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Joss NE 9-Ball Tour Visits Brick House Billiards in Syracuse March 19-20

Players & Fans,

Congratulations to stop # 10 winner Jayson Shaw($1,550 – 12th N.E. Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open Champion), R.J. Carmona ($300 – second chance) & $1,900 Joss Cue raffle winner Frank Constantino.

Stop 11 of our 2021/2022 season will be at the Brick House Billiards in N. Syracuse NY on March 19 & 20 for the second of two events this season. Our hosts Mary & Brian Holmes have created one of the most beautiful rooms in the state while sparing no expense. Brick House comes complete with 7 of the Diamond Pro tables used at one of our Turning Stone events, a brand new heated billiard table and eight, 7 foot Diamond tables for the bar league crowd. There is also a brand new full bar and kitchen boasting a full pub menu with a few homemade specials thrown in to satisfy all of our needs. So lets give Brick House a warm Joss Tour welcome by coming out to play in or just watch another great 9-ball tournament. While you are there, you could even win a gorgeous, custom engraved, Joss Cue, valued at $1,900 in the raffle. Anyone can participate in the raffle and you do not have to be present to win!

For more info about Brick House, look them up on Facebook or call them at 315-455-1979.

For those of you needing motel info, please call Brick House directly at 315-455-1979

This event at Brick House Billiards will consist of a $1500 added Saturday and Sunday Main Event (entry Fee $120 for pro level or $70 for non pro level) and a $500 added second chance event on Sunday ($20 Entry Fee) for those non pro level players eliminated from the main event on Saturday. All of our events are open to players of all skill levels. Please remember that all of our billiard parlor events are now races 9 on the winners side and races to 7 on the one loss side.

Those coming to play must arrive on Saturday March 19, Before 11:00 AM in proper dress of No t-shirts, tanks, sweats or shorts!! Clean Jeans and sneakers and a shirt with a collar work just fine for our billiard parlor events. Complete tour info can be found on our site: www.joss9balltour.com

Please note that our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXXV 9-Ball Open on September 1-4, 2022 is ALREADY FULL pending my receipt of all of the “checks in the mail”. Spots could open up if they do not arrive in a reasonable amount of time. Therefore, I have started a waiting list. If you would like to be on my waiting list, please call me at 518-356-7163

Please remember to spread the word to frequent your local billiard parlors and utilize and promote the world class products of our most generous sponsors. They are the backbone of our sport and deserve our support!!

Thanks and I hope to see you all at the brand new Brick House billiards.

Mike Zuglan

The Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour Is Proudly Sponsored By;

Joss Cues – http://www.josscues.com
Turning Stone Resort Casino – http://www.turningstone.com 
Simonis Cloth – http://www.simoniscloth.com
Poolonthenet.com – http://www.poolonthenet.com
AzBilliards.com – http://www.azbilliards.com
Aramith – http://www.aramith.com
Billiards Press – http://www.billiardspress.com
World Class Cue Care – http://www.jnj-industries.com

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Reymart Lim picks up where he left off to chalk up season opener on 2018 Action Pool Tour

Reymart Lim, Raymond Walters (TD) & R.J. Carmona

It was, by far, his most productive year at the pool tables. In the five years that Reymart Lim has been showing up on our tournament payout lists, his 2017 reported cash earnings in 11 tournaments were six times what he’d earned in any previous year. As we reported in December, he chalked up wins on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour (two, including the NC State Open 10-Ball event) and finished the year by coming from the loss side to win the Action Pool Tour’s season finale on the weekend of December 9-10. A little over a month later, Lim was back on the Action Pool Tour, and once again, coming from the loss side, he completed a run through 41 entrants to defeat a hot seat occupant (R.J. Carmona, in this case) and win the APT’s season opener, held on the weekend of January 13-14, and hosted by Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
 
Lim was challenged early and often in this one. An opening 7-3 win over Dwight Cherry was followed by two matches that went double hill, against David Lassiter and Nilbert Lim (no relation, though close friends), before advancing him to a winners’ side semifinal against Eric Moore. Carmona, in the meantime, opened his bid for the season opening title with a 7-2, preliminary-round win over Chris Pyle, defeated Jeremy Wyatt 7-3, and then won two 7-4 victories over Steve Fleming and Tuan Chau to face Danny Bell in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
Moore downed Lim 7-5, as Carmona chalked up his third straight 7-4 win and sent Bell to the loss side. Carmona claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Moore, and waited on Lim’s return.
 
