Though by any kind of figuring, Mike Davis was the odds-on favorite to win the 2nd Annual North Carolina State 8-Ball Championships, held on the weekend of November 5-6, and did, in fact, win it, successfully defending his title, it wasn’t without its moments of drama. He had to survive a double hill hot seat match, during which his opponent – Shannon Fitch, the current NC State 10-Ball champion – was able to take aim at the 8-ball in the deciding game. Later, Davis had to face a surging Chris Gentile, who’d won three on the loss side to face him in the finals. Davis weathered both storms to win the $400-added event on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour that drew 28 entrants to Breaktime Billiards in Cary, NC.
In a winners’ side semifinal, Davis defeated Mike Gulyassy 9-5 to get into the hot seat match, while Fitch downed Gentile 9-6 to join him. A tight hot seat match led to the circumstance of Fitch taking aim at the 8-ball in the deciding double hill last game. Though reportedly not a particularly easy shot, it was high up in the probability percentages. Fitch missed it, and Davis was in the hot seat.
Meanwhile, on the loss side, Gentile had picked up James Blackburn, who’d gotten by Dan Heidrich 7-3 (ending a five-match, loss-side streak by Heidrich), and shut out Jake Spataro. Gulyassy drew George Crawford, who’d lost his opening match and was on his own five-match, loss-side streak, having eliminated Steve Page 7-1 and Michael Robertson, double hill, to reach Gulyassy.
Gentile advanced to the quarterfinals 7-4 over Blackburn, and was joined by Crawford, who benefited from a forfeit by Gulyassy. Gentile then chalked up two straight double hill matches; versus Crawford in the quarterfinals, and Fitch, in the semifinals.
Given the double hill drama of the three matches that preceded the final, the final itself was a little anticlimactic. Davis defeated Gentile 11-5 to retain his NC State 8-Ball Championship title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Breaktime Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks and Ruthless Billiards. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 12-13, will be hosted by Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC.
On the weekend of August 20-21 on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, it was a 'two out of three' battle of the Billys; Fowler and Carroll. Billy Fowler made it to the hot seat, lost the first match of the true double elimination finals to Billy Carroll, and took the second to claim the title. The $500-added event drew 48 entrants to Cue Time in Spartanburg, SC.
Billys Fowler and Carroll almost faced off in the hot seat match. Fowler defeated David Tickle 7-5 in one winners' side semifinal, but Scott Ward sent Carroll to the loss side 7-5 in the other one. Fowler claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited on Carroll's return.
On the loss side, Carroll picked up 16-year-old Hunter White, who'd defeated Taz Holliday 8-5 and long-time veteran player and renowned cue maker Mike Gulyassy, double hill. Tickle drew Dayne Miller, who'd gotten by J.R. Poste and Jason Blackwell, both 6-3.
Carroll and Miller advanced to the quarterfinals with six racks each over White and Tickle, who were both racing to 8. Carroll downed White 6-6, while Miller eliminated Tickle 6-5. Carroll took the quarterfinal match 6-2, ending a seven-match, loss-side winning streak by Miller, who'd been defeated in the opening round of play.
Carroll moved on and denied Ward a second crack at Fowler by defeating him in the semifinals 6-4. Carroll parlayed a bit of that semifinal momentum into the opening set of the true double elimination final to win that by the same score. Fowler, though, came back in the second set, and gave up only two racks in claiming his first Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball title.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Cue Time, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks, and Ruthless Billiards Apparel. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for August 27-28, will be hosted by Smokin' Cue in Charlotte, NC.
Manny Chau, Jim Henry (room owner) and Jason Pearce
The Tiger Tour stop #3 of the season was changed at the last minute to a new venue Big Tyme Billiards , and we had 55 players show up, as there was some APA event going on the same day it took some of our players, but anyhow we played it down to the final 3 and they finished up along side the second chance event on Sunday. I will update you to the final 12 spots, all of whom cashed.
The winners side final 4 pitted Jason Pearce against Ernesto Bayaua and it was a thriller and the final score was 9-8, on the other half of the winners side Manny Chau put on an exhibition against Jason Brown, Jason won the lag and that was the end of him basically, after not getting out the first rack Manny cleaned the table, then Jason did not see the table again until the score was 8-0, Manny laid down a 7 pack on him. The final score of this match was 10-1. This matched Manny up against Jason for the hot seat match, Manny had to give up 2 games to 10 and the final score was 10-7 in favor of Manny.
