Paul Jobe, Jude Rosenstock, James Davis Sr. and Ruben Escalera
Joey Bourgeois, Jr., of Baytown, Texas, ran through the 64-player, amateur 9-ball division, in the Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour, Texas Open Warm-Up 9-Ball Event, defeating Austin newcomer Jude Rosenstock in the final set, 5-1. This marked Bourgeois’ second, consecutive victory, in his Tour career. In the 64-player, open 9-ball division, local favorite James Davis, Sr. took down Jude Rosenstock in the final, 6-3, securing his fifth win on Tour, of the past nine Tour events held at Skinny Bob’s. Rosenstock came very close to winning both divisions, a feat only one player has accomplished in the Tour’s ten years, while Austin’s Kim Sanders became the highest female finisher in an open or amateur division, in Tour history!
On August 4th-5th, 2018, Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, Texas, along with tour title sponsor Poison by Predator Cues PoisonBilliards.com, and sponsors Cyclop Pool Balls, www.VaporKnightsUSA.com, APA of North Harris County, and OutsvilleBilliards.com, facilitated another successful event for the players of the Poison Lone Star Tour. Skinny Bob’s added a generous $1,000 to the two-day event, which paid out a whopping $8,745. The Tour would like to thank room owners John and Sue Cielo for their continued support, nine years running!
Each 64-player division kicked-off on Saturday afternoon, and brought back the final 32 in each, on Sunday. In the amateur 9-ball division, Joey Bourgeois, Jr. began his journey to the winners’ side final four with wins over Daniel Campos, 5-4, Mike Hoffman, 5-4, Nancy French, 5-1, and Jacob Case, 5-2, as Jose Ybarra tagged San Antonio’s Vance Rodriguez, 5-0, Lazaro Martinez, III, 5-2, Ryan Lane, 5-4, and Michelle Cortez, 5-4. Florida’s Chris Gentile plowed through Joel Acevedo, 5-2, Danny Wyatt, 5-1, J.C. Torres, 5-1, and Kim Sanders, 5-0, while Jude Rosenstock denied Chuck Adams, 5-3, Eddie Palmer, 5-1, Ricardo Espinosa, 5-3, and Shane Hvamstad. On the one loss side, J.C. Torres fell to Matt Wong, 4-2, and Oklahoma’s Micah Ott eliminated Ricardo Espinosa, 5-3. Kim Pierce passed Ryan Lane, and Eddie Palmer sent home Benito Cazares, 4-0. Wong was eliminated by Case, 4-1, and Cortez was shut out by Ott, 4-0, while Pierce caved to Hvamstad, 4-1, and Sanders dusted off Palmer, 4-2. Back on the east side, Rosenstock slid by Gentile, and Bourgeois, Jr. edged out a victory over Ybarra, both by the same score, 5-4. In the hot seat match, Bourgeois, Jr. eased pass Rosenstock, 5-4. On the west side, Case defeated Ott, but fell to Gentile, while Sanders ousted Hvamstad, then derailed Ybarra. Sanders went on to eliminate Gentile, 5-4, but fell to Rosenstock. Sanders settled into third place, becoming the highest female finisher in a Poison Lone Star Tour division. In the finals, Bourgeois, Jr. fought to avoid another hill-hill match. He ended Rosenstock’s run, 5-1, securing his second Tour victory of the 2018 season.
