Ronnie Wiseman, Ray Hansen, Bogies Owner Cody Parish and Nick Varner
Thirty one players came from all over the country to Bogies Billiards & Sports Bar in Houston, TX for the 7th Annual Senior One Pocket Championship.
My favorite tournament of the year, I couldn’t wait to see my longtime friends. “Tall Jeff” Sparks stopped by on the first day as well as Keith Thompson, the 1970 Johnston City All-Around champ. Texas legend, Jerry Prado, was supposed to play in the tournament but had car trouble – he showed up for the last two days to see everyone anyway.
My friends Linda Martin, Samm Rubin, LoreeJon Ogonowski-Brown, Julie Mason-Comitini, Chris Fields, Kelly Isaac were there as well as Phil Windham, Carl Honey, Big Tyme’s Jim Henry, Todd Comitini, Bogie’s House Pro Roberto Gomez and Alex Calderon. The Taiwan contingent including Cheng Yu-hsuan (“Kevin Cheng”) and Chang Jung-lin was also in town making a pit stop before heading to Atlantic City for the US Open Pool Championship. There was even a little ten ball action between Roberto and Alex and a couple of the Taiwanese players after the finals on Sunday night.
Presented by PoolActionTV, Bogies Billiards, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore, owner Cody Parish & Manager John Rizzo welcomed players such as BCA and One Pocket Hall of Famer Nick Varner, James Christopher (“The Sniper”), Moises Pouncey (“Gabby”), Scott Kitto, Ronnie Wiseman (“Wise Guy”), “Jumpin’ Sammy Jones, Erman Bullard, “Tyler Bob” Valliere, Joey Aguzin (“Joey A”) and Robert Newkirk (“Newk”) to the fray.
Among several first time players were Perfect Pocketz’ Mark Gregory (“Mags”) and “Colonel Bille” Miller as well as the returning northern California contingent – Bob Beaulieu, Ed Neves, Lee Wallick and Al Markasky. Warren Ruth, Tad Sowa, Larry Landsman, Mark Dimmick, Jim McCary, Ronn Rutan, Gary Urinowski, Kent Berthelot, Bob Hayes, Wayne Catledge, Mike Hoyt, James Christensen and Louis Vickio rounded out the field.
The $3,000 added double elimination event had a $200 entry fee with races to 4/3 and alternate breaks. The player auction was pretty healthy with Wiseman going as the first blind bid and Varner the second. The auction was followed by the players meeting, the draw and one round of play.
Shaking off the rust and slicing through the top part of the bracket was Perfect Pocketz’ Mark Gregory. “Mags” is better known today for his beautiful restorations of the classic Brunswick Centennial and Anniversary tables as well as perhaps the best table mechanic on the planet. Mark sent both Al Markasky and Ronn Rutan west with identical 4-1 scores and skunked Warren Ruth 4-0.
Plowing through the other part of the bracket was Iowa native Scott Kitto – also known as “911.” Along with Mark Wilson and Jeff Carter, the trio dominated pool in the Midwest in the eighties. Scott blitzed both Gary Urinoski and Larry Landsman 4-zip and “Joey A” 4-2 before running into Gregory. Gregory made short work of Kitto – score 4-1. Scott headed for the scenic route while Mark locked up his seat in the hot seat match.
On a collision course in the upper part of the bottom bracket was the “Kentucky Colonel,” Nick Varner and Ronnie Wiseman. Player of the Year in 1980, 1982, 1989, 1994 and 1999, Nick is one of the best all-around players of all time with over one hundred career titles beginning with ACUI Collegiate National Championships (representing Purdue University) in 1969 and 1970, as well as back to back US Open Nine Ball titles. Nick has also won world titles in nine ball, eight ball, straight pool, one pocket and bank pool and has represented Team USA eight times at the Mosconi Cup – four times as the team captain.
Originally from Windsor, ON, Ronnie Wiseman made his debut at this event. Although Ronnie played in tournaments here and there – even winning a few including the 2005 Reno Open, the “Wise Guy” is considered to be one of the smartest – if not THE smartest – action guys in the pool biz.
Nick blitzed both Ed Neves and Sammy Jones 4-0 while Ronnie toasted “J-Tom Pilot” 4-1 and skunked “Colonel Bille” 4-0. In a match that was closer than the score indicated, Ronnie sent Nick west 4-2. His next match was Moises Pouncey – the legendary player with a silky stroke. He was tagged “Gabby” early in his career for standing like a statue – never saying a word. Gabby mowed down “Newk” 4-0 and edged out Mark Dimmick 4-3. His next match was Jim McCary – score 4-2. Ronnie then made short work of Gabby 4-1 and met Gregory in the hot seat match.
