Justin Espinosa went undefeated in the 55-player, open 9-ball division, defeating Ruben Bautista, 6-4, to win his first Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour, open division title. In the 64-player, amateur 9-ball division, Junior Jueco was unmatched, beating Felipe Yniguez, 5-4, to earn his first, amateur division, Tour title.

 

On January 4th-5th, 2020, the Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour Season Opener went off like a rocket at Slick Willies Family Pool Hall, located at 5913 Westheimer, in Houston’s upscale Galleria area. Slick Willies will host four stops on the 2020 Poison Lone Star Tour, including an event in San Antonio. Tour title sponsor, Poison by Predator Cues, sponsors Cyclop Pool Balls, APA of North Harris County, Alamo Billiards, and Outsville Billiards facilitated a successful event that drew notables Justin Espinosa, Ruben Bautista, Jesus Alcocer, Ernesto Bayaua, and Andy Jethwa, and paid out $8,485 in prize money. The next event is February 8th-9th, at Diamond Sports Bar and Billiards in Port Arthur, Texas.  For more information about the Poison Lone Star Tour, visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.

 

In the open 9-ball division, Austin’s Justin Espinosa fought his way to the winners’ side final four with victories over Michael Lui, Louie Vickio, 6-1, Kenneth Price, 6-4, and Will Felder, 6-0, while Jesus Alcocer denied Ronjan Mathur, Bobby Dominguez, Junior Jueco, 6-4, and J.C. Torres, 6-5. Brand new to the Tour, Kevin Gray bested 2019 Tour Champion, Ernesto Bayaua, 6-5, Joseph Corona, 6-5, and Victor Belmares, 6-5, and Roberto “Superman” Gomez powered through Eric Gauthier, 6-5, Aaron Springs, 7-2, and Ruben Bautista, 6-0. Down to the final sixteen, on the one-loss side, Bobby Perez eliminated Corona, 6-5, and J.C. Torres, 6-5, while David Leal took out Springs, 6-3, and Felder, 6-0. Bayaua sent home Price, 6-3, but succumbed to Bautista, 6-2, while Jueco fell to Andy Jethwa, 6-4, who in turn lost to Belmares, 6-5. On the winners’ side, Gomez dealt Gray his first loss, 6-3, and Espinosa overwhelmed Alcocer, 6-3.  Gomez and Espinosa were set to battle in their first, hot seat match up.  Fresh off a big win against Alcocer, Espinosa dominated Gomez, claiming the set, 6-3. On the consolation side, Perez plowed through Leal, 6-4, and Gray, 6-3, as Bautista derailed Belmares, 6-4, and ended Alcocer, 6-0. Bautista’s momentum seemed impenetrable, racking up five matches, including wins over Perez and Gomez, by the same score, 6-4. Bautista earned himself a shot at Espinosa, and the title. In the final set, Espinosa overpowered Bautista, 6-3, marking his first, open division win. Justin Won his first amateur division title in 2015, followed by two wins in 2017. In 2018, the Austin player was moved into the Tour’s “open only” division, and earned “runner-up” at the 2018 Space City Open. The Tour would like to congratulate him on his dedication to improving his game, over the last five years. 

 

In the amateur 9-ball division, Jueco made his way to the winners’ side final four with wins over Ray Porter, Terry Washington, Jesus Alcocer, 5-2, and Johnny Hendrix, 5-4, while Bill Fuller defeated Jeremy Owen, Jeremy Lauer, 5-1, Carl Honey, 5-1, and Bobby Perez. Joshua Garcia was on fire, ousting newcomer Doug Grams, David Williams, 5-3, Darryl Amos, 5-1, and Kenneth Price, 5-3. Rounding out the final four, Felipe Yniguez denied junior player, Kaleb Gray, Tim Jerkins, Fadi Barah, 5-3, and Brandon Tang, 5-3. On the west side, in the final sixteen, Javier Alienas eliminated Robert “Phaminator” Pham, 5-1, and Hendrix, 5-3, while Amos terminated Chris Hogan, 5-2, and Perez, 5-3. Springs bestEd Porter, 5-4, and Price, 5-4, while Victor Belmares overcame Pete Charles, 5-2, falling to Brandon Tang by the same score. On the east side, final four action witnessed Yniguez detour Garcia, 5-2, and Jueco derail Fuller, 5-3. Playing in their first-ever, hot seat match, the players kept it close, but in the end, Jueco edged out Yniguez, 5-4, to conquer the winners’ side.  On the one-loss side, Amos defeated Alienas, 5-4, only to be stopped by Garcia, 5-3. Following a third round blow by Perez, Springs wrapped up six wins, toppling Fuller, 5-4, and Garcia, 5-0, but was cut short by Yniguez, 5-4. Once more, Yniguez and Jueco faced-off, but this time, it was for the title. Yniguez had to beat Jueco two sets in the true, double elimination format, and he was prepared to do just that. Jueco was prepared to go all the way, but it was déjà vu for Yniguez, as Jueco closed out the opening set, 5-4, to win his first, Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour title. 

