An AZ ‘tip of the hat’ to Cecilia (C.C.) Strain for logistical control of the SBE’s largest fields
While a great deal of the pool community outside of The Greater Philadelphia Expo in Oaks, PA last weekend was focused on the 118-entrant Diamond Open Pro Players Championship, most of the activity in the Expo Center during that week centered on the activity of nearly 2,000 amateurs who gathered to participate in seven different events; 1,901, to be precise.
Just a little over half of those 1,901 were engaged in a single tournament, The Open Amateur Tournament, which drew 1,021 entrants, requiring utilization of 16, 64-player brackets. And every last one of those competitors, right from the start, were competing in what was the equivalent of the loss side in a double-elimination tournament; in another words, one loss and you’re out. Another set of words for that is single-elimination, which is fine if you’re playing in a group of between 16 and 32 players because you know when you start that you only have to win three matches (with 16) or four matches (with 32). Each individual listed in the 16, 64-player brackets knew that just for starters, they’d have to win five matches in a row, just to win the single bracket and then, win four more matches to become the 30th Annual Super Billiard Expo’s Open Amateur Champion.
That title went to Ryan Lineham of Coventry, RI but with so much to cover, we better get started with Bracket #1 of the 16. Maybe not . . .
There were six other Amateur Player events; A Seniors event (50+) which drew 381 players, a Super Senior event (65+) with 251, a Women’s Division with 184, two juniors event; one for 17 & under (56 entrants) and one for 12 & Under (47 entrants). There was also a 32-entrant, Pro Am event, open to one and all.
There were very few moments throughout the entire weekend (April 11-14), when there weren’t 100s and 100s of pool matches going on at any given moment. This is a regular, commonplace part of the annual Super Billiards Expo. All of the above does not take into account the activities of the TAP League’s Rally in the Valley, an annual team event open only to TAP League members, who form teams on-site at the SBE or have won in TAP League Nationals.
Rachel Walters with sponsor Steve Dunkel
So, on to (some of) the details. Ryan Lineham, the SBE’s 2024 Open Amateur Champion, has been competing in cash tournaments in the New England area for about a dozen years. His best (recorded) earnings year was in 2018, when he won The Perfect Spot Open Men’s Amateur event in Nanuet, NY and finished third in that year’s Ocean State 9-Ball Championships in Rhode Island. Among the Final 16 in the Open Amateur event at the SBE (in races to 5, best of three sets), he got by mid-Atlantic pool veteran Chris Bruner, Bob Madenjian, local player Derek Schwager in the semifinals and downed another mid-Atlantic veteran in the finals, Danny Mastermaker 5-1, 5-4.
The Seniors event crowned Maryland’s Pat McNally as its champion. McNally chalked up a few wins on a local circuit back in the early ‘aughts;’ ’02, ’03 and ’04, winning two events on the New England Players Tour back then. In the last of those three years, he finished third at a Northeast 9-Ball Open XVI that was won by (now) Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour director, Mike Zuglan. McNally entered the event’s quarterfinals (final eight) and downed Gary Kiersey, took down John Vitale in the semifinals and finished with a 5-3, 5-3 win over Pennsylvania’s Tim Tanana to claim the title.
The Super Seniors contingent of 251 consisted of four, 64-player brackets whittle down to two players each, who advanced to the event semifinals. Ace Aughtry took out James Edwards, as James Sanders ended Tom Waters bid in the other semifinal. Aughtry claimed the title, taking the best-of-three-set final 4-3, 1-4, 4-0.
Pennsylvania’s Rachel Walters, who was Delaware State’s Ladies Bar Box 8-Ball Champion in 2023, in addition to cashing in a few stops on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) that year, took the top prize in the SBE’s Women’s Division. From that division’s four, 64-entrant brackets, Walters advanced to down another JPNEWT veteran, Tina Malm, as Marie France Blanchette eliminated Harley King in the other winners’ side semifinal. Walters claimed the Women’s title 4-1, 3-4, 4-0 over Blanchette.
