Four events into last season on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour, Bucky Souvanthong had played in all four final matches and won half of the stops. This season is a different story though, as the tour crowned a fourth different champion at Sharpshooters Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY on October 8th – 9th.
Souvanthong did go through Saturday without a loss, joining Ron Casanzio, Qais Kolee and Nate Marshall on the winners side on Sunday morning. Souvanthong sent Casanzio to the left side of the board 9-6 on Sunday morning, while Kolee did the same to Marshall 9-4. The hot-seat match went to Souvanthong 9-6 and it looked like he might notch his first tour stop of the season.
Nate Marshall was waiting for Kolee on the one loss side after wins over Barry Hetherington (who had been riding a four match winning streak) and Casanzio, but Kolee made quick work of him 7-2 to book the rematch with Souvanthong in the finals.
The final match was not just a rematch from the hot-seat match, but it was also a rematch from the final match of the Northeast 9-Ball Open XXXII at Sharpshooters back in February of 2020, when Kolee beat Souvanthong in the first set of the finals 9-4 for his first Joss Tour win. The first set of the finals this time was also a 9-4 scoreline with Kolee winning again. That left one race to seven to determine the winner, and it was Kolee with a hill-hill win for his second tour stop win and first of the new 2022/2023 season.
Sundays second chance event saw Tom Acciavatti get off to a slow start with a 3-0 loss to Aaron Greenwood in the first round, but Acciavatti quickly got things under control and rattled off eight straight wins, including back to back wins over Mark Creamer in the finals, for the tournament win.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be at Utica Billiards on the Boulevard in Utica, NY this weekend for another $1500/$500 added event.
Congratulations to stop # 4 winners Qays Kolee ($1,000 main event) and Tom Acciavatti ($300 second chance)
Stop #5 of my Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour’s 2022/2023 (26th) season will take place at the beautiful new Utica Billiards On The Boulevard in Utica, NY on Sat. & Sun. Oct. 15 & 16. This will be one of three stops this season in this beautiful room opened recently by our good friend Andrea Duvall. Andrea has created a modern, bright and welcoming room featuring 10 Brunswick Gold Crowns that will be used for our event. There is also a 10-ft heated billiard table, a 12-ft snooker table, a 9-ft tight pocket table, a ping-pong table, 5, 7-ft tables, darts, foosball and video games making for a varied and fun recreational experience for the family and entire community. There is a wide range of menu selections and snacks as well as a pro shop with a large array of billiard supplies, cues and cases. So come on down this weekend to compete or just watch another great tournament. Be sure to take a chance on winning a beautiful, $1,900 custom engraved Joss cue in the cue raffle. Anyone can participate and you do not have to be present to win! We will draw for the cue just prior to the finals of the main event. For more information visit www.uticabilliards.com, www.facebook.com/uticabilliards or call 315-732-3000.
If you will be in need accommodations, there are many to choose from nearby on Genesee St, just off exit 31 of I90. Or call the room for more info. 315-732-3000.
This event at Utica Billiards on the Boulevard 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 second chance event on Sunday ($20 Entry Fee) for those non pro players eliminated from the main event on Saturday. All of our billiard parlor main events are now races to 9 on the winners side and races to 7 on the one loss side.
For those of you coming to play, please arrive on Saturday October 15, BEFORE 11:00 AM, and in proper dress please. Jeans and sneakers are permitted in our billiard parlor events. But please, No T-shirts, No tanks, No shorts or sweats. Complete tour info can be found on our site www.joss9balltour.com
Our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXXVI 9-Ball Open on January 5-8, 2023 is fast approaching and will be here before you know it. FYI, I just began taking entries at the last TS event and it filled in one week!! I have started a waiting list and expect there could be many who will get in off of it so call now if you want on it. 518-356-7163.
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 now more than ever!!
Thanks and I hope to see you all at Utica Billiards on the Boulevard.
The biggest story on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour this season has been the dominant run by tour points leader Bucky Souvanthong. Souvanthong has four first place finishes this season and has competed in the finals of every tour stop that he has played in. While he kept his string of finals appearances intact at the Northeast 9-Ball Open XXXIII held at Sharp Shooters Billiards and Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY on February 19th – 20th, first place went to Jeremy Sossei instead of Souvanthong.
Souvanthong and Sossei found themselves on the same side of the brackets in this 54 player event. Sossei had Saturday wins over Jason Collins, Jim Kearney, Tito Ortiz and Dawn Fox, while Souvanthong defeated Chris Tiru and Pat Fleming before being handed a lopsided 9-3 loss by Damon Sobers.
Souvanthong came back on Sunday and took out his vengeance on the left side of the board. Tom Acciavatti fell 7-2, Bud Robideau lost 7-0 and Bruce Carroll took a 7-0 loss to Souvanthong.
Back on the right side of the board, it was smooth sailing for Sossei with a 9-3 win over Sobers and then a 9-4 win over Marko Clarke for the hot-seat. Souvanthong had wins over Ron Casanzio and Clarke to earn his spot in the finals against Sossei but Sossei ended things before Souvanthong had any chance to get things going with a 9-2 win in the first (and only) set of the finals.
Sundays second chance event saw Jim Kearney face off against Greg Bombard three times before a winner was declared. Kearney had a 3-0 win over Bombard for the hot-seat, but after a hill-hill battle with Joe Wysocki in the semi-finals, Bombard came back and handed Kearney a 3-0 loss in the first set of the double elimination finals. The rubber match went to Kearney by that same 3-0 scoreline for first place.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will take this weekend off and the come back on March 5th – 6th for the 12th N.E. Pool & Billiard Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open at Snookers Billiards Bar & Grill in Providence, Rhode Island.
Jeremy Sossei, Room Owner Lenore Chen and Bruce Nagle
Jeremy Sossei closed out last season on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour with four straight regular season tour stop wins. He picked up right where he left off over the last two weeks with back to back wins in the first two tour stops of the new season.
The new season kicked off on September 21st and 22nd at TJ’s Classic Billiards in Waterville, Maine. Sossei ran through the winner’s side on Saturday, dropping his final match of the day to Ross Webster 9-5. Sossei bounced back with Sunday wins over Michael Yednak and Jim Hayden before taking out his revenge on Webster 7-0 in the semi final match. Joey Dupuis was in the hot-seat after beating Webster and Sossei proceeded to double dip him 9-2 and 7-6 for his fifth straight regular season win.
Sossei wasn’t done though, as he cruised through the field at stop two on September 28th – 29th at The Spot in Nanuet, New York. Sossei went undefeated and pretty much unchallenged. His 9-3 win over Bucky Souvanthong in the winner’s side final four was his closest match before the finals. He defeated Bruce Nagle for the hot-seat 9-1 and again 9-5 in the first set of the finals.
The second chance tournament at TJ’s saw Robert Lee go undefeated with wins over Leroy Bedard for the hot-seat and Mark Ransom in the finals. The second chance tournament at The Spot featured another undefeated winner as Tom Acciavatti defeated Suzzie Wong for the hot-seat 3-2 and again 3-1 in the finals.
Joss NE 9-Ball Tour director Mike Zuglan has been taking entries for the Turning Stone Classic XXXIII on January 9th – 12th and he urges interested players to get with him as soon as possible. The event (like all other Turning Stone Classic Events) will fill up with 128 players.
Congratulations to our stop # 2, "The Hudson Valley Fall Classic IIII" champion, Jeremy Sossei ($1,000), second chance winner Tom Acciavatti ($180) & $1,600 Joss Cue raffle winner Frank Hernandez.
The Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour will be at East Ridge Billiards in Rochester NY, on Sat & Sun Oct. 5 & 6 for stop # 3 of our 2019/2020 season. The event will be $1,500/$500 added and as always is open to all players and is now a Banner Event. All winners will have their names hanging high on a beautiful banner at East Ridge forever. Our generous host at East Ridge is Chris Braiman who deserves our thanks for bringing the tour back to Western NY. East Ridge is the former home room of some of the best to ever play the game. Irving Crane, Larry Hubbart & Mike Sigel to name a few! East Ridge has recently completed renovations of a brand new bar and kitchen with fantastic food to meet all of our needs. The room now includes 8 of the Diamond pro tables used at one of our recent Turning Stone events, 2 Gold Crowns, 10 Diamond 7 footers, 9 Valley 7 footers. East Ridge will also be live streaming some of our matches and you can access them on Facebook at their group East Ridge Billiards Sports Bar & Lounge. Please join the group and share the stream. For more info, please contact East Ridge directly at 585-270-8215. So why not come on down and check us out and you might even win a $1,600 custom, engraved Joss Cue in our raffle. Anyone can participate and you do not have to be present to win. You can view this beautiful cue here:
I have been asked to let you know that East Ridge will also be holding 8-man $50 mini tournaments on Friday night preceding our event. Start time is 7pm and early arrival is strongly suggested as there are already players entered. There will be as many minis as time and amount of players allows. Call 585-270-8215.
There is a reasonably priced Super 8 about 10 minutes away for those in need of accommodations. 2450 Empire Blvd, Webster NY 14580, 585-347-5983. No special rate has been negotiated but it is reasonable.
This event at East Ridge 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 second chance event on Sunday ($20 entry fee) only for those non pro level players eliminated from the main event on Saturday.
For those of you coming to play, please arrive on Saturday October 5, 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, No tanks, No shorts or No sweats. Complete tour info can be found on our site www.joss9balltour.com
Our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXXIII 9-Ball Open, Mid Season Championship, to be be held on January 9-12, 2020 is already close to 3/4 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!!
Jonathan Pinegar (Photo courtesy Super Billiards Expo)
Davis tops largest SBE field of 1,024 to win Amateur Open
In its multi-discipline, varied-skill format that, with some overlap among 11 events, drew over 3,000 pool players to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks, PA over the weekend of March 28-31, the Super Billiard Expo’s Pro Am Bar Box Championships has always existed as something of a challenge. In 2018, they used the challenge in promoting the event, asking potential participants a simple question – How good do you really think you are?
Open to all levels of competitors, without restriction, its field is capped at 32 players, who play a ‘best of three set’ format with races to 6 in each set (all other Amateur events utilized the same format, although with races to 5 in each set). While encouraging and expecting a wide variety of players from the amateur to the pro, this year’s ProAm Bar Box Championships featured a field that was tipped somewhat toward the amateur end of things. Not completely, because it was won by 20-year veteran Jonathan Pinegar, who’s been winning and cashing in amateur and semi-pro events for nearly 20 years. Known throughout most of his career as “Hennessee from Tennessee,” Pinegar has, in recent years, been signing on to events with his given name. At this year’s SBE, he signed in as John Pinegar. This year’s runner-up was Demetrius Jelatis.
The posted brackets on the SBE Web site for all of the amateur events (including the ProAm Bar Box) do not indicate the scores of the individual sets, which masks the give and take of game-by-game scoring. Instead, each player is seen to have won their individual matches by only one of two possible outcomes; 2-0 or 2-1. There is no way of knowing, therefore, a given player’s game-winning percentage, only his or her set-winning percentage.
Pinegar won 10 of 12 sets he played over five matches. He opened with a 2-1 win over Alex Olinger, went 2-0 against Kevin West and allowed Scott Haas a single set in the third round, which brought him to a semifinal matchup against Justin Espinosa. Jelatis, in the meantime, won eight of the 12 sets he played over five matches. He opened with two straight 2-0 set victories over Shane Clayton and Alan Rolan, before giving up a set to Ryan McCreesh. This set him (Jelatis) up against Jorge Rodriguez in the other semifinal. Rodriguez is another one of those competitors who’s been competing at the semi-pro and pro-level for years.
Pinegar got into the finals with a 2-0 set victory over Espinosa. Jelatis joined him after a 2-1 set victory over Rodriguez. Pinegar completed his undefeated (in sets) run with a 2-0 victory over Jelatis.
Davis goes undefeated in his individual bracket, advances to win Amateur Open
In the largest field of the SBE, the Amateur Open, 1,024 entrants initially split up into 16 brackets of 64 players each. Each of those brackets delivered a single player to a Final 16 bracket. Phil Davis didn’t lose a single set (best of three sets in races to 5) in his initial bracket, going 2-0 against Chris Garrett, Matt Clatterbuck, Mark Alicea, Paul Swinson, Richard Anderson and in his bracket’s finals, Jason Balas. He gave up his first set in the opening round of the single-elimination final 16 bracket, going 2-1 against Joe Wright. He went back to his 2-0 pattern against Mark Nanashee in the second round, which moved him into the semifinals against Julio Burgos.
Raed Shabib, in the meantime, gave up his first set, in the opening round of his 64-player bracket, to Christopher Balderson. He didn’t give up another one until his bracket finals, having gone 2-0 against Abel Rosario, John Hoge, Bill Mason and Randy Tate. He took the bracket final 2-1 over James Adams. He opened the Final 16 portion of his run with a 2-1 victory over George Crawford and then downed Brett Stottlemeyer 2-0, to arrive at a semifinal against Chris Bruner.
Davis and Shabib advanced to the finals with identical 2-1 set victories over Burgos and Bruner, respectively. Davis completed his undefeated run with a 2-1 victory over Shabib in the finals.
Amateur highlights
The next highest attended Amateur tournament was the Open Seniors event (for 50+), which drew 384 entrants. Originally split into eight preliminary brackets, yielding a single winner, the event was won by Bobby Connor. He advanced through the Final 8 field with set wins over Oscar Bonilla and Dennis Spears, both 2-1. He was met in the finals by Efrain Morales, who’d defeated Joe Armeni 2-1 and Chuck Ross 2-0. Connor didn’t give up a set in claiming the Open Seniors title.
Next up, with 192 entrants, was the Super Seniors (65+), who started in four initial brackets, yielding a very short final field of four. Ed Matushoneck downed Tom Acciavatti 2-1 to claim his spot in the finals, and was joined by Ronny Park, who’d defeated Nelson Rivera 2-1. Matushoneck claimed the Super Seniors title with a 2-0 win over Park.
The Amateur Ladies drew 188, just four less than the Super Seniors. Combined, those two events would have yielded an enormously entertaining field with just four less than the Open Seniors event. As it was, the 188 ladies, like the Super Seniors, started with four initial 64-player brackets (with a number of opening round byes) and ended with a final field of 4. Rachel Lang and Michelle Jiang advanced to the finals without giving up a set to either Marie-France Blanchette and Stacey Tonkin. Lang downed Jiang in the finals two sets to one.
In the 12 and under Juniors event, which drew 56 entrants, Parker Jakubczak downed 2018 11 & under Junior National Champion Kyle Yi in the finals 2-1. In the 17 & under category, which drew 76 entrants, two-time 14 & under National Junior Champion Nathan Childress defeated Ivo Linkin in two straight sets.
Congratulations to stop # 11 winners, Danny Hewitt ($1,050 main event), Tom Acciavatti ($340 second chance) & our $1,500 Joss Cue raffle winner Kevin Gray.
Stop # 12 of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour's 22nd season will be at Union Station Billiards in Portland Maine on March 23 & 24 for our first ever handicapped event!. This will be our second of two stops at the Station again this season. Owners Mary and Phil Harju are our most generous hosts for what promises to be another great event and they deserve our thanks for hosting our tournaments. Union Station Billiards, one of the largest rooms in New England, boasts 18 Gold Crowns plus a new 9ft Diamond Pro all covered in 860 Simonis (The Cloth Of Champions). They also have a pub style restaurant with great food and a full bar, ping pong, foosball, air hockey and video games. So lets show the Harjus a big Joss Tour welcome by coming up to play or just watch what promises to be yet another great 9-ball event. You could even win a $1,500 custom engraved Joss Cue in the raffle. Anyone can participate and you do not have to be present to win. The drawing for the cue will be on Sunday March 24 immediately prior to the final match of the main event. For more information about Union Station Billiards, check them out on Facebook or call them at 207-899-3693.
For those in need of motel accommodations, there is a nearby La Quinta, 340 Park Ave, Portland ME. 04102. 207-871-0611, or call Union Station for more info.
SPECIAL FORMAT FOR THIS EVENT ONLY: This event will be a special FargoRate Handicapped Event. We will be using the R7 Medium FargoRate races on our standard double elimination chart. We will also be using both established and non established ratings for all players. We will do our best to "rate" any players who have no FargoRate rating to the best of our ability. Should we feel an adjustment to any non rated player is warranted, it will be made on the spot. For more FargoRate info, go to FargoRate.com and watch their very informative videos. For this event, ALL players Will Pay the same entry fee of $70 (plus any applicable tour fees) as it is, in my opinion, already handicapped by the spotting of games making all players equal going in. The main event will be a $1500 added Saturday and Sunday, with a $500 added standard Non Handicapped second chance 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 March 23, Before 11:30 AM, and in proper dress please. Yes, jeans and sneakers are permitted in our billiard parlor events. But please, NO T-SHIRTS, TANKS, SHORTS OR SWEATS. Complete tour info can be found on our site www.joss9balltour.com
Our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXXII 9-Ball Open (August 22 – 25) is currently full pending many checks in the mail to me. If you would like to be added to our waiting list you must contact me immediately at 518-356-7163
Please remember to spread the word to frequent your local billiard parlors and utilize and promote 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 Union Station Billiards.
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.
Congratulations to stop # 10 winners, Joey Cicero ($1,000 main event), Tom Acciavatti ($320 second chance) & Jack Fitzpatrick (1,200 Joss Cue raffle winner)
The Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour will be at Hippos The House Of Billiards (Utica NY) for stop # 12 of our 21st season on March 17 & 18. Andrea Duvall deserves many thanks for generously offering to pick up this event that was originally scheduled at another location. Since taking over at Hippo's Andrea has added her own touch with a new web site www.hipposyorkville.com, a new Facebook page, delicious homemade food specials and free WiFi. Hippos has 12, 9 foot Gabriel tables and 8, 7 footers, all covered in 860 Simonis (The Cloth Of Champions). She has made Hippo's a true family fun destination spot, and has even held many events and functions for our junior players! So come to Hippo's to show your support and be treated to yet another great 9-ball event. You may even win a $1,200 custom, engraved Joss Cue in Hippos cue raffle, Anyone can participate and you do not have to be present to win! We will draw the winner of the cue on Sunday just before the final match. The Joss raffle cue can be viewed here: https://josscues.com/cues/custom/joss-custom-26/
For more Hippos and motel info etc., please contact Hippos directly at 315-768-0218
This event at Hippos 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 second chance event on Sunday ($20 entry fee) only for those non pro level players eliminated from the main event on Saturday.
For those of you coming to play, please arrive on Saturday March 17, 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 site www.joss9balltour.com
Our $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XXX 9-Ball Open, Season Finale, will be held on August 23 – August 26, 2018. I began taking entries just recently and it is already over 1/2 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!!
