Three days after downing their share of Thanksgiving cheer in whatever form it took for them, Max Watanabe and Raphael Dabreo had cause to give further thanks for their respective victories on the Predator Pro Am Tour. During the tour’s annual Thanksgiving Day weekend get-together, Watanabe navigated his way through a 76-entrant field, in the $750-added Amateur event, winning five on the loss side to meet and defeat Jose Estevez in the finals. Raphael DaBreo in the 14-entrant, $250-added Open/Pro event, recovered from a double hill loss in the hot seat match and returned to defeat Joey Korsiak. Both events, as well as a Second and a Third Chance event were hosted, as they are every year, by Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY.

 

In the Amateur division, Watanabe, who pretty much evenly splits his time between the Predator and Tri-State Tours, was looking for his first victory in five attempts on the 2018 Predator Pro Am Tour. He’d been defeated in the finals of an Open/Pro event by Tour Director Tony Robles in September and had chalked up a win on the Tri-State Tour back in June. In this event, he worked his way through to a winners’ side quarterfinal before running into Eddie Kunz, who sent him to the loss side 7-5. Kunz advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Estevez. Jonathan Martinez, in the meantime, squared off against Joe Morace. Estevez sent Kunz to an immediate re-match against Watanabe with a 7-4 win, as Martinez downed Morace 7-4. Estevez claimed the hot seat 8-5 and waited on Watanabe’s return.

 

On the loss side, Watanabe had survived a double hill match against Marco Dy and one game shy of double hill, defeated Jaydev Zaveri 7-5 to earn his re-match against Kunz. Morace picked up Erick Carrasco, who’d eliminated Nick Croce 7-5 and Debra Pritchett, double hill, to reach him.

 

Carrasco got through a second straight double hill match, downing Morace, and advanced to the quarterfinals. Watanabe joined him after giving up only a single rack to Kunz in their re-match. Watanabe then leap-frogged over the quarterfinals when work-related commitments forced Carrasco to forfeit.

 

Watanabe had his hands full in the semifinals, as Martinez put up a double hill fight for a second shot against Estevez. Watanabe prevailed, and then, in the finals, won the extended race to 9 to claim the event title.

 

DaBreo and Korsiak replay March matchup with the same result

 

Squaring off in the finals of the Open/Pro event, Raphael DaBreo and Joey Korsiak replayed a scene that had played out for the both of them in March. In that event, DaBreo had to win three on the loss side, two of which went double hill, to face Korsiak in the finals. He did so to chalk up his first Open/Pro victory on the tour. This time, they battled in the hot seat and finals.

 

Korsiak had downed Tony Robles 7-4 to get in to the hot seat match, while DaBreo had sent Alfredo Albay over 7-3. They battled to double hill in the hot seat match, until Korsiak prevailed.

 

On the loss side, Robles picked up Gary O’Callaghan, who’d defeated Jud Parker 7-2 and benefited from a double hill, deciding-game miss at the 10-ball by Joe Torres to advance. Albay drew Frankie Hernandez, who’d eliminated Zion Zvi 7-3 and Stephen Motilal 7-4.

 

Robles had sent O’Callaghan to the loss side in an earlier double hill match, but it was O’Callaghan who came out on top 7-4 in their re-match. Hernandez shut Albay out to advance to the quarterfinals against O’Callaghan. Hernandez then eliminated O’Callaghan 7-4.

 

In the semifinals, Hernandez and DaBreo battled to double hill before DaBreo three-fouled Hernandez to earn his second shot against Korsiak. In another modified race-to-9 final, DaBreo claimed the event title over Korsiak 9-3.

 

A 15-entrant Second Chance event was won Abel Rosario, with Jose Kuilan as runner-up. Duc Lam and Nick Croce finished in the tie for 3rd place. An 8-entrant Third Chance event, saw Miguel Laboy take home the top prize with Julia Ha in second place.

 

Tour director Tony Robles thanked Manny Stamatakis and his Steinway staff for their Thanksgiving Day weekend hospitality, as well as his own Predator Pro Am staff and sponsors Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, Cappelle (Billiards Press), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine and Billiards Digest. The final stop of the Predator Pro Am Tour’s 2018 season will be its annual Tour Championships. Open to players who’ve participated in a minimum of five events during the year, the potentially $11,000-added, 2018 Predator Tour Championships will be hosted by Raxx Sports Bar & Grille in West Hempstead, NY. 

