An AZ ‘tip of the hat’ to Cecilia (C.C.) Strain for logistical control of the SBE’s largest fields
While a great deal of the pool community outside of The Greater Philadelphia Expo in Oaks, PA last weekend was focused on the 118-entrant Diamond Open Pro Players Championship, most of the activity in the Expo Center during that week centered on the activity of nearly 2,000 amateurs who gathered to participate in seven different events; 1,901, to be precise.
Just a little over half of those 1,901 were engaged in a single tournament, The Open Amateur Tournament, which drew 1,021 entrants, requiring utilization of 16, 64-player brackets. And every last one of those competitors, right from the start, were competing in what was the equivalent of the loss side in a double-elimination tournament; in another words, one loss and you’re out. Another set of words for that is single-elimination, which is fine if you’re playing in a group of between 16 and 32 players because you know when you start that you only have to win three matches (with 16) or four matches (with 32). Each individual listed in the 16, 64-player brackets knew that just for starters, they’d have to win five matches in a row, just to win the single bracket and then, win four more matches to become the 30th Annual Super Billiard Expo’s Open Amateur Champion.
That title went to Ryan Lineham of Coventry, RI but with so much to cover, we better get started with Bracket #1 of the 16. Maybe not . . .
There were six other Amateur Player events; A Seniors event (50+) which drew 381 players, a Super Senior event (65+) with 251, a Women’s Division with 184, two juniors event; one for 17 & under (56 entrants) and one for 12 & Under (47 entrants). There was also a 32-entrant, Pro Am event, open to one and all.
There were very few moments throughout the entire weekend (April 11-14), when there weren’t 100s and 100s of pool matches going on at any given moment. This is a regular, commonplace part of the annual Super Billiards Expo. All of the above does not take into account the activities of the TAP League’s Rally in the Valley, an annual team event open only to TAP League members, who form teams on-site at the SBE or have won in TAP League Nationals.
Rachel Walters with sponsor Steve Dunkel
So, on to (some of) the details. Ryan Lineham, the SBE’s 2024 Open Amateur Champion, has been competing in cash tournaments in the New England area for about a dozen years. His best (recorded) earnings year was in 2018, when he won The Perfect Spot Open Men’s Amateur event in Nanuet, NY and finished third in that year’s Ocean State 9-Ball Championships in Rhode Island. Among the Final 16 in the Open Amateur event at the SBE (in races to 5, best of three sets), he got by mid-Atlantic pool veteran Chris Bruner, Bob Madenjian, local player Derek Schwager in the semifinals and downed another mid-Atlantic veteran in the finals, Danny Mastermaker 5-1, 5-4.
The Seniors event crowned Maryland’s Pat McNally as its champion. McNally chalked up a few wins on a local circuit back in the early ‘aughts;’ ’02, ’03 and ’04, winning two events on the New England Players Tour back then. In the last of those three years, he finished third at a Northeast 9-Ball Open XVI that was won by (now) Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour director, Mike Zuglan. McNally entered the event’s quarterfinals (final eight) and downed Gary Kiersey, took down John Vitale in the semifinals and finished with a 5-3, 5-3 win over Pennsylvania’s Tim Tanana to claim the title.
The Super Seniors contingent of 251 consisted of four, 64-player brackets whittle down to two players each, who advanced to the event semifinals. Ace Aughtry took out James Edwards, as James Sanders ended Tom Waters bid in the other semifinal. Aughtry claimed the title, taking the best-of-three-set final 4-3, 1-4, 4-0.
Pennsylvania’s Rachel Walters, who was Delaware State’s Ladies Bar Box 8-Ball Champion in 2023, in addition to cashing in a few stops on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) that year, took the top prize in the SBE’s Women’s Division. From that division’s four, 64-entrant brackets, Walters advanced to down another JPNEWT veteran, Tina Malm, as Marie France Blanchette eliminated Harley King in the other winners’ side semifinal. Walters claimed the Women’s title 4-1, 3-4, 4-0 over Blanchette.
Niko Konkel with Mom Shannon
Winston-Salem, NC’s Niko Konkel, who’s been making a name for himself as a junior competitor over the past few years, worked his way through the 56-entrant, all-gender field, that included the Tate sisters, Bethany and Noelle, and a host of his fellow competitors on the Junior International Championship series of events, to include Eddie Vondereau and Grayson Vaughn. He met and defeated a JIC veteran, D’Angelo “Jaws” Spain in the event semifinal, as Tanner King was busy eliminating Noelle Tate in the other semifinal. Konkel claimed the title 5-1, 5-3 over King in the final.
The younger set (12 & Under) saw Hayden Ernst, another veteran of the JIC series, take the title from 46 others who competed. Ernst downed Roman Boone in one of the semifinals as Johnny Hammontree eliminated Gavin Matthew. Ernst gave up only one rack over two sets in the final. He gave that one up in the opening set and closed the door with a 5-0 win in the second set to claim the title.
