bobby Perez move swiftly through the winners’ side with wins over tour newcomer Matthew Sales, Bobby Garcia, and Steve Williams. On the final four winners’ side, Perez ousted Chuck Adams, 7-4, while the indomitable Sonny Demetro defeated Raul Escobedo, 7-4. After a first round loss to Jonathon Poon, Jerald “Topwater” Jackson won 6 consecutive matches including wins over Errol Sanders, Alex Cardenas, Mike White, and Jack Cavalier. Escobedo ended Jackson’s run, 5-3, but was eliminated by Adams, 5-1. Hot seat action saw Demetro handily defeat Perez, 7-4, staging a rematch between Perez and Adams. Perez stayed the course, defeating Adams once again, 5-4, earning himself another shot at Demetro. In the final match both players were collected and calculating, shot for shot. Despite his raw determination, Perez fell short against the veteran player by the same score, 7-4.
The next event on the Poison by Predator Tour will be held Sunday, July 7th, 2013 at Bogies Billiards in Houston. The game will be 8-ball, played on 8’ Gandy tables with Simonis cloth and Aramith Pro Cup cue balls.