On the loss side, Lim picked up Tim Colvin, who, after a winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Bell, had defeated Mark Lacson 7-2 and survived a double hill battle versus Tuan Chau. Bell drew Nilbert Lim, who, after defeat by his friend, Reymart, went on to defeat Greg Sabins, double hill and Jason Trigo 7-3. The two Lims advanced to the quarterfinals for their second match; Reymart eliminating Colvin 7-5 and Nilbert, with a 7-5 win over Bell.
 
Though their first match had been a double hill fight, their second proved to be a little easier for Reymart. He gave up only two racks to his friend and advanced to a semifinal re-match against Moore. Reymart gave up three to Moore and advanced to the finals against Carmona. A 9-6 win in those finals allowed Lim to chalk up his first (and presumably not his last) 2018 tour victory.
 
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis Cloth, Aramith, Tiger, Predator, Viking, Ozone Billiards, Cue Sports International (CSI) and George Hammerbacher Instruction. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for February 10-11, will be the VA State 10-Ball Championships, hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
 
The APT also announced some major changes for 2018. In recognition of the fact that in previous years, the ‘points race’ for the title of Tour Champion (and runner-up), in competition for free entry, hotel and airfare to a major event the following year, had, by mid-season, become irrelevant to most players, the APT announced the creation of a “$10,000 Top 64 Shootout” event. Players with an active one-year membership on the tour will be competing throughout the year to be among the top 64 players in tour rankings. At the end of the tour season (on a date to-be-determined), those 64 will be invited to the “Shootout,” which will feature a total prize fund of $10,000. Those who finish among the top 16 in that “Shootout” will be guaranteed $500, with the winner guaranteed $2,500.
“We are confident,” notes the tour’s Web site announcement of this event, “that this will keep the points race interesting for more players.”
 
The tour also announced that the VA State 10-Ball and VA State 8-Ball Championships will be restricted to the first 64 paid entries. The women’s events in both will be restricted to the first 16 paid entries. As noted in the 2017 Season Finale report, separate women’s events will not be held in 2018, although the APT has reinstituted the Top Female Bonus, which will grant the top-finishing female in each event a bonus cash award, based on the number of women in the field. This will range from $100 (with 3-5 women in the field) to $600 (with 18-20 women in the field).
 
For further information on the Action Pool Tour, including its plans to begin streaming its events on an APT YouTube Channel, on which all events will be stored for later viewing, visit the tour Web site at http://www.actionpooltour.com.

Carmona goes undefeated to capture first regional tour title on Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour

Perhaps it was the change of 'scenery.' R.J. Carmona's been showing up on our payout lists for about eight years now, primarily as a competitor on the Action Pool Tour (APT). Our records indicate that since 2009, he's cashed on 22 occasions, averaging a finish in 9th place. That number was skewed a little as the result of his appearances at the US Open 9-Ball Championships last year and in 2013, at which he finished 33rd and 49th, respectively. Without those two large numbers, his average finish was 6th place, and included two runner-up finishes on the APT.
 
On the weekend of May 6-7, Carmona changed the competitive, though not necessarily for him, geographic scenery a little bit. While his 'home' tour (APT) was holding a stop in Midlothian, VA, Carmona traveled to Virginia Beach, VA (about two southeast hours away) to compete in a stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour. In so doing, he chalked up his first tour win, going undefeated through a field of 34 at a $500-added event, hosted by Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach.
 
Carmona faced two different opponents in his final two matches, both of whom battled him to double hill. He'd sent Nilbert Lim (another APT veteran) to the loss side 10-6 in one winners' side semifinal, while Thomas Williams defeated Chris Gentile 5-6 (Gentile racing to 8) in the other one. With Williams racing to 5, Carmona claimed the hot seat, double hill (10-4), and waited on what turned out to be the return of Greg Sabins, who was in the midst of chalking up a nine match, loss-side winning streak. 
 
It was Gentile who ran into Sabins on the loss side. At the time, Sabins was six matches into his loss-side run which included recent wins over Jared Vogel 8-3 and Junior Avery 8-4. Nilbert Lim picked up Reymart Lim (no relation, though both are APT vets), who'd picked up a forfeit win over Floyd Watson and defeated Barry Henderson 10-2 to reach him.
 
Sabins got by Gentile 8-5, as Nilbert downed Reymart 8-8 (Reymart racing to 10). Nilbert Lim put up a double hill fight in the quarterfinals that followed, but Sabins prevailed 8-7, met and defeated Williams 8-3 in the semifinals, and moved into a double elimination final against Carmona.
 
