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RACK’EM 2017 P M
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6 Pockets Decatur, AL 7 Astros Lawrence, KS 7 Big Dog Billiards Des Moines, IA 4,17 Blue Diamond Cape Girardeau, MO 8 Brickyard Billiards Indianapolis, IN 21 C R Sports Bar Coon Rapids, MN 7 Chinook Winds Open Lincoln City, OR 9 Chris’ Billiards Chicago, IL 10 Fat Toad Junction City, KS 10 Jamaica Joe’s Midwest City, OK 11 Kato Cue Club Mankato, MN 10 Malarkey’s 20 Open Table Azle, TX 29 Red Shoes Billiards Alsip, IL 17 Sharky’s Bar & Billiards Davenport, IA 6 Sidepockets Shreveport, LA 21 Skinny Bob’s Round Rock, TX 21 T’s Billiards Tulsa, OK 11 Varsity Club Oshkosh, WI 22 White Diamond Lafayette, LA 22
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12 Tom Simpson 15 Anthony Beeler 14 Bob Jewett 13 Stefano Pelinga
Rackem is a monthly publication, dedicated to the advancement of the sport of pool. The opinions expressed are those of the author or advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Break or its staff. We reserve the right to edit or reject any material submitted for publication. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced.
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Sharky’s Billiards Rackin Around The Christmas Tree and Quad City One Pocket Classic
Eric Gardner and John Geilau
44 Players came to celebrate an early Christmas at Sharky’s Billiards in Davenport, IA on December 17, 2016! When the snow cleared it was John Geilau coming out on top with a double dip in the finals.
Bobby M
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FI FTEE N 7' DI AMONDS
nd Matt rath Jr a
Congratulations to the top finishers, and thank you to all the participants for playing.
Mitchell
Third Annual Rackin Around The Christmas Tree RESULTS: 1st John Geilau (Waterloo, IA) 2nd Eric Gardner (Davenport, IA) 3rd Mark VerVynck (Kewanee, IL) 4th Dan Johnson (Bettendorf, IA) 5-6th Tommy Fuller (Davenport, IA), Larry Irwin (Peoria, IL) 7-8th Jason Welker (Dixon, IL), Josh Johnson (Moline, IL)
F OUR 9' DI AMOND S
WEEKLY & MONTHLY TOURNEY S
Quad City One Pocket Classic 12/31/16 RESULTS: 1st Bobby McGrath Jr (Peoria, IL) 2nd Matt Mitchell (Burlington, IA) 3rd Anthony Garcia (Cedar Rapids, IA) 4th Matt Rush (Peoria, IL)
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River City Open 6 Pockets in Decatur, AL was the site of the River City Open on January 6-8, 2017. What a great weekend. Come February 4, 2017 for our $500 added monthly 9-Ball Tournament 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
WINNER NICK HICKERSON
(256) 686-3171
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February 2017
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Back Alley Billiards Hosts OK State ACS 8-Ball Team Championships
Back Alley Billiards in McAlester, Okla., hosted the Oklahoma State ACS 9-Ball Team Championships in October. Players from across the state came to McAlester to compete in this state tournament, and some teams won entries to the ACS National Championships in Las Vegas. In the women’s team division, “Peggy’s Girls” took home the state championship title and won an entry to the national tourney. Team members include Rachel Petersen, Peggy Marshall and Angi Knisley. Finishing in the runner-up spot was “This Bud’s for You,” a Tulsa team including Sandy Chamberlain, Pat Oliver and Gayla Robertson. Taking third was “Pool Chicks,” with Sharon Stanton, Amy Isbell, Renee Casey and Rickie Ouellette. Finishing in fourth was “Nobody Cares,” with Mandy Lay, Tammy Mendenhall and Stacy Chappell. In the men’s standard team division, “Loaded for Bear,” won the championship title and the free entry to the national tourney. Team members include Travis Keenan, Michael Treat and Jay Ward. Finishing in second was “Dougy’s Dudes,” with Doug Kirby, Shane Austin and Pete Manschreck. Taking third was “Henryetta Outsiders,” with Jerry McCurry, Stave Watson and Cline Worlow. Finishing in fourth was “Misfits,” with Jon Bates, Lee Riddle and Kenny Deatherage.
Women’s Teams — Peggy’s Girls — l-r, Peggy Marshall, Rachel Petersen and Angi Knisley
Men’s Standard — Loaded for Bear — l-r, Travis Keenan, Jay Ward and Michael Treat
In the men’s open team division, “Weaver’s Guys,” won the championship title and the national entry. Team members include David Weaver, Trenton Bolding and Robert Webb. Taking second were the “Bull Shooters,” with Marlan Isbell, Billy Rice and Jason Chappell. Finishing in third were the “Undertakers,” with Dave Holland, Mike Whitebead and Jimmy Johnson.
Men’s Open Teams — Weaver’s Guys — l-r, Trenton Bolding, Robert Webb and David Weaver
Back Alley Billiards hosts numerous leagues and tournaments all year long. For more information, contact the pool hall at 918-916-CUES (2837).
Serving: Lunch, Dinner & Late night snacks!!! Ice cold beverages served till 1:30am Pool ~ Darts Live Entertainment 26 N Main Cape Girardeau, MO
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Everyday till 9pm 573-837-1148 Hours: Mon-Sat: 2pm - 1:30am & Sun: 2pm - Midnight
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hinook C inds Wpen O 4th Annual
March 9-11, 2017 Chinook Winds Casino Resort Lincoln City, OR
$24,000 Added Men’s Division Race to 7, Alternate Breaks $15,000 guaranteed for 1st place if FF $10,000 guaranteed for 2nd place if FF FF = Full Field = 128 entries Maximum bracket size - 256
Women’s Division Race to 5, Alternate Breaks $6,000 guaranteed for 1st place if FF $3,670 guaranteed for 2nd place if FF FF = Full Field = 48 entries Maximum bracket size - 64
8-Ball Championships Entry Fees: $200 ($175 entry + $25 gf) Entry Deadline: March 3, 2017 Entry Forms: go to westernbca.org
Schedule of Events
March 8 (Wed), 6p - Calcutta March 9 (Thurs), Noon - Play Starts March 10 (FrI), 7p - 2nd Chance Tournament $2000 added/$100 entry Limited to 64 players Finals will be Saturday, times TBA
Dress Code
Collared Shirts/Slacks/Jeans ok if not torn or frayed. No leggings or shorts.