 

Billed as the second stop on the Efren Reyes Retirement Tour, sixteen of the top one pocket players on the planet and over a hundred nine-ball players stampeded to Buffalo’s Billiards in Jefferson, LA for their Fourth Annual Pro Classic. There were two divisions: the $10,000 added Pro One Pocket event and the $2000 added Open Nine-Ball.

 

The double elimination one pocket event had a $2000 entry fee with all races to five. Play began on Thursday night and everywhere you looked, there was world class one pocket. Tony Chohan and Corey Deuel marched through the field undefeated and met in the hot seat match. As with the previous matches, top-notch one pocket skills were displayed by both players and Chohan edged out the match 5-4 to claim his spot in the finals.

 

On the other side of the chart, Justin Hall defeated Dennis Orcollo in another close one, 5-4. Dennis finished in fourth place. By a score of 5-2, Corey had earlier sent Justin to the one loss side so Hall was looking for revenge. After a five hour match, it was Justin who emerged the victor leaving Corey in third place.

 

The finals began with Tony Chohan rocketing out to a 3-0 lead and it looked like victory was imminent. However, Justin Won the next three games to tie it up at 3-3 and then 4-4! Justin won the final game forcing a second set in the true double elimination format.

 

This time, it was Justin who leaped out to a 2-0 lead. Tony fought back and tied it up at two games each but then Justin forged ahead to take the hill first with a score of 4-2.

 

Tony fought back to make it 4-3 but Justin made short work of the last game as he took down the title – final score 5-3. Congratulations to Justin for a well-earned victory! Good job, Tony!

 

Saturday was opening day for the $40 entry 9 ball event. The format was double elimination, all races to seven with alternate breaks. When the smoke cleared on Sunday afternoon, Efren Reyes was the last man standing after defeating Roberto Gomez in the hot seat match and awaiting an opponent for the final match.

 

On the one loss side, Jeremy Jones and Billy Thorpe duked it out for a shot at Roberto – Jeremy prevailed leaving Billy with a fourth place finish. Gomez was determined to get another shot at Efren and he got his wish. Jeremy had to settle for third…

 

To win the tournament, Roberto would have to defeat Efren two sets. The first set was all Roberto as he raced to a 5-0 lead and an eventual 7-2 victory. The final set was much closer. Mid-set it was 5-4 Gomez and then hill-hill! One game for all the marbles! Doesn’t get much better than this, sports fans!!!

 

The crowd held their breath as Roberto broke and ran the final rack to take the title. Congratulations to Roberto for a well-played event! Good job, Efren! Looks like he has plenty of firepower left and is still a formidable threat!

 

PoolActionTV.com would like to thank James Leone, owner of Buffalo’s Billiards, and his staff for going the extra mile to show players and fans the Big Easy spirit. Tournament Director Steve McDonald had another well run event – thank you, Steve! Thanks to sponsors Attorney Joseph Long, Benwah Law Firm, Laguna Beach Daquiris, Bayou Billiards, Sound Advice USA, Lucky Coin Amusement and, of course, Buffalo’s Billiards, for their support.

 

We’d also like to thank Scott Rabon, Larry Schwartz, Jeremy Jones, Josh Roberts and Billy Incardona for their expert commentary.

 

Thanks to cuemaker Steve Lomax of Lomax Cues for donating a beautiful $2000 cue!

 

And, last but not least, thanks to all our fans and sponsors for another great event. Our sponsors include Steve Lomax of Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, John Barton of JB Cases, James Hanshew of Hanshew Custom Cues, GoPlayPool.com, Mike Durbin of Durbin Custom Cues, Kamui, Simonis and Club Billiards of Wichita, KS.

 

Our next event is the first stop of the WPBA Signature Tour. It will be held at Emerald Billiards in New Iberia, LA – the dates are June 21st – 24th. It will be live streamed free of charge on Facebook and YouTube. Hope to see you there!