Niko Konkel with Mom Shannon
Winston-Salem, NC’s Niko Konkel, who’s been making a name for himself as a junior competitor over the past few years, worked his way through the 56-entrant, all-gender field, that included the Tate sisters, Bethany and Noelle, and a host of his fellow competitors on the Junior International Championship series of events, to include Eddie Vondereau and Grayson Vaughn. He met and defeated a JIC veteran, D’Angelo “Jaws” Spain in the event semifinal, as Tanner King was busy eliminating Noelle Tate in the other semifinal. Konkel claimed the title 5-1, 5-3 over King in the final.
The younger set (12 & Under) saw Hayden Ernst, another veteran of the JIC series, take the title from 46 others who competed. Ernst downed Roman Boone in one of the semifinals as Johnny Hammontree eliminated Gavin Matthew. Ernst gave up only one rack over two sets in the final. He gave that one up in the opening set and closed the door with a 5-0 win in the second set to claim the title.
The combination amateur/pro event (ProAm), which, in a way, invites a kind of ‘wannabe’ crowd to take on the more experienced, ‘been there, done that’ crowd. The event drew 64 entrants and saw Nicholas Tofoya claim the title over Jonathan “Hennessee from Tennessee” Pinegar. Tofoya worked his way through the field to meet and defeat Ricky Evans in one of the semifinals, as Pinegar was working on the elimination of New England competitor Kevin Guimond in the other semifinal. In two, races to 6, double-hill matches Tofoya claimed the ProAm title.
Hayden Ernst
Finally, a word here about the folks who put this monumental series of amateur events together and keeps it motoring forward through who knows what kind of aggravation can and probably does occur. We here at AZ tend to hear more regional tournament director gripes than normal because we hear about them more often. And these are folks that are generally dealing with numbers between 32 and 64 (usually). The bigger events, with and without pros, might, on a good day, get 128 pool players in a room (as the Diamond Open Pro Players Championship did at this SBE), but that is just a little more than 1/10th of the multiple events that C.C. Strain has to deal with for the entire weekend of the SBE. And she does it with style, grace and a staff of folks around her that draws its energy and unflappable demeanor from her. They are quite well aided by a central arrangement of desks that is placed on platforms, high enough to keep the crowd at a distance while allowing it to step up and ask the hundreds of hundreds of questions that it brings to that table in a given 15-minute span. There are those who would contend that the SBE Amateur events could not happen without her. There are very few who would argue the point, nor as of this writing, anyone who is making any attempt to challenge her for the job.
Steve Mack, Ryan Lineham, Lance Lisciotti, Brent Boemmels and Mike Mathieu (Ship The Cash)
Racks Billiards in Vernon, Ct was the place over the weekend of December 18th – 19th for the Lisciotti Cup 2021, a Mosconi Cup’ish team event to honor the memory of the late great Larry Lisciotti.
Larry’s son, Lance Lisciotti, returned as the reigning team captain and he took turns “drafting” players against challenging team captain Eric Tang, building what they each hoped would be winning five player team. While the event format was similar to Mosconi Cup in the idea of matches seeing teams, singles and doubles facing off for overall points, one big difference in this event from the Mosconi Cup was the inclusion of different games, with the Lisciotti Cup seeing competition in 8-Ball, 9-Ball and 10-Ball.
With team selections complete, Team Tang consisted of Lukas Fracasso-Verner, Matt Tetreault, Ryan Cullen, Alex Bausch and Tang. Team Lisciotti was made up of Ryan Lineham, Steve Mack, Brent Boemmels, Robert Piersa and Lisciotti. At the last minute, Team Lisciotti found their top pick, Piersa, would be unable to compete in the event. They quickly found Mike Mathieu ready to step in and play, and what a great decision that turned out to be.
The first match of the day was the team event and Team Lisciotti found themselves trailing 4-0 in the race to five format. In stepped Mathieu to get his team on the board at 4-1, and that was all his team needed to find their groove and win the next four racks to steal the first point of the event.