The combination amateur/pro event (ProAm), which, in a way, invites a kind of ‘wannabe’ crowd to take on the more experienced, ‘been there, done that’ crowd. The event drew 64 entrants and saw Nicholas Tofoya claim the title over Jonathan “Hennessee from Tennessee” Pinegar. Tofoya worked his way through the field to meet and defeat Ricky Evans in one of the semifinals, as Pinegar was working on the elimination of New England competitor Kevin Guimond in the other semifinal. In two, races to 6, double-hill matches Tofoya claimed the ProAm title.
Hayden Ernst
Finally, a word here about the folks who put this monumental series of amateur events together and keeps it motoring forward through who knows what kind of aggravation can and probably does occur. We here at AZ tend to hear more regional tournament director gripes than normal because we hear about them more often. And these are folks that are generally dealing with numbers between 32 and 64 (usually). The bigger events, with and without pros, might, on a good day, get 128 pool players in a room (as the Diamond Open Pro Players Championship did at this SBE), but that is just a little more than 1/10th of the multiple events that C.C. Strain has to deal with for the entire weekend of the SBE. And she does it with style, grace and a staff of folks around her that draws its energy and unflappable demeanor from her. They are quite well aided by a central arrangement of desks that is placed on platforms, high enough to keep the crowd at a distance while allowing it to step up and ask the hundreds of hundreds of questions that it brings to that table in a given 15-minute span. There are those who would contend that the SBE Amateur events could not happen without her. There are very few who would argue the point, nor as of this writing, anyone who is making any attempt to challenge her for the job.
With two events in the books for the 2022/2023 Joss NE 9-Ball Tour season, the tour has now crowned two first time event winners. Kevin Guimond avenged a hot-seat match loss to local young gun Lukas Fracasso-Verner to set him up for the double dip win in the finals of the September 24-25 tour stop at Yale Billiards.
Guimond went undefeated on Saturday with comfortable wins over Joe Raccio, Mike Toohig, Marc Dionne and Rick Matarazzo. Coming back on the winners side on Sunday were Guimond, Ray McNamara, Aaron Greenwood and Fracasso-Verner. Guimond scored a 9-5 win over McNamara and Fracasso-Verner scored a 9-2 win over Greenwood. The hot-seat match went to Fracasso-Verner by the score of 9-4.
Alex Bausch was waiting for Guimond on the left side of the board. Bausch had lost to Fracasso-Verner in the last round of matches on Saturday, but put together a three match winning streak to get to the semi-final matchup with Guimond. This match would be the end of the run for Bausch, with Guimond scoring a 7-3 win.
Guimond won the first set of the double elimination finals by the same 9-4 scores from his earlier match with Fracasso-Verner and then finished off the double dip with a 7-5 win in the second set to earn his first career Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win.
Sundays second chance tournament also saw a double dip in the finals, with Steve Mack coming back from a second round loss to Mike Renshaw to score a total of seven straight wins, including back to back 3-2 wins over Steve Sutton in the finals.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour is back this coming October 1 – 2 weekend at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, New York.
Congratulations to Stop # 2 winners Kevin Guimond ($1,200 main event) Steve Mack ($300 2nd chance event) & our $1,900 Joss Cue raffle winner Roberta Beekman!
Stop # 3 of my Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour will take place on Oct 1st & 2nd at Raxx Pool Room Sports Bar & Grill in West Hempstead NY. Raxx is one the Northeast’s largest rooms complete with a huge 50 foot bar, Great food, 21 9ft tables & 6 7ft tables making for a fun time for everyone. Our good friend and owner Holden Chin, deserves much credit and thanks for being so generous in allowing us the use of his beautiful facility and adding $2,000 for this free spectator event. Much more info about Raxx can be found on Face Book & their web site raxxpoolroom.com So why not come down and show Holden your appreciation and support by playing in, or just to watch, yet another great event with some of the games top players. While there, you could even win a gorgeous custom engraved Joss Cue valued at $1,900 in their cue raffle. Anyone can enter and you Do Not need to be present to win! The cue drawing will be immediately prior to the final match of the main event.
This event at Raxx will consist of a $1500 added Saturday and Sunday Main Event (entry Fee $120 for pro level or $70 for non pro level) and a $500 added second chance event on Sunday ($20 Entry Fee) for those non pro level players eliminated from the main event on Saturday.
For those of you coming to play, please arrive on Saturday Oct 1st, Before 11:00 AM, and in proper dress please. Yes, jeans and sneakers are permitted in our billiard parlor events. But please, NO T-SHIRTS, TANKS, SHORTS OR SWEATS.
For our complete 2022/2023 Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour schedule, results and other pertinent tour info, please go to www.joss9balltour.com
Our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXXVI 9-Ball Open on January 5-8, 2023 is fast approaching and will be here before you know it. FYI, I just began taking entries last week and we are already FULL, pending my receipt of many “checks in the mail”. I have started a waiting list and expect there will be many who will get in off of it so call now if you want on it. 518-356-7163. I strongly urge any serious players to act now!!
Please do not use this gmail address to contact me. Use mzjosstour@aol.com or 518-356-7163 only.
Please remember to spread the word to frequent your local billiard parlors and utilize and promote the world class products of our most generous sponsors. They are the backbone of our sport and deserve our support now more than ever!!
Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, Texas was a buzz on the weekend of April 30th 2022 as the Predator Arcadia CenTex Pool Tour made its debut in the Austin-Round Rock area with its third stop at the wildly popular venue featuring 18 9-foot Diamond tables.
In the Open Division, 67 local and traveling players competed in the $1500 added 9-ball tournament with a $40 entry. The double-elimination event featured the Predator Arcos II ball set and Accu-Rack template racks with races to 7/5, alternative breaks, and 3-foul and 3-point rules in effect. This event attracted Diveney-sponsored touring professional, Chip Compton, Predator professionals Ruben Bautista from Mexico and Daniel Schneider, and Predator Junior Pro, Lazaro ‘Lil Laz’ Martinez III. A handful of local Austin heavy hitters joined in their ranks: pro Justin Espinosa, up-and-coming Noah Contreras and the seasoned champs Kevin Guimond and James Davis Jr. Several favorites from across Texas also made their way for this stop: Albert Luna, Matthew Shoemaker and Jon Giles from San Antonio, Andy Jethwa from Houston, Robert Perez from Corpus Christi and Sky Massingill and Curtis Tidmore from Odessa.
The opening rounds proved safe for the higher ranked competitors with exceptions for Kevin Guimond, who lost his first match to Lil Laz 4-7, and for James Davis Jr, who also suffered a first-round 4-7 loss by local player, John Wright. Sky Massingill from Odessa, Texas squared off against the formidable Chip Compton in his second match and was sent to the one-loss side after a 4-7 defeat. Jon Giles also found his way to the one-loss side in his second round by local player Kenney Nguyen 2-7.
In the concluding rounds, Chip Compton, fresh from his victory against Sky, secured his position on the winner’s bracket by defeating Daniel Schneider 7-3 on the streaming table. Albert Luna and Andy Jethwa also squared off in the fourth round where Albert capitalized on Andy’s shortcomings, sending Andy to the one-loss side with a 7-4 victory. Justin Espinosa overcame Matthew Shoemaker with a dominating 7-2 win. As the day drew to a close, Laz Martinez, Curtis Tidmore, Noah Contreras and John Wright completed their rounds unscathed to move onto the next day’s proceedings.
Meanwhile, in the one-loss side, Jon Giles prevailed into the second day by edging Kevin Guimond and Daniel Schneider in back-to-back hill-hill battles. Andy Jethwa, after his loss to Albert Luna, eliminated James Davis Jr.5-0 and Patrick Perez, after his loss to Ruben Bautista, defeated Michael Taylor 5-1. Sky Massingill barely skated by Robert Sopha 5-4 in the third round and proceeded to conclude his day by eliminating Robert Perez 5-2 and Bill Regalis 5-1.
16 players returned for second day in the Open Division with 8 players scheduled to face-off in the winner’s bracket: Albert Luna vs Curtis Tidmore, Noah Contreras vs John Wright, Chip Compton vs Ruben Bautista and Justin Espinosa vs Lazaro Martinez, and another 8 players in the one-loss side: Jon Giles vs Patrick Perez, Matthew Shoemaker vs Cody Simko, Andy Jethwa vs Joe Cannata and Eduardo Ramirez vs Sky Massingill. Jon Giles, Cody Simko, Joe Cannata and Eduardo Ramirez’s run drew to a close in the 7th round of the one-loss side by the hands of their opponents and placing 13th- 16th. The remaining top 12 players were guaranteed a payout.
Albert Luna advanced into the 6th round of the winner’s bracket against Noah Contreras when Curtis Tidmore’s attempt to take the match to hill-hill with Albert was unsuccessful. However, Noah swiftly encapsulated his victory over Albert 7-1 to earn Noah his place in the hotseat match. Fresh to the one-loss side and in the 8th and 9th round, Curtis eliminated Patrick Perez 5-0 and Matthew Shoemaker 5-3.
Chip Compton and Ruben Bautista’s match quickly drew to a close as Chip overwhelmed Ruben with a 7-3 victory, allowing Chip to observe his next opponent between Justin Espinosa vs Laz Martinez. In Justin and Laz’s hill-hill match, attendants watched Laz Martinez execute a beautiful close-proximity jump shot, only to overcut the 6-ball and enable Justin to claim victory and advance to the next match against Chip. Laz Martinez was unrecoverable and was swiftly eliminated by Sky Massingill in a stunning 0-5 loss, placing Laz 9th-12th. Ruben also unceremoniously ended his run for the top, placing 9th-12th, when he was eliminated by Andy Jethwa. Meanwhile, Justin and Chip’s exciting battle for the hotseat match took a surprising turn as streaming viewers witnessed Justin, down 3-6 with Chip on the hill, fought his way to victory. Good friends, Noah and Justin fought a friendly but fierce match for the hotseat with Justin claiming the spot 7-4.
