Tommy Kennedy and Anthony Meglino have been banging heads on Florida-based (and elsewhere) tours for years. They came together again during the sixth stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour, a $400-added event which drew 35 entrants to CM’s Place Billiards in Seminole, FL on Saturday, June 2. Their one and only match came in the battle for the hot seat, which Kennedy won to complete what turned out to be an undefeated run. They opted out of a final match, when Meglino came back from a win in the semifinals.
Kennedy, after an opening round bye (one of 28), opened his undefeated campaign with a shutout over Michael Esposito, and was then challenged, double hill, by Steve Knoll. Kennedy prevailed, advancing to defeat Trenton White 7-5 and faced another of his long-time opponents, Donnie Mills, in a winners’ side semifinal. Like Kennedy, Meglino was awarded an opening round bye and then shut out his first opponent (Jason Bowen). Meglino, though gave up only two racks over his next two matches (one each to Phillip Trader and Bobby Garza) to draw Mitch Keiser in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Kennedy downed Mills 7-4 and advanced to the hot seat match, where he was joined by Meglino, who’d sent Keiser to the loss side 7-3. Kennedy won what would prove to be their only matchup 7-3 and sat in the hot seat, awaiting the ‘split’ compromise they’d reach later.
On the loss side, Mills picked up Knoll, who, following his defeat at the hands of Kennedy, was in the midst of a four-match streak that included recent wins over Garza and Dale Stanley, both 5-2. Keiser drew James Roberts, who’d been defeated originally by Garza, and was in the midst of his own four-match streak that included wins over Trenton White 6-4 and Nathan Rose 5-3.
Mills and Knoll locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Mills to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Keiser, who’d defeated Roberts 5-3. Mills then defeated Keiser 5-2. Meglino, playing what proved to be the last match of the weekend, downed Mills 5-3. He and Kennedy agreed to the split (with smiles; see photo), leaving the undefeated Kennedy as the event’s official winner.
In addition to payouts for the top eight finishers, Trenton White took home $40 as the event’s top finishing junior player. White finished just out of the money in the tie for 9th place.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked Jesse Tetrault and his staff at CM’s Place, as well as Johnny Archer, who stopped by to say ‘hello.’ They also thanked sponsors Play The Games Clothing Co., Jacksonville Roofing USA, AZBilliards, and Kamui Tips. The next stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour (#7), scheduled for June 23-24, will be hosted by Boulevard Billiards in Ocala, FL.
Stroker’s Billiards and Sports Bar welcomed the Florida Pool Tour on it’s first stop of the season this weekend. Saturday’s Amateur 9-Ball event drew 71 entrants while Sunday’s Super 16 10-Ball event was pre-booked with a full field.
The Amateur 9-Ball event was stacked with talented pool players and lots of auction action. A recipe for excellent pool all weekend long. Quite a few new faces had breakout results during this event. Naples player Francisco Diaz, Top FL Lady Player Chris Fields, and Tampa local Mitchell Keiser.
In it’s new format, the Super 16 10-Ball Event would host a complete field to some of the best talent in the country. After placing 2nd in the Amateur, James Adams would look strong and hungry to snap off this event.
Top 8 Breakdown
James Adams after recently taking 3rd place in the Florida State Amateur 9-Ball Championships showed up to play this weekend. Posting wins over Amine Ouahbi 7-2, Javier Chirino “The Trophy Maker” 7-4, local player Dave Stem 7-4, a hill-hill thriller with Dan Marchini, and finally 7-4 over Rich Johnson would find himself battling Mitchell Keiser for the hotseat. Showing up to that match primed and hungry, Adams would put the set away at 7-3.
Mitchell Keiser would find a way to grind out wins over Mark Wathen 7-4, Michael Stack 7-2, before capturing a $25 bounty on Mike DeLawder besting him 7-5, survived a hill-hill thriller with Miami area player Felix Luna and find a groove against Naples, FL native Francisco Diaz all before falling to James Adams 7-3 allowing James to have the hotseat and awaiting Jason Sheerman on the westside of the chart.
Rich Johnson would have an impressive 5 rounds deep into the winner side. Winning over Jason Richko 7-3, David Uwate 7-5, Daniel Grider 7-4, and Jim Sandaler, all before falling to James Adams. Johnson would not complete another match as the winnder. Jason Sheerman would beat him in a hill-hill match and complete Rich’s weekend.
