The Diamond Pool Tour wrapped up their 2016 with a four-day season finale at Casino Del Sol Resort and Casino in Tucson on November 17th – 20th.
Day one of the event was about tour prizes and the “Big Dog” 9-Ball event. Casino Del Sol provided a great dinner for all of the players in attendance as Mitch Ellerman and Oscar Avila Sr. were presented with their tour point list prizes from tour sponsors Volturi Cases and Hanshew Custom Cues. Both players will also receive custom cues from tour sponsor QB Custom Cues. The drawing was also held for the pool table from tour sponsor Diamond Billiard Products. Players had earned entries in the drawing by playing in each event during the season. Proving that maybe he should be buying lottery tickets, Tucson’s Mike Hamman won the table drawing for the second straight year. Congrats to Mike, and good luck finding room for those tables.
Thursday night also saw eight players toss $100 into the ring to compete in a single elimination 10-ball mini tourney. Proving they had no fears about stepping up against the big boys, last year’s top junior Nick Kline and up and coming young gun Sam Lenschow both competed in this event. While neither won a match, it would be far from the last that the players would see of Lenschow at this event. The tourney came down to New Mexico’s Brian Begay and Gus Briseno. Briseno held an 8-6 lead in the final match, but Begay came back to score a 9-8 win for first place. Begay earned $800 for first, while Briseno settled for $400.
The main event kicked off early Friday evening with 48 players all playing at least one match across both “A” and “B” divisions.
Nineteen players made up the “A” bracket with the biggest Friday upset Mitch Ellerman’s early trip to the one loss side, courtesy of Brian Begay.
The “B” bracket saw twenty-nine players in action. The biggest surprise on day one wasn’t a result, as much as a score as JR Ascension scored a dominating 9-2 win over Junior Flores.
Saturday play saw each bracket whittled down to eight players each. The “A” bracket saw Scott Frost, Gus Briseno and Bret Huth joined by Tucson’s Kevin Peterson on the right side of the board. The one loss side was a dogfight all day, with Ellerman scoring wins over George Teyechea and Tom Dilorenzo to keep his tournament hopes alive. Begay bounced back from a 9-2 beatdown from Frost to eliminate Tonee Allin and qualify for the final day. Ellerman and Begay were joined by Mickey Provencio and Steve Peterman on the one loss side.
The “B” bracket saw Casino Del Sol’s own Paul Feltman Jr. cruise through the winner's side to stay undefeated. Feltman was joined on the winner’s side by Oscar Avila Sr., Todd Rowitz and Al Terpstra. The one loss side saw Sam Lenschow put on a show. Lenschow eked by Kent Bybee 9-8, but then defeated Mike Howerton 9-5 and Eric Beeler 9-6. Lenschow would be joined by JR Ascension, Adam Kroll and Steve Stowers.
Sunday play saw tournament favorite Scott Frost shown to the one loss side, courtesy of Brian Begay, 9-6. Peterson sent Bret Huth to the left side of the board by the same 9-6 score. Briseno would then go on to take the “A” bracket hot-seat with a 9-4 win over Peterson. Ellerman would be unstoppable on the left side with wins over Provencio, Frost, Huth and Peterson.
The “B” bracket hot-seat was taken by Feltman Jr. with wins over Avila and Rowitz. Lenschow would keep knocking down players on the left side of the board with wins over Terpstra and Stowers. He would finally fall to Todd Rowitz 9-5 and settle for a very impressive 5th place finish.
When the brackets came together, the “A” players did their jobs with Briseno sending Feltman to the left side 9-6, and Ellerman eliminating Rowitz 9-3. With the finish line in sight, Ellerman then sent Feltman Jr. back to his office with a 9-1 scoreline.
The final match would only go one set, with Briseno displaying his “A” game and grinding out a hill-hill win over Ellerman in the first set.
With the second season in the books, plans are underway for season three with changes already being planned. Stay tuned in early 2017 for announcements regarding those changes.
Scott Frost knew he would have to defeat the best that Arizona pool has to offer in order to win his second Diamond Pool Tour of the season at Stingers on June 6th – 7th; what he wasn’t expecting was that he would also have to beat a couple of the best players that France and Spain have to offer.
The field of seventy one players was split with twenty six “A” players and forty five “B” players in attendance. Fans were treated by the play of French National Champion Nicolas Kalb and top Spanish player Daniel Jimenez, who took a break from visiting friends in Las Vegas to come out to Arizona and see how they fared against the players on the Diamond Tour. Kalb would score wins over JR Burhart and Gus Briseno before dropping a 5-3 match to Frost. Jimenez would score wins over JR Jiron and Nick De Leon before falling to James Lester 5-4. Frost would go on to take the “A bracket” hot-seat with a 5-2 win over Lester.
Play was extremely competitive in the “B bracket” with Ed Scott and Joey Barrera distancing themselves from the pack. Barrera had notable wins over Brian Poore, Oscar Avila and Sara Miller before beating Scott for the “B Bracket” hot-seat.
With a 7th place finish in the event, Sara Miller easily won the Greenmail top lady bonus, as well as the ladies side pot.
While Bobby Emmons finished out of the money, he did earn the $50 Greenmail bounty on last month’s winner Spike Aiardo. Aiardo turned in an uncharacteristic “2 and out” performance, with losses to Mike Sandoval and Emmons.
When the two brackets came together on Sunday, it was Frost scoring a 5-2 win over Barrera on the winner’s side, and Spain’s Jimenez defeating Tony Page 5-3 on the one loss side. Jimenez went on to defeat Barrera by the same 5-3 score, but could only manage two racks in the lone set of the finals as Frost won 5-2.
The Neil’s Garage Cabinets Second Chance tournament saw JR Burkhart defeat a field of seventeen players for first place. Burkhart defeated Jamie Cole 3-2 for the hot-seat and then blanked Todd Rowitz 3-0 in the first set of the finals.
Presenting Sponsor, Casino Del Sol Resort, provided vouchers for all of the players in attendance. Each voucher was good for a $60 credit at the Casino’s amphitheater.
There was no movement at the top of either points list with Frost and Nick Kline leading their respective lists. Aiardo still clings to second place on the “A Player” list, while Barrera and Rick Schmitz are tied for second place on the “B Player” list.
Tour organizers expressed their thanks to Dale and his staff for putting up with us pool players for two long days. Lenny Marshall put in overtime at this event as he manned the streaming camera and commentary all weekend. Rick Schmitz was also on hand, providing the tour with more great photos. The tour just wouldn’t be the same without the help of everyone involved.
The Diamond Pool Tour will take July off, for a well deserved summer break, but will be back in action on August 15th and 16th for the Arizona State One Pocket Championship at Kolby’s Corner Pocket in Tempe.
Spike Aiardo battled a very tough George Bell to win the Diamond Pool Tour’s fourth stop at Pockets Pool & Pub in Tucson, Az on May 2nd – 3rd.
The field of 57 players was split with 20 “A” players and 37 “B” players, playing 8-Ball on the 9’ tables. With points leaders Scott Frost and Bobby Emmons not in attendance, the “A” bracket was wide open for a new player to make a name for themselves. That player would be Spike Aiardo who cruised through the bracket without a loss. Aiardo survived a close call in his first match, when he beat Las Vegas’ Bob Herchik 7-6, but it was smooth sailing after that as Aiardo took down Rudy Alameda 7-0, Brian Reich 7-2, and New Mexico’s Mickey Provencio 7-2 for the “A” bracket hot-seat.
The “B” bracket was led by “Hollywood” George Bell, in his first ever Diamond Pool Tour stop. Bell had a tough draw all day, with notable wins over Eric Lervold, Mike Hamman and Jesse Johnson to his credit. Bell took the “B” bracket hot-seat with a hill-hill win over Mike Bevins. That was was Bell’s third hill-hill win of the weekend.
The Greenmail top lady bonus went to Heather Cortez this month. She pocketed $100 for her 13th place finish in the “B” bracket. This was the third consecutive tournament where Cortez won at least a piece of the top lady bonus.
Once again, there was no Greenmail bounty awarded, since previous winner Joven Bustamante couldn’t make it from the Philippines to play in the event.
The “A” and “B” brackets came together on Sunday with Aiardo facing Bell on the winners side, and Andy Kachur taking on Todd Rowitz on the one loss side. Kachur eliminated Rowitz in a 7-1 match that saw both players struggle with the shot clock that was implemented due to the late hour. On the winner’s side, Bell stunned Aiardo 7-4 to become the first “B” player to win an overall hot-seat on the tour.
Aiardo righted his ship after the loss and eliminated Kachur 7-3, for another shot at Bell in the finals. Award would make the most of that rematch, defeating Bell 7-2 and 7-1 for his first (but certainly not last) Diamond Pool Tour win.
The Neil’s Garage Cabinets Second Chance tournament on Sunday found a field of eight players competing for just over $400 in prize money. The event was won by Lee Brown, who held off Ronnie Kidd in the second set of the double elimination finals.
Presenting sponsor, Casino Del Sol Resort, again took care of all of the tour players, presenting each player with a voucher for $60 credit at the Casino’s amphitheater. Players at the June stop will also receive one of these vouchers.
The tournament win catapulted Aiardo to second place on the “A” player points list, while Bell’s second place finish moved him into a tie for 6th place on the “B” player points list. Scott Frost and Nick Kline still lead the “A” and “B” lists respectively.
Tour organizers expressed their thanks to Curtis and Lenny, as well as their amazing staff, for sticking with the long hours involved with this event. Lenny Marshall, once again, provided great streaming coverage. George Teyechea, the voice of the Diamond Pool Tour, provided fans with informative streaming commentary all weekend long. As always, Rick Schmitz took another batch of amazing pictures for the tour.
The Diamond Pool Tour will return to Stingers Sports Bar in Glendale, Az on June 6th – 7th for 8-ball on the 7’ Diamond Smart Tables.
