The quarterfinals of the Dec. 1-2 stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour proved to be of particular significance, because it happened to be the last match of the event. There were, at the time, as there always are in the quarterfinals of any double elimination bracket, four competitors left; the two competing in those quarterfinals and the two who either had or were about to compete for the hot seat. Because, as it turned out, the last three players opted out of further competition, the two who squared off in the quarterfinals were battling for the right to share in a split of the event’s top three cash prizes.

 

Split evenly (and there’s no way to know if it was split evenly; the competitors’ negotiations are generally private), each of the event’s final three competitors was in line to collect $491.66. The prize for 4th place was $125. The difference between 3rd and 4th place was to have been $150 ($275 for 3rd, $125 for 4th), but with the final three splitting the top three prizes, the cash difference at stake in the quarterfinals more than doubled, from the original $150 to $366 (and change).

 

The two competitors who squared off in that quarterfinal match were BJ Ussery and Cameron Lawhorne. Sitting in the hot seat was Keith Bennett, while Ms. Jordyn Worley was waiting to compete in the semifinals against whoever won the quarterfinal match. It was Ussery who joined Bennett and Worley in the split disposition of the event’s top three prizes. As the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, Bennett claimed the official event title. The $500-added event drew 34 entrants to Speakeazy Billiards in Sanford, NC.

 

The four had met in the winners’ side semifinals; Bennett vs. Ussery and Worley vs. Lawhorne. Bennett defeated Ussery 11-6, while Worley was sending Lawhorne to the loss side 4-4 (Lawhorne racing to 6). Bennett and Worley locked up in a double hill fight for possession of the hot seat, with Bennett prevailing (11-3; Worley racing to 4) in what was the last match for both of them.

 

On the loss side, Ussery picked up Anthony Mabe, who’d defeated Brent Kyles 7-5 and Solomon Pope 7-3 to reach him. Lawhorne drew Robert Ash, who’d eliminated Billy Ethridge and Zac Leonard, both 5-3.

 

Ussery earned his slot in the last-match-of-the-night quarterfinals with an 11-4 victory over Mabe. Lawhorne earned the right to join him with a 6-0 shutout over Ash. Lawhorne then battled to within a game of double hill before Ussery edged out in front to win those quarterfinals 11-4. Lawhorne claimed his $125, as Ussery joined the negotiations with Bennett and Worley to split $1475.

 

Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Speakeazy Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this weekend (Dec. 8-9), will be hosted by The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, VA.

The current BEF Junior Champion in the Under-14 Boys category (two years in a row), recent competitor in the WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championship event in Moscow (Oct. 30-Nov. 3) and member of the 2018 USA Atlantic Cup Challenge team, which is set to compete, beginning on Thursday (Nov. 27) in Las Vegas, Joey Tate warmed up for his appearance on that team with a victory on his ‘home’ tour, the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. At an event held on the weekend of Nov. 10-11 at the Gate City Billiard Club in Greensboro, NC, the teenager went undefeated through a field of 56 entrants to claim his second Q City 9-Ball title. The event featured a ‘first’ for the tour – two junior players, Tate and Cameron Lawhorne – competing in the finals.

 

Tate worked his way through the field to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Robert Ash, as Lawhorne squared off against Brent Kyles in the other one. Tate got into the hot seat match with a 6-3 win over Ash. He was joined by Lawhorne, who sent Kyles to the loss side, double hill (6-7). Tate claimed the hot seat 6-3 and waited for Lawhorne’s return from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Ash and Kyles walked right into their second straight loss. Kyles fell to Collin Hall, double hill (6-7), while Ash was defeated 7-2 by Don Lilly. Hall took the quarterfinal match against Lilly 6-2, and then, in the semifinals, was defeated by Lawhorne 6-3.

 

Lawhorne chalked up one more rack against Tate in the finals than he had in the hot seat match, but it wasn’t enough. Tate completed his undefeated run with a 6-4 win that gave him his first non-asterisk (final match played) win on the tour. 

 

Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Gate City Billiards, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Bar Pool Tables, Delta 13 Racks, AZ Billiards and Professor Q-Ball.

Though Hurricane Matthew had barely made it out of Florida by Saturday, October 8, its effects were being felt up and down the coast. According to Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball tour director, Herman Parker, the rain tracked him all the way to Midlothian, VA on Saturday, stayed for the entire tour stop at Diamond Billiards, and then, followed him all the way back to North Carolina. 

The tour stop, in the meantime, went on, hosting 34 entrants and yielding an undefeated victory for Stevie McClinton.