For reasons that probably elude even him, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu has had a bit of a hard time winning events on the Tri-State Tour. Since 2010, he's cashed in 38 events between the Tri-State and Predator Tours (19 on the Tri-State, 23 on the Predator, including appearances at the Ginky Memorial, which is administered by both tours). He last won an event on a strictly Tri-State Tour stop in 2011 and won the 2014 Ginky Memorial's Amateur event, which technically counts as a win on both tours. On Sunday, August 27, at an A/B/C/D, $1,000-added event, which drew 43 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY, Delimelkonoglu came back from a hot seat loss to Ray Lee, and downed him in the finals to capture his first exclusively Tri-State title in six years.

 

Following wins over Jud Parker, and Jaydev Zaveri, Delimelkonoglu moved into a winners' side semifinal match against Duc Lam. Lee, in the meantime, faced Daniel Feliciano in the other winners' side semifinal. Delimelkonoglu sent Lam to the loss side, double hill, as Lee was busy sending Feliciano over 6-2. Lee claimed the hot seat 7-4 and waited on Delimelkonoglu's return.

 

On the loss side, Lam picked up Alex Osipov, who'd defeated Zaveri 7-4 and Parker 8-5 to reach him. Feliciano drew Matt Klein, who'd eliminated Tony Ignomirello 6-2 and Bob Toomey 6-4. Osipov and Feliciano advanced to the quarterfinals; Osipov 7-1 over Lam, and Feliciano 6-3 over Klein.

 

Osipov and Feliciano locked up in a double hill quarterfinal that eventually sent Osipov to the semifinals against Delimelkonoglu. A second double hill fight followed, this time with Osipov falling to Delimelkonoglu 7-6. The finals between Delimelkonoglu and Lee see-sawed back and forth until Delimelkonoglu pulled out in front to win it 9-6, capturing his first exclusively Tri-State title in six years.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , Pool & Billiards, Professor Q Ball, Bender Cues, Joe Romer Trophies and DIGICUE OB. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for September 10, will be hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

 

After precisely one year without an event victory on the Tri-State Tour, Frank Sieczka returned and chalked up what amounted to his second straight victory on the tour. In October, 2014, Sieczka chalked up his first victory on the Tri-State Tour, and a month later, on November 8, he won his second. He might have won a third had he and Dinko Busanich not chosen to opt out of a final match in a December event, allowing Busanich, in the hot seat, to take the title. On Sunday, November 8, 2015, Sieczka went undefeated at a $1,000-added event that drew 20 entrants to BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights (Queens), NY.

 

Following victories over Esteban Morrell, Jr. and Adrian Daniel, Sieczka met up with Ron Chau in a winners' side semifinal. Xavier Ramos, in the meantime, faced Lidio Ramierez. Sieczka defeated Chau 6-2, and in the hot seat match, squared off against Ramos, who'd shut Ramierez out. Sieczka claimed the hot seat with a 7-4 win over Ramos.

 

On the loss side, Chau ran into Adrian Daniel, who, after his loss to Sieczka, had defeated Bob Toomey 6-1, and Erick Carrasco 7-5. Ramierez faced Luis Jimenez, who'd picked up a forfeit victory over Dave Ascolese and eliminated Jud Parker 7-5. Chau picked up his second straight loss, 6-3 against Daniel, while Ramierez got back to work with a 7-5 victory over Jimenez.

 

Ramierez took the quarterfinal match against Daniel that followed 8-6, and then defeatEd Ramos, double hill in the semifinals. Sieczka opened the final match against Ramierez with five straight racks, though Ramierez fought back to pull within one at 6-5. Sieczka took two of the next three to win it 8-6 and claim his second straight, and third overall, Tri-State title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, as well as sponsors  Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Bloodworth Ball Cleaners. The next Tri-State event, scheduled for Sunday, November 15, will be hosted by Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway, NJ.

During the May 17 stop on the Tri-State Tour, Jud Parker made it as far as a winners' side semifinal, before being sent to the losers' bracket by Vagif Alekberov. Parker would return, after winning three straight to meet and defeat Quin Y. Chen in the finals of the $750-added, event, hosted by House of Billiards, on Staten Island.

 

Parker's winning side trail went through Marco Costello, and Edward LaLmiev, before encountering Alekberov in a winners' side semifinal. Chen, in the meantime, squared off against Mike Strassberg. Alekberov bested Parker 6-4, as Chen was downing Strassberg 6-3. Chen defeated Alekberov in the battle for the hot seat, and waited on the return of Parker.

 

Parker moved over to face Richard Anderson, who'd defeated Luis Lopez 6-5 and Marco Costello 8-2 to reach him. Strassberg ran into Robert Jew, who'd gotten by Pat Mareno 6-5 and Eddie Perez 6-2. Parker started his trip back to the finals with a 6-3 victory over Anderson, as Strassberg was being sent home Jew 6-2. Parker then downed Jew 6-3 and got a second shot at Alekberov in the semifinals.

