(l to r): Mike Voelkering, Jay Murillo, David Gutierrez
Seventeen years ago, David Gutierrez chalked up a win at the 27th Annual Texas Open. It was his first appearance in the payout lists of the AZBilliards database, which, with two exceptions, has included cash winnings for him every year since then. The exceptions were 2006 and last year. He won the Texas Open a second time in 2005, and cashed in that event on a number of other occasions. A regular and regular winner on the Fast Eddie's Tour in Texas, and the Lone Star Billiards Tour, he's appeared and cashed in major events like the Derby City Classic, The US Open 9-Ball Championships and The US Bar Table Championships. His best year, according to our records was 2004, in which he won a stop on the Fast Eddie's and Top Dawg Billiards Tour's One Pocket division, along with cash appearances in (among others) two Carolina Opens, a stop on the Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, and the Music City Classic.
On the weekend of June 24-25, after a year of absence from any of our payout lists (which means, basically, that if he won any tournaments, we didn't hear about them), he returned to the Texas stage and chalked up a win on the sixth stop of the Omega Billiards Tour. Gutierrez went undefeated through a field of 85 in the $1,700-added event, that was hosted by Click's Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Five matches that included two shutouts brought Gutierrez to a winners' side semifinal against Amos Bush, the first opponent he faced who was, at the time of the match, ranked among the Omega Tour's top 20 players (#17). Mike Voelkering (#9), in the meantime, met up with Ray Amarro. Gutierrez downed Bush 9-5, and was met in the hot seat match by Voelkering, who'd defeated Amarro 7-4. Gutierrez claimed his first (known) hot seat since 2015 with a 9-1 victory, and waited on Voelkering's return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Bush picked up Jay Murillo, who, after being defeated by Aram Hasan in the third round, was on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak, that included a victory over the tour's #1-ranked player, Rick Stanley, and would take him as far as the semifinals. He'd recently defeated TJ Davis 6-4 and George Merchan 6-2 to reach Bush. Amarro drew Robbie Cleland, who'd been one of Gutierrez' shutout victims in one of the winners' side quarterfinals and on the loss side, defeated Doug Winnett 7-3 and Greg Sandifer 7-6 (Sandifer racing to 8).
Murillo downed Bush 6-4, and in the quarterfinals, ran into Cleland, who'd eliminated Amarro 7-2. With Cleland racing to 7, Murillo chalked up his last win 6-6 over Cleland, before running into Voelkering, who ended Murillo's loss-side streak 7-1. Voelkering put up a bit more of a fight in the finals than he had in the hot seat match, but Gutierrez prevailed 9-4 to claim the event title.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership at staff at Click's for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com, and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiards Tour, scheduled for July 15-16, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by Open Table in Azle, TX.
Juan Parra took two out of three over Alberto Nieto, double dipping him in the finals, to win the season opening event of the Omega Billiards 9-Ball Tour, held on the weekend of January 14-15. The $1,700-added event drew 90 entrants to Rusty's Billiards in Arlington, TX,
Parra was more or less breezing along on the winners' side of the double elimination bracket, advancing to one of the winners' side semifinals, having given up, through five matches (48 games), only 14 racks. Then, Parra had his first match against Nieto, who'd arrived on the scene having given up 18 racks through four matches (he'd been awarded an opening round bye). They battled to double hill, before Nieto advanced to the hot seat match. Kenny Rowell, in the meantime, downed Phillip Palmer 6-3 in the other winners' side semifinal to join Nieto in the battle for the hot seat. Nieto chalked up a second double hill win to claim the hot seat over Rowell.
Parra chalked up a second, double hill win, defeating Anderson in the quarterfinals, and then sent Kenny Rowell home 7-4 in the semifinals. The true double elimination finals saw Parra chalk up two 7-5 wins to claim the event title.
Tournament director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty's Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors OB Cues, Michael Hoang of Omega Billiards Supply and FargoRate.com. The next stop on the Omega Billiards 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for February 11-12, will be hosted by The Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
On the weekend of April 30-May 1, the Omega Billiards Tour was hosted by JR Pockets in Denton, Texas. The staff and owners treated the players well with great service and an amazing atmosphere, and we very much appreciate each and every one of them!
We were able to extend the field to 85 players for this fourth stop of the 2016 season with guaranteed $1,500-added.