Upstart player from Naples, FL Francisco Diaz would show some promise and post wins over Lisa McElroy 7-2, Justin Gilsinan 7-4, Finnish player Antti Mattilla 7-4 before falling to Lady Player Chris Fields in a hill/hill thriller. Then falling to Mitchell Keiser7-5. Diaz would then choose to forfeit out of the tournament for unknown reasons.
Dan Marchini would win against Tony Rowells 7-2, Lee Holland 7-4, Allen Ellison 7-3, Dave Ross 7-3, before falling to James Adams in a hill/hill thriller. On the westside he would pick up George Saunders, but would not take the set, letting Saunders pass with a 5-0, securing 8th place.
George Saunders would put a string of wins together after losing to Dave Stem 7-1. On the one-loss side he would beat Luke Sutliffe 5-4, Mike Lear 5-2, Jim Sandaler 5-3, Dan Marchini 5-0, Francisco Diaz 5-0, before falling to Jason Sheerman 5-2, securing 4th place.
Felix Luna would risk a loss with a hill/hill thriller against Junior Player Trenton White, Jason Bowen 7-5, falling to Nathan Rose 7-4. On the one-loss side Luna would pick up Gary Gilsinan and squeak that one out, only to fall next to Jason Sheerman again hill/hill.
Jason Sheerman had a design that was all his own this weekend. He would lose to Nathan Rose in the second round and then went on to grind out 10 matches in a row to reach the one-loss side final against Mitchell Keiser. Sheerman would go on to beat Keiser and secure his first Amateur 9-Ball title in 5 years, and it just so happens it was at Stroker’s Palm Harbor that he claimed his first victory. Sweet homecoming for Sheerman indeed.
Super 16 Recap
James Adams had one thing on his mind this weekend and it showed, it was winning. James had a great run into the finals of the Amateur 9-Ball event and then proceeded to build a charge in the first Super 16 event.
For starters we have Adam Wheeler winning against Donny Mills in a hill/hill thriller. Then he would meet up with Raymond Linares who dispatched Mitch Breedlove 8-3. James Adams would have a hill/hill thriller with Mike DeLawder and wait for Han Berber who had just finished a winning set over Tony Crosby 8-6, an upset since Tony was on a 5-1 deficit. Would not have enough to complete the charge. Jason Richko would best Eddie Sharp 8-4 and wait for Tommy Kennedy to steamed rolled Tim Parisian 8-1. James Roberts would send room owner Jose Del Rio down the hard path 8-4 and wait for Nathan Rose who bested Jason Sheerman 8-6.
Now on the westside, we have Mills and Breedlove, with Donny winning 7-5. DeLawder would then win the set against Crosby 7-4. Tim Parisian would best Sharp 7-2 and Jose Del Rio would march on past Sheerman in a hill/hill thriller.
Back on the eastside, James Adams and Raymond Linares would square off for a chance at the hotseat. Linares would take his first loss in a hill/hill thriller. Adams would be in the second hotseat match in 2 days. On the lower half, Tommy Kennedy and James Roberts would battle for the hotseat, if you call it a battle. Kennedy runs away with the set 8-2.
Back on the one-loss side, DeLawder picks up Linares and Linares pushes through 7-5. Jose Del Rio picks up James Roberts and this time puts him away. Del Rio and Linares would fight for a chance to play and jump back over to the eastside.
Back on the winners side, Kennedy and Adams would square off in a close one. Adams wouldnt have enought to stop TK and would go west to meet up with the winner of the one-loss side hotseat. That would be Raymond Linares.
After some super slow play, Linares and Adams actually get put on the shot clock and turns would trade. With the pressure of the shot clock, uncharacteristic misses and nerve controlling runouts would put Linares and Adams hill/hill. In the middle of what would seem a routine runout, the sound of a miscue coming from Linares’ cue would resonate throughout the pool room as he left a 4 ball runout to Adams with ball in hand. Adams would finish the set and prepare to take on Kennedy in the final. This would be 2 tournaments in 2 days and 2 finals for Adams.