In the open division, James Davis, Sr. overcame Michael Parrott, 6-0, Laz Martinez, III, 6-5, Jacob Watson, 6-2, Laz Martinez, Jr., 6-2, and while Jason Roessler defeated Chris Habgood, John Demmett, 6-3, Justin Wright, 6-1, and Kim Sanders, 6-3. First-timer, Jude Rosenstock cut through Rene Rodriguez, Jose Ybarr, 6-5, Joel Acevedo, 6-4, and Paul Jobe, 6-1, as Jimmy Krone powered past Mike Englund, Vance Rodriguez, 6-2, Ralph Cardona, 6-5, and Benito Cazares, 6-5. On the west side, Eric Aicinena eliminated Joe Heinaman, 5-1, but fell to Jobe, 5-4, while Joey Torres took out Ybarra, and Cazares, 5-3. Upset by Ybarra in the first round, open-only player, Ruben Escalera, struck down Ryan Lane, and Kim Sanders, 5-0, marking up six wins on the one loss side, as Acevedo upset James Davis, Jr., 5-4, and Laz Martinez, Jr. Down to the final eight, winners’ side final four witnessed Davis, Sr. defeat Roessler, 6-1, and Rosenstock roll Krone, 6-0. In the hot seat match, Davis, Sr. wasted little time, overwhelming Rosenstock, 6-1. Back on the west side, Jobe edged out Torres and Roessler by the same score, 5-4, while Escalera ended Acevedo and Krone, both sets, 5-2. Escalera iced Jobe, 5-0, checking off his ninth win on the one loss side, but faltered against Rosenstock, losing 5-3. This was Rosenstock’s first Tour event, and first trip to the finals, where he faced the indomitable, James Davis, Sr. Although Rosenstock gave it his best shot, Davis Sr. took control and maintained the lead, securing his fifth Tour victory, 6-3.
The Tour would like to thank all the new players, some of which traveled from great distances, who competed in this event, and congratulate players who reached milestones. Paul Jobe achieved his highest finish to date, while Jude Rosenstock and Kim Sanders also made great strides, Jude finishing second in both divisions, and Kim, becoming the highest finishing, female player in a Poison Lone Star division. The Tour would also like to thank tournament co-director, Erica Hanlon, for all her assistance in running the boards and ensuring a smooth, seamless event, and photographer Mille Almaraz who captured some memorable, tournament moments. Finally, congratulations to this weekend’s Poison raffle winner, Louis Acosta from Jarrell, Texas. Acosta took home a Poison Arsenic3-2 playing cue.
The next event will be October 13th-14th, 2018, at Bogies Billiards West, located at 9638 Jones Road, in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com. Alongside the next Poison Lone Star event, there will be a Gulf Coast Women’s Regional Billiards Tour 9-Ball Event. For more information, visit www.GulfCoastWomensTour.com.
Patron Sponsor Randy Goldwater with Thorsten Hohmann
In some savory showdowns on Day 1, UK's Appleton looked strong and ready to defend his title in his one sided wins, while Scotland's young gun Jayson Shaw ran a 99 to capture the high run of the event thus far. The Andy Cloth World Tournament of 14.1 . A who's who of world class players are in attendance to etch their name into history's elite of the father of all pool games. Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Stephan Cohen, Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland, Mika Immonen, Tony Robles and many, many more. The main event will take place once more in New York City. As usual, a star studded field is expected this year at Steinway Billiards Cafe, who is once more hosting this world class event. The World Tournament Official Equipment include Viking Cue with all matches played on Andy Cloth. Event partners include Mr.Tom Gleich, Dr. Gregory Diehl, Mr. Greg Hunt of Amsterdam Billiards, & Mr. Jim Gottier of Greenleaf's Pool Room. Patron sponsors include Mr. Harold Siegel of Excelsior Graphics, Dr. James Heller, Mr. Charles Eames of Charles Eames Photography, Frank Scharbach of Frank's Billard Cafe, Focused Apparel and the National Amateur Pool League.
The World Tournament will be live streamed on AZBTV , order by going to www.worldstraightpool.com . Official media partners are www.NYCGrind.com , Pool & Billiard Magazine, & tech support by Gotham City Technologies.
Complete group schedule at www.worldstraightpool.com for all matches. Tickets to watch live in person sold on site.
The day started with last year's semi-finalist Max Eberle defeating strong Kevin Clark of PA 100-15. Shaw looking really good with a 99 and out over Dobosenski of WI and alSo Shaw annilhilated junior European champion Joshua Filler 100-14.
Roberto Gomez of the Philippines makes his debut in 14.1 and had an impressive win over Mika Immonen and also won three more matches making him the favorite to win his Group 7 and earn a first round bye the next stage.
