(l to r): Juan Parra, Jr., Tim Larson & Jay Murillo
A regular competitor on the Omega Tour and once, according to our records, (six years ago, cashing) on the Lone Star Billiard Tour, Jay "Ryda" Murillo had yet to chalk up a major regional tour win until the weekend of June 22-23. He broke through at Stop #6 on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, going undefeated at the $1,500-added event that drew 82 entrants to Click’s Billiards in Arlington, TX and in the finals, downing the tour’s current #1 player, Tim Larson, who won Stop #5 in May.
Murillo’s path to the winners’ circle went through John Washington, Chase Wheeler, Daniel Herring and Mike Nagaki to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Yousif Ahmed. Juan Parra, in the meantime, got by Tommy Ulbik, Randy Darville, Jason Dutchover (a double hill win) and was responsible for sending Larson to the loss side in a winners’ side quarterfinal that also went double hill. Parra’s 7-8 victory over Larson (racing to 9) set Parra up to meet Amos Bush in the other winners’ side semifinal.
In a straight up race to 7, Parra got into the hot seat match over Bush 7-5. He was joined by “Ryda,” who’d sent Ahmed to the loss side 6-3. Parra ended up on the wrong side of this third straight double hill match, falling to Murillo 6-6 (Parra racing to 7).
On the loss side, Bush met up with Mike Nagaki, who, following his defeat at the hands of Murillo, shut out Alberto Nieto Garcia and eliminated Billy Pinion 7-6 (Pinion racing to 9). Ahmed drew Larson, who, sent over by Parra, defeated TJ Davis 9-5 and Sajal Ghimire 9-2.
Larson moved on to the quarterfinals with a 9-3 victory over Ahmed and was joined by Bush, who eliminated Nagaki 7-4. Larson then survived two straight double hill matches for a shot at Murillo in the hot seat. He won a double hill quarterfinal match against Bush 9-6 (Bush racing to 7), and downed Parra in the semifinals by the same score, with Parra, as well, racing to 7.
Larson’s campaign to wrest the title from Murillo in the potential double elimination final never quite got off the ground. Murillo had chalked up his required six racks, with Larson four racks away from his handicap goal of 9.
A Second Chance event drew 10 entrants and was won by Billy Guy. The runner-up was Marc Gonzales with Casey Dawson finishing third.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Click’s, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards, Granite Guyz, Dallas 8-Ball, FargoRate, BCA Pool League, Internet Marketing Solutions (IMS), CSI, Accu-Rack and JB Custom Cue Cases. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for July 13-14, will be hosted by The Hideaway in Dallas, TX.
(l to r): Juan Parra, Jr., Daniel Herring & Tony Top
Daniel Herring has been at the Texas tables for about a decade now, chalking up his first recorded appearance on a payout list at a stop on the Fast Eddie’s Tour in January, 2008. He started appearing on the payout lists of Melinda Bailey’s Omega Tour a few years after that and in February, 2015, he broke through to win a stop on that tour; his first, and until this weekend (Sept. 8-9), his only recorded victory on a tour. At stop #9 on the DFW 9-Ball Tour (which grew out of the Omega Tour), he went undefeated through a field of 89 entrants, on-hand for the $1,500-added event, hosted by Clicks in Arlington, TX.
Herring started strong, giving up only two racks over his first 19 games, and seven over his next 23 (four of those to his eventual finals’ opponent, Juan Parra) to arrive at what proved to be his first double hill challenge in a winners’ side semifinal against Angelo Inness. Tony Top, in the meantime, who played an extra match in a preliminary round to get the field to a 32-match opening round, gave up 12 racks in the 52 games that it took him to reach the other winners’ side semifinal against Philip Palmer.
Herring survived the double hill battle over Inness and advanced to the hot seat match and a battle against Top, who’d sent Palmer to the loss side 8-5. Herring claimed the hot seat 8-6, and waited on the return of Parra.
On the loss side, Palmer picked up Parra, who, following his defeat at the hands of Herring, had eliminated Tommy Ulbik 7-3 and the tour’s #2-ranked competitor, CJ Wiley, double hill (in the absence at this event of the tour’s #1-ranked player, Chase Rudder, Wiley’s finish in the 7/8 slot moved him into the #1 ranking spot). Inness had the misfortune of running into Tim Larson, who, following a defeat in the event’s opening round (to Josh Keller) was in the midst of a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals.
Parra and Palmer locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Parra to the quarterfinals. Larson chalked up what proved to be his last victory 8-4 over Inness and joined him. Parra ended Larson’s loss-side run 7-4 in those quarterfinals, and then, double hill, stopped Top’s short-lived, loss-side run in the semifinals.
Herring completed his undefeated run with an 8-4 victory over Parra in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Click’s for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ft. Worth Billiard Superstore, JB Custom Cue Cases, Solutions, Granite Guyz, BCAPL, CSI, Dallas 8-Ball, Accu-Rack and Fargo Rate. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Oct. 20-21, will be a $1,500-added event, hosted by Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
On the weekend of October 10-11, the Omega Billiards Tour was hosted by Speeds Billiards in Arlington, Texas. The staff and owners treated the players well with great service and an amazing atmosphere, and they took care of all us all weekend long covering very long hours and we very much appreciate each and every one of them.
The field of 75 players and $1,500 added was full again of top players and by Sunday there was no front-runner as too many great players were still left competing!
Mike Nagaki would have wins over Robin Barbour, 7-4, Mike Arebalo 7-2, Alberto Nieto 7-6, Steve Game 7-4, Cory Anderson 7-5 and then Nick Conner 7-4 in the hotseat to find himself in the finals! Nick Conner had wins over Jay Diaz 8-2, Mike Rountree 8-6, Mike Stankiewics 8-3, Jordan Gartenberg 8-2 and then Greg Sandifer 8-2 before he was sent to the one-loss side by Mike Nagaki.
After losing to Nick Conner in the second round, Mike Rountree started his tear and defeated Chris Smith 7-4, Juan Parra 7-6, Friday Abismo 7-4, Anthony Shea 7-5, Phillip Palmer 7-1, Alberto Nieto 7-1, Cory Anderson hill-hill, and then Crispian Ng 7-3. He was finally defeated by Nick Conner (again) but Mike finished an impressive 3rd place and his highest yet!
This left only Mike Nagaki and Nick Conner remaining in the tourney. Nick would win the first set 8-5 to force a second set. Then the next set went to a tough hill-hill with great play, and Nick came out on top to win his first stop of the year!
Congrat’s to Daniel Gilmore and Aberto for placing 7th/8th, Greg Sandifer and Cory Anderson for placing 5th/6th, Crispian for 4th, Mike Rountree for 3rd, and Mike Nagaki for HIS highest finish of 2nd place! And to Nick Conner for nabbing first place!
Congrats to ALL the players and fans for a great event!
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, Hulsey Custom Cues, OB Cues, Irving Ink and Thread, Pro Billiard Service, AZBilliards.com, Billiards Digest, and BilliardsPress.com.
After nine stops this year, Greg Sandifer has grabbed first place in the Predator Player Points Rankings by only FIVE points over Nick Conner. Nick Conner was Tour Champion last year and Greg Sandifer is the Omega Billiards Tour Champion now this year! Nick is ranked 2nd this year, Daniel Herring finished an impressive 3rd place in the rankings, Cory Anderson finished the season ranked 4th, with Crispian Ng finishing in 5th place. The top three players will all receive Predator Prizes! Places 4th through 8th will receive a FREE entry into BCAPL Nationals in 2016! 6th place was filled by Steve Raynes, 7th was Tommy Ulbik and 8th place was Philip Palmer. What a fantastic season for these guys!
Tournament Director Melinda Bailey would like to thank Speed’s Billiards 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 large tournaments across the country.
The next stop is the SEASON FINALE Nov 14-15 at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas. AT LEAST $4,500 added and players who played in three events this season are eligible to play. Pool is alive and thriving in Texas!
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:
