Luis Novas, a C+ player, played strongly all weekend long, until he ran into Atif Khan, a B player, in the battle for the hot seat. Sent to the semifinals, Novas returned and defeated Kahn twice in the finals of the $1,000-added, B-D handicapped event that had drawn 49 entrants to Amsterdam Billiards & Bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan over the Memorial Day weekend.

Getting into the hot seat match, Novas defeated Annie Flores 7-5, while Khan, by an identical score, sent Juan Guzman west. Khan gained the hot seat with a 7-2 victory over Novas, which proved to be his last.

Flores moved to the loss side and picked up David Davladze, who’d defeated Tony Ignomirello double hill and Carl Yusuf Khan 7-5 to reach her. Guzman squared off against Arturo Reyes, who’d gotten by Gary O’Callaghan double hill and Glenn Ramsey 7-3. Davladze ended Flores’ bid to get back to the finals with a 7-3 victory, and in the quarterfinals, faced Guzman, who’d eliminated Reyes 7-5.

Guzman then defeated Davladze 7-3 for a shot at Novas in the semifinals. Novas, though, determined to earn his own second shot against Khan, took the semifinals 7-4 and got that chance.

He took full advantage. He defeated Khan 7-2 in the opening set of the true double elimination final, and backed that up with a 7-3 win that captured the event title.

Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Amsterdam Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Human Kinetics.