In the 10th round of the one-loss side for 5th-6th place, both remaining Odessa players were eliminated from competition as Chip briskly defeated Curtis Tidmore 5-0 while Albert Luna edged by in a hill-hill win against Sky Massingill 5-4. In a swift match for 4th place, San Antonio’s ‘GOAT’ Albert Luna escaped a hill-hill match against Chip 5-3 to face Noah once more. Afterward and in a tighter match between Albert and Noah for 3rd, Noah overcame Albert on the hill 5-4, and the Open Division tournament concluded with Noah and Justin splitting top place.
In the Women’s Division, seventeen bright and talented ladies competed in the 2-day double-elimination 9-ball event at the third stop of Predator Arcadia CenTex Tour that ran concurrently with the Open Division. The event was played on Skinny Bob’s Billiards’s 9-foot Diamond tables using Predator Arcos II ball set and Accu-Rack template racks. Rules consisted of races 5/4, alternative breaks and 3-foul rule in effect with a 100% payout to the top 6 players accumulated from the $25 player entries and additional $500 added to the event.
12 of the 17 competitors were first-time attendants to the Predator Arcadia CenTex Pool Tour, including formidable Skinny Bob co-owner, Kim Sanders, alongside her fellow local Austin frontrunners: Jennifer Kraber, Michelle Cortez, Nicole Mcdaniel and Kim Pierce. Travelling contenders included Houston favorite, Natalie Rocha, and challengers Crystal Jones and Jamie Wilson from Odessa, Texas and Mary Mikita from Corpus Christi.
In the beginning rounds, Nicole Mcdaniel suffered an early loss from the redoubtable Michelle Cortez 1-5 and fought her way into the second day by eliminating Kim Pierce 4-0, Zoe Lozano 4-0 and Michelle Abernathy 4-2 from the one-loss side. Michelle Cortez, fresh from her win against Nicole in the first round, also sent accomplished Jennifer Kraber to the one-loss side with a 5-3 victory to conclude Michelle’s matches for the first day. Crystal Jones from Odessa, Texas impressively defeated Kim Pierce 5-0 and her traveling companion, Jamie Wilson 5-3 before being sent to the one-loss side herself from her defeat to Kim Sanders 3-5. Angela Miles remained undefeated at the conclusion of the first day with her victories against Rachel Hurst 5-3 and Natalie Rocha 5-4. Joining Angela, Michelle and Kim in the winner’s side, Mary Mikita defeated San Antonians, Zoe Lisa Bailey 5-3 and Zoe Lozano 5-1. Jennifer Kraber successfully persisted through the first day by eliminating Makenna Sanders 4-1 and Houston’s Natalie Rocha 4-3 from the one-loss side.
Six competitors returned for the event’s second day with a guaranteed pay-out for all places. On the winner’s side: Kim Sanders battled Mary Mikita on the streaming table and on the table adjacent, Angela Miles faced off against Michelle Cortez while Nicole Mcdaniel and Jennifer Kraber waited in the one-loss side. Skinny Bob’s Billiards’ locals Kim Sanders 5-1 and Michelle Cortez 5-3 defeated their out-of-town opponents to battle it out in the hotseat match. In the proceeding matches in the one-loss side, Nicole eliminated Angela Miles 4-3 and Mary Mikita ended Jennifer Kraber’s run for the top 4-1, placing Angela and Jennifer in 5th/6th place. In the 4th place match, Mary Mikita swiftly defeated Nicole Mcdaniel 4-0 to face-off against Michelle Cortez after Michelle’s hotseat match loss to Kim Sanders 2-5. The strategic 3rd place match between Mary and Michelle reached hill-hill with numerous back-and-forth safety plays where Michelle Cortez edged for the win and ended Mary’s first participation in the CenTex tours in 3rd place. Good friends Michelle Cortez and Kim Sanders fought an intense battle in the finale where, for the second time, Kim proclaimed victory over Michelle with an outstanding 5-3 win and was crowned winner of the Women’s Division 3rd stop and Michelle as runner-up.
The next stop for Predator Arcadia CenTex Pool Tour 2022 is scheduled for the weekend of June 11th-12th, 2022 as a $2000-added Jack-and-Jill Scotch Doubles 9-ball Tournament hosted by Banana’s Billiards in San Antonio, Texas.
The Arcadia Centex Pool Tour kicked off the 3rd stop at Double D’s Roadhouse in La Vernia, TX on Saturday, June 26th. The field included top picks of stop James David Jr., Daniel Schneider, Justin Espinosa, Albert Luna, Kevin Guimond and Andy Jethwa.
The early rounds of the tournament yielded very few surprises with the top Fargo rated players cruising through the winner’s bracket. Rounding out the leaderboard, Patrick Croft and Cristina Schneider finished 7th/8th with Schneider winning “Top Lady” prize. The previous tour stop winner James Davis Jr. started out strong with wins over Justin Huber (7-4) and Roger Senn (7-1) before falling to Swiss Pro Daniel Schneider in a hill-hill battle. He was eventually knocked out by local favorite Albert Luna and finished in 5th/6th place. Joining him in 5th/6th was Daniel Schneider. Schneider came out strong with several rounds on the winner’s side but after defeating Davis, Schneider lost his next round to Justin Espinosa. On the B side he was eliminate by Andy Jethwa settling for 5th/6th.
Local Favorite Albert Luna started out strong with decisive wins over Wayne Senn (7-0), Eddie Perez (7-1) and Andy Jethwa (7-5) before being sent to the one-loss side by Kevin Guimond. He rounded out his tournament with a win over James Davis Jr. (5-2) before suffering a revenge loss to Andy Jethwa leaving him in 4th place.
Kevin Guimond had a strong performance blowing through the winner’s side to the hot seat match with a first round bye and wins over Frank Ferrer Jr. (7-1), Jeremiah Perez (7-0) and Albert Luna (7-3). Justin Espinosa handed Guimond his first loss (7-5) in the hot seat match sending Guimond to the one-loss side to face Andy Jethwa. Jethwa was on a roll after 4 consecutive wins on the B side and Guimond would settle for 3rd Place losing (5-2) to Jethwa.
Andy Jethwa was sent to the B side in the 3rd round by Albert Luna losing 7-5. He came back strong knocking out Roger Senn, Cristina Schneider and Daniel Schneider. Jethwa would get his chance for revenge by also knocking out Albert Luna (5-1). His momentum carried through to the 3rd place match as he eliminated Kevin Guimond to earn his spot in the Finals. He would have to double dip Justin Espinosa to take the title.
Espinosa had a fantastic performance running through the winner’s side undefeated and securing the hot seat from Kevin Guimond. The first match in the finals was a close fought match but Espinosa held on for the undefeated win taking down Jethwa 7-6 and denying his chance at a second set.
The next tour stop takes place on August 14-15, 2021 at Fast Eddies Embassy in San Antonio, TX. Thank you to our tour supporters Predator Cues, Arcadia Billiard Cloth, Kamui, Brutal Game Gear, ROIS Leather, Backwards Billiards, Outsville and James Hanshew.
Kraber goes undefeated to win her second Texas Women’s 10-Ball Championship
(l to r): John Palmore, Dennis Orcollo & James Davis, Sr.
Being Texas, it’s never enough to just hold an Open and Ladies 10-Ball tournament every year. Instead, Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, TX hosts a six-day extravaganza (this year, from Feb. 12-17) that has a way of feeling like a month-long extravaganza, headlined by the annual Texas 10-Ball Open and Ladies 10-Ball Championships.
Things got underway on Wednesday, Feb. 12 with a 10-Ball mini-tournament, as more or less of a warm-up for events to come. On Thursday, the activity was a Scotch Doubles tournament that was eventually won by the team of Warren Kiamco and Ellen Robinson, who downed John Gabriel and Ellen Jones in the finals. Later in the day, a Banks/Rails game was won Sergio Rivas, who defeated John Demet in the finals. On Friday, an Open Ring game was won by Jeffrey DeLuna, with Sky Woodward as runner-up and John Gabriel in third place.
In the absence of a defending champion (Alex Pagulayan), a few relatively well-known Filipino competitors stepped in to fill the gap at the $4,000-added 6th Annual Texas Open 10-Ball, which got underway on Friday evening. Dennis Orcollo ended up going undefeated through the field. He downed Warren Kiamco twice (hot seat and finals) and waited patiently as Kiamco eliminated Francisco Bustamante in the semifinals. We’ll get back to them in a while, but first. . . the ladies.
The $1,000-added Ladies 10-Ball Championship, which drew 20 entrants, got underway on Saturday. Unlike the Open Championship, the Ladies event featured its defending champion, Gail Eaton. It was won by its 2018 champion, Jennifer Kraber, who went undefeated through the field, downing Courtney Peters twice, hot seat and finals.
Following victories over Kim Pierce, Kelly Jones and Rachel Hurst, Kraber moved into a winners’ side semifinal against Ming Ng. After being awarded an opening round bye, Peters downed Latonia Taylor and Michelle Yim, to draw Nicole McDaniel in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Kraber and Ng locked up in a double hill fight that eventually advanced Kraber to the hot seat match. She was joined by Peters, who’d defeated McDaniel 7-1. Kraber won the first of two versus Peters 7-3 and waited in the hot seat for her return.
On the loss side, Nicole McDaniel drew Kim Sanders, who’d recently eliminated defending champion Gail Eaton and Rachel Hurst, both 5-3. Ming Ng picked up Michelle Yim, who’d defeated Ellen Robinson 5-3 and Kelly Jones 5-2 to reach her.
