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Josh Hillard wins Starcade Billiards’ Robin Workman Memorial 9 Ball Fall Classic Tournament in Fort Walton Beach, Florida

Josh Hillard

Starcade Billiards had another great event over the weekend of October 14-15, where 50 of the top players in the region competed for a piece of the $4,100 purse and to take the $1,350 top prize. Top regional pros and talent were present, such as Ronnie Wiseman, Josh Kirby, Randy Jordan, Denny Singletary, Pablo Matheu, Stoney Stone, Josh Hillard, Denny Fox, Randy Jordan, Jeff Jordan, Jamie Baraks, JR Rossman, to name a few…
 
The purse was $1,500 added, $50 entry, 100% payout, no hidden fees. Starcade Billiards does it right every single time. The format was double elimination, with 9 ball express rules in effect. Winner’s brackets matches were races to nine and loser’s bracket matches were races to seven on Saturday and race to nine for both sides on Sunday.
 
The Jordan “Cash” team was in top form from start to finish, with both brothers making it to the final four of the undefeated bracket. Jamie Baraks beat Jeff Jordan 9-5. But Randy Jordan easily bested local favorite, Josh Hillard, by a lop-sided score of 9-1. And then Randy proceeded to beat Jamie 9-5 to capture the hot seat.
 
Meanwhile, on the final four of the one loss side, Pablo Matheu eliminated Denny Singletary, and Stoney Stone gave Denny Fox his marching orders, as well. Then Jeff Jordan sent Pablo to the bleachers, and Josh Hillard handed Stoney Stone his marching orders. This left Jamie Baraks waiting for the winner between Jeff Jordan and Josh Hillard, with Josh besting Jeff 9-6.
 
So then there were only three…
Out of the three remaining, Jamie Baraks had 5 top 3 finishes, being the runner-up twice. And this time we would crown a new champion. All defending title holders had been eliminated. So Jamie squared off with Josh, and the winner would earn a rematch with Randy Jordan and another title attempt. Josh would earn the opportunity to redeem his previous title attempts with a 9-4 victory over Jamie. And these two have been knocking on the winning door for quite some time now.
 
Over the last two decades, I have personally witnessed Josh Hillard play in the finals of this tournament at least 3 times, possibly 4, losing to Tommy Kennedy, David Broxson, and Pablo Matheu – making this his 4th attempt to capture the much coveted title.
 
The championship match would be an extended single race to twelve. This time, however, Josh was holding the winning ticket with some really solid play and defeated Randy 12 to 7.

Mike Davis Jr. goes undefeated at Starcade Billiards’ Annual Fall 9 Ball Classic in Fort Walton Beach, Florida

Mike Davis

Starcade Billiards had another great two-day event on October 10-11, where 89 players were in attendance to take the top prize of $1,650 for two days of hard work. Top regional pros and talent were present, such as Mike Davis Jr., Cliff Joyner, Scotty Townsend, Pablo Matheu, Justin Ledford, Tommy Kennedy, Stoney Stone, Nathan Rose, Dave Grossman, Benny Conway Jr., Josh Hillard, Denny Fox, Harold McAbee, Mike Laney, Randy Jordan, Jeff Jordan, Mike Delawder, Nick Applebee, Rick Howard, Jamie Baraks, JR Rossman, to name a few…
 
The purse was $1,500 added, $50 entry, 100% payout, no hidden fees. Starcade Billiards does it right every single time. Robert Harris, Harris Cues, co-sponsored the event and raffled off a beautiful $1,500 cue and awarded another cue to the Champion, as well. The format was double elimination, 9 ball express rules were effect, winner’s brackets races to nine and loser’s bracket races to seven on both days. However, this was the first time the Magic Rack was implemented. So it’s safe to say that many balls were made on the break, which amounted to many break-and-runs and some very lop-sided matches.
 
Mike Davis captured the hot seat basically uncontested, and it’s worthy to mention he skunked Tommy Kennedy 9-0, allowing him only one shot the entire match!
 
Meanwhile, Jamie Baraks and Nathan Rose were in dead stroke. Mike was waiting for the winner of the Rose-Baraks match, and it was Rose who prevailed this time. Baraks made it to the finals the past event in February this year where Davis also won, but this time had to settle for the 3rd place envelope of cash.
 
The final match was a single race to 12. Mike took the crown undefeated by a score of 12-3 over Rose.

Mike Davis Jr. wins the Annual Andy Grubbs Memorial Emerald Coast Open at Starcade Billiards in Fort Walton Beach, Florida

Mike Davis

After almost a three year hiatus, Starcade Billiards returned to the tournament scene this past weekend and hosted their largest field to date. This year 113 players were in attendance vying for a slice of the biggest prize fund in Starcade's history. Several touring pros and top regional talent were present, as well as some from afar, such as Mike Davis Jr., Cliff Joyner, Scotty Townsend, Pablo Matheu, Jeff Abernathy, Justin Ledford, Tommy Kennedy, Jesse Middlebrook, Denny Singletary, Mike Delawder, Nick Applebee, Denny Singletary, Rick Howard, Jamie Baraks, JR Rossman, Kris Pitts, to name a few…
 
The purse was $1,500 added, $50 entry, 100% payout, no hidden fees, with $2,000 reserved for the king of the hill. Starcade Billiards does it right every single time. Robert Harris, Harris Cues, co-sponsored the event and raffled off a beautiful $1,500 cue and awarded another cue to the Champion, as well.
 
This event proved to be a tough one, as some top players were upset with an early exit on the first day. Cliff Joyner and Scotty Townsend didn’t make it to the money. Winner’s brackets were races to nine and loser’s bracket matches were races to seven on both days.
 
Mike Davis was sent to the one-loss side by Jeff Abernathy. However, Mike worked the left side like a pro and avenged his early loss to Jeff by handing him a 4th place envelope.
Meanwhile, Jamie Baraks was in dead stroke and made it to the hot seat by defeating Nick Applebee. Mike was waiting for Nick and had momentum, setting up a final match with Jamie. The final match was a single race to 12. Mike took the crown by pocketing the last nine ball.