Van Boening looked stout with his three wins including a marquee win over Danny Harriman. Harriman took the bronze in 2007 World 14.1. Van Boening also had a personal best 305 ball run during practice on Sunday night which was on the livestream.
In the final marquee match, Appleton was too much to handle as he gave Strickland no out in a 100-32 rout. Appleton had a 87 ball run earlier in another match.
Germany's Reiner Wirsbitzki also went 3-0 included an escape from Eberle in a 100-93 win when Eberle scratched with an open table needing only 8 balls.
8pm Hall of Fame Banquet Live Streamed for FREE at www.Ustream.tv/channel/azbtv
Each of the three players will have to play 6 matches each in the first stage of the championship. If they qualify in their respective groups, they advance to a double elimination knockout stage. If they advance again, they qualify for the final stage of 16 players in a single knockout stage, but with longer match races. The finals will be a race to 300 balls made first, which could take as long as 6 hours.
In addition to the World Tournament will be the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame. A gourmet banquet dinner along with speeches from celebrity guests will take place July 15th at 8pm at Steinway Billiards. A special video presentation of each inductee will be produced and presented by www.NYCGrind.com's Jerry Tarantola. The HOF Live Streamed for FREE at www.Ustream.tv/channel/azbtv
Support straight pool and the 14.1 Hall of Fame by joining the World 141 Club & for a very inexpensive sponsorship, become one of the 141 special people joining the 141 Club which will fund this year's events. The list of benefits & gifts are huge. Goto http://worldstraightpool.com/tickets.html . Tickets will be sold at the door during the event. Sponsors and private contributors can still join this year's event. Final added money and fundraising for the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame are still being generated. To help be a part of this treasured event, please contact Dragon Promotions and join the World 141 Club.
Get the latest news and complete results of all years at www.worldstraightpool.com and daily year round updates on www.facebook.com/Worldstraightpool . Follow Dragon Promotions news at www.twitter.com/Dragonpromoter
Vendor spaces are also available, for more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978. Full event info is atwww.dragonpromotions.com
Huge match-ups kickoff Day 1 of the historic Andy Cloth World Tournament of 14.1 . Some of the big marquee line-ups include a savory Van Boening vs Harriman at 6:30pm and a finale feature with defending champion Appleton vs Strickland! A who's who of world class players will be in attendance to etch their name into history's elite of the father of all pool games. Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Stephan Cohen, Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland, Mika Immonen, Tony Robles and many, many more. The main event will take place once more in New York City. As usual, a star studded field is expected this year at Steinway Billiards Cafe, who is once more hosting this world class event. The World Tournament Official Equipment include Viking Cue with all matches played on Andy Cloth. Event partners include Mr.Tom Gleich, Dr. Gregory Diehl, Mr. Greg Hunt of Amsterdam Billiards, & Mr. Jim Gottier of Greenleaf's Pool Room. Patron sponsors include Mr. Harold Siegel of Excelsior Graphics, Dr. James Heller, Mr. Charles Eames of Charles Eames Photography, Frank Scharbach of Frank's Billard Cafe, Focused Apparel and the National Amateur Pool League.
The World Tournament will be live streamed on AZBTV , order by going to www.worldstraightpool.com . Official media partners are www.NYCGrind.com , Pool & Billiard Magazine, & tech support by Gotham City Technologies.
Complete group schedule at www.worldstraightpool.com for all matches. Tickets to watch live in person sold on site.
Each of the three players will have to play 6 matches each in the first stage of the championship. If they qualify in their respective groups, they advance to a double elimination knockout stage. If they advance again, they qualify for the final stage of 16 players in a single knockout stage, but with longer match races. The finals will be a race to 300 balls made first, which could take as long as 6 hours.
In addition to the World Tournament will be the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame. A gourmet banquet dinner along with speeches from celebrity guests will take place July 15th at 8pm at Steinway Billiards. A special video presentation of each inductee will be produced and presented by www.NYCGrind.com's Jerry Tarantola. The HOF Live Streamed for FREE at www.Ustream.tv/channel/azbtv
Support straight pool and the 14.1 Hall of Fame by joining the World 141 Club & for a very inexpensive sponsorship, become one of the 141 special people joining the 141 Club which will fund this year's events. The list of benefits & gifts are huge. Goto http://worldstraightpool.com/tickets.html . Tickets will be sold at the door during the event. Sponsors and private contributors can still join this year's event. Final added money and fundraising for the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame are still being generated. To help be a part of this treasured event, please contact Dragon Promotions and join the World 141 Club.