 

Parker gave up only a single rack against Alekberov, and moved into the finals against Chen. Chen got on the board first, but Parker answered with five straight to take a lead he'd never give up. Parker had increased his lead by one at the 7-2 mark, before Chen came up with three straight to pull within two at 7-5. Parker ended it though in the next rack to claim the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at House of Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, to be conducted in cooperation with the Predator and Mezz Pro Am Tours, will be the fourth annual George "Ginky" Sansouci Memorial Tournament, scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26, at Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, NY.

Raphael Dabreo picked up a victory on the Predator Tour back in January, and added a victory on the Tri-State Tour on Saturday, May 3, picking up where he'd left off in 2013, a year in which he won four stops on the Tri-State and one on the Predator Tour. In the finals of the recent $1,500-added Tri-State event that drew 36 entrants to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, DaBreo had to stop a seven-match, loss-side winning streak by Koka Davladze, who'd been playing on the losers' side since the opening round of play. They opted out of a final match, leaving DaBreo as the official, undefeated winner of the event.

 

DaBreo's tournament trail included wins over Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, Nelson Marte, Rajesh Vannala, and Jamiyl Adams, before arriving among the winners' side final four and a match against Matthew Harricharan. Steve Wade, in the meantime, met up with Sam Hoffman in the other winners' side semifinal. DaBreo got into the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Harricharan, as Wade was busy shutting out Hoffman. In what would prove to be his final win of the night, DaBreo downed Wade 7-0. 

 

Over on the loss side, Davladze was mowing 'em down; defeating, in loss-side win # 3, the opponent who'd sent him over, Basdeo Sookhai 7-2, and then, Vinny Ferri 8-5, to pick up Harricharan. Hoffman, in the meantime, drew Keith Diaz, who'd gotten by Jud Parker 7-6 and Ben Castaneros 7-4. Davladze and Hoffman advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 7-4 wins over Harricharan and Diaz.

 

Davladze took the quarterfinal match 10-6 and then had his final match of the night, defeating Wade in the semifinals 10-8. Another late-night decision was reached by DaBreo and Davladze, not to play a final match, they split the top two money prizes, and DaBreo went home with the event title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for  May 10, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ. 

Jud Parker worked his way through six opponents, going undefeated on April 19, to claim his first event title on the Tri-State Tour. The $1,000-added event drew 30 entrants to the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.

 

Parker defeated Brian Singh, Gil Costello, and Thomas Schreiber to move among the winners' side final four and a match versus Pat Mareno. His eventual finals opponent, Eric Tang, in the meantime, squared off against Phil Davis in the other winners' side semifinal. Parker moved into the hot seat match with a 6-2 win over Mareno, but it was Davis who met him, having sent Tang to the loss side 7-4. Parker claimed his fifth victim with a double hill win over Davis and sat in the hot seat, waiting on Tang.

 

Tang's first opponent on the loss side was Rhio Annie Flores, who'd gotten by Tony Ignomirello and Dave Ascolese, both 7-4, to reach him. Mareno drew Paulo Valverde, who'd defeated Schreiber 6-4 and Mike Figueroa 6-3. Tang and Mareno got right back to work, eliminating Flores 7-3, and Valverde 6-3, respectively and faced each other in the quarterfinals.

 

Tang ended Mareno's day 8-3 in those quarterfinals to earn himself a re-match versus Davis in the semifinals. He took advantage of the opportunity, downing Davis 7-4 for a shot at Parker in the hot seat. Parker, though, offered Tang limited opportunities in the final match, jumping out to a 3-0 lead, and then, after allowing Tang a single rack, adding three more to reach the hill. Tang chalked up one more rack, before Parker closed it out to claim his first Tri-State title.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at the Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for April 27, will be hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY. 

The last time Koka Davladze won a Tri-State Tour stop (September 14, 2013 at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY), he went undefeated through a field of 64 and opted out of a final match against runner-up Chris DeCaprio, with whom he split the top prize. On Saturday, March 8, he went undefeated through a shorter field of 24, during a $1,500-added Tri-State event, hosted by the same room. This time, though, he played a final match, coming from behind to defeat Keith Diaz and claim the top prize.

 

Davladze's path went through Andrzej Kaldan, and Luis Jimenez, before running into Keith Adamik in a winners' side semifinal. Diaz and Ambi Estevez met in the other one. Davladze advanced to the hot seat match 7-4 over Adamik, as Diaz was sending Estevez to the losers' bracket 6-4. In their first of two, Davladze defeated Diaz 9-6 and sat in the hot seat to await his return.

