Owners Billy Sharp, Mark Avery and Jim Henry and their staff welcomed players to their 11th Annual Big Tyme Classic. Held in Spring, TX, a suburb of Houston, this $14,000 added event featured three divisions – Open 9-Ball, One Pocket and Ladies 9-Ball.
Local sponsors included attorney Joseph J. Long, Brutal Game Gear, Star City Amusements, Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis, Aramith, Savage Billiards, Jim Stinson of AM Inc. and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore as well as Big Tyme Billiards and PoolActionTV.com.
Kicking off on Wednesday evening was the $5,000 added One Pocket Championship. Sixteen players put up a $300 entry fee to play in this double elimination event. The format was alternate breaks and races to 4/3 with the finals being one extended race to five. After the players auction, meeting and draw, the matches began.
Hot off his victory over Tony Chohan in last week’s Champions Challenge One Pocket match and the reigning Bayou State Classic One Pocket champ, Billy Thorpe blistered Ryan Braselman 4-0. Defending champion Roberto Gomez showed no mercy against Tulsa’s Greg Hogue – also 4-0. Runner-up at this year’s Skinny Bob’s One Pocket Championship, Raed Shabib, edged out Baton Rouge’s Jeff Padilla 4-3. Current Midwest Billiards One Pocket champ, Sky Woodward, survived a 4-3 scare over Wayne Berry – also from Baton Rouge. This year’s Rack One Pocket champ, Tony Chohan, defeated Houston’s Nick Schipon 4-1.
Second round action saw Chohan over Calderon and Woodward over Shabib – both scores 4-0. Bayaua defeated Tokoph 4-1 and Gomez sent Thorpe west with a 4-2 win.
In a hard fought match to get to the hot seat match was Bayaua and Gomez – Ernesto won 4-3. In the lower portion of the chart, Woodward defeated Chohan 4-2.
The hot seat match winner was Woodward over Bayaua 4-2. Ernesto headed west to await an opponent.
On the one loss side and after losing his second match, Calderon defeated Hogue 3-1, Shabib also 3-1 and Gomez 3-2 until he faced Chohan. On the one loss side, Tony had scored revenge against Thorpe 3-0 and eliminated Alex 3-1. Chohan was now in high gear and even though he had played well the entire event, Bayaua was no match for Tony and lost 3-0. Ernesto finished with a well-deserved third place finish.
As mentioned previously, the finals were an extended race to five. Neck and neck all the way and tied at four apiece, Sky missed a tough bank and Tony ran out for the game and title. What a match!
Tony Chohan
The $8,000 added Open 9-Ball division began on Friday evening. Played on Diamond bar boxes, the format for this double elimination tournament was alternate breaks and races to 9/7 with the three foul rule in effect. Using the Magic Rack with the nine on the spot, players broke from the box. Nine on the break didn’t count in the racking corners.
Paying an $80 entry fee, 119 players were auctioned off and play began after a players meeting and draw.
To no one’s surprise, it was Jeffrey de Luna, Sky Woodward, Roberto Gomez and Johnathan Pinegar (“Hennessee”) who marched to the final four on the winners side.
In the upper portion of the bracket, De Luna had wins over Kyle Lowry 9-0, Mike Jones 9-2, Jeff Lovelace 9-1, Shahram Changezl 9-6 and Raed Shabib 9-1.
Woodward defeated Chuck Willie 9-2, Sherman Sylestine 9-1, Pablo Trinidad 9-3, James Davis Jr.9-5 and JC Torres 9-3.
Woodward faced off against de Luna and won 9-7. Sky moved into the hot seat match.
In the lower portion of the bracket, Gomez beat Hiep Hong 9-0, Greg Hogue 9-4, Derek Fontenot 9-6, Billy Sharp 9-0 and Jeff Sullivan 9-5.
Hennessee squeaked past Joyme Vicente 9-8 and then went on to beat Jesse Moore 9-2, Joey Bourgeois 9-3, Soledad Ayala 9-6 and Tony Chohan 9-7.
Playing to get into the hot seat match, Gomez claimed victory over Hennessee 9-6.
The hot seat match was all Woodward as he locked up his seat in the finals over Gomez 9-4.
Over on the one loss side, Hennessee eliminated Alex Calderon 7-1, de Luna 7-6 and then Gomez 7-5 to claim the remaining berth in the finals.
Since this was true double elimination, Hennessee would have to defeat Woodward twice to win the tournament.
Hennessee won the first game and Sky tied it up. He then led most of the match with Hennessee mostly playing catch-up until Sky finally pulled away at five apiece and won three in a row to reach the hill. Woodward closed out the last game, winning 9-5, to take the title!