Carmona had been here before, literally and figuratively. In February 2012, at Q Master Billiards, he was sitting in the hot seat facing a challenge from a loss-side competitor he hadn't faced on the winners' side. His opponent at the time, Michael Fuller, had missed his son's birthday to compete in the APT event, so when he (Fuller) returned from a short, loss-side run, he was. . well, motivated, and took the two necessary sets in the double elimination final to claim the title and dedicate the victory to his son.
To the best of anyone's knowledge, Sabins was not motivated by anything other than a desire to complete a nine-match, loss-side struggle to get to the finals. Though Sabins would put up a double hill fight, Carmona disappointed him, taking the title 10-7 in a single set. In addition to the prize money, the victory also qualified Carmona for entry into the North Carolina State 10-Ball Championships in July. 
 
Tour director Herman Parker was effusive in his praise regarding his tour's first visit to Q Master Billiards, thanking its ownership and staff, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for May 13-14, will be a $500-added event ($1,000-added with over 48 entrants), hosted by Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, GA.

Moore chalks up fourth APT win to maintain season-ending top tour ranking

Eric Moore and Shaun Wilkie

Going into the final event of the 2017 Action Pool Tour season, there was no catching Eric Moore's top spot in the tour rankings. Ahead by nearly 2,000 points, with three victories on the year (in Feb., June, and Nov.), Moore would have been the tour champion even if his closest competitor in the rankings, Brandon Shuff, had competed and defeated him in the finals of the event. Punctuating his finish at the top of the tour rankings, Moore went undefeated through a field of 35, on-hand for APT's season finale, hosted by Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA, on the weekend of December 10-11.
 
 
While there was no drama surrounding who'd be the 2017 tour champion, the season finale did offer two competitors the opportunity to vie for the runner-up position, which would earn that player entry into all three divisions of the 2017 US Bar Table Championships in Las Vegas, as well as hotel accommodations (the winner, Moore, received the same bonus prize, in addition to plane fare). With Shuff not in attendance, that runner-up slot would (no matter where they finished) go to either Shaun Wilkie, who entered the tournament in third place, or Kenny Miller, who entered the tournament in fourth place. They were separated by only 19 points.
 
 
In effect, that question was answered when they met in the third round of play. After an opening round bye, Wilkie opened his campaign with a shutout over Thomas Williams. Miller, also awarded an opening round bye, opened with a double hill win (9-8) over Christopher Wilburn, who ended up 6th in the tour rankings. Wilkie advanced 9-5 over Miller, who moved west, won a single match (against Nicole Fleming) and was then eliminated by Steve Fleming, who'd end up 5th in the tour rankings.
 
 
Wilkie and Moore, now securely in the #1 and #2 positions on the tour, advanced to face each other in a winners' side semifinal. Reymart Lim, making only his third appearance on the 2017 tour, and cousin Nilbert Lim, making his second, squared off in the other semifinal. In their first of two, Moore downed Wilkie 9-7, as Reymart Lim defeated Nilbert Lim 9-6. Moore claimed the hot seat 9-6 over Reymart, assuring Reymart another (minimum) third place finish to match his effort back in May, when he finished behind Wilkie and Shuff. 
 
 
On the loss side, Wilkie drew Greg Sabins, who'd defeated Steve Fleming, double hill (right after Fleming had eliminated Kenny Miller) and R.J. Carmona 7-3. Nilbert Lim picked up Pat Carosi, who'd gotten by Ray Reyna 7-5 and Christopher Wilburn 7-2 to reach him. Wilkie advanced to the quarterfinals 7-2 over Sabins, and was met by Carosi, who'd ended Nilbert Lim's weekend 7-5.
 
 
Wilkie made short work of Carosi, allowing him only a single rack in their quarterfinal match. Reymart Lim, looking to advance to his first final, put up a fight in the semifinals against Wilkie, but fell short 7-5.
 
 
And so it was, that the top two players on the 2017 Action Pool Tour, squared off in the finals of the tour's season finale. Moore laid further claim to his already secured top spot in the rankings with a commanding 11-4 victory over Wilkie. 
 
 
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator, Ozone Billiards, AZBilliards and Hammerbacher Instruction.

Abraham knocks Wilkie out of the hot seat at Great Slates Bar Table 9-Ball Championships

Eddie Abraham came back from a defeat in the hot seat match to take down Shaun Wilkie in the finals of the Great Slates Bar Table 9-Ball Championships, held on the weekend of December 5-6. The $500-added event drew 85 entrants to Great Slates in Cambridge, MD.
 
Abraham built up a head of steam in this tournament that saw him win his opening matches by a rack or two, while later matches were chalked up, against arguably tougher opponents, with three or four rack differentials. He won his first three matches by an aggregate score of 21-13. He won his next two, against Brett Stottlemyer and Dan Madden, by an aggregate score of 14-5.
 
Abraham's victory over Madden was in a winners' side semifinal, which put him into the hot seat match against Shaun Wilkie. Wilkie was steady through his opening three (21-8), but then had to navigate his way through two straight double hill matches, first, against Matt Krah, and then, in a winners' side semifinal, against Kenny Rutman. Wilkie was three winning percentage points behind Abraham when he faced him in the hot seat match. Wilkie won it 7-5, although it proved to be his last match win of the weekend.
 
Ruttman and Madden moved over to the loss side to face two of the mid-Atlantic region's toughest competitors; Brett Stottlemyer and former Mosconi Cup team member, Brandon Shuff. Stottlemyer had defeated Adam Kielar 7-3 and R.J. Carmona 7-4 to draw Rutman. Shuff had gotten by FrEd Scott 7-5 and Matt Krah 7-1 to pick up Madden. 
 
Stottlemyer advanced to the quarterfinals 7-4 over Carmona. Shuff joined him with a 7-1 victory over Krah. Shuff ended up in fourth place on the heels of Stottlemyer's 7-5 victory in those quarterfinals. Abraham downed Stottlemyer by the same score in the semifinals. 
 
Abraham moved back for a second shot at Wilkie in the hot seat. Abraham prevailed in the single set, race-to-9 final match to secure the event title.

Shuff chalks up second straight Action Pool Tour win over Wilkie

Brandon Shuff

For the second time in a row, Brandon Shuff met Shaun Wilkie in the finals of an Action Pool Tour event and won. In March, Wilkie was sent to the loss side in the opening round of play and worked his way back through nine matches on the loss side to face Shuff in the finals. Shuff's victory ended a six-event winning streak for Wilkie on the tour (four at the end of last season, two at the beginning of this current tour season). On the weekend of April 4-5, at an event hosted by Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA, which drew 61 entrants, Shuff once again took the undefeated route to the event title. Wilkie took the easier (shorter) undefeated route, as well this time, until the two met in the hot seat match and the finals.
 
Each of their winning percentages went down since the earlier meeting; Shuff winning 67% of his 97 games this time out (down from 72% of games won in March), Wilkie winning (just shy of) 60% of his 114 (down from 70% in March). Wilkie gave up over twice as many racks to opponents per match in this latest event – 2.5 per match to 5.75 – while Shuff's opponents improved from 2.8 racks per match to 4.57. 
 
Shuff's trail went through Pooky Rasmeloungon, R.J. Carmona, Alex Travino, and Dominic Noe, before coming up against Paul Helms in one of the winners' side semifinals. Wilkie got by Troy Miller, Will Moon, Paul Oh and Matt Krah before facing Mike Davis in the other winners' side semifinal. Shuff downed Helms 9-3, while Wilkie made short 9-1 work of Davis. In their first of two, Shuff gained the hot seat over Wilkie 9-7.
 
Helms moved to the loss side and met up with Jimmy Varias, who was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak (including a bye) that began when he'd been sent west in the opening round of play. Varias survived a double hill match against Tom Zippler and eliminated Matt Krah 7-3 to pick up Helms. Davis drew Carmona, who'd gotten by Steve Ball 7-5 and Noe 7-4.
 
Helms ended the Varias loss side streak, and Davis knocked Carmona out of action, both 7-4.
Davis then eliminated Helms 7-1 in the quarterfinals and got a second shot at Wilkie. Though he'd do a lot better than the earlier 7-1 match and force a 13th and deciding game, Davis fell a second time to Wilkie. Wilkie then fell a second time to Shuff, who completed his second straight, undefeated weekend on the Action Pool Tour 11-9.
 
Shuff, who missed the first two stops on the tour, has a long way to go to catch Wilkie in his perch at the top of the current APT rankings; a trip made even more difficult by Wilkie's runner up finish in the last two events. The tour's next stop (May 9-10 at Clubhouse Billiards in Lynchburg, VA) will mark the midway point of the 10-event schedule.

Green goes undefeated to take 10th Annual VA State 9-Ball Championships

Eric Moore, Joshua Dickerson (TD) and Danny Green

Though Eric Moore would come back from winning five on the loss side to face him in the finals, Danny Green hung on to go undefeated and win the 10th Annual VA State 9-Ball Championships on the weekend of September 14-15. In addition to prize money, both Green and Moore received free entry to the US Open 9-Ball Championships next month, as did top female finisher, Daisy Blancaflora. The event drew 68 entrants to Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
 
Having sent Moore to the loss side 9-7 in the fifth round of play, Green moved into a winners' side semifinal against R.J. Carmona. Brandon Shuff, in the meantime, took on Ray Mart-Lim. Green and Shuff faced each other in the hot seat match with identical 9-4 wins over Carmona and Lim. Green and Shuff locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Shuff to the semifinals against Moore.
 
Moore's march back to the finals began with a 9-6 win over Corey Sykes and was followed by a 9-7 win over Max Schlothauer, which set Moore up to face Carmona. Lim drew David Hunt, who'd gotten by Ray Reyna 9-3 and Chris Futrell 9-5. 
 
Moore and Lim moved into the quarterfinals with 9-7 wins over Sykes and Hunt, and then battled each other to double hill before Moore advanced. Moore then took out Brandon Shuff 9-7 in the semifinals for a second shot against Green. Green took the final match 11-7 and the 10th Annual VA State 9-Ball Championship crown.
 

Kressel goes undefeated to take Action Pool Tour stop

Larry Kressel (Photo courtesy of Action Pool Tour)

Larry Kressel jumped up about eight slots in the Action Pool Tour rankings (from #15 to #7) with an undefeated, June 22-23 weekend on the tour. Kressel downed Dave Hunt twice in the event that drew 39 entrants to Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. 
 
Kressel squared off against Chris Futrell in one winners' side semifinal, as Hunt took on tour director Ozzy Reynolds in the other. Kressel sent Futrell packing, westbound 9-5, as Hunt defeated Reynolds 9-3. In their first of two, Kressel sent Hunt to the semifinals 9-7.
 
On the loss side, Reynolds picked up R.J. Carmona, who'd defeated Max Schlothauer 7-5 and Nilbert Lim 7-1. Futrell drew the tour's current ranking leader, Brett Stottlemyer, who'd gotten by Chad Pike 7-4 and Eric Moore 7-1. Reynolds and Stottlemyer went down in identical 7-3 losses to Carmona and Futrell, who moved on to face each other in the quarterfinals.
 
The final two, loss-side matches proved to be double hill struggles. Futrell won the first of these in the quarterfinals against Carmona. Futrell and Hunt, both looking for a second chance against Kressel, battled to double hill in the semifinals until Hunt prevailed and got the chance. Kressel took the final set 9-5 to claim the event title.
 
The victory left Stottlemyer atop the tour rankings, with Reynolds moving into second place, ahead of Dominic Noe, who finished in this event, tied for 17th place. Hunt's second place finish moved him up a slot or two in the rankings, from his former #6 position into third, behind Reynolds and Noe.  

Krah fends off a Davis, loss-side challenge to win Action Pool Tour

Deska takes over #1 spot in tour rankings

With the top-ranked player on the Action Pool Tour, Brandon Shuff, competing in the First Annual Southern Classic in Tunica, MS on the weekend of July 21-22, a field of 75 showed up for the 11th stop on the Action Pool Tour to see if they could gain some ground. Matt Krah, who entered the tournament at #38 in the rankings, jumped 20 places on the list with his first-place finish, defeating Mike Davis (who jumped 11 places to #4) in the second set of a true double elimination final. The event drew 75 entrants to Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA.

In addition to Krah, three other Action Pool Tour regulars advanced to the winners’ side final four, looking to cut into Shuff’s lead in the rankings. Krah squared off against Brian Deska, who entered the tournament ranked at #2, and with his advancement to the winners’ side final eight, had already passed Shuff. Even if he’d lost among the final eight winners, and subsequently been defeated in the matches that determined the four-way tie for 9th place, Deska would have chalked up 750 points (10 points for the 9-12 finish, times the number of players, 75), which would have moved him ahead of Shuff by 139 points. 

The other winners’ side semifinalists were R.J. Carmona, ranked # 11, who’d just sent Davis to the loss side, and Larry Kressel (# 54). Krah sent Deska west 9-7, and Kressel sent Carmona after him 9-6. Krah got into the hot seat with a 9-3 victory over Kressel, and awaited the return of Davis.

