One doesn’t toss out the word ‘dominate’ lightly, no matter what the circumstances, because as anyone familiar with pool will tell you, a wide score disparity doesn’t always reflect how close any given match may have been. That said, Mario Argentino and Lance Lisciotti went undefeated through a field of 39 teams of two, on-hand for the New England 9-Ball Series’ $500-added (8-Ball on the winners’ side and 9-Ball on the loss side) Summer Sizzler Partners Event, hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT on  Sunday, August 4. The victory encompassed six matches in all and over those six matches, the Argentino/Lisciotti partnership allowed a total of only six racks to be recorded against them, culminating in back-to-back shutouts in the hot seat match and finals.

 

Following an opening round bye, Argentino and Lisciotti, who would never compete in 9-Ball in this event, embarked on their arguably dominant performance giving up a single rack to their first two partnered opponents and then running into a pair of players in a winners’ side quarterfinal who brought them to the double hill brink of a loss – Ricardo Diaz and Beau Powers. Argentino/Lisciotti survived the scare and advanced to a winners’ side semifinal versus Tyler Boudreau and Tom D’Alfonso, who were the closest matched competitors in terms of Fargo Rates that the two faced all weekend. Argentino/Lisciotti came to the tables with a 587 (combined, averaged) Fargo Rate. Boudreau/D’Alfonso were three points away at 584. In the other winners’ side semifinal, Jose Concepcion and Angel Gonzalez met up with Jay Cunningham and Jordan Stevens.

 

Argentino/Lisciotti gave up their sixth (and unbeknownst to the assembled, their final) rack, defeating Boudreau/D’Alfonso 4-1. Concepcion/Gonzalez joined them in the hot seat match following a 3-2 win over Cunningham/Stevens. In what was one of only two handicapped matches among the event’s final 14 matches, Argentino/Lisciotti shut the Concepcion/Gonzalez team out (the Concepcion/Gonzalez team began the match with a single ‘bead on the wire’ in a race to 4) and sat in the hot seat, awaiting their return.

 

On the loss side, Boudreau/Alfonso picked up Jason D’Angelo and Joey Dupuis, who’d recently defeated the Diaz/Powers duo that had double-hill challenged Argentino/Lisciotti in the 4th winners’ side round. D’Angelo/Dupuis double-hill challenged and eliminated them, before advancing to defeat Gene Hunt and Ruben Sepulveda 4-1 to pick up Boudreau/D’Alfonso. Cunningham/Stevens drew Shiekh Ahmed and Anthony Petruzzelli, who’d eliminated Adam Blair and Josh Caesar 3-1 and survived a double hill match against Bobby and Rebecca Hilton.

 

In the first of the money rounds, Ahmed/Petruzzelli handed Cunningham/Stevens their second straight loss 3-1 and were joined in the quarterfinal match by Boudreau/D’Alfonso, who’d survived a double hill battle against D’Angelo/Dupuis. Another double hill fight ensued in those quarterfinals, with Ahmed/Petruzzelli eventually advancing to the semifinals over Boudreau/D’Alfonso.

 

Concepcion/Gonzalez, no doubt eager for a second shot against the hot seat’s Argentino/Lisciotti team, gave up only a single rack to Ahmed/Petruzzelli in the semifinals and got that chance. Argentino/Lisciotti, though, doubled down on the dominance angle, shutting Concepcion/Gonzalez out in the second handicapped match of the event’s final 14 and claiming the Summer Sizzler Partners title.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Yale Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell with Lease Fundings, Master Billiards and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for this weekend (August 11), will be hosted by Snooker’s in Providence, RI.

Lukas Fracasso-Verner got by the slightly higher-ranked Ryan Cullen once, but he couldn’t get it done a second or third time in the finals of the New England 9-Ball Series’ Players Championship (stop #16), held on the weekend of March 16-17. Cullen came back from the initial loss and double dipped Fracasso-Verner in the event finals to become the tour’s 2019 Players Champion. The $1,000-added event drew 50 entrants (27 in a lower bracket, 23 in an upper bracket) to Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.

The two met first in a winners’ side semifinal, which, in effect, was the final of the event’s initial upper bracket. So, too, did Tyler Boudreau and Jimmy Gonzalez meet in a winners’ side semifinal, which, in effect, was the final of the event’s initial lower bracket. Playing with a FargoRate that was six points below Cullen’s (650-644), Fracasso-Verner got by him the first time 7-4, which put him into the hot seat match against Boudreau, who’d defeatEd Gonzalez 4-3 (Gonzalez with the higher FargoRate – 500 to 400 – racing to 6). Fracasso-Verner gave up only a single rack against Boudreau (racing to 4) and claimed the hot seat 10-4.

Put another way, Fracasso Verner won the event’s upper bracket competition, while Boudreau picked up the win in the event’s lower bracket competition. Neither one of them would win the overall Players Championship title, won by Cullen.