Toe round of 7/8 saw 2 hill hill matches and in a very unlikely finish we saw some crazy stuff in the case game as Sonny B got by Derek and on the other half Gus nudged Brian R.
The round of 5/6 Ernesto oust sonny B and Jason B. sent Gus packin. This setup the final 4 and Ernesto got by Jason B. pretty handily. Now the final of the one loss side pitted Ernesto gettting a rematch with Jason P. and as before these 2 played a very close match but in the end the result was the same, Jason P came out on top to advance and get a shot at Manny in the finals.
The finals was a close one and in the end Manny squeaked out a hill hill win, giving up the 2 game spot. Congrats to both players on a great run.
The Second Chance Event on Sunday had 20 players in it. The top 4 spots got paid and those results are below, this is a handicapped event also. 1st- Victor Rojas $330, 2nd- Will Felder $245, 3rd- Chase Rudder $165 and 4th- Brent Thomas $80
We would like to thank everyone for playing and expect to see everyone at our next event April 21-22 at Bogies Billiards. Also Mike Gulyassy will be on hand at this event for all your cue repair needs and he always brings a big assortment of cues to sale. So come check out what hes got.
Thanks to all of our sponsors that make these events possible:
Ricky “The Rocket” Hughes Wins Stop 2 On The Tiger Tour Texas
The Tiger Tour held stop #2 of the season at Slick Willies off of Dairy Ashford on Westheimer on the weekend of Feb 18/19th . The event drew 90 players, not bad after event 1 of the season drew 96, I think everyone is liking the new handicap system we put into play. So this event was played down to the final 16 players on Saturday whom would come back to fight it out for the cash on Sunday.
Winners side final 8 matches included Andy Jethwa getting by Jason Pearce 9-5, current BCA open champion Mike Alonzo knocked Cesar Arechiga west by a score of 9-7, Ricky Hughes got by Chuck Adams 8-1, and Tom Wallace won 9-3 over John McGarvey. Now in the final 4 portion Ricky Hughes won a thriller over Tom Wallace 8-7, and Mike Alonzo sent Andy Jethwa packin 9-4. This setup the hot seat match next between Machine Gun Mike and Ricky The Rocket, Mike had to give Ricky 2 games on the wire to 9 and the score ended up being 7-2 in favor of Ricky.
The round of 9/12 saw Jason Pearce end Joey Torres run 9-4, Sylver ended Cesars run 9-6, Ernesto 9-4 over Chuck, and Bobby G. 9-1 over john Mcgarvey.
The round of 7/8 had Sylver cruising past Jason P 9-1 and Ernesto squeaked by Bobby G 9-7.
The round of 5/6 had Sylver getting by Tom Wallace 9-4 and Andy handily over Ernesto 9-2. This set up the final 4 match on the one loss side with Andy facing off against Sylver, it was a great match and in the end Sylver won his 7th match in a row on the one loss side by a score of 9-7.
Now the one loss side finals had Sylver against Mike, and Mike put on a show here as he was getting a 1 game spot from Sylver and he blanked him by a score of 8-0. Wow.
The finals is now set and it is Ricky The Rocket hughes on the winners side against Machine gun Mike Alonzo, Ricky gets a 2 game spot to 9, and this match was game for game all the way to 7, which brought the end with the final score being 7-7. Congrats to Ricky Hughes.
The Second Chance Event on Sunday had 26 players in it. The final 6 with payouts are listed below.
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
On October 29th-30th the Lone Star Tour drew 65 players with 97 entries in 5 divisions at Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar in Houston, Texas who hosted the Tour’s 11th stop of 2011. The Open 9-Ball division drew 34 players which included James Baraks, David Gutierrez, Manny Chau, Mike Gulyassy, Ernesto Bayaua, and Jason Brown. The 39 player Amateur 9-ball division included Brent Thomas, Grady Cooper, J.C. Torres, Mikey Frost, Bill Fuller, and Michael Branton.
The Open division concluded Saturday evening with 4 winners and 4 one-loss side players for Sunday’s action. During the last winners’ side round of the evening, David Gutierrez defeated Mikey Frost 9-2, Sonny Bosshamer defeated Mike Gulyassy 9-7, Jason Brown squeezed by Ernesto Bayaua 9-8, and James Baraks bested Grady Cooper 9-4. On the one-loss side, Bayaua, Cooper, Frost, and Brian Rosenbaum lost their bid for the final 8. Sunday’s final four one-loss side produced Manny Chau who had suffered an earlier blow from Gutierrez, Jason Pearce, Bill Fuller, and Gulyassy. The final four “undefeated” saw Baraks oust Brown 9-2 and Bosshamer fall to Gutierrez 9-5. The west side’s final four saw Fuller fall to Gulyassy 7-4, and Chau defeat Jason Pearce 7-5. Meanwhile, it was Baraks over Brown 9-2 and Gutierrez over Bosshamer 9-5 that pitted Baraks v. Gutierrez for the hot seat. It was a hill-hill thriller until Baraks secured the final game 9-8. Headed for a comeback after a third round loss to Gutierrez, Chau won 6 consecutive matches with wins over Cooper, Pearce, Bosshamer, and Brown, but fell prey once again to Gutierrez, 7-1. In the final match, it was all out war. Gutierrez was determined to redeem himself while the all too unshakable Baraks was steady as a rock. The first set went to Guiterrez 9-6 and the players took a break. In overtime, both players stayed their course. At 4-3 in Baraks favor, he fell out of line on the 7 but completed the out and won the next game making it 6-3. Gutierrez answered back strong with 2 in a row which included a break and a run. At 6-5, Gutierrez broke and the cue ball was kissed into the corner pocket. Baraks ran out ending the set, 7-5. Thanks to their impeccable play and showmanship, these two players wowed the Bogies’ crowd with the most exciting event final to date!
The Amateur division drew 39 entries and ended late Saturday night. On the winners’ side final 8 it was Carl Miranda over J.C. Torres, Joey Torres defeated Bill Fuller, Jason Pearce ousted Will Felder, and Curt Bovenzi fell to Sonny Bosshamer. Miranda went on to defeat Joey Torres 4-2 and Bosshamer scrapped Pearce by the same. Bosshamer squeezed by Miranda for the hot seat 4-3. On the one-loss side, Chuck Adams bested Felder 4-3, Pablo Hernandez eliminated Boveni 4-1, Brian Rosenbaum defeated J.C. Torres 4-1, and Grady Cooper fell to Fuller 4-1. Hernandez won 6 consecutive matches on the top side after losing his first match to Junior player Ron Esman. After his first round loss to Kerry “The Panther” Ganther, Rosenbaum won 8 consecutive matches on the bottom side to meet Hernandez in the quarter final. Rosenbaum defeated Hernandez and Miranda, making it 10 consecutive wins until an undefeated Bosshamer blew the wind out of his sail in the final, 4-0. Congratulations to Sonny Bosshamer on his first Lone Star Tour title and for winning the VX cue and VX jump cue raffles!
In the One Pocket division, Sylver Ochoa defeated David Gutierrez for the hot seat match while Jason Brown bested Ernesto Bayaua, leaving him in 4th. Brown defeated Gutierrez 2-1 but fell in the final to Ochoa, 3-1.
On Sunday, current ladies point leader Courtney Peters captured 1st place after a second round loss to Terry Petrosino who finished 2nd. Robyn Petrosino and Teresa Garland finished 3rd and 4th respectively.
Junior player Nick Calderaro captured his first LSBT Junior 9-ball event this past weekend while Ron Esman finished a respectable 2nd, and Kody Thompson 3rd, his highest finish to date.
Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to the Official Tour Sponsors: Poison by Predator Cues, Delta-13 Rack, PoolWebsites.com, APA of North Harris County, and Gulf Coast Billiards. Special Thanks to room owners David and Shannon Richardson for hosting the Lone Star Tour and supporting Texas’ pool.
On December 10th-11th there will be $2,000 added to the Lone Star Tour Championships 2011 at Bogies Billiards & Sports Bar, hosting 5 divisions over 2 days. Please note, the AMATEUR DIVISION WILL BE 2 DAYS AT THIS EVENT AND THE RACES WILL BE EXTENDED TO 7 & 5 and the Juniors will move to Sunday at 1pm. There will be a small awards ceremony for the tour point leaders on Sunday, pit barbecue, Poison cue raffles, and LIVE STREAMING all weekend long! Don’t miss it!