Mathieu then teamed up with Lineham to defeat Fracasso-Verner and Cullen for a 2-0 Team Lisciotti lead. The two teams traded the next three matches with Tetreault and Cullen winning singles matches for Team Tang, and Mack & Lisciotti winning a scotch doubles match.
The final match of the day was Mathieu & Boemmels teaming up against Fracasso-Verner & Tang. Team Tang led this match 4-0, and looked to be on their way to a match win and overall tie score to end day one. That was until Mathieu showed his stuff again. He rallied he and Boemmels to a 5-4 win and an overall 4-2 lead to close out the day.
Fracasso-Verner kicked off day two with a win over Lisciotti to get his team back within one at 4-3, but Lineham & Lisciotti scored a hill-hill win over Tetreault & Cullen to stretch the lead back to two at 5-3. Tang got a win over Mack and the deficit was one point again, before Mack & Boemmels earned a hill-hill victory over Bausch & Tang.
That double win left Team Lisciotti on the hill at 6-4 and it was only fitting that they brought in their anchor for the next match. Mathieu scored a 5-2 win over Bausch with an amazing two rail kick/carom to pocket the final 10-ball for his team.
You can check out the final shot in this video.
To no one’s surprise, Mathieu was named the unanimous MVP for the event.
The event was streamed online by Ship The Cash, and can be viewed on their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/shipthecashpool/videos/
Though he won the Derby City Classic’s Bigfoot Challenge and a stop on the Euro Tour (the Dynamic Billiards Treviso Open) early in the year and was a dynamic and vocal member of the European winning 2020 Mosconi Cup team, later in the year, it was, overall, a slow year for Jayson Shaw; his lowest in recorded payout earnings (at AZBilliards) since 2015. He wasn’t alone in that regard, of course; the pandemic doing its work world-wide, but Shaw was busy, too, with a few other things.
In May, he created his own YouTube channel, and during the summer, he was hard at work, preparing US 1 Billiards and Bar in West Haven, CT for an October 9th re-opening, under his new ownership and management. For those who don’t follow him or US 1 Billiards and Bar in West Haven on Facebook or elsewhere, the re-opening with (as Jayson put it) “everything brand new, and I mean, brand new” went off smoothly and in a matter of weeks, Shaw had regular tournaments running.
The latest of those tournaments occurred this past weekend, on Sunday, January 24. IT was a $500-added 9-ball tournament, for Fargo-rated players 700 or below, which drew 27 entrants to US 1 Billiards and Bar and saw Robert Piersa go undefeated through the field, defeating separate opponents in the hot seat match and finals.
After Piersa had defeated “young gun” Thomas Rice in a winners’ side semifinal and Ryan Lineham sent Jorge Vivanco to the loss side, Piersa and Lineham squared off in the hot seat match. Piersa claimed it and waited on what turned out to be the return of Vivanco.
Rice moved over to the loss side and ran right into his second straight loss, delivered to him by another “young gun,” Lukas Fracasso-Verner, who’d been sent over by Lineham in a winners’ side quarterfinal and defeated Mario Argentino (who’d split the top two prizes in the previous week’s tournament with Nicholas Bosquet) and Henry Cha. Vivanco got right to work on his trip to the finals, downing Kerry McAuliffe.
Vivanco then eliminated Fracasso-Verner in the quarterfinal match and Lineham in the semifinals that followed. Piersa ended Vivanco’s three-match, one-loss winning streak with a victory in the finals.
Shaw’s US 1 Billiards and Bar will hold another $500 added tournament this weekend for players rated 650 and below, on the last day in January; Sunday, Jan. 31.
Shaw has also just announced a $1500 added pro-am event in February 6-7 at US 1. Check the US 1 Billiards and Bar Facebook page or Shaw’s page for further information.
