Unlike Kyle Pepin, already having recorded his best earnings year to date (with two months to go), and looking to chalk up his second 2019 event victory (he won a stop on the Joss Tour in March), Carlton Gagnon joined the 5th stop of the New England 9-Ball Series on Saturday, Oct. 26, looking for his second cash finish anywhere (he finished 9th at a NE 9-Ball Series stop in January). They met in the finals of the event and it was Gagnon who emerged with not only his second cash finish anywhere, but his first regional tour victory anywhere. The $500-added event drew 32 entrants to Legends Billiards in Lewiston, ME.
Working in the lower bracket, in straight-up races to 5, Gagnon got by Laura Krech 5-1, survived a double hill fight against Justin Myers, and downed Dan Small 5-1 to draw Mark Pulsifer in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Pepin, in the meantime, advanced as far as the winners’ side quarterfinal, before being defeated by Michael Leavitt 5-3 (Pepin racing to 7). Leavitt advanced to face Ross Webster in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Gagnon got into the hot seat match with a 5-3 victory over Pulsifer and was joined by Leavitt, who’d defeated Webster 5-2. Separated by 135 FargoRate points, Gagnon (441) and Leavitt (576) battled to double hill before Gagnon prevailed 4-7 (Leavitt racing to 8) to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Pepin opened his five-match campaign to the finals with a straight-up race to 5, double hill win over Derrick Burnham and then eliminated George Morgan 6-1 to draw Webster. Pulsifer drew a rematch versus Tyler Dunbar, whom he’d sent to the loss side in the opening round and who was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. Dunbar, like Pepin, was looking for his second 2019 win, having previously won the NE 9-Ball Series’ Bangor Bash just over a month ago. Like Gagnon, Dunbar has recorded his first cash payout finishes in 2019.
Pepin and Dunbar handed Webster and Pulsifer their second straight loss; Pepin, 5-1 over Webster and Dunbar, 4-1 over Pulsifer. Pepin then spoiled Dunbar’s hope for a second NE 9-Ball Series victory with a 7-2 win in the quarterfinals.
Pepin leapfrogged over the semifinals, avoiding a rematch against Leavitt, who’d sent him to the loss side, when Levitt forfeited. With Pepin racing to 9 in the finals, Gagnon completed his undefeated run with a 4-1 victory in that final match.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Legends, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, BCAPL, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell with Lease Fundings, Master Billiards and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the NE 9-Ball Series (#6), scheduled for Sunday, November 3, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Bo’s Billiards in Warwick, RI.
(l to r): Josh Rupard, Elliot Coates, Tyler Boudreau & Tom D’Alfonso
For its third and final Partners Tournament of the 2018/2019 season, the New England 9-Ball Series went with 8-ball as the game and though some of the partners who appeared in the previous two tournaments (playing 9-ball) were on-hand for this one, no two repeated as champions. It should be noted, as well, that the last partners tournament, held in April at Snooker’s in RI, ended up with three teams sharing the title, because those three teams preferred to be considered co-champions of the event. One of that trio of teams, Mike Demarco & Jeff Harnois, finished in the four-way tie for 9th place in this most recent tournament.
It was Tyler Boudreau and Tom D’Alfonso who went home with this most recent partners title. They went undefeated through a field of 45 teams that competed on the weekend of May 18-19 at Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH. Boudreau/D’Alfonso, with a Fargo Rate of 582, had to get by Elliot Coates and Josh Rupard (same Fargo Rate) twice; once in a winners’ side semifinal and again, in the finals.
In their first meeting, Boudreau/D’Alfonso shut Coates/Rupard out. In the other winners’ side semifinal, Greg Andrecyk & CK Anousavanh defeated Paul Kazalski & Frank Porto in a double hill fight. Boudreau/D’Alfonso claimed the hot seat 4-1 over Andrecyk/Anousavanh and waited for Coates/Rupard to complete a three-match trip on the loss side to get into the finals.
Coates/Rupard downed Nicolisi/Thompson 4-1 and in the quarterfinals, faced Cheng/Watson, who’d defeated Kazalski/Porto, double hill. Coates/Rupard then defeated Cheng/Watson 4-1 and followed it with a double hill, 4-2 victory over Andrecyk/Anousavanh in the semifinals, to earn a second shot at Boudreau/D’Alfonso in the finals.
Coates/Rupard improved on their earlier meeting against Boudreau/D’Alfonso; the shutout in the winners’ side semifinal. The final turned out to be a double hill fight, but Boudreau/D’Alfonso prevailed a second time to claim the partners 8-ball tournament.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell with Lease Fundings, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop (#21) on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Saturday, June 1, will be hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
(l to r): Mike Negrelli, Matt Rezendes & Ryan Hemingway
The last time Matt Rezendes and Ryan Hemingway cashed in stops on the New England 9-Ball Series, they both finished in third place; Hemingway in August and Rezendes, a month later. On Saturday, November 24, at a $500-added event (Stop #7), that drew 46 entrants to Stix & Stones in Abington, MA, they moved up a notch. Matt Rezendes claimed the official title by going undefeated, although he and Hemingway opted out of a final match, choosing to let the double hill hot seat match stand as the defining contest between them.
Coming out of the upper bracket, Rezendes (FargoRate – 543) advanced through George Morgan, Ryan Stevens, Jim Prather and Bill Gallagher, to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Andy Maynard (513). Hemingway (484), working initially in the lower bracket with an opening round bye, defeated Kyle Downey, Cameo Moy and Mark Pulsifer to face Mike Nigrelli (438) in the other winners’ side semifinal.
In a straight-up race to 5, Rezendes shut Maynard out to get into the hot seat match. Hemingway joined him with a double hill (4-2) victory over Nigrelli. With Hemingway starting with a single game ‘on the wire,’ the hot seat match went double hill before Rezendes won what proved to be his last match 5-3.
On the loss side, Maynard picked up Ben Savoie, who’d gotten by Jim Prather 4-1 (Prather racing to 6), and, in a straight-up race to 5, Bill Gallagher 5-2. Nigrelli drew Mark Pulsifer, who’d eliminated Dave Morrison, double hill, in a straight-up race to 4 and Bob Lucas 4-2 in another straight-up race to 4. Savoie downed Maynard 5-3, as Nigrelli and Pulsifer locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Nigrelli to join Savoie in the quarterfinals (3-3).
Racing to 6 (Nigrelli starting with three ‘on the wire’), Nigrelli advanced to the semifinals 3-4. Nigrelli started the semifinals with a single rack ‘on the wire’ and battled Hemingway to double hill, before Hemingway concluded the event’s final match. Rezendes and Hemingway made the decision to forego a final match and opted to split the top two prizes, while the undefeated Rezendes claimed the official event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Stix and Stones, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3 Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop (#8) on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for this weekend (Dec. 1-2), will be the $3,000-added Bangor Bash, hosted by Rack City in Bangor, ME.
(l to r): George Morgan, David Soule, Kevin Bauccio and TD Marc Dionne
For many amateur competitors, non-handicapped events can be a good news/bad news situation. It’s good news for the higher-ranked players, who don’t have to think about the possibility of being defeated by someone who’s chalked up fewer racks in a match. For the lower-ranked players, their safety net of a rack or two (or more) is gone, and they’re faced with a mano a mano battle against someone who, on paper at least, is considered to be better than they are.
In a way, George Morgan, a C+ Player, split that difference on Stop #13 on the New England 9-Ball Series tour, held on Sunday, January 20. The event drew 42 entrants to Stix and Stones in Abington, MA. It was not handicapped and restricted to players B+ and below. Morgan spent most of his time in the lower bracket (C+ and below) where he downed three fellow C+ opponents to move into an overall winners’ side semifinal. He would go on to defeat a C player and a B+ player (twice) to finish undefeated.
First up for Morgan in the winners’ side semifinal of the now-combined brackets was Tim Schroeder (C). David Soule and Keith Platt (both B+) squared off in the other winners’ side semifinal. Soule downed Platt 6-2, and in the hot seat match, faced Morgan, who’d sent Schroeder to the loss side 5-3. Morgan got into the hot seat with a first (of two) wins over Soule 5-3.
On the loss side, Schroeder and Platt walked right into their second straight loss. Platt was eliminated 5-3 by fellow B+ shooter Kevin Bauccio, who’d been defeated by Paul Laverdiere in his second, upper bracket match, and was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him to the event semifinals. Schroeder, a C player, battled to double hill before giving way to Adam Blair (C+), who’d defeated Kevin Brule 4-1 and Jiten Patel, double hill, to reach him.
Bauccio gave up only a single rack to Blair in the race-to-4 quarterfinals that followed. The semifinals – a straight-up race to 4 against the two B+ players – saw Soule earn a second shot against Morgan in the hot seat with a 4-2 win.
Morgan improved on his 5-3 hot seat performance with a 5-2 win in the finals against Soule.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Stix and Stones, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series Tour (#14), scheduled for January 27-28, will be the annual $5,000-added Winter Classic, hosted by Snooker’s in Providence, RI.
He almost caught him. Steve Smith, a B+ player on the New England 9-Ball Series Tour, was more or less cruising along during the Saturday, January 13 stop on the tour, and after three matches, had made it to the hot seat. Josh Rupard, in the meantime, an A+ player, who’d been defeated in the second round of upper-bracket play, worked his way through seven matches on the loss side to eventually challenge Smith in the finals. Rupard took the opening set of the true double elimination final, but Smith came back in the second set to win it and claim the event title. The $500-added event drew 27 entrants to Legends Sports Bar and Grill in Auburn, ME.
Smith and Rupard might have met up in the third round of upper-bracket play had it not been for Derrick Burnham, who sent Rupard to the loss side, and advanced to a winners’ side quarterfinal against Smith. Smith sent Burnham to the loss side and faced Martin Flagg in a winners’ side semifinal. Two C players, Eric Newell and Steve Downs, squared off in the other one.
Smith survived a double hill fight against Flagg, while Newell defeated Downs 5-3. Smith claimed the hot seat with an 8-3 win over Newell, and waited for Rupard to complete his loss-side run.
It was Flagg who had the misfortune to draw the final-bound Rupard on the loss side. Rupard had chalked up wins #3 and #4 against Kyle Pepin (forfeit) and Sam Khiev (8-4) to reach Flagg in the first of the event’s money rounds. Downs picked up Lindsey Monto, who’d eliminated Randy Gilbert 6-2 and George Morgan 5-2 to reach him.
Rupard, obviously picking up some speed, shut Flagg out to advance to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Monto, who’d defeated Downs 6-1. Monto put up a fight against Rupard in that quarterfinal matchup, chalking up three of the five racks she needed to defeat the racing-to-9 Rupard.
Rupard followed that quarterfinal win with a second shutout; this time against Newell (racing to 5) in the semifinals. Rupard would carry that momentum into the finals, but Smith, in spite of his wait in the hot seat, wasn’t giving in easily. Smith came within a game of forcing a deciding game in the opening set of the true double elimination final (8-4, with Smith racing to 6). In the second set, Smith kicked it up a notch, edging ahead of Rupard when the score was tied at 5-5 (Smith on the hill). Smith chalked up the necessary sixth rack to win the second set and claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Legends Sports Bar and Grill, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop (#13) on the New England 9-Ball Series tour, scheduled for Saturday, January 20, will be a B+ and below, non-handicap tournament, with an upper bracket (B+ and B) racing to 6, and a lower bracket (C+ and below) racing to 5. The brackets will combine in the quarterfinals, with races to 5 for the rest of the tournament.
Lazar (father) and Alex (teenage son) Gurevich split the two sets of a double elimination final, taking the all-important last match against Ryan Hemingway and Matt Rezendes, to win the December 10 stop (#9; a partners event) on the New England 9-Ball Series. The event drew 66 entrants (33 teams of two) to Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
The father/son Gurevich team faced separate opponents in the hot seat and finals. They’d defeated Dan Simoneau and Ricky Bergevin 4-3 (Simoneau/Bergevin racing to 6) in one winners’ side semifinal, while John Collier and Paul Coorey shut out their eventual finals’ opponents, Hemingway and Rezendes. The Gureviches claimed the hot seat with a 6-3 win over Collier and Coorey.
On the loss side, Hemingway and Rezendes picked up Josh Grzasko and Peter Copland, who’d gotten by Amanda McDonald/Tyler Campbell 5-2, and George Morgan/Bill Phillips 4-3 (Morgan/Phillips, racing to 5). Simoneau/Bergevin drew “Fireball” Mike Dechaine and Matt Rezendes’ wife, Heidi, who’d defeated Dave Ty/Jeff Felix 7-3, and Jay (father) and Justin (son) Cunningham 7-2.
Both teams that were playing their first loss-side match downed the two teams that weren’t; Hemingway/Rezendes defeating Grzasko/Copland and Simoneau/Bergevin eliminating Dechaine and Heidi Rezendes, both 5-2.
In the quarterfinal match that followed, with Simoneau/Bergevin racing to 8, Hemingway and Rezendes defeated them 4-2. In the straight-up race to 5 in the semifinals against Collier and Coorey that followed that, Hemingway/Rezendes advanced again 5-1.
The intangible ‘momentum’ factor worked for Hemingway and Rezendes in the opening set of the true double elimination final, which they won over hot seat occupants Lazar and Alex Gurevich 4-2 (the Gurevich team racing to 6). In the second set, the Gurevich family gave up only a single rack, winning it 6-1 to claim the partners event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America.
The next stop (#10) on the 2017-2018 NE 9-Ball Series will be the Randy Marcotte Memorial. Scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 16, the $500-added event will be hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.
(l to r): Rick Gatta, Mourad Idrais & Joe Callaluca
During the New England 9-Ball Series stop (#7) on Sunday, November 26, Mourad Idrais and Rick Gatta played 20 games of 9-ball over three matches. While none of the individual matches went double hill, the aggregate score did. With Gatta (a B player) racing to 6 and Idrais (C+) racing to 5 in those matches, they split the games evenly at 10-10, which would translate into a win for Idrais were they to have played a single race-to-11 match. Idrais backed up the aggregate score win by winning two out of the three matches, including the final one that broke their 1-1 match tie and earned him the event title. The $500-added event drew 34 entrants to Maxamillian’s Billiards in Tyngsboro, MA.
Idrais and Joe Callaluca (both C+) emerged from the event’s lower bracket to appear in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Gatta and Lozar Gurevich (both B) from the upper bracket appeared in the other one. Idrais sent Gallaluca to the loss side 5-1 and was joined in the hot seat match by Gatta, who’d defeated Gurevich 6-1. Idrais sent Gatta to the semifinals 5-3 in their first of three and waited on his return.
In a straight-up race to 5, Callaluca advanced to the quarterfinals, double hill, over Phillips. Gurevich joined him with a 5-2 win over the higher handicapped Morgan. Callaluca went on to win the quarterfinal match 5-2 over the higher handicapped Gurevich.
The semifinal match between two players (Gatta & Gallaluca) who’d already lost to Idrais once went double hill, with Gatta eventually earning the right to face Idrais a second, and, as it turned out, a third time. Gatta came into the opening set of the finals with proverbial ‘guns a-blazing’ and promptly shut him out. Idrais almost returned the favor. He allowed Gatta only a single rack in a 5-1, second set win that earned him the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Maxamillians Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. Stop #8, scheduled for Saturday, December 2, will be a $500-added event, hosted by World Championship Billiards in Manchester, CT.
By the time the fifth stop on the New England 9-Ball Series was down to its final 12 players, Josh Rupard was one of only two A+ players left. Both he and Kerry McAuliffe were battling in the loss-side’s first money round at the time, though not against each other. Rupard advanced through five loss-side matches to meet and defeat Eli Davenport (C+) twice in a true double elimination final. The $500-added event – The Don Clemons Memorial – drew 48 entrants to Buster’s Billiards in Sommersworth, NH on Saturday, November 4.
Rupard chalked up three victories on the winners’ side of the event’s top bracket, until he ran into Sammy Khiev, a B player. With Rupard racing to 8, and Khiev to 5, Khiev advanced 5-4 to the event’s overall winners’ side semifinal against Paul Laverdiere (B). Coming from the event’s lower bracket, C+ Eli Davenport squared off against D+ Peter Rizzo, Sr. in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Khiev and Laverdiere locked up in a straight-up race to 7, that went double hill before Khiev finished it to advance to the hot seat match. He was joined by Davenport, who’d shut Rizzo out.
Davenport claimed the hot seat over Khiev 5-3, in what would prove to be Khiev’s final match.
On the loss side, it was Laverdiere who picked up Rupard, who’d opened his loss-side work with an 8-2 win over Geoff James, and an 8-1 win over Matt Gagne. Rizzo drew Kassie Lam, who’d eliminated George Morgan 6-1 and Martin Flagg 5-2. Rupard and Lam advanced to the quarterfinals; Rupard, 8-2 over Laverdiere and Lam, 5-2 over Rizzo.
Rupard and Lam fought to double hill in those quarterfinals, but Rupard had the last word and advanced to a semifinal re-match against Khiev. Rupard leapfrogged over that semifinal match, when Khiev forfeited.
Rupard and Davenport played 20 games in the true double elimination final. Rupard won 18 of them. He gave up only two in the opening set, and none at all in the second set to claim the event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Buster’s Billiards, as well as all of the players who came out to support this memorial event. In honor of Don Clemons, the tournament raised $340 for the American Cancer Society; $240 from tournament entries, and $100 from challenge matches played against Mike Dechaine. Dionne also thanked sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America.
The next stop – #6 – on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for Saturday, November 18, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Straight Shooters in Fall River, MA.
(l to r): Kyle Pepin, Dan Small (Legends owner), Carlton Chagnon & Dillon Nickerson
Recognition as a contender in the world of pool usually begins with a player’s first finish ‘in the money,’ from which it will proceed (hopefully) to higher and higher finishes and larger amounts of money to show for the efforts. To have that first (recorded) payout occur on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour isn’t unheard of, but it’s a significant radar blip on a pool career screen that suggests the player might be someone to watch. Dillon Nickerson finished 7th in the Joss NE 9-Ball’s season opener last month (The Maine Event XI in September) and the radar blip of that finish put his name into the AZBilliards database for the first time. A month later, on the weekend of October 14-15, a slightly stronger blip appeared on Nickerson’s career screen when he navigated his way through a field of 52, on-hand for the third stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, and chalked up his first event title. It should be noted that occasionally, a player’s victory or a number of them might not, for a variety of reasons, show up in the extensive AZBilliards database, because that one or those victories might not have been reported to the site’s administrators. That said, as the blip on the career screen is recorded for posterity, Nickerson has now won a regional tour title, and the money that it represents. The $1,500-added event was hosted by Legends Sports Bar & Grill in Auburn, ME.
At the start of an event, players on The New England 9-Ball Series are divided into two brackets that initially separate higher and lower-ranked players. Without delving too deeply into the minute details, this creates two hot seat matches (winners’ side finals), one each for the initially separate upper and lower brackets. In a single bracket, these two separate hot seat matches would be identified as the two winners’ side semifinals, leading to one hot seat match. So it was, that Nickerson, after being awarded an opening round bye and defeating three opponents faced Al McGuane in this recent event’s upper bracket hot seat match, while Charlton Chagnon (winner of four matches) faced Charles Rosco in the lower bracket’s hot seat match. Nickerson downed McGuane 6-4, as Chagnon sent Rosco to the loss side 5-1. Nickerson claimed the overall event hot seat with a double hill (8-4) win over Chagnon.
On the loss side, McGuane ran into an immediate re-match against Kyle Pepin, whom he had defeated earlier. Pepin’s loss-side trip in the upper bracket amounted to a single match, which he won, over Derick Burnham 8-4. This advanced him to the loss side of a single, merged bracket, where he survived a double hill fight against George Morgan to draw the re-match against McGuane. Rosco picked up Mike Pepin (Kyle Pepin’s uncle), recent winner over Kevin Lank (forfeit) and Josh Edmonds 5-3.
Uncle and nephew Pepin moved on to face each other in the quarterfinals; Nephew Kyle, defeating McGuane, double hill and UncLe Mike, 5-2 over Rosco. Kyle chalked up the quarterfinal win over his uncle 9-2 (Mike racing to 5). Kyle then defeated Chagnon 10-5 in the semifinals to earn a spot in the finals against Nickerson.
Pepin battled Nickerson to a deciding game in the opening set of the true double elimination final and won it to force a second set. Nickerson, though, came back to win the second set 6-5 (Pepin racing to 8) and claim his first recorded tour victory.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Legends, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop (#5) on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for October 21, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.
