In the summer of 2017, Stephen Richmond competed in two events at which he finished as runner-up; to Donny Mills in a June stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour, and to Tommy Kennedy in an August stop on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. In both events, Richmond got into the hot seat, only to be defeated in the finals. On the weekend of February 3-4, competing in the Florida Pool Tour’s $5,000-added, 2018 Florida State Amateur 9-Ball Championships, that drew 122 entrants to Zingale’s Billiards Room & Sports Bar in Tallahassee, FL, Richmond opted for a different route. He advanced to the hot seat match, but was defeated by Miguel Batista. He returned from the semifinals to defeat Batista, and claim the event title; his first, according to our available records, since he won a stop on the Pure X Cues All American Tour in April of 2013.

 

Richmond and Batista got into their first of two matches, battling for the hot seat, following identical 7-5 victories in the winners’ side semifinals; Richmond, over Denny Singletary, and Batista, over Steve Foster. They then proceeded to battle each other to a 7-5 finish that sent Richmond to the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Singletary and Foster ran immediately into their second straight losses. Singletary went down in a double hill fight against Nick Applebee, who’d previously defeated Wesley White 5-1 and Matt Bulfin, also double hill. Foster was defeated 5-1 by Mike Delawder, who’d eliminated Jason Wells 5-3 and Rod Rentz 5-1 to reach him.

 

In what was described by tour officials as an “intense hill/hill (quarterfinal) match,” Applebee and Delawder fought back and forth for the right to meet Richmond in the semifinals. Applebee prevailed, only to be downed by an apparently determined Richmond 5-1.

 

In an extended race-to-9 final, Richmond and Batista came within a game of yet another double hill match. Richmond, though, pulled out in front to win it 9-7 and claim the event title.

 

A Second Chance event drew a full field of 64 entrants. It was won by Jeff Jordan.

 

Tour representatives thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality at their brand new location (1147 Apalachee Parkway), as well as sponsors Simonis, Aramith, Stroke-It-Wear, Crosby’s Billiards and Darts, and XL Press Co. The next stop on the Florida Pool Tour, the 2018 Florida State Open 10-Ball Championship, scheduled for March 3-4, will once again be hosted by Zingale’s.

 

With competitors like Mosconi Cup team member Sky Woodward, former US Open Champion Tommy Kennedy, Robb Saez and Shane McMinn (among others) on the entrant list, one might have been forgiven for expecting a series of marquee matchups in the final hours of the Florida State 10-Ball Open, held on the weekend of January 7-8. Instead, in what must surely have been a surprise to Calcutta participants, you had Daniel McKenny and Benji Buckley battling twice – hot seat and finals – with Buckley, who was the 2016 champion, taking the first and McKenny claiming the title by winning the last. The $4,000-added event drew 77 entrants to Zingale's Billiards and Sports Bar in Tallahassee, FL.

 

With the aforementioned marquee players at work on the loss side (none of whom would make it out of the 7/8 slots), McKenny and Buckley advanced to the winners' side semifinals; McKenny taking on Butch Croft, Buckley meeting Stoney Stone. McKenny moved into the hot seat match with a 7-1 victory over Croft, while Buckley downed Stone 7-4. For the second year in a row, Buckley claimed the hot seat, this time 7-2 and waited for McKenny to get back from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, the 'marquee four' found themselves battling in the second (9/12) money round. Saez eliminated Woodward 7-5, McMinn took care of Clint Nichols 7-1, and Denny Singletary finished Tommy Kennedy's weekend 7-5. Manny Perez knocked tour director Tony Crosby out of the running 7-4. McMinn and Saez were eliminated next; McMinn by Singletary, double hill, and Saez by Perez 7-3.

 

Singletary drew Stone, coming off his defeat in the winners' side semifinal, and Perez picked up Croft, coming off his. Singletary and Croft got right back into the swing of things and advanced to the quarterfinals; Singletary 7-3 over Stone, Croft surviving a double hill fight against Perez.

 

The quarterfinals were, at minimum, a $300 contest (the payout difference between 3rd and 4th place) and went double hill. Croft denied Stone a second shot against Buckley with the double hill win that gave him a shot. The semifinals were a $500 minimum battle (the difference between 2nd and 3rd place) and it almost went double hill. At the end, though, McKenny edged ahead by two 7-5 to get his second shot (an absolute $1,000 contest) against the reigning event champion, Buckley.