Questions-Call Mike Jensen at 360-703-4081
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Fat Toad Billiards in Junction City, KS hosted two Tournaments on January 7-8, 2017. The Open 9-Ball fielded 42 players and the One Pocket had 11 players. Here are the Results for both events.
ONE POCKET/11 PLAYERS 1st $550 Chip Compton 2nd $350 Taylor Anderson 3rd $200 Joey Grey
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OPEN 9-BALL/42 PLAYERS 1st $720 Joey Grey 2nd $500 Chip Compton 3rd $350 Glenn Atwell 4th $220 Carl Ward 5/6 $110 Sean King, Taylor Anderson 7/8 $75 Matt Berry, Brad Huffman Top Woman $100 Melissa Jacobs
Hours: Sun-Thurs: 11AM-Midnight Fri-Sat: 11am-1am
121 E Cherry St Mankato, MN
507-388-7665
Weekly & Monthly Tournaments
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All Ages Welcome
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Wednesdays 9-Ball FREE entry $100 added 7:30PM
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741 W 6th St - Junction City, KS 785-579-6465
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Chris’ Billiards A Chicago Classic Weekly Pool Tournaments @ 7pm Wed: 8-Ball & Sun: 10-Ball
41 Pool Tables - APA Leagues 4637 N Milwaukee Ave - Chicago, IL
773-286-4714
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48 teams came today (January 1, 2017) for the Hangover Scotch Doubles Tournament today at Big Dog Billiards in Des Moines, IA!!! A big thank you to all the players for coming out!!! Theo Lee and Noah Contreras took 1st place in the 11th Annual Hangover Scotch Doubles tournament at Big Dog Billiards!! 2nd place was Anthony Ludwig and Joseph Jones (not pictured), and 3rd place was Steven Wilwerding and his dad Gator (Gator didn’t want his picture taken, but I took it anyway)!! Great shootin’ everyone! Big thank going out to all 48 teams that played on New Year’s Day!!
Theo Lee and Noah Contreras
11 Annual Hangover Scotch Doubles Tournament th
HOURS: 11:00am to 1:30am Monday thru Thursday. 11:00amto 2:00am Friday & Saturday. 1:00pm to 1:30am Sunday
Jamaica Joe’s Billiard Bar & Grill
Steven Wilwerding and Gator
T’s Billiards
Full Service Bar & Grill Pro Shop - Leagues Weekly & Monthly Tournaments Wednesday Night 9-Ball at 7:30PM - $15 entry - House matches $5 per player 5920 S.E. 15th. Midwest City, OK - 405-736-0590
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Gunslinger Pool
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15 Pool Tables Tournaments Coldest Beer Sandwiches Pizza
8155 East 21st St - Tulsa, OK - 918-622-7747
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PUT SOME LIFE IN YOUR GAME by Tom Simpson © May 2007 – All Rights Reserved – PoolClinics.com
Tom Simpson
Master Instructor, National Billiard Academy, “Beat People With a Stick!”
Tom Simpson
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February 2017
Most pool players don’t think of themselves as athletes – at least not in pool. I’ve come to think we are athletes, and to the extent we act and become athletic at the table, we can improve our performance. Pool is a physical performance art. Excellent physical performers use their bodies beautifully and gracefully. To me, this is athletic – filled with life, moving with fullness. Pool players don’t have to be large or muscular to play athletically. We can probably agree that good pool looks full, alive, connected. We can probably agree this is a good thing. If you’re slouching, if you’re dragging your butt around the table, if you’re feeling weak, if you’re thinking about something else, life is leaking out of your game. The “life in your game” is the fun, the zing, the energy behind your wins. Let’s explore some ways to get more life in your game. This is not the typical approach to things, but this is not a typical topic. It won’t hurt you to try this stuff. 1. Life in your demeanor: The general idea is to try to feel large in your body, as if you are slightly inflated. Your joints are open, you feel tall, and you move smoothly around the table, connected to the balls. One way to experience this sensation is to imagine you are ever so slightly suspended from the top of your head. Keep this feeling as you stalk the layout. 2. Life in your stance: As you settle into your stance, it should look and feel athletic. That means it’s not twisted up and it’s not relying heavily on muscle. It’s using your skeleton well. An athletic stance is in between locked knees and crouching. It’s easy but strong and stable. You should be bending from the pelvis, not slumping your shoulders and back. Slumping is not athletic and will produce slumpy results. Your feet can also come to life. As you notice your weight in your feet, and as you can get that weight happily onto the balls of your feet, you’ll feel solid and balanced. Wiggle your toes and wake up your feet. The better you land your feet,
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the more likely you’ll feel right and make the shot. 3. Life in your bridge: To inject some life into your bridge, try increasing the awareness (sense of touch) in your fingers. Work your bridge into exactly the rock you need it to be to precisely deliver the tip for the shot at hand. Anchor the bridge in place with a little “life”. Nail it down and let it be. 4. Life in your grip: To have life in your stroke, you need a soft grip. Squeezing hard robs you of fluidity. Try increasing the awareness in your fingertips. Really feel the weight and texture of the cue in your fingers. 5. Life in your stroke: Your arm should bend smoothly. Jerky motions are difficult to control and produce iffy results. Get through the ball. No poking. It’s vital that your elbow bend easily and fluidly. Don’t shoot until you have an athletic connection to the shot. Feel the groove of the stroke and do not interfere. 6. Life in your eyes: This does not mean wild, bulging eyes, darting all over. Generally, we perform better when our eyes are quiet and focused. Yes, we look back & forth down the shot line, but smoothly, calmly, undistracted. It’s just you and the balls. 7. Life in your thinking: Be positive. Expect to make your shots. Expect to get shape. Expect to get rolls. Expect to win. Don’t let a bad shot or a bad roll change your attitude. Enjoy the good stuff. Hey, you’re playing pool. How bad is that? Play with all the athletic ability and feeling you can muster. It’s what makes us look good at the table. When we look good, we feel good. That breeds confidence, and confidence sinks balls like crazy. How would a cat play pool? Try to feel like a big cat at the table. Glide smoothly about, never lose focus, stretch luxuriously into your shooting position. No hitches, no hesitation. Put some life in your game, and maybe get some more game in your life.
