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Stanley stops 12-match, loss-side streak by Wiley to go undefeated on DFW 9-Ball Tour

(l to r): Rick Stanley, Corey Flud & CJ Wiley

CJ Wiley should be the ‘poster child’ for some form of additional prize awarded to competitors in pool tournaments who lose an opening round match and win 10 or more on the loss side to meet and ultimately either defeat or lose to the occupant of a given tournament’s hot seat. Perhaps extra tour ranking points, a little bonus cash? Something, for while runner-up money is all well and good, a 10-match or more winning streak on the loss side of a double elimination bracket is a significant accomplishment, worthy of some official kind of recognition.
 
Though Rick Stanley went undefeated on the February 17-18 stop (#2) on the Dallas/Fort Worth 9-Ball Tour and deserves all of the accolades that go along with that, he did so by chalking up eight match victories, all with the double elimination bracket’s built-in margin for error, allowing a single loss without elimination. The handicap format saw Stanley (racing to 9) face six 7s, one 6, and one 9 (Wiley), and chalk up an average score against opponents of 9-2.7. CJ Wiley won 12 on the loss side of that double elimination bracket, with an average match score of 9-3, and faced five 6s, six 7s, and one 8, before his straight-up race to 9 in the finals against Stanley. The tour-ranking end result allowed Wiley to maintain his #1 spot on the tour rankings, while Stanley, competing in his first stop on the 2018 tour, moved from nowhere into second place. The $1,700-added event drew 108 competitors to The Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
 
With Wiley at work on the loss side, Stanley worked his way through five opponents (JP Kinman, Walt Anderson, Ashraf Aldamen, Mike Voelkering, and Marcelino Santiago) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Amos Bush. Corey Flud, in the meantime, chalked up three double hill wins in getting by Chris Woody Smith (double hill), Danny Williams, Roman Bayda (double hill), and Donny Gregory (double hill) to arrive at the other winners’ side semifinal against Judd Hunter.
 
Stanley downed Bush 9-1, as Flud (in a straight-up race to 7) defeated Hunter 7-3. Stanley claimed the hot seat 9-4 over Flud and waited for Wiley to complete his epic loss-side run.
 
Over on the loss side, Wiley got by five opponents just to advance to the first money round (the tie for 25th place). He got by four more, including a 9-5 win over Donny Gregory and a 9-4 win over Steve Collins, before running into Bush, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Hunter drew TJ Davis, who’d eliminated Cody Wright 8-4 and Marcelino Santiago 8-1 to reach him.
 
Wiley downed Bush 9-4, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Davis, who’d eliminated Hunter 8-2. Wiley took the quarterfinal match over Davis 9-3 and completed his long trek back to the finals with a 9-5 win over Flud in the semifinals.
 
And there it was. The final match between two of the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s top-ranked competitors, although one (Stanley) had yet to compete on the tour’s 2018 schedule. Stanley completed his undefeated run with a 9-5 victory over Wiley and settled into the second spot on the tour rankings.
 
The weekend also included a new, but soon-to-be-repeated preliminary event, held on Friday night, pitting two area teams (Dallas & Fort Worth) against each other. Called the DFW 2018 Tour Cup, and modeled after the Mosconi Cup, the first event saw Dallas take the Cup 5-2.
 
“It was very well-received,” noted tour representatives, “and we will more than likely be having more events of this type in the future.”
 
A Second Chance event that drew 17 entrants saw Tony Sulsar take the top spot, with Shan Iyer as runner-up. The “Last Lady” award of the main event ($50) was split between Kiengchay (Kitty) Phoutthavong and Tera Saunders.
 
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of the Billiard Den, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, JB Cases, Dallas Eightball League, Outsville (AccuRack), Fargo Rate, BCAPL/CSI, Internet Marketing Solutions, and Granite Guyz. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of March 24-25, will be hosted by Rusty's Billiards in Arlington, TX. 

Daniel Herring Wins His First Omega Billiards Tour Stop

Tommy Ulbik, Denny Sneed and Daniel Herring

On the weekend of February 21-22, Daniel Herring won his first Omega Billiards Tour Stop!  The event was $,1,500 added with 80 players and held at The Billiard Den in Richardson, Texas.  
 
After a great opening day on Saturday, there was still a lot of great competing going on.  By Sunday afternoon, Tommy Ulbik defeated Curtis Cardwell hill-hill, then Steve Raynes 6-3, and also Jeremy Jones 6-6 to win a spot in the hotseat.  Daniel Herring defeated Crispian Ng 7-3, Steve Collins 7-4, and Denny Sneed 7-1 to also win a spot in the hotseat.    
 
On the one-loss side, 2014 Tour Champion Nick Conner defeated Phillip Palmer 8-2 and Crispian Ng 8-2 before running into a determined Denny Sneed who won 7-1.  Barry Emerson defeated Paul Guernsey 8-4, Steve Collins 8-3, Cory Anderson 8-6, and Jeremy Jones 8-5.  
 
Barry and Denny were then battling it and it went hill-hill with Denny coming out on top.  Barry would place 4th.  
 
In the hotseat, another battle was going on between Daniel and Tommy.  It was the first time for each to be in the hotseat and both were playing really, really well.  When the smoke cleared, Tommy had won hill-hill.  This sent Daniel to the one-loss side where Denny Sneed was waiting.  Denny was the farthest traveler (from Odessa, Texas) and he got off to a good start against Daniel, up 4-1.  Daniel didn’t give up though and won the next 6 games and defeated Denny 7-4.  Denny would get another third place under his belt on the Omega Tour!  
 
Daniel then matched up against Tommy again, this time in the finals.  Daniel won the first set in the double elimination format by a score of 7-2.  He would repeat that score in the second set to earn him his first Omega Tour stop title!  
 
After the event, Tournament Director Melinda Bailey talked to both players.  She asked Daniel how it felt and he said, “Great.”  That’s it?  “Okay, it feels awesome.  I was upset I lost the hosteat match hill-hill and then when I found myself down 4-1, I didn’t want my tourney to end that way.  Then I won 6 in a row to get another chance in the finals.  I felt like I’ve been due for a win for quite some time.  I haven’t won a big tournament in many years, so this feels really awesome.  ”
 
Tommy was a little deflated to get second, but still very happy with his highest finish yet.  Tommy said, “I just tried to forget about my misses and play the right shot.”  Well, it worked!
 
Daniel would win his FIRST Omega event and Tommy would place an impressive 2nd out of 80 players!  Congratulations to ALL the players!!  
 
A HUGE thank you goes out to our sponsors Omega Billiards Supply, Predator Cues, Poison Break Cues, BCAPL/CSI, and Lucasi and Players Cues.  We would also like to give a big thanks to our additional sponsors, Wallace Custom Cues, OB Cues, Irving Ink and Thread, Pro Billiard Service, AZBilliards.com, Billiards Digest, and BilliardsPress.com.
 
Melinda Bailey would like to thank The Billiard Den owners and staff for their awesome hospitality all weekend!  A big thank you also goes out to Michael Hoang, main sponsor of the Tour and owner of Omega Billiards Supply in Hurst, TX.  Michael and Omega Billiards Supply are well known for the huge booths at many of the large tournaments across the country. 
 
The next stop of the Omega Billiards Tour will be March 28-29 at Pucketts in Fort Worth, Texas.  $1,500 added and limited to 80 players.   Still 6 more stops left before the $4,500 Season Finale!  Pool is alive and thriving in Texas!   Check out the website for more details on how to get involved in the Dallas-Fort Worth area pool tour:
 
http://www.omegabilliardstour.com/
And follow the brackets live online at:  http://omegatour.challonge.com/

Jersey Jack Lynch Nabs Top Spot at Omega Billiards Tour Second Stop of 2014

Jack Lynch

On the weekend of February 22-23, Jersey Jack Lynch claimed the top prize at the second stop of the 2014 Omega Billiards Tour at the Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.  Jersey captured that first place spot by winning through a tough field of 80 players!     
 
Over $9,500 was given out in monies and prizes that weekend! (Tourney payouts + prizes + player’s auction.)  
 
After a bye, Jersey defeated David Josephson 7-5, then end-of-season-champ, Anthony Shea 7-4, then Steve Raynes and Kenny Rowell 7-5 each to meet newcomer Frankie Juarbe.  Jersey would defeat Frankie hill-hill – another close match – to meet up with another newcomer to the tour, Steve Collins, in the hotseat 
 
Steve Collins made his way to the hotseat with a first round bye, then wins over Jeff Georges 6-3, Linh Nguyen 6-2, Willie Speed 6-2 and then a nail biter 6-7 over David Gutierrez to meet Jersey in the hotseat match.  
 
David G would go on the one-loss side and defeat birthday boy Steve Raynes 9-5, Frankie Juarbe 9-2 then Nick Conner 9-6.  
 
Jersey was doing damage in the hotseat match and won over Steve Collins 7-2 which pitted Steve Collins and David against each other on the one-loss side for the semi-finals.  Steve Collins would win hill-hill (6-8) over David, which sealed Steve to play a re-match with Jersey Jack in the finals.
 
It was late in the night when the finals started and the first match would go hill-hill!  Steve would prevail over Jersey Jack in the first set hill-hill to force a second match in this true double elimination tournament.
 
Jersey wasn’t done though and made a comeback and prevailed with great play and a score of 7-3 to win his first Omega Tour stop!!  
 
Jersey earned $925 for First Place and Steve Collins earned $530 for Second Place.  David had another great tourney placing 3rd and earned $400 and Nick Conner rounded out the top 4 with $340 for his fine play (payouts do not reflect the Player Auction).  Special mention to David “Doc” Reyes and Frankie Juarbe for placing their highest finish yet on the tour:  5th/6th!
 
Congratulations to ALL of the players for their fine play and great finishes!
 
This event was the Omega Billiards Tour’s second stop with $1,500 added with 80 players!!  The Predator Player Tracker is back on and the top three players at the end of the year will win a plethora of Predator Prizes!  Five more stops to see who gets all the Predator products!  Further, fourth through eighth places at the end of the year rankings will each receive a free entry into the 2015 BCAPL Nationals!  
A HUGE thank you goes out to Predator Cues, Poison Break Cues, BCAPL/CSI, and Lucasi and Players Cues.  We would also like to give a big thanks to our additional sponsors, OB Cues, Irving Ink and Thread, Pro Billiard Service, Wallace Custom Cues, AZBilliards.com, and BilliardsPress.com.
 
Tour Director Melinda Bailey would like to thank the Billiard Den and their awesome staff for their great hospitality all weekend!  A big thank you also goes out to Michael Hoang, main sponsor of the Tour and owner of Omega Billiards Supply in Hurst, TX.  Michael and Omega Billiards Supply are well known for the huge booths at many of the large tournaments across the country. 
 
The 2014 Omega Billiards Tour calendar is already set with 5 more stops and a Season Finale.  The third stop will be held at JR Pockets in Denton, Texas April 26-27, 2014!  Each stop is limited to 80 players (an increase from 64) and the monies guaranteed added has increased to $1,500 for each stop!!  Pool is alive and thriving in Texas!! 
 
The 2014 Schedule is online and payments can be received via the Omega Tour website. 
http://www.omegabilliardstour.com/
 
Thank you to all the players, fans, sponsors and pool rooms!!!