Yim and Sanders handed Ng and McDaniel their second straight loss; Yim, 5-3 over Ng and Sanders shut McDaniel out to join Yim in the quarterfinals. Yim then did unto Sanders that which Sanders had most recently done to McDaniel; shut her out to advance.
In the semifinals that followed, Yim became the third shutout victim in a row and gave Peters a second shot at Kraber in the hot seat. Peters chalked up two more racks in the finals than she’d chalked up against Kraber in the hot seat match, but they weren’t enough, as Kraber completed her undefeated run 7-5 to claim the Ladies 10-Ball title.
Orcollo backs up Derby City Master of the Table title with undefeated run at Texas Open 10-Ball
It’s only February and Dennis Orcollo has pocketed money that would be the envy of most pool players to earn in an entire year. He finished 16th in the Derby City’s One Pocket Division, 3rd in the 9-Ball Division and won the 9-Ball Banks, all of which earned him the coveted Master of the Table title. All of this followed his victory at the Music City’s Midnight Madness Tournament and his runner-up finish (to Skyler Woodward) in the Music City’s Open Division. He didn’t get a chance to meet Woodward in this event, although Warren Kiamco did.
Robocop (as they call him) got by Kenny Loftis, John Gabriel, Justin Hall, Kevin Guimond and Junior Jueco by an aggregate score of 35-12, giving up just over two racks per match (on average). Orcollo drew Naoyuki Oi in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
Warren Kiamco, in the meantime, started his campaign out with back-to-back shutouts of Thomas Smith and Pat Castro. He then defeated Josh Roberts 7-1, Robert Gomez 7-3 and won a knock-down, drag-out, double hill match versus Sky Woodward (this event’s 2016 champion) to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup with a 35-10 aggregate score and having given up an exact average of two racks per match. Kiamco squared off in his winners’ side semifinal against a very familiar opponent, Francisco Bustamante, who’d sent this event’s 2015 and 2017 champion, Manny Chau to the loss side.
Orcollo sent Oi to the loss side 7-2 and was joined in the hot seat match by Kiamco, who’d defeated Bustamante 7-4. Orcollo and Kiamco played an entertaining double hill hot seat match that eventually sent Kiamco to the semifinals and left Robocop in the hot seat.
On the loss side, Naoyuki Oi drew James Davis, Sr. (known as Strop, because he’s originally from Bastrop, TX), who’d recently defeated two strong opponents in a row to reach him; first Josh Roberts 7-4 and then, Sky Woodward 7-5. Bustamante picked up Roberto Gomez, who’d defeated Junior Jueco 7-1 and Sergio Rivas 7-3 to reach him.
Strop and Oi locked up in a double hill fight, eventually won by Strop. Bustamante joined Strop in the quarterfinals after eliminating Gomez 7-4. Bustamante then sent Davis, Sr. home 7-3 in those quarterfinals.
Those who thought that Bustamante and Kiamco would get into a double hill fight for a shot at Orcollo in the hot seat were disappointed. Kiamco gave up just a single rack and advanced to the finals 7-1 over Bustamante.
One might have been forgiven for believing that with that 7-1 momentum, the final rematch between Kiamco and Orcollo would have been something of an epic struggle. It wasn’t, really. Orcollo shut Kiamco out 7-0 to claim the event title.
Tour directors John Palmore and James Davis, Sr. thanked John and Sue Cielo and their Skinny Bob’s staff for their continued support of this event, to include their hands-on assistance with varied aspects of running the tournament; entries, money management, etc. In addition, noted Palmore, “Kaye Watson is the glue that holds everything together for (Davis) and I. She helps with bracket management and most importantly, that all the the money is correct coming in and going out.” They also thanked event sponsors Simonis, Hanshew Jump Cues and Sleep Inn.
(l to r): Gerardo Perez, Daniel Herring & Kevin Guimond (photo:Jesse Garcia, Bound by Imagination)
While the top point leaders in the Predator DFW 9-Ball Tour’s standings list (#1 through #5) were languishing on the loss side of the Oct. 19-20 bracket of the tour’s 10th stop – only two of them finished in the money (#1 Tim Larson, tied for 7th and #5 Jay Ryda, tied for 17th) – #42 (Gerardo Perez) and #63 (Daniel Herring) advanced through the 88-entrant field and battled twice to claim the event title. Perez was the undefeated winner of the $1,500-added event, hosted by the Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
All but one of the top five on the standings list – #4 Amos Bush – had competed in all nine of the tour’s events, and Bush had only missed one. It was Gerardo Perez’ sixth appearance on the 2019 tour and his best finish had been in a tie for 9th place last month. Herring had competed in only three of the tour’s stops, with a best finish of a tie for 13th place in August (He’d won a stop on the tour just over a year ago). They both battled players higher in the points list during their trek to the finals, but neither of them faced any one of the top five, though as it turned out, it was not for lack of trying. Greg Sandifer (#2) was on the loss side at the end of the opening round. Larson, Davis, Bush and Ryda all moved over after the third round.
Herring and Gregory battled to double hill before Herring prevailed and advanced to the hot seat match. He was joined by Perez, who’d defeated Emerson 7-4 (Emerson racing to 8). With Herring racing to 8, as well, Perez claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited on Herring’s return.
Over on the loss side, Sandifer and Bush had been knocked out before the first money round (33rd-48th). TJ Davis made it to that first money round (17th-24th), but went home with just the $160. Tim Larson, who’d been sent to the loss side by Emerson, was in the midst of a very brief winning streak that had started in the first money round and after three wins, including a 9-1 victory over Chris Rickman, had ended with a defeat at the hands of Jersey Jack Lynch, who advanced to pick up Emerson. Gregory drew Kevin Guimond, who, after losing to Larson in the third round, was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. He’d recently eliminated Crispian Ng 9-6 and Walter Heunerfuerst 9-5 to draw Gregory.
Emerson downed Lynch 8-1. Guimond joined him in the quarterfinals after a 9-3 win over Gregory. In the semifinals, with Guimond racing to 9, he and Herring battled to a double hill standstill before Herring ended it for a second shot against Perez in the hot seat.
With Herring racing to 8, he and Perez fought to 6-7, double hill, before Perez ended it to claim his first event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at the Billiard Den, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues and main event sponsors Ft. Worth Billiards Superstore, JB Cases, Accu-Rack, CSI, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball League, BCAPL, RackEm TV (streaming sponsor), FargoRate, and IMS (Internet Marketing Solutions). The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 16-17, will be the tour’s Season Finale at Rusty’s in Arlington, TX.
There’s nothing that’ll let the air out of a competitive pool balloon faster than an early loss in a tournament with a lot of entrants. In a 128-entrant bracket, for example, a loss in the second round will almost double the number of matches you have to play to claim the event’s title. The winner and runner-up in such an event will have been there the same amount of time, but one of them will have played a lot more pool.
At the $4,000-added, Open 9-Ball Division of the 46th Annual Texas Open, held over Labor Day weekend (Aug. 28-Sept 2) that drew 128 entrants to Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, TX, Josh Roberts played seven matches to claim the hot seat. He did not win the eighth match he needed to claim the title. Sky Woodward, though, patched up the ‘balloon’ that had burst in the second round, and ended up playing 15 matches; two on the winners’ side, 11 on the loss side and two in the true double elimination final that earned him the event title.
It was a very busy weekend in Round Rock. In addition to the Open 9-Ball Tournament, there was a 9-ball mini tournament (Wednesday night), a Jack ‘N Jill Scotch Doubles tournament that drew 16 teams (Thursday night), a Banks Ring Game (Friday night, in conjunction with the start of the Open 9-Ball), and a Women’s Open event (started Saturday night; separate story) that drew 32. It should be noted that the Jack N’ Jill Scotch Doubles title was shared by two teams; Co-tournament director James Davis, Sr. and long-time doubles partner Jennifer Kraber and a team made up of the Open winner (Woodward) and the Women’s event winner (Ming Ng).
Woodward’s winning campaign in the Open event opened on a promising note with a shutout over Donald Rock, but ran right into a double hill match against Alex Calderon, which shifted Woodward’s work to the loss side of the bracket. Roberts, in the meantime, worked his way through his first four opponents (Steven Butler, Jeremy Diggs, Tommy Vega and Ryan Hsu) by an aggregate score of 36-6. And then, like Woodward, Roberts ran into Alex Calderon, who battled Roberts to a deciding 17th game. Roberts dropped the final ball and advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Justin Espinosa.
Roberts got into the hot seat match with a 9-3 win over Espinosa. Gabriel joined him after sending Guimond to the loss side 9-6. Roberts chalked up what proved to be his last match win with a 9-3 victory over Gabriel and waited in the hot seat for Woodward to finish his 11-match, loss-side winning streak.
It was Justin Espinosa who drew Woodward on the loss side. At that point, Woodward had already won eight of his 11 loss-side matches, including, most recently, victories over Bayaua and Hsu, both 9-3. Kevin Guimond drew Sean Black, who was on a loss-side run comparable to Woodward’s. Black had lost his opening round match and embarked on a nine-match winning streak that eventually earned him the second-most wins in the event. He’d most recently eliminated Steve Sheppard 9-5 and spoiled any hopes Woodward was entertaining about a rematch against Calderon, by defeating Calderon, double hill.
Black’s loss-side streak came to an end when Guimond eliminated him 9-6. Woodward’s continued with his third straight 9-3 win, this one over Espinosa to advance to the quarterfinals.