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KYOTO’S FREEWAY STEFANO PELINGA stefanopelinga.com Stefano Pelinga (born 1964) hails from Rome, Italy, where he has served since 1985 as a police officer for the Italian government (Polizia di Stato), until his retirement in 2011. He began to play pool at the age of 12, drawing inspiration from his favorite singer and actor, Dean Martin. Stefano, currently a 5-time World Champion in Pool Trick Shots, won several titles in Italy in straight pool and nine-ball throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. In 1990, he devoted himself entirely to “Artistic Pool,” commonly referred to in its practice as “Trick Shots.” Due to his outstanding achievements, Stefano is recognized worldwide as one of the greatest Trick Shot champions in the history of the sport, and has earned a spot in ESPN’s Trick Shot Magic Hall of Fame. Most importantly, on November 17, 2012, Stefano was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. In the presence of approximately 500 VIP guests and many sports stars such as Tommy Lasorda, Mike Piazza, Tony Esposito and Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Stefano was awarded this honor, becoming a member of this group of legendary Italian Americans.
As most of you may know, set-up shots don’t really require a lot of skills in their execution. However, they do need a lot of experience to be set up quickly and flawlessly. I never cared too much for set-up shots but I happen to really like a few of them which are hard to arrange and even to execute. This month’s trick shot is surely one of my favorite set-up shots. I learned it in the late 80s directly from its creator, the legendary Japanese champion Yoshikazu Kimura. He named it “Kyoto’s Freeway” as supposedly the roads are very busy and traffic chaotic in that beautiful Japanese city of his. Let’s set it up! First, place a ball right on the head spot and the 1-ball straight behind it. Then remove the first ball from the spot and place the 2-ball frozen to the 1-ball and with their line of centers (the red dotted line) aiming at the right point of the right corner pocket. Then place the CB one ball from the short rail and at its very center. Freeze the 3-ball and the 4-ball to the CB with their line of centers aiming at 1.5 diamonds from the corner pockets on the long rails (black dotted lines). Place the 5-ball very close to the 3-ball and in line with the right point of the top left corner pocket. Similarly, place the 6-ball close to the 4-ball and in line with the left point of the top right corner pocket. The gaps between these couple of balls are of about 1/8”. Shoot the CB dead center and a 3-speed stroke aiming at the 1-ball full. I personally use a closed bridge on the rail. If you manage to hit the CB purely in the center, without putting any unwanted English on it, you will very likely be able to pocket all six balls in one shot and in four different pockets, as shown in the diagram. The most common adjustment you may need while attempting this shot will be the alignment between the 3- and 5-ball and 3-5 4-6 between the 4- and 6-ball. Depending on their cleanliness, they may need to be aimed at the center of the corner pockets or even at the opposite points. That will slightly change the •2 tangent lines between these 1 pairs of balls but the 3- and the 4-ball should still sink in the corner pockets. Enjoy and drive carefully out there, especially when in Kyoto or… Rome!
CB-3
CB-4
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San Francisco Billiard Academy www.sfbilliards.com
PBIA certified instruction is available for all levels from beginners to instructor training.
Honolulu -- No Standard Shot
Bob Jewett
Bob Jewett
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February 2017
You may have noticed that I’m a big advocate of trying games you don’t usually play to work on shots you might otherwise avoid and look at different strategies. This month’s game is called Honolulu. The legend is that it started at Hawaiian Brian’s room in that city. The basic rules are pretty simple. It’s just like straight pool except it is played with only one rack and to 8 points. The rule that sets it apart is that you are not allowed to play any simple shot -- you can’t play a ball directly into a pocket. Banks, kicks, combinations, caroms and any more complicated assembly of those are allowed. You have to call the ball and the pocket but don’t have to say exactly how the shot will unfold. If you are playing a kick shot (cue ball to the cushion before ball contact), you can’t play a “cheap” kick where you hit a cushion that connects to the pocket you are going for. In the diagram, you can’t call the 9 ball and come off the end rail right by the ball. On the break shot at the fifteen-ball rack, you have to get two balls and the cue ball to cushions or pocket a called ball, just like 14.1. Fouls are penalized by spotting a previously made ball or the player owes a ball to the table as at one pocket. Any ball pocketed without having been called is returned to the table at the end of the player’s inning (called “delayed”). Also, if a player clears the table on a scoring shot without having won, all owed and delayed balls are spotted at that time and the player continues. Unlike 14.1 where only the crazy people try for a ball on the break, it’s not such a bad idea at Honolulu. Banking the corner ball back is a fairly high percentage if you practice it and it gets the game started. You could also try the head ball into the side pocket. You have to think about this game differently and that’s good. How many reasonable shots can you see in the diagram? I can see at least 8 that have a pretty good chance to go. Try to find them all before reading on for my list. Ready? The only bank I like here is the 14 ball cross-side. You could bank the 7 or the 2 but I would only consider those as a last resort. The 2 in the side off the 3; 9 by three different combinations; 7 on a carom off the 6; kiss the 1 off the 11; 4-11 combo. If none of those shots was available, I’d also consider the billiard shot off the left side of the 6 to the 9 and the kick shot off the head rail to the 9. Which shot should you take here? Well, with the 9 in the jaws, you have a chance to plan a run. Play the 10-9 combo and bump lightly into the 6. If you have left the 10 by the pocket, you will then
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have the 8-10 combo followed by the 15-8 combo. Of course you have to shoot the combos with the right speed and a full hit to leave the first ball near the pocket and not bounce away or follow the second ball in. There is one optional rule and that is the double call. If you think you are going to pocket two balls, both by nondirect shots, you can call both of them but you have to make both of them for either shot to count. In the diagram, you could play the 6-9 combo and carom into the 7 to make it also. Happy banking, kissing, caroming, and combinationing.