Eylul Kibaroglu
The $1,000 Ladies 9-Ball division began on Saturday night with a players auction, meeting and draw. Thirty nine players paid a $55 entry to play in this double eliimination event. Also played on Diamond bar boxes and using the Magic Rack, the format was races to 7/7 with alternate breaks. Play began the following morning.
From Turkey and now living in Houston, current Skinny Bob’s Ladies Nine Ball Classic and champ, Eylul Kibaroglu, San Antonio’s Mille Alvaraz, Houston’s Robyn Petrosino and Skinny Bob’s co-owner Kim Sanders rounded out the final four on the winner’s side.
After drawing a first round bye, Petrosino cut her way through the field with wins over Tuyen Nguyen 7-5, Jillian Nickerson 7-1 and Sara Bork 7-5.
Kibaroglu defeated Terri Resendez 7-3, Marle Clark 7-1, Trerenee Simpson 7-2 and Annie Swelgin 7-2 before meeting Robyn and beating her 7-3. Eylul moved into the hot seat match.
In the bottom of the bracket, Almaraz also drew a first round bye and followed that with wins over Eva Grigsby 7-1, Jaiden Barbour 7-2 and the always tough Kelly Isaac 7-4.
After another first round bye, Sanders defeated Cheyenne Valdez 7-3, Camille Campbell 7-1 and edged out Larissa Almendarez 7-6 before losing to Mille Almaraz 7-5. Mille then moved into the hot seat match where she was defeated by Eylul 7-2.
Waiting for Almaraz was Petrosino. Robyn went down 5-1 and Mille was in the finals!
Again, since this was true double elimination, Almarez would have to win two sets to claim the title, however, it was not to be. The finals were closer than the hot seat match but when the smoke cleared, it was Eylul who won the match 7-5 and took down the tournament!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Big Tyme’s owners Billy Sharp, Mark Avery and Jim Henry and their staff for doing, as always, a great job taking care of all the players and fans!
We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland for doing a great job running the various events.
And finally, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors included attorney Joseph J. Long, JB Cases, Aramith, Simonis, Lomax Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Hanshew Jump Cues, Savage Billiards, Durbin Custom Cues, Bull Carbon, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the 7th Annual Scotty Townsend Memorial held at Arena Billiards in West Monroe, LA. The dates are May 3rd-5th! Hope to see you there!
Last week, players made their way to the $8,000 added Space City Open X. Held at Big Tyme Billiards in Spring, TX – a suburb of Houston – owners Billy Sharp, Jim Henry, Mark Avery and Matthew McFarren and their staff laid out the red carpet for both players and fans.
The tournament kicked off on Thursday night with the $1,000 added 9 Ball Banks event. This single elimination race to four event saw a full field of 32 players post their $100 entry fees. After the players auction, meeting & draw, the action began.
After being scarce on the tournament trail since the birth of his daughter two years ago, Robb Saez made up for lost time as he rocketed through the bracket taking down Alan Poisel 4-1, JC Torres 4-0, Mark Nanashee 4-2 and Ernesto Bayaua 4-0. In the bottom portion of the chart, Alex Calderon squeaked by Jeff Sullivan 4-3 and then dusted off Leon Contreras 4-1 and Raed Shabib 4-0 before running into Roberto Gomez. The match was a good one but Alex prevailed 4-2.
That win put Calderon into the finals against the red hot Saez. Alex went down 4-1 – guess baby needed a new pair of shoes! Congratulations, Robb! Good job, Alex!
Starting on Friday night was the main event – the $3,500 added Open 9 Ball. Drawing a full field of 128 players, this double elimination event had a $75 entry fee and was played on seven foot tables. Races were to 9/7 with winner breaks.
Bogies was getting their money’s worth with their house pro and defending champ, Roberto Gomez, as he marched through the field. He was never seriously threatened as he defeated Timothy Lapointe 4-0, Richard Hughes 9-4, John Weeks 9-2, Javier Alienes 9-4, Ernesto Bayaua 9-1 and Blaine Barcus 9-3 to arrive at the hot seat match.
Another man slicing through the field was Oklahoma’s John Gabriel. He started with wins over Pedro Oviolo 9-2 and Calvin Chappell 9-3 before a tough one with young gun Lazaro Martinez. John barely survived that one 9-8 and then coasted past Cesar Arechiga 9-0. Next were Joey Torres and Ryan Robinson – they went down 9-6 and 9-3 and John also arrived at the hot seat match.
The hot seat match was all Roberto as he spanked John 9-3 and locked up his seat in the finals. John headed west to play Bayaua who had eliminated Saez 7-4. Robb finished in fourth place. Then, it was John who beat Ernesto by the same score – 7-4. He finished in third place.
Knowing he had to defeat Roberto twice to take the title, John put up a tough fight but when it was all over, Gomez had gotten his revenge for John knocking him out of the one pocket event and defended his title! He won the match 9-6. Congratulations, Roberto! Good event, John!