(l to r): Clyde Matta, Dave Morganelli & Robert Piersa
Lineham wins second-tier 10-ball event
There were two distinctly different events at the 12th stop on the New England 9-Ball Series; its annual Winter Classic held on the weekend of January 26-27 and hosted by Snooker’s in Providence, RI. The main event was a $2,000-added 9-ball tournament that was traditionally handicapped with the use of FargoRates to determine the matches and drew 112 entrants. There was also a $500-added, non-handicapped 10-ball tournament with 21 entrants, which was billed as something of a Second Chance event, but offered $1,570 worth of cash prizes for the top four finishers.
Dave Morganelli went undefeated through the field of 112 to take the 9-ball event, downing Rob Piersa twice. RYan Lineham did likewise through the shorter-field 10-ball tournament, defeating Corey Avallone in the hot seat match and Lukas Fracasso-Verner in the final. It took Morganelli seven matches to claim the 9-ball title. Lineham grabbed the 10-ball title in five.
Morganelli was one of 12 competitors in the 9-ball tournament’s lower bracket that was awarded an opening round bye, after which he got by Justin Grant, Chuck Sampson, Mourad Idrais, and Phil Medeiros to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Bob Lucas. Rob Piersa, in the meantime, without a bye in the upper bracket, defeated Rich Senna, Ryan Lineham (the eventual winner of the 10-ball event), Brian Chase and Bill Cote to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal matchup against Kevin Bauccio.
In a straight-up race to 5, Morganelli advanced to the hot seat match 5-3 over Lucas. Piersa joined him after downing Bauccio 7-4 (Bauccio racing to 6). Morganelli, with a FargoRate of 539, started the hot seat match with three on the wire in a race to 7 against Piersa, with his FargoRate of 651. They split the actual games 4-4, but with the handicap, Morganelli claimed the hot seat.
In straight-up races to 5 (Lucas/Blair) and 7 (Matta/Bauccio), Blair and Matta handed Lucas and Bauccio their second straight loss; Blair 5-3 over Lucas and Matta 7-5 over Bauccio. Matta took the subsequent quarterfinal match over Blair 7-3.
In a straight-up race to 6, Piersa (651) downed Matta (611) 6-1 in the semifinals to earn himself a second (and potentially, third) shot against Morganelli, waiting for him in the hot seat. Morganelli took the opening and only set necessary 5-2 to claim the NE 9-Ball Series Winter Classic title.
Lineham becomes second person on the weekend to eliminate Fracasso-Verner
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Lukas Fracasso-Verner, 17, has made something of a dangerous habit out of coming from the loss side to claim a number of event titles, including a 12-match, loss-side trip to win last year’s “Ginky” Memorial, and a seven-match, loss-side winning streak to win the NE 9-Ball Series’ Robert Dionne Memorial, two weeks ago. On the weekend of January 26-27, the habit got the best of him at the NE 9-Ball Series’ Winter Classic. He was sent to the loss side in the third round of the main event, and won only one match on the loss side, before being eliminated, out of the money. He rallied a bit in the 10-ball tournament, advancing to a winners’ side semifinal, and then, winning three on the loss side for a shot against Ryan Lineham in the hot seat. Lineham prevailed.
After an opening round bye, Lineham had defeated Kerry McAuliffe and Mike Hurley to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal match against Chad Bazinet. Fracasso-Verner, in the meantime, faced Chad Avallone. Lineham downed Bazinet 7-5, as Avallone was sending Fracasso-Verner to the loss side 7-4. Lineham claimed the hot seat 7-2 over waited on what turned out to be the return of Fracasso-Verner.
On the loss side, Fracasso-Verner shut out Jon Leandro and in the quarterfinals, faced Bazinet, who’d eliminated Francisco Cabral 5-1. Fracasso-Verner downed Bazinet in those quarterfinals 5-3, for a rematch against Avallone in the semifinals. A double hill fight ensued that eventually sent Fracasso-Verner to the finals.
They could have played a modified race to 5 in the finals, but Fracasso-Verner and Lineham opted to play it out to the normal race to 7. Fracasso-Verner survived the double hill, opening set of the true double elimination final 7-6, but Lineham grabbed the second set 7-5 to claim the 10-ball event title.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Snooker’s for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, FargoRate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#13), will be a $750-added event, scheduled for the weekend of February 16-17 and hosted by Straight Shooters Family Billiards in Fall River, MA.
Ruslan Chinakhov and Alex Kazakis (Photo courtesy of Erwin Dionisio)
Alex Kazakis made it “three in a row” with another undefeated run through the field at The Perfect Storm Open event at The Spot Billiards in Nanuet, NY on November 9th – 11th.
After his undefeated run and victory over Tony Robles in the Grand Master’s division of the NYC 8-Ball Championship at Steinway Billiards on November 3rd – 4th, Kazakis then came from the one loss side to double dip James Aranas at the Sandcastle Billiards’ Player Relief Open 9-Ball event on November 8th. Kazakis kept up his winning ways over the weekend of November 9th – 11th with another undefeated run, this time in the Men’s Pro 10-Ball division at The Spot.
Kazakis had wins over Ryan McCreesh, Mike Dechaine, RYan Lineham and then Ruslan Chinakhov for the hot-seat. On the one loss side, Chinakhov had a rematch with Casper Matikainen who had lost to Chinakhov in the first round. Chinakhov was successful again in the rematch, but still couldn’t get by Kazakis in the finals.
The Men’s Pro event was only one of four events that took place at The Spot over the long weekend. A six player round robin Women’s Pro event saw Chezka Centeno come out on top of the field, with Kyoko Sone taking second. The Women’s Amateur division was won by Jia Li, who defeated Borana Andoni for the hot-seat and again in the finals. Finally, the Men’s Amateur division was won by Ryan Lineham, who defeated Mark Nanashee for the hot-seat and then Mhet Vergara in the finals.
The Spot added $1000 to each Pro event and co-owner Lenore Donovan-Chen was appreciative of everyone for their help managing the different divisions and players on this weekend. She thanked event sponsors Pro Vapes Liquid and Clutch Shot Apparel, Upstate Al for streaming the event and Ariel Roy Francisco from Roy’s Basement for bringing his players out to support the event.
Steve Goulding, Jorge Rodriguez, Mike Dechaine and Mike Zuglan
Corr is among inductees to Hall of Fame
It was almost a storybook ending. The Joss Northeast 9-Ball's 6th Annual New England Pool & Billiards Hall of Fame/Ray Desell Memorial 9-Ball Open, held on the weekend of February 27-March 1, included, on Friday, the induction of nine candidates into the New England Hall of Fame. Among them were Karen Corr, who made it to the semifinals of the $2,500-added 9-ball event that drew 88 entrants to Snookers in Providence, RI. She was defeated in those semifinals by Mike Dechaine, who won five on the loss side to meet and twice defeat hot seat occupant, Jorge Rodriguez, and reclaim the title he'd last won in 2013. It was Dechaine's third win on the tour, dating back to October.
Dechaine's victory carried echoes of the 5th annual event, in which Joey Dupuis came from the loss side and defeated Dechaine in the finals. This time, it was Dechaine on the loss side, after a 9-6 loss to Nelson Oliveira in a winners' side quarterfinal. Oliveira advanced to meet Corr, while Rodriguez and Jeremy Sossei, looking for his third Joss win of the 2014-2015 season, met in the other winners' side semifinal.
Rodriguez and Sossei battled to double hill before Rodriguez prevailed for a spot in the hot seat match. He was joined by Corr, who'd dispatched Oliveira 9-6. Rodriguez sent Corr to the semifinals 9-3 and waited in the hot seat for Dechaine.
Over on the loss side, Dechaine was at work. He defeated Pete Bowman and Cleiton Rocha 9-6 to draw Sossei; they'd met last in the finals of the Ocean State 9-Ball Championship in November. Oliveira picked up Ryan Lineham, who'd gotten by Mark Creamer 9-5 and Paul Dryden 9-7.
Lineham brought Oliveira within a game of double hill, but it was Oliveira advancing to the quarterfinals. Dechaine had somewhat of an easier time against Sossei, defeating him 9-2 for a shot against the man who'd sent him to the loss side. Dechaine chalked up another 9-2 win, dropping Oliveira into fourth place, and turned to face Corr in the semifinals.
Having given up three or less racks during his four loss-side matches, Corr proved to be a little more resilient. She battled Dechaine and chalked up seven, before Dechaine pulled ahead to win it.
It was clear from the outset in the double elimination finals that Dechaine was on a mission. While both players exhibited signs of fatigue as Sunday, March 1, turned into Monday, March 2, Dechaine jumped out of the gate and claimed the opening set 9-5. Rodriguez came out just as determined in the second set, taking an early 4-0 lead. Rodriguez would continue to creep forward, but by rack #12, Dechaine had tied things up. He would go on to win the next two and stood on the brink of claiming the title. Rodriguez, though, battled back to tie things, double hill, and then, just as he stood on the brink of claiming the title, he scratched on the final break. Dechaine closed it out around 2 a.m. to claim the 6th Annual New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame/Ray Desell Memorial title.
A $500-added Second Chance tournament, saw Justin Muller go undefeated, downing Bob Madenjian in the finals. Ed Loring finished in third place, after defeating Phil Davis, who finished fourth. Tim Perry and Clyde Matta tied for fifth place.
In addition to Karen Corr, the New England Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame inducted Grace Nakamura, “Upstate Al” Leon, Shayne Cote, Philip Capelle, Steve and Tammy Reynolds, Bart Rivezzi, and Nick Scofield at the ceremonies on Friday evening, February 27. The next stop on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for March 28-29, will be the Northeast 9-Ball Open XXVIII, and will be hosted by Golden Cue Billiards in Albany.
American Rotation Championship Series 5 was held at the Derby City Classic on January 22nd thru the 24th, 2015. 16 players qualified but only 15 were able to make the trip. We had 12 players representing the United States, 2 players representing Canada, and 1 player from the land of Rotation, the Philippines.
Once again, all qualified players were in the money even before they hit a ball. This Self Sustaining format has players earning their way to the national events rather than buying their way in. Each billiard club has 10 local players that compete over a 10 week period which ends by sending one of their players to a two day national event with free entry and an additional $800 in expense money. The American Billiard Club’s American Rotation Series seems to be picking up speed, traction and well earned attention from players, fans and club owners. It is definitely tough to ignore this format in which there are no losers, and the players are finally uniting for themselves and their sport.
Diamond Billiard Products not only welcomed the Championship and the additional players but they allowed us to use their tables, one day prior to the actual start date of the Derby City events. This helped to ensure that none of our players would miss out on playing in their 9 Ball Banks event, and would allow us to have minimal conflicting match schedules.
Our Championship event began with a 15 player draw into three separate round robin groups, 5 players in each. They would all play 4 matches racing to 120 points. Each match in this round robin would be played out in its entirety on day one. The top 2 players from each group and the two best 3rd place records would move on to the 8 player single elimination finals on day two. Group 2 attracted much of the iron with 3 of the top 4 favorites; Joe Dupuis our first ever American Rotation Champion, 2 time and defending Champion Mike Dechaine, and new comer Filipino sensation Edgie Geronimo. Below are the Groups and their results (wins, losses, ball count).
Group 1
Jody McLaughlin- Big Dog Billiards, DesMoines IA: 4-0 (+100)
Tom Zippler– Magic 8 Cue Club, Baltimore MD: 3-1 (+74)
Jay Wideman– Port City Billiard, Brunswick GA: 1-3 (-111)
Danny Petro- Lags Billiards, Columbus IN: 1-3 (-125)
The top 8 players were seeded based on their independent records into the single elimination bracket on day 2 of the championships.
Below was our match ups:
#1 Mike Dechaine vs # 8 Gerry Williams = Mike Advanced
#4 Edgie Geronimo vs #5 Tom Zippler = Edgie Advanced
#3 Brandon Shuff vs #6 Amos Bush = Brandon Advanced
#2 Jody McLaughlin vs #7 Roger Miller = Jody Advanced
Semi Final Matches:
Mike Dechaines vs Edgie Geronimo = Mike Advanced
Jody McLaughlin vs Brandon Shuff = Jody Advanced
This brought us one of our personal dream finals, the touring professional vs the full time working/family man. This is what the American Billiard Club is all about, helping professional players cover yearly travel expenses and keeping passionate high level players with families involved in our sport.
The Finals: Jody McLaughlin: 43 yrs young, married, 4 children and working 60+ hours per week VS the #2 U.S. ranked professional player, young gun and two time defending American Rotation Champion Mike Dechaine.
Mike wins the lag in this race to 140 points and turns up the heat right away by opening with a perfect 20 point break and run.
Rack 1 = 20-0 Mike
R2 = 24-16 Mike
R3= 40-20 Mike
R4= Mike is picking up the pace with a 24 pint lead 52-28
R5= 60-40 Mike, but Jody is holding on
R6= Jody is reeling in the points 62-58 Mike
R7= 73-67 JODY, Jody takes the lead and applies unexpected heat.
R8= 80-80 baby.
R9= 91-89 Mike takes the lead but its now Jody’s break
R10= 4 innings of kick safes on the 5 ball with Jody eventually getting the first shot and clears the rack and re takes the lead 105-95 Jody
R11= Mike’s break and he shows some serious heart by coming with another perfect break and run to take the lead 115-105 Mike.
R12= Jody makes 2 balls on the break and starts a nice run but as he attempted to draw across a position zone, he came up short and was now hooked by the 13 ball at a score of score 115-110. Jody had a side of the 5 to hit and played a nice safety but the cue ball coming from a very steep angle off the end rail found the side pocket! Mike then clears the table right up until the 12 ball, when he shocked everyone by missing a routine shot that allowed Jody to pick up 8 huge points pulling the score to a very tight 122-118 in favor of Mike.
R13= Mike’s break needing 18 points to win his 3rd consecutive title. He makes 2 balls on the break, a solid and a stripe and scratches. The room of spectators believe 3 points are awarded to Jody which means Mike cannot close out the match with just 17 points remaining on the table. The stripe ball turns out to be the 9 ball, which is a one point ball, so there is still 18 points available on the table. If Jody gets at least one more point in this rack, he’ll have a chance to break and run the next rack for the title. Amazingly this was the same situation Mike was in at his last ARCS finals against Jerry Calderone in Las Vegas, with Mike needing to make a combination with 2 striped balls. In Vegas, Mike made the combo but had to play safe after it which gave Jerry one last shot. Here in this match, Mike drills the combo pocketing the 15 and the 13 ball slid right past the cue ball giving him the shot and with these 2 last balls made, Mike wins his 3rd Consecutive American Rotation Title with yet another perfect break and run,140-120 Mike Dechaine.
The Question now becomes, who and when will someone defeat this worthy Champion? Will it be another average Joe or our next touring pro?
The payouts for American Rotation Champions Series 5:
1st Mike Dechaine $2400 + $800 = $3200.
2nd Jody McLaughlin $1500 + $800 = $2300.
3rd/4th Brandon Shuff $750 +$800 = $1550.
3rd/4th Edgie Geronimo $750 + $800 = $1550.
5th-8th Tom Zippler $400 + $800 = $1200.
5th-8th Amos Bush $400 + $800 = $1200.
5th-8th Roger Miller $400 + $800 = $1200.
5th-8th Gerry Williams $400 + $800 = $1200.
9th-16th Each player received $800 for expenses.
