The Pechauer Cues Diamond Pool Tour was back at Bullshooters in Phoenix on August 11th and 12th, with 51 competitors playing 10-Ball on the 9’ tables.
Az Fans were excited to see Arizona’s Mosconi Cup hopeful Mitch Ellerman in attendance in this one and he looked unstoppable early in the event, until a tough 5-7 loss to Fernando Diaz late on Saturday,
With the top two points list players (Tim Daniel and Joey Barrera) unable to get out of the second round of the winner’s side, fans in attendance were looking forward to some new faces in the final rounds of the event. Those fans would not be disappointed as the final four undefeated players including two players in their first events of the season (Junior Flores and New Mexico’s Mickey Provencio). Those two players were joined by 59th ranked Peter Horton and 81st ranked Diaz.
Horton had been crushing opponents for the entire event, with wins over Vincent Sbelgio, Rob James and James Stacy. He would continue player at that pace with a 7-2 win over Diaz on Sunday. On the other half of the winner’s side, Provencio sent a hot shooting Junior Flores to the one loss side 8-2. Horton would then go on to take the hot-seat with a 6-5 win over Provencio.
On the one loss side, Adam Kroll and Mitch Ellerman were heading for a showdown. Kroll had wins over Brad Johnson, Rick Schmitz and Diaz, while Ellerman eliminated Brian Long, Manny Luevano and Flores. With Ellerman giving up 10-3 against Kroll, he knew he couldn’t afford a let down of any kind and he turned his play up a notch for a 10-0 win. Unfortunately for Ellerman, Provencio was ready for him in the semi-final match and sent Ellerman back to Las Vegas with a 6-4 loss.
The finals then got underway between Horton and Provencio and it looked like the wait in the hot-seat teamed up with the tight table in the pit to get the better of Horton. Where he was running racks earlier in the event, the pockets just seemed to close up on him in the finals. Before he knew what hit him, Provencio had won the first set 8-3. Things went from bad to worse for Horton, as the first set loss did away with any confidence he had built up and Provencio cruised to another 8-3 win for first place. Provencio was understandably elated with the win, his first on the Diamond Pool Tour.
The Diamond Pool Tour will take it’s annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas in September, playing it’s 5th stop of the season at Griffs on September 8th and 9th.
The Diamond Pool Tour wrapped up their 2016 with a four-day season finale at Casino Del Sol Resort and Casino in Tucson on November 17th – 20th.
Day one of the event was about tour prizes and the “Big Dog” 9-Ball event. Casino Del Sol provided a great dinner for all of the players in attendance as Mitch Ellerman and Oscar Avila Sr. were presented with their tour point list prizes from tour sponsors Volturi Cases and Hanshew Custom Cues. Both players will also receive custom cues from tour sponsor QB Custom Cues. The drawing was also held for the pool table from tour sponsor Diamond Billiard Products. Players had earned entries in the drawing by playing in each event during the season. Proving that maybe he should be buying lottery tickets, Tucson’s Mike Hamman won the table drawing for the second straight year. Congrats to Mike, and good luck finding room for those tables.
Thursday night also saw eight players toss $100 into the ring to compete in a single elimination 10-ball mini tourney. Proving they had no fears about stepping up against the big boys, last year’s top junior Nick Kline and up and coming young gun Sam Lenschow both competed in this event. While neither won a match, it would be far from the last that the players would see of Lenschow at this event. The tourney came down to New Mexico’s Brian Begay and Gus Briseno. Briseno held an 8-6 lead in the final match, but Begay came back to score a 9-8 win for first place. Begay earned $800 for first, while Briseno settled for $400.
The main event kicked off early Friday evening with 48 players all playing at least one match across both “A” and “B” divisions.
Nineteen players made up the “A” bracket with the biggest Friday upset Mitch Ellerman’s early trip to the one loss side, courtesy of Brian Begay.