Get the latest news and complete results of all years at www.worldstraightpool.com and daily year round updates on www.facebook.com/Worldstraightpool . Follow Dragon Promotions news at www.twitter.com/Dragonpromoter
Vendor spaces are also available, for more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978. Full event info is atwww.dragonpromotions.com
The battle for the two last remaining spots in the 2014 World Straight Pool Championships took place this past weekend at a poolroom truly worthy of hosting it. Amsterdam Billiards, home to the world’s oldest and largest 14.1 league has seen its share of great straight pool over the decades and this tournament would be no exception.
The field was filled with qualifier winners from past years including Holden Chin, Bob Madenjian, Sean Morgan, Gary O’Callaghan, Jude Rosenstock and Jonathan Smith but it was clear from the start that the polished professional yet new-comer to straight pool was certain to make an impact. Hunter Lombardo was here to play.
With a bye in his first round match, Hunter began his journey through the bracket with the lone shut-out of the tournament, dispatching Holden Chin 100-0 while posting a 50+ consecutive run along the way. The Hunter locomotive continued past veteran local player Ed Culhane in a decisive 100-19 victory but was immediately stalled by the field’s most accomplished straight pool player, 178-ball runner, Jonathan Smith. It was clear, Hunter’s path to the finish just got a lot more difficult.
First to meet Hunter on the B-Side of the bracket was Holden Chin who had just narrowly eliminated Brian Lau from the tournament. A rematch from the second round, Holden rebounded from his early loss and proceeded through Jim Murnak, Gene Ok, BoB Zak and Lau to earn his chance to revenge his shut-out but it was not to be. Hunter, on his own rebound, returned to form and handed the Raxx House Pro another loss. This time, he won by the score of 100-36, sending his journey into Sunday to meet Gary O’Callaghan.
Gary had been here before; the second day, the finals in sight. This was familiar territory for the Irish-born pool player who boasts a cash-finish in his first World Championship appearance. To say Gary was comfortable would be an understatement. His four victories on Saturday were won in an average of 55 minutes and his only loss was delivered by none other than Society Billiards house pro, Jonathan Smith. Storming out of the gate, Gary set the pace, quickly depositing the first rack of balls but ran into trouble in the next. Hunter managed to come back and take the lead momentarily but Gary served-up another batch of balls and looked destined for the finals, taking a 90-73 lead but facing an awkward break-shot. It didn’t take Gary long to decide the risk was not worth the reward and instead of thinly slicing his break-ball, he opted to play safe which proved costly. Hunter went on to win the safety battle and, in spite of the long break between offensive opportunities, came up with one great shot after another to win 100-94 and face Sean “Alaska” Morgan.
This was Sean’s second opportunity to secure a spot. The night before, in the midst of all the B-side action going on, he lost to Jonathan Smith in the Winner’s Side Finals. Jonathan truly earned his spot having gone through Gary O’Callaghan, Hunter Lombardo and finally Sean Morgan but Sean remained optimistic about his chances even though he would have to go through Hunter to get there.
Sean opened the final match with a textbook perfect safety, forcing Hunter to foul twice in a row and earning the first lead. That lead, established in the third inning, would expand to a 34-point margin inning with the score at 91-57 in Sean’s favor. It was at that moment, the game would come to a grinding halt for Sean. Hunter began by running off 16 balls and playing safe. The battle for control continued with both players taking fouls and playing safe while picking off open shots during the process. All the while, Hunter was gaining ground and then finally, the pivotal moment worthy of Hollywood happened.
Up by the score of 95-92, Sean played an aggressive safety, further opening the table while leaving the cue-ball frozen and tucked neatly away from any direct shots but an unpredictable kiss would send the 10-ball dangling over the side pocket. It was clear; Hunter would have to try and kick the 10-ball in. Leaving it was too risky and the scattered balls nearly insured that this lone shot would determine the outcome of the tournament. After taking a moment to measure the shot, Hunter opted for a soft kick, pocketed the 10-ball cleanly and positioned perfectly to run the final seven balls to win the final qualifier spot. Undoubtedly, this was the most dramatic ending ever seen at any previous Amsterdam qualifier. Hunter Lombardo and Jonathan Smith will go on to compete in the main event.
August 4-9, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, New York City. This will be Jonathan’s 9th appearance and Hunter’s first. Note from Dragon Promotions: Special thanks to Jude & Cate Rosenstock who did an excellent job directing the event and updating live score brackets for 14.1 fans around the world. And many thanks once again to Greg Hunt, owner of Amsterdam Billiard Club for his staunch sponsorship and support of the World 14.1 since its revival in 2006.
It had been on Tony Robles' mind for quite a while; the creation of a Northeast regional BCA Pool League tournament.
"I read all about their tournaments on-line," he said, "and I noticed that the BCA had regional tournaments in places like the Midwest and Texas, but nobody had ever done one in the Northeast.
"So I was all set to put one together," he added, "and Snookers ended up doing one last year."
Undaunted, Robles, operating under the auspices of his newly created Silent Assassin Productions, with CSI sponsorship, created the five-event tournament, and while, thanks to Snookers, it wasn't the first BCA Regional Tournament in the Northeast, it was the first such regional tournament in New York City.
The event, held on the weekend of June 6-8, was separated into five separate tournaments. Robles combined some BCA Regional categories, reducing an original plan for eight events. The $2,000-added, 1st Annual NYC 8-Ball Championships were hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, NY, and began on Friday evening, June 6 at 6 p.m. They concluded with the finals of the Men's Grand Masters event, very early on Monday morning, June 9.
In all, the tournament(s) played host to 83 entrants, the largest number of which (23) signed on for the Mixed Open event. The Men's Grand Masters event and the Women's Leisure event drew 16 each. The Men's Leisure event drew 15, while the Mixed Advanced event drew 13.
In the interest of space, and time, we'll tackle the event with the marquee names first – the Men's Grand Master event – and look to provide a later story on the other four events, either separately or together.
In the planned-for, 16-entrant Men's Grand Master tournament, Jayson Shaw went undefeated, downing Sean Morgan twice in the process. He faced Zion Zvi in a winners' side semifinal, while Morgan squared off against Chris Derewonski. Shaw sent Zvi to the losers' bracket 8-3, while Morgan was busy defeating Derewonski 8-4. Shaw and Morgan battled to double hill for possession of the hot seat, and with alternate breaks in play, Shaw broke rack #15 and won it.
On the loss side, Tony Robles, who'd defeated Jerry Tarantola and Jude Rosenstock, both 8-3, was waiting for Zion Zvi. Michael Yednak, who'd gotten by Al Zea 8-6 and Jorge Rodriguez 8-3, drew Derewonski. Robles advanced to the quarterfinals 8-2 over Zvi and was met by Derewonski, who'd eliminated Yednak 8-4.
Derewonski and Robles battled to double hill in those quarterfinals, before Derewonski prevailed for a re-match versus Morgan in the semifinals. Though Derewonski would chalk up one more rack against Morgan than he had in the winners' side semifinal, Morgan defeated him a second time. Shaw, though, stepped up his pace in his second match against Morgan, defeating him in the finals 8-4 to claim the first Men's Grand Masters title in the first NYC 8-Ball Championships.
Promising "bigger and better events in the future," Robles and his Silent Assassin Productions team, which included John Leyman as tour director and referee for the event(s), thanked Steinway Billiards' owner, Manny Stamatakis and his staff, as well as sponsors Cue Sports International, Delta-13 Racks, Predator Cues, National Amateur Pool League (PlayNAPL.com), Gotham City Technologies, NYC Grind (Jerry and Alison Fischer), AZBilliards, Upstate AL, Joey Leon, and Bob Cmbwsu.