Lazaro Martinez III
Sunday was the start for both the $500 added Ladies 9 Ball and the $500 added Junior 9 Ball events. The players auction, meeting and draw for the juniors was first followed by the same for the ladies.
Twenty three boys and girls paid a $35 entry fee to play in the double elimination event played on the seven foot Diamonds. They raced to 7/5 with winner breaks.
Former BEF Junior National champ and defending champion Lazaro Martinez defeated Carlos Jinez 7-5, Mary Grigsby 7-1, Vania Davila 7-0 and Kailye Stevens 7-2 to arrive at the hot seat match.
Kyle Yi was the victor over Oscar Ruiz 7-2, Hunter Jackson 7-0, Tyler Miller 7-0 and Larissa Almendarez 7-5 to claim the other seat in the hot seat match.
Kyle then defeated Lazaro 7-3 to go on to the finals. Lazaro headed to the one loss side to face Carlos Jinez who had beaten Kailye Stevens 5-3. Kailye finished in fourth place.
Looking to get back into the finals, Lazaro made short work of Carlos 5-1 leaving him in third place.
Needing to defeat Kyle twice to both defend and claim the title, Lazaro won the first set 7-4. The final set was a battle but it was Lazaro that took the title 5-3. Congratulations, Lazaro! Good event, Kyle!
Thirty two ladies filled the field posting their $45 entry fees. They also raced to 7/5 with winner breaks on the seven footers.
April Larson made her trek to the hot seat by defeating Vivian Christopher and Bridget Parker by the same score – 7-1. She then beat Crystal Cisneros 7-4, the always tough Ming Ng 7-3 and awaited her opponent in the hot seat match.
The hot seat match began and both players fought hard but in the end, Ricki had edged out April 7-6! April headed west.
Waiting for her was Ming. She had just beaten Robyn – she finished in fourth place. The match began to see who’d be in the final match. April came out on top 5-3 leaving Ming in third place.
Due to the late hour, the ladies decided to split the honors. Congratulations to both players!
The $1,000 added One Pocket event also started on Friday night. Having a full field of 32 who paid $100 to enter, the format was again single elimination with races to four. Following the players auction, meeting & draw, the matches began.
Still on fire from his runner-up finish in the banks event, Alex Calderon tore through the top half of the bracket skunking both Sonny Bosshamer and Raed Shabib but had rougher matches against Ernesto Bayaua and Marvin Diaz. He won both matches 4-2 and landed in the finals.
Quietly making his way through the bottom portion of the bracket was Oklahoma’s John Gabriel. He won his first match over Joey Barnes 4-2 and continued with wins over Ryan Baselman and Ryan Robinson – both 4-1. Down went Superman as John defeated Roberto Gomez 4-2 to get to the finals.
The final match started late and went long into the early morning hours and at the end, it was John taking top honors 4-2. Great tournament, John! Good showing, Alex!
John Gabriel
Congratulations to this year’s champions and to Roberto Gomez for taking down the $1,500 All Around Bonus!
PoolActionTV.com would again like to thank owners Billy Sharp, Jim Henry, Mark Avery and Matthew McFarren and their staff as well the event sponsors. They are Outsville, Diamond Billiard Products, Brutal Game Gear, Poison by Predator, Jerry Olivier Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Predator, Immediate Smiles Dentures & Dentistry of Spring, TX, Alamo Billiards of Houston, TX, and Fort Worth Billliards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland and her assistant, Jason Hill, for juggling all the various events.
PoolActionTV.com would also like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiard Apparel, Immediate Smiles Dentures & Dentistry of Spring, TX, Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the 35th Annual Music City Open Nine Ball Championships at JOB Billiard Club in Madison, TN – a suburb of Nashville. Dates are January 11th-15th – hope to see you there!
And, here’s wishing everyone happy holidays and a healthy and prosperous new year!
Kristina Tkach, April Larson, Sofia Mast and Ming Ng
The Ninth Annual $14,000 added Big Tyme Classic was held over the last few days in Spring, TX – a suburb of Houston. Players and fans were treated to topnotch one pocket in addition to the open nine ball and ladies nine ball events.
Hosted by owners Billy Sharp, Mark Avery and Jim Henry, the local sponsors were Star City Amusements and Jim Stinson of AM, Inc.
The festivities kicked off on Thursday with the One Pocket Championship. Thirty players put up a $250 entry fee to play in this double elimination event. The format was races to 4/3 with the finals to be one extended race to five.
After the players auction, a players meeting was held, the brackets were posted and the matches started.
First round saw two of the heavyweights score knockouts! Robert Frost was defeated by Chip Compton while Alex Calderon fell victim to Fedor Gorst.
Tony Chohan and Josh Roberts met in the second round – Josh prevailed. Compton advanced after a battle with Charlie Bryant as did Gorst over Tommy Tokoph.