The “B” bracket saw twenty-nine players in action. The biggest surprise on day one wasn’t a result, as much as a score as JR Ascension scored a dominating 9-2 win over Junior Flores.
Saturday play saw each bracket whittled down to eight players each. The “A” bracket saw Scott Frost, Gus Briseno and Bret Huth joined by Tucson’s Kevin Peterson on the right side of the board. The one loss side was a dogfight all day, with Ellerman scoring wins over George Teyechea and Tom Dilorenzo to keep his tournament hopes alive. Begay bounced back from a 9-2 beatdown from Frost to eliminate Tonee Allin and qualify for the final day. Ellerman and Begay were joined by Mickey Provencio and Steve Peterman on the one loss side.
The “B” bracket saw Casino Del Sol’s own Paul Feltman Jr. cruise through the winner's side to stay undefeated. Feltman was joined on the winner’s side by Oscar Avila Sr., Todd Rowitz and Al Terpstra. The one loss side saw Sam Lenschow put on a show. Lenschow eked by Kent Bybee 9-8, but then defeated Mike Howerton 9-5 and Eric Beeler 9-6. Lenschow would be joined by JR Ascension, Adam Kroll and Steve Stowers.
Sunday play saw tournament favorite Scott Frost shown to the one loss side, courtesy of Brian Begay, 9-6. Peterson sent Bret Huth to the left side of the board by the same 9-6 score. Briseno would then go on to take the “A” bracket hot-seat with a 9-4 win over Peterson. Ellerman would be unstoppable on the left side with wins over Provencio, Frost, Huth and Peterson.
The “B” bracket hot-seat was taken by Feltman Jr. with wins over Avila and Rowitz. Lenschow would keep knocking down players on the left side of the board with wins over Terpstra and Stowers. He would finally fall to Todd Rowitz 9-5 and settle for a very impressive 5th place finish.
When the brackets came together, the “A” players did their jobs with Briseno sending Feltman to the left side 9-6, and Ellerman eliminating Rowitz 9-3. With the finish line in sight, Ellerman then sent Feltman Jr. back to his office with a 9-1 scoreline.
The final match would only go one set, with Briseno displaying his “A” game and grinding out a hill-hill win over Ellerman in the first set.
With the second season in the books, plans are underway for season three with changes already being planned. Stay tuned in early 2017 for announcements regarding those changes.
The Diamond Pool Tour concluded their 2016 regular season on October 22nd – 23rd with a field of 39 players playing 8-ball on the 7’ Diamond Smart Tables at Skip & Jan’s Sports Bar in Gilbert.
This stop was unique in that it featured more “A” players than “B” players. The “A” player bracket held 22 top players with 21 of them looking to keep Mitch Ellerman from winning a record fourth consecutive tour stop. If he was going to win it, it would have to be from the one loss side, after a third round hill-hill loss to New Mexico’s Mickey Provencio. The winner’s side came down to Scott Frost scoring a 7-5 win over Bobby Emmons. On the one loss side, Ellerman showed that he was going to give up on win #4 without a fight. Ellerman scored wins over Brian Reich, Eric Young, Ben Hrabina, Chuck Evans and Emmons to earn his spot on the final bracket.
The 17 player “B” bracket came down to two new players, as Brian Poore took on Steve Stowers for the “B” bracket hot-seat. Poore had scored tough hill-hill wins over both JR Ascension and Evan Brinkman, sandwiched around a 7-1 win over Adam Kroll, in his run to the hot-seat match, while Stowers had scored lopsided wins over Victor Garcia, Rick Schmitz and Susan Williams on his run. The match for the hot-seat was another lopsided win for Stowers, has he defeated Poore 7-1. Poore took the loss in stride and eliminated Tucson’s John Schramm 7-3 to earn his spot on the final board.