Mark took the first two games over Ronnie and was on his way to winning game three when he picked out two different shots out of the stack, fired them in and ended up frozen to another ball in both cases with no shot. Ronnie clawed his way back and won four in a row over his frustrated opponent and locked up his seat in the finals. Mark headed to the one loss side to await an opponent.
After losing his second match, Sammy Jones battled his former running mate, James Christopher, and escaped with a 3-2 win. He then ran through both Warren Ruth and Mark Dimmick 3-0 before running into Gabby. That one went down to the wire also and Gabby survived with a 3-2 win. Varner spanked both Ronn Rutan and Jim Tomassoni 3-0 and then outlasted Kitto in an eight hour marathon 3-2.
Returning the following day at noon, Nick ground out a 3-1 victory over Gabby. He finished in fourth place. Next up was Mark Gregory – he went down with a 3-0 pounding. Mark finished in third place.
Since this tournament was double elimination, Nick had to defeat Ronnie twice to win the event. This title has eluded Varner for the past few years and he wanted it badly but it was not to be. Wiseman moved out quickly winning the first two games. Back to the grind, Nick managed to take the next two and tie it up.2-2! Bearing down, Ronnie won the next and was on the hill. Methodically making one ball at a time, Nick stayed in the game – keeping it close. It looked like he was going to tie it up and then he scratched! Wiseman, needing one, leaped out of his chair and got down on the spot shot. He stood up and then got back down and rifled it in! Boom! And we had a new champion!
Congratulations to Ronnie for snapping off the title on his first attempt with his beautiful Steve Lomax custom cue! Great effort, Nick!
Once again, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Bogies owner Cody Parish, Manager John Rizzo and their staff for making all of us feel so welcome.
We’d also like to thank our great fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Aramith, Hanshew Jump Cues, Bogies Billiards, Lomax Custom Cues, Simonis, Diveney Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the One Pocket Champion Challenge featuring Tony Chohan and Alex Pagulayan with $100,000 plus in the middle! Hosted by Buffalo’s Billiards in Jefferson, LA, the dates are October 19th-22nd. Hope to see you there!
Owners Jim Landrum and Randy Hanson welcomed hundreds of pool players, fans and cuemakers to Big Dog Billiards in Des Moines, IA this past week to show their stuff at their Seventh Annual Midwest Billiards & Cue Expo.
Presented by Diveney Cues, Big Dog Billiards and PoolActionTV.com, the $18,000 added event featured a One Pocket Championship, a Nine Ball Championship (played on nine foot tables), a Bar Table Nine Ball Championship and a Banks Ring Game – something for everybody!
This year’s event kicked off on Wednesday with the $5,000 added One Pocket Championship. Eleven players paid a $500 entry to compete in this race to four, alternate break double elimination event. Following the players auction and draw, play began.
Coming off his big win over One Pocket Hall of Famer Scott Frost last week, Fedor Gorst shot out of the gate with decisive wins over the current Iron City One Pocket champ, Josh Roberts, (4-1) and this year’s Music City Open Nine Ball champ, “Champagne Shane” Wolford (4-0). Warren Kiamco also defeated Sergio Rivas and Pedro Botta by identical scores of 4-2.
Undeniably the hottest one pocket player this year with victories at the Southeastern Triple Crown, the US Open andBuffalo’s Pro Classic One Pocket championships, Tony Chohan methodically dismantled Winter Classic One Pocket champ Roberto Gomez 4-3. George Walters and the red-hot Gorst were Tony’s next victims – both with scores of 4-2. On to the hot seat match he went!
After securing a first round bye, Sky Woodward blistered his next two opponents 4-0. Corey Deuel and Warren Kiamco both headed to the one loss side. He joined Chohan to await the hot seat match.
Over on the west side of the chart, Roberts edged out Deuel and Gomez 4-3 before being skunked by Gorst. Rivas outlasted Walters 4-3 and Wolford 4-2 before being eliminated Kiamco.
And now, the hot seat match! Woodward and Chohan both fought hard and it went down to the wire – 4-3. Sky sent Tony west to await an opponent.
Struggling to survive, Gorst and Kiamco battled it out to for the chance to move on and play Chohan. The Russian proved to be too much for The Warrior to overcome. Fedor won the match 4-2 leaving Warren with a fourth place finish.
