It was a weekend of pool sprints and marathons; two race-to-three, single elimination tournaments, one race-to-four Second Chance tournament and a main, $3,500-added, 10-ball event that drew the largest crowd. It was the 6th Annual Richard Sweet Memorial Tournament, held, on the weekend of June 25-28, under the auspices of the Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. The event, hosted by the Sweet family's Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, GA, drew 225 competitors to the four events; 59 signed on to Friday night's 9-Ball Tournament, 46 were in attendance at Thursday night's 8-ball event, 47 checked in to the 'last hurrah 'second chance tournament on Sunday, while 73 went at it in the marquee 10-ball competition.
Richie Richeson, a 22-year-plus veteran of the sport, who, in 1993, shared 17th place at the US Open 9-Ball Championships with the likes of Allen Hopkins and Mike Massey, claimed the 10-ball title. Richeson survived a double elimination finals matchup against Evan Lunda, who'd come from deep on the loss side to challenge him and win the opening set of the finals.
Advancing to a winners' side semifinal, Richeson faced Cliff Joyner, who also finished in that tie for 17th place at the US Open in 1993. Jason Stemen, in the meantime, squared off against Todd Noble. Richeson sent Joyner to the west bracket 7-3, as Stemen was busy surviving a double hill battle over Noble. Richeson claimed the hot heat 7-5 over Stemen and waited on Lunda.
On the loss side, Joyner ran into George Spires, recent 7-5 winner over both Horace Godwin and Brandon Davenport. It was Noble who picked up Lunda, 7-4 winner over both Ellis Brown and Kim Heath. Joyner gave up only a single rack to Spires, as Lunda gave up three to Noble.
Lunda eliminated Joyner 7-2 in the quarterfinals, and then spoiled Stemen's shot at a re-match against Richeson by defeating him in the semifinals 7-3. Lunda took the opening set of the double elimination finals in a hard-fought double hill battle, but Richeson pulled ahead in the second set to claim the title 7-4.
In the Thursday night, race-to-three, 8-ball, single elimination event, Tim Orange downed Mike Clay 3-2 in the finals to claim the $500 first prize. Clay took home the only other ($250) prize available. On Friday night, Tim Heath downed Mike Davis 3-1 in the finals of the single-elimination, race-to-three 9-ball event. Like Orange and Clay, Heath and Davis claimed the $500 and $250 prizes at stake.
The weekend concluded with a double-elimination, race-to-four 9-ball event that saw Randy Jordan go undefeated through the field of 47 entrants. Jordan claimed the hot seat over Mike Clay and waited for him to come back. On the loss side, Tim Heath eliminated Ryan Hollingsworth 4-2 in the quarterfinals, only to be shut out by Clay in the semifinals. Jordan completed his undefeated run 4-2 over Clay to claim the Second Chance title.
Tour director, Tommy Kennedy, last year's runner-up (to Shawn Putnam) and 9th-place finisher in that 1993 US Open thanked the Sweet family – Ricky, Susan and Mandy – and their staff at Mr. Cues II, as well as title sponsor Tiger Products, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Simonis, Mueller Recreational Products, Viking Cues, Cue Stix International, Nick Varner Cues, Aramis, Chris Nitti Cues, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues and Paul Frankel with Professor Cue Ball magazine.
Johnny Archer put a stop to a nine-match, loss-side winning streak by Jonathan Pinegar to go undefeated and win the Side Pocket 9-Ball Open Championship on the weekend of October 25-26. The $2,000-added event, held three times a year in the final weeks of October, February, and June, drew 80 entrants to Side Pocket Billiards in Shreveport, LA. A 16-entrant Ring Game on Friday night was won by Gary Abood, with Charlie Bryant and Joe Barnes finishing second and third, respectively.
Archer and Zack Sanderson faced off in the hot seat match of the main event, after both had chalked up 7-5 wins over C.J. Wiley and Charlie Bryant, respectively. Sanderson put up a fight in the struggle for the hot seat, and forced a deciding game, which was won by Archer.
Over on the loss side, 'Hennessee from Tennessee' Pinegar was hard at work on his long trek back to the finals. He'd been awarded a bye in the opening round of play, and then defeated Jerry Moore, before Shawn Putnam sent him to the losers' bracket 7-5. On the loss side, he eliminated Derek Cantu, Clint Freeman, Yang Yim and Chris Brown to advance into the money rounds (9-12). Victories over Wesley Barnes (7-5) and Tony Barrington (7-4) set him up to face Bryant, coming over from the winners' side semifinals. Wiley drew Joe Barnes, who'd gotten by Gary Abood 7-3 and spoiled Pinegar's hopes for a re-match, with a 7-5 win over Putnam.
It was Wiley and Pinegar who advanced to the quarterfinals; Wiley 7-4 over Barnes, and Pinegar 7-5 over Bryant. Pinegar took the quarterfinal match 7-4 over Wiley, and got a shot at Archer with a 7-5 victory over Sanderson in the semifinals. Archer, though, known to be never more dangerous than he is with a finish line in sight, took the opening set of a potential true double elimination final, giving up only three racks and claiming the event title.
The Spring version of the quarterly Tri-State Open Nine-Ball Series at Gold Crown Billiards in Erie PA saw the strongest field yet in any of their events. Participating were 3 past Mosconi Cup players, not to mention 12 past winners and runners-up along with a handful of other professional players. A full field of 32 players competed in the one day, $4000 added event.
The rules for the tournament included, fouls on all balls, no short games, and the No Conflict Rules for racking and breaking. Under the rules, players are not required to pocket a ball on the break in order to get their first shot. Players alternate breaks and shoot what they break. One hundred and fifteen matches were played without incident and controversy that usually surround the racking and breaking process. The author of the rules, Paul Schofield, owner and proprietor of Gold Crown Billiards, contends the current rules poison matches and corrupt entire tournaments. Schofield further explains “The rules for our event heavily favor the better player.” A full set of the rules are posted on the Gold Crown Billiards website.
The top 4 finishers also happened to be the top 4 bids in the player auction. They finished in order from highest bid to 4th highest bid. Mike Dechaine from Waterville ME put on a clinic,winning 7 straight matches to win the event. Dechaine breezed through the qualifying rounds trouncing Ron Casanzio (Rochester NY) 6-3, Willie VanGuilder (Garland PA) 6-0, Jerry Crowe (Bathe NY) 6-2, and Shayne Morrow (Erie PA) 6-3. In the championship bracket, Dechaine picked up where he left of by putting down Jerry Crowe again 8-1 in the quarter-finals. Things got tough in the semi-finals where Alex Olinger (Dayton OH) took Mike Dechaine to the hill only to have Dechaine break and run the last game under the threat of elimination. Continuing on his reign of terror, Dechaine easily handled Chris Bartram (Columbus OH) 8-4 in the finals.
Chris Bartram fought hard, grinding through the qualifying rounds with a 6-2 record, earning a spot in the championship bracket. Bartram downed Shane Jackson (Pittsburgh PA) in the quarter-finals 8-5 and went on in the semis to defeat Shawn Putnam (Powder Springs GA) 8-5. Dechaine was on fire and proved too much for Bartram in the finals.
The tournament was a success. The unusual rules were well received. Gold Crown Billiards will look to grow this annual event in future years by picking up additional sponsors and recruiting stronger fields.
The second World Professional League semi-final match was played at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas, NV. On Thursday February 13, 2014. The match-up featured the #2 seed Minnesota Outlaws vs. the #9 seed Pittsburg Poison.
The Poison's dramatic run in the WPBL Championship Playoffs ended with a heartbreaking 7-5 loss to the Outlaws Thursday February 13th, sending Minnesota to Saturday's WPBL Championship game to face the Atlanta Scorpions. Pittsburgh needed to win the final game in regulation to stay alive, but failed to score when given the opportunities down the stretch. That left the door open for Minnesota to run out the clock in regulation and clinch the match.
Pittsburgh fell behind in the match 4-0 in the first three games before storming back to take a 5-4 lead when Shawn Putnam outlasted Ralf Souquet in a singles shoot-out 27-19. Adam Smith, who played the biggest role in Pittsburgh's comeback, tied the match a 4-4 in the previous game by defeating Jesse Engel 30-6.
Smith was also key in helping the Poison pick up their first match points of the night, cutting a pair of tough scoring shots in along the way to a 30-6 win paired with Sylver Ochoa, as they defeated Engel and Thorsten Hohmann. But Hohmann would get the last laugh in singles, shutting out Ochoa 30-0 in the final singles game, putting the Outlaws up 7-5 before clinching the match for a spot in the finals.
The WPBL’s first Championship match can be seen Saturday February 15, 2014 at 1pm PT live to viewers in the United States on ESPN3, viewers outside the US able to see the live stream at www.wpbltv.com/subscribe. This historic match will have Thorsten Hohmann’s Outlaws taking on Johnny Archer’s Scorpions to become the first ever WPBL Champions. Atlanta’s rise to the finals has been unexpected as they were seeded last in the league, but have continually gained momentum as a team landing them in season’s final match. On the other hand, the Outlaws have played consistent all season therefore securing a spot in the finals seemed inevitable.
Friday February 14, 2014, the league will hold the All Star Charity Billiards Challenge match for Philippine typhoon relief as Filipino stars Dennis Orcullo and Carlo Biado join Warren Kiamco and face Hohmann, Darren Appleton, and John Morra. Proceeds will be donated to the Rising Asian Pacific Americans Coalition for Diversity (501c3) in Las Vegas. That match can be purchased at: www.wpbltv.com/subscription.
Follow the WPBL as we near the league championship, additional announcements and updates will be made frequently. For a complete listing of broadcast matches, standings, merchandise and more visit the WPBL website.
Sylver Ochoa with Chicago Team (Raj Hundal, Rodney Morris, Mika Immonen)
The second match of round two action in the World Professional Billiard League’s Championship Playoffs saw the #11 seed Pittsburgh Poison eliminate the #3 seed Chicago Rockets. The match was played at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas, NV Sunday February 9, 2014.
The Pittsburgh Poison outlasted the Chicago Rockets 21-20 in a shoot-out to win the match-deciding game, and move on to the semi-finals of the WPBL playoffs. After Raj Hundal executed a difficult shot on purple to put Chicago within a point in the shoot-out, the match came to an end when Rodney Morris missed a two point orange ball that would have put Chicago ahead.
Hundal helped send the match to the final game tied at 7 apiece after a decisive 30-12 win in singles over Sylver Ochoa. Hundal skillfully worked his way around the table, sinking a number of shots that helped Chicago come from being down 6-2 at intermission to tie the score at 7.
Mika Immonen opened singles play by shutting out Adam Smith 30-0, as the Rockets climbed to within one match point as a result at 6-5. However, their deficit grew to 7-5 when Shawn Putnam outlasted Rodney Morris 24-18 in a singles shoot-out that put Pittsburgh back up by 2, before the final game of 3 on 3 that ended on Morris' miss.
Pittsburgh's 6-2 intermission lead was highlighted by Putnam and Smith's 30-1 hammering of Immonen and Hundal that lifted Pittsburgh to a 4-0 lead early.
Every lower seed in the tournament has now won all 6 matches, with the #1 seed New York up against the #8 seed Las Vegas Dice Monday February 10, 2014 at 6:30 PST.
Pittsburgh's semi-final match Thursday February 13, 2014 will be against the winner of Tuesday’s Minnesota Outlaws and the Miami Cruise match. The Thursday match can also be seen live online at ESPN3 at 6:30 PST.
To purchase the WPBL All Star Charity Billiards Challenge or the entire Championship Package, please visit www.WPBLtv.com. Follow the WPBL as the playoffs continue, additional announcements and updates will be made frequently. For a complete listing of broadcast matches, standings, merchandise and more visit the WPBL website.
The fourth match of the World Professional League’s Playoffs pitted the Philadelphia Aces against the Las Vegas Dice. The match took place at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas, NV Friday February 8, 2014.
For the fourth straight day, the lower seeded team ousted the higher seed from the playoffs. The Dice won a 28-7 shoot-out in the final game of the match to defeat the Aces 8-6. The Dice rallied to score the final 3 match points after blowing a 5-1 lead at intermission.
Charlie Williams, John Schmidt, and Max Eberle opened the match with a 30-18 win over the Aces to jump out to a 2-0 lead. After the two teams traded shoot-out points in the next two doubles games, Williams and Eberle soundly defeated Darren Appleton and Brandon Shuff 30-6 to take a commanding 5-1 lead at half-time.
However, Philadelphia would score the next 5 match points in singles play, thanks in part to Appleton shutting out Williams 30-0. Stevie Moore handled Schmidt 30-16 to put Philadelphia ahead 6-5, heading into a thrilling last game of singles between Shuff and Eberle. Eberle was victorious in that contest, sinking the game winning ball on the final shot of regulation for a 30-27 win, lifting the Dice to a 7-6 lead.
In the night’s final team game won in a shoot-out, Moore missed a difficult cut shot to a corner pocket ending the game and giving the win to the Dice. Las Vegas next faces Earl Strickland's #1 seeded team the New York Pride Monday at 6:30 PST.
Sunday, the second round of the WPBL playoffs begin with a double-header. The first of the day’s matches has Johnny Archer’s Atlanta Scorpions facing Scott Frost’s Phoenix Fire at 1 pm PST, while Shawn Putnam’s Pittsburgh Poison take on Rodney Morris’ Chicago Rockets at 6:30.
To purchase the WPBL All Star Charity Billiards Challenge or the entire Championship Package, please visit www.WPBLtv.com. Follow the WPBL as the playoffs continue, additional announcements and updates will be made frequently. For a complete listing of broadcast matches, standings, merchandise and more visit the WPBL website.
The World Professional Billiard League’s 2013-2014 Playoffs continued with the league’s second match-up of the playoffs. The Toronto Blue Sharks took on the Pittsburgh Poison at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas February 6, 2014.
For the second straight night, the lower seed pulled off an upset win. Ranked 11th in the league, the Pittsburgh Poison knocked off 6th ranked Toronto 9-3. After the Blue Sharks took the opening team game 30-3, they managed just one match point the rest of the night which came in a doubles shoot-out. However, Pittsburgh's doubles team of Adam Smith and Sylver Ochoa defeated John Morra and Jason Klatt breaking a 3-3 tie, and giving Pittsburgh a 5-3 lead at intermission.
Smith and Captain Shawn Putnam were both victorious in singles play over Morra and Eric Hjorliefson respectively, essentially putting the match away in the second half. Pittsburgh is the second straight lower seeded team to win their opening round match, after #12 seed Atlanta upset #5 seed Los Angeles to open the tournament on Wednesday.
The Poison next face Rodney Morris’ Chicago Rockets Sunday night at 6:30pm PST. The next scheduled playoff match will be Friday February 7th at 6:30pm PT and features the #7 seed Houston Hustlers against #10 Miami Cruise.
To purchase the WPBL All Star Charity Billiards Challenge or the entire Championship Package, please visit www.WPBLtv.com. Follow the WPBL as the playoffs continue, additional announcements and updates will be made frequently. For a complete listing of broadcast matches, standings, merchandise and more visit the WPBL website.
Sponsored by Diamond SMART TABLE, True Blue Simonis 860 Cloth, and Cyclop Pool Balls.
Young guys rule!
Let's begin with the last event from Friday night, the crowd pleasing Banks Ring game. Bustey, Shannon, Brandon Shuff, John Morra, Justin Hall, and youngest but not least, Skyler Woodward anted up $1,500 each in poker chips.
The format is to play to the last man banking. The first racks of 10 balls are for fifty an orb–per man. So, if you bank in one ball, you earn $50 from each man–$250 in all. You put a 6 pack of banks on them, as Bustey did, you earn $1500. As the rounds deepen, it's doubled: $100 a ball, then $200, and $400 and, finally, 600 hundred dollars a ball. Are you in?
The Accu-Stats Arena was packed to rafters. Lots were drawn to determine the order of play. The $50 poker chips were passing from player to player at the end of their innings. Early, in the action, Shannon was ahead with $2,850 in chips.
Interestingly enough, less than an hour later, he was all-in. That means, he had one barrel left. If someone banked in a ball before his inning, he was gone; No buy-back booth, no stake-horse putting him back in the action. It was Shannon's inning. And, he was looking at a 3 railer.
The 3-ball was hanging on the lip, deep in the jaws. The cue ball was sitting within inches of it. If he followed it in, it was spotted and the next player would swing at it. With one ball on the table and 5 bank masters, there was no way "The Cannon" was getting another shot.
Shannon summoned his diamond system experience and sent the whitey off on its mission. Sink it or he was sunk. The cue ball slowly fell to rest as the little, red orb dropped in the pocket; He was still alive. But, not for long.
He had $300 in the bank. At $100 a ball, he was the first casualty of the night. Soon, followed by another favorite, Justin Hall. John Morra was soon out of moola then, Brandon shuffled off into the night.
They had all made some incredible banks but, it was all ones and twos; they couldn't string anything together. Bustey and Skyler, on the other hand, were running rings round them. Bustey had strung a six and Tyler a 5. Fade that at $100 a ball.
About, 3 1/2 hours later, when it was just the two of them, it was raised to 600 bucks a ball. Skyler had a solid foundation of six or 8 stacks of bullets, Bustey had one, single skyscraper and, and had to dole out 24 from it to cover Skyler's last inning. His tower had crumbled. He was out of chips. Skyler had all 180 of them.
At 20 years old, one may wonder what meant more, robbing the best bankers in the world or, being runner-up at last year's Southern Classic Bank Pool Championship? You can be assured of one thing, there are many more accolades coming young Skyler Woodward's way.
The Derby City Classic 9-Ball Championships
Sponsored by Lucasi Cues.
From 263 entrants, Efren Reyes, Johnny Archer, and John Morra, Ralf Souquet, Dennis Orcollo, Mike Dechaine, Shawn Wilkie, and new to these shores, Russian Ruslan Chinahov are still undefeated.
Corey Deuel, Carlo Biado, Jason Klatt, Thorsten Hohmann, Shawn Putnam, Niels Feijen, Huidji See, Francisco Bustamante, Darren Appleton and, wait for it, Shane Van Boening–just to name a few of the last 24, have no buy-back.
The FINAL day''s 9-Ball draw is constantly updated at http://dcctickets.com. Click to see when all your favorite players are competing.
The MoT points are still being led by Dennis, Bustey, and Efren.
2104 George Fels Memorial Straight Pool Challenge:
Sponsored by Aramith Balls and Simonis Cloth.
We are now down to the last 3 competitors as:
On Thursday evening, with an insurmountable 113 ball run, Dennis Orcollo beat Jayson Shaw to face Semi Finalist Alex Lely on the Accu-Stats' TV table on Friday. Dennis prevailed.
Semi finalists Huidji See and Konstantin Stepanov will play to determine who will meet Finalist Dennis Orcollo in the Accu-Stats TV Arena on Saturday.
Damn it's cold! But, nasty weather didn't stop 361 Bank Pool entrants traveling from near and far in search of glory and, of course, a chance at a downpayment on the $25,000 Master of the Table added cash.
Diamond Billiard Products awards $20,000 to the player who accumulates the highest finishes in the Bank Pool, One-Pocket, and 9-Ball events.
Diamond also adds another $50,000 to those three events.
If that's not enough, there's the Diamond Big Foot 10-Ball Challenge: Diamond doubles the 16 large that, arguably, sixteen of the world's best 10-Ball busters ante-up, at a grand a man, to battle it out for $32,000. BTW, it's single elimination and only the top four finishers get paid. (Suddenly, it just got colder.)
And, let's not forget the 14.1/ Straight Pool preliminary rounds where the top 8 high runs, derived from a ball-in-hand break shot, square off in single elimination.
Or, the PUMP-UP MINI tourneys held in the wee small hours–just to keep you in stroke–when you really should be in bed resting-up for tomorrow's torture.
And, we love it., we love it so much, we've have been lining up for 16 years to this Derby City medley; Young and old; fearless and full of fight, battered and bewildered, we're all here, hundreds of us.
Where else do pool's super stars get to mingle with the best and the brightest of new talent? And, get beaten. Look at Justin Hall's success against Shannon Daulton. Or, Justin Bergman's against Bustey in last July's Southern Classic.
The race to 3 game, short rack Banks division held few surprises–except that Efren is back.
Rumor had it that he'd retired. Not yet he hasn't. Running 7 and out still holds a certain satisfaction. (He's just warming up for One-Pocket.) He's also playing in the 10-Ball with Rodney Morris today on the Accu-Stats' TV table.
Efren has 5 Master of the Table titles. Wouldn't it be great to see him take another? Or, is it like expecting Federer to take out Djokovic and Nadal? This week will tell.
What might be considered an upset was when not-so-well-known Paul Smith had Brandon Shuff shuffling back to the buy-back booth.
The Big Foot Challenge opened on the Accu-Stats TV table with Scotland's Jayson Shaw pitted against former Florida State Champion Robb Saez. Shaw had had little sleep and delivered, not his best, Accu-Stats Total Performance Average(TPA) of .826 but, let's not forget, this is the ten foot. Rob garnered an uncharacteristically low .742 to lose 11-8.
Lee Vann's TPA of .811 and John's .810 TPA showed how accurately the system actually is as both player's were on the hill. Vann faltered to leave John a long shot on the rail which he hammered home with great composure. Then, the normally emotionless Morra steadied himself to face the last 3 balls with loud, pursed lip exhales before executing each shot. He, then, calmly sank the ten to move into the semi's on Sunday.
Shane shone over nemesis Dennis Orcollo. The ten foot doesn't faze Shane as he has plenty of past experience straddling its length. His .890 is world class in any discipline. Orcollo's .819 showed he wasn't quite battle ready and he was only allowed to 8.
LA's Oscar Dominguez performed fearlessly when surmounting a zero to 2 deficit to hover over the mighty Earl at 5-2. Luck favored him most of the way. In the race to eleven, he'd stayed ahead until 8-5. Then the warm wind changed direction and the cold set in. Earl started making balls on the break. Running out at 10-8, his bank in the side skidded off tip of the pocket and sped along the rail into the corner. Sinking the remaining 3 balls secured him a seat in the quarters on Sunday.
It’s that time of year again. Time to pack up and head out to the Derby. The Harrah’s Casino on River Road in Elizabeth, IN, is once again the venue and it is just across the river from the Louisville airport, about 20-30 minutes away depending on traffic and weather. To make your plans you begin by reviewing the tournament page here at AZB and there are links there to take you to the Derby City page where you can reserve rooms at a discount and see more details, get contact info etc.
It is at the DCC where everyone can get in on the action as there is always someone who likes the other side of a match. And there are matches literally around the clock. Once the tournament room shuts down in the wee hours everyone just moves upstairs to the action room and the party grabs a second wind.
Official tournament action begins with the 9-Ball Bank competition beginning on January 24th. Francisco Bustamante will be defending his 2013 crown where he defeated Justin Hall in the finals. This is commonly called short-rack banks as instead of using 15 balls only 9 balls are used and they are racked in a diamond shape as in 9-Ball. Also on the 24th the annual Diamond Bigfoot Challenge begins with $16,000 in added money up for grabs. Dennis Orcullo won this event contested on 5' X 10' tables in 2013.
The One Pocket miracles begin on January 26th. Last year Corey Deuel defeated Francisco Bustamante in the finals to take this one down. But there have been quite a few One-Pocket specialists developed of late and the new kids on the block will be looking to upset the old established One-Holers like Scott Frost and, of course, Efren Reyes if he decides to make the trip over this year. The Straight Pool Challenge also begins on the 26th so we can expect pros such as John Schmidt, Thorsten Hohmann, Danny Harriman and Mika Immonen to be putting up yet another series of impressive numbers. If Mosconi’s high run is to be beaten in front of witnesses this is the likely venue for that to happen.
On January the 29th the DCC will begin the 9-Ball competition. Alex Pagulayan defeated Shawn Putnam in the finals of this event in 2013 and both players should return in 2014 along with scores of their friends looking to unseat them. The $3,000 added Banks Ring Game also is held on this day.
Everything raps up on Saturday, February 1st so everyone has that Sunday to get back to the real world. One thing to truly look forward to this year will be the new buffet. In past years we have had to suffer with the Paula Dean Buffet. But dear old Paula stuck her foot in it this year and was fired. So perhaps this year we will have a buffet where everything does not taste like a stick of butter. Our heartfelt thanks to Paula for getting herself canned.