Now in the finals, Kennedy and Adams trade a couple of racks, with Kennedy expressing his creative side of the game. Creating angles and playing combos, this would put Kennedy up 4-1. Adams would fight back with pressured safeties and consistent shot making. At 6-6 Kennedy would pull away. In the early hours of Monday morning, 2 days of super solid play would seem to weigh heavy on Adams shoulders. Taking advantage of one too many mistakes by Adams, Kennedy would secure his first Super 16 Title of 2015 just before daybreak on the horizon.
The Florida Pool Tour would like to thank Jose Del Rio and the staff at Stroker’s Palm Harbor for the wonderful hospitality all weekend long. Combined with amazing restaurant quality food, you cannot find a place that can beat that. Stroker’s Palm Harbor has been an anchor stop on the Florida Pool Tour for years as well as the host location for the US Amateur Championships for the last 5 years. Give Jose and the family there a visit and see for yourself why this is perhaps one of the best pool rooms in the country.
Xtreme Pool Challenge came through with another amazing weekend of LIVE HD quality streaming. We want to thank Gary Patrick and crew for producing one of the best streams available and the best prices around. $5 for an entire weekend of fantastic HD coverage is by far a steal in this industry. By supporting Gary and XPC you are supporting the future of pool and the future of this pool tour.
Strokers in Palm Harbor, FL welcomed the Poison Pool Tour on June 30-July 2, along with a whole lot of lightning and rain. The amateur event drew 34 players and the Open even drew 19. Patrick Werren posed a threat to both tournaments by winning the Amateur event and taking 2nd in the Open event. Steve Knoll, Florida’s hard courier, decided to put his bricks down for one day and pick up his cue, just to let the young guys like Werren know that he still has what it takes. He won the Open event, defeating Werren in the finals.
In the Amateur event, Werren breezed through the winners' side like it was his job. Taking a first round bye, he posted wins over Rich Johnson 7-4, Chris Gentile (2011 FL State Amateur 9 Ball Champ) 7-4, Gary Gilsinan 7-4, and Marcus Shenandoah 7-2, before meeting Mark Wathen in the hot seat match. Wathen, looking like his usual, strong-playing self, started with a first round bye and then posted wins over Jason Bowen 7-6, Kyle Bova 7-5, Jose Del Rio 7-0, and JD 7-1. The two fought a double hill, hot seat thriller, in which Wathen prevailed
The battle for the west side hot seat was waged between Brett Lykins and Jarred Schlauch. Schlauch, losing to Tim Baron in the 3rd round, took that as motivation to post wins over Bowen 6-5, Jason Richko 6-3, Justin Gilsinian 6-1, Jose Del Rio 6-3, and Rich Johnson 6-4. Lykins took a loss to Johnson in the 2nd round and then fired off wins over Zoran Vidic 6-0, Dave Stem 6-4, Kyle Bova 6-4, Chris Gentile 6-4, Tim Baron 6-4, and JD 6-2.
Schlauch bested Brett Lykins in the quarterfinals 6-4, but had his five-match, loss-side streak snapped by Werren in the semifinals. Werren then took the opening set of the finals, forcing a single rack shootout to determine the Amateur event champion. Werren completed the double dip over Wathen to claim his first Poison Pool Tour Amateur 9-Ball title.
On Sunday, Werren's fortunes were reversed as he advanced to the hot seat, only to be taken down by Steve Knoll in the single-set/single rack finals. Following wins over Jose Del Rio 7-3 and Jon Wing 7-4, Werren met Knoll among the winners' side final eight, and sent him to the loss side, 7-5. In the battle for the hot seat, Werren faced Jason Richko, who arrived having defeated Donny Mills, double hill, Kyle Bova 7-5 and Tim Baron 7-3. Werren gained the hot seat with a 7-3 win over Richko and waited for the return of and rematch against Knoll.
On the west side, Knoll would pick up Kyle Bova who'd put up wins over Tony Crosby 6-5 and Chris Gentile 6-0. Knoll prevailed 6-1 over Bova to meet Paul Mullins in the quarterfinals. Mullins, who took a third round loss to Knoll, had put up wins over Michael Lear 6-2, Jarred Schlauch 6-3 and Tim Baron 6-3 to earn the quarterfinal re-match.