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A LESSON FROM LUTHER
Anthony Beeler is a 2013 BCA National 9-Ball team champion. He also finished 9th out of 1086 players in the 2013 BCA National 8-Ball Championships. He is a certified Level 3 instructor for the American CueSports Alliance and is the founder of Maximize Your Potential Billiards Academy located in Bradfordsville, Kentucky. Beeler is also a fully licensed Kentucky Educator having, received his bachelor’s degree at Campbellsville University and his master’s degree in Education Leadership at Eastern Kentucky University. Throughout his pool-playing career Anthony has won over 300 tournaments and has defeated numerous professional players in tournament competition.
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Have you ever noticed the number of professional players that rest their head almost directly above their cue? In fact, modern snooker players are well known for this. Sometimes it appears that the cue is rubbing or almost scraping against their chin each time the cue is stroked. At some point, you probably have asked yourself the question, “How far above the cue should I rest my head?” The answer to this question can be found by using a simple formula. The formula I am referring to uses 3 simple reference points. The reference points include the elbow, grip and “V” on your bridge hand. Once the reference points are found, an imaginary triangle is formed as shown in the diagram below. Your eyes should be either “on” or “somewhere inside of the imaginary triangle.”
cue. Snooker players have recognized this advantage for years. This is because they regularly play on 6x12 tables where long shots are the norm. The photo below shows the distance your eyes have to travel when they are positioned above the triangle (not crouched). You will note that your eyes have to move around 5 inches as they transition back and forth from the top of the cue ball to the bottom of the object ball (eight-ball).
You might ask the question, “How will this help me pocket balls?” There are in fact many answers to this question. One answer is that it becomes much easier for a player to be consistent with their visual alignment when their head is positioned closer to the cue. When the chin is placed near the cue, it is easier to see if you are off line. It will also allow you to visually maintain a straighter stroke. Having your head closer to the cue also allows you to sight as though you were looking down the sights of a gun barrel. If you normally have trouble pocketing long shots, you might not be bending over far enough and aiming with your dominant eye. World Champion, Luther “Wimpy” Lassiter once suggested that the key to pocketing long difficult shots is to get into your stance then crouch just a little more. In fact, there is considerably less eye movement between the cue ball and object ball if your head is positioned closer to the
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Conversely, your eyes won’t have to do nearly as much work if they are located inside of the imaginary triangle (as suggested by Lassiter). Our next photo shows the same shot, but this time the player’s eyes only have to move around 2 inches (3 inches less than before). The reason for this is that the view is from a crouched perspective (inside the triangle). The overall distance will vary from shot to shot, but the distance your eyes have to travel will always be diminished as you move closer to your cue. Over the course of time this can be a huge advantage. Obviously less eye movement is better, because there is less room for error. So the next time you are faced with a long difficult shot remember to take the advice of Lassiter and crouch just a little more. Remember to practice positioning your eyes inside of the imaginary triangle. Once mastered, your eyes will do less work and you will pocket difficult shots a much higher percentage of the time.
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Watson and Freeman Win Jacob Watson
Sonny Bosshamer
Former Junior World Championship contender, Jacob Watson, came from behind to claim the 64-player amateur 9-ball division, and his first-ever, Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour event. After losing the hot seat match to Sonny Bosshamer, 5-4, Watson came back with a vengeance, reaching another milestone in his short, but successful playing career. Hailing from Hughes Springs, Texas, tour newcomer Clint Freeman lost the open 9-ball division hot seat to Peruvian Champion, Manny Chau, 7-4, but found redemption in the final, besting Chau 7-5, 7-6, to secure his first, Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour open 9-ball division title. On January 7-8, 2017, Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar (Houston, Texas), along with tour title sponsor Poison by Predator Cues (PoisonBilliards.com), and sponsors Cyclop Pool Balls (facebook@CyclopPoolBalls), Ozone Billiards (OzoneBilliards.com), and the APA of North Harris County (facebook@APANorthHarrisCounty), facilitated another successful Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour event, procuring a generous $1,000 in added money. There were eighty players in attendance and a near $7,000 prize fund. Due to the overwhelming number of players, races were reduced in each division on the second day. In the amateur 9-ball division, Watson took no prisoners on his way to the final four winners’ side, defeating Cecil Rhea, Leon Contreras, Jason Galetka, 5-2, and Angel Cerrillo, 5-4, while tour newcomer Elias Garza bested Josh Gavin, Jay Russell, Jantzen Miller, 5-0, and David Leal, 5-3. Also on a role, Sonny Bosshamer defeated Michael Alvarez, Matt McCurdy, Clint Freeman, 5-4, and J.C. Torres, 5-3, while Bobby Roland ousted Ben Johnson, Ben Hebert, Robley Fontenot, 5-3, and Robbie Salinas, 5-2. On the one loss side, Freeman was on fire, eliminating Bobby Garcia, 5-2, Leon Contreras, 5-4, and Angel Cerrillo, 5-0. Steve Lenz overcame Alan Myers, 5-3, Ben Johnson, 5-2, and David Leal, 5-1, while Jantzen Miller defeated Ben Hebert, Ricky Hughes, 5-4, and Robbie Salinas, 5-3. After losing his first match to Garcia, Steve Williams won four consecutive matches, ousting Thomas Madison, Matt McCurdy, Matt Cash, 5-4, Steve Espinosa, and Mark Callahan, 5-4. Williams fell shy of the final eight, losing to J.C. Torres, 5-3. Back on the east side, Watson reigned over Garza, 5-4, and Bosshamer took down B. Roland, 5-1. Bosshamer slid by Watson, 5-4, securing a well-deserved hot seat win. On the west side, Garza sent Torres packing, 5-1, as Freeman took out B. Roland, his fifth straight victim, 5-3. Garza ended Freeman’s run, 5-3, but fell to Watson by the same score. The young gun wasted little time on Bosshamer, winning both sets, and clenching his first amateur 9-ball division title. In the open 9-ball division, Clint Freeman made his way into the final four on the winners’ side, taking down Bob DeTuncq, Jay Russell, 9-2, Michael Pickering, 7-6, and
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February 2017
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Justin Whitehead, 7-6, while Eduardo Hernandez bested Karol Hughes, Paul Bojan, Ruben Bautista, 7-4, and Scott Proud, 7-5. Manny Chau came on strong with wins over Elias Garza, 9-3, Thomas Madison, 9-6, Sonny Bosshamer, 7-5, and Steve Lenz, 7-3, while Ernesto Bayaua ran through Alan Myers, 9-2, Adam Cooper, 9-4, Steve Espinosa, and Leon Contreras, 7-4. As the final four on the winners’ side took shape, the one loss side witnessed a comeback by Bautista, who won five consecutive matches including wins over Jacob Watson, 7-1, Steve Williams, 7-1, and Steve Lenz, 7-3. Also on the one loss side, Michael Pickering ended Yoko Joe, 7-5, Cesar Arechiga, 7-4, and Leon Contreras, 7-3, to meet Bautista. Louisiana’s own Robley Fontenot made an impressive run on the loser’s side with wins over Chad Hart, Angel Cerrillo, 7-4, Steve Espinosa, and Danny Roland, 7-6, until Whitehead ended his run, 7-1. After losing his first match to Grady Cooper, David Leal won five straight matches, with wins over Myers, 7-6, Dale Lairamore, Russell, 7-3, Ricky Hughes, 7-6, and Doug Gray, 7-3. Leal was halted by Proud, just shy of the final eight. On the east side, Freeman ousted Hernandez, 7-2, and Chau sent Bayaua west, 7-1. Freeman went on to defeat Chau for the hot seat, 7-4. Back on the east side, Bautista forged ahead, eliminating Pickering, 7-1, and Hernandez, 7-0. Whitehead made quick work of Proud, 7-3, but fell to Bayaua, 7-2. Bayaua ended Bautista’s run, 7-6, but lost to a determined Chau, 7-1. It was evident that Chau was on a mission, and Freeman had his work cut out for him. Following an unforced error by Freeman, Chau closed out the first set, 7-5. In overtime, it was a fight to the finish, as both players traded game for game, each waiting on the slightest mistake in order to pull ahead and win the set. After a near flawless second set, when the dust cleared, it was Freeman who inched ahead to win the race, 7-6, and secure his first open 9-ball division title. There were a number of players who traveled from out of state to participate in this event, and players competing on tour for the first time. The tour would like to thank all those players for making the trip, and those who competed in their first Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour event. We hope to see you back at every opportunity. The tour would like to recognize its 2017 sponsors and venues: Poison by Predator Cues, Cyclop Pool Balls, Ozone Billiards, and the APA of North Harris County. This year, the tour welcomes back Texas venues Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar (Houston), Bogies West (Houston), Skinny Bob’s Billiards (Round Rock), and our brand new venues, Fat Racks Sports Bar and Billiards (San Antonio), and CK Billiards (Dallas). This year the tour welcomes its new, resident vendor, Bryant Billiards, and will offer cue repair at each of its 11 stops. Without the nearly 300 players who attend Poison Lone Star Tour events, annually,
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Poison Lonestar Season Opener
Clint Freeman
Manny Chau
production of this tour would not be possible. The tour would like to thank each and every player for their participation, whether it’s one event, or every event year round. It is because of your patronage, that the Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour celebrates its 9th birthday this year, serving players across Texas and in surrounding states. The tour welcomes everyone back for the next event, to be held on February 11th-12th, 2017, at Bogies West, located at 9638 Jones Road, in Houston, Texas. The full 2017 schedule is published at LoneStarBilliardsTour.com. The Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour encourages everyone who loves to play pool and compete in a friendly atmosphere, to attend an event, “Like” us on Facebook @LoneStarTour and “Follow” us on Twitter @LoneStarTour09.
open late
Amateur 1st $530 Jacob Watson 2nd $330 Sonny Bosshamer 3rd $220 Elias Garza 4th $140 Clint Freeman 5/6th $100 Bobby Roland J.C. Torres 7/8th $80 Steve Lenz Jantzen Miller 9-12th $50 Angel Cerrillo, David Leal, Steve Williams, Robbie Salinas 13-16th $25 Ricky Hughes, Mark Callahan, Leon Contreras, Ben Johnson
Open 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5/6th
$550 Clint Freeman $350 Manny Chau $230 Ernesto Bayaua $150 Ruben Bautista $120 Eduardo Hernandez, Justin Whitehead 7/8th $100 Michael Pickering Scott Proud 9-12th $60 Steve Lenz, Leon Contreras, Robley Fontenot, David Leal 13-16th $35 Danny Roland, Steve Williams, Doug Gray, Cesar Arechiga
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February 2017
17
E E S S E N N E H KES IT MA R!!! U O F Jonathan Hennessee
Sky Wooddward
JOB’s Billiards – Madison, TN. The 30th Annual Music City Open. Barbox 9 ball – winner breaks, true double elimination. Sure doesn’t get much better than this!!!
staff for doing all they could to make everyone feel welcome. Owner Ricky Gamble and Tournament Director Steve McDonald went above and beyond to make sure everything ran smoothly and make us feel at home.
The event kicked off on Wednesday night with a 64-player mini tournament. When the smoke had cleared, Nick Hickerson had taken it down after defeating Sean King in the finals.
We’d also like to thank our sponsors – Lomax Custom Cues, EnviroAssessments.com, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Hanshew Custom Cues, Simonis, Diveney Custom Cues, GoPlayPool.com, Kamui, Outsville, Diamond Billiard Tables and Club Billiards of Wichita, KS. Thank you all for your continued support.
The women’s division started on Friday night with 41 players. In the end, it came down to Allison Hardwick winning a hill-hill thriller with a break and run on the final rack. Congratulations, Allison! Jessica Mollinet took the well-deserved runner-up position with Lisa Porter in third and Robin Parker in fourth place. The Midnight Madness Mini kicked off Saturday night – eight players putting up $500 apiece to play – winner take all. Sky Woodward took the cheese over a strong Roberto Gomez in the finals. The main event had a full field of 128 players. After a raucous player auction on Thursday evening, play began. By Sunday night, the field had whittled down to an undefeated Sky Woodward and Johnathan Pinegar. The smart money was on Sky to take the title as he had played phenomenally throughout the entire event - including two 10-packs. Hennessee had to defeat Sky twice and won the first set convincingly 11-5. A determined Sky rocketed out to an 8-1 lead in the second set but but never won another game. Henny slowly but surely won game after game to tie the match at 8. From there, he went on ahead to close out the set 11-8, adding a fourth Music City Open title to his resume and leaving a disappointed Sky Woodward in second place. Congratulations to Hennessee for a great tournament!!! Solid performances in a super tough field were turned in by Roberto Gomez for third and Shane Winters for fourth place.
Our next stop is the Derby City Classic at the Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, IN!!! Come on by and sweat the action in our Aramith Action Room!!! Dates are January 20-28th!!! Hope to see you there!!! — By Mary Kenniston
1st $4,000 2nd $2,600 3rd $1,700 4th $1,100 5/6th $780 7/8th $470 9-12th $275
Jonathan Hennessee Sky Woodward Roberto Gomez Shane Winters John Gabriel, Shane McMinn Sean King, Daniel McKenney Bobby McGrath, Chuck Raulston, David Anderson, Nick Hickerson 13-16th $190 Josh O’Neal, Taylor Anderson, Robert Frost, Joe Keith 17-24th $130 Lee Alford, Steve Wiggins, Tommy Najar, Jerry Claymen, Lee Unless, Anthony Green, Cliff Joyner, Charlie Taylor 25-32nd $100 Mitchell Perry, Matt Bulfin, Joe Coleman, Raed Shabeb, Jack Campbell, Wade Keeling, Bobby Emmons, Chris Crawford
As always, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank JOB’s Billiards and their
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Eaton Wins Gulf Coast Season Opener
Natalie Rocha, Gail Eaton,Jennifer Yo HOUSTON, TX Gail Eaton, a.k.a. “Virginia Slim”, went undefeated amidst a hefty field of 43 semi-professional players to capture the Gulf Coast Women’s Regional Billiards Tour 9-Ball Season Opener. Eaton faced off with Austin’s Jennifer Yo in the final, capturing the first set, 7-4, and her first victory of 2017. On January 7th, 2017, some of the most talented female pool players in Texas and Louisiana converged on Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar in Houston, Texas, to compete in the one-day, $500 added 9-ball event, vying for a place in the Gulf Coast Tour winners’ circle. Room owners David and Shannon Richardson, along with tour sponsors Cyclop Pool Balls (facebook.com/CyclopPoolBalls), Ozone Billiards (OzoneBilliards.com), and the APA of North Harris County (facebook. com/apanorthharriscounty), facilitated another successful event for the women of the Gulf Coast Tour, the first of 11 events scheduled for 2017. Growing by leaps and bounds, the WPBA sanctioned regional tour has already amassed a following of 55 player members this year, in addition to securing a new venue, CK Billiards, in Dallas, Texas. Last year the tour amassed 76 player members, the highest to date, and because this year’s numbers are already high, the tour anticipates breaking 100 player members before the end of 2017. Seasoned tour veteran, Gail Eaton, took on one of the fiercest Gulf Coast fields in recent months, surging to the 1st $420 winners’ side final four with wins over Mona 2nd $260 Nesh, 7-5, Cindy Tillman, 7-1, and newcomer 3rd $190 Sandra Gonzalez, 7-2. Jennifer Yo took 4th $130 down Nancy French, 7-4, Terry Petrosino, 5/6th $60 7-6, and Julie Enzensperger, 7-4, while 7/8th $40 Loretta Lindgren defeated Crystal Ayres, 7-4, 9-12th $25 Yvonne Asher, 7-4, and Ricki Casper, 7-6. Coming off a recent win at the 2016 Space City Open, Natalie Rocha ousted Liz Mitchel, 7-1, Diana Cardona,
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7-2, and Kim Pierce, 7-2. As the final four on the winners’ side rounded out, the west side witnessed a comeback by numerous, top contenders. After suffering a 7-6 loss to Yo, Petrosino went through Mitchel, 5-3, Matty Sword, 5-3, and Pierce, 5-4, to reach the final eight. Kim Jenkins made her play, eliminating Celeste Espinosa, 5-3, Sara Bork, and Tillman, 5-1, until Casper ended her run, 5-1. Following a second round loss to Jennifer Yo, 7-4, French eliminated Gail Roles, 5-3, newcomer Emily Sumrall, 5-4, Cardona, 5-3, Mundie, and Enzensperger, 5-2, while Garland secured her bid with wins over Stacey Pelakakis, 5-2, Yvonne Asher, 5-4, and Gonzalez. Back on the east side, Rocha ousted Lindgren, 7-5, while Eaton defeated Yo, 7-4. Eaton went on to defeat Rocha for the hot seat, 7-5. On the one loss side, Casper eliminated Petrosino 5-4, but fell to Yo, 5-4, while Garland ended French, 5-3, but folded to Lindgren, 5-1. Yo was in high gear, booking her third win with Rocha, 5-4, and earning herself a shot at Eaton. In the final match, Eaton came out firing, but Yo refused to go down without a fight. Players traded games until Eaton pulled away, winning the first set, and her first victory of the year, 7-4.
The Gulf Coast Women’s Regional Billiards Tour is open to players of all ages and skill levels, however, the top 32 WPBA Exempt Professionals are not permitted to participate. The next Gulf Coast Tour 9-ball event will be held on February 11th, 2017, at Bogies West, 9638 Jones Road, in Houston, Payouts Texas. This event will be played on 8’ tables with Gail Eaton Cyclop TV Set Pool Balls. Free practice begins Jennifer Yo at 10am, and the mandatory players’ Natalie Rocha meeting begins at 11am. For more Loretta Lindgren information about the WPBA sanctioned, Teresa Garland, Ricki Casper Gulf Coast Women’s Regional Billiards Terry Petrosino, Nancy French Tour, visit GulfCoastWomensTour.com or Kim Pierce, Sandra Gonzalez, follow us on Facebook @gulfcoasttour1. Kim Jenkins, Julie Enzensperger Story and Photo by: Kim Newsome
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February 2017
19
PRESS RELEASE
VIKING A C u e
o f
nnounces t h e
Mo
Po w e r B u y s n t h
G i v e a w ay L a u n c h
MIDDLETON, WI (February 3, 2017)
Viking Cue Manufacturing, LLC is a World leading designer, developer and manufacturer of authentic, American-Made billiard cues, cases, low deflection shafts and accessories. Viking is proud to announce the introduction of the new PowerBuys Cue of the Month Giveaway for the month of February.
February, we took the very popular A291 and customized it to make the C-A291. The C-A291 features custom Red and Silver Premium Pearl and Black IMA Rings, Bordeaux stain and Black Butt Cap. It also comes standard with the Viking low-deflection ViKORE American Performance shaft with Everest Tip as well as the Viking Limited Lifetime Warranty including warpage.
Starting in February 2017, the artisans at Viking Cue will be taking one of our legendary designs and transforming it into a new and exciting custom cue, each and every month. By exploring our vast collection of rich custom stains, paints, wraps, inlay and ring materials, exotic woods, performance shafts and tip options, our designers will create a truly custom, limited edition cue without the additional customization charges you would normally expect to pay for when creating a custom cue.
To enter the drawing, please visit vikingcue.com/cue-of-the-month-giveaway/. Enter as many times as you wish and we will randomly choose the winner of the C-A291 at the end of the month. The Headquarters of Viking Cue is located in Middleton, WI and distributes internationally under the brands of Viking, ViKORE, eXact Shot, eXact Shot2, VCrush, VPro, VSpin, Crush, Punch and Valhalla. For more information, please contact Viking Cue at sales@vikingcue.comor call 1-800-391-0122. To find a Viking Dealer near you, visit our website at www.vikingcue.com
Every month, Viking Cue will be giving away the PowerBuys Cue of the Month to one very lucky individual. For the month of
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Pool is not Dead!
Just ask the Ladies of Bonita Vista
by: Mary Price Photo by Ronnie Law This is most of the lady’s pool league for the Bonita Vista mobile home park in Apache Junction, AZ. Our numbers each week vary from 23 to 27 in attendance & from 63 to 82 yrs of age. The league is mostly a learning forum, & we had 4 new ladies this week. The very few who have played have NOT played in 30 years or so. They are so excited about our crazy game & I am so proud of the progress they are already showing! One lady, who did not understand how to aim, ran 5 of her balls tonight. Hours: M-F: 2pm-2am Sat: 11am-2am Closed Sunday
2013 Nelson St Shreveport, LA 318-425-8112
• • • • •
I do not have the ladies’ names for the pic, being barely able to keep track of their first names!
The Premier Pool Hall and Sports Bar in Round Rock, TX • • • • • • •
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9-BALL CLASSIC March 25th & 26th, 2017 $2,000 Added Entry fee $100 - $125 after March 18th
Limited to first 64 paid entrants Double Elim - Race to 9 Texas Express Rules - Rack Your Own Doors open 9AM - TD John Klotz 317-903-9844
6445 W Washington St - Indianapolis, IN 317-248-0555
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Until I moved here, this is a demographic I had not seriously considered as part of the pool world. The men’s league here is about the same size and there are some very strong players who have either always been, or developed as, home players.
Hours: Mon – Fri 11am to Midnight Sat – 11am – 1am Sun – Noon to Midnight
14 Nine Foot Gold Crown III Pool Tables 8 Seven Foot Diamond Smart Tables 3 Cushion Billiard Table Golden Tee - Touch Tunes Jukebox 24 High Definition Screens Direct TV’s Sports Package New Smoke-Free Section & Bar POOL, POKER & SPORTS Pool Tournaments Poker Nights 8-Ball & 9-Ball Leagues Daily Drink Specials
WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS
Friday 9-Ball, $12 entry, 8pm, Races 3/3 (last woman standing wins cash prize) Saturday 9-Ball, $12 entry, 8pm, Races 4/3 (plus 9-ball break contest) Sunday 10-Ball, $12 entry, 2pm, Races 5/3 (plus 9-ball break and break & run contests) 300 Hester’s Crossing, Ste A1 - Round Rock, TX 78681 512-733-1111 www.skinnybobs.com
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February 2017
21
W il
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Thank you players for ringing in your 2017 with us once again! Every year this tourney produces some cliffhanger matches, and this was no different. Congratulations to the top shooters!
SHARKY'S BILLIARDS NEW YEARS DAY RESULTS DAVENPORT, IA
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5-6 7-8
Anthony Garcia (Cedar Rapids, IA) Will Thomsen (Clinton, IA) Jason Welker (Dixon, IL) Sam Maggio ( LaSalle, IL) Adam Thomas (LeClaire, IA), Al Martin (Clinton, IA) Jesse Bowman (Moline, IL), James Vroegh (Clinton, IA)
JUNIORS
1st 2nd
Kamron Fuller (Davenport, IA) Justin Nichols (Davenport, IA)
Justin
Kamron
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February 2017
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(9) 9' Diamond Tables (12) 7' Diamond Tables
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Midwinter Showdown at Sharky’s
Sharky’s Billiards in Davenport, IA hosted the Midwinter Showdown on January 14, 2-17. Thanks to the players that make every event what they are to begin with. There were a lot of fast and furious rotation played today and in the end Jason Welker comes out on top after Alex gets “Johnsoned” Hill-Hill in the first set.
