The G Cue Billiard Store Diamond Pool Tour held their second stop of the season at Skip & Jan’s in Gilbert on June 17th – 18th, where they once again crowned a new winner in the amateur division, and a returning champion in the open division. 

 

The amateur division kicked off on Saturday with 36 players and a new group of favorites at the top of the list. With tour stop one winner Max Maurer over the 625 Fargo limit, early favorites in this  event included Rick Armbrust (619), Lee Brown (619), Ken Laney (618) and Mike Hamman (616). As a testament to the handicapped format of the event, only Armbrust would finish in the money.

 

Saturday play whittled the field down to the final eight players in the money, with Bob Mizer set to face Scott Vogelsburg (looking for his second big win in as many weeks) and Rick Armbrust set to face Nick Cipiti. The one loss side came down to Steve Stowers vs Wes Sowers and Randy Reid vs Jesse Johnson. 

 

As play began on Sunday, Vogelsberg beat Mizer 8-2 in an even 8-8 race, and Armbrust beat Cipiti 9-6 in a 9-8 race. 

 

On the left side of the board, Steve Stowers eliminated Wes Sowers 8-5 in an 8-7 race, while Randy Reid upset Jesse Johnson 6-2 in a 6-8 race. Stowers would then eliminate Mizer in a hill-hill match 8-6, and Cipiti bounced back from his earlier loss to send Reid to the seats with an 8-2 scoreline. Cipiti would soon be joining Reid in the seats, as Stowers scored a hill-hill win to eliminate Cipiti in 4th place. Due to the Father’s Day holiday, Vogelsberg forfeited his semi-final match against Stowers and the race to 9 final match was underway. 

 

The final match came down to hill-hill, before Armbrust dropped the final 9-ball for the 9-8 win and first place. 

 

Sunday’s Open event drew a talented field of 25 players that included Hungary’s Vilmos Foldes, Mitch Ellerman, Stop 1 winner Gus Briseno, Bobby Emmons and New Mexico’s Tommy Tokoph to name just a few. 

 

On one side of the winner’s bracket, Foldes was on a tear. He defeated Carl Stewart, Ben Hrabina and Brian Long by a combined score of 30-2. On the other side of the winner’s bracket, it was Bobby Emmons making noise. Emmons defeated Tracie Hamman, Eric Young and then Mitch Ellerman in a hill-hill match.

 

Ellerman took the trip to the one loss side, where he then dropped a hill-hill match to Eric Young to finish in 4th place. 

 

Back on the winner’s side, Emmons was playing like he didn’t have a care in the world and sent Foldes to the one loss side 7-3 (in a 7-10 match).

 

Foldes was ready for round two with Emmons though, as he then eliminated Young in a hill-hill 10-4 match. 

 

Just to prove that the first time was no fluke, Emmons defeated Foldes in the first set of the finals by the same 7-3 scoreline. 

 

The tour will next head out to Tucson on the 15th and 16th of July for two events on the 9’ tables at Pockets.

 

The G Cue Billiard Store Diamond Pool Tour is proudly sponsored by…

 

G Cue Billiard Store

Diamond Billiards

Casino Del Sol

Aramith Billiard Balls

Iwan Simonis Cloth

JB Cases

Hanshew Custom Cues

Kumui Billiard Products

Slikster Apparel

Your Way Logistics

Big Time Threads

 

Spike Aiardo battled a very tough George Bell to win the Diamond Pool Tour’s fourth stop at Pockets Pool & Pub in Tucson, Az on May 2nd – 3rd. 

 

The field of 57 players was split with 20 “A” players and 37 “B” players, playing 8-Ball on the 9’ tables. With points leaders Scott Frost and Bobby Emmons not in attendance, the “A” bracket was wide open for a new player to make a name for themselves. That player would be Spike Aiardo who cruised through the bracket without a loss. Aiardo survived a close call in his first match, when he beat Las Vegas’ Bob Herchik 7-6, but it was smooth sailing after that as Aiardo took down Rudy Alameda 7-0, Brian Reich 7-2, and New Mexico’s Mickey Provencio 7-2 for the “A” bracket hot-seat.

 

The “B” bracket was led by “Hollywood” George Bell, in his first ever Diamond Pool Tour stop. Bell had a tough draw all day, with notable wins over Eric Lervold, Mike Hamman and Jesse Johnson to his credit. Bell took the “B” bracket hot-seat with a hill-hill win over Mike Bevins. That was was Bell’s third hill-hill win of the weekend.

 

The Greenmail top lady bonus went to Heather Cortez this month. She pocketed $100 for her 13th place finish in the “B” bracket. This was the third consecutive tournament where Cortez won at least a piece of the top lady bonus.

 

Once again, there was no Greenmail bounty awarded, since previous winner Joven Bustamante couldn’t make it from the Philippines to play in the event.

 

The “A” and “B” brackets came together on Sunday with Aiardo facing Bell on the winners side, and Andy Kachur taking on Todd Rowitz on the one loss side. Kachur eliminated Rowitz in a 7-1 match that saw both players struggle with the shot clock that was implemented due to the late hour. On the winner’s side, Bell stunned Aiardo 7-4 to become the first “B” player to win an overall hot-seat on the tour.

 

Aiardo righted his ship after the loss and eliminated Kachur 7-3, for another shot at Bell in the finals. Award would make the most of that rematch, defeating Bell 7-2 and 7-1 for his first (but certainly not last) Diamond Pool Tour win.

 

The Neil’s Garage Cabinets Second Chance tournament on Sunday found a field of eight players competing for just over $400 in prize money. The event was won by Lee Brown, who held off Ronnie Kidd in the second set of the double elimination finals. 

 

Presenting sponsor, Casino Del Sol Resort, again took care of all of the tour players, presenting each player with a voucher for $60 credit at the Casino’s amphitheater. Players at the June stop will also receive one of these vouchers.

 

The tournament win catapulted Aiardo to second place on the “A” player points list, while Bell’s second place finish moved him into a tie for 6th place on the “B” player points list. Scott Frost and Nick Kline still lead the “A” and “B” lists respectively.

 

Tour organizers expressed their thanks to Curtis and Lenny, as well as their amazing staff, for sticking with the long hours involved with this event. Lenny Marshall, once again, provided great streaming coverage. George Teyechea, the voice of the Diamond Pool Tour, provided fans with informative streaming commentary all weekend long. As always, Rick Schmitz took another batch of amazing pictures for the tour.

 

The Diamond Pool Tour will return to Stingers Sports Bar in Glendale, Az on June 6th – 7th for 8-ball on the 7’ Diamond Smart Tables.