Fighting to get to the finals, this one was a real nailbiter but when it was all over, Tony squeaked out the win 4-3. Fedor finished in third place.
As this was true double elimination, Chohan would have to beat the undefeated Woodward twice to claim the title. Grinding it out, Tony won the first set 4-3. One more set for it all!
Although Sky was a tough customer, Tony showed why he is the one pocket king claiming the match and the title 4-2!
Congratulations to both Tony and Sky for a well-played event!
Thanks again to both Jim and Randy for hosting this event as well as their excellent staff for taking care of all the players and fans.
We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Ray Hansen and his able assistant, Jason Hill, for an excellent job. Thanks go out to our topnotch commentators – Larry Schwartz, John Henderson, Josh Roberts, Corey Deuel and Ray Hansen.
In addition, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank our fans and sponsors. They include JB Cases, CR’s Sports Bar, Hanshew Jump Cues, EnvironmentalAssessments.com, Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diveney Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore.
There’s plenty more pool to come! So don’t go far!!!
All year long, one pocket aficionados look forward to the biggest tournament of the year!
Held in Jefferson, LA, a suburb of New Orleans, players and fans streamed into James Leone’s Buffalo’s on Bloomfield for the Seventh Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic. Local sponsors for this year’s event – Buffalo’s, PoolActionTV, Lomax Custom Cues, Joseph P. Long, Aramith, ART CO, Diamond Billiards and Fort Worth Billiards – added a total of $26,000! $20,000 was added to the Pro One Pocket, $5,000 to the Open Nine Ball and $1,000 to the One Ball One Pocket.
Some of the best one pocket players came to play including Buffalo’s house pro, defending champ and current US Open One Pocket and Midwest Open One Pocket champ Tony Chohan.He was joined by current Scotty Townsend Memorial One Pocket champ Alex Pagulayan, current Iron City One Pocket champ Josh Roberts, this year’s Derby City One Pocket and Master of the Table Fedor Gorst, last week’s Big Tyme Classic One Pocket Champ Robert Frost and last year’s One Ball One Pocket king John Morra.
Billy Thorpe and Robbie Langford
Wednesday night kicked off with the 32 player One Ball One Pocket tournament. Posting a $200 entry fee, the format was single elimination with races to four. Including the players auction, there was a total purse of $21,430!
Two-time Derby City Classic One Pocket champion, Billy Thorpe, plowed through the field on his way to the finals leaving Shane Winters, Hunter White, Josh Roberts and John Morra in his wake. The always tough Robbie Langford beat Kenny Nguyen, Mike DeLawder, Ike Runnels and Evan Lunda to get there. The final match was all Billy as he smoked Robbie 4-0 to claim the title. Congratulations, Billy! Good tournament, Robbie!
The following evening, the $2,000 entry fee double elimination one pocket event began with a rousing player auction and was followed by the players meeting and draw. Twenty eight players racing to five and competing for a record $228,600 total purse! WOW!!!
Play began with Corey Deuel edging out Justin Hall 5-4 while Fedor Gorst skunked Sky Woodward 5-0. Ike Runnels had Danny Smith down 4-0 but ended up losing the match 5-4! Josh Roberts outmoved Roberto Gomez 5-1 and Billy Thorpe escaped with a 5-4 win over Robert Frost as did Scott Frost over Alex Calderon by the same score. Chip Compton got off to a great start as he defeated Warren Kiamco 5-1.
Gorst won over Deuel 5-4, Evan Lunda spanked Earl Strickland 5-0 and Chohan beat Smith 5-3. Jeremy Seaman skunked Omar Al Shaheen 5-0 and Thorpe dusted Compton 5-2. Frost had Alex Pagulayan 3-0 and watched his opponent win five in a row to claim the match.
Fedor and Evan went down to the wire with Gorst claiming the win while Tony breezed past Jeremy 5-0. Billy started out strong against the Lion but he went down 5-2.
Down to four on the winners side, Chohan battled Gorst to a 5-3 win while Roberts kept Pagulayan off the board with a 5-0 score. Tony and Josh moved to the hot seat match where Chohan sent Roberts west to await an opponent – score 5-1.
After losing to Gorst in the third round, Lunda defeated Mike DeLawder 5-1 and Compton 5-3. Moving into his match with Pagulayan, he hung tough but Alex pulled out the win 5-4.
Calderon had a tougher road. After losing his first match, he beat Deuel 5-1, Strickland 5-2, Hunter White 5-4 and Thorpe 5-3. He went down to the case game with Gorst but was eliminated 5-4.