Woodward chalked up two more 9-3 wins to earn a shot at Roberts in the hot seat. He downed Guimond in the quarterfinals and Gabriel in the semifinals. He chalked up his 6th 9-3 win in the opening set of the true double elimination final. He broke the pattern and won the second set 9=7 to claim the event title.
Co-tour directors James Davis, Sr. and John Palmore thanked Sue and John Cielo and their Skinny Bob’s Billiards staff, as well as Sleep Inn, Mints Amusement, and James Hanshew. They also acknowledged Ray Hansen and his PoolActionTV crew for the live stream of the event throughout the long weekend.
Ted Dean, Francisco Bustamante, Dennis Orcollo and Robert Gomez
With the exception of one or two opponents that he faced, Dennis Orcollo wasn’t exactly mowin’ ‘em down at the 28th Annual Houston 9-Ball Open, held on the weekend of Sept. 7-9. In his last five matches, he did chalk up a shutout, and a 9-2 win, but he also had to contend with two opponents who chalked up six against him and one who managed to get seven. Slow, but steady wins the race, said the tortoise, and along with earlier victories, it all added up to Orcollo’s fifth 2018 championship title. The $7,500-added Houston 9-Ball Open drew 124 entrants to Legends Billiards in League City, TX.
Once past the shutout over Steve Lechner and the 9-6 win over Warren Kiamco, Orcollo found himself in a winners’ side semifinal match against Amar Kang. Francisco Bustamante, in the meantime, who, in the process of competing in his last five matches, got by Tony Chohan 9-7, and Andy Jethwa 9-3, arrived at his winners’ side semifinal match against the eventual runner-up, Roberto Gomez.
Orcollo downed Kang 9-2. Bustamante was busy dealing with Gomez, who chalked up six, but moved to the loss side when Bustamante got his nine. Orcollo claimed the hot seat over Bustamante 9-7 and waited on the return of Gomez.
Moving to the west bracket, Gomez picked up Kiamco, who, following his defeat at the hands of Orcollo, had downed Casper Matikainen 7-3 and Robb Saez 7-5. Kang drew Kevin Guimond, who’d been defeated on the winners’ side by Gomez, and then, won two straight double hill matches against Omar Alshaheen and Lechner.
With identical 7-5 scores, the Gs (Guimond and Gomez) advanced to the quarterfinals over the Ks (Kang and Kiamco). Gomez took the quarterfinal match against Guimond 7-2, to earn himself a re-match against Bustamante. Gomez took that semifinal re-match 7-5 and got a shot at Orcollo in the hot seat.
For all the good it did him. Orcollo completed his undefeated run through the field with a 9-6 win, pocketing $4K for his work and the Houston Open 9-Ball title.
Alex Calderon and Skyler Woodward (Photo courtesy of PoolAction.tv)
One hundred twenty eight players made the trek to Shreveport, LA to play in this year’s Sidepocket Open Nine Ball Championship. A full field of 128 players including well-known names like three-time and defending champ Skyler Woodward, Roberto Gomez, Robb Saez, Texas Open 10 Ball runner-up Kenny Loftis, Alex Calderon, Gary Abood, Devin Poteet, Ernesto Bayaua and Kevin Guimond put up their $75 entry fee to play in the race to 7, alternate break bar box event.
The event kicked off on Friday with the players meeting and draw followed by a players auction. After that, twenty players put up their hundred bucks for a ring 9 ball game. When the smoke cleared, there were two men standing – Roberto Gomez and Sky Woodward. Sky took it down…
Owner Roger Lites, along with tournament sponsors OB Digicue, Ballistic Billiards and Steve Wells of Action/27, treated both players and fans to a great event. Tournament Director Jeff Sullivan (“Sully”) and his able assistant, Ileana Ford, kept things running smoothly.
After plenty of action, Sunday night whittled down to fourth place finisher Robb Saez while Kevin Guimond came in third. Kelly Isaac took down last lady money.
Woodward, looking to claim his fourth Sidepocket Open title, needed to beat the undefeated Alex Calderon twice. Sky won the first set in a squeaker, 7-6. The second set started out neck and neck until Sky pulled away away and reached the hill first – 6-4. Alex was not about to give up easily as he went on to tie it at six apiece. One game for it all & Alex was breaking!
Alex made two balls on the break but was faced with no easy shot on the one with a two-nine combination along the side rail. He attempted to bank the one but sold out leaving Sky with a medium-tough shot on the one and a medium-tough shot on the combo. The fans sure got their money’s worth as Sky pocketed the case nine to claim his fourth consecutive title! Congratulations, Sky! Good tournament, Alex!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank our sponsors and fans for another fantastic event! Our sponsors include Diamond Billiard Tables, Lomax Custom Cues, Kamui, John Barton of JB Cases, GoPlayPool.com, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Hanshew Custom Cues, Simonis and Club Billiards of Wichita, KS. Thanks for your support!
Our next event is the much anticipated Durbin Cup to be held on March 3rd in Sullivan, IL. Hope to see you there!!!
