Sport 9 Ladies Tour stop #3 was held at 6 Pockets Billiards this past weekend, May 17th, 2014 drawing 16 players in the women’s and 36 in the men’s open bar table mini.

 

The ladies event began Saturday at noon and was played on 9' Diamond tables. The format was double elimination race to 7 on the winner’s side and race to 5 on the loser’s side. The field was very competitive as Sport 9 welcomed two new players, Tina Hess and Allison Hardwick and newly joined member, Dana Aft.  Sunday the final 8 were brought back to battle for top 4 money spots.  Going undefeated was Betty Lea out of Atlanta, GA.   Dana Aft placed 2nd after defeating Ashley Nandrasy and Janeen Lee.

 

The men’s 9 ball bar table mini event was held in conjunction with the ladies event also producing some great matches with 36 talented players. The format was race to seven, alternate break double elimination. 'Lil D', Daniel McKenney, from Mississippi won the tournament after coming through the losers bracket.  Sam Gilmer placed 2nd and Richard Andrews 3rd.

 

Congratulations to local player Justyn Cone 'Roadman', winner of the the Friday night bar table tournament.

 

Sport 9 would like to thank Paul McClain, owner of 6 Pockets Billiards for hosting another great event and look forward to returning July 26th weekend for the 2nd annual River City Open.

 

Sport 9 would also like to thank all tour sponsors listed below for their continued support and contributions.

The Big Tyme Classic held its 2nd Annual Event on March 20th – 23rd. It was a $10,000 added event in all. The event drew players from all over the United States and a few from foreign soil. There was 6 events held total and 5 of the 6 were full fields, the ladies event fell 2 players short of being full. The main event filled up last year and although it filled up again this year it was bigger and better then the last one. You know what they say everything is bigger and better in Texas.

 

The $1,500 Added One Pocket kicked everything off at Noon sharp on March 20th. It was a 32 player single elimination field to be completed in one day. The races were to 4 and there was plenty of stellar play along the way, by some great players.  It paid out 8 spots. The players finishing 5th thru 8th for $300 each were Sylver Ochoa, Justin Hall, Skyler Woodward, and Robb Saez. Finishing in a tie for 3rd and $600 each was Richie Richeson and Jeremy Jones. The two finalists Josh Roberts and Justin Bergman chopped up first and second for a total of $1800 each, as the event was to pay $2,400 for first and $1,200 for second.

 

Also on Thursday night there was a 16 man mini tourney on the diamond bar tables. The entry fee was $50 and it was a race to 9, it was slated for winner take all ($800). The event drew the likes of Brandon Shuff, Warren Kiamco, Skyler Woodward and plenty of other heavy hitters. At the end of the night the last two players left standing was Joey Barnes and Manny Chau, it was late and they decided to split it up and get some rest before the next event at noon, the 9-ball banks event.

 

Friday, the busy day has arrived. We kicked it off at Noon with the $1,500 Added 9-Ball Banks and a full field of 32. This was a single elimination race to 5 to be completed in one day as well. Besides John Brumback this event was loaded with heavy hitting bank pool players. The list included Justin Hall, Skyler Woodward, Jeremy Jones, Manny Chau, Richie Richeson, Brandon Shuff, Cliff Joyner, and a slew of others. The event paid out the top 8 spots. Those finishing 5th thru 8th for $300 each were Joey Barnes, Jeremy Jones, Skyler Woodward, and Justin Bergman. Finishing in a tie for 3rd and $600 each were Ronnie Wiseman and Manny Chau. The two finalists Justin Hall and Warren Kiamco decided to chop up the top 2 spots and they both received $1,800 each. This event paid out the exact same as the one pocket event.

 

Also on Friday night the $5,000 Added 9-Ball Main Event kicked off at 7:00 with the players auction. The players auction lasted about three and a half hours and drew in slightly over $45,000. This topped last years event and we look to top this again next year, hoping to get up to the 60k mark, I think we would have hit that number this year if not for some last minute defections of a few upper echelon players. Nonetheless this was a super number and bigger then most anywhere except the one right down the road at White Diamonds. The players auction had two blind picks, the first one was Yu Usuan Cheng from Taiwan as he sold for $3,500. The second blind pick sold for $3,600 and was Warren Kiamco from the Philippines. This event was loaded with super star talent, besides the two I just named  as the blind picks others in attendance was Team High Pockets (Justin Bergman, Robb Saez, Skyler Woodward, and Robert Frost), Cliff Joyner, Manny Chau, Jeremy Jones, Ronnie Wiseman, Justin Hall, Richie Richeson (Derby City Action Award Winner of 2014), BCA National Champion Mike Alonzo, U.S. Amateur Champion Ernesto Bayaua, Brandon Shuff, Josh Roberts, Rene Rendon, James Davis Jr. Sam Gilmer, Lil D Daniel McKenney, Sylver Ochoa, two WPBA touring pros in Vivian Villarreal and Brittany Bryant and a slew of others to fill the 128 player field. It was tough as nails.

 

The Main Event. Play started on the 16 Diamond Bar Tables after the Auction was over. We played 32 matches on Friday Night, and play started back up at 10:00a.m on Saturday morning and played down to the final 32 players. Matches were set up on a time schedule and the last round was started at roughly 8:00p.m. on Saturday night. There was some great matches and if you missed them you can find the streamed ones on poolactiontv.com. After we hit the final 32 players the second auction was held Saturday night and it drew in about 7.5k. The first auction paid 12 spots.  Payouts were 9-12th $915 each, 7-8th paid $1,500 each, 5/6th paid $2,500 each, 4th paid $4,000, 3rd paid $5,000, 2nd paid $7,500, and the winner took home a hefty $15,000. The second auction paid 4 spots and paid out as follows. 4th paid $735, 3rd paid $1,100, 2nd paid $2,100, and the winners share paid $3,100.

 

The Main Events eventual winner was Skyler Woodward the young gun from Kentucky. This kids games is way beyond his years. He is well seasoned in all games and has a very bright future in this game of billiards. Congrats to you Sky and we look forward to seeing you back to defend your title next year as well. And yes your name will be on the shirt for The 3rd Annual Bigtyme Classic.

 

Sunday. The wild day with three events running at the same time. There was the final 32 of the main event starting at 1:00, the Ladies had a $1,000 added 9-Ball Event that drew 30 players and the Seniors had a $1,000 added 9-Ball Event that drew a full field of 32 players.

 

The Ladies Event drew 30 players and had some heavy hitters in it led by the Defending Champion the Texas Tornado Vivian Villarreal. Also there was three other WPBA touring players Brittany Bryant, Nicole Keeney, and Kim Pierce . This event was a one day event with races to 7 on the winners side and 5 on the one loss side. When the dust settled it was the defending champ repeating again, congrats to Vivian. This event paid out 8 spots. Finishing in a tie for 7/8th and $70 was Ricki Casper and Belinda Lee. Tied for 5/6th and $130 was Michelle Yim, and Mandy Hood. The 4th place finisher was Natalie Mans for $220. Third place and $330 went to Brittany Bryant. The top two that battled it out for the lions share was Nicole Keeney and Vivian Villarreal. Nicole ended up 2nd with $500 and Vivian took home first and $750.

 

The Seniors Event drew a full field of 32 players. Last year it was chopped between Jose Parica and Lanny Herrin. Jose was not back but Lanny was and trying to defend his share of the crown. This event is always the easiest going event of all, as all the players seem to really love the game of billiards and have played it for along time. The event paid out 8 spots. Finishing in a tie for 7/8th and $70 were C.W. Smith and John Turner. Tied for 5/6th and $140 were Charles Smith and defending champ Lanny Herrin. The 4th place finisher was Bob Guzik for $220. Third place and #340 went to Bob McFerren(Co-Owner of Big Tyme Billiards). The top two that battled it out in a dogfight till the end was Sonny Bosshamer and the man known around the world for his high stakes gambling action, Ronnie Wiseman. Sonny took home $525 and Ronnie got $775.

 

This event was filled with action for the 4 days as the room stayed open 24 hours. We saw $500 a game one pocket, we saw $1,000 a game one pocket played. We also saw sets of 10 ball for $1,000, $3,000, $5,000 and $10,000 and lots of other action going on. This is an event everyone should be trying to attend next year as they like to gamble it up in this area, so if you think you got what it takes come get your fill next March. We will be waiting.

 

We would like to thank all the sponsors of this event, Ace Roofing (Tracy and Kim Sanders), Star City Amusements (Roddy Lucio), APA of North Harris County (Roger Shuett), Omega Billiards (Michael Hoang), and Universe Clothing (Nick Bashizi), everything you did for the event is greatly appreciated.

 

Also a big thanks to the staff of Big Tyme Billiards for doing a great job on a very very busy 4 day event. The owners of Big Tyme Billiards deserves a big thanks as well for putting on this event each year, Bob McFerren, Mark Avery, Debbie Sharp, and Jim Henry.

 

Scholarship money and trophies are awarded to the top 3 men and top 3 women.  ACUI additionally awards medals for sportsmanship (by peer vote) and Best Break (by contest). 

 

For additional information about the ACUI 9-ball Championships, visit www.acui.org/billiards or the Facebook groups “ACUI 9-ball” and “2013 ACUI 9-ball Championships.”