Josh Padron claimed the hot seat over Scott Crain during the November 21 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, but gave up the opening set of a true double elimination final to force a third match between them. Padron prevailed in the deciding match to claim the title. The event drew 36 entrants to Buck's Billiards in Raleigh, NC.

 

Their first match, battling for the hot seat, came after Padron had sent Richard Anderson to the loss side 6-4, and Crain had defeated Anthony Mabe 4-4 (Mabe racing to 7). Padron claimed the hot seat decisively 6-1 and waited on Crain's return.

 

On the loss side, Mabe ran into Steve Page, who'd defeated Corey Sykes 10-1, and Jody Musselman 10-5 to reach him. Anderson drew Mike Mullins, who'd gotten by James Blackburn 7-2 and Andy Bowden 7-4. Page handed Mabe his second straight loss 10-4, as Anderson was busy shutting out Mullins 7-0.

 

Anderson then downed Page 7-5 in the quarterfinals, before having his short, loss-side trip ended 4-3 by Crain in the semifinals. Crain gave up only a single rack in the opening set of the true double elimination against Padron to force a second set. They battled to double hill in that second set, until Padron prevailed to claim the title.

 

The next stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for this coming weekend, November 27-28, brings the Turkey Bowl to Statesville, NC. Chandley's Chalk and Cue will host the 8-Ball event.

 

Playing against the lower echelon of skills in a handicapped tournament can be daunting, as six of the final 12 players on the Great Southern Billiard Tour's October 10-11 stop discovered. Greg Dix, racing to 8, was one of those six, picking up a defeat in the hot seat match against a "5" – Scott Crain – but coming back to double dip Crain in the true double elimination finals. The $700-added event drew 28 entrants (including this reporter) to Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle  Beach, SC.

 

Dix and Crain advanced to the winners' side semifinals, with Dix facing Justin Marten and Crain squaring off against Kenny Wilson. Dix sent Marten over 8-2, as Crain was sending Wilson over 5-5 (Wilson racing to 8). Crain claimed the hot seat 5-7 (double hill) and waited for Dix to get back from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side (with me, long gone), Marten picked up John Phillips, who'd defeated Tim Nash 4-2, and shut out Cliff Crib. Wilson drew Dan Woods, who'd defeated Brian Bagwell and B.J. Hucks, both 3-3 (Bagwell and Hucks, both racing to 8). Woods and Marten advanced to the quarterfinals; Woods 3-4 over Wilson (racing to 8), and Marten 8-2 over Phillips. 

 

Woods then eliminated Marten in the quarterfinals 3-4 (Marten racing to 8). Though Marten would put up a double hill fight in the semifinals, Dix prevailed 8-2 for a second shot and, as it turned out, third shot at Crain in the hot seat. Dix took the opener 8-1, and won the second set 8-3 to claim his fourth GSBT title since 2007.

 

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.