Series VI begins March 9th throughout the country. If your local club is not yet on board, please take action for them and for our sport. The sooner we hit 64 clubs, the sooner we can start approaching corporate sponsors from outside the industry. It is a simple process that can be very important for our sports’ future.
It takes 10 local players and at least 1 pool table, so do not hesitate to contact the American Billiard Club via their website or contact Joe Tucker directly at JTtenball@gmail.com and he will put a schedule up online for your 10 players. United, simple strong steps.
12 players from around the country qualified for the Series III Finals which was held in conjunction with this year’s BCAPL Nationals at the Rio in Las Vegas.
Two round robin groups of 6 players each had everyone playing five 120 point matches on the first two days of the event. Two players from each group would emerge to make the final four single elimination stage. All 12 players were in the money as soon as they landed in Vegas.
Semi finals and finals matches were races to 140 points. Up on table 2 in the pro arena was Scott Johnson of Gate City Billiards NC who is the only player to have made it to all 3 of our National Championships vs Professional player Mike Dechaine playing in his 2nd Championship. On the streaming table we had defending Champ Jerry Calderone facing Matt Tetrault who was on his first trip to our nationals. Sitting in between both tables was none other than the Man, the Magician, Efren Reyes, who had recently played two games of American Rotation himself with Daniel Busch of Pov Pool at Hard Times Bellflower. We were very honored to have him sweating it in the front row. If the streaming table didn't bring some extra heat for the players, having Efren as a spectator may have done it as neither Matt or Jerry took control of the match as opportunities to do so arose. This forced the match into the last rack with Jerry advancing and coming one step closer to becoming our first repeat Champion. On table 2 Mike Dechaine had defeatEd Scott Johnson leaving Scott tied for 3rd 4th and setting up what was sure to be a great final match.
The finals did not disappoint. Jerry is a working family man from South Florida that quite often flies under the radar so Mike was a pretty big favorite in many eyes. Jerry came out quick putting some pressure on Mike by taking leads of 29-11 and 51-29. Mike being the young but experienced player he is took a timely break to refocus in an effort to tighten the match, a big lead in AR can be tough to overcome. We think it worked as Mike scored a complete 20 point break and run making the score 51-49 in favor of Jerry. From there both players held serve fairly well on their breaks or struck back when needing to do so; 16-4 Jerry, 15-5 Mike, Mike breaks serve with a 13-7 and Jerry breaks back with a 14-6 as we hit 101 Mike to 99 Jerry. The finals to 140 points came down to a score of 121 for Dechaine and 119 Calderone with Dechaine breaking. Jerry would need to steal 2 points off of Mike's break to ensure one more rack and an opportunity to run his rack for a 2nd National title. Mike broke them nicely and started the rack with ball in hand, ran all the way down to a 12-13 combo, he sized up the shot carefully knowing that Jerry needed just one of these 2 point balls to extend the match. He made the combo but position on the 12 escaped him and he was forced to place safe with just the 12 14 & 15 remaining on the table. Jerry later stated that he had two shot choices; a return end to end safety that would allow Mike to see the 12 ball or a rail first kick that would leave Mike hooked. He opted for the kick safe but didn't get deep enough behind the 12 ball which sent both the 12 and cue ball out towards center table leaving Mike the opportunity to run the three remaining balls to become the 3rd American Rotation Nation Champion! Final score 140-119 Mike Dechaine over Jerry Calderone.
The American Billiard Club wishes to thank all the clubs and players in America and Canada that helped make this another successful Championship. Our mission is to unite some of our best billiard clubs with some of our best players to form one self sustaining tour for our sport, our industry and our players. We also aim to reduce player expenses significantly by having players earn their way to short, sweet and paid for national events, they're in the money before they ever hit a ball at our nationals.
Series IV and V Nationals will be held in VA just prior to the U.S. Open and in conjunction with the 2015 Derby City Classic. We urge all pool lovers of all playing levels to become part of the American Billiard Club simply by uniting 10 local players and sending one of them to our next Championship.