This set up the match between Fedor and Alex Pagulayan. A man on a mission, he defeated Gorst 5-1 and then Josh Roberts 5-2. And to the finals he went!!!
Since this was true double elimination, Alex would have to beat Tony Chohan both sets to claim the title. With tens of thousands of dollars on the line, both players put their heads down and played their hearts out.
Alex won the first two games and then Tony won three in a row. Tied again at 4-4, you could’ve heard a pin drop in the arena. Nerves got them both as they both missed makeable balls but this one is finally in the books! Tony Chohan successfully defended his title!
Alex Pagulayan and Tony Chohan
Congratulations, Tony! Great tournament, Alex!
While the Pro One Pocket was in progress, 115 players filled the house on Saturday night to play in the Open Nine Ball event. Familiar faces such as defending champ Warren Kiamco, Sky Woodward, Roberto Gomez, Corey Deuel, Omar Al Shaheen, Justin Hall, Chip Compton, Charlie Bryant, Chris Reinhold, James Baraks, Richie Richeson, Robb Saez, Shane Winters, Jeremy Seaman, Sergio Rivas, Mike DeLawder, Justin Espinosa, Joey Aguzin, Derek Fontenet, Robert Frost and Kristina Tkach joined the fray.
Played on seven foot Diamonds, players paid $100 to play in this double elimination portion of the event. The format was rack your own, alternate breaks with races to seven until down to the final sixteen players. At that point, it was single elimination – races to nine.
Omar Al Shaheen and Jeremy Seaman tied for third place. James Baraks moved into the finals to face Sky Woodward.
The finals were neck and neck until the very end! Sky won the match 9-8!!! Congratulations, Sky!! Good tournament, James!
It was a helluva week! Great pool everywhere you looked! Once again, PoolActionTV would like to thank James Leone and his staff for going the extra mile as they took care of all the players and fans.
We’d like to thank Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing a great job running the show – always with a smile on his face!
Last but not least, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors. They include ART CO, JB Cases, CR’s Sports Bar, Hanshew Jump Cues, EnviroAssessments, Lomax Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore.
Our next stop is Leisure Time Billiards & Sports Bar in East Moline, IL for the $16,000 added Bar Box Classic featuring three divisions – Ten Ball, Eight Ball and One Pocket. Dates are June 1st-5th – hope to see you there!
Kristina Tkach, April Larson, Sofia Mast and Ming Ng
The Ninth Annual $14,000 added Big Tyme Classic was held over the last few days in Spring, TX – a suburb of Houston. Players and fans were treated to topnotch one pocket in addition to the open nine ball and ladies nine ball events.
Hosted by owners Billy Sharp, Mark Avery and Jim Henry, the local sponsors were Star City Amusements and Jim Stinson of AM, Inc.
The festivities kicked off on Thursday with the One Pocket Championship. Thirty players put up a $250 entry fee to play in this double elimination event. The format was races to 4/3 with the finals to be one extended race to five.
After the players auction, a players meeting was held, the brackets were posted and the matches started.
First round saw two of the heavyweights score knockouts! Robert Frost was defeated by Chip Compton while Alex Calderon fell victim to Fedor Gorst.
Tony Chohan and Josh Roberts met in the second round – Josh prevailed. Compton advanced after a battle with Charlie Bryant as did Gorst over Tommy Tokoph.
Compton then mowed down both Ernesto Bayaua and Roberts while Gorst continued his winning ways over Warren Kiamco and Ray Lopez.
Finally meeting in the hot seat match, Fedor locked up his seat in the finals and sent Chip west to await an opponent.
After losing their first round matches, Calderon and Frost were dismantling their opponents left and right! Alex defeated Bernard Walker, Kenny Price, Charlie Bryant, James Baraks, Warren Kiamco and Josh Roberts until he met up with Frost. In the lower portion of the chart, Robert defeated Darryl Amos, John Infante, Tommy Tokoph, Jake Weaver, Raed Shabib and Ray Lopez.
Locked in battle, Alex and Robert both fought hard but it was Frost who took it down leaving Calderon in fourth place.
In dead punch and playing great, Robert’s next victim was Chip Compton. Chip finished with a third place finish.
As previously mentioned, the finals were one extended race to five. Robert won the first game and the second game went down to the case ball. Robert won that one and then the third game. Then the unexpected happened! Since both Fedor and Robert were still in the Nine Ball, they had to halt the finals and go play their matches!
After several hours, play resumed and Fedor finally won a game – score 3-1. Gorst’s hopes to tighten up the match faded as Frost took the fifth game to make it 4-1. Not rolling over yet, Gorst clawed his way back to take the next two games! Score now 4-3! And then, 4-4! WOW! One game for it all!