There were several players who were the “talk of the tournament” this weekend. One was Jay Murillo who has been working on his game and found himself placing an impressive 3rd place! He fought hard all weekend and although wished he would have placed even higher, he had a fantastic tournament. Another player talked about was local sharp-shooter Robert Clark. He lost his first match on Saturday morning and never gave up and fought his way back through the one-loss side and won 11 straight matches to find himself in the finals! This leads to the third talk of the tournament: Eventual winner Warren Kaimco. He flew in all the way from the Philippines to play (just kidding, he happened to be in Texas for another tournament the weekend before and was able to fit in this Omega Tour stop). Warren has such a gentle composure and the players loved to have such a champion play among them. Warren was gracious and posed for many photos and also gave advice when players asked, at the same time he was killing it on the pool table.
Warren made his way to the finals over J Brotherton 9-3, Jeff Georges 9-4 (and Jeff said he had him scared, but we aren’t sure based on the score), Jordan Gartenberg 9-2, Hector Guerrero 9-2, Cory Anderson 9-5, and Jay Murillo 9-3. Jay Murillo made his way to third place with great wins over Phillip Kirk 6-0, Trent Stith 6-5, Roman Bayda 6-6, Tony Sulsar 6-6, Mike Rountree 6-5 before being sent to the one-loss side by Warren 9-3. Robert Clark lost to his first match to Gerardo Perez 7-7, and then won against Lorena Garcia 8-3, Tracie Voelkering 8-3, George Merchan 8-0, Larry Land 8-6, Willie Speed 8-4, Barry Emerson 8-7, Jamie Whelch 8-3, Hector Guerrero 8-3, Mike Rountree 8-4, Cory Anderson 8-5 and then Jay Murillo 8-3.
Warren and Robert squared off in the finals and the fans were in for a treat with GREAT shots and safeties between the two players to lead to a hill-hill first set! After several safes back and forth, Warren eventually had a shot and ran out the match hill-hill to not force a second set, and secure an Omega Billiards Tour title!
4th place was filled by Cory Anderson, 5th/6th places were filled by the “mikes,” Mike Rountree and Mike Voelkering who both had a great tournament, and 7th/8th places were filled by Hector Guerrero and Alberto Nieto.
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 JR Pockets owners and staff for their awesome hospitality all weekend! She would also like to thank her fabulous team: Heather Farr, Dana Speed, and Jeffrey Georges.
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 June 4-5 at Fox and Hound in Dallas, Texas. $1,500 added and already full with 80 players. We have ten stops total again in 2016. Pool is alive and thriving in Texas!
On the weekend of February 20-21, the Omega Billiards Tour was hosted by The Billiard Den in Richardson, Texas. The staff and owners treated the players well with great service and an amazing atmosphere, and we very much appreciate each and every one of them!
We were able to extend the field to 88 players for this second stop of the 2016 season. And it was tough to predict who would come out on top with all the talent in the field.
Always a top contender, Crispian Ng, had a great tournament with tough matches over Chase LaFerney 7-5, teammate Robin Barbour 7-5, Alberto Nieto 7-4, Jim Colling 7-5 and best friend David Josephson 7-5. Stevie Collins was fighting through the bottom half of the bracket with wins over Kyle Rowland 7-0, Chris Smith hill-hill, George Merchan 7-2, Ian Perez 7-1, and Anthony Schaeffer 7-2 before finding Crispian in the hotseat. Crispian would win another close one in the hotseat match over Stevie by a score of 7-5.
Gerardo Perez would place his highest finish with an impressive 3rd place! He lost his second match hill-hill then won TEN matches in a row to meet up the Stevie Collins in the Semi-Final match. Stevie would win 7-3 to find a spot in the finals, but a HUGE congrats to Gerardo for his fine play all weekend. Denny Sneed placed high again in the Omega with a 4th place finish, with David Josephson and Anthony Schaeffer both placed their highest finish with 5th/6th places out of 88 players. Special shout out to George Merchan for placing 7th/8th (his highest finish to date) and to Ian Perez for his 9th place finish in his first Omega Tour event.
The finals were a tough, tough battle between Stevie Collins and Crispian Ng. Crispian is a BCAPL Nationals 9-Ball Champion and Stevie Collins is also a top player (and this was his home pool room). Both players wanted the win badly and it showed. First set went a thrilling hill-hill with Stevie never giving up, forcing a second set. Then the second set went hill-hill again! Stevie continued his great play and ran out 7 balls to win the game, the match, the finals, and the tournament! His first Omega Billiards Tour win! Congratulations also to Crispian for fighting hard all weekend for his second place finish. He’s always hard on himself, but he played so good all weekend and deserves lots of kudos as well.
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 The Billiards Den 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 March 19-20 at Clicks in Arlington, 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!