 

Keith Adamik moved to the loss side and ran immediately into Wesley Kennedy, who'd been defeated by Gary O'Callaghan in the opening round of play, and was in the midst of a five-match loss-side streak that would take him to the quarterfinals. He'd gotten by Luis Jimenez 7-3 and Bogie Uzdejczyk 7-5 to draw Adamik. Uzdejczyk had just spoiled Kennedy's chance for a re-match against O'Callaghan by defeating O'Callaghan 7-6. Estevez picked up Eddie Perez, who'd gotten by Mike Harrington 6-5 and Jud Parker 6-1, to reach him.

 

Kennedy completed his loss-side winning streak with a 7-4 victory over Adamik, while Estevez downed Perez 6-3. Estevez brought Kennedy's streak to an end with an 8-4 victory in the quarterfinals, and had his own streak broken by Diaz, 6-3, in the semifinals.

 

Diaz jumped out to a 4-0 lead in his re-match against Davladze in the finals, but Davladze roared back with a run of his own, to an eventual 5-5 tie. Diaz would only win one of the next five, as Davladze moved on to completed his undefeated run and claim the top prize, this time, all to himself.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Gotham City Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. There will be two Tri-State events, at separate locations, on the weekend of March 22-23; the first on Saturday, March 22 will be hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, NY, and the second on Sunday, March 23, at On the Snap Billiards in Sayerville, NJ.

John Lazo went undefeated through a field of 27, including a victory over Meshak Daniel and two against Meshak's father, Adrian, to win the November 3 stop on the Tri-State Tour. It was the elder Daniels' second appearance in a 2013 Tri-State final, adding a second runner-up title to the one he'd earned in April. The $1,000-added amateur event was hosted by BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY.

 

Lazo and Daniels, the father, met first in the hot seat match.  Advancement through the field had brought the father and son within a single match of facing each other in the winners' bracket. Both advanced to the final four, but the father squared off against Jud Parker, while the son met up with Lazo. Lazo sent Meshak west, while Adrian dispatched Parker 6-3. Lazo, having taken care of the kid, took care of his father 7-5, and waited in the hot seat for what could have been the return of either of them.

 

The son, though, moved to the loss side and met up with Chumreon Sutcharitakul, who'd been sent over by Lazo and then, defeated Lidio Ramirez 7-4, and shut out Glenn Ramsey. Jud Parker ran into Mike Harrington, who'd gotten by Bob Toomey 6-2, and eliminated Pat Mareno 6-4. The two recent arrivals from the winners' bracket were downed by their loss-side challengers; Sutcharitakul spoiled the potential father-son matchup by defeating Meshak 7-3. Harrington gave up only a single rack to Parker and joined Sutcharitakul in the quarterfinal match.

 

Sutcharitakul stopped Harrington's bid 7-5, and having eliminated the son, he tried to replicate Lazo's winners' side final four feat, in the semifinal matchup against the father. Dad, though, wreaking a sort of familial vengeance, defeated Sutcharitakul 7-5 and got his second shot at Lazo.

 

Lazo and Daniel  traded racks to open the finals, before Daniel took two in a row. Lazo came back with a six-pack that ended it at 7-3.

 

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at BQE Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, November 9, will be hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.

 

Khan defeated Marco Costello 7-3 and advanced among the winners' side final four to meet up with Joe Rubino, as his eventual hot seat opponent, Anthony Mattia, squared off against Inna Bediner. Khan defeated Rubino 8-4, while Mattia was busy surviving a double hill match against Bediner. Khan got into the hot seat 8-6 over Mattia, and awaited the return of Keith Diaz.

 

Diaz had been moved to the loss bracket by Mattias in a winners' side final eight battle, and defeated Bob Toomey 6-2 and Jud Parker 6-4 to draw Bediner. Rubino picked up Marco Costello, who'd gotten by Thomas Rice 7-5 and Dennis Kennedy 9-5. Rubino eliminated Costello 8-6, and thanks to a forfeit by Bediner, met Diaz in the quarterfinals.

 

 Diaz dropped Rubino 6-4 in that quarterfinal match and then spoiled Mattia's bid for a finals rematch against Khan with a 6-3 win in the semifinals. Diaz took advantage of his loss-side momentum to open up a 5-0 lead in the finals. Khan, though, won six of the next seven to knot things at 6-6. He completed a six-pack for an 8-6 win.

 

Tour representatives thanked the staff and ownership at House of Billiards, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Qpod, Heptig Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for Saturday, October 19, will be hosted by Clifton Billiards in Clifton, NJ.