Robert moved out to a 5-1 lead in the case game. Soon, the balls were all moved up table. Fedor banked a shot and left it deep in his hole. Robert gave him the ball making it 5-2. Two shots later, he made one for himself and then banked in another. Frost was on the hill – 7-2! With no reasonable safety options, Fedor was forced to bank towards his hole and left Robert a semi-tough shot at his pocket. Swish! Nothing but net! Robert Frost takes down his first major one pocket title leaving Fedor Gorst with a well-deserved runner-up finish!!!
What a match!!! After losing his first match, Robert won nine in a row to win the tournament! Congratulations, Robert!
The Open Nine Ball had started on Friday night with 136 players paying an $80 entry fee. Using a Magic Rack with the nine racked on the spot, players broke from the box. Played on seven foot Diamonds, the format was double elimination, races to 10/8, alternate breaks, three foul rule in effect – the nine didn’t count in the bottom two pockets.
In the top portion of the bracket, Justin Espinosa and Alex Calderon met in the third round with Alex sending Justin packing. Tony Chohan and Andy Jethwa collided in the fourth round – Andy was defeated and headed west. Warren Kiamco tore through his first four opponents until Calderon cut him off at the pass.
At the bottom of the bracket, Tommy Tokoph and Robert Frost defeated their first three opponents. They met in the fourth round with Frost notching the win. James Baraks and Kristina Tkach also won their first three matches – James put an end to Kristina’s march and sent her to the one loss side. Baraks and Frost duked it out in the next round – James prevailed. Meanwhile, Sergio Rivas and Charlie Bryant won their first four matches. Charlie beat Sergio when they also met in the fifth round.
Now down to four on the winners side, Calderon defeated Kiamco and Baraks took care of Bryant. Playing for the hot seat, James defeated Calderon and locked up his seat in the finals. Alex headed west to await an opponent.
Over on the one loss side, Rivas knocked Bryant out of the tournament leaving Charlie in fourth place. Next up for Sergio was the always tough Alex Calderon. Alex proved to be too tough for Sergio this time – Alex moved on to the finals leaving Sergio in third place.
Due to the very late hour, James & Alex decided to split with James claiming the title. Congratulations to both!
Last, but not least, was the Ladies Nine Ball Championship. This double elimination event had 44 ladies posting a $55 entry fee. Also played on seven foot Diamonds and using the Magic Rack, the format was alternate break with races to seven on both sides.
After defeating the always tough Ming Ng in the first round, Sofia Mast won five matches in a row to meet Russian star Kristina Tkach for the hot seat match. Kristina won the match sending junior champ to the one loss side to await an opponent.
After losing her first match, Ming fought her way through until she met April Larson. April had also lost her second match to Sofia. Both players played hard for another shot at her and when the dust had settled, it was April who won the match. Ming finished in fourth place.
Looking to make it into the finals, it was another hard fought match. Sofia survived the match leaving April in third place.
Kristina had smoked Sofia in the hot seat match 7-0. Sofia remarked on her Facebook page after the finals that her only goal when she made it back to the finals was to at least win one game. She won four! What a great attitude!
And, congratulations to Kristina for claiming the title! Great tournament, Sofia!
Once again, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank the owners of Big Tyme and their staff for taking such good care of all the players and fans. We’d like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland for doing an exemplary job running three events at the same time!
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors for their support! Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX and the Action Palace of Dayton, OH.
Our next stop is the Seventh Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic in Jefferson, LA (New Orleans). Featuring $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket, $5,000 added Open Nine Ball and the main event – the $20,000 Pro One Pocket! Dates are May 25th-29th! Hope to see you there!
Once again, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank the owners of Big Tyme and their staff for taking such good care of all the players and fans. We’d like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland for doing an exemplary job running three events at the same time!
We’d also like to thank Larry Schwartz, John Henderson, Mary Kenniston and Ray Hansen for their topnotch commentary.
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors for their support! Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX and the Action Palace of Dayton, OH.
Our next stop is the Seventh Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic in Jefferson, LA (New Orleans). Featuring $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket, $5,000 added Open Nine Ball and the main event – the $20,000 Pro One Pocket! Dates are May 25th-29th! Hope to see you there!
After Fedor Gorst and Carlo Biado snapped off the US Open 10 Ball and 8 Ball Championships, the US Open One Pocket and Bank Pool Championship rounded out the action packed series at Griff’s in Las Vegas, NV.
The US Open One Pocket Championship opened with 44 players – the format was alternate break with races to four. After the players auction, players meeting and draw, play commenced.
Opening round action saw Roberto Gomez defeat fellow countryman Edgie Geronimo 4-1 as did Josh Roberts over legendary John Hennigan (“Cornflakes”). Evan Lunda battled it out with recently crowned US Open 8 Ball champ Carlo Biado – Carlo escaped with a 4-3 win. Coming out of retirement, veteran BCA and One Pocket Hall of Famer, Jose Parica, pounded the always tough Tres Kane 4-1.
In the top half of the chart, favorite Justin Hall quietly made his way through the bracket smoking all in his way – Alex Montpelier 4-1, Bart Czapia 4-0 and Lee Vann Corteza, Ronnie Wiseman and Roland Garcia – all 4-1.
After winning his first two matches easily, Roberts breezed past Danny Olson 4-0 and followed that by beating Las Vegas’s own Ian Costello 4-2 and Bob Herchik 4-1.
While Justin & Josh were taking care of business up north, Garcia was destroying the southern part of the chart.
After rolling over his first two matches, Roland tore through Gorst 4-0 and then Chohan 4-2. Garcia finally met his demise at the hands of Hall 4-1.
This set up the hot seat match between Hall and Roberts with Josh easily taking the match 4-1. Justin headed west to await an opponent.
After losing to Garcia earlier in the tournament, Chohan won four in a row on his march towards his match with Hall. He defeated Danny Olson and Tim De Ruyter – both 4-2. Getting stronger as he went, Herchik was next – 4-1 but battled down to the wire with Biado. Tony prevailed 4-3 leaving Carlo in fourth place.
Nothing stopping him now, Hall was next! Down he went 4-2 – Justin finished third.
The undefeated Josh Roberts was waiting for Tony in the one set extended finals. There was no stopping the Chohan train as he steamed to a 5-0 victory! Good tournament, Josh! And congratulations to Tony for his third consecutive one pocket championship and his second US Open One Pocket Championship!
Scott Frost
And finally, the last event of the US Open Championship Series – the US Open Bank Pool Championship! Featuring 48 players, the format was alternate break with races to 5/4. As usual, after a players auction, players meeting and draw, play began.
After drawing a coveted bye, Roberto Gomez shot out of the gate with victories over Kash Keaton 5-0, Fedor Gorst 5-4, Tony Chohan 5-3 and Scott Frost 5-2 to reach the hot seat match.
Fellow Filipino Carlo Biado was doing the same in the bottom half of the chart. He escaped a close one with Caleb Schumacher 5-4 but then defeated Tony Bloom 5-0. He then edged out Chris Lulek, Robert Frost and Stephen Holem – all with 5-4 scores!
Now in dead punch, he smashed Roberto 5-1 to lock up his seat in the finals! Gomez went to the one loss side to await an opponent.
After losing their earlier matches, Stephen Holem and Scott Frost were working their way through the fray and finally bumped heads. Scott put an end to Stephen’s march 4-2 – Holem finished fourth.
Frost then thumped Gomez 4-1 and advanced to the finals! Roberts finished in third place.
Again, the finals were to be one set – an extended race to six.
Facing the undefeated Carlo Biado, Frost had his hands full. Neck and neck until four game apiece, Scott took the lead 5-4 and then won the final game to win this year’s US Open Bank Pool Championship! Congratulations to Scott! Good tournament, Carlo!
And, finally, Carlo Biado was the points leader of all four events so became the All-Around champ for 2022! Congratulations!!!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Griff’s owner, Mark Griffin, and his staff for going the extra mile to make both players and fans feel at home during this grueling US Open Championship Series. We’d like to thank Tournament Director Jason Hill and his assistant, Eric Kintzer, for doing such a great job running things!
Promoted by Cue & A Promotions, we’d once again like to thank the sponsors for the US Open Championship Series. They were OB Cues, Griff’s Billiards, Simonis, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, JB Cases, Keller Billiard Products and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
And, last but not least, PoolActionTV would like to thank our fans and sponsors. They include JB Cases, Lomax Custom Cues, Keller Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Hanshew Jump Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next stop is the Action Palace in Dayton, OH for the $50,000 Champion’s Challenge featuring Chris Reinhold and Shane McMinn! It’s ten ball – race to 100 on nine foot Diamonds! Hope to see you there!
The Mezz West State Tour kicked off its second stop of the season at Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento, CA. The beautiful room of 31 pool tables offered a premium setting for players along with bleacher seating for spectators. A big thank you goes out to Mike and Karen Markulis and their entire staff for supporting our sport and having one of the premier rooms in the country.
After a successful first stop in Los Angeles, the energy and excitement of the tour went north garnering a very strong field of 68 players who played on the very tight equipment Hard Times Sacramento had to offer. The top half of the field was littered with strong players such as returning winner of stop number one, Rodrigo Geronimo of the Philippines. San Francisco bay area resident, Jaynard Orque had a very impressive showing of smooth play with wins over Nick Callado, Oscar Dominguez, Jeff Gregory, John Henderson, before he stumbled to Ernesto Dominguez in the semis. The 59 year old Ernesto had a 1985 flashback winning matches with excellent safety play and decision making. Ernesto won the hot seat over the always dangerous Los Angeles player, Ramin Bakhtiari.
Once on the losers side, Jaynard Orque showed his shot making ability on the table defeating Amar Kang, Oscar Dominguez, and Ramin Bakhtiari consecutively in very close matches to get another chance at Ernesto waiting in the hotseat. In the true double elimination format, Jaynard easily ran away with the first set and defeated Ernesto hill-hill in a tense battle in set number two. The Filipino young gun demonstrated a solid game on extremely challenging equipment and earned $1400 for his efforts. Ernesto settled for $1000.
The top female prize was split between two strong female players from California, MaryAnn Starkey and Barbara Lee.
Oscar and Desiree of the Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all our sponsors: Mezz Cues, West State Billiard Supply, ZAN tips, Turtle Rack, Fast&Loose designs, and our media sponsors; AZBilliards, NYCGrind, and POV Pool. Also, a very special thank you to Chris Kurzweils of Kurzweils Country Meats who donated snacks and jerky to the players and spectators of Hard Times Billiards.
Next stop on the tour schedule is Diamond Billiards in Fresno, CA. For more information please the contact us tab at mezzweststatetour.com or visit our Mezz West State Tour Facebook page. We thank you for your support and look forward to bringing pool back to the West!
February 24th & 25th, 2012; there was certainly something for everyone in Mountain View, CA., thanks to the infamous California Billiard Club, its owner Chris Swart who hosted the 3rd Annual Chet Itow Memorial 9-Ball Tournament. Nuclear engineer “Chet” who created and built this great venue was honored in the grand style, which was indicative of the great efforts that he put into the creation of the hall. The true “double elimination” event kicked off at noon on Saturday, February 25th with a race to 8 on both sides, and a winner break format.
Any one of the over 4,000 pool enthusiasts who tuned in this last weekend to Point Of View (POV) Pool’s free live internet coverage of this event, were treated to a multitude of not only legendary player match-ups, but also to a host of the unusual and dramatic antics that are ever present amongst these individuals.
Thanks to hall owner Chris Swart, a “$3000 Added” incentive packed the house and drew in 101 participants including many of the billiard worlds’ most elite players. Locals as well as those who tuned into the live internet stream got their pool fixes watching the likes of Rodney “The Rocket” Morris, Jose Parica, Louis Ulrich, Santos Sambajon, Rafael Martinez, House Pro Dave Hemmah of Hard Times – Bellflower, “Team Mexico” – Oscar and Ernesto Dominguez, Amar Kang, and last but not least, world renowned champion and two time consecutive winner of the infamous “Swanee” – Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan.
Walk in patrons and attendees alike were packed in all weekend long, taking advantage of the 3000 sq ft plus “viewing” area, ordering from a fantastic full menu, and topping it all off with a trip to the fully stocked bar complete with an efficient and friendly staff. In short, it was a setting for a pool player’s “Paradise”!
Early upsets in the event included last year’s winner, Santos Sambajon and runner up Oscar Dominguez. Also knocked were Alex Pagulayan, and long time veteran Jose Parica was pushed early to the one loss side by “Combination” Jason Williams, who eventually shot his way up to 4th place in the event! Jason Williams put on quite a show during the weekend and was motivated by an eagerness to play and win over Rodney “The Rocket” Morris. Those who remained to stroke their way up the chain included Rodney Morris, Ernesto Dominguez, Kevin May, Amar Kang, Rafael Martinez, Ed Ramos, and eventual winner, Louis Ulrich.