Scott Frost took the overall hot-seat with a 7-2 win over Stowers on Sunday. Ellerman was still busy trying to notch win #4, and quickly eliminated Brian Poore 7-3 in a very deserving 4th place finish. Ellerman then defeated Stowers 7-3 and it was Frost vs Ellerman for the tournament win. While the tournament win would have given Ellerman his 4th straight, it was only fitting that the tour’s other player with three consecutive wins, Scott Frost, was the one to keep him from win #4. Frost won the finals in one round with a 7-6 victory.
Ellerman can still take solace in winning the “A” player points list, and even though he was not in attendance at this event, Oscar Avila took the “B” player points list win. Both players will win a prize package including a custom QB cue, Volturi case and Hanshew jump cue. Those prize packages will be presented to the players at the tour’s finale on November 17th – 20th at Casino Del Sol in Tucson.
Tour staff thanked Natalie and her staff for hosting another great event, as well as “Fast” Lenny Marshall for streaming matches all weekend and Rick Schmitz for the best photos in Arizona.
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.
Joven Bustamante scored back to back wins over Scott Frost to top off an undefeated run through the field at the Diamond Pool Tour’s third stop of the year at Stinger’s Sports Bar & Grill in Glendale, AZ on April 11th and 12th.
The event drew a field of 80 players, with 25 “A” players and 55 “B” players. The “A” bracket saw surprise early losses by points leader Bobby Emmons and Nick De Leon. Neither player would qualify for Sunday play, much to the crowd’s surprise. Bustamante, who had not fared well in last month’s event, had wins over Tucson’s George Teyechea, Jason Polk and Spike Aiardo, before facing off against Frost for the “A” bracket hot-seat. Frost looked unstoppable all day with wins over Rick Armbrust, Mickey Provencio and Tyson Cole. Frost did not allow an opponent past three games, and entered the hot-seat match with a combined 27-5 rack record. Even as strong as Frost was playing, he would drop the hot-seat match to Bustamante 9-7.
The “B” bracket was taken to school by Junior Point Leader Nick Kline. Kline had knocked on the door of making it to Sunday play in tour stops one and two, but he was a force to be reckoned with in the “B” bracket all weekend. Kline’s aggressive play led to wins over Trevor Long, Claudia Justus and Joe Chyzy on Saturday. Kline came back Sunday, and picked up where he left off on Saturday, with wins over Rick Schmitz and Jamie Cole to take the “B” bracket hot-seat.
The Greenmail top lady bonus was split again this month, with Heather Cortez and Sophia Morquecho both earning $50. Morquecho was also the winner of the random drawing for a two night stay at The Casino Del Sol Resort in Tucson, the presenting sponsor for the tour.
There was no Greenmail bounty awarded since last month’s winner, Vilmos Foldes, was not in attendance at this event.
The “A” and “B” brackets came together late Sunday with Bustamante, Frost, Kline and Cole fighting it out. Frost eliminated Cole in fourth place, while Bustamante was sending Kline left to face Frost in the semi-final match. The match between Frost and Kline was close, with Kline representing himself well, before dropping the match 7-4. This led to the rematch between Bustamante and Frost in the double elimination finals. Both players showed the fans in attendance what run-out 9-ball looks like on a 7’ Diamond Smart Table, but in the end it was Bustamante who scored the 9-6 win in the first set of the finals.
The Neil’s Garage Cabinets Second Chance tournament on Sunday drew 14 players, with last month’s winner, Steve Blackburn, settling for second place after a 3-0 / 3-0 double dipping at the hand of Daric Craft. Todd Dilley turned in a third place finish.
The Diamond Pool Tour will head to Pockets Pool & Pub in Tucson on May 2nd and 3rd, for their fourth stop of the season.
Tour organizers thanked Dale and his great wait staff for hosting two days of pool players, as well as Lenny Marshall from On The Rail TV for the live streaming coverage all weekend. Thanks also went out to George Teyechea and Jerry Briesath for their help commentating matches, and to Rick Schmitz for all the great photos from the event.
Jon Smith reaffirmed his dominance on the Diamond 7’ tables with an undefeated run through a field of thirty five other players at the Desert Classic Tour’s 2013 Season Finale at Skip & Jan’s in Tempe.
As is always the case on the Desert Classic Tour, Saturday play saw many marquee matches and top players finding themselves scraping to stay alive on the one loss side. Tour points leader Mitch Ellerman had notable wins over Max Maurer, Doc Rice and Brett Huth before dropping a match to Tres Kane. Ellerman watched Kane race to a hill-0 lead before winning seven straight games against Kane to completely change the dynamic of the match. Ellerman would not get past seven though, as Kane put the match away 8-7. Ellerman scored wins over Pete Lhotka and Mike Sandoval late Saturday to earn his ticket to Sunday play.
Sunday play saw four undefeated players joined by two players on the left side of the board come back to determine a final winner. Tres Kane kept his winning streak alive with an 8-5 win over Chuck Evans, and Jon Smith sent #2 ranked Dennis Orender to the one loss side in an 8-6 match,
On the one loss side, Brian Reich and Mitch Ellerman were waiting for opponents. Reich had lost to Bobby Emmons in the first round on Saturday, but scored nine straight wins to keep his hopes of scoring his first DCT win alive. Brian would run over Chuck Evans 8-1 while Ellerman dropped an 8-8 decision to Dennis Orender.
Next up, Reich would eliminate Orender in fourth place with an 8-4 scoreline.
Back on the winners side, Jon Smith was scoring an 8-4 win of his own, over Tres Kane.
The semi-final match between Reich and Kane couldn’t have been much closer, with the score tied four times before Tres finally won the final two games for the 8-6 win and a rematch against Jon Smith in the finals.
The finals saw Smith take an early 2-0 lead and never look back. Kane did his best to stay with Smith, but just didn’t have the firepower to ever catch up as Smith extended his lead and took the first and only set of the finals 8-4 for first place.
New Mexico’s Mickey Provencio completed a hard fought undefeated run through the field of forty eight players to win the Desert Classic Tour’s November tourstop at Bull Shooters on November 2nd and 3rd.
It was an impressive run that included a win over tour points leader Mitch Ellerman on Saturday and a win over #3 ranked Dennis Orender on Sunday. Ellerman bounced back from the loss to Provencio with a win over Mike Sandoval to earn his place in Sunday’s matches.
A top player who did not make Sunday play was #4 ranked Nick De Leon, who started things off with a win over Prescott’s Bob Soto, but then lost back to back matches to Sammy Martinez and Mike Sandoval.
Sunday play on the winners side saw Chuck Evans defeat Mike Williams 8-4 and Provencio defeat Orender 8-7.
On the west side of the board, Ellerman ran over Pete Lhotka 10-4 and Bernie Pettipiece earned a tough 8-7 win over Tres Kane.
Mike Williams then eliminated Ellerman in a hill-hill 8-9 victory, and Pettipiece sent Orender to the rail 8-3.
The hot-seat match was another close one, with Provencio handing Evans his first loss 8-7.
After Williams eliminated Pettipiece, the semi final match between Williams and Evans got underway. Mike had started his day with an 8-4 loss to Evans, and he was determined to avenge that loss. Williams cruised to an early 4-0 lead and scored an 8-4 win of his own to eliminate Evans and earn Williams a shot against Provencio in the finals.
The final match saw both players go on runs, as Provencio took a 3-0 lead, only to see Williams come back to tie things at 4-4. Another Provencio run saw him take a 6-4 lead and Williams again come back to tie things at 6-6. Finally, it was Provencio’s turn for another run as he won the final two games to win the first and only set of the finals 8-6.
The Desert Classic Tour will bring their 2013 Season Finale to Skip and Jan’s on December 6th – 8th. That event is expected to be at least a $2,000 added event.