 

McKenny pulled it off. For the second match in a row, he was able to get ahead by two at the end to win it (9-7) and snatch the Florida State 10-Ball title away from Buckley.

 

A $1,000-added Second Chance event, which drew 50 entrants, saw Jamie Baraks go undefeated to claim the title. Baraks and Matt Bulfin, after shutting out their opponents (Jessie Middlebrooks and George Saunders, respectively) in the two winners' side semifinals, squared off in the hot seat match, won by Baraks 4-1. Bulfin downed Rod Rentz, double hill, in the semifinals, before Baraks defeated him a second time 5-3 in the finals. 

 

Tour director Tony Crosby thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality and contribution to the prize money.  Crosby also noted that anyone interested in sponsoring the Florida Pool Tour should visit the tour Web site (http://www.floridapooltour.com) for contact information.

Mike Zingale of Zingale's Billiards in Tallahassee , FL made a phone call, and invited Shannon Daulton and his Great Southern Billiard Tour down for a visit. They went, on the weekend of December 5-6, and ran a $1,200-added tournament that drew 32 entrants and saw Kenny Wilson come back from a loss in the hot seat match and double dip Clint Nichols in the finals to claim the event title.

 

Their first clash followed a 7-4 victory by Wilson over Denny Singletary, and a 6-5 win by Nichols, over Nick Applebee in the winners' side semifinals. Nichols then took the first of three over Wilson, decisively, 6-1, and sat in the hot seat, waiting for the next two.

 

Singletary and Applebee moved over to the loss side and were immediately defeated a second time. Applebee fell, 7-2, to Chris Gentile, who'd recently defeated Jason Wells 7-2 and Jesse Middlebrooks 7-6 (Middlebrooks racing to 8). Singletary ran into Randy Jordan, who'd been defeated by Wilson in the second round, and was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the semifinals. Jordan chalked up loss-side wins #3 and #4 against Lee Sanders 9-4 and Derek Fowler 9-5. 

 

Gentile downed Applebee 7-2, as Jordan was eliminating Singletary 9-5. Jordan took the quarterfinal match that followed 9-6, to earn a second shot against Wilson. Wilson ended Jordan's loss-side streak, defeating him a second time, 7-7 (same as the first time, Jordan racing to 9), and earning his own second (and third) shot against Nichols in the hot seat.

 

Five years ago, Wilson had chalked up his first win on the GSBT, by advancing to the hot seat, and holding off a loss-side challenge by Brian White, who entered the finals on the heels of a nine-match, loss-side winning streak. On this most recent weekend, Wilson chalked up his second tour victory with a 7-4 win in the opening set of the true double elimination final and a double hill win in the second set. 

 

Tour director Shannon Daulton was quite pleased with his tour's first visit to Zingale's, which also hosts Tommy Kennedy's Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, and Tony Crosby's Florida Pool Tour.

 

"It was a real pleasure to work with Mike (Zingale)," said Daulton. "It's such a player-friendly room (with) an elevated bar for viewing and separate areas for league and tournament play;  just a hell of a layout.

 

"The entire staff at Zingale's was on-point the whole weekend," he added, "and I'll bet Mike served as many drinks as his staff did."

 

The GSBT will return to Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC, this coming weekend (December 12-13) and will conclude its 2015 season with a Christmas tournament, scheduled for December 19-20, at Legends Billiards, in Inman, SC.

It was technically stops # 7 and #8 on the Shark Billiard Tour, or as tour representative Kristen Bennington put it, "or 7 and 7A." Whichever. It was a double stop on Memorial Day weekend at Zingale's in Tallahassee, FL; a $1,000-added event that drew 48 on Saturday, May 23, and a $500-added event that drew 38. Jeff Jordan took the Saturday event. Jesse Middlebrooks was the runner-up and then went on to win the Sunday tournament, with Josh Lewis playing the runner-up role.

 

Five of the players among the final 12 on each day competed in both tournaments, all improving from Saturday to Sunday, except for Jeff Abernathy, who finished 4th on Saturday, and in the tie for 9/12 on Sunday. Josh Lewis went from 9/12 on Saturday to runner-up on Sunday. Chris Gentile improved from a 7/8 on Saturday to 4th on Sunday, and Benji Buckley advanced two slots from 9/12 to 5/6. And of course, Middlebrooks, who took second on Saturday and won Sunday.