Compton then mowed down both Ernesto Bayaua and Roberts while Gorst continued his winning ways over Warren Kiamco and Ray Lopez.
Finally meeting in the hot seat match, Fedor locked up his seat in the finals and sent Chip west to await an opponent.
After losing their first round matches, Calderon and Frost were dismantling their opponents left and right! Alex defeated Bernard Walker, Kenny Price, Charlie Bryant, James Baraks, Warren Kiamco and Josh Roberts until he met up with Frost. In the lower portion of the chart, Robert defeated Darryl Amos, John Infante, Tommy Tokoph, Jake Weaver, Raed Shabib and Ray Lopez.
Locked in battle, Alex and Robert both fought hard but it was Frost who took it down leaving Calderon in fourth place.
In dead punch and playing great, Robert’s next victim was Chip Compton. Chip finished with a third place finish.
As previously mentioned, the finals were one extended race to five. Robert won the first game and the second game went down to the case ball. Robert won that one and then the third game. Then the unexpected happened! Since both Fedor and Robert were still in the Nine Ball, they had to halt the finals and go play their matches!
After several hours, play resumed and Fedor finally won a game – score 3-1. Gorst’s hopes to tighten up the match faded as Frost took the fifth game to make it 4-1. Not rolling over yet, Gorst clawed his way back to take the next two games! Score now 4-3! And then, 4-4! WOW! One game for it all!
Robert moved out to a 5-1 lead in the case game. Soon, the balls were all moved up table. Fedor banked a shot and left it deep in his hole. Robert gave him the ball making it 5-2. Two shots later, he made one for himself and then banked in another. Frost was on the hill – 7-2! With no reasonable safety options, Fedor was forced to bank towards his hole and left Robert a semi-tough shot at his pocket. Swish! Nothing but net! Robert Frost takes down his first major one pocket title leaving Fedor Gorst with a well-deserved runner-up finish!!!
What a match!!! After losing his first match, Robert won nine in a row to win the tournament! Congratulations, Robert!
The Open Nine Ball had started on Friday night with 136 players paying an $80 entry fee. Using a Magic Rack with the nine racked on the spot, players broke from the box. Played on seven foot Diamonds, the format was double elimination, races to 10/8, alternate breaks, three foul rule in effect – the nine didn’t count in the bottom two pockets.
In the top portion of the bracket, Justin Espinosa and Alex Calderon met in the third round with Alex sending Justin packing. Tony Chohan and Andy Jethwa collided in the fourth round – Andy was defeated and headed west. Warren Kiamco tore through his first four opponents until Calderon cut him off at the pass.
At the bottom of the bracket, Tommy Tokoph and Robert Frost defeated their first three opponents. They met in the fourth round with Frost notching the win. James Baraks and Kristina Tkach also won their first three matches – James put an end to Kristina’s march and sent her to the one loss side. Baraks and Frost duked it out in the next round – James prevailed. Meanwhile, Sergio Rivas and Charlie Bryant won their first four matches. Charlie beat Sergio when they also met in the fifth round.
Now down to four on the winners side, Calderon defeated Kiamco and Baraks took care of Bryant. Playing for the hot seat, James defeated Calderon and locked up his seat in the finals. Alex headed west to await an opponent.
Over on the one loss side, Rivas knocked Bryant out of the tournament leaving Charlie in fourth place. Next up for Sergio was the always tough Alex Calderon. Alex proved to be too tough for Sergio this time – Alex moved on to the finals leaving Sergio in third place.
Due to the very late hour, James & Alex decided to split with James claiming the title. Congratulations to both!
Last, but not least, was the Ladies Nine Ball Championship. This double elimination event had 44 ladies posting a $55 entry fee. Also played on seven foot Diamonds and using the Magic Rack, the format was alternate break with races to seven on both sides.
After defeating the always tough Ming Ng in the first round, Sofia Mast won five matches in a row to meet Russian star Kristina Tkach for the hot seat match. Kristina won the match sending junior champ to the one loss side to await an opponent.
After losing her first match, Ming fought her way through until she met April Larson. April had also lost her second match to Sofia. Both players played hard for another shot at her and when the dust had settled, it was April who won the match. Ming finished in fourth place.
Looking to make it into the finals, it was another hard fought match. Sofia survived the match leaving April in third place.
Kristina had smoked Sofia in the hot seat match 7-0. Sofia remarked on her Facebook page after the finals that her only goal when she made it back to the finals was to at least win one game. She won four! What a great attitude!
And, congratulations to Kristina for claiming the title! Great tournament, Sofia!
Once again, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank the owners of Big Tyme and their staff for taking such good care of all the players and fans. We’d like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland for doing an exemplary job running three events at the same time!
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors for their support! Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX and the Action Palace of Dayton, OH.
