Sitting atop the early-season standings on the Predator Cues’ DFW 9-Ball Tour, CJ Wiley went into the finals of that 2018 tour’s third stop with a win and runner-up finish to his credit. Thanks to TJ Davis, Wiley had to settle for his second straight runner-up finish. On the weekend of March 24-25, Davis completed an undefeated run with two straight victories over Wiley, in the hot seat match and finals. While this allowed Wiley to retain his position at the top of the standings chart, Davis’ victory allowed him to jump up two steps, to settle in (for now) the runner-up spot. The $1,700-added event drew 105 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Davis and Wiley faced four opponents each on the trip to their respective winners’ side final matches. In their first four handicapped matches, Davis and Wiley, both racing to 9, faced an exactly equal average opponent, racing to 6; Davis faced one 7, two 6s and a 5, as Wiley squared off against two 7s, a 6, and a 4. Wiley did just a little better in the average score department over the first four matches (9-2.5 over Davis’ 9-3.2).
Davis picked up Tony Sulsar (racing to 8) in his winners’ side semifinal match, while Wiley drew Jordan Gartenberg (racing to 7). Davis downed Sulsar 9-5. Wiley joined him in the hot seat match with a 9-3 win over Gartenberg. Davis took the first of two over Wiley 9-4, which put him in the hot seat and guaranteed that he’d be recording his best finish, to date, on the 2018 tour (he’d finished 9/12th and 4th in the previous two events).
Sulsar, looking to improve on his 9th place spot on the tour standings, moved to the loss side and picked up Tony Top, who’d most recently defeated Alberto Nieto Garcia 7-3 and Isaac Leyendecker 7-2 to reach him. Gartenberger drew Justin Whitehead, who was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had seen him eliminate the #2 player in the tour standings, Rick Stanley, as well as, most recently Corey Flud (#6) 8-3 and Tim Larsen 8-6.
Top downed Sulsar 7-6 (Sulsar racing to 8), as Gartenberg ended Whitehead’s loss-side winning streak, double hill. Gartenberg, already assured of his best finish, to date, on the 2018 tour, took another step, downing Top in the quarterfinals 7-5 to earn himself a re-match against Wiley in the semifinals.
Gartenberg fought furiously in that semifinal match, forcing a single deciding game. Wiley, however, won it 9-6 (Gartenberg racing to 7) to earn himself a second shot at Davis in the hot seat. Davis and Wiley duplicated their 9-4 score from the hot seat match, and Davis claimed the event title.
Last Lady honors went to Alicia Stanley, with a second-place split between Tracie Voelkering and Ricki Casper. A Second Chance event drew 12 entrants, and was won by Dee Davis. In a rare Second Chance appearance, Rick Stanley finished second.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Store, JB Cases, Dallas Eightball League, Outsville (AccuRack), Fargo Rate, BCAPL/CSI, Internet Marketing Solutions and Granite Guyz. The next stop on the Predator Cues’ DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for April 28-29, will be hosted by JR Pockets in Denton, TX.
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.
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.
If attendance at a premiere tour stop is any indication, the newly-established DFW 9-Ball Tour is off to a good start. Formed after the retirement of Melinda Bailey’s Omega Billiards Tour, and losing very little time in transition, the DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 9-Ball Tour opened its already-solidified schedule of 12 events with a $1,700-added stop at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX, on the weekend of January 13-14. The venue played host to an opening field of 93 players, out of which emerged CJ Wiley, who was defeated in the hot seat battle by Paul Guernsey, and returned from the semifinals to win both sets of a true double elimination final and claim the tour’s first title.
Wiley, racing to 9, and Guernsey, racing to 8, advanced to the winners’ side semifinals having given up an identical average of racks per opponent (3), earned in different ways. Wiley opened his campaign with two 9-3 wins over Juan Batista and a 9-1 victory over Steve Raynes. He then gave up two racks to Jessie Wilcoxson before Tony Sulsar chalked up six against him in a winners’ side quarterfinal that advanced Wiley to a winners’ side semifinal against Jersey Jack Lynch.
Guernsey’s track to the winners’ side semifinals would see him give up three racks to Garrett Dalton and one to Monica Anderson before he shut out Scott Forgason. An 8-4, winners’ side quarterfinal win over Steve Horne was followed by a narrow, double hill win over TJ Davis, which set Guernsey up to face Isaac Leyendecker in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Guernsey sent Leyendecker to the loss side 8-2, as Wiley was busy sending Lynch west 9-1. Guernsey claimed the hot seat (and his last match win of the event) 8-6 over Wiley, and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Leyendecker drew Sulsar, who, following his loss to Wiley, had shutout Peter Villatoro and eliminated Curtis Caldwell 8-5. Lynch picked up Robin Barbour, who’d gotten by Wilcoxson and Daniel Herring, both 7-3.
With Leyendecker racing to 6, and Sulsar racing to 8, the two locked up in a double hill battle that eventually (6-7) sent Leyendecker to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Lynch, who’d defeated Barbour 7-2. Leyendecker advanced one more step, defeating Lynch 6-4, before having his run stopped by Wiley 9-2 in the semifinals.
Wiley and Guernsey pretty much left it all out on the table in the opening set of the true double elimination final. They battled to double hill (Wiley ahead 8-7), before Wiley finished it to force the second set. Wiley edged out ahead in that second set and stayed there, completing his single-loss run with a 9-5 win that earned him the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s first event title.
Tour representatives awarded $50 to the event’s top finishing female, Ricki Casper. They also thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, JB Cases, Dallas Eightball League, Outsville (AccuRack), Fargo Rate, BCAPL/CSI, and Internet Marketing Solutions. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for February 17-18, will be hosted by Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
(l to r): Paul Guernsey, Tony Sulsar & Mike Rountree
On the weekend of December 15-16, at a $5,400-added event, which drew 75 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX, Paul Guernsey ended a three-match trip on the loss side to defeat Tony Sulsar twice in a double elimination final, and capture the event title. In another interpretation of ‘double elimination final,’ it was not only the last event of the Omega Billiard Tour’s sixth season, it was also the final event of the Omega Billiard Tour itself.
Taking a cue from tour director Melinda Bailey about this occasion, we’ll defer comments on the end of the tour to the end of this report and highlight the players and the event that closed out its 2017 season.
For a while, at the start of Paul Guernsey’s pool career (or at least as much of it as was recorded here at AZBilliards), the only event at which he regularly earned any money was the annual Texas Open. The first time he appeared in our database, he finished second behind David Gutierrez in the 27th Annual Texas Open in 2000. It was the only entry for him that year. The following year, the only entry was his 4th place finish in the 28th Annual Texas Open. Two years later, he finished in the tie for 13th place at the 30th Annual Texas Open, and the following year, he finished 4th again. All single entries in his site profile. Just over a decade later, he started showing up on the payout lists of the Omega Billiard Tour; twice in 2015, once in 2016, and this year, four times, including another second-place finish, behind Justin Whitehead at an Omega stop in April (he competed in five of the tour’s 12 events in 2017).
This past weekend, Guernsey broke through and won his first major event, doing it in what most players would describe as ‘the hard way;’ coming from the loss side to challenge and twice defeat a hot seat occupant. He played a preliminary round (one of 12 matches to gain entry into the larger winners’ side bracket), and advanced through four other matches, allowing his opponents an average of between three and four racks per match (3.6) in races to 8; against Steve Raynes (4), Bobby Diggs (2), Dario Gomez (5), Aram Hasan (6) and a measly single rack to Doug Winnett. This gave Guernsey a shot at Mike Rountree in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
Tony Sulsar, in the meantime, bypassed the preliminary round and faced four opponents, with whom he was stingier than Guernsey, giving up an average of between two and three racks per match (2.75) against Shan Iyer (3), Steve Sheppard (4), Chris Rickman (1) and Mike Nagaki (3). This set Sulsar up in the other winners’ side semifinal against Roman Bayda, who had just sent the tour’s #1-ranked player, Rick Stanley, to the loss side.
In a straight-up race to 8, Sulsar advanced to the hot seat match over Bayda 8-4. He was joined by Rountree, who’d sent Guernsey to the loss side 7-7 (Guernsey racing to 8). Sulsar claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Rountree, chalking up what would prove to be his last match win.
On the loss side, Guernsey picked up Stanley, who, following his loss to Bayda, had eliminated Phillip Palmer 9-5 and Mike Nagaki 9-3. Bayda drew Luis Lopez, who was working on a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently included wins over Doug Winnett 7-4 and Gerardo Perez, double hill, in a straight-up race to 7.
Guernsey ended Stanley’s short, loss-side bid for a fifth win on this year’s tour with an 8-5 win, as Bayda ended Lopez’ loss-side streak at six with a double hill win (8-6). Guernsey and Bayda battled to double hill in the quarterfinals that followed, with Guernsey advancing for a second shot against Rountree in the semifinals.
Guernsey got by Rountree 8-4 in those semifinals and with, at minimum, another runner-up finish in his pocket, he turned his attention to Sulsar in the hot seat; the tour’s #8-ranked player (Sulsar) versus its #23-ranked player (Guernsey). Guernsey took the two-set opener in convincing fashion 8-3, and though Sulsar would chalk up two more racks in the second set, it wasn’t enough to keep Guernsey from capturing his first title on the tour’s last stop.
Regarding this last event on the tour she’s directed for the past six years, tour director Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards (where the tour began six years ago, and ended on this weekend), as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. Regarding the past six years, she had a few more expressions of gratitude to pass along.
The announcement came in September. It stated that “due to increased responsibilities at (Bailey’s full-time job), and future career opportunities,” along with the need for the tour’s main sponsor, OMEGA Billiards Supply, “to make sound business and financial decisions” that, by mutual agreement, they “could no longer move forward with the Omega Billiards Tour after this year.” The statement expressed thanks “to all, for helping put the DFW (Dallas/Ft. Worth) pool scene back on the map for the past five and a half years.”
“We loved the players, the pool rooms, and the fans,” the statement went on to say, “and we wish you all nothing but the best in your pool journeys.”
“I want to sincerely thank you for always being so supportive, responsive and a great friend to (me) and the tour,” she wrote.
She expanded on this theme in one of her regular-as-clockwork e-mails to us here at AZBilliards, which provided us, at the conclusion of every tour stop, all of the information necessary to write a coherent report on each event. It should be noted, in that regard, that we here at AZBilliards extend our thanks to her, as well.
“It had always been a dream of mine to start a tour in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for the players and businesses,” she wrote to us. “I am so honored to have received such great support the last six years from the players, the sponsors and pool rooms that helped make the tour successful.”
“We grew from six stops a year with 64 players at each stop, and $1,200-added, to 12 stops a year with nearly 100 players and $1,700-added,” she wrote. “THANK YOU! Going to miss you all.”
She also took the time to explain that a new tour will debut in the DFW area soon, with, she explained, “11 stops next year.”
“So,” she wrote, “players will still have a tour to play on, which is really awesome.”
At the conclusion of her September blog entry, she inserted a quote from Lessons Learned in Life, which summed up the joy of the tour, the friends she’d made, and ultimately, the turmoil of the decision to move on.
“You will know you made the right decision,” it said, “when you pick the hardest and most painful choice, but your heart is at peace.”
According to records available to us, until May of this year, TJ Davis hadn’t cashed in a tournament in four years. His last recorded payout came when he was runner-up in a Lone Star Billiard Tour stop in July, 2013. He broke that absence chain and got busy again this past May on the fifth stop of The Omega Billiards Tour when he finished fifth. He followed that with a 9th place finish in June, a 17th place finish in September and last month (October), took third on the tour’s 10th stop. All of which put him in 16th place in the tour rankings. On the weekend of November 11-12, Davis leapfrogged over 11 competitors on that ranking list (from 16th to 6th place) with an undefeated run through 98 entrants on the tour’s 11th (second-to-last) stop. Davis’ opponent in the finals, Crispian Ng, did a little leapfrogging of his own, jumping from eighth place to two ahead of Davis in 4th place. The $1,700-added event drew its 98 entrants to The Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
Davis opened his undefeated run with a victory over Tony Sulsar (8-4), who started the weekend 11 spots ahead of Davis in the tour rankings and ended up one spot behind him in 7th place. Davis moved on to defeat Hector Guerrero, Jersey Jack Lynch, and Albert Nieto, who started and finished the weekend in third place in the tour rankings. This set Davis up in a winners’ side semifinal against Ricki Casper, who’d just sent Ng to the loss side. Robert Clark, in the meantime, faced Jalal Yousef in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Davis defeated Casper 8-3 and was joined in the hot seat match by Clark, who’d sent Yousef to the loss side 8-6. In a straight-up race to 8, Davis claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Clark, and waited for Ng to complete a five-match, loss-side run and face him in the finals.
On the loss side, Ng opened his five-match march to the finals with an 8-6 win over Justin Whitehead, and followed it with an 8-3 win over Nieto, to pick up Yousef. Casper drew Chris Rickman, who’d much earlier, on the winners’ side, handed the tour’s #1-ranked player, Rick Stanley, his first loss, and then, on the loss side, defeated Juan Bastista 6-5 (Batista racing to 7) and Mike Voelkering 6-4 (Voelkering, #2 in tour rankings before and after this stop, had handed Stanley his second loss).
Ng advanced to the quarterfinals with a double hill win over Yousef (8-8; Yousef, racing to 9). He was joined by Rickman, who’d eliminated Casper 6-2. Ng gave up only one rack to Rickman in the quarterfinals and in a straight-up race to 8 in the semifinals, gave up only three to Clark. Davis completed his undefeated run with an 8-6 win over Ng in the finals.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at The Billiard Den for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiard Tour will be the tour’s Season Finale, restricted to players who have played in at least five stops on this year’s tour. The $5,000-added event will be hosted by Rusty’s Billiards in Fort Worth, TX on December 16-17.
Daniel Herring, Denny Sneed, Friday Abismo and David Gutierrez
Back in June, after a somewhat protracted absence from the pool scene, Houston’s David Gutierrez returned to the fold, so to speak, to win the sixth stop on the Omega Billiard Tour, going undefeated through a field of 85. Two and a half months later, on the weekend of September 9-10, at the ninth stop on the tour, Gutierrez rebounded from a loss on the winners’ side to challenge Friday Abismo in a true double elimination final. They battled to double hill, twice, with Gutierrez winning the first set and Abismo winning the second to claim the event title. The $1,700-added event drew 92 entrants to Speed’s Billiards & Games in Arlington, TX.
Abismo navigated his way through five winners’ side matches against Jesse Wilcoxson, Kiengchay Phoutthavong, Mark Szabo, Viet My and Steve Raynes to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Daniel Herring. Gutierrez, in the meantime, won three winners’ side matches, against James Thorpe, Robin Barbour and Tony Top before being sent to the loss side 5-5 by Charley Elders (Gutierrez racing to 9). Elders followed him over when he was defeated by Juan Parra, who moved into the other winners’ side semifinal against Denny Sneed.
Abismo defeated Herring 7-2, as Sneed sent Parra west 7-1. Abismo claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Sneed and waited for Gutierrez to complete the seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would put him into the finals against Abismo.
On the loss side, it was Parra who drew Gutierrez, four matches into his sloss-side streak, having most recently downed Jersey Jack Lynch 9-5 and Oscar Araujo 9-3. Herring picked up Carl Bodeker, who’d been sent to the loss side by Sneed in a winners’ side quarterfinal and defeated Viet My 7-5 and Tony Sulsar 7-4.
Gutierrez defeated Parra 9-4, and in the quarterfinals met up with Herring, who’d eliminated Bodeker 8-5. Gutierrez was gaining momentum at this juncture, and took the quarterfinal match 9-3 over Herring. He got his shot at Abismo in the hot seat with a 9-2 win over Sneed in the semifinals.
Abismo was granted two games on the wire in each of the two matches against Gutierrez in races to 9 for the double elimination final. Both matches went double hill, with Gutierrez winning the opener 9-8. Abismo kept battling and took the second set 9-8 to claim the event title.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Speed’s for their hospitality, along with sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiard Tour, scheduled for October 14-15, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by The Hideaway in Dallas, TX.
It's been 14 years since Jeremy Jones climbed to the # 8 spot on the AZB Money Leaderboard. He won the US Open 9-Ball Championships and Texas Open that year (2003), as well as a stop on the Fast Eddie's Tour. He was also a member of the winning USA Mosconi Cup team and was among the top ten finishers in 11 of the 13 events in which he went home with cash. Jones has added earnings to his AZ database page every year since 1998, when he finished in the tie for 17th at the US Open.
Though 2017 has been something of a slow year (so far) for Jones, he has chalked up a few top 10 finishes in a number of events, including (in descending, cash earnings order) the Derby City Classic (5th in One Pocket), the Big Tyme Classic (5th in Main Event and One Pocket), and the inaugural Scotty Townsend Memorial 9-Ball Tournament (7th). On the weekend of August 5-6, he joined a record field of 123 entrants on the Omega Billiard Tour's 8th stop (previous record on the tour was 105 entrants), and after winning his first three matches (over Victor Sorto, Curtis Caldwell and Joe Pelayo), was sent to the loss side by Crispian Ng. From there, he mounted a seven-match, loss-side winning streak, culminating in an appearance in the finals in which he double dipped hot seat occupant Danny Williams to claim his first 2017 event title. It was only his second appearance in an Omega Billiard Tour final. His first was in the tour's inaugural year (2102) and he was the runner-up. There is some suspicion that in this most recent second appearance in an Omega Billiard Tour final, he was (somehow) motivated by the fact that he'd recently, in July, become a newlywed. The $1,700-added event that led to his first 2017 win was hosted by Wizard's in Richardson, TX.
Williams sent Hasan to the loss side 8-3, and in the hot seat match, faced Wilcoxson, who'd survived a double hill fight against Turney (6-6; Turney racing to 7). The battle for the hot seat proved to be Williams' last win of the weekend, and he made the most of it, shutting Wilcoxson out 8-0 to claim that hot seat, and await the return of "Double J."
"Double J," in the meantime, was working his way back. On the loss side, he got by Douglas Pitts, Justin Whitehead, Denny Snead, and downed familiar foe, David Gutierrez 9-6 to draw Hassan. Turney drew Crispian Ng, who'd recently defeated Luis Lopez and Tony Sulsar, both 8-4, as a Ng/Jones re-match in the quarterfinals loomed on the horizon.
It didn't happen. Jones did his part, downing Hassan 9-3, but Turney eliminated Ng 7-5. Jones took the quarterfinal match versus Turney 9-2, and then brushed Wilcoxson aside, allowing him only a single rack in the semifinals.
Over the next 23 games, in two double elimination final sets, Jones gave up only five racks. He gave up two in the opening set against Williams, and allowed him only one more than that in the second set to claim the event title, and his first 2017 win.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Wizards for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiard Tour, scheduled for Sept. 9-10, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by Speeds in Arlington, TX.
Denny Sneed sent him to the loss side, so it was only fitting that Rick Stanley came back from a three-match visit to double dip him in the finals and claim the event title. The $1,700-added event, Stop # 3 on the Omega Billiards Tour, drew 85 entrants to Pockets in Euless, TX on the weekend of March 25-26.
Sneed's four-match jaunt to the winners' side semifinal against Stanley, saw him face opponents with increasing handicaps. Sneed (a "7") downed a "4" (7-0), a "5" (7-2), a "6" (7-5) and another "7" (7-1) to draw Stanley, a "9." Stanley came within a game of chalking up as many racks against Sneed (7) in the winners' side semifinal than all four of Sneed's previous opponents combined. The tie score, however (7-7), was not enough. Stanley moved to the loss side, as Sneed advanced to the hot seat match against Tony Sulsar ("8"), who'd sent Robby Cleland over 8-4. Sneed claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Sulsar and waited on Stanley's return.
On the loss side, Stanley's three-match trip back to the finals began against Phillip Palmer, whose eight-match, loss-side winning streak was about to come to an end. Wins #7 and #8 for Palmer came at the expense of Mark Szabo 7-4 and Cory Anderson 7-3. Cleland drew Mike Voelkering, who'd been sent to the loss side by Sneed in a winners' side quarterfinal match, and defeated Doug Winnett and Donnie Gregory, both 7-3.
Stanley defeated Palmer 9-3, as Voelkering was busy eliminating Cleland 7-5. Stanley then eliminated Voelkering 9-1 in the quarterfinals, and though Sulsar put up a respectable fight in the semifinals that followed, Stanley advanced 9-6 to his rematch against Sneed in the finals.
Sneed was racing to 7, while Stanley was racing to 9. Stanley took the opening set of the true double elimination final 9-2. Sneed chalked up an extra rack in the second set, but Stanley won it to claim the event title.
Tour Director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at Pockets, in addition to sponsors Michael Hoang of OMEGA Billiards Supply, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. Stop #4 on the Omega Billiard Tour, scheduled for the weekend of April 29-30, will be a $1,700-added event, hosted by JR Pocket in Denton, TX.
Amos Bush, Tony Sulsar, Rick Stanley and Doug Winnett
Rick Stanley cashed in two events on the Texas-based Omega Billiards Tour in 2016, finishing third in August and runner-up to Danny Williams in September. On the weekend of February 11-12, he completed this somewhat modest climb up the 'finish' ladder with an undefeated win on the tour. The $1,700-added event drew 87 entrants to Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
With victories over Steven Thorne, Bob Youngblood, Denny Steed, Albert Nieto, and Jay Murillo, allowing them each an average of just over three racks per match, Stanley moved into a winners' side semifinal against Doug Winnett. Tony Sulsar, in the meantime, who'd allowed an average of just over 2.4 racks per match against Crispian Ng, Brandon Thrasher, Terrance Cockman, Douglas Pitts, and Hector Guerrero, faced Shan Iyer in the other winners' side semifinal.
Stanley and Sulsar moved into the hot seat match; Stanley 9-4 over Winnett and Sulsar 8-2 over Iyer. Stanley claimed the hot seat 9-4 over Sulsar and waited on what turned out to be the return of Amos Bush, who launched a nine-match, loss-side winning streak to challenge him in the finals.
Bush, who'd been sent to the loss side by Julie Stephenson, double hill, in his second round of play, got by Mike Voelkering, Juan Batista, Rob Lovelace, Douglas Pitts, and Jay Murillo to earn himself a re-match against Stephenson in a battle for 7th place. He downed her 7-1 to draw Iyer. Winnett, in the meantime, picked up Robert Kempf, who'd defeated Barry Emerson 6-6 (Emerson racing to 8) and, in a straight-up race to 6, Hector Guerrero 6-4.
In a straight-up race to 7, Bush picked up loss-side win #7, double hill over Iyer. He was joined in the quarterfinals by Winnett, who'd eliminated Kempf 7-4. Bush then defeated Winnett 7-3.
Bush completed his loss-side run with a 7-5 semifinal victory over Sulsar, earning himself a shot against Stanley in the finals. Stanley, though, was not in the mood to allow Bush a well-earned event victory. He defeated Bush 9-3 (Bush racing to 7) to claim the event title.
Tour director Melinda Bailey thanked the ownership and staff at the Billiard Den for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Omega Billiards, FargoRate.com and OB Cues. The next stop on the Omega Billiard Tour, scheduled for March 25-26, will be another $1,700-added event, hosted by Pockets Billiards in Euless, TX.
On the weekend of September 17-18, the Omega Billiards Tour was hosted by Speed’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas. The staff and owners treated the players well with great service and an amazing atmosphere. Fourteen tables allowed us to open the field up to 89 players!
Rick Stanley, a tough player with a great attitude, made his way to the hotseat match with wins over Larry Land 8-1, Stephen Hansen 8-3, Mike Rountree 8-2, Robert Kempf 8-2, and Walt Anderson 8-2. Local pro CJ Wiley had wins over Vincent Tovar 9-3, Crispian Ng 9-6, Phillip Palmer 9-1 , JD Wordlaw 9-1 and Joey Barnes hill-hill to meet Rick Stanley in the hotseat match.
The always-tough Danny Williams had wins over Gale Gladden 7-0, Viet My 7-6, and Mike Nagaki 7-6 before losing to Robbie Cleland 6-7. Danny then made his way through the one-loss side with wins over Vincent Tovar 7-1, Cory Anderson 7-2, Brandon Sizemore 7-4, Doug Winnett 7-3, Joey Barnes 7-6 and Walt Anderson 7-3.
In the hostseat match it was anyone’s game between top players Rick Stanley and CJ Wiley, and Rick Stanley came out on top with a close score of 8-7.
Then CJ Wiley played Danny Williams in the semi-final match and it was another close score with great play for the fans and Danny edged the win 6-7.
The finals match was then set between Rick Stanley and Danny Williams. The fans were really enjoying the great runs and safeties by the players. Danny Williams would win the first set in this true-double elimination tournament 7-5 which forced a second set. The second set went hill-hill! And then Danny Williams would win the last game of the tournament to capture first place and the Omega Tour title!
Big congrats to Danny Williams for his 1st place finish! Congrats to Rick Stanley for a hard-fought 2nd place and also to CJ Wiley for his great 3rd place finish. Shout-out to 78-year-old Walt Anderson for placing 4th! Wow!
5th/6th places were filled by Joey Barnes and Steve Sheppard, and 7th/8th places were filled by Paul Guernsey and Doug Winnett.
Congrats to ALL the players and fans and sponsors for another great event!
A HUGE thank you goes out to our sponsors Omega Billiards Supply, OB Cues, and BCAPL/CSI. We would also like to give a big thanks to our additional sponsors, Irving Ink and Thread, AZBilliards.com, Pool School, and BilliardsPress.com.
This year OB Cues is our Ranking sponsor and will be donating OB Cues to the top ranked 3 players at the end of the year! BCAPL/CSI has joined again and will be giving away 5 BCAPL free entry fees the 2017 BCAPL Nationals. After 8 stops, Tony Sulsar leads the Rankings with 665 points, CJ Wiley moved up to second place with 635 points, and Crispian Ng is third with 560 points. Only one more stop to go for ranking points before the Finale!
Tournament Director Melinda Bailey would like to thank Speeds owners and staff for their awesome hospitality all weekend! She would also like to thank co-Director Heather Farr – couldn’t have done this without you!
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 will be held October 15-16 at Clicks in Arlington, Texas. $1,500 added and already full with 85 players. We have ten stops total in 2016. Pool is alive and thriving in Texas!
Check out the website for more details: http://www.omegabilliardstour.com/
And follow the brackets live online at: http://omegatour.challonge.com/8speeds17
