The purse was $1,500 added, $50 entry, 100% payout, no hidden fees. Starcade Billiards does it right every single time. The format was double elimination, with 9 ball express rules in effect. Winner’s brackets matches were races to nine and loser’s bracket matches were races to seven on Saturday and race to nine for both sides on Sunday.
The Jordan “Cash” team was in top form from start to finish, with both brothers making it to the final four of the undefeated bracket. Jamie Baraks beat Jeff Jordan 9-5. But Randy Jordan easily bested local favorite, Josh Hillard, by a lop-sided score of 9-1. And then Randy proceeded to beat Jamie 9-5 to capture the hot seat.
Meanwhile, on the final four of the one loss side, Pablo Matheu eliminated Denny Singletary, and Stoney Stone gave Denny Fox his marching orders, as well. Then Jeff Jordan sent Pablo to the bleachers, and Josh Hillard handed Stoney Stone his marching orders. This left Jamie Baraks waiting for the winner between Jeff Jordan and Josh Hillard, with Josh besting Jeff 9-6.
So then there were only three…
Out of the three remaining, Jamie Baraks had 5 top 3 finishes, being the runner-up twice. And this time we would crown a new champion. All defending title holders had been eliminated. So Jamie squared off with Josh, and the winner would earn a rematch with Randy Jordan and another title attempt. Josh would earn the opportunity to redeem his previous title attempts with a 9-4 victory over Jamie. And these two have been knocking on the winning door for quite some time now.
Over the last two decades, I have personally witnessed Josh Hillard play in the finals of this tournament at least 3 times, possibly 4, losing to Tommy Kennedy, David Broxson, and Pablo Matheu – making this his 4th attempt to capture the much coveted title.
The championship match would be an extended single race to twelve. This time, however, Josh was holding the winning ticket with some really solid play and defeated Randy 12 to 7.
Tony Crosby, Daniel McKinney, Benji Buckey and room owner Mike Zingale
With competitors like Mosconi Cup team member Sky Woodward, former US Open Champion Tommy Kennedy, Robb Saez and Shane McMinn (among others) on the entrant list, one might have been forgiven for expecting a series of marquee matchups in the final hours of the Florida State 10-Ball Open, held on the weekend of January 7-8. Instead, in what must surely have been a surprise to Calcutta participants, you had Daniel McKenny and Benji Buckley battling twice – hot seat and finals – with Buckley, who was the 2016 champion, taking the first and McKenny claiming the title by winning the last. The $4,000-added event drew 77 entrants to Zingale's Billiards and Sports Bar in Tallahassee, FL.
With the aforementioned marquee players at work on the loss side (none of whom would make it out of the 7/8 slots), McKenny and Buckley advanced to the winners' side semifinals; McKenny taking on Butch Croft, Buckley meeting Stoney Stone. McKenny moved into the hot seat match with a 7-1 victory over Croft, while Buckley downed Stone 7-4. For the second year in a row, Buckley claimed the hot seat, this time 7-2 and waited for McKenny to get back from the semifinals.
On the loss side, the 'marquee four' found themselves battling in the second (9/12) money round. Saez eliminated Woodward 7-5, McMinn took care of Clint Nichols 7-1, and Denny Singletary finished Tommy Kennedy's weekend 7-5. Manny Perez knocked tour director Tony Crosby out of the running 7-4. McMinn and Saez were eliminated next; McMinn by Singletary, double hill, and Saez by Perez 7-3.
Singletary drew Stone, coming off his defeat in the winners' side semifinal, and Perez picked up Croft, coming off his. Singletary and Croft got right back into the swing of things and advanced to the quarterfinals; Singletary 7-3 over Stone, Croft surviving a double hill fight against Perez.
The quarterfinals were, at minimum, a $300 contest (the payout difference between 3rd and 4th place) and went double hill. Croft denied Stone a second shot against Buckley with the double hill win that gave him a shot. The semifinals were a $500 minimum battle (the difference between 2nd and 3rd place) and it almost went double hill. At the end, though, McKenny edged ahead by two 7-5 to get his second shot (an absolute $1,000 contest) against the reigning event champion, Buckley.
McKenny pulled it off. For the second match in a row, he was able to get ahead by two at the end to win it (9-7) and snatch the Florida State 10-Ball title away from Buckley.
A $1,000-added Second Chance event, which drew 50 entrants, saw Jamie Baraks go undefeated to claim the title. Baraks and Matt Bulfin, after shutting out their opponents (Jessie Middlebrooks and George Saunders, respectively) in the two winners' side semifinals, squared off in the hot seat match, won by Baraks 4-1. Bulfin downed Rod Rentz, double hill, in the semifinals, before Baraks defeated him a second time 5-3 in the finals.
Tour director Tony Crosby thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality and contribution to the prize money. Crosby also noted that anyone interested in sponsoring the Florida Pool Tour should visit the tour Web site (http://www.floridapooltour.com) for contact information.
The purse was $1,500 added, $50 entry, 100% payout, no hidden fees. Starcade Billiards does it right every single time. Robert Harris, Harris Cues, co-sponsored the event and raffled off a beautiful $1,500 cue and awarded another cue to the Champion, as well. The format was double elimination, 9 ball express rules were effect, winner’s brackets races to nine and loser’s bracket races to seven on both days. However, this was the first time the Magic Rack was implemented. So it’s safe to say that many balls were made on the break, which amounted to many break-and-runs and some very lop-sided matches.
Mike Davis captured the hot seat basically uncontested, and it’s worthy to mention he skunked Tommy Kennedy 9-0, allowing him only one shot the entire match!
Meanwhile, Jamie Baraks and Nathan Rose were in dead stroke. Mike was waiting for the winner of the Rose-Baraks match, and it was Rose who prevailed this time. Baraks made it to the finals the past event in February this year where Davis also won, but this time had to settle for the 3rd place envelope of cash.
The final match was a single race to 12. Mike took the crown undefeated by a score of 12-3 over Rose.
Tommy Kennedy was ahead 2-1 in a game against Stoney Stone, during the March 1-2 stop on the Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, when things went a little south, as they say. Stone made a difficult jump shot and cleared the table to tie things at 2-2. Kennedy never got back to the table, as Stone went on a five-game run to win the match. Stone would advance to the hot seat, but Kennedy would come back, winning seven in a row on the loss side, to meet and defeat Stone in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 37 entrants to Pockets, in Dothan, AL.
As Kennedy was at work on the loss side, Stone advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Jared Stevens. Denny Singletary and Rick Howard met up in the other one. Stone got by Stevens 9-5 and in the winners' side final, met Singletary, who'd defeated Howard 9-6. Stone got into the hot seat 9-7 over Singletary and waited on TK.
It was Stevens who ran into Kennedy on the loss side. Kennedy had opened his seven-match, loss-side journey with victories over Scotty Townsend, Rob McGlothine, Jesse Middlebrooks and Jim Majors (forfeit), before drawing Stevens. Howard drew Matt Bulfin, who'd defeated Carl Salaski 7-3 and Mike Townsend (son to Scotty) 9-6 to reach him.
Kennedy advanced to the quarterfinals 9-3 over Stevens, where he was met by Bulfin, who'd eliminated Howard 9-6. Kennedy chalked up loss-side wins # 6 and # 7 by defeating Bulfin in the quarterfinals 9-7 and Singletary in the semifinals 9-5.
In his re-match against Stone in the finals, Kennedy reversed his fortunes by keeping Stone seated most of the time. He got out to an early lead, chalked up several break and run racks, held his own in safety play and ended up shutting out Stone out 11-0 to claim the event title.
Hayley Clucks took home $50 as the event's top female finisher. Joe Davis took home the same amount as the top senior finisher, and 14-year-old Trey Austin pocketed $25 as the top junior in the competition.
In his role as tour director, Kennedy thanked his assistants Bo Nelson and Joe Davis, along with Ronald Ready and his Pockets' staff. He also thanked signature sponsor Tiger Products, along with J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Simonis Cloth, Mueller Recreational Products and Andy Gilbert Cues. He also made special mention of sponsor Chris Nitti Custom Cues, noting that his victory in this event was his third straight playing with a Chris Nitti Cue.
Stevie Moore successfully worked his way through a field of 27, on-hand for the Saturday, December 7 stop on the Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour, but not before being challenged by Scotty Townsend, who came from deep on the loss-side to meet him in the finals. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Game Land Billiards in Albany, GA, which added $235 to bring the top prize to $1,000.
Moore was among the final four winners, and faced Denny Singletary in one of the winners' side semifinals. Don Cossart met up with Stoney Stone in the other. Moore got into the hot seat match with a 9-5 victory over Singletary, as Cossart sent Stone over 9-7. Moore downed Cossart 9-5, claiming the hot seat.
On the loss side, Townsend was working his way back, defeating James Parr and tour director Tommy Kennedy to draw Singletary.
"Scotty was really playing well," said Kennedy. "The best I've seen him play in two years."
Stone, in the meantime, drew Jesse Middlebrooks, who'd gotten by Randy Jordan and Adam Towery. By identical 7-4 scores, Townsend and Stone eliminated Singletary and Middlebrooks, and squared off in the quarterfinals. Townsend then dropped Stone into fourth place 7-5, and completed his loss-side run with a 7-3 victory over Cossart in the semifinals.
It was, by this time, getting late. By mutual agreement, Townsend and Moore opted out of playing a final match, choosing to split the top two prizes, leaving Moore as the undefeated title winner.
Tour director Kennedy thanked Bo Nelson and the staff at Game Land Billiards for their hospitality and the added money. He also thanked sponsors Tiger Products, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Mueller Recreational Products, Chris Nitti Custom Cues, Chris Hightower of Cue Man Billiards, David Adams of Byron, GA and Simonis Cloth.
Tour director Tommy Kennedy had no idea who Jared McGee was until he faced him in the quarterfinals of the July 20-21 stop on Kennedy's Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. Kennedy knows who he is now, because McGee, in the midst of a five-match, loss-side streak when they met, defeated Kennedy and went on to defeat hot seat occupant, Bucky Souvanthong, to claim the event title. The $1,000-added event drew 34 entrants to Pockets in Dothan, AL.
McGee and Kennedy were moved to the loss bracket in the same, winners' side final eight round; McGee, by Scotty Townsend and Kennedy, by Max Oliver. Townsend moved on to face Souvanthong, as Oliver drew Matt Bulfin. Souvanthong sent Townsend west 9-5, and in the battle for the hot seat, met Bulfin, who'd defeated Oliver 9-7. Souvanthong got into the hot seat 9-6 over Bulfin, and waited on McGee.
Townsend drew Kennedy, who'd defeated Stoney Stone, and then, Scotty Townsend's son, Michael; thus denying father (Scotty) and son (Michael) an opportunity to compete. Oliver had the misfortune of picking up the man he'd sent west, one match before – McGee, who'd gotten by Josh Hillard and Denny Singletary.
Kennedy followed his defeat of the Townsend son, by defeating the Townsend father 9-7. He was introduced, in the quarterfinals, to McGee, who'd eliminated Oliver 9-2. Kennedy learned all he needed to know about McGee, when the younger man allowed him only a single rack in the quarterfinals.
McGee moved on and defeated Bulfin in the semifinals 9-5. In the single, race-to-11 final, Souvanthong put up a fight, but McGee edged ahead to win it by two, 11-9, and claim the event title.
Claude Marrier had won five straight on the loss side for the right to meet Matt Bulfin in the finals of the July 28-29 stop on the Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. He also came back from an early 6-1 Bulfin lead in those finals to reach the hill, three games ahead. Bulfin, though, fought back to win the final four games, capturing the event title, and finishing undefeated to take his second straight victory on the SE Open 9-Ball Tour. The $1,000-added event drew 36 entrants to Pockets in Dothan, AL.
From among the winners’ side final four, Bulfin met up with David Hennessy, as tour director Tommy Kennedy squared off against Stoney Stone. Bulfin got into the hot seat match with a 9-7 win over Hennessy, as Stone battled to double hill, before prevailing over Kennedy. Stone fought Bulfin to double hill, as well, but Bulfin had the final say to sit in the hot seat awaiting Marrier’s return.
Sent west by David Hennessy, from among the winners’ side final eight, Marrier got his five-match march back to the finals underway with a 7-4 victory over Arthur Huynh, and then shut out Mike Townsend, who had just completed a double hill win over his father, Scotty Townsend, in what Kennedy said was the first time the two had met on his tour. Marrier advanced to pick up Kennedy. Hennessy drew J.R. Rossman, who’d gotten by Tracie Majors 7-3 and picked up a forfeit win over Detroit Griffin. Rossman spoiled a potential Hennessy/Marrier rematch by defeating Hennessy, double hill, as Marrier survived his own double hill battle against Kennedy.
Marrier went on to defeat Rossman in the quarterfinals 9-4. He then spoiled Stone’s bid to get back to the finals for a re-match versus Bulfin with a 9-3 win in the semifinals.
Bulfin took a commanding 6-1 lead in the race-to-11 finals, but watched as Marrier won eight straight for a 9-6 lead of his own. Bulfin narrowed the margin by a single game, before Marrier came back to reach the hill first. Bulfin fought back, and at 10-9, Marrier made a kick shot on the 8-ball that hung in the hole. Bulfin made the shot, and though left tough on the 9-ball, completed the rack to knot things at double hill. Bulfin then broke and ran to snatch his victory from the proverbial jaws of defeat.
Park Avenue Billiards, Orange Park, Fl was the latest location to host the Poison Tour event, May 19th-20th 2012. The event drew a low but very strong 26 man field.
Local Matt Deweese would prove to be just too much for everybody on this occasion, making his way to the final with strong wins over Matt Wilson 7-6, Cal McGann 7-4, Jason Wells 7-0, Dave Pencar 7-1 and then a 7-0 white wash over Don (Iron Mike) Griffin to take the hotseat.
The one loss side would see Cal McGann looking strong after taking a 2nd round loss to Matt Deweese, McGann would go on to defeat Luke Collins 5-1, Dave Ross 5-1, Mike Delawder 5-1, Bobby Garza 5-4 Dave Pencar 5-1 and then Jason Bowen 5-0 to set up a semi final match with Don Griffin. With a place in the final at stake both players were making the most of their chances taking the match all the way with Don Griffin eventually coming out a 5-4 winner.
The final would see Griffin get his chance at revenge but Deweese had nothing else in mind but taking home the 1st place prize and the beautiful Glass Poison Tour Trophy. This match would prove to be a much tighter affair with both players trading racks early on, Deweese would however eventually end up taking it down with a strong 7-5 win. Congrats to Matt Deweese for taking his first Poison tour title.
The 10-ball event drew 21 players with another home town player Dave Grossman proving to be too strong, as he made his way to the hotseat match with strong wins over Ramel Brown 7-4, Warren Sandifer 7-6, Don (Iron Mike) Griffin 7-3, Tom Mittnight 7-6 and then a strong 7-3 win over Tony Crosby to capture the hotseat.
On the one loss side Stoney Stone was looking very dangerous after taking a 7-3 loss to Tony Crosby, Stone would go on to defeat Ramel Brown 6-5, Jason Bowen 6-4, Matt Deweese 6-3, Tom Mittnight and then Tony Crosby 6-4. Grossman was not feeling great after a couple of hours hanging around and with the time approaching 1am both Players agreed to do a split. Grossman however would be the undefeated player on the day.
We would like to say a big thank you to Park Avenue Billiards and our title sponsors Poison Cues. We also have just announced a one day $1000 added amateur event only, at Stoker’s Billiards Palm Harbor Fl, 16th June. Check out our new site at www.poisonpooltour.com for more info.
Tommy Kennedy came from the loss side of an Open event on his own Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour on Saturday, April 14, and defeated hot seat occupant, Denny Singletary, in the finals. Singletary would go on, the next day, to win the tour stop’s Amateur event. The $1,000-added events ($500 each), hosted by Zingale’s Billiards in Tallahassee, FL drew 25 (Open) and 19 (Amateur) entrants.
While the Open event featured Kennedy’s return from the loss side to win, the Amateur event featured some headline matchups, outside the realm of its top winners. First among these was a 5th/6th place match between room owner Mike Zingale and his father, Jim. The other story was about 11-year-old Landon Harris, who, though finishing in the four-way tie for 9th, turned a few heads with back-to-back, double hill victories against much older opponents (Brandon Posey and Dylan Clark).
The seeds for the Zingale family match in the Amateur event were sown among the winners’ side final four, when son, Mike, was sent west by Singletary 6-3. J.R. Rossman, in the meantime, who had been eliminated by Kennedy in the Open event the day before, faced and defeated Huyen (pronounced “win”) Cam 6-1. In the hot seat match, Singletary and Rossman battled to double hill before Rossman prevailed to deny Singletary his second hot seat occupancy of the weekend.
Cam moved to the loss side and picked up Joe Davis, while Mike Zingale ran into his father, Jim. Davis defeated Cam 5-2, and the younger Zingale defeated the elder Zingale by the same score. Davis then dropped the younger Zingale into fourth place in a double hill match, only to be dropped himself into third place by Singletary, whose 5-1 victory put him into the finals for the second time. He won it this time, defeating Rossman 9-4 to capture the Amateur title.
It was a set of three, 7-5 victories among the final four winners that left Singletary in the hot seat in the Open event on Saturday. Kennedy was sent west by Jimmy Garza, Singletary sent Stoney Stone over, and finally, in the hot seat battle, Singletary sent Garza to the semifinals.
Kennedy moved over and picked up Rossman, while Stone drew Arthur Hynh. Kennedy and Stone picked up where they’d left off, defeating Rossman 6-2 and Hynh 6-4, and turning to face each other in the quarterfinals. Kennedy finished Stone’s day 6-4, and then in a ‘vengeance is sweet’ moment completely shut out the man who’d sent him to the loss side (Garza) in the semifinals. He completed his three-match, loss-side winning streak with a 9-6 win in the finals that secured the event title.
Ashleigh Harrel picked up $50 as the top female finisher in the Open event, and John Amiss picked up $50, as well, as the oldest player in the event. The elder Zingale won a $50 prize for being the oldest player in the Amateur event. Two women – Tracie Majors and Jessica Fincher – split a $50 prize as top finishers in the Amateur tourney, while 11-year-old Landon Harris picked up $25 as the top finishing junior.
Tour director Tommy Kennedy thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Tiger Products, Mueller Recreational Products, David Adams, Ed Cabrera, Simonis Cloth, Cliff Manning of Manning Custom Cues, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, and Harris Cue Company.
Zingales Billiards hosted the latest Poison Tour event with 75 players showing up over the weekend.
Saturday’s event would see some players dodging a few tornados with the weather conditions in Fl taking a turn for the worst. One man was making his own storm in the pool room would be Chad Royal.
Royal would cruise his way to the hotseat with strong wins over Clint Nichols 7-2, Michael Zingale 7-3, Jason Moran 7-4, Jason Bowen 7-5 and then a strong win over Robert Van Slyke 7-4 to capture the hotseat. Nick Applebee was looking dangerous on the one loss side after taking a first round loss to Howie Gordon he would record strong wins over Lee Caldwell 5-2, Jakie Bell 5-0, Duane Bourgeoix 5-3, Michael Zingale 5-0, Jacob Pressacco 5-4, Mark Shimelman 5-3 before taking his 2nd loss on the day to Jason Bowen 5-3 to leave Applebee with a 5th place finish. Bowen would then go on to receive a forfeit over Howie Gordon which he followed up with a strong 5-1 win over Robert Van Slyke to set up a rematch final with Chad Royal. Royal had one thing in mind and that was the winners crown as he played a very strong final to beat Jason Bowen 7-2 to take his first Poison Amateur tour title.
Congratulation to 9th-12th place finishers Jacob Pressacco, Denny Singletary, Kurt Hardeman and Clint Nichols all received a paid entry into Sundays open event.
The $1000 Added open 10-ball event would a draw a full 32 man field. Cliff Joyner made his way to the hotseat with strong wins over James Roberts 7-2, Lamarr Daughtry 7-5, Brandon Beatty 7-3, Stoney Stone 7-2 and then David Hennessy 7-2 to capture the hosteat.
Home town boy Stoney Stone would prove why he is a local favorite by making his way back through the field with wins over Tracie Majors 5-1, Jason Bowen 5-2 and then a 5-3 win over David Hennessy to set up a final with Cliff Joyner. Stoney would have to defeat Joyner in a race to 7 to force a 1 rack sudden death shoot out and he did just that, taking the first race to 7 with a strong 7-2 win.
The 1 rack shootout would see Joyner win the lag and take the break this would be his last shot as scratch would give ball in had to Stoney and that all he needed to run out the balls to take down the Poison Tour title.
The tour would like to thank room owner Michael Zingale and his staff for hosting a great event, also all the players that showed up over the weekend with such tough weather conditions. Also Poison Cues our Title Sponsors for supplying the best cues on the market.
Our next event will be at Capone’s March 31st-April 1st, we look forward to seeing you there.