 

McClinton had to get by Scott Roberts to put this one in the books. They met first in the hot seat match, once McClinton had defeated Bruce Childress 7-1, and Roberts had sent Robert Ash to the loss side 7-2 in the two winners' side semifinals. McClinton claimed the hot seat 7-5 and waited for Roberts to get back.

 

On the loss side, Childress picked up Chris Gentile, who'd shut out Jeff Young and defeated Max Schlothauer 8-7 (Schlothauer racing to 10). Ash drew Mike Glenn, who'd defeated Daniel Adams 7-5 and Brian Nellis 7-3. Gentile handed Childress his second straight loss 8-3, and in the quarterfinals, faced Ash, who defeated Glenn 4-4 (Glenn racing to 7).

 

With Gentile racing to 8 in the quarterfinals, Ash won his second straight 4-4 match and turned to face Roberts in the semifinals. In those semifinals, Ash won three of the four he needed, but Roberts reached seven before he got there and earned himself a second shot at McClinton in the hot seat. In a straight-up race to 7, McClinton and Roberts went double hill, before McClinton finished it to claim the event title.

 

Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Diamond 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 October 15-16, will be the Chad Bostic Memorial Tournament, hosted by Breaktime Billiards in Cary, NC. Proceeds from the event, and a variety of raffles, will be donated to the family of Chad Bostick, who died by homicide in January.  

Sixteen-year-old Hunter White went undefeated on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour stop on the weekend of October 1-2, to become the first player to win three stops in a single tour season. As a result, his handicap is likely to edge upward to '9' in the weeks ahead. The event drew 33 entrants to Randolph's Billiards in Hickory, NC.

 

White's victory was chalked up without benefit of a final match. Having defeated Brian Capps in the hot seat match, the two finalists opted out of the final, leaving the undefeated White as the official winner.

 

White and Capps got into what proved to be their last match, battling for the hot seat, on the heels of two double hill wins in the winners' side semifinals. White downed Steve Hughes 8-6 (Hughes racing to 7), as Capps sent Scott Howard to the loss side 10-6 (Howard, as well, racing to 7). With Capps racing to 10, White claimed the hot seat, and in effect, the event title, with an 8-7 win.

 

On the loss side, Hughes picked up Aaron McClure, who'd defeated Jeff Abernathy, double hill, and Robert Moreno 6-3. Howard drew Rick Roper, who'd shut out Robert Ash and eliminated Paul Canterbury 7-4. 

 

Roper squeaked by Howard, double hill, and in the quarterfinals, facEd Hughes, who'd downed McClure 7-4. Hughes won the 'first money round' quarterfinals 7-5, and then had his short, two-match, loss-side run ended by Capps in the semifinals 10-3.

 

White and Capps then opted out of a final match. White, as the undefeated hot seat occupant, claimed the official event title.

 

Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff of Randolph's 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 October 8-9, will be hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA. 

 

Chris Mitchell won five matches, four to get into the hot seat and a single match final, to finish an undefeated run through a small field, on-hand for the Saturday April 2 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. The event drew 14 to The League Room in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

 

Mitchell advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Robert Ash, while Kevin Jackson took on Nick Carson in the other one. Mitchell got into the hot seat match with a commanding 10-1 victory over Ash, as Jackson downed Carson 8-6. Mitchell won his fourth of five, defeating Jackson 10-4 to claim the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Joey Arbuckle, sent to the loss side by Ash in a winners' side quarterfinal, was embarked on a five-match, loss-side run that would take him into the finals against Mitchell. He downed John O'Neal and Pat Rauch, both 10-4, to draw Carson. Ash picked up Roger Davis, who'd eliminated Brian James 8-4 and Alex Boles 8-3.

 

Ash and Arbuckle advanced to a re-match in the quarterfinals; Ash, 5-4 over Davis (Davis racing to 8) and Arbuckle, 10-5 over Carson. Arbuckle won the re-match 10-3 and then eliminated Jackson 10-4 in the semifinals. In a straight-up race to 10, Mitchell stopped Arbuckle's bid in the potential true double elimination final, by grabbing the opening set 10-8.

 

Though the Q City 9-Ball Tour will be idle next week, its tour directors, Herman and Angela Parker will be joining a host of area competitors in the 1st Annual Don Coates Memorial Tournament at Brass Tap & Billiards in Raleigh, NC. Organized by the owner of the Brass Tap, Tony Coates, in memory of his father, the event is expected to draw competitors from around the country, as it will include two tournaments, offering a combined $10,000 in added money. A $2,000-added One Pocket tournament is slated to begin on Wednesday, April 6, and an $8,000-added 9-Ball Tournament will get underway on Friday. The 9-Ball Tournament is expected to draw a strong field because it has been designated as a Mosconi Cup points qualifier. Q city 9-Ball TD, Herman Parker will compete in the 9-Ball event, while his wife, Angela, racks 'em up in the One Pocket event.

