Archive Page

Gagnon wins his first regional tour event on the New England 9-Ball Series

(l to r): Carlton Gagnon & Kyle Pepin

Unlike Kyle Pepin, already having recorded his best earnings year to date (with two months to go), and looking to chalk up his second 2019 event victory (he won a stop on the Joss Tour in March), Carlton Gagnon joined the 5th stop of the New England 9-Ball Series on Saturday, Oct. 26, looking for his second cash finish anywhere (he finished 9th at a NE 9-Ball Series stop in January). They met in the finals of the event and it was Gagnon who emerged with not only his second cash finish anywhere, but his first regional tour victory anywhere. The $500-added event drew 32 entrants to Legends Billiards in Lewiston, ME.
 
Working in the lower bracket, in straight-up races to 5, Gagnon got by Laura Krech 5-1, survived a double hill fight against Justin Myers, and downed Dan Small 5-1 to draw Mark Pulsifer in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Pepin, in the meantime, advanced as far as the winners’ side quarterfinal, before being defeated by Michael Leavitt 5-3 (Pepin racing to 7). Leavitt advanced to face Ross Webster in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
Gagnon got into the hot seat match with a 5-3 victory over Pulsifer and was joined by Leavitt, who’d defeated Webster 5-2. Separated by 135 FargoRate points, Gagnon (441) and Leavitt (576) battled to double hill before Gagnon prevailed 4-7 (Leavitt racing to 8) to claim the hot seat.
 
On the loss side, Pepin opened his five-match campaign to the finals with a straight-up race to 5, double hill win over Derrick Burnham and then eliminated George Morgan 6-1 to draw Webster. Pulsifer drew a rematch versus Tyler Dunbar, whom he’d sent to the loss side in the opening round and who was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. Dunbar, like Pepin, was looking for his second 2019 win, having previously won the NE 9-Ball Series’ Bangor Bash just over a month ago. Like Gagnon, Dunbar has recorded his first cash payout finishes in 2019.
 
Pepin and Dunbar handed Webster and Pulsifer their second straight loss; Pepin, 5-1 over Webster and Dunbar, 4-1 over Pulsifer. Pepin then spoiled Dunbar’s hope for a second NE 9-Ball Series victory with a 7-2 win in the quarterfinals.
 
Pepin leapfrogged over the semifinals, avoiding a rematch against Leavitt, who’d sent him to the loss side, when Levitt forfeited. With Pepin racing to 9 in the finals, Gagnon completed his undefeated run with a 4-1 victory in that final match.
 
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Legends, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, BCAPL, USAPL New England, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell with Lease Fundings, Master Billiards and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the NE 9-Ball Series (#6), scheduled for Sunday, November 3, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Bo’s Billiards in Warwick, RI.

Dunbar chalks up his first regional tour event, winning Stop #3 on NE 9-Ball Series

(l to r): Cody Porter, Tyler Dunbar & Jeff Yerxa

As Tyler Dunbar entered the Bangor Bash, Stop #3 on the New England 9-Ball Series’ 2019-2020 tour, held on the weekend of October 12-13, he was looking to collect what he hoped would be his third cash prize in a regional tour event. According to our records, he’d collected his first cash prize in January, when he finished in the tie for 9th place at the 10th stop on the NE 9-Ball Series’ 2018-2019 season. Two months later, he finished third at a Joss NE Tour stop in Portland, ME. Working from the lower (Fargo Rate) bracket, Dunbar went undefeated through to the hot seat, before giving up the opening set of a true double elimination final to Jeff Yerxa. Dunbar won the second set to claim his third cash prize as he won his first major title. The $2,000-added event drew 43 entrants to Rack City in Bangor, ME.
 
Following lower bracket victories over Becca Ellis, Kasandra Lam, Kyle King and Ben White by an aggregate game score of 26-9, Dunbar arrived at a winners’ side semifinal against Phil Walton. Cody Porter, in the meantime, who’d finished 7th in the Joss NE Tour stop in which Dunbar had finished third and like Dunbar, was looking for his third cash win in a regional tournament, faced Ross Webster in the other one. Webster had just sent Jeff Yerxa to the loss side 7-4.
 
Dunbar advanced to the hot seat match with a shutout over Walton. Porter and Webster battled to double hill before Porter prevailed to join Dunbar. With the higher-ratEd Porter (583) racing to 8, Dunbar (481) claimed the hot seat 5-3.
 
Over on the loss side, Yerxa opened his run to the finals with a 6-2 victory over Joash Neault and followed with a 6-3 win over Michael Levitt, to draw Webster, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Walton drew a rematch versus Jason Seavey, whom he’d sent to the loss side in a winners’ side quarterfinal and who’d won two straight double hill matches against Mark Pulsifer and Ben White to earn the rematch.
 
Yerxa advanced to the quarterfinals 6-4 over Webster. He was joined by Seavey, who’d wreaked his rematch vengeance on Walton 5-2.
 
Yerxa then chalked up two straight, double hill wins (7-4) against Seavey in the quarterfinals and Porter in the semifinals (both racing to 5) for a shot at Dunbar in the hot seat. With a 119-point differential in their Fargo Rates, Dunbar (481) started the first set of the true double elimination final against Yerxa (600) with four on the wire in a race to 9. Dunbar added three to that four, but Yerxa chalked up the nine he needed to claim the first set.
 
The race was reduced in the second set, with Dunbar awarded three on the wire in a race to seven. Dunbar chalked up the four racks he needed to claim the event title, while allowing Yerxa only two racks in his quest for 7.
 
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Rack City, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, BCA Pool League, Fargo Rate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell with Lease Fundings, Master Billiards and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the NE 9-Ball Series (#4), scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 19, will be a $500-added event, hosted by Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT.

Kyle Pepin Wins First Joss NE 9-Ball Tour Fargorate Event

Phil Harju (Union Station owner), Kyle Pepin, Ben Savoie and Tyler Dunbar

With the popularity of Fargo, more and more tournaments are converting to a handicapped system based on those Fargo ratings. While this format allows lower rated players to compete against more experienced opponents, it can sometimes be daunting for those better players to “outrun the handicap” in these handicapped matches. While some of the results were close, Kyle Pepin outran them all to win the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour’s Fargorate Handicapped event at Union Station Billiards in Portland, Maine on March 23rd – 24th. 
 
Pepin (653 Fargo) made his way through the winner’s side with three match wins on Saturday (Marc Dionne, Justin Grant and Josh Lerner). The handicaps (8-6, 9-5 and 8-5 were manageable, although Pepin did go hill-hill with Lerner in his last match of the day. 
 
Sunday play for Pepin started with a 9-5 race against Jerry Guitard that Pepin won 9-3. That was followed by the biggest spot that Pepin had to give up all weekend. His match against Tyler Dunbar (465 Fargo) was a 10-4 race that Pepin won 10-3. Pepin commented after the event on the format for this event. “The handicapped format was tough, a lot of tough spots and close matches, but I think it was pretty fair and made me play pretty honest. I didn’t have many chances to make mistakes.” he said. 
 
Ben Savoie (570 Fargo) was making this way through the one loss side after a loss to Guitard late on Saturday. Savoie had wins over Dave Hall, Josh Lerner and Samoth Sam before earning his revenge over Guitard 7-2. Savoie then sent Dunbar home in third place with an 8-3 win in the semi-final match. 
 
The final match between Pepin and Savoie was an 8-6 race, where Pepin won 8-4 in the first set for first place and his second career Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win. Pepin was complimentary of the event after the win. “I think the format is great for lower ranked players and the more people people play in events that are reported to Fargo, the more accurate everyone’s handicap will be.” he said. 
 
Sunday’s second chance tournament was the regular race to three format where Jim Hayden bounced back from a loss in the hot-seat match and double dipped Lindsey Monto in the finals for first place. 
 
 

Aguilar and Dunbar split top prizes in NE 9-Ball Series’ opener

(L to r): Matt Rezendes, Carlos Aguilar & Tyler Dunbar

Carlos Aguilar and Tyler Dunbar opted out of a final match at the end of the New England 9-Ball Series’ 2018-2019 opener, held on Sunday, September 23. As the undefeated competitor, Aguilar claimed the event title. To secure his runner-up position, Dunbar, who’d been defeated in the second round of play, won nine on the loss side to earn a spot in the finals that didn’t happen. The event drew 57 entrants to Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH.
 
Tour director Marc Dionne announced at the start of this new season for the New England 9-Ball Series that the tour would no longer be using letter ratings (A, B, C, etc.) to determine handicaps and match races. They have switched to the FargoRate system for this purpose and with certain competitors and matches, we’ll be providing current FargoRates, in parentheses, as a reference.
 
The tour continues to separate the players into lower and upper (rank) brackets at the start of events, combining them towards the end. Playing in the lower bracket, Aguilar (503) chalked up victories over Peter Rizzo, Sr., Lida Mullendore and Tyler Boudreau, who’d just sent Dunbar (461) to the loss side.  Aguilar then defeated Dorie Oakes, advancing to an overall winners’ side semifinal against Josh Edmonds (479). From the upper bracket, Matt Rezendes (539) and Jose Concepcion (585) squared off in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
In a straight-up race to 5, Aguilar and Edmonds battled to double hill before Aguilar prevailed, advancing to the hot seat match. He was joined by Rezendes, who’d sent Concepian to the loss side 5-2 (Concepcian racing to 6). With Rezendes racing to 6, Aguilar claimed the hot seat 5-2 in what proved to be his final match.
 
On the loss side, it was Edmonds who picked up Dunbar, seven matches into his loss-side winning streak that had included recent victories over Dorie Oakes and Ben Come, both 5-1. Concepcian drew Mike Gagne, who’d chalked up two straight double hill wins against Gabriel Kirshnitz and Ruben Soto to reach him.
 
In what was Gagne’s third straight, straight-up race to 5, Concepian allowed him only one rack and advanced to the quarterfinals. Dunbar joined him following a 4-1 victory over Edmonds.
 
Dunbar started the quarterfinal match with three on the wire in a race to 6, and though he and Concepcian chalked up three racks each, the handicap advantage gave Dunbar the win and advancement to his last match of the night.
 
Dunbar and Rezendes battled to double hill before Dunbar finished it to earn a shot at Aguilar in the hot seat. The two opted out of the final match and split the top two cash prizes.
 
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest, as well as sponsors Predator Cues, USAPL New England, FargoRate, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 Racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Bourgeois Farms and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series, scheduled for October 6, will be the $500-added Dave Marcus Memorial Tournament, hosted by Buster’s Billiards in Somersworth, NH.

Rogan and Copland, each with single loss, opt to split top prizes at NE 9-Ball Series Stop #27

Peter Copland & Rob Rogan

At Stop #27 on the New England 9-Ball Series, Peter Copland and Rob Rogan played two double hill matches against each other. In the first, Copland sent Rob Rogan to the loss side. In the second, playing in the opening set of a true double elimination final, Rogan forced a second, deciding set, which never happened. With a single win each, Copland and Rogan opted out of a second set, making Copland, in the hot seat, the event’s official winner. The event, which employed a ‘shortened race chart’ due to the combination of 64 players and only 11 tables, was hosted by Crow’s Nest in Plaistow, NH on Sunday, July 15.

Their first meeting took place in the third round of the event’s lower bracket. With Copland (a C+) racing to 5, and Rogan (a C), racing to 4, Copland advanced 5-3. Rogan moved west on the bracket and embarked on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would culminate in their re-match. Copland, in the meantime, moved on to another double hill match against Tyler Dunbar, which he won, advancing to a winners’ side semifinal against fellow C+ competitor Mike Galinat, Sr. (Galinat’s son, Mike, Jr., was shut out by Copland in the opening round of play, and won two on the loss side before being eliminated). Playing in the other winners’ side semifinal, from the event’s upper bracket were Mike Minichello (Open) and Matt Treglia (B+).
Copland sent Galinat, Sr. to the loss side 4-1, and in the hot seat match, faced Minichello, who’d survived a double hill match (7-3) against Treglia. Copland shut Minichello out in the battle for the hot seat and waited on what proved to be his re-match against Rogan.
Of the seven matches Rogan won for the right to face Copland a second time, three of them went double hill, including wins over Jenn Brown 4-2 (Brown racing to 3) and Tyler Dunbar, which set Rogan up to face Galinat, Sr. coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Treglia picked up fellow B+ player Xavier Libby, who’d defeated Justin Fournier, double hill, and Dillon Nickerson (an A player, racing to 5) 4-1 to reach him.
In their straight-up race to 5, Libby got by Treglia 5-1, as Rogan chalked up his third, loss-side double hill win over Galinat, Sr. With Libby racing to 6 in the quarterfinals that followed, Rogan eliminated him 4-3 and then, due to a forfeiture by Mike Minichello in the semifinals, leap-frogged right into the double elimination final re-match against Copland.
In the 5-4 match (Copland to 5), Rogan took the opening set 4-4. There was no second set, and as the hot seat occupant, Copland took the event title when he and Rogan split the top two prizes.
Tour director Marc Dionne thanked the ownership and staff at Crow’s Nest, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Molinari, Bert Kinister, AZBilliards, Inside English, Professor Q-Ball’s National Pool and 3-Cushion News, Delta 13 racks, MJS Construction, Bob Campbell, Championship Cloth and OTLVISE Billiard Mechanics of America. The next stop on the New England 9-Ball Series (#28), scheduled for July 29, will be hosted by Stix and Stones in Abington, MA.