On the loss side, with the brackets still divided, upper bracket competitors Cullen and Mike Hurley met, while in the lower bracket, Gonzalez and John Porto hooked up. Hurley had survived a double hill fight against Bart Rivezzi and eliminated Mario Argentino 7-3 to draw Cullen. Porto had downed Nicole Netherland 5-3 and shut out Tim Nieves to pick up Gonzalez.

Cullen downed Hurley, double hill (7-5) and in the quarterfinals, faced Gonzalez, who’d defeated Porto 5-3. In those quarterfinals, Cullen (from the upper bracket) eliminated Gonzalez (from the lower bracket) 9-2.

In the semifinals, Boudreau, separated from Cullen by 250 FargoRate points (600-450) put up a double hill fight (in essence, Boudreau began a race to 10, with 6 on the wire), but it wasn’t enough. Cullen chalked up the 10 he needed before Boudreau had won his necessary 4th rack.

In a straight-up race to 7, in the opening set of a true double elimination final, Cullen and Fracasso-Verner battled to double hill before Cullen finished it to force a second set. Fracasso-Verner weakened a little in the second set, and Cullen pulled ahead to win it by three 7-4 and claim the Players Championship title.

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Yale Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#17), scheduled for Sunday, April 7, will be a Partners Tournament, hosted by Snookers, in Providence, RI. The event will be limited to the first 64 teams and pre-registration is recommended.

It’s not difficult enough that pool players have to battle each other, or their own interior mental processes as a tournament advances toward a conclusion. In many cases, involving a variety of factors – number of tables in a room, number of entrants and enforcement of legally established closing times – pool players are in a race against the clock, which sometimes, they lose. On Saturday, February 23, at a stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#14), Ben Savoie, Kevin Zieminski and Ryan Cullen lost their clock race, opted out of the event’s final two matches (semifinals, finals) and split the top three prizes. It was likely most painful for Ryan Cullen, who, at decision time, was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that ended with his quarterfinal victory. Savoie, in the hot seat at the time, was awarded the official event title, with Zieminski, his vanquished hot seat opponent and Cullen’s potential semifinal opponent, in second place. Cullen had to settle for the official third place. The $500-added event drew 69 entrants to Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.

 

Savoie’s upper-bracket path to the hot seat went through Ray Buthe, Gene Hunt, Mario Argentino and Bart Rivezzi, before arriving at a winners’ side semifinal match against Tito Montalvo. Zieminski, in the meantime, worked his way through the lower bracket, defeating David Colbeth, Sr., Troy Fortin, Mike Felix and Joanne Corbett to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup against Josh Christian. Cullen, following victories over Greg Madar and Sal Midolo, had been sent to the loss side by Montalvo, and would earn his right to a rematch, seven loss-side matches later.

 

In a straight-up race to 7, Savoie advanced to the hot seat match 7-3 over Montalvo. Ziemenski joined him after winning his straight-up race to 5 against Christian, double hill. Savoie claimed the hot seat, winning what proved to be his last match 6-1.

 

On the loss side, Cullen eliminated Frank Celedita, Darron Jevens and picked up a forfeit win over Mario Argentino, before downing Frank Porto and moving into the first money round, where he defeated Bobby Hilton 6-1 and Tom D’Alfonso, double hill (5-6; D’Alfonso racing to 7). This earned him his re-match against Montalvo. Christian drew Joanne Corbett, who’d eliminated Anthony Petruzelli 4-2 and in a straight-up race to 4, shut out John Kirwan to reach him.

 

Cullen downed Montalvo 7-3 and moved into his last match, the quarterfinals, against Christian, who’d given Corbett a taste of her own ‘shutout’ medicine, by eliminating her 4-0. Cullen gave up only a single rack to Christian in those quarterfinals, and for all concerned, the night was over. Savoie was the official winner, Zieminski was the runner-up and Cullen would never know whether he could have won the two more necessary to give him the title.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Yale Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#15), scheduled for Saturday, March 9, will be the $500-added Joe Brown Memorial Tournament, hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.

 

Dionne has also notified potential competitors that following the event at Buster’s Billiards, the New England 9-Ball Series will host its $1,000-added Players Championships, scheduled for the week after the event at Buster’s Billiards, on the weekend of March 16-17. Pre-registration is recommended for the event, which will be hosted back at Yale Billiards, and restricted to 128 players. There will be an additional $250-added 10-Ball event, scheduled for Sunday, March 17 (maximum Fargo Rate of 675, races to 5), which will be limited to 32 players.

Though in 2018, he’d won a stop on the Predator Tour and won the 8th Annual Ginky Memorial’s Amateur Tournament, held under the auspices of the Predator and Tri-State Tours, a win on the New England 9-Ball Series had eluded him. Former Junior National Champion Lukas Fracasso-Verner, in the midst of his best earnings year to date, had finished as runner-up three times this year before entering the Saturday, Oct. 13 stop (#3) on the tour and coming from the loss side to down James “Doc” Pasciolla to claim the title. The $500-added event drew 42 entrants to Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.