On the loss side, Davis began his five-match march back to the finals with a 7-4 victory over Rafael Reyes, and a 7-2 win over Dave Hunt, which set him up to face Deska. Carmona picked up Chip Klein, who defeated Matt Shilinski and Paul Helms, both 7-3. Davis finished Deska’s day with a 7-1 victory, and was denied a re-match versus Carmona, when Klein defeated him 7-3. Deska’s fifth place finish put him 289 points ahead of Shuff in the rankings. In the quarterfinals that followed, Davis defeated Klein 7-2, and then defeated Kressel in the semifinals 7-4. 

In the opening set of the true double elimination finals (a race to 9), Davis took an early lead and reached the hill first. Though Krah would close the gap to within three, Davis hung on to win, forcing a second set. In that second set (a race to 7), it was Krah with the early lead; out in front by five before Davis had won a rack. Davis got on the board in the sixth rack, but Krah took the seventh rack to reach the hill first. Davis made a run, winning the next three, but Krah closed it out in rack eleven to secure the event title.

With two more stops on the tour – Aug. 11-12 at VIP Billiards in Catonsville, MD, and the season finale, Sept. 8-9 at Big Daddy’s Billiards in Glen Burnie, MD – the top four players are within striking distance of each other; Deska on top of the tour, with Brandon Shuff behind him. Tour director Ozzy Reynolds, who finished in the tie for 13th place, remained in third place, while Mike Davis moved into fourth place.

Shuff goes undefeated to win Action Pool Tour stop

Brandon Shuff got by Brett Stottlemyer twice – once in the hot seat and again in the finals – to take first place in the Action Pool Tour stop on the weekend of March 17-18. The event, the seventh stop on the 2011/2012 tour, drew 54 entrants to First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.

Though unblemished by defeat, Shuff’s seven-match journey to the winners’ circle wasn’t without its challenges. He chalked up 56 racks against his opponent’s 33; a 63% winning percentage, suggesting that he bent a little, but didn’t break. He survived a fourth-round, double hill challenge from R.J. Carmona, which put him among the winners’ side final four to face Paul Helms. Stottlemyer, in the meantime, was having a somewhat easier time of it. He was awarded a bye in the opening round, and defeated his first three opponents by an aggregate score of 24-6, at which point, he met up with Mike Davis in the other winners’ side semifinal. 

Shuff defeated Helms 8-3 and moved into his first of two against Stottlemyer, who’d sent Davis west 8-4. The hot seat match was Shuff’s second double hill battle, and Stottlemyer’s first. Shuff prevailed and sat in the hot seat waiting for Stottlemyer to get back.

Davis moved to the loss side and met up with Carmona, who’d started his loss-side work with a double hill win over tour director Ozzy Reynolds, and then downed Brian Deska 6-3. Helms picked up Rafael Reyes, who’d gotten by Abdulla Mohammed 6-3 and Sean Sporleder 6-4 to reach him. It was Davis and Helms who advanced to the quarterfinals; Davis with a 6-4 victory over Carmona and Helms, 6-2 over Reyes. 

Davis and Helms locked up in a double hill, quarterfinal struggle that eventually advanced Helms into the semifinals versus Stottlemyer. Stottlemyer earned his re-match versus Shuff with a 6-2 semifinal victory over Helms that sent him (Stottlemyer) to the finals with an overall 45-20 record; 69% percent, compared to Shuff’s record at that point, 48-29 for 62%. Shuff, though, completed his undefeated weekend with a second victory over Stottlemyer, 8-4, which left them both pretty much dead even in overall winning percentage (Shuff – 62.9%, Stottlemyer – 63.6%).

In a Sunday, Second Chance Tournament, which drew 11 entrants, Nilbert Lim came back from the loss-side, winning five in a row to double dip hot seat occupant Chuck Sampson. Sampson had defeated Cheryl Sporleder to get into the hot seat. Lim, with three, loss-side wins behind him, defeated Shanna Lewis 4-1 in the quarterfinals, shutout Sporleder in the semifinals, and defeated Sampson twice, both times 4-1, in the double elimination finals. 

Shanna Lewis was the recipient of a $100 prize as the top finishing female in the main event. Four women (Ann Reynolds, Daisy Blancaflor, and Cheryl Sporleder were the others) actually finished among the 16 players tied for 33rd place, but a random draw, four-person playoff resulted in Lewis’ victory. 

Tour Director Ozzy Reynolds thanked First Break Cafe owners, Anthony Luong and Michael Veve, and their staff for hosting the event, as well as sponsors Lambros Cues, Magic Ball Racks (CSI), AZBilliards, and Steve Lingafelter.