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Store double dips Quinones to win 7th Annual Western Women’s 9-Ball Charity Challenge

Bernie Store – Photo courtesy of Rick Schmitz

They've gathered every year since 2010 to play 9-ball for The Shade Tree, a Las Vegas shelter for women, children and their pets. This year, 36 women came together on the weekend of March 26-27 at the Rum Runner Tropicana in Las Vegas, and between $10 entry-fee donations and raffles, they raised about $6,800 to benefit The Shade Tree. The Western Women's 9-Ball Charity, a handicapped event, is generally the third tournament, every year, hosted by The Rum Runner in March, and is preceded by the Doc Hill Memorial Tournament for B players and the Andy Mercer Memorial for A players.
 
At this 7th annual women's charity challenge, Bernie Store, a regular on the Arizona Women's Tour and Gina Quinones battled three times to claim the event title. Store took two out of three in a double elimination final to win it.
 
They met first in the hot seat match. Store had sent Shirell Ivey to the loss side in a double hill match, as Quinones was busy sending Robin Verner west 5-2. In a double hill hot seat match, Quinones survived, sending Store to the semifinals.
 
On the loss side, Ivey picked up Anne Carmona, who'd defeated Gina Valerio, double hill, and Trinh Lu 4-4 to reach her (Lu, racing to 6). Verner drew Katy Moore, who'd gotten by Amy Kane 5-2 and Debra Aarens 5-3. Verner eliminated Moore 5-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Carmona, who'd handed Ivey her second straight loss 4-1. 
 
Verner took the quarterfinal match 5-1 for a shot at Store in the semifinals. An apparently determined Bernie Store shut Verner out 6-0 for her own second shot against Quinones in the hot seat. Store took that shutout momentum into the opening set of the true double elimination final, allowing Quinones only a single rack and forcing a second set. Quinones chalked up two more racks in the second set, but Store got her six to claim the event title.
 
Tournament representatives thanked Gino and Gordie Hill, owners of the Rum Runner Tropicana and their staff for their hospitality, as well as thanking sponsors the Vegas TAP Pool League, APA Las Vegas, BCA Pool League, USAPL, Pool Tools, Vegas Billiards Buzz, CSI, Fargo Rate, Long Horn Casino, the All City BCAPL, and Southern Nevada 9-Ball Tavern Owners' Association.

Wagner Wins AWBT Season Opener

The final eight players on Sunday

The Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour kicked off their 2014 season with a field of thirty one players at Skip & Jan’s in Tempe, Az. The tournament drew players from as far away as New Mexico, California and Nevada. In the end, it was the players from Nevada that dominated the weekend.
 
Saturday saw it’s fair share of upsets and marquee match ups. Susan Wilbur dropped back-to-back matches to Marcy Thomas and Cathy Kelley to finish in a surprising 25th place. Sara Miller and Amanda Pulley were also victims of first round losses and found themselves on the left side of the board much sooner than they had hoped. Miller would score four left side wins on Saturday, but Pulley would fall to Tina Feliciano and finish in a disappointing 17th place.
 
Sunday play brought back eight players to fight it out for the tournament win. 
 
Winner’s side matches saw Las Vegas’ Rebecca Wagner score a 7-0 win over Becky Onnembo. In the other winners side match, Bernie Store defeated Vegas’ Tina Larson 7-2. The hot-seat match saw Wagner grind out a 7-3 win over Store.
 
The one loss side saw Sara Miller send Tracie Hamman back to Tucson with a 7-5 scoreline, and Stacy Allsup eliminate Susan Williams 7-5. Miller and Allsup would continue their winning ways and defeat Tina Larson and Becky Onnembo in the next round. 
 
The final four players would feature two of Arizona’s best along with two of Nevada’s best. Bernie Store would soon become the final hope for Arizona, after Stacy Allsup’s 7-1 win over Sara Miller. Bernie would avenge that loss for Arizona though, with a 7-5 win over Allsup to earn a rematch with Wagner in the finals.
 
The extended final match saw Wagner come out of the gate strong and take a quick 3-0 lead. Store would stop the bleeding at 3-1, but Wagner continued to cruise and soon held a 7-1 lead. Store is not one to just give up though, and she fought back with three wins to get back within three games at 7-4, before Wagner won the final two games for the 9-4 win and first place.
 
The second chance tournament on Sunday saw Las Vegas’ Katy Moore complete the Vegas sweep with a win over Donna Taylor in the finals. 
 
Main event winner Rebecca Wagner commented after the event, “Las Vegas came as a team and represented well. We had a blast. Our goal was to have lots of fun and for one of us to win. So, mission accomplished!”
 
AWBT Staff send their thanks to all of the ladies who travelled from out of town to make this a great event. 
 
They also sent thanks to Natalie Poyner and the staff at Skip & Jan’s for hosting the event and adding $300 to the main event and $50 to the second chance tournament.
 
Thanks to Jose Gonzales of Las Glorias Grille for adding $100, and the friends of the AWBT for adding another $100.
 
Thanks for Kristie and Scott for running another great tournament.

Pots and Pans 9-Ball Open

Pots & Pans

The Pool World lost another "true character" of the game on April 10th of this year, with the passing of Bernard "Pots & Pans" Rogoff.

 
Rogoff was notorious for always making a game in his favor and rarely left a room on the road with less money than he walked in with. He was known for "hustling" on the bar tables as well as putting up  sets of  pots and pans against money for games he made. There are hundreds of great stories about all the "action" he saw in his younger days. 
 
Even up to a few months before he passed , Rogoff was a regular fixture at many pro events across the country, and was usually found sitting front and center decked out in his Charlie Chaplin outfit. He always had stories and jokes and was always looking for a game, If not for himself than for a friend so he could get a little side action.
 
Vegas' Katy Moore decided to organize an event  to make sure that Pots & Pans is not forgotten, and she had begun that quest with the announcement of the "1st Annual Pots & Pan's Open" to be held at Pool Sharks in Las Vegas on June 21st – 23rd.
 
"The morning he passed, I was so upset to lose a friend, and then I found out there were no plans for a funeral or memorial. I called the owners of Pool Sharks, John and Joe, and asked about holding a memorial tournament for him there. They immediately agreed and we set the wheels in motion.  I know he had a lot of people that knew him and he had touched their lives in some way and I wanted his pool family to have a way of honoring his life. I think he deserved that." commented Moore.
 
This open 9-ball event will feature $600 in added prize money with a 32 player field, and will be streamed online by povpool.com.
 
Pool Sharks added $500.00 and CSI has donated another $100.00 to the prize fund. Omega Billiards has also donated a Championship Break cue to be raffled off during the tournament.
 
For more information, to sign up, or to donate items for the raffle, call Pool Sharks at 702-222-1011.