The Action Pool Tour opened its 2017 season at the Magic 8 Cue Club in Cockeysville, MD on the weekend of Jan. 14-15. It featured the first of a season-long series of ladies tournaments, a new rule governing the calculations for rankings (lowest event score, previously eliminated from calculations, now counted in rankings), and, in the persons of Tom Zippler and Tina Malm, new visitors to the tour's winners' circle. The 40-entrant Open event saw Zippler return from a loss in the hot seat match to defeat its occupant, Brett Stottlemyer, in the finals. In the 7-entrant ladies tournament, Tina Malm did the same thing, downing Lai Li in the finals.

 

Zippler's trip to the finals went through Steve Fleming, Phillip LaPorta, Justin Powers and the eventual winner of the Ladies tournament, Tina Malm, before coming up against Andy Lincoln in a winners' side semifinal. Stottlemyer defeated Mike Slagle, and Bill Woods before almost having his winners' side run derailed by Dave Hunt in a double hill fight. Stottlemyer moved on, though, to defeat Doug Hornsby, before meeting up with Clint Clayton in the other winners' side semifinal.

 

A 7-4 victory by Zippler over Lincoln and a 7-3 win by Stottlemyer over Clayton set the two up for their first of two in the hot seat match. It came within a game of double hill, with Stottlemyer winning 7-5 to claim the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Clayton picked up Malm, who, following her defeat at the hands of Zippler, had defeated Garrett Waechter 6-3 and Will Moon 6-4. Lincoln drew Trevor Dentz, who'd squeaked by Doug Hornsby 6-5, and defeated Tom Helmstetter 6-2. Lincoln and Malm advanced to the quarterfinals; Lincoln 6-4 over Dentz and Malm, with a shutout over Clayton. 

 

There were a couple of "ifs" on the line in the quarterfinal match that followed. If Malm had defeated Lincoln, she'd have guaranteed herself more prize money in the Open match than she eventually earned winning the Ladies tournament. In addition, if Malm had gone on to face Zippler in a re-match, she might have fared better than Lincoln did in his re-match against Zippler. Lincoln and Malm went double hill in that quarterfinal match before Lincoln advanced. Lincoln was then shut out by Zippler in the semifinal.

 

One can only surmise that the APT veteran Stottlemyer lost a degree of momentum in waiting for the potential newcomer to the winners' circle (Zippler's) return. In any case, Zippler took the final match 9-5 over Stottlemyer to claim the APT season opener title.

 

Tina Malm claimed the Ladies title with a 4-1 record. She downed Judie Wilson 6-2, and just did get by Kia Sidbury, double hill, in a winners' side semifinal, before being defeated by Lai Li, double hill, in the hot seat match. Li had won her two opening matches 6-2, against Jenny Acot and Terri Stovall (in the other winners' side semifinal), before winning the double hill hot seat match against Malm. 

 

On the loss side, Nicole Fleming, after losing her opening match to Sidbury, got by Judie Wilson, and Terri Stovall, to earn herself a re-match against Sidbury in the quarterfinals. Fleming successfully wreaked her vengeance on Sidbury 6-1 to face Malm in the semifinals. Malm downed her 6-3 to get her second shot at Li in the hot seat. Again, one can only surmise that the downtime between hot seat match and finals had its effect on Li. The result was an 8-2 victory by Malm, which earned her the first ladies title of the APT season.

With a couple of significant 'cats' away, a few fairly formidable 'mice' came out to play at the Action Pool Tour's fourth stop of the year. One of the 'cats' who stayed behind for the April 9-10 stop was Brian Deska, who came back from a hot seat defeat to challenge Jimmy Varias and win his second straight Action Pool Tour stop. The event, missing regular APT 'cats' Brandon Shuff and Shaun Wilkie, who were competing in the Don Coates Memorial in Raleigh, NC, drew 41 entrants to First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.

 

Sporting remarkably similar won/loss records, featuring only three kinds of scores (8-5, 8-2 and each recording a shutout), Deska (32-9) and Varias (32-12) advanced to a winners' side semifinal against an opponent named Paul; Deska versus Paul Helms and Varias against Paul Cogle. Deska chalked up his second 8-5 score, defeating Helms, while Varias won his first 8-3 match, sending Cogle to the loss side. Varias won his second 8-3 match, defeating Deska to claim the hot seat.

 

On the loss side, Helms picked up Alan Duty, who was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. He won his third and fourth loss-side matches against Derek Crothers 7-2 and Chris Hansen 7-3. Cogle drew Will Moon, who'd been sent to the loss side by Deska in a winners' side quarterfinal and was on his own, somewhat shorter loss-side streak that would advance him to the semifinals. Moon had defeated Trevor Dentz 7-1 and Paul Oh 7-4 to draw Cogle.

 

Duty downed Helms 7-4 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Moon, who'd eliminated Cogle 7-5. Moon ended Duty's loss-side run with a 7-5 victory in those quarterfinals, to earn himself a re-match against Deska. Deska, though, obviously determined, defeated Moon a second time, but not before Moon had forced a final, deciding 15th game. 

 

Deska's second shot at Varias came within a game of coming to double hill. In the end, though, Deska pulled out in front to win it 10-8 and claim his second straight APT title of the year. The victory movEd Deska up on the tour's ranking list, from outside of the top 10 to within three of the leader, the absent-for-this-stop Shuff and the VA State 10-Ball Champion, Eric Moore.

Things were running fairly smoothly for the 2015 Action Pool Tour Champion, Brandon Shuff, during the tour's 2016 season opener on the weekend of January 16-17. Until, that is, Shuff ran into Danny Mastermaker in a winners' side semifinal. Shuff had to shuffle on over to the loss side, where he chalked up three wins (including a rematch versus Mastermaker), and came back to defeat hot seat occupant, Rafael Reyes in the finals. The event drew 54 entrants to Magic 8 Cue Club in Cockeysville, MD.

 

Over his first four games, each of Shuff's opponents added two racks to the number scored against him in the previous round. An opening round shutout over Alan Duty was followed by a 7-2 win over Chris Pyle, which was followed by a 7-4 win over Kenny Miller, which was followed by a double hill, 7-6 win over Brett Stottlemyer. This set him up in a winners' side semifinal against Mastermaker, as Reyes and Shaun Wilkie squared off in the other one.

 

Mastermaker sent Shuff to the loss side 7-2, while Reyes (who, by the way, started out with a double hill win and followed it with a shutout and two 7-4 wins) defeated Wilkie 7-3. Reyes claimed the hot seat in one of those 'almost double hill,' 7-5 battles and waited on the return of Shuff.

 

On the loss side, Shuff picked up Steve Fleming, who'd been sent to the loss side by Wilkie and after shutting out Will Moon, had defeated Randy Thomas 7-2. Wilkie, in the meantime, drew Stottlemyer, who, following his defeat at the hands of Shuff, had defeated Jimmy Varias and Trevor Dentz, both 6-2.

 

Stottlemyer and Shuff advanced to a somewhat familiar quarterfinal matchup, once Stottlemyer had eliminated Wilkie 6-2, and Shuff had downed Fleming 6-4. Shuff then took care of business with Stottlemyer, retiring him 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and turning for a re-match against Mastermaker. 

 

Shuff gave up only a single rack to Mastermaker in the semifinals, and turned to face Reyes in the hot seat. A double hill battle ensued, eventually won by Shuff 9-8 to claim the APT's season opener; step one in a quest to repeat as tour champion.

With an undefeated win on the Mezz Pro Am Tour on Sunday, August 9, Trevor Dentz pushed his reported 2015 earnings at the pool table into quadruple digits for the first time since his name began appearing on payout lists 10 years ago. In fact, he made more winning the Mezz stop ($700) than he'd made, total, in any single year of those 10. The $460-added Mezz Pro Am event drew 23 entrants to the Magic 8 Cue Club in Cockeysville, MD. 

 

Dentz and Jarrett Waechter squared off in the hot seat in this one. Dentz had sent Dan Madden to the loss side 8-3, while Waechter was sending Rick Scarlata over 7-4. Dentz claimed the hot seat 7-3.

 

On the loss side, Madden and Scarlata drew Bob Milane and Eric Heiland. Milane had defeated Mick Barton 7-2 and Tony Kenote 7-5 to reach Madden. Heiland had gotten by Victor Biechocki 7-2 and Rick Miller 8-5 to draw Scarlata. Madden got right back to (winning) work, defeating Milane 8-5. He was joined in the quarterfinals by Heiland, who'd handed Scarlata his second straight loss, 7-5.

 

Madden took the quarterfinal match 7-2 over Heiland, but had his loss-side run stopped, 8-5, by Waechter in the semifinals. The second match between Dentz and Waechter went pretty much the way the first one had gone. Waechter chalked up one more rack (4) than he had in the hot seat match, but Dentz prevailed a second time to claim the event title.

 

Garrett Waechter won a sudden death final game against Rick Miller to claim his first title on the Mezz Pro-Am Tour. The $300-added, A-D handicapped event, held on the weekend of June 27-28, drew 22 entrants to the Magic 8-Ball Club in Cockeysville, MD.

 

Waechter and Miller met three times, playing two full matches and the sudden death final game. They met first in the hot seat match, after Waechter survived a double hill match versus Tony Long and Miller had sent Bob Milane to the loss side 7-3. Waechter claimed the hot seat 7-3 and waited on Miller's return. 

 

On the loss side, Rick Scarlato advanced to meet Milane, defeating Pete Calabrese 7-1 and Steve Fleming 7-6 to reach him. Long picked up Trevor Dentz, who'd defeated two ladies, Colleen Shoop 7-2 and Nicole Fleming 7-5. Milane and Long advanced to the quarterfinals; Milane 7-5 over Scarlato and Long 7-4 over Dentz.

 

Long eliminated Milane 7-2, and though he'd battle to double hill against Miller in the semifinals, Miller prevailed for a second, and possibly single-game third shot at Waechter in the hot seat. Miller took the first set of the modified double elimination final by the same score (7-3) that Waechter had chalked up in their battle for the hot seat. Waechter, though, captured the single, sudden death game to claim his first Mezz Pro-Am Tour title.

First it was Brandon Shuff, and now, it's Brian Deska. Action Pool Tour ranking leader, Shaun Wilkie can't get a break. After winning the final four stops on the 2014 tour schedule, Wilkie won the opening two stops in 2015. His seven-peat was stopped by Brandon Shuff, who won two straight, and then, joining the tour for the first time in 2015, Brian Deska defeated both Shuff and Wilkie, back to back, in May. He went on to defeat Shuff a second time in the finals. On the weekend of June 13-14, at Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, Virginia, Deska (again) went undefeated through a field of 44, this time defeating Wilkie twice.

 

In the opening four rounds of play, each of Deska's opponents did just a little better than his predecessor. Deska defeated Joshua Watson 8-2, Mike Davis (third place in the tour rankings) 8-3, Kenny Miller 8-5, and had to survive a double hill fight against Steve Fleming to advance to a winners' side semifinal against John Wright. Wilkie, in the meantime, gave up only five racks, total, in his four rounds against Luther Pickeral, Cheryl Pritchard, Cary Dunn (2), and Trevor Dentz, advancing to the other winners' side semifinal against Shuff. Deska made short work of Wright, dispatching him to the loss side 8-1, while Wilkie and Shuff battled to double hill, before Wilkie prevailed to join Deska in the hot seat match. Deska claimed his second straight APT hot seat 8-5, and waited for one of the tour's two top-ranked players to return from the semifinals.

 

On the loss side, Mike Davis, following his defeat at the hands of Deska in the second winners' side round, was on a six-match winning streak, that included two shutouts. He defeated Garrett Waechter 6-1 and Cary Dunn 6-3, to draw Shuff. Wright picked up Joey Mastermaker, who'd gotten by Randy Thomas 6-4, and survived a double hill battle versus Kenny Miller to reach him.

The match between the tour's second and third-ranked player (Shuff and Davis) went Shuff's way 6-3, while Mastermaker eliminated Wright 6-4.

 

Shuff defeated Mastermaker 6-3 in the quarterfinals, creating a second matchup between the tour's first- and second-ranked player, Wilkie and Shuff. They'd had to compete in a 15th game to decide their winners' side match. They only played seven in the semifinals, with Wilkie giving up just a single rack to earn a second shot against Deska.

 

Deska, though, proved to be just as stingy. He gave up only three racks to Wilkie in the finals, completing his undefeated run 10-3 to claim his second straight APT title. Having only participated, so far, in two of the tour's six stops to date, Deska is currently at #19 on the tour's rankings, well behind Wilkie, Shuff and Davis. Wilkie has competed in all six stops, while Shuff and Davis have each competed four times. 

In his first appearance on the 2015 Action Pool Tour, Brian Deska went undefeated through a field of 51 entrants. In so doing, he defeated the tour's top-ranked player, Shaun Wilkie, once, and the second-ranked player, Brandon Shuff, twice. Between them, Wilkie and Shuff had won the last eight stops on the tour. Wilkie had won the final four events in 2014 and the first two in 2015. Shuff had won the last two stops on the tour, defeating Wilkie twice to do it. The May 9-10 event was hosted by First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.

 

Deska beat Shuff and Wilkie, one right after the other, on the winners' side of the bracket and then, in the finals, defeated Shuff a second time. Deska had something of an up and down path through the winners' bracket, opening with a shutout over Bill Woods, and following that with an 8-6 win over Paul Helms. He gave up just a single rack to Trevor Dentz before he ran into Shuff for the first time and survived a double hill fight. This put him into a winners' side semifinal against Wilkie, while Jimmy Varias and Steve Fleming squared off in the other.

 

Deska and Varias chalked up 8-4 victories over Wilkie and Fleming and faced each other in the hot seat. Deska prevailed in another 8-4 win, and waited on the return of Shuff.

 

Shuff, who'd gotten by Chris Pyle, Garrett Waechter and Will Moon on the winners' side, before running into Deska, opened his loss-side run with a shutout over Pat Carosi, and followed that with a 6-4 win over Marlone Alcaraz. This put him up against Fleming in the matches that would determine 5th/6th place. Wilkie picked up Mike Davis (sitting in the #4 spot on the tour's rankings), who, after being sent to the loss side by Varias, had shut out Trevor Dentz, and defeated Nilbert Lim 6-2.

 

Shuff gave up just a single rack to Fleming, while Wilkie and Davis locked up in a double hill match that eventually sent Wilkie to the quarterfinals. Wilkie and Shuff, hot seat and finals opponents in the last two stops on the tour, were at it again, and once again, Shuff eliminated Wilkie; this time, 6-3.

 

Shuff dropped Varias 6-4 in the semifinals, and got a second shot at Deska. In somewhat less dramatic fashion, Deska won their second meeting 10-4 to claim his first APT title of the year, and advance to #48 in the tour's rankings.

 

The event left Wilkie at the top of the tour rankings, about 1,000 points ahead of Brandon Shuff. Matt Krah, who didn't compete in this latest stop, remained in third place, with Mike Davis and Jimmy Varias a few hundred points away in fourth and fifth. Steve Fleming sits in the sixth spot, in a virtual tie with Varias.

 

 

Tour director Ozzy Reynolds thanked Andy Luong and his staff at First Break Cafe, along with sponsors Cue Sports International, George Hammerbacher, Ozone Billiards, and AZBilliards.com.

Tom Zippler and Shawn Jackson having played one match to its conclusion, opted out of a second, splitting the top two prizes. The undefeated Zippler claimed the $1,000-added, A-D Mezz Tour event title, which had drawn 26 entrants to the Magic 8 Cue Club in Cockeysville, MD on Sunday, March 29. 

 

They met first in the hot seat match. Zippler had downEd Scott Hass 7-3, while Jackson was not-so-busy, giving up only a single rack to Edd Moody. Zippler played what proved to be the title match and sent Jackson to the semifinals 7-2.

 

On the loss side, Hass picked up Trevor Dentz, who'd defeated Garrett Waechter 7-5 and just did get by Jim O'Hara 7-6. Moody drew Dan McGinnis, who'd just given up one rack to Al Tonelli and eliminated Mark Nanashee 7-4. Moody and McGinnis locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Moody to the quarterfinals, where he faced Dentz, who'd defeated Hass 7-2.

 

Dentz advanced to the semifinals with a 7-4 victory over Moody in the quarters. By the same score, Jackson sent Dentz home and got a second shot at Zippler in the hot seat. It was a shot the two didn't take. They opted out of a final, split the top two prizes and allowed Zippler to claim the official victory.

Going into the seventh stop on the Action Pool Tour (APT), Brian Deska and Shaun Wilkie were ranked at #1 and #2 on the tour. After Adam Kielar opened the tour season with a victory in the Virginia State 10-Ball Championships in January (with Wilkie as runner-up and Deska finishing third), Wilkie won stops # 2 and #3 on the tour. Deska took the top spot on the 4th, 5th and 6th stops on the tour. On the weekend of September 6-7, they met in the semifinals of an APT stop which drew 67 entrants to Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA. Wilkie, sent to the loss side in the third round of play, won eight on the loss side for the right to face Deska in the semifinals, and then, Jimmy Varias in the finals. Wilkie defeated Varias to claim his third APT title of the year.

 

Following an opening round bye, Wilkie had a fairly easy time of it against Andrew Park, defeating him 7-1 and moving on to meet Matt Krah. Wilkie and Krah battled to double hill before Krah prevailed and Wilkie began the long march back on the losers' side. Krah won three more, advancing to a winners' side semifinal against Deska. Varias and Tuan Chau met in the other. Deska sent Krah over 7-5 for an almost immediate re-match against Wilkie. Varias survived a double hill battle against Chau and sent him west for an actual immediate match against Wilkie. In the hot seat match, Varias survived a second double hill fight, this time against Deska, who, like Krah and Chau, moved west to meet up with Wilkie.

 

On the loss side, Wilkie was at work on his nine-match winning streak, in which he would give up, on average, less than two racks per match (races to six). In his fifth loss-side match, Guan Robinson managed three against him. Wilkie got right back to work, allowing Dan Madden to chalk up only a single rack against him, before meeting up with Chau, fresh off the winners' side semifinal. Krah, in the same boat, met up with Alex Travino, who'd defeated Trevor Dentz 6-4 and Rick Miller 6-3 to reach him.

 

Wilkie downed Chau 6-2, as Krah was busy shutting out Travino. Wilkie took the quarterfinal re-match against Krah 6-2  and then knocked off the tour's #1 ranked player (Deska) in a double hill semifinal match. Wilkie completed his loss side run with a 9-4 victory in the finals over Varias.

 

Jimmy Varias' second place finish moved him up among the tour's top 10 players. Deska's third place finish allowed him to retain his spot at the top of the tour rankings, though Wilkie's victory cut the point distance between them in half. 

Things got progressively tighter for Shaun Wilkie, as he worked his way through a field of 73 entrants, on hand for Stop # 2 on the Action Pool Tour, hosted by Champions Billiards in Frederick, MD on the weekend of February 8-9. After surviving two straight double hill matches that left him in the hot seat, Wilkie had to contend with Brett Stottlemyer, who'd won seven on the loss side to challenge him in the finals. Wilkie prevailed in those finals to complete an undefeated weekend and claim the event title.

 

After an opening round bye, Wilkie defeated RAndy Davis, Dan Madden and T.J. Moore, by an aggregate score of 21-7. Trevor Dentz challenged him from among the winners' side final eight, chalking up five against him. Wilkie then moved into a winners' side semifinal against Ryan Jones, while Tony Long met up with Sean Sporleder. In the first of two double hill matches, Wilkie sent Jones to the losers' bracket, as Long defeated Sporleder 7-4. The hot seat match went to a deciding game, as well, with Wilkie prevailing to watch the progress of his eventual finals opponent, Stottlemyer.

 

On the loss side, it was Sporleder who had the misfortune of running into Stottlemyer, in the midst of his seven-match, loss-side winning streak. Stottlemyer had already defeated Dan Madden, Meredith Lynch, Trevor Dentz and Jimmy Varias. Ryan Jones drew Alan Duty, who had most recently eliminated Chris Garrett 7-4 and Jeremy Perkins, double hill.

 

Stottlemyer gave up only a single rack to Sporleder and advanced to the quarterfinals against Jones, who'd defeated Duty, double hill. Stottlemyer downed Jones 7-4 and then, in the semifinals, spoiled Tony Long's bid for a re-match against Wilkie with a 7-2 victory.

 

Stottlemyer had that intangible – momentum – on his side as he squared off against Wilkie in the finals. Wilkie, though, shrugged off the equally intangible factor of waiting for an opponent and completed his undefeated run with a 9-3 victory to claim the event title.

 

A Second Chance Tournament, held on Sunday, drew 16 entrants and saw Dan Madden return from the loss side to defeat Tom Helmstetter 7-4 in the finals. Helmstetter had sent Madden to the losers' bracket in a double hill, winners' side semifinal. Madden moved over and took down Kyle Ray 5-3, Jeff White, double hill, in the quarterfinals and Will Moon 5-1 in the semifinals. A 7-4 win in the finals over Helmstetter gave Madden the Second Chance title.