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.
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.
It's been a good year for TK-FLA, otherwise known as Tommy Kennedy. He started the year off with a win at the Florida State Open 10-Ball Championships, won the first stop on his own Tiger SE Open 9-Ball Tour, and was runner-up to Shane Van Boening in the Super Billiards Expo's Players Championship; all this, before baseball's opening day. On the weekend of August 9-10, Kennedy returned to Pockets Billiards in Dothan, AL, where he'd won that opening stop, and went undefeated through a field of 37 entrants, on-hand for a $1,000-added event.
It was Kennedy and Scotty Townsend battling for the hot seat in this one. Kennedy, having defeated Justin Gilsinan 9-4, and Townsend sending Randy Jordan west 9-2. Kennedy defeated Townsend and sat in the hot seat, waiting for what turned out to be Jordan.
Jordan moved over and picked up Brian White, who'd just finished a couple of easy rounds; a forfeit win over Rick Howard and a shutout of J.R. Rossman. Gilsinan was facing Matt Bulfin, who'd eliminated Craig Houghton 7-4 and Denny Singletary 9-7. Bulfin sent Gilsinan home 9-3, while Jordan was working and eventually defeating White 9-7.
Jordan took the quarterfinal match over Bulfin and his semifinal re-match against Townsend 9-6. Kennedy stopped the three-match, loss-side run with an 11-4 victory in the finals.
Kennedy thanked the ownership and staff at Pockets, as well as sponsors Tiger Products, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Mueller Recreational Products, Simonis Cloth, Chris Nitti Custom Cues, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues and David Adams. This coming weekend, August 16-17, the Miscue Lounge in Fort Myers, FL, will play host to two Tiger SE Open 9-Ball events; a $600-added Open and a $400 Amateur event.
Tommy Kennedy was ahead 2-1 in a game against Stoney Stone, during the March 1-2 stop on the Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, when things went a little south, as they say. Stone made a difficult jump shot and cleared the table to tie things at 2-2. Kennedy never got back to the table, as Stone went on a five-game run to win the match. Stone would advance to the hot seat, but Kennedy would come back, winning seven in a row on the loss side, to meet and defeat Stone in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 37 entrants to Pockets, in Dothan, AL.
As Kennedy was at work on the loss side, Stone advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Jared Stevens. Denny Singletary and Rick Howard met up in the other one. Stone got by Stevens 9-5 and in the winners' side final, met Singletary, who'd defeated Howard 9-6. Stone got into the hot seat 9-7 over Singletary and waited on TK.
It was Stevens who ran into Kennedy on the loss side. Kennedy had opened his seven-match, loss-side journey with victories over Scotty Townsend, Rob McGlothine, Jesse Middlebrooks and Jim Majors (forfeit), before drawing Stevens. Howard drew Matt Bulfin, who'd defeated Carl Salaski 7-3 and Mike Townsend (son to Scotty) 9-6 to reach him.
Kennedy advanced to the quarterfinals 9-3 over Stevens, where he was met by Bulfin, who'd eliminated Howard 9-6. Kennedy chalked up loss-side wins # 6 and # 7 by defeating Bulfin in the quarterfinals 9-7 and Singletary in the semifinals 9-5.
In his re-match against Stone in the finals, Kennedy reversed his fortunes by keeping Stone seated most of the time. He got out to an early lead, chalked up several break and run racks, held his own in safety play and ended up shutting out Stone out 11-0 to claim the event title.
Hayley Clucks took home $50 as the event's top female finisher. Joe Davis took home the same amount as the top senior finisher, and 14-year-old Trey Austin pocketed $25 as the top junior in the competition.
In his role as tour director, Kennedy thanked his assistants Bo Nelson and Joe Davis, along with Ronald Ready and his Pockets' staff. He also thanked signature sponsor Tiger Products, along with J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Simonis Cloth, Mueller Recreational Products and Andy Gilbert Cues. He also made special mention of sponsor Chris Nitti Custom Cues, noting that his victory in this event was his third straight playing with a Chris Nitti Cue.