 

With Middlebrooks already at work on the loss side, Saturday's event saw Jeff Jordan advance to the hot seat. He'd sent Doug Johnson to the loss side 8-4 in one winners' side semifinal, while Tour Director Nick Applebee sent Howie Gordon loss-side packing 8-5 in the other. Jordan gave up only one rack to Applebee and claimed the hot seat.

 

 

Middlebrooks, in the meantime, got by Jamie Chapman and Detroit Griffin 6-2, to draw Gordon. Johnson picked up Jeff Abernathy, on his way to a fourth place finish and fresh off victories over Josh Lewis 6-4 and Chris Gentile 6-3. Gordon and Johnson picked up their second straight losses; Gordon 6-2 to Middlebrooks and Johnson 6-3 to Abernathy. Middlebrooks took the quarterfinal match over Abernathy 6-4 and then battled to double hill against Applebee in the semifinals. Middlebrooks prevailed and then, in the finals, was defeated by Jeff Jordan 11-7.

 

Having spent time there on Saturday, Middlebrooks wanted no part of the loss side on Sunday. He advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Josh Lewis while Denny Singletary and Derek Fowler met in the other. It was Singletary 8-6 over Fowler and Middlebrooks  8-5 over Lewis. Middlebrooks claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Singletary, guaranteeing himself at least as high a finish as he'd chalked up on Saturday.

 

On the loss side, Benji Buckley advanced past Arthur Win 6-2 and survived a double hill battle against Randy Jordan, to draw Lewis. Fowler picked up Chris Gentile, recent double hill winner over Jeff Abernathy and 6-4 winner over Raymond Linares.  Lewis eliminated Buckley 6-2 and in the quarterfinals faced Gentile, who'd defeated Fowler 6-4. Lewis took the quarterfinal match against Gentile 6-4 and got a second shot at Middlebrooks with a commanding 6-1 victory over Singletary in the semifinals. 

 

Lewis carried that momentum into the finals, opening up a three-point lead (4-1) early. He would chalk up only two more racks in the next dozen games, as Middlebrook battled back to claim the event title 11-6.

 

Tour director Nick Applebee made note of $100 prize to the top junior player in Sunday's event, Bobby Bruce, Jr. He thanked Applebee thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality, as well as Kristen Bennington and all the players who came out to support the tour. Stop # 8 on the Shark Billiard Tour, scheduled for Saturday, June 6, will be hosted by Anastasia Billiards in St. Augustine, FL.

Back in January, when the Tiger Florida Tour was the Flamingo Tour, Dana Aft, from Atlanta, GA, made a trip south to compete in that tour's debut event. She went undefeated through a field of 39, and later, on her Facebook fan page, made a casual comment about the girls from Florida getting together sometime with the girls from Atlanta.

 

" I was really impressed with the level of play of all the Florida girls!!," is what Aft actually wrote. "I think they should take a road trip and meet the rest of the Atlanta girls sometime."

 

Betty (Sessions) Lea, from Atlanta, a long-time tour director read the comment and got the ball rolling, eventually communicating with Mike Zingale of Zingale's Billiards in Tallahassee to create the Zingale's Amateur Ladies Tournament, held on the weekend of June 21-22. Tom Gedris of Triple Cross Cues contributed a cue to the event, while Mike Zingale added a Predator Cue, and cookies from his mother, Linda. The $1,000-added (plus two cues and cookies) event drew 18 women from a variety of locations to Zingale's and was won by Ohio's Liz Lovely, who got by Atlanta's Dana Aft twice to claim the title. Betty Lea ended up winning the event's $250-added Second Chance Tournament, which drew 9 entrants.

 

In the main event, the two former junior champions, Lovely and Aft, advanced to the hot seat match, once Lovely had downed Autumn Duncan 9-5 and Aft had survived a double hill fight versus Nicole Keeney. Lovely took the first of two against Aft and waited in the hot seat.

 

Keeney and Duncan moved to the loss side, where they were met by Jeannie Seaver (one of the co-tour directors/creators of the event) and Roe Guarnero. Seaver had defeated Cheryl Pritchard 7-1 and Samantha Kikuchi, double hill. Guarnero had eliminated Betty Lea 7-5 and Jeannie Seaver's sister, Vanessa, double hill. Keeney and Duncan got right back to work; Keeney defeating Jeannie Seaver 7-4 and Duncan downing Guarnero 7-5.

 

Keeney took the quarterfinal match versus Duncan 7-2, to earn a re-match versus Aft in the semifinals. Aft, though, earned her second shot against Lovely with a 7-5 win in those semifinals. Lovely earned her $715, first-place prize, and a Predator Cue with a 9-6 win over Aft in the finals. Lea, in the second chance event, took home the $170 first-place prize and the Triple Cross Cue. In addition to $120 for her second-place finish in the Second Chance event, Samantha Kikuchi picked up a $50 gift certificate for Pool Dawg.

Seems like all he needed was a haircut.

 

Tommy Kennedy got one from his daughter and went out and won the Poison Florida State 10-Ball Championships on the weekend of January 12-13, defeating, for the first time in his life, Corey Deuel, twice.

 

"Really?" said Deuel, after the match, unaware that this was Kennedy's first victory against him.

 

"I'm amazed," said Kennedy, a few hours later.

 

Playing in his first major tournament since the US Open, Kennedy went undefeated through a field of 48, on-hand for the $4,000-added event, hosted by Zingales in Tallahassee, FL. Primarily a 9-ball player, Kennedy has been "warming" to 10-ball recently, and this win just might be a signal that he's right at home with it now.

 

He and Deuel met first in the hot seat match. Kennedy had sent Justin Hall to the loss bracket 9-4. Deuel had defeated James Roberts 9-5. With memories of 13 or 14 previous meetings stepping up to the table when he did, Kennedy overcame what might well have been a more daunting task than winning the tournament; defeating Deuel for the first time. He did so 9-6 and sat in the hot seat, feeling pretty good about a potential re-match, one would imagine.

 

Meanwhile, Hall and Roberts have moved over and picked up the tournament's sub-plot, otherwise known as Larry Nevel and Mike Davis. These two both lost in the opening round of play; Nevel to Mike Delawder (double hill) and Davis to Rod Rentz (9-5). They're both in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that will take them to the Quarterfinals. In the matches that will determine the four-way tie for ninth place, they draw each other's early nemesis. Davis downs Delawder (for Nevel) 9-6, while Nevel eliminates Rentz (for Davis) 9-3. 

 

They move on; Davis defeating J.R. Rossman 9-3, while Nevel eliminates David Grossman 9-6. Davis gets James Roberts, fresh from the winners' side, Nevel gets Justin Hall. Once Davis defeated Roberts 9-5 and Nevel got by Hall 9-6, someone's eight-match, loss-side winning streak was about to end.

 

It was Nevel who moved on, after a 9-6, quarterfinal win over Davis giving him a shot against Deuel in the semifinals. Deuel stopped Nevel's run at nine matches, defeating him 9-6 for his own second chance against Kennedy. 

 

Kennedy took an early 4-1 lead, which he never relinquished. He'd win five of the next seven, punctuating his first victory over Deuel, after many years, with a second victory in a matter of hours.

 

"This is one of the biggest (tournament wins) I've had in a long time," said Kennedy, adding a 'thank you' to Chris Nitti Cues, which supplied him with his cue for the event, and with which he'd been putting in 50-60 hours of practice, prior to the event.

 

Tour director Tony Crosby thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality, along with title sponsors Poison Cues, as well as Simonis Cloth,  Aramith Balls and FloridaPoolTableMovers.com

In 2012, Randy Jordon and Jim Sandaler were two of the eight players who tied for 17th place in the Florida State Amateur 9-Ball Championships. On the weekend of December 14-15, Jordon survived a double hill battle to get into the hot seat, and then, stopped a three-match, loss-side winning streak by Sandaler in the finals to claim Florida State's 2013 Amateur 9-Ball Championships. The $4,000-added event drew 103 entrants to Zingale's Billiards in Tallahassee, FL. A $1,000-added Second Chance Tournament drew 62 entrants, with Justin Gilsinan emerging as the winner, defeating James Adams in the finals.

 

Jordon and Sandaler were among the winners' side final four in the main event this year, but while Jordon advanced to the hot seat match with a 7-4 win over Chris Gentile, Sandaler was moved to the loss side by Slava Vinakur, double hill. Jordon then survived a double hill battle of his own, and sat in the hot seat, awaiting what turned out to be Sandaler's return.

 

Awaiting Sandaler on the loss side was Jason Sheerman, who'd defeated Brian McBride, double hill, and J.R. Rossman 7-4 to reach him. Gentile picked up Jared Schlaugh, who'd gotten by Dale Stanley 7-3 and David Uwate 7-1. By identical 7-5 scores, Sandaler eliminated Sheerman, and Gentile finished Schlaugh's loss-side run.