 

The early going in this event was split evenly into upper and lower brackets of 21 players each, out of which emerged Sal Midolo from the upper bracket and Pasciolla from the lower bracket. Fracasso-Verner had advanced through four opponents to run into Midolo in one of the winners’ side semifinals, as Pasciolla was meeting Jason D’Angelo in the other one.

 

Midolo squeaked by Fracasso-Verner, double hill (5-6), and in the hot seat match, faced Pasciolla, who’d sent D’Angelo west 5-2. Midolo claimed the hot seat in his second straight double hill match and waited for Fracasso-Verner to get back from a three-match, loss-side winning streak to meet him in the finals.

 

Fracasso-Verner opened the loss-side segment of his winning run against Ray Buthe, who’d defeated Gene Hunt 5-3 and Mario Argentino, double hill, to reach him. D’Angelo drew Shane Bansrupan, who’d eliminated Kelly Hodder and Darryl Helm, both 4-1.

 

Over his next three matches, earning him a spot in the finals, Fracasso-Verner gave up a total of only three racks in 22 games. He shut out Buthe to get into the quarterfinals against D’Angelo, who’d defeated Bansrupan, double hill. He gave up only a single rack to D’Angelo in those quarterfinals (8-1) and then denied Midolo a second shot against Pasciolla with a 6-2 victory over him in the semifinals.

 

In the finals, the difference in their Fargo Rates (632/492) gave Pasciolla four on the wire at the outset. To his credit, Pasciolla chalked up as many racks against Fracasso-Verner in those finals as all three of the youngster’s previous opponents combined (3). Fracasso-Verner chalked up his requisite eight racks to claim the event title.

 

Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Yale Billiards, as well as sponsors Predator, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Bourgeois Farms, and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop (#4) on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for the weekend of October 20-21, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by Legends Sports Bar in Auburn, ME.

Jayson Shaw has opened 2016 with a string of victories that have already earned him half of his 2015 earnings. After finishing seventh at Turning Stone XXV in January, he went on, two weeks later, to win the Derby City Bigfoot 10-Ball Challenge (defeating Shane Van Boening in the finals). He finished second in that multi-tournament 9-Ball Banks event, fourth in the One Pocket and 45th in 9-Ball. He added $1,750 to his mounting total by winning the 7th Annual Ray Desell Memorial 9-Ball Tournament, held on the weekend of March 4-6. Also known as the New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open, the $2,500-added event, held under the auspices of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, drew 88 entrants to Snookers in Providence, RI.

 

The event was preceded, on Friday night, by the annual New England Hall of Fame awards ceremony, which inducted eight players into the region's Hall of Fame; Mike Dechaine, Joe Dupuis, Tommy D'Alfonso, Tommy Seminaro, Bobby Hilton, Sal Bevilacqua, Larry Gendler, and Becky Ellsworth-Tucker. Dechaine was inducted into the Hall as a two-time winner of the tournament, and its defending champion. Dupuis had won the event in 2014, defeating Dechaine in the finals.

 

Dechaine and last year's runner-up, Jorge Rodriguez, ended up meeting in the quarterfinals; Rodriguez, at the time, had lost his opening match and won nine loss-side matches. They'd both survived double hill matches in the battles for 5th/6th to get to those quarterfinals.

 

It was Shaw and Shaun Wilkie who ended up battling twice to crown a winner. Shaw had sent Ivaylo Petrov to the loss side in a winners' side semifinal 9-5, as Wilkie was sending Jeremy Sossei over 9-6. In what was surely a surprise to Shaw, Wilkie claimed the hot seat 9-4 and waited on Shaw's return.

 

On the loss side, Petrov and Sossei ran into Dechaine and Rodriguez. Dechaine had picked up a forfeit from Nelson Oliveira, and defeated Kevin Bauccio 9-4 to reach Petrov. Rodriguez had chalked up loss-side wins #7 & #8, downing Ron Casanzio 9-3 and Kyle Pepin 9-1 to draw Sossei. Two double hill wins sent Dechaine and Rodriguez to the quarterfinals, where Dechaine prevailed 9-4 for a shot at Shaw.

 

Another double hill battle ensued, and the defending champion, Dechaine, finished in third place. Shaw, not pleased to have had to play that extra match against Dechaine, won the opening set of the true double elimination final against Wilkie 9-3. He punctuated his displeasure with a 9-2 second set win that gave him the title.

 

A $500-added Second Chance Tournament that drew 17 entrants saw Justin Muller defeat Joe Darigis in the finals. Mario Argentino finished third, and Dennis Levesque finished fourth. Mark Creamer and Bob Begey finished in the tie for fifth place. A custom, engraved Joss Cue, valued at $1,700 was raffled off at the event, and won by Joe Duperry. 

 

The next stop on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for March 12-13, will be a $1,500-added event, hosted by Trickshot Billiards and Sports Pub in Clifton Park, NY. Tour director Mike Zuglan noted that the roster for Turning Stone XXVI, scheduled for August 25-28, is two-thirds full. Anyone wishing to sign up should contact Zuglan immediately at 518-356-7163.