Knoll took that re-match 6-2 for a shot at the waiting Richko in the semifinals. As if trying to say that he doesn't mind not carrying bricks for a day. Knoll took Richko down 6-1 for a chance to deny Werren two straight event wins on the same tour stop.
Werren and Knoll fought to double hill in the opening set of the finals, but Knoll prevailed to force the second set, single-rack shootout. Knoll took a look at an early, but irresistible 2/10 combination, won the rack and claimed his first Poison Pool Tour Open 10-Ball title.
We would like to thank Strokers' room owner, Jose Del Rio, for the great venue and even better hospitality. The staff at the room were exceptional and the food. . . well, it is always something to talk about. Strokers in Palm Harbor will be the feature room for the U.S. Amateur Championship qualifiers and championship rounds.Thank you to Poison Billiards, for whom without this would not be possible. They work hard at improving billiards through technology and style.
Our next event will be held on the weekend of July 27-28 at Hammerheads in Holiday, FL, featuring Diamond tables. To keep in tune with our events go here – http://uspoisontour.com/ – to join our mailing list and 'Like' us on Facebook to get first-hand updates on the tour.
Park Avenue Billiards, Orange Park, Fl was the latest location to host the Poison Tour event, May 19th-20th 2012. The event drew a low but very strong 26 man field.
Local Matt Deweese would prove to be just too much for everybody on this occasion, making his way to the final with strong wins over Matt Wilson 7-6, Cal McGann 7-4, Jason Wells 7-0, Dave Pencar 7-1 and then a 7-0 white wash over Don (Iron Mike) Griffin to take the hotseat.
The one loss side would see Cal McGann looking strong after taking a 2nd round loss to Matt Deweese, McGann would go on to defeat Luke Collins 5-1, Dave Ross 5-1, Mike Delawder 5-1, Bobby Garza 5-4 Dave Pencar 5-1 and then Jason Bowen 5-0 to set up a semi final match with Don Griffin. With a place in the final at stake both players were making the most of their chances taking the match all the way with Don Griffin eventually coming out a 5-4 winner.
The final would see Griffin get his chance at revenge but Deweese had nothing else in mind but taking home the 1st place prize and the beautiful Glass Poison Tour Trophy. This match would prove to be a much tighter affair with both players trading racks early on, Deweese would however eventually end up taking it down with a strong 7-5 win. Congrats to Matt Deweese for taking his first Poison tour title.
The 10-ball event drew 21 players with another home town player Dave Grossman proving to be too strong, as he made his way to the hotseat match with strong wins over Ramel Brown 7-4, Warren Sandifer 7-6, Don (Iron Mike) Griffin 7-3, Tom Mittnight 7-6 and then a strong 7-3 win over Tony Crosby to capture the hotseat.
On the one loss side Stoney Stone was looking very dangerous after taking a 7-3 loss to Tony Crosby, Stone would go on to defeat Ramel Brown 6-5, Jason Bowen 6-4, Matt Deweese 6-3, Tom Mittnight and then Tony Crosby 6-4. Grossman was not feeling great after a couple of hours hanging around and with the time approaching 1am both Players agreed to do a split. Grossman however would be the undefeated player on the day.
We would like to say a big thank you to Park Avenue Billiards and our title sponsors Poison Cues. We also have just announced a one day $1000 added amateur event only, at Stoker’s Billiards Palm Harbor Fl, 16th June. Check out our new site at www.poisonpooltour.com for more info.
Zingales Billiards hosted the latest Poison Tour event with 75 players showing up over the weekend.
Saturday’s event would see some players dodging a few tornados with the weather conditions in Fl taking a turn for the worst. One man was making his own storm in the pool room would be Chad Royal.
Royal would cruise his way to the hotseat with strong wins over Clint Nichols 7-2, Michael Zingale 7-3, Jason Moran 7-4, Jason Bowen 7-5 and then a strong win over Robert Van Slyke 7-4 to capture the hotseat. Nick Applebee was looking dangerous on the one loss side after taking a first round loss to Howie Gordon he would record strong wins over Lee Caldwell 5-2, Jakie Bell 5-0, Duane Bourgeoix 5-3, Michael Zingale 5-0, Jacob Pressacco 5-4, Mark Shimelman 5-3 before taking his 2nd loss on the day to Jason Bowen 5-3 to leave Applebee with a 5th place finish. Bowen would then go on to receive a forfeit over Howie Gordon which he followed up with a strong 5-1 win over Robert Van Slyke to set up a rematch final with Chad Royal. Royal had one thing in mind and that was the winners crown as he played a very strong final to beat Jason Bowen 7-2 to take his first Poison Amateur tour title.
Congratulation to 9th-12th place finishers Jacob Pressacco, Denny Singletary, Kurt Hardeman and Clint Nichols all received a paid entry into Sundays open event.
The $1000 Added open 10-ball event would a draw a full 32 man field. Cliff Joyner made his way to the hotseat with strong wins over James Roberts 7-2, Lamarr Daughtry 7-5, Brandon Beatty 7-3, Stoney Stone 7-2 and then David Hennessy 7-2 to capture the hosteat.
Home town boy Stoney Stone would prove why he is a local favorite by making his way back through the field with wins over Tracie Majors 5-1, Jason Bowen 5-2 and then a 5-3 win over David Hennessy to set up a final with Cliff Joyner. Stoney would have to defeat Joyner in a race to 7 to force a 1 rack sudden death shoot out and he did just that, taking the first race to 7 with a strong 7-2 win.
The 1 rack shootout would see Joyner win the lag and take the break this would be his last shot as scratch would give ball in had to Stoney and that all he needed to run out the balls to take down the Poison Tour title.
The tour would like to thank room owner Michael Zingale and his staff for hosting a great event, also all the players that showed up over the weekend with such tough weather conditions. Also Poison Cues our Title Sponsors for supplying the best cues on the market.
Our next event will be at Capone’s March 31st-April 1st, we look forward to seeing you there.
110 players show up for the Poison Tour event at Cuephoria in Winter Park Orlando Fl, 2-18-12.
64 players showed up for the Saturdays Amateur event, Jon Wing would be the man to beat as he made his way to the finals with some very strong wins over Walter Blacker 7-4, Jeff Mabry, 7-4, Jarred Schlauch 7-5, Larry Harvey 7-5, Ali Sohali 7-3 and then a bruising win over big money Jason Richko 7-2 to win the hotseat.
The one loss side would see George Saunders make a big push, after taking a 7-4 loss to Jason Bowen he would go onto record wins over Richard Knight 5-2, Kevin Paquette 5-2, Ted Lepak 5-4, Chip Dickerson 5-3, Ali Sohali 5-0 and then a 5-3 win over Jeannie Seaver to set up a semi final match with Jason Richko, Richko would put an end to his run with a hard fought 5-4 win to leave Saunders in 3rd.
The final would see Jon Wing fly out the gates and take the first 5 racks, just when it looked like it was all over Richko took his first rack and then broke and ran the next 3 to close to 5-4 the next 3 racks were traded but this was all Wing needed to take his first Poison Title with a 7-5 win. Congrats to Larry Giles, Richard Murray, Mike Delawder and Kevin Paquette for finishing 13th-16th place they received paid entry into Sundays event also Cassidy Mulligan received $50 for top female finisher.
The 10-Ball open event would draw in 46 players with Corey Deuel proving he is the man to beat at any event. Deuel made his way through to the hotseat swiftly with strong wins over John Filax 6-3, Tony Crosby 6-3, Chris Fields 6-0, Mike Delawder 6-3 and then a hard fought win over George Saunders 6-5 to reach the hotseat to face Tim Parisian. Parisian made his way through with some hard fought wins over Richard Knight 6-3, John Souders 6-2, Rich Schau 6-4 and then Nick Applebee to set up his match with Deuel. The hotseat match was one way Traffic with Deuel running out a 7-1 win. While all this was going on Tony Crosby was making a push on the one loss side with wins over Michael Hopponen 5-3, Charles Valenciana 5-1, Jeff Mabry 5-1, John Souders 5-1, Jeannie Seaver 5-4, Paul Mullins 5-2, Nick Applebee 5-3, Rich Scahu 5-0 and then a 5-1 win over Tim Parisian to set up a rematch with Deuel. Crosby would go onto beat Deuel 7-3 to force a sudden death one rack shootout. Deuel would win the one rack shootout showing his creative side making a clever 2-10 carom to take back to back titles on the poison tour.
The tour would like to thank Faheem Zia and his Cuephoria staff for hosting a great event, the tour and its players enjoyed this new non smoking pool room. Also Predator by poison our title sponsors. Check out www.uspoisontour.com for tour info and dates.
Jason Richko and Jake Jacobson battled twice on the Tiger Classic Tour stop on Saturday, February 4, with Richko coming out on top in both the hot seat match and finals. The $300-added event drew 21 entrants to Side Pockets in Seminole, FL.
From among the winners’ side final four, Richko sent Jason Bowen west 7-2, as Jacobson was busy sending Mark Wathen over 7-4. In their first of two, Richko prevailed 7-4 to sit in the hot seat, awaiting Jacobson’s return.
Bowen and Wathen had single-match journeys on the loss-side. Bowen picked up David Eytcheson, who’d defeated Casey Merrell, double hill and Graham Hawkins 7-4 to reach him. Wathen drew Jon Wing, who’d gotten by Joe Lynch 7-4 and Art Semen 7-5 (Semen had previously defeated top female finisher, Melissa Morlan 7-5). Eytcheson and Wing advanced to the quarterfinals; Eytcheson with a double hill win over Bowen and Wing with a 7-5 victory over Wathen.
It was Eytcheson advancing to the semifinals, with a commanding 7-2 victory over Wing. Jacobson, though, put a stop to Eytcheson’s loss-side winning streak with a 7-4 victory that gave him a second shot against Richko. Jacobson got a rack closer in the finals than he had in the hot seat match, but Richko prevailed 7-5 to capture the event title.
Stroker’s Billiards Palm Harbor Fl, was the host location for the Poison Tour Season Opener 1-28-2012.
The $1000 Added Amateur event would kick off Saturday with 56 players showing up which included 7 ladies taking advantage of the $20 entry. The Tampa Bay area is known for being a very strong pool playing community and this one would prove it to be correct as 5 players in the last 6 all play regularly at Stroker’s pool room.
Room owner Jose Del Rio was looking strong in the event making his way to the hoseat match with some strong wins over Master table mechanic Wes Burden 7-4, Jeanie Seaver 7-5, Sascha Kauper 7-4 and then Jason Bowen 7-5. Mike Monosky would be his opponent as he made his way there with strong wins over John Donnelly 7-5, Sherry Sandaler 7-5, Julio Del Pozo 7-4, Dan Whitten 7-2 and then Art Seaman 7-5. The hotseat match would go in favor of Mike Monosky as he grinded out a strong 7-5 win. While all this was going on big money Jason Richko who had taken a 7-6 loss to journey man Art Seaman would go on to win 6 straight wins to before losing a hard fought match to Jason Bowne 5-4 to end up in 4th place. Bowen would then take down room owner Jose Del Rio leaving him in 3rd place and put himself in the final to play Monsosky.
The Final was all Bowen as he cruised through the set with a 7-2 win to set up a 1 rack sudden death Shoot out. The one rack shoot out is always a nervy affair and this one would be no different Monosky would run the balls to the 6 only to miss, Bowen would hold his nerve and run the last 4 to take his first Poison Tour Title. Congrats to Kira Brown who mad top lady player and received $50
Corey Deuel would be the man to beat as he made his way to the hotseat with wins over Carrie Moxley 7-3, Richard Knight 7-5, Tim Parisian 7-4, Tony Crosby 7-1 and then a hotseat win over Mike Davis 7-5. On the one loss side Jason Richko would go down to Trevor Braymore 5-2 and Jose Del Rio would go down to James Roberts 5-0 to leave them in 7th-8th place. Louis Altes would then beat Braymore and Tony Crosby would take Down Roberts to leave them in 5th-6th place. Crosby would then go onto beat Louis Altes 6-1 leaving him in 4th, Mike Davis would end the run for Crosby with a 6-3 win to give him a revenge final match with Deuel.
The Final would be a tight affair with both Players trading racks but Deuel would come out on top with a strong 7-5 win and the first 10-Ball title on the Poison Tour.
The Tour would like to thank Stroker’s Pool room and its staff for hosting another great event. We would also like to thank Poison Cues our title sponsor for supplying the best cues on the market.
The next event will be at Cuephoria Billiards Café, Winter Park (Orlando) Fl, February 18th-19th 2012 this should be a great event in a brand new room. We look forward to seeing you there.