Our next stop is the Seventh Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic in Jefferson, LA (New Orleans). Featuring $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket, $5,000 added Open Nine Ball and the main event – the $20,000 Pro One Pocket! Dates are May 25th-29th! Hope to see you there!
Once again, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank the owners of Big Tyme and their staff for taking such good care of all the players and fans. We’d like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland for doing an exemplary job running three events at the same time!
We’d also like to thank Larry Schwartz, John Henderson, Mary Kenniston and Ray Hansen for their topnotch commentary.
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors for their support! Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX and the Action Palace of Dayton, OH.
Our next stop is the Seventh Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic in Jefferson, LA (New Orleans). Featuring $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket, $5,000 added Open Nine Ball and the main event – the $20,000 Pro One Pocket! Dates are May 25th-29th! Hope to see you there!
The Fifth Annual Big Tyme Classic held April 13th-16th, 2017 in Spring, Texas paid out over $23,000
Thursday, April 13th kicked off with a single elimination, $1,000 added, 31-player, One Pocket Tournament. Joey Gray come out with the win over Danny Smith. To get to the finals, Joey ousted Kevin Chang, Tommy Tokoph, Josh Roberts and Tony Chohan. Danny Smith made his way to meet Joey in the finals with wins over Evan Lunda, Jim McCarry and Sky Woodward.
Friday, April 14th, 25 players entered the $1.000 added, single elimination Banks Tournament. Chip Compton took it down over Sky Woodward in the final match up. Chip had notable wins over Richie Richeson, Lynn Smith, Tony Chohan, and Justin Hall. Sky made his way through the bracket with wins over Billy Thorpe, Jeff Deluna, Danny Smith, and Alex Olinger before falling short to Chip in the finals.
1st$1.600Chip Compton,
2nd$900Sky Woodward
3rd/4th$500Alex Olinger, Justin Hall
5th/8th$250Kevin Chang, Danny Smith, Jamie Ferrell, and Tony Chohan
The Main Event $5,000 added, 9 Ball Open, commenced Friday evening. The Diamond bar table event, streamed live by PoolActiontv, drew 128 players. Billy Thorpe would go undefeated to take home the title and big payday. Billy barreled through the bracket with wins over Philip Tieu, James Davis Jr., Ronnie Wiseman, Cody Martin, Sky Woodward, Shane McMinn and Jeffrey Deluna, securing his spot in the finals. Jeff had a nice run with wins over Paul Alderete, Andy Lerma, Johnny Griffin, Robb Saez, Charlie Bryant, Eklent Kaci. After losing the hot seat match, he faced Sky Woodward in the semi-finals. Jeff came out victorious to meet Billy in the final match up. Jeff had his work cut out for him as Billy was determined to not let it go to two sets.
1stBilly Thorpe$4,000/$15,460
2ndJeff Deluna$2,000/$7,600
3rdSky Woodward$1,400/$5,660
4thShane McMinn$1,000/$4,000
5th/6thJeremy Jones and Eklent Kaci$700/$2,180 each
7th/8thSylver Ochoa and Charlie Bryant$400/$1,280 each
9th-12thAlex Olinger, Kevin Chang, Manny Chau, and Danny Smith$200/$640 each
Sunday kicked off with the one-day, $500 added Seniors Division. Ronnie Wiseman takes the title through a tough field of 23 players. Wiseman would win the hot seat match over Jamie Farrell. The loss sent him to the B side to face Cliff Joyner. Farrell ousted Joyner to get back to the finals against Wiseman but fell short, leaving Ronnie Wiseman the Champion.
The final event of the Big Tyme Classic was the Ladies Division. 20 talented ladies competed for the title in the $500 added event. Kim Pierce secured the hot seat with a win over Robyn Petrosino. Petrosino would face Teresa Garland on the B side. Taking the win here, she would face Pierce once again in the final match up. The “TexasHeat” fought hard and came out victorious to take the title.
Big Tyme Billiards would like to thank the players, spectators, fans and staff for another successful event. Special thanks to Teresa Garland and Marshal Ward, Tournament Directors. We also extend our gratitude to the sponsors of this event, PoolActionTV, Star City Amusement, and APA of North Harris County. We truly appreciate the vendors who attended as well, Jerry Olivier and Bryant Billiards. We look forward to the 2018 6th Annual Big Tyme Classic!
The 4th Annual Big Tyme Classic $8,000 added, held March 24-27 in Spring, Texas, just North of Houston, paid out over $86,000!
The five- event Extravaganza started Thursday with 32 players in a single elimination One Pocket Event. Danny Smith battled it out for a victory over Joey Gray in the finals. With a full field of star studded players there were numerous upsets along the way! Smith started his run with wins over Jon Demet, Chase Rudder, Justin Hall, and Jeremy Jones to get to the finals. Gray made his way through the top of the bracket with wins over Shane Winters, Chip Compton, Jeff Chauncey, and Robb Saez.
Pay-outs:
1st Danny Smith $2,000
2nd Joey Gray $1,100
3rd /4th Robb Saez and Jeremy Jones $600 ea
5th / 8th Scott Proud, Jeff Chauncey, Arron Goodwin, and Justin Hall $300 ea
9 Ball Banks kicked off the second day, Friday, with 26 players, in a single elimination format. Tony Chohan prevailed over Chip Compton for the big win.
5th / 8th Justin Hall, Alex Calderone, J.C. Torres, and Robb Saez $250 ea
The Main Event 9 Ball Open, presented by OB Cues, commenced Friday evening. The Diamond® bar table event, streamed live by Ray “Big Truck” Hansen and his crew at PoolAction.tv, drew 128 players. Shane Winters would go undefeated to win the event and big payday, archiving wins over Josh Hughes, 7-3, Jamie Farrell, 7-4, Chase Rudder, 7-4, Jeremy Jones, 7-5, Ricky Hughes, 7-1, Evan Lunda, 7-5, and Jason Klatt, 7-4, which secured his spot in the finals. Jason Klatt had a phenomenal run with wins over Jeff Sullivan, Tim Baron,7-1, Hani Alhouri, 7-5, Blaine Barcus, 7-4, Dennis Orcollo, 7-2, and Justin Hall, 7-2, before meeting Winters for the hot seat match. With the loss, Klatt found himself on the receiving end losing to Orcollo, 7-3. In true double elimination format, Orcollo would have to beat Winters two sets. Winters narrowly escaped Orcollo in the first set, 7-6.
Pay-outs:
1st Shane Winters $4000/$24,500
2nd Dennis Orcollo $2,000/$12,000
3rd Jason Klatt $1,400/$8,900
4th Justin Hall $1,00/$6,100
5th / 6th Mike Davis Jr and Evan Lunda $700/$3,000 each
7th / 8th Josh Roberts and Danny Smith $400/$2,000 each
9th / 12th Ernesto Bayaua, James Davis Jr, Ricky Hughes, and Alex Calderone $200/$1,000 each
Sunday kicked off with the Seniors Division. Barry Strickland fought his way through an elite field of 27 players. Strickland took the hot seat with a 7-4 win against Ronnie Wiseman. The loss forced Wiseman to the “B” side to face Buddy Hall. Ronnie ousted Hall to get back to the finals against Strickland but fell short 7-2, leaving Barry the undefeated winner.
The 5th and final event of the Big Tyme Classic, was the Ladies Division, 27 awesome ladies vying for the title. Natalie Rocha secured the hot seat with a 7-6 win over Kim Pierce. Pierce would face Ricki Casper for a chance in the finals but Casper took the match 7-2. Ricki lost her first match of the day to Robyn Petrosino, 7-3, and made an impressive run to meet Rocha in the finals. Casper came up short to Rocha, 7-6, leaving Rocha undefeated for the win.
Big Tyme Billiards, Teresa Garland and Marshal Ward, Tournament Directors, would like to thank the players, spectators, fans, and staff for a successful event. A very special thanks to our sponsors, OB Cues, APA of North Harris County (Roger Schuett), Star City Amusement (Roddy Lucio), and the vendors. We look forward to next year’s Big Tyme Classic!
The Big Tyme Classic held its 2nd Annual Event on March 20th – 23rd. It was a $10,000 added event in all. The event drew players from all over the United States and a few from foreign soil. There was 6 events held total and 5 of the 6 were full fields, the ladies event fell 2 players short of being full. The main event filled up last year and although it filled up again this year it was bigger and better then the last one. You know what they say everything is bigger and better in Texas.
The $1,500 Added One Pocket kicked everything off at Noon sharp on March 20th. It was a 32 player single elimination field to be completed in one day. The races were to 4 and there was plenty of stellar play along the way, by some great players. It paid out 8 spots. The players finishing 5th thru 8th for $300 each were Sylver Ochoa, Justin Hall, Skyler Woodward, and Robb Saez. Finishing in a tie for 3rd and $600 each was Richie Richeson and Jeremy Jones. The two finalists Josh Roberts and Justin Bergman chopped up first and second for a total of $1800 each, as the event was to pay $2,400 for first and $1,200 for second.
Also on Thursday night there was a 16 man mini tourney on the diamond bar tables. The entry fee was $50 and it was a race to 9, it was slated for winner take all ($800). The event drew the likes of Brandon Shuff, Warren Kiamco, Skyler Woodward and plenty of other heavy hitters. At the end of the night the last two players left standing was Joey Barnes and Manny Chau, it was late and they decided to split it up and get some rest before the next event at noon, the 9-ball banks event.
Friday, the busy day has arrived. We kicked it off at Noon with the $1,500 Added 9-Ball Banks and a full field of 32. This was a single elimination race to 5 to be completed in one day as well. Besides John Brumback this event was loaded with heavy hitting bank pool players. The list included Justin Hall, Skyler Woodward, Jeremy Jones, Manny Chau, Richie Richeson, Brandon Shuff, Cliff Joyner, and a slew of others. The event paid out the top 8 spots. Those finishing 5th thru 8th for $300 each were Joey Barnes, Jeremy Jones, Skyler Woodward, and Justin Bergman. Finishing in a tie for 3rd and $600 each were Ronnie Wiseman and Manny Chau. The two finalists Justin Hall and Warren Kiamco decided to chop up the top 2 spots and they both received $1,800 each. This event paid out the exact same as the one pocket event.
Also on Friday night the $5,000 Added 9-Ball Main Event kicked off at 7:00 with the players auction. The players auction lasted about three and a half hours and drew in slightly over $45,000. This topped last years event and we look to top this again next year, hoping to get up to the 60k mark, I think we would have hit that number this year if not for some last minute defections of a few upper echelon players. Nonetheless this was a super number and bigger then most anywhere except the one right down the road at White Diamonds. The players auction had two blind picks, the first one was Yu Usuan Cheng from Taiwan as he sold for $3,500. The second blind pick sold for $3,600 and was Warren Kiamco from the Philippines. This event was loaded with super star talent, besides the two I just named as the blind picks others in attendance was Team High Pockets (Justin Bergman, Robb Saez, Skyler Woodward, and Robert Frost), Cliff Joyner, Manny Chau, Jeremy Jones, Ronnie Wiseman, Justin Hall, Richie Richeson (Derby City Action Award Winner of 2014), BCA National Champion Mike Alonzo, U.S. Amateur Champion Ernesto Bayaua, Brandon Shuff, Josh Roberts, Rene Rendon, James Davis Jr.Sam Gilmer, Lil D Daniel McKenney, Sylver Ochoa, two WPBA touring pros in Vivian Villarreal and Brittany Bryant and a slew of others to fill the 128 player field. It was tough as nails.
The Main Event. Play started on the 16 Diamond Bar Tables after the Auction was over. We played 32 matches on Friday Night, and play started back up at 10:00a.m on Saturday morning and played down to the final 32 players. Matches were set up on a time schedule and the last round was started at roughly 8:00p.m. on Saturday night. There was some great matches and if you missed them you can find the streamed ones on poolactiontv.com. After we hit the final 32 players the second auction was held Saturday night and it drew in about 7.5k. The first auction paid 12 spots. Payouts were 9-12th $915 each, 7-8th paid $1,500 each, 5/6th paid $2,500 each, 4th paid $4,000, 3rd paid $5,000, 2nd paid $7,500, and the winner took home a hefty $15,000. The second auction paid 4 spots and paid out as follows. 4th paid $735, 3rd paid $1,100, 2nd paid $2,100, and the winners share paid $3,100.
The Main Events eventual winner was Skyler Woodward the young gun from Kentucky. This kids games is way beyond his years. He is well seasoned in all games and has a very bright future in this game of billiards. Congrats to you Sky and we look forward to seeing you back to defend your title next year as well. And yes your name will be on the shirt for The 3rd Annual Bigtyme Classic.
Sunday. The wild day with three events running at the same time. There was the final 32 of the main event starting at 1:00, the Ladies had a $1,000 added 9-Ball Event that drew 30 players and the Seniors had a $1,000 added 9-Ball Event that drew a full field of 32 players.
The Ladies Event drew 30 players and had some heavy hitters in it led by the Defending Champion the Texas Tornado Vivian Villarreal. Also there was three other WPBA touring players Brittany Bryant, Nicole Keeney, and Kim Pierce . This event was a one day event with races to 7 on the winners side and 5 on the one loss side. When the dust settled it was the defending champ repeating again, congrats to Vivian. This event paid out 8 spots. Finishing in a tie for 7/8th and $70 was Ricki Casper and Belinda Lee. Tied for 5/6th and $130 was Michelle Yim, and Mandy Hood. The 4th place finisher was Natalie Mans for $220. Third place and $330 went to Brittany Bryant. The top two that battled it out for the lions share was Nicole Keeney and Vivian Villarreal. Nicole ended up 2nd with $500 and Vivian took home first and $750.