r lke e W on s a J
ll e r xG Ale
Midwinter Showdown RESULTS 1st Jason Welker (Dixon, IL) 2nd Alex Grell (Bettendorf, IA) 3rd Jenna Bishoff (Bettendorf, IA) 4th Jason Houselog (Dubuque, IA) 5-6th Ryan Short (Cedar Rapids, IA), Al Martin (Clinton, IA) 7-8th Dan Johnson (Bettendorf, IA), Aaron Bean (Moline, IL)
Iowa’s Diamond Dealer! 4510 East 14th St - Des Moines, IA 50313
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Cyclops Ball Sets
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DEALER FOR: • Gameroom Furnishings CUES: • Big Dog • Jacoby • McDermott • Viking • Diveney Custom Cues • Purex • Action • Elite • and more .... • Kamui tips
February 2017
23
JAYSON SHAW TURNING STONE VERONA, NY Jayson Shaw has just won the Turning Stone Classic for the fifth time in the last six attempts. We call that domination. And we call Jayson Shaw a player. Rarely do fans get to witness a player who is so hot. We saw it in Greenleaf and Mosconi back in their day, and more recently we saw it with Mike Sigel, Nick Varner, Johnny Archer and Earl Strickland and most recently with Shane Van Boening (whose streak is coincident to Shaw’s.) All of these players went through stages where they seemed to win everything they entered. And now we are seeing it with Jayson Shaw. The only question that remains is for how long he will be able to maintain this high level. Some burn out on it, others prosper in the heat.
Shaw defeated Rodney Morris in the finals of Turning Stone13-6. Rodney made a late comeback after trailing 7-1 but this one was in Shaw’s control the whole way. With the exception of Shaw, Rodney Morris had a very good week. He defeated the likes of Dennis Hatch (9-7) and Amar Kang (9-4). He then lost the hot seat match to Shaw (9-3) and that sent him way left to take down Dennis Hatch with a convincing 9-3. Then he had to go face Shaw again in the finals and that just didn’t work out well at all. Shaw jumped out to a large early lead and while Rodney fought back gallantly he just had too much road to get there by darkness and Shaw seated him in second place 13-6.
w an a h S l n g o u s y Z a J ke i M with Photo and article from: Mike Zuglan - Joss9BallTour.com (Story by AZB Staff)
Main Event Payouts 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5/6th 7/8th 9-12th
24
$8,000 $5,000 $3,600 $2,600 $2,000 $1,600 $1,200
Jayson Shaw Rodney Morris Dennis Hatch Amar Kang John Morra, Thorsten Hohmann Oscar Dominguez, Johnny Archer Sebastian Laramee, Jarrod Clowery Darren Appleton, Jorge Rodriguez
February 2017
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13-16th $850 Tom Theriault, Joey Cicero, Nelson Oliveira, Tom D’alfonso 17-24th $550 Phil Davis, Ernesto Dominguez, Del Sim, Spencer Auigbelle, Jeremy Sossei, Hunter Lombardo, Karen Corr, Tom Zippler 25-32nd $300 Erik Hjorleifson, Eric Cloutier, Ed Saur, Dan Hewitt, Luc Salvas, Brandon Shuff, Tony Antone, Bucky Souvanthong
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2ND CHANCE event-32 players with a total prize fund of $1,600. 1st $500 Spencer Auigbelle 2nd $300 Rob Sakell 3/4th $200 Chad Bowling, Phil Davis 5/8th $100 John Babravich, John Vitale, Steve Fleming, Dave Mills
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2017
WORLD POOL Russian Ruslan Chinakov Takes
Russia’s Ruslan Filipino, and quickly Chinakov claims pushed his lead up to the Molinari Players 9-1 with his smashing Championship with an break shot and crafty emphatic 16-6 win over shot making. Chua did the Philippines Lee Vann manage a brief fight back, Corteza in New York but the Russian rebuffed City. This first event of him at every turn and the World Pool Series, walked into the final with The Molinari Players a 15-8 victory. Championship, took Corteza came into place at Steinway Billiards the final playing some in Astoria, Queens, New of his best pool in the York City, January 14-17, last two years, but he 2017. nearly didn’t even make Employing an it out of his semi-final absolute monster match with Appleton. break, combined with The Englishman was some seriously solid wearing two hats as both potting and pattern promoter and player this play, Russia’s Ruslan week, and was playing Chinakov handily won care free and as strong as both his matches today, ever. Appleton looked to including an emphatic be on his way to a finals 16-6 finals win over the date as he powered out Philippines Lee Vann to a 9-4 lead. Corteza, Corteza, and captured though, would have none the inaugural Molinari of it as he stormed back Players Championship at with six straight racks to Steinway Billiards in New lead 10-9. York City. From there the two Chinakov’s success greats went toe to toe, on Tuesday represents and headed straight for the biggest win of the the cliff. Down 14-13 and 23-year-old’s career. Since with the pressure bearing he began his international down, Corteza took career at the tender age advantage of a dry break of just 13 years old, the by Appleton and cleared a young Russian, a veritable very difficult layout to tie. pool prodigy since the In the ensuing shootout very beginning, has been Corteza shot first and a fixture on the pro scene made his first attempt at around the world. At the full table spot shot on 15 years old he won the the 8-ball. From there he WPA Jr. World 9-ball never trailed, eventually Championship. He also winning 4-2 to advance captured two straight to the final against Kremlin Cup titles. Chinakov. And he’s had many solid At over 3 1/2 hours finishes in tournaments long, Corteza’s match Photos courtesy of WPS and JP Parmentier globally. against Appleton had But this week’s win clearly drained the in the Big Apple surely represents a new level of accomplishment for Chinakov, and Filipino. He had only one hour to get ready for Chinakov, while the Russian had rested signals a new phase in the towering and talented Russian’s career. The Molinari Players for 6 hours. In the end, however, it probably made little difference as Chinakov was Championship, the first of four 8-ball tournaments that make up Darren Appleton’s playing too good to be stopped. brand new tour called the World Pool Series, attracted a seriously world class field of The pair traded several racks to open the race to 16, winner breaks final. But when 120 players from over 35 countries. They played a version of 8-ball that was designed Corteza missed a makeable 8-ball while down just 4-3, Chinakov pounced and never to be as tough a test as players could possibly face. And when the four-day slugfest looked back. His towering break shot led to balls dropping and patterns opening up, concluded, it was Chinakov who clearly stood well above this amazing field. and soon the Russian was up 7-3. Chinakov kept feeding off the momentum while Tuