The Arizona Billiards Hall of Fame is proud to announce Pete Lhotka and George Teyechea as its two latest inductees.
Pete Lhotka’s career in Arizona pool began in the 70’s, when he won the Intercollegiate 14.1 National Championship. That was just one of many 14.1 titles that Lhotka won over the years, including nine Air Force 14.1 titles and two Arizona State 14.1 titles. A couple of Lhotka’s favorite moments in pool were focused on 14.1, as he competed in an exhibition match against Willie Mosconi in Tempe back in 1973 and also when he ran 85 balls on the great Steve Mizerak during the 1980 World 14.1 tournament.
In addition to his accomplishments in competition, Lhotka has a long history as a billiards instructor, having taught billiards at both Arizona Western College and Yavapai College. Lhotka also wrote a series of columns for Pool & Billiard Magazine and created an instructional channel on YouTube with recorded pool classes from Yuma and Prescott.
Appropriately, Lhotka was informed of his induction while playing pool with a friend in Prescott. “I feel real emotional right now” he said. Lhotka was also surprised when he was informed that he was the top vote getter on the ballot this year. “I didn’t know if I would get in” said Lhotka. “There are so many deserving people on that list”.
Lhotka was especially excited about joining such legends as his good friend Babe Thompson in the Hall of Fame. “Babe was the guy who inspired me to become a pool player. Watching him run 100 balls was incredible” he said.
George Teyechea
Joining Lhotka in the Hall of Fame this year is another multi-talented player. Tucson’s George Teyechea can trace his love for the game back to the 1960’s and can trace his championship winning resume back to the early 90’s. A player of all games, Teyechea excels in a variety of games, winning Arizona titles in 8-Ball, 9-Ball and One Pocket.
Teyechea has competed at the top levels of Arizona pool for well over 25 years and now shares his cue sport knowledge in a number of different ways. Teyechea was a big part of the Az Junior 9-Ball Tour and the Junior program at Pockets in Tucson. In addition to his work with the Juniors, Teyechea has also become one of the top streaming commentators in the business today. His work with the Desert Classic and Diamond Pool Tour’s drew the attention of Cue Sports International, where he is now a regular commentator at their various amateur and pro events.
Even with his history of talking about the game, Teyechea was at a loss for words when he was informed of his induction while he was getting ready to commentate a pro event in Las Vegas.“Oh my god, did I really get in?” he asked, after taking a moment to compose himself.
Like Lhotka, Teyechea indicated that he didn’t think he would get voted in this year. “I thought the majority of votes were in Phoenix. I didn’t think there were many votes coming from Tucson” he explained. Teyechea though, is well respected throughout the entire state of Arizona and both he and Lhotka will make very deserving additions to the Arizona Billiards Hall of Fame.
Lhotka and Teyechea will be honored at the Hall of Fame Banquet, scheduled for November 5th at Bullshooters in Phoenix. They will also be looking to play in the Hall of Fame’s Arizona State Championship, that will take place at Bullshooters on November 6th and 7th. With the Covid virus situation, the 2020 banquet was not held, meaning the 2020 inductees Chuck Evans, Terry Osborne, Bob Jackson and Doc Rice will also be honored at the November banquet. All six of these players will join 2019 inductees Scott Frost, Roger Griffis, Babe Thompson and Mike Howerton as members of the Arizona Billiards Hall of Fame.
There was, at the end of it all, a celebratory feel to the thing. There are times when the end of a pool tournament can feel like a funeral, as the winner and runner-up in a given tournament try their best to set aside the exhaustion and lingering sense of the grim-faced competition they’ve been a part of, and smile (sort of) for a camera. At the very end of the West State Billiards/POVPool’s 2018 West Coast Swing (WCS), which came to its conclusion at Freezer’s Ice House in Tempe, AZ on Sunday, July 15, Scott Frost, gripping two microphones, tried to conduct a post-finals interview with the winner (Warren Kiamco) and runner-up (Omar Al-Shaheen) in the $10,000-added 10-Ball Challenge, which had drawn 96 entrants to the closing event of the 2018 WCS.
Frost tried. He really did. But his interview efforts were stymied by the unexpected appearance of Dennis Orcollo, carrying his over-sized check for $3,000 (earned by winning the One Pocket event the day before) into the camera shot, and hugging Frost like a teddy bear he’d decided he wanted to take home with him. Orcollo had finished 4th in the 10-Ball Challenge (defeated in the quarterfinals by Kiamco) and had apparently spent a good deal of time between the quarterfinals and end of the finals match, at the bar. Beyond its humor value, the attempted interview and its interruption were emblematic of one aspect of the 2018 West Coast Swing that had nothing to do with the pool games that were played or the money they’d all earned.
It was, according to POVPool’s Daniel Busch, “the overwhelming response from professional players” which stood out in his mind as the most memorable thing about the 2018 West Coast Swing that had begun with the 6th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial, as June turned into July, and culminated with a goofy interview, two weeks later, at the conclusion of the last WCS event. Busch and his broadcast crew at POVPool streamed free, selected matches at all of the venues.
“They really appreciated the string of events,” said Busch. “There was an amazing amount of friendship, a feeling of family, and an overwhelming display of camaraderie.”
This, he went on to say, was the result of what he called the ‘theme’ of the West Coast Swing; to “awaken the road player within.”
“The West Coast Swing has set the stage for these guys,” said Busch. “(Given them) the opportunity to travel the West Coast for a couple of weeks and make appearances at some of the country’s best venues.”
The one thing that Scott Frost did manage to get out of Warren Kiamco, when he asked him for comment on his victory (prior to Orcollo’s good-natured interruption), was a glowing endorsement from Kiamco about Freezer’s Ice House, which Kiamco called “the best pool room in the country.”
Kiamco had won last year’s WCS 9-Ball Challenge, losing to Thorsten Hohmann in the hot seat match, but returning to double-dip him in the finals. He opted for the loss-side route in this year’s 10-Ball Challenge, as well. Following an 8-2 victory over John Hall to launch what would prove to be his winning campaign, Kiamco shut Aaron Morgan out, and then, in order, downed Alex Pagulayan 8-3, Corey Deuel 8-6, and Orcollo 8-4 to draw Al-Shaheen in one of the winners’ side semifinals. With a slightly less problematic series of draws, Shane McMinn got by Chris Baginski, George Teyechea, Abie Padilla, Tim Daniel and Bobby Emmons to reach Ruslan Chinakhov in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Al-Shaheen sent Kiamco to the loss side 8-3 and in the hot seat match, faced the somewhat improbable McMinn, who’d dispatched Chinakhov to the loss side 8-5. McMinn and Al-Shaheen fought a double hill hot seat match, which eventually sent McMinn to the semifinals and left Al-Shaheen in the hot seat.
On the loss side, this (and other) country’s best players still lurked going into the money rounds (17th through 24th), including (among others) Orcollo, Jeffrey De Luna, Eklent Kaci, Tony Chohan, Hohmann, Chip Compton, Brandon Shuff, Josh Roberts, Corey Deuel, and Zoren James Aranas, representing an average Fargo rating of 777 (Orcollo at the top with 805, and Shuff at the bottom, with 735). Joining this crowd at a point in time when only one of them (Orcollo) had advanced to the 5th/6th matchups, Kiamco (791) drew Max Eberle (739), who was on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently eliminated T-Rex (Chohan) 8-5 and Bobby Emmons 8-4. It was Chinakhov drawing Orcollo, who, following his defeat at the hands of Kiamco in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had defeated Compton (who’d just eliminated Josh Roberts) and De Luna, both 8-5.
Ranking high in the probability department, Kiamco and Orcollo advanced to a quarterfinal re-match; Kiamco 8-5 over Eberle and Orcollo 8-3 over Chinakhov. Kiamco and Orcollo came within a game of double hill in those quarterfinals, but Kiamco just did edge out in front to win it 8-6. He then finished a terrific run by McMinn, defeating him in the semifinals 8-5.
Kiamco took command of the final, single race to 13, early and often. He completed his run with a 13-5 victory over Al-Shaheen (who, as yet, has failed to secure a Fargo rating) that secured the West Coast Swing’s 10-Ball Challenge title.
This final event of the 2018 West Coast Swing featured nine of the 14 US players who have been named to the initial Mosconi Cup team. Five of them (Josh Roberts, Corey Deuel, Chris Robinson, Brandon Shuff and Chip Compton) made it into the money rounds (Billy Thorpe, Tyler Styer, Oscar Dominguez and Mitch Ellerman did not). Chip Compton finished in the tie for 9th place. The 2018 West Coast Swing clearly attracted the best (minus five, and a few more) US talents to the tables over the past two weeks; a circumstance that POVPool’s Busch hopes to duplicate as plans begin to coalesce around the 2019 West Coast Swing.
“It’s two weeks of brutal hard work, with 11 months of planning and promotion behind it,” said Busch, adding that this year’s event might not have been as successful as it was, were it not for the cooperation of the rooms that hosted the events – Family Billiards in San Francisco, California Billiards in Fremont, CA, and Freezer’s Ice House in Tempe, AZ.
“You don’t normally get that kind of cooperation between rooms,” Busch noted, “but (in this case) they all worked at helping to promote each other’s events in the Swing.”
Busch thanked the ownership and staff at all of the venues, in addition to title sponsor West State Billiards, Cohen Cues, Big Time Threads, KD Cues, Ariel Carmeli (AC) Cues, Tiger Products and JB Cases. The four cue representatives were all a part of the West Coast Swing's Cuemakers’ Showcase, held at two of the venues (California Billiards and Freezer’s Ice House), which garnered a “better than expected” interest and response from the players. Busch expects to announce plans for the 2019 West Coast, sometime in January.
The fourth season of the Diamond Pool Tour kicked off with new sponsors and a new format. The tournaments are now one big bracket with full Fargo races based on the higher rated player’s rating.
As expected, this led to top players being forced to bring their “A Game” each and every match as they were giving up huge spots to lower rated players. Even with those spots, the tournament came down to some of the top Fargo rated players in the event.
A prime example of the spot in this event was Nick De Leon’s first match against Joshua Murphy, 171 Fargo points led to De Leon giving up six games for a 10-4 race. He would be pushed to the hill by Murphy before scoring the 10-3 win. De Leon’s journey through the winner’s side didn’t get any easier with wins over “The voice of the Diamond Pool Tour” George Teyechea, Nick Cipiti, Gil Franco and Rick Armbrust to get to the hot-seat match.
De Leon’s hot-seat opponent also had a tough path to the hot-seat match, as Tom Dilorenzo (who still doesn’t think his game is better than 75% of his current speed) scored notable wins over Scott Chadwick, James Main, Todd Dilley and Kurt Siebels.
The hot-seat match saw De Leon forced to give DiLorenzo three racks for a 10-7 race. DiLorenzo has probably been playing pool longer than his opponent has been alive, and he gave De Leon all he could handle before De Leon came out on top of the match 10-6.
In the past six months, After dropping the match to De Leon on the winner’s side, Rick Armbrust had wins on the left side of the board over Bret Huth and Jason Sweet (with neither win taking advantage of any handicap). Armbrust finally fell to DiLorenzo 9-6 in the semi-final match.
After their hill-hill battle for the hot-seat, fans in attendance were expecting another great match, and they weren’t disappointed as the two players battled to another hill-hill score before De Leon pocketed the final 9-ball for first place.
The first stop on the 2017 G Cue Billiard Diamond Pool Tour introduced a new player to the tour’s winners circle, and welcomed a long time member back.
The new season introduced a new format to the tour stops, which are now divided into a Fargo 625 and below “amateur” event starting on Saturday, and an “open” event for anyone that starts on Sunday. The amateur event drew a field of 45 players to Bullshooters on May 27th, ranging from two players rated 401, all the way to a 621 rated player. With higher rated players giving up one game for every 25 points difference in ratings, the top players struggled in early matches against the lower rated players. Eight of thirteen first round matches were won by the lower rated player.
Sunday play saw Maurer beat Duarte 8-2, and Pelton beat Johnson 8-6. Maurer then went on to take the hot-seat with a 7-3 win over Pelton.
On the one loss side, Hillen eliminated Hamman and then went on to send Duarte back home in 5th place. The other half of the one loss side saw Ampongan defeat Avila 8-3, but then drop his next match to Johnson 8-7. Hillen then ended Johnson’s tourney in 4th place with a 4-3 scoreline. Hillen then joined Johnson in the seats, after Pelton handed him an 8-2 loss.
The finals were a rematch of the hot-seat match, but this one was pretty lopsided as Maurer ran away with a 7-0 win for first place.
As the field narrowed, the winner’s side came down to one top player and three amateurs with Gus Briseno joining Jeremy Vicente, Fernando Prats and Nick Kline as the only undefeated players. Where other players had struggled with giving up games to the weaker players, Briseno had no problems at all, as he went on to take the hot seat after a 9-0 win over Vicente and a 9-1 win over Prats.
The one loss side came down to Prats and Pete Lhotka. Lhotka had found himself on the one loss side after one match, but put together an impressive winning streak that included wins over Joey Barrera, Chad Barber, Chris Adams, Martin Romero (revenge for his earlier loss), Vicente and Kline. Lhotka looked to be adding Prats to his list of victims when the late hour and back to back matches appeared to get the better of him. Lhotka faded and lost the match to Prats 5-6.
The rematch offered Prats another shot at Briseno, and while he bettered his earlier score against Briseno, it was still to no avail. Briseno came out on fire and took an 8-0 lead before dropping two games to Prats. Briseno then regathered himself and put the match away 9-2 for first place.
The G Cue Diamond Pool Tour will hold their second stop of the season at Skip & Jan’s in Gilbert, Az on June 17th – 18th.
Brian Parks, a seasoned pool player and owner of Cue Ball Billiards in Bakersfield, Calif., went undefeated through a full field of 128 players to earn the title of champion of the 21st Jay Swanson Memorial 9-Ball Tournament.
On Cue Billiards in La Mesa, Calif. hosted the tournament Feb. 18-19, 2017. The popular memorial tournament, produced by CueSports International (CSI), is an annual tribute to Jay Swanson, a well-respected player in Southern California. He was a giant of a man, known for his quiet demeanor and silky, smooth stroke. Swanson passed away in June 1996. A few months later, the first Jay Swanson Memorial was organized by Mark Griffin, now CEO of CSI.
Parks has been playing since he was 16 years old. His FargoRate previous to playing in the Swanee was 704, just 16 points below what CSI determines to be professional caliber (FR 720).
Parks’ path to the championship started with a no-show forfeit over Anaquad Cobe of Los Angeles. Parks then posted wins over: Bill Meacham (FR 656) of Florence, Colo., 8-2; George Teyechea (FR 658) of Tucson, Ariz., 8-4; Chris Tate (FR 607) of Nipomo, Calif., 8-3; Rodney “The Rocket” Morris (FR 782) of Lincoln, Calif., 8-7; Mitch “Wonderboy” Ellerman (FR 742) of Phoenix, Ariz., 8-6; and the legendary Francisco “Django” Bustamante (FR 796) of Cerritos, Calif., (8-3) before meeting Oscar Dominguez (FR 769) of Sylmar, Calif. in the finals.
Dominguez’s path to the finals included wins over Salvador Laguna (FR 575) of San Marcos, Calif., 8-1; Vince Vidaurre, (FR 547) of San Diego, Calif., 8-1; Johnny Kang (FR 731) of Lake Forest, Calif., 8-5; Bob Yamasaki (FR 627) of Valencia, Calif., 8-3; and a forfeit from his father, Ernesto Dominguez (FR 733) of Sylmar, Calif. before losing to Bustamante, 1-8. But Dominguez was undeterred by the loss and continued his quest to the finals with wins over Morris, 7-5 and Ellerman, 7-4, before getting revenge against Bustamante in the semi-finals by a score of 7-5.
In the final match, which was a single race to 11, Dominguez jumped to an early 5-2 lead. Then Parks began fighting his way back, tying the score at 5-5 and then pulling ahead of Dominguez by a game. The players then traded games back and forth with Parks reaching the hill first, with the score at 10-8. But the alternate break format allowed Dominguez to break and run, making the score 10-9, before Parks would get back at the table.
Parks broke, made a ball and was faced with a difficult one–three combination into the corner pocket to start the rack. Parks made the combo, got perfect position on the one ball and ran out to earn the title of 2017 Swanee Champion and collect the $2,500 prize. Dominguez finished second and earned $1,500, while Bustamante received $900 for his third-place finish.
The event was live-streamed for free on the CueSports International Facebook page. Follow CueSports International on Facebook to receive notifications when CSI live streams matches.
CSI extends a big thanks to: On Cue Billiards owner Clyde Nooris and his staff for their hospitality; tournament director Amy Kane, who kept the event running in a smooth and timely manner; Mark Griffin; Steven Quan; George Teyechea; Ashi Fachler; and Chris Santana of Fast & Loose Designs.
The Diamond Pool Tour wrapped up their 2016 with a four-day season finale at Casino Del Sol Resort and Casino in Tucson on November 17th – 20th.
Day one of the event was about tour prizes and the “Big Dog” 9-Ball event. Casino Del Sol provided a great dinner for all of the players in attendance as Mitch Ellerman and Oscar Avila Sr. were presented with their tour point list prizes from tour sponsors Volturi Cases and Hanshew Custom Cues. Both players will also receive custom cues from tour sponsor QB Custom Cues. The drawing was also held for the pool table from tour sponsor Diamond Billiard Products. Players had earned entries in the drawing by playing in each event during the season. Proving that maybe he should be buying lottery tickets, Tucson’s Mike Hamman won the table drawing for the second straight year. Congrats to Mike, and good luck finding room for those tables.
Thursday night also saw eight players toss $100 into the ring to compete in a single elimination 10-ball mini tourney. Proving they had no fears about stepping up against the big boys, last year’s top junior Nick Kline and up and coming young gun Sam Lenschow both competed in this event. While neither won a match, it would be far from the last that the players would see of Lenschow at this event. The tourney came down to New Mexico’s Brian Begay and Gus Briseno. Briseno held an 8-6 lead in the final match, but Begay came back to score a 9-8 win for first place. Begay earned $800 for first, while Briseno settled for $400.
The main event kicked off early Friday evening with 48 players all playing at least one match across both “A” and “B” divisions.
Nineteen players made up the “A” bracket with the biggest Friday upset Mitch Ellerman’s early trip to the one loss side, courtesy of Brian Begay.
The “B” bracket saw twenty-nine players in action. The biggest surprise on day one wasn’t a result, as much as a score as JR Ascension scored a dominating 9-2 win over Junior Flores.
Saturday play saw each bracket whittled down to eight players each. The “A” bracket saw Scott Frost, Gus Briseno and Bret Huth joined by Tucson’s Kevin Peterson on the right side of the board. The one loss side was a dogfight all day, with Ellerman scoring wins over George Teyechea and Tom Dilorenzo to keep his tournament hopes alive. Begay bounced back from a 9-2 beatdown from Frost to eliminate Tonee Allin and qualify for the final day. Ellerman and Begay were joined by Mickey Provencio and Steve Peterman on the one loss side.
The “B” bracket saw Casino Del Sol’s own Paul Feltman Jr. cruise through the winner's side to stay undefeated. Feltman was joined on the winner’s side by Oscar Avila Sr., Todd Rowitz and Al Terpstra. The one loss side saw Sam Lenschow put on a show. Lenschow eked by Kent Bybee 9-8, but then defeated Mike Howerton 9-5 and Eric Beeler 9-6. Lenschow would be joined by JR Ascension, Adam Kroll and Steve Stowers.
Sunday play saw tournament favorite Scott Frost shown to the one loss side, courtesy of Brian Begay, 9-6. Peterson sent Bret Huth to the left side of the board by the same 9-6 score. Briseno would then go on to take the “A” bracket hot-seat with a 9-4 win over Peterson. Ellerman would be unstoppable on the left side with wins over Provencio, Frost, Huth and Peterson.
The “B” bracket hot-seat was taken by Feltman Jr. with wins over Avila and Rowitz. Lenschow would keep knocking down players on the left side of the board with wins over Terpstra and Stowers. He would finally fall to Todd Rowitz 9-5 and settle for a very impressive 5th place finish.
When the brackets came together, the “A” players did their jobs with Briseno sending Feltman to the left side 9-6, and Ellerman eliminating Rowitz 9-3. With the finish line in sight, Ellerman then sent Feltman Jr. back to his office with a 9-1 scoreline.
The final match would only go one set, with Briseno displaying his “A” game and grinding out a hill-hill win over Ellerman in the first set.
With the second season in the books, plans are underway for season three with changes already being planned. Stay tuned in early 2017 for announcements regarding those changes.
The Diamond Pool Tour returned to Pockets Billiards in Tucson on October 1st – 2nd, for stop #7, with a field of 43 players playing 9-Ball on the 9’ tables. Although the top Tucson players put up a fight, it was Mitch Ellerman turning in his third straight tour stop win.
The “A” bracket only held 14 players, and it was Ellerman and Tucson’s Chris Paradowski making their way through the winner’s bracket to meet up for the “A” bracket hot-seat. That match would go to Ellerman 9-6. Tim Daniel had lost his first match of the event, but scored an impressive run through the one loss side with dominating wins over AJ Jones, Tonee Allin, Jeff Webb and George Teyechea to face off with Paradowski in the semi-final match. Paradowski did the Tucson fans proud though, with a 9-6 win over Daniel.
The “B” bracket consisted of 29 players with the Tucson players showing that they were more than ready to take on Phoenix’s best. The “B” bracket hot-seat came down to two Tucsonians with Eric Beeler defeating John Polaski in a hard fought 9-7 match. On the one loss side, Manny Luevano was proving that his 9-2 loss to Jack Murray in the first round was just a fluke. Luevano then went on a seven match winning streak that included notable wins over Rick Schmitz, 2015 “B” player of the year Joey Barrera, 2016 “B” Player of the year candidate Oscar Avila Sr. and Polaski in the semi final match.
The 7th place finish by Avila was made possible by the come-back match of the weekend on Saturday night. Trailing Tim Christopher 8-2, Avila then proceeded to win seven straight games for the 9-8 win to earn him his spot in the Sunday bracket.
When the brackets came together, Ellerman made quick work of Beeler for the overall hot-seat 9-3. On the one loss side though, Luevano was having fun defeating Tucson players and he kept the string going with a 9-7 win over Paradowski. Luevano wasn’t even done then, as he went on to eliminate Beeler in third place 9-4. That left Luevano with the unenviable task of having to beat Ellerman twice in the finals. He put up a fight, but it was Ellerman winning the first set 9-5 for first place and his third straight win.
With the tournament win, Ellerman locked down the “A” player points list, with an insurmountable lead over Scott Frost. The “B” player points list sees Avila at the top, with a 115 point lead over Karloz Chavez. It would take a very high finish in the final stop of the year for Chavez to catch Avila on the list.
Tour staff expressed their thanks to Curtis Johnson and his staff for taking care of the players all weekend. Rick Schmitz once again proved why he is the best billiards photographer in Arizona, with a selection of great player shots.
The Diamond Pool Tour wasn’t done for the month though, as they held their final regular tour stop of the season three weeks later at Skip and Jan’s in Gilbert.
The Diamond Pool Tour returned to Kolby’s Corner Pocket in Tempe, Az on August 6th – 7th with a field of 46 players playing 8-Ball on the 9 foot tables. It may have taken a little longer than some fans had expected, but this event saw Mitch Ellerman’s first trip to the winner’s circle this season.
The first big surprise in the 15 player “A” bracket was seeing Scott Frost sent to the one loss side in the first round by 8-ball specialist Brian Begay 6-1. Begay then dropped his next match to Emilio Maestes, who then dropped his next match to Bobby Emmons. Emmons’ next match was for the “A” bracket hot-seat against Mitch Ellerman, and you guessed it, he dropped the match. Ellerman’s path to the hot-seat was paved with wins over Ben Hrabina, Brian Reich, George Teyechea and then Emmons. Frost would bounce back from the opening round loss to make day two, but his second match on Sunday was a rematch with Begay, that he dropped hill-hill. Emmons then defeated Begay hill-hill to earn his spot on the final bracket.
The 31 player “B” bracket was led by Junior Flores and Oscar Avila. Avila had wins over Bill McKnight, Todd Dilley, Karloz Chavez and Jack Ritonya on his way to the hot-seat match. Half of those wins were tough hill-hill victories. Flores had wins over Brady Williams, Ryan Franklin, Kurt Siebels and JR Ascension. Flores’ biggest win was 6-4, with three matches going hill-hill. The “B” bracket hot-seat would go to Avila, with a 6-3 scoreline over Flores. The loss to Avila may have lit a fire under Chavez, as he won five straight matches on the left side including a 6-2 win over Flores, to earn his spot on the final bracket.
When the brackets came together, it was Ellerman taking the final hot-seat with a 6-1 win over Avila. On the left side, Emmons made quick work of Chavez 6-2 and then eliminated Avila 6-1. The finals would go one set, with Emmons scoring a 6-3 win for first place.
The tournament win adds distance between Ellerman and Frost on the “A” players points list. Ellerman has now built a 155 point lead over Frost, who leads Bret Huth by 45 points for second place. Avila’s 3rd place finish tightens up the “B” player points list. Chavez’s lead over Avila is now 85 points, with Schmitz trailing by 25 points in third place.
Tour organizers thanked Kong Xian Gru and Brian Desantis (and their staff) for hosting another successful event. The wait staff always takes great care of the tour. “Fast” Lenny Marshall shared the event with everyone online and Rick Schmitz once again provided the tour with a batch of great pics.
The tour will be at Metro Sportz Bar on September 10th – 11th, playing barbox on the 7’ Diamond tables.
The Diamond Pool Tour returned to Tucson for their third stop of the season where 46 players played 10-ball on the 9’ tables at Pockets Pool & Pub on June 18th – 19th. This stop crowned its third different winner in as many stops, as “The Rocket” Rodney Morris ended his “2016 Arizona Tour” with a dominating tournament win.
The “A” player bracket only drew 13 players with Rodney Morris and George Teyechea the last two left standing on the right side of the board. Teyechea obviously picked up some pointers while hosting Rodney Morris all week, as he displayed his “A” game all day Saturday. Teyechea had wins over Bret Huth, Mike Hamman and Mitch Ellerman on Saturday, while Morris beat Eric Young, Gus Briseno and Brian Reich.
Sunday play in the “A” bracket saw Morris send Teyechea to the one loss side, and Ellerman get his revenge by defeating Briseno, Young and Teyechea.
The “B” bracket had 33 players and was dominated by Joe Guerra and Tonee Allin. Both players remained undefeated all day Saturday, never allowing an opponent to the hill against them. While Guerra and Allin were undefeated, special note has to be made about the play of two six rated players in the event. Chuck Bower won three matches on the winner’s side and was one win away from making it to Sunday undefeated. With Sunday being Father’s Day, Bower opted to bow out of his Sunday match to spend time with his family instead. Another six rated player, Jeff Lenschow, claimed he only played in the event for something to do while his son Sam played. The elder Lenschow would win two matches on the right side before being eliminated two spots out of the money. Both players showed a lot of heart and class all day on Saturday.
The “B” bracket saw Allin defeat Guerra on the winner’s side 7-3, while Jack Murray took advantage of the forfeit from Bower and then defeated Rick Schmitz 7-4. Guerra would bounce back from his loss to Allin and defeat Murray hill-hill to make the final four players.
When the brackets came together, it was Morris defeating Allin 7-1 and Ellerman handing Guerra a loss by the same 7-1 score. Allin fared better against Ellerman than he did against Morris, but still lost the match 7-3. The finals only went one set with Morris scoring a 7-2 win to cap off a week that included a win over Scott Frost in Bullshooter’s first Battle of the Bullpen and then an undefeated victory on the Diamond Tour.
After three events, Mitch Ellerman holds a slim lead over Gus Briseno on the “A” player points list, while Tonee Allin holds a dominating lead over Karloz Chavez on the “B” player points list. With Allin’s impending raise at the July 3rd ratings committee meeting, Chavez will ascend to the top spot of the list with Guerra close on his heels.
Tour organizers thanked Curtis and his amazing staff at Pockets for dealing with pool players all weekend, as well as Rick Schmitz for the great photos and “Fast” Lenny Marshall for another tireless weekend of streaming pool.
The Diamond Pool Tour will be back in action on July 16th – 17th for their first stop at Main Street Billiards in Mesa, Arizona. Sixteen beautiful 7’ Diamond pool tables at Main Street should bring out a great field of players for this BCA 8-Ball warm up event.
Pockets Pool & Pub in Tucson, Arizona was the site of the Diamond Pool Tour’s first “B” player hot-seat winner back in May. The September 10-ball event at Pockets was the site of the tour’s first “B” player forcing an “A” player to a second set in the finals. It was also one rack away from a second “B” player in the hot-seat.
The event, held on September 19th – 20th, drew a field of 45 players with 16 “A” players and 29 “B” players.
The “A” bracket saw Bernie Pettipiece grinding out one close win after another. Pettipiece started out with a 7-4 win over Gus Briseno and the matches just got tighter after that. Pettipiece’s last three matches – Nick De Leon, Bret Huth and Brian Reich – were won by a total margin of four games. Another player who stepped up in the “A” bracket at this event was Tres Kane. Kane had wins over Rudy Alameda and Jerry Stuckart, before dropping a hill-hill match to Reich. Kane would bounce right back with one loss side wins over Alameda, Bret Huth and Reich to earn his spot on the final bracket.
Tournament staff were warned ahead of time that the “B” players in Tucson played very strong. Those were not empty warnings. Tucson’s Ronnie Kidd III and Rick Galloway cruised through the winner’s side with only Kidd allowing one opponent more than four games against either of them. Kidd would take the hot-seat with a 7-2 win over Galloway, but Galloway would also qualify for the final bracket after a 7-2 win over Tonee Allin (Tuley).
The field of players boasted four female competitors, with Bernie Store quickly distancing herself from the others. Store’s 9th place finish earned her the Greenmail.com Top Lady Bonus of $100.
The two brackets came together on Sunday with Ronnie Kidd III taking Pettipiece to hill-hill in a tough match. Kidd stayed with Pettipiece til the end, before Pettipiece won the case game. On the one loss side, Rick Galloway showed that he had no fear of any of the “A” players as he dispatched Kane in 4th place 7-5. Galloway would ride the momentum from that win to a hill-hill win over Kidd in the semi-finals.
The final match was an intriguing one with both players more known for their one pocket games than their rotation games. As the match went on, both players were noticeably tired and opted for safeties instead of run-outs when faced with decisions at the table. Galloway would score a hill-hill win over Pettipiece in the first set of the finals, but Pettipiece would take control late in the second match and score a 7-4 win for his first Diamond Pool Tour win.
The Neil’s Garage Cabinets Second Chance Tournament on Sunday came down to two Tucson players as Mike Hamman defeated Aaron Purdy 3-1 for the hot-seat and 3-1 again in the finals.
Presenting Sponsor, Casino Del Sol Resort, provided vouchers for a two-for-one buffet to all players at the event.
With his fifth place finish, Brian Reich moves within 10 points of Bobby Emmons on the “A” player points list. Joey Barrera remains on top of the “B” players points list, but he can certainly hear the sounds of Nick Kline and Oscar Avila gaining ground on him. Nick Kline is having no such problems on the Junior Points List, as he is far in front of the rest of the competition.
Tour organizers thanked Curtis and his great staff for putting up with us for the weekend. Lenny Marshall put together another great stream and was assisted by “The Voice of the Diamond Pool Tour” George Teyechea on commentary. Rick Schmitz was also in attendance and provided the tour and players with more great pictures.
Due to delays in Skip & Jan’s reopening, the tour has postponed the stop that was scheduled for Skip & Jan’s until November. The Bullshooters stop that was scheduled for November has been moved up to October and will take place on Oct 3rd and 4th. The event will be 9-ball on the 9 foot tables.