The Seniors Event drew a full field of 32 players. Last year it was chopped between Jose Parica and Lanny Herrin. Jose was not back but Lanny was and trying to defend his share of the crown. This event is always the easiest going event of all, as all the players seem to really love the game of billiards and have played it for along time. The event paid out 8 spots. Finishing in a tie for 7/8th and $70 were C.W. Smith and John Turner. Tied for 5/6th and $140 were Charles Smith and defending champ Lanny Herrin. The 4th place finisher was Bob Guzik for $220. Third place and #340 went to Bob McFerren(Co-Owner of Big Tyme Billiards). The top two that battled it out in a dogfight till the end was Sonny Bosshamer and the man known around the world for his high stakes gambling action, Ronnie Wiseman. Sonny took home $525 and Ronnie got $775.
This event was filled with action for the 4 days as the room stayed open 24 hours. We saw $500 a game one pocket, we saw $1,000 a game one pocket played. We also saw sets of 10 ball for $1,000, $3,000, $5,000 and $10,000 and lots of other action going on. This is an event everyone should be trying to attend next year as they like to gamble it up in this area, so if you think you got what it takes come get your fill next March. We will be waiting.
We would like to thank all the sponsors of this event, Ace Roofing (Tracy and Kim Sanders), Star City Amusements (Roddy Lucio), APA of North Harris County (Roger Shuett), Omega Billiards (Michael Hoang), and Universe Clothing (Nick Bashizi), everything you did for the event is greatly appreciated.
Also a big thanks to the staff of Big Tyme Billiards for doing a great job on a very very busy 4 day event. The owners of Big Tyme Billiards deserves a big thanks as well for putting on this event each year, Bob McFerren, Mark Avery, Debbie Sharp, and Jim Henry.
The Tiger Tour Texas formely the Tiger Amateur Tour last season kicked off its new season January 21-22nd at Big Tyme Billiards in Spring,Tx. This event is now open to all players, but with a handicapped format and it drew 96 players to the main event and another 20 in the Second Chance Event for a total of 116 entrants and the total prize pool of $12,170. The handicaps range from C, C+, B, B+, A, A+, AA, AAA.
The event kicked off Saturday with 96 and was played down to 24 players whom all made the cash. We had 16 come back on the one-loss side and 8 on the winners side. The winners side matches went like this: Rodney Stewart(B+) over John Conkin(B+), Richard Rodriguez(B) over Wendell Moser(B), David Chow(B) over Sonny Demetro(A), and Bobby Gonzales(A) over Yoko Joe(B+). This left 4 on the winners side and Richard got by Rodney in one semi-final and in the other semi-final Bobby snuck by David. This pitted Bobby against Richard for the hot seat match and it came down to hill hill with Bobby going to 9 and Richard to 7, in the end Richard got the nod.
So now the round of 13/16. Cesar got by Ronnie F., Jerald sent young gun J.C. Packin, Brian ended the run of Top Woman Belinda, and Ty in his usual form squeaked by Leon.
The 9/12 round saw these matches. Cesar ousted Yoko, Sonny D. blasted Jerald, Brian squeaked by Wendell, and Ty won a hill hill thriller against John C.
The 7/8 round matches were Cesar(B) kept rollin and got by Sonny D(A)., and Brian(A) got by Ty(A).
Next was the 5/6th round matches and Cesar Arechigas(B) strong run came to a crazy hill hill close as Houdini got the miracle win here, and yes it was a miracle. On the other side Brian(A) ended a deep run by David Chow(B). Good job Cesar and David.
The 4th place match was a rather quick one as Brian Rosenbaum(A) wasted no time in sending Rodney “Houdini” Stewart home. Great run Rodney.
This left the final 2 on the one loss side and it was two (A) players about to do battle in the race to 9 to see who would get to the finals. In the end it was a tight match but Slow N Low Bobby Gonzales got the nod and the chance at a rematch with the guy whom defeated him earlier.
The finals: Richard Rodriguez(B) the winner of the hot seat would have to play the man he defeated earlier hill hill Bobby Gonzales(A), and at the end of the first set it was another thrilling hill hill match and Bobby got the nod. These two decided to split the money at stake and flip for the title and points, Bobby got the nod and was the season opener champion. Congrats to both players, they both played great.
The Second Chance Event drew 20 players with $250 added, and it paid 4 spots. At the end of this eevnt it saw sharp shooter and hose pro (AA)Billy Sharp take it down, second went to Blaine Barcus(A), third was Victor Rojas(A) and fourth was WPBA player Nicole Keeney(B+). The payouts were as follows for this event. 1st- $275, 2nd- $200, 3rd- $140, 4th- $75.
We would like to thank Big Tyme Billiards for hosting the event, Big Tyme is the newest pool room in the greater Houston area, this was the weekend of their 1 year anniversary. Owners Mark Avery, Jim Henry, Bob McFerren and Deb Sharp do a wonderful job.
We would also like to send out a special thanks to all of our sponsors:
The next event of the season will be held February 18-19 at Slick Willies (Dairy Ashford & Westheimer). We look forward to a big turnout at this venue as always.
For more information you can visit the website address at www.TigerAmateurTour.com