Antics were abound during the course of the tourney with Amar Kang giving Alex Pagulayan a mini Golf swing lesson before their match, and quite a commentary stint on POV Pool’s live stream with local Emilyn Callado. And of course all were treated to the usual short riff of Alex’s legendary karaoke. Guest commentators joining Daniel Busch, owner of POV Pool and co-commentator Barbara Lee, included Jeff Gregory, local “Women Power” stars Mary Rakin, Emilyn Callado and OMGWTF’s – Melinda Huang. Additional commentators included, pool veteran – John Henderson of The Cue Sports Journal (Soon to re-launch), Scott White, Bucktooth (Who’s claim to fame is “beating everybody”), and Oscar Dominguez who stated “Well now everyone pretty much knows my life story”!
Unfortunate news during the event was for Jun Almoite, who had to forfeit on Saturday to attend to “The Princess of Pool” – Mary Avina, who fell ill enough for hospitalization due to a high fever associated with a bout of the flu. The good news is, all is well and Mary is home and recovering. Whew!
Wrapping up the event late Sunday night were semi final match-ups between Rodney Morris and Jason Williams, Kevin May and Amar Kang, and culminated with Louis Ulrich versus Ernesto Dominguez. A shocking display of “doesn’t ANYONE want this 7 ball?” commenced between Amar and Alex, which lasted several innings before Amar finally got the pesky maroon into a pocket.
In another match between Louis Ulrich and Hillary Morse, Louis slammed in the 9 a stunning 4 times during the break-shot, which unfortunately was re-spotted due to the rule associated with the rack your own format for this event. This proved to be a running theme on the “stream” table for many players during the break-shot, with the 9 ball usually en-route to the bottom left-hand corner and the 1-ball almost always hitting the rail below the left middle pocket and landing either into or very close to the top right-hand corner pocket. As a result, the best break show, which highlighted this phenomenon, was between Jason Williams and Rodney Morris, with a barrage of early 9 ball combinations and caroms that seriously shortened the length of the match. And in contrast was John Henderson vs. Arturo Rivera in a nip and tuck session, which literally lasted 16 games, and without either player having more than a 1-game lead.
Rounding up the finale was Louis Ulrich versus Ernesto Dominguez who would have had to win two races to 8 for the win due to the true double elimination format. Ernesto took an early 3-0 lead over an obviously tired Louis and it looked like a double set was shaping up. Louis however managed to come back to tie it up, and then rally back and forth to create a hill-hill thriller. The nail biting final game found Ernesto running down to the perfectly lined up 9 with precision play, that is until he fails to close; missing an almost straight 9-ball and leaving a medium difficulty cut for Louis. After the stunned railbirds exhaled, Louis got up and with nary a thought, and sliced the 9-ball effortlessly for the win over a disappointed but ever gracious Ernesto.
The top final 8 payouts were Louis Ulrich, $3,000, Ernesto $1700, Rodney Morris $900, Jason Williams $550, Kevin May and Amar Kang at $250, and Rafael Martinez and Ed Ramos at $150.
POV Pools live Internet coverage and archived matches can be viewed by going to www.povpool.com.
Payouts for the 3rd Annual Chet Itow Memorial 9-Ball Tournament
1st – Louis Ulrich / $3,000 2nd – Ernesto Dominguez / $1,700 3rd – Rodney Morris / $900 4th – Jason Williams / $550
5th/6th – Kevin May / $250 5th/6th – Amar Kang / $250
7th/8th – Rafael Martinez / $150 7th/8th – Ed Ramos / $150
John Morra (Photo courtesy of Dave Thomson – Mediumpool.com)
John Morra may not be known for his bank pool game, but that will be be a thing of the past as he has won the Derby City Classic Bank Pool event.
Morra started the event with a fairly manageable draw but that is only half the battle in any tournament. Morra displayed a bank game that many fans were not expecting from him with notable wins over Jerry Matchin, Josh Smith and Josh Oneal in the early rounds. The level of competition picked up after that as Morra rattled off wins against Louie Ulrich, Charlie Bryant and John Brumback to make his way undefeated into round twelve with only three players remaining.
With three players left in the 12th round, one player would get a bye and fate would smile on Morra as he got to sit out and watch Van Boening and Shuff try to knock each other out of the tournament.
Van Boening eliminated Shuff and got ready for the unenviable task of trying to hand Morra back to back losses.
Shane was up the task in the first match 3-2, but the second match saw Morra take a 2-0 lead and then at 2-1, take advantage of a number of hung balls by Van Boening to notch a 5-3 win in the final game for the 3-1 win and the banks title.
With the bank pool event complete, attention now turns to One Pocket with just over 200 players competing over the next three days.
We promised you results from last night’s Senior One Pocket Tournament and the results from the 83 player event were as follows…