 

Sandaler then defeated Gentile 7-4 in the quarterfinals, and completed his trek back to the finals with a successful 7-5 re-match against Vinakur in the semifinals. Jordon, though, stopped Sandaler's run with 7-3 win in the finals to claim the 2013 Florida State Amateur Championships.

 

There were 10 women who competed in this event, and when that number had dwindled down to seven, those seven entered a single elimination, single game bracket (one bye) for $200 in prize money. Jessica Barnes came out on top to claim half that total, defeating Sherry King ($60) in the finals. Kristen Bennington finished third and took home $40.

 

Tour representatives, including director Tony Crosby, thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Poison Billiards, Robertson Billiards, Simonis Cloth, Diamond Billiard Products, Delta-13 Racks, Aramith, Stroke-It Wear, www.floridapooltablemovers.com, Bar Box Digital, Robert Harris Cues, and Triple Cross Cues.

 

In about a month – January 11-12, 2014 – Zingale's Billiards will play host to the $5,000-added Florida State Open 10-Ball Championships; $4,000-added for the main event, and $1,000-added for the Second Chance Tournament. For further information, log on to the Poison Tour's Web site at http://www.poisonpooltour.com or call Tony Crosby at 727-488-0536.

Tommy Kennedy came from the loss side of an Open event on his own Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour on Saturday, April 14, and defeated hot seat occupant, Denny Singletary, in the finals. Singletary would go on, the next day, to win the tour stop’s Amateur event. The $1,000-added events ($500 each), hosted by Zingale’s Billiards in Tallahassee, FL drew 25 (Open) and 19 (Amateur) entrants.

While the Open event featured Kennedy’s return from the loss side to win, the Amateur event featured some headline matchups, outside the realm of its top winners. First among these was a 5th/6th place match between room owner Mike Zingale and his father, Jim. The other story was about 11-year-old Landon Harris, who, though finishing in the four-way tie for 9th, turned a few heads with back-to-back, double hill victories against much older opponents (Brandon Posey and Dylan Clark).

The seeds for the Zingale family match in the Amateur event were sown among the winners’ side final four, when son, Mike, was sent west by Singletary 6-3. J.R. Rossman, in the meantime, who had been eliminated by Kennedy in the Open event the day before, faced and defeated Huyen (pronounced “win”) Cam 6-1. In the hot seat match, Singletary and Rossman battled to double hill before Rossman prevailed to deny Singletary his second hot seat occupancy of the weekend.

Cam moved to the loss side and picked up Joe Davis, while Mike Zingale ran into his father, Jim. Davis defeated Cam 5-2, and the younger Zingale defeated the elder Zingale by the same score. Davis then dropped the younger Zingale into fourth place in a double hill match, only to be dropped himself into third place by Singletary, whose 5-1 victory put him into the finals for the second time. He won it this time, defeating Rossman 9-4 to capture the Amateur title.

It was a set of three, 7-5 victories among the final four winners that left Singletary in the hot seat in the Open event on Saturday. Kennedy was sent west by Jimmy Garza, Singletary sent Stoney Stone over, and finally, in the hot seat battle, Singletary sent Garza to the semifinals.

Kennedy moved over and picked up Rossman, while Stone drew Arthur Hynh. Kennedy and Stone picked up where they’d left off, defeating Rossman 6-2 and Hynh 6-4, and turning to face each other in the quarterfinals. Kennedy finished Stone’s day 6-4, and then in a ‘vengeance is sweet’ moment completely shut out the man who’d sent him to the loss side (Garza) in the semifinals. He completed his three-match, loss-side winning streak with a 9-6 win in the finals that secured the event title.

Ashleigh Harrel picked up $50 as the top female finisher in the Open event, and John Amiss picked up $50, as well, as the oldest player in the event. The elder Zingale won a $50 prize for being the oldest player in the Amateur event. Two women – Tracie Majors and Jessica Fincher – split a $50 prize as top finishers in the Amateur tourney, while 11-year-old Landon Harris picked up $25 as the top finishing junior.

Tour director Tommy Kennedy thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Tiger Products, Mueller Recreational Products, David Adams, Ed Cabrera, Simonis Cloth, Cliff Manning of Manning Custom Cues, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, and Harris Cue Company. 

Open Event Payouts | Amateur Event Payouts