Brian Bryant, who races to 9 during stops on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, spends a lot of his time battling opponents who have to win fewer games; most in the vicinity of 6 or 7 games. In his final four matches during the March 19 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, he used victories over opponents racing to 12 (Keith Bennett), 7 (Daniel Adams) and 6 (Colin Hall) to go undefeated and claim the title. The event drew 44 entrants to Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC.

 

Daniel Adams took Bryant to double hill in a winners' side semifinal, before Bryant prevailed to face Keith Bennett, who'd earned his spot in the winners' side final by shutting out Robert Ash 12-0. Bryant claimed the hot seat 9-5 over Bennett and waited for the return of Colin Hall.

 

Hall, sent to the loss side in an early-round, double hill match by Ash, went to work on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would make him Bryant's last opponent. In loss-side wins #3 and #4, he defeated Mark Millwood, 6-2 and survived a double hill battle against Chris Baumann, which set him up for a re-match against Ash. Adams drew Brian Pate, who'd gotten by Andy Bowden and Christy Norris, both 6-4.

 

Hall eliminated Ash 6-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Pate, who'd downed Adams 6-3. Hall took the quarterfinal match versus Pate, double hill, and then eliminated Bennett, who in his two straight losses chalked up fewer racks than he had in his winners' side semifinal match versus Ash (12-8). Bryant completed his undefeated run with a 9-3 victory over Hall in the finals.

 

Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Corner Pockets, as well as sponsors Viking Cues, Delta-13 Racks, Goplaypool.com, and Heidrich Custom Cues.

Christy Norris has been around the pool scene for just over a dozen years now, chalking up event victories all over the Carolinas and competing on a number of WPBA events. To this lengthening resume, on Saturday, January 23, Norris added a victory on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. The event, which drew 38 entrants to Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC, featured the largest field of females (10) to ever play on the tour. Norris went undefeated to claim the title.

 

She had to get by Walt Baldwin twice to do it. Both times required a final and deciding game against an opponent who needed to win one more game than she did (8) to claim a match  victory. She'd sent Robert Ash to the loss bracket in a winners' side semifinal 6-2, as Baldwin was sending Earl Davis over 8-3. In their first of two double hill battles, Norris prevailed to sit in the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Ash picked up Justin Martin, who'd gotten by Brian Pate and Geno Hernandez, both 9-5 to reach him. Davis drew Robert Otto, who'd defeated Chris Baumann and Will Stevens, both 7-2. The Roberts went down; Robert Otto to Davis, double hill, and Robert Ash to Martin 9-2.

 

Martin downed Davis 9-4 in the quarterfinals and had his loss-side streak stopped by Baldwin 8-7 in the semifinals. Baldwin came back at Norris a second time, with the same result; a double hill fight that ended with the Norris victory that secured, for her gender, the first win on a Q City 9-Ball Tour stop. 

It's the point where the thinking rubber meets the playing road. An undefeated competitor in the hot seat faces an opponent who's warded off elimination for a long time on the loss side of the bracket. The final match goes to double hill and in that last deciding game, the two face different kinds of stress that amount to the same thing; to have worked so hard and have it come to this – one game to decide, as if the rest of the tournament hadn't even happened. 

 

And so it went for Matt Fralin and Chad Pike as they squared off for the first time in the finals of the January 16 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. Fralin in the hot seat, Pike at the end of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak. Scored tied at 6-6. Fralin hung on to win it and complete the undefeated run. The event drew 33 entrants to Breaktime Billiards in Cary, NC.

 

As Pike was toiling away on the loss side, Fralin advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Alex Johnson. Brian Pate, in the meantime, faced Bobby Glenn. Fralin sent Johnson over to the loss side 7-3, as Pate was downing Glenn 6-1. As Fralin and Pate squared off in the hot seat match, both were mindful of the fact that they'd gotten to that point with the help and sponsor support of their (Doug) Beasley Custom Cue. Fralin's Beasley Custom Cue defeated Pate's Beasley Custom Cue 7-4, and Fralin was in the hot seat.

 

Over on the loss side, Pike was working his way towards a meet-up with Glenn. He won his third and fourth loss-side matches against Zack Wilson, double hill, and Michael Robertson 7-3. Johnson drew Robert Ash, who'd defeated the man responsible for sending Pike to the loss side, Rashad Brooks, 4-3 and shut out J.T. Ringgold.

 

Pike and Ash advanced to the quarterfinals; Pike, 7-3 over Glenn, and Ash, 4-3 over Johnson. Pike then chalked up his third straight 7-3 win (over Ash), and let Brian Pate get one more on him in a 7-4 semifinal victory. 

 

So there they were; Fralin and Pike down to this. Last match, became last game, became last ball, became an undefeated run for Fralin and a Q City 9-Ball title.

 

He'd gotten into the finals of a Great Southern Billiard Tour stop once, back in 2012, but until the weekend of November 21-22, Scott Roberts, who's been playing on the tour for all of its 10 years, had yet to chalk up a win. That streak ended  at the conclusion of a $700-added stop that drew 30 entrants to Q Billiards in Roanoke, VA. Roberts came back from a hot seat loss to defeat Jonathan Ailstock twice and claim his first GSBT title.

 

They met in the hot seat match after Roberts had sent Ernie Lyle to the loss side 7-2, and Ailstock had sent Bill Walker over 6-1. Ailstock won his last match 7-4 over Roberts and sat in the hot seat, waiting to play his last match.

 

On the loss side, Lyle picked up Trevor Stanley, who, racing to 9, had just given up only three racks, total, to David Huff (2) and Starr McClure (1). Walker drew Matt Booth, who'd defeated Robert Ash 5-2, and Danny Warner 5-5 (Warner racing to 7). Lyle advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-6 win over Stanley (racing to 9). Walker was eliminated by Booth 5-3.

 

Booth took the quarterfinal match over Lyle, double hill, but had his loss-side streak ended by Roberts in the semifinals 7-4. Roberts took the opening set of the true double elimination final 7-3, and though Aisltock would battle to within a game of double hill, Roberts prevailed 7-5 to win his first GSBT title.

 

The next stop on the GSBT, scheduled for December 5-6, will be a $1,500-added event, hosted by Zingale's in Tallahassee, FL.

It's been said (reportedly, by Albert Einstein, but nobody seems to know for sure) that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. In addition to it being, reportedly, the most overused cliche of all time (Salon, August 6, 2013), it's obvious that Einstein didn't play a lot of pool.

 

After somewhere between 30 and 40 attempts to win a Great Southern Billiard Tour stop in his own room, Mickey Milligan's in New Bern, NC, Gerry Shepherd became the first owner, ever, to win a stop on that tour. He went undefeated through a field of 40 to win the $1,000-added event that drew 40 to his place on the weekend of July 25-26.

 

"That was awesome," said Shepherd, moments after collecting the trophy and dough. "Surprised a lot of people. Surprised me, too."

 

In fairness to the insanity definition, Shepherd wasn't exactly doing the same thing over and over. In fact, he was doing things quite differently. He'd had some health issues arise in his family, and was looking ahead to some back surgery. He'd come to the realization, in the face of those issues, that "pool isn't all there is about life."

 

"And that," he said, "is when I started shooting better."

 

With players racing to their rating, Shepherd played as a "3" in this event, against a field with a few "7"s and "8"s. He faced one of those "8"s – J.T. Ringold – in a winners' side semifinal, while Robert Ash (a "4") got into it with Russell Sasser (a "7"). Shepherd defeated Ringold 3-6, and in the hot seat match, faced Ash, who'd sent Sasser to the loss side 4-5. Shepherd claimed the hot seat 3-2 and waited on what turned out to be the return of Brian Pate.

 

Pate had advanced through to a winners' side quarterfinal before chalking up his first loss; to Sasser. He moved to the loss side, defeating Wayne Miller and Al Booner, both 6-2, to meet up with Ringold. Sasser had drawn Scott Crain, 5-1 winner over Mike Gaskins, and double hill survivor versus Greg Smith.

 

Crain spoiled any re-match hopes that Pate may have been entertaining, by defeating Sasser 5-3. Pate joined Crain in the quarterfinals with a double hill win over Ringold. Pate took the quarterfinal 6-2 over Crain, and then fought tooth and nail to a double hill win over Ash in the semifinals.

 

Pate needed six games to claim the title. Shepherd needed three. They both got three, and Shepherd became the GSBT's first tour stop winning owner.

 

The next stop on the Great Southern Billiard Tour, scheduled for the weekend of August 1-2, will be hosted by Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC.