Jeremy Sossei, Trick Shot Billiards Owner Tim Berlin and Danny Hewitt
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour’s Kevin Ketz Memorial on March 9th and 10th at Trick Shot Billiards in Clifton Park, NY came down to Canadian Danny Hewitt and Jeremy Sossei, two players very familiar with what it takes to get to the Joss Tour winners circle.
Both players went through Saturday play undefeated and were joined on the winners side on Sunday by Bucky Souvanthong and Dave Grau. Hewitt sent Grau to the left side of the board 9-1, while Sossei had a much tougher time with Souvanthong, beating him 9-8. This led to the showdown for the hot-seat, where Hewitt won 9-4.
After wins over Mark Creamer and Greg Antonakos on the one loss side, Souvanthong was ready for the rematch with Sossei. This match didn’t go much better for Souvanthong though, losing 7-5 to leave him in third place.
Sossei came out on fire in the first set of the finals against Hewitt, and raced to a dominating 9-0 win to force a second set. Hewitt turned the tables in the second set of the finals though and quickly took a 5-0 lead. Sossei fought back and was able to tie the score at hill-hill, but that was when Hewitt put the tournament away with the 7-6 win.
Sunday’s second chance tournament saw Tom Acciavatti go undefeated with wins over Spencer Auigbelle for the hot-seat and again in the first set of the finals.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour now takes the weekend of March 16th – 17th off, but will be back in action at Union Station Billiards in Portland Maine for a rare handicapped Joss Tour stop.
Dave Grau, East Ridge Billiards owner Chris Braiman and Spencer Auigbelle
Dave Grau went undefeated at Eastridge Billiards in Rochester, NY on February 23rd – 24th for his first Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop win in over ten years. No one can say he didn’t have to fight for it though.
Grau’s Saturday wins were fairly routine, with the closest competitor (Joe Mayo) losing to Grau 9-6. Sunday, on the other hand, was a different story. Grau started his Sunday campaign with a hill-hill win over Jorge Teixeira and then followed that up with another hill-hill win, this time over Spencer Auigbelle for the hot-seat.
Bucky Souvanthong put together an impressive five match winning streak on the one loss side, after losing a 9-6 match to Ron Casanzio on Saturday. Souvanthong ran out of gas on Sunday though, finishing in 4th place after a loss to Teixeira. Teixeira then dropped a 7-1 decision to Auigbelle in the semi-final match.
The rematch between Grau and Auigbelle in the finals was just slightly more decisive with Grau winning the first (and only) set 9-7 for first place.
Sunday’s second chance tournament saw Chris Braiman run through the right side of the board, scoring a 3-0 win over Dan Sharlow for the hot-seat. Aaron Cameron had lost to Braiman in his second match of the day, but navigated the one loss side and defeated Sharlow 3-1 in the semi-final match. Cameron would get his revenge and then some, in the final match. A 3-2 win in the first set of the finals was followed up by a 3-1 win in the second set to give Cameron first place.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action this weekend with the $2500 added 10th NE Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open at Snookers in Providence R.I.
Spencer Auigbelle, Qais Kolee, Nick Brucato & Kyle Bova
Possibly forgoing the inevitable march of procrastinators searching for gifts three days before Christmas, a hearty crew of 28 entrants braved near-freezing temperatures in Rochester, NY to attend the Western New York Pool Tour’s 6th Annual Jingle Grind Christmas Classic, hosted by Diamond Billiards Bar & Grill in Rochester. At the end of the evening, Qais Kolee, sitting in the hot seat, and Kyle Bova, who’d won five on the loss side to get a shot at him, decided against a final match and split $1,650 in prize money, a decent ‘Merry Christmas’ money for the both of them.
Kolee had chalked up three straight 6-3 wins over Luis Bani, Jake Miosi and Geoff Montgomery to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Brad Wesley. Spencer Augbelle, in the meantime, had downed Dave Ricci 6-4, and then survived two straight double hill matches, sending Mark Hadley and Kyle Bova to the loss side. Bova, like Jacob Marley, would return to haunt Augbelle in the semifinals, but for the moment, Augbelle advanced to face Jeremiah Imburgia in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Kolee got into the hot seat match with a 6-4 victory over Wesley, and met up with Auigbelle, who’d defeated Imburgia 6-2. Kolee claimed the hot seat and his last victory of the day, 6-4.
On the loss side, Wesley picked up Bova, who, following his defeat at the hands of Augbelle, had shut out Nick Cappolla and given up four to Adam Smith. Imburgia drew tour director Nick Brucato, who never did get a chance for a re-match against Wesley, who’d sent him over, but was working on a modest, three-match, loss-side winning streak that included recent wins over Jerry Sullivan 6-3 and Geoff Montgomery 6-4.
Brucato’s hopes for a re-match were spoiled by Bova, who shut Wesley out. Brucato joined him in the quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over Imburgia. Bova ended Brucato’s day (competing) with a 6-4 quarterfinal win.
Bova and Augbelle’s semifinal re-match proved to be the last match of the event. Bova won it 6-4, and as the undefeated occupant of the hot seat, claimed the event title. The decision to split the final two cash prizes was made, and everybody went home to their respective holiday revels.
Dave Driedel has competed on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour as far back as our records go (2000) and has a 5th place finish in 2014 as his best finish. He outdid himself by a large margin over the February 24th – 25th weekend with his first tour stop win at East Ridge Billiards in Rochester NY.
Dreidel was looking good on Saturday with three straight wins to stay on the right side of the board. He defeated Nabil Lazouzi 9-6 to get his tourney started, and then scored lopsided wins over Tony Antone and Dave Ricci (9-3 and 9-1).
Sunday play kicked off for Dreidel with a close 9-7 win over tour newcomer Joe Mayo, while Ron Casanzio was sending Spencer Auigbelle to the one loss side on the other half of the board. That left Casanzio and Dreidel to fight it out for the hot-seat, where Dreidel scored another 9-7 win.
Waiting on the one loss side for Casanzio was Bucky Souvanthong. Bucky had lost a hill-hill match to Casanzio early Saturday but then forged a six-match winning streak to meet up with Casanzio again in the semi-final match. That rematch didn’t go Souvanthong’s way though, as Casanzio scored a quick 7-1 win to earn the right to play Dreidel in the finals.
Dreidel was ready for Casanzio though and scored a 9-5 win in the first set of the finals for his first ever Joss Tour Stop win.
Sunday’s second chance tournament saw eleven players come back to play, with room owner Chris Braiman going undefeated with a 3-2 win over Sourith Thammavong for the hot-seat and then a 3-0 win over Thammavong in the finals.
The Joss NE 9-Ball tour will be back in action March 3th – 4th at Snookers Billiards in Providence RI for the 9th Annual North East Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open. That event will include a $2500 added main event and a $500 added second chance event on Sunday.
Tour players are reminded that the March 17th – 18th event that was scheduled at King Smiley Billiards has been moved to Hippos House of Billiards in Utica, NY.
(l to r): Spencer Auigbelle, Kayla (Manager of Shooters) & Jeremy Sossei
It’s been just over 10 years (November, 2007) since Jeremy Sossei chalked up his first win on the Joss Northeast Open 9-Ball Tour. That first win, at what was the Ocean State 9-Ball Championships, saw him win five on the loss side, including a semifinal victory over George “Ginky” Sansouci to double dip Tony Robles in the finals, with the second set going double hill. On the weekend of February 17-18, at the 30th Northeast 9-Ball Open, Sossei recorded his 18th victory on the tour, going undefeated through the field. Though he would enter the event as the #2 player on the tour and face #1 (Matt Tetreault; 10 points ahead) in the hot seat match, it would be a four-years-in-the-making finals rematch against Canadian Spencer Auigbelle that would decide it. The win, combined with Tetreault’s third place finish, moved Sossei 65 points ahead of Tetreault and into the top spot in the tour standings. The $2,000-added ($500 for Second Chance) event drew 40 entrants to Sharpshooter’s Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY.
Four years ago, they’d met in the hot seat match and finals, with Sossei winning them both. This past weekend, they met first in a winners’ side quarterfinal, each having downed three opponents to get there. Sossei defeated Auigbelle 9-6 in that winners’ side quarterfinal and advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Bucky Souvanthong (who finished third in the event four years ago). Tetreault, in the meantime, squared off against Dave Giner in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Sossei sent Souvanthong to the loss side 9-7, and in the hot seat match, faced Tetreault, who’d defeated Giner 9-2. The tour’s #2 player (Sossei) claimed the hot seat from the #1 player (Tetreault) 9-5 and waited on the return of (at the time) a player (Auigbelle) with only 60 ranking points chalked up over two events.
Auigbelle began his trip back to the finals with a 7-4 win over Mike Hurley, and then defeated Jorge Teixeira 7-2, to draw Giner. Souvanthong picked up Bruce Carroll, who’d been defeated in the opening round of play, and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would end when he finally ran into Auigbelle. A double hill win over Nick Brucato, and a 7-2 victory over Bruce Nagle, set Carrol up against Souvanthong.
Carroll advanced to the quarterfinals 7-2 over Souvanthong, while Auigbelle defeated Giner 7-1 to join him. Auigbelle ended Carroll’s loss-side streak 7-4 in those quarterfinals, and then, defeated Tetreault in the semifinals 7-3.
With momentum as a bit of a tail wind, Auigbelle won the opening set of the true double elimination final 9-3. Sossei came back and won the second 9-6 to claim the event title.
A 16-entrant Second Chance Tournament saw Jared Zimmerman go undefeated through the field, but not before Mark Stewart, who lost his opening round match and won seven on the loss side, challenged him in the finals. Zimmerman took that final 3-1 to claim the Second Chance title, and its $300 first prize. Stewart took home $200 as the runner-up, whiLe Mike Hurley finished third ($140). Josh Scheff finished fourth ($100), while Greg Bombard and Nick Brucato finished in the tie for fifth ($40 each). Ryan Smith was the raffle winner of a $1,200 Joss Cue.
The next stop on the Joss Northeast Open 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of February 24-25, will be hosted by East Ridge Billiards in Rochester, NY.
Tom Acciavatti, Sharpshooters Rep. Kayla Riccio and Danny Hewitt
Danny Hewitt was the man to beat at the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour's John Babravich Memorial, held at Sharpshooters Billiards in Amsterdam, NY on October 14th and 15th.
After an opening round bye and a 9-4 win over Ron Casanzio, Hewitt faced his toughest oppoent all weekend, Jeremy Sossei. Hewitt won that match 9-6, and cruised through the event from there. Hewitt remained undefeated Saturday, and started Sunday with a 9-4 win over Jose Mendez. Meanwhile, Bruce Nagle was sending Mark Creamer to the one loss side by a 9-6 scoreline. Hewitt then sent Nagle to join Creamer on the one loss side, 9-3.
While it was Nagle that Hewitt sent to the left side of the board, it was Tom Acciavatti who came back from the left side of the board to face Hewitt in the finals. Acciavatti defeated Nagle 9-7 on the left side of the board to earn that match with Hewitt. The final would go one set, and would be quick as Hewitt scored a one sided 9-2 win over Acciavatti.
Sunday saw twenty five players come back to Sharpshooters to compete in the second chance tournament. That event saw Billy Arquette cruise through the bracket undefeated for first place. Arquette defeated Joe Ziegler 3-1 for the hot-seat, and then Spencer Auigbelle 3-1 in the first set of the finals.
In addition to all of the players who cashed in one of the events, Joey Berlin was also a winner as he won the raffle for the $1200 custom Joss Cue.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back at Sharpshooters next weekend (Oct 21-22) for the 2nd "Joss Junior 9-Ball Championship". After that event, the tour will be at Hippo's House of Billiards in Yorkville, NY on November 4th – 5th.
Bucky Souventhong, Hippos Owner Andrea Duvall and Spencer Auigbelle
After his 9-1 win over Jared Zimmerman, things were looking pretty good for Bucky Souvanthong and his chances to win his first Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win of year at Hippos House of Billiards in Utica, NY on April 8th and 9th. It turned out to not be as easy as he might have thought it would be though.
Zimmerman took the trip to the left side of the board, and found Spencer Auigbelle was on a roll. Auigbelle had lost his third round match to Ron Casanzio on Saturday, but he fought back with six straight wins on the one loss side. After a 9-4 win over Mark Creamer, Auigbelle downed John McConnell, Bruce Nagle, Casanzio and Joe Darigis in identical 9-5 matches. Auigbelle then eliminated Zimmerman 9-6 to earn his place in the finals against Souvanthong.
Auigbelle took early control of the first match in the double elimination finals, and scored a 9-4 win to push things to a second set. Souvanthong had to be wondering if he was fated to settle for his second straight second place finish, as he lost to Bruce Nagle in the finals of the tour's stop at King Smiley's Billiards back in March. The second set saw a different player in Souvanthong though, as he took control and cruised to a 9-3 win and his first win of the year.
The second chance tournament on Sunday saw Dwight Dixon bounce back from a final four loss to John McConnell to double dip Hendrik Drost in the finals. After defeating Dixon, McConnell lost to Drost for the hot-seat 3-1. Dixon them eliminated McConnell 3-0, followed up by 3-1 and 3-2 wins over Drost in the finals.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action on April 29th – 30th at Union Station Billiards in Portland, ME for another $1500/$500 added event.
Ron Casanzio, Trick Shots Billiards owner Tim Berlin and Nelson Oliveira
After 15 years of competing on the Joss Northeast Open 9-Ball Tour, Nelson Oliveira had his two best (recorded) earnings years in 2015/2016. He chalked up a Joss Tour victory in 2015, and finished among the top five in six of the seven events in which he competed. In 2016, he chalked up two Joss Tour victories and finished among the top five in seven of nine events. On the weekend of March 11-12, at a $1,500-added stop (#12) on the Joss Tour (aka The Northeast 9-Ball Open XIX, and the 1st Annual Kevin Ketz Memorial), Oliveira claimed his first event title of the year, working his way through a field of 42 at Trick Shot Billiards Sports Bar & Club in Clifton Park, NY.
A $500-added Second Chance event drew 24 entrants, and saw Jeff Smolen take home the top prize. Frank Sorriento shut Smolen out in the first set of a true double elimination final. The second set went double hill, before Smolen closed it out to claim the Second Chance title.
Oliveira came within a match of going undefeated in the main event, and it was fellow Joss Tour veteran, Ron Casanzio, who challenged him in the hot seat match and finals for the title. It was a quartet of Joss Tour veterans who squared off against each other in the two winners' side semifinals. After four rounds of play, Oliveira came up against Dave Grau in one, as Casanzio met up with Bucky Souvanthong in the other. Oliveira sent Grau to the loss side 9-5, while Casanzio sent Souvanthong packing 9-6. Oliveira took the first of three against Casanzio 9-6 and waited in the hot seat for him to return from the semifinals.
Over on the loss side, Grau and Souvanthong ran into Spencer Auigbelle and Bruce Nagle, respectively. Auigbelle had survived a double hill battle against Tom Acciavatti, and eliminated John Babravich 9-4 to draw Grau. Nagle had gotten by Mark Creamer 9-3 and Steve Lillis 9-4 to draw Souvanthong. Auigbelle and Nagle handed Grau and Souvanthong their second straight loss; Auigbelle 9-5 over Grau and Nagle 9-4 over Souvanthong.
Auigbelle downed Nagle 9-4 in the quarterfinals, but had his four-match, loss-side winning streak ended by the man who'd defeated him earlier, Ron Casanzio. Casanzio took the semifinal match over Auigbelle 9-6 for a shot at Oliveira in the hot seat.
Casanzio took the opening set of the true double elimination final 9-7. Oliveira, though, rallied in the second set to take it 9-6 and claim his first 2016 title.
In addition to the prize winners in both events, Melissa Tour was the raffle winner of a $1,500 Joss Cue. The next stop on the Joss Tour (#13), a $1,500-added event ($500-added Second Chance), scheduled for this weekend (March 18-19), will be hosted by King Smiley Billiards in Fort Edward, NY. Players are reminded that the site for Stop #14 on the tour, scheduled for April 8-9, has been changed from Salt City Billiards in Syracuse to Hippo's House of Billiards in Utica. Salt City Billiards was destroyed in an early morning fire last month (Feb. 8). No one was injured in the blaze, and though owners are optimistic about rebuilding, no final decisions have been made.
Joss Tour director Mike Zuglan is continuing to remind players that entries for Turning Stone XXVIII, scheduled for Aug. 31- Sept 3 are filling up fast, with, as of this weekend, nearly three-quarters of the field already registered. Visit the Turning Stone Web site (http://www.turningstone.com), or contact Zuglan, for further information.
They say that pool is a young man’s game, and they are right for the most part. On the other hand, after a 10-year break from the game to play online poker, Connecticut’s Jorge Teixeira says he is playing the best pool of his life and he backed that claim up with a win at the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop at Salt City Billiards on Jan 21st and 22nd.
Teixeira, born in Portugal but now a resident of Connecticut, was just one of the 46 players to pony up their entry fees to compete in this event, but he cruised through the winner’s bracket with Saturday wins over Jason Hall, Tony Antone, Bruce Nagle and Geoff Montgomery. Teixeira came out strong in his Sunday morning match, scoring a 9-2 win over Jose Mendez. One 9-6 win over Jeremy Sossei later, and Teixeira was sitting in the hot-seat awaiting an opponent.
On the one loss side, Sossei took on Spencer Auigbelle. Auigbell had dropped a match to Dave Grau late Saturday night but bounced back with four wins on the left side of the board on Sunday. Auigbelle would settle for third place, though after a quick 9-3 loss to Sossei.
Sossei kept his strong play going and avenged his loss to Teixeira 9-5 in the first set of the finals. The second set was a different story, though with Teixeira scoring the 9-6 for his first career Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win.
Fifty-four year old Teixeira credited his new table at home and his practice regimen for the win. “After I started back up, I learned how to practice better. Winning that tournament meant a lot to me only because of my age and the hard work paid off. It was the best pool day of my life.” said Teixeira. He continued “Right now I'm playing the best pool of my life because of my work ethic. I know I’m going to improve even at 54 because I believe I’m doing the right kind of practice. It's a challenge vs my self. That's the only reason I play pool.”
The second chance tournament brought back fifteen players on Sunday with Hendrick Drost taking the hot-seat with a 3-2 win over Jamie Garrett. Garrett then beat Brian Lipes 3-1 to earn another shot at Drost in the finals. Garrett would get his revenge with a 3-1 win over Drost in the first set of the finals, but it was Drost with an identical 3-1 win in the second set to earn first place.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be at Sharpshooters Billiards in Amsterdam NY on February 18th – 19th for their next stop, another $1500/$500 added event.
Congratulations to our Turning Stone Classic XXVII 9-Ball Open Champion Jayson Shaw ($8,000), second chance winner Spencer Auigbelle ($500), $1,500 Joss Cue raffle winners, John Byrnes & Kyle Pepin and the final match autographed cue ball winner Doug Longley. And lets not forget stop # 8 winners, Nelson Oliveira ($1,000), second chance winner Brent Boemmels ($320) and $1,500 Joss Cue raffle winner Josh Lerner.
Now that our Mid Season Championship "Turning Stone Classic XXVII 9-Ball Open is in the books, our regular season is set to continue with stop # 9 at Salt City Billiards in Syracuse NY on Jan 21 & 22. This will be the second of three events to be held at Salt City courtesy of our generous hosts Jennifer and Frank Delconte. Salt City is on of the premier rooms in upstate NY with a full bar and delicious homemade food specials. All of the Gold Crowns we will be using in our event are covered in 860 HR Simonis and equipped with Aramith Tournament balls.
Once again you will also have the opportunity to win a gorgeous, custom, engraved, Joss Cue valued at $1,500 by participating in Salt City's cue raffle. Anyone can participate and you don't have to be present to win! The drawing will be just prior to the final match of the main event on Sunday. The raffle cue can be viewed here: https://josscues.com/joss-northeast-9-ball-tour-2016-17/
So come on down and show your support and play in, or just watch yet another great event with some of the games top players. All players are welcome and you might even win a $1,500 cue while you're there!! For more information about Salt City Billiards and motel accommodations, please contact them directly at 315-454-8643.
This $2,000 total added event at Salt City Billiards will consist of a $1500 added Saturday and Sunday Main Event (entry Fee $120 for pro level or $70 for non pro level) and a $500 added consolation event on Sunday ($20 Entry Fee) for those non pro level players eliminated from the main event on Saturday.
For those of you coming to play, please arrive on Saturday January 21 BEFORE 11:30 AM, and in proper dress please. Jeans and sneakers are permitted in our billiard parlor events only. But please, no T-shirts, tanks, shorts or sweats. Complete tour info can be found on our recently updated site www.joss9balltour.com
Our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXVIII 9-Ball Open, Season Finale, will be held on August 31 – September 3, 2017 (Labor Day weekend). I began taking entries just last week and it is already about 1/3 full!! To enter you must contact me at 518-356-7163 or see me at any of our events Before the event is full at 128. I strongly urge everyone to act now if you are at all serious about playing in this great event!!
Please remember to spread the word to frequent your local billiard parlors and utilize the world class products of our most generous sponsors. They are the backbone of our sport and deserve our support!!
Thanks and I hope to see you all at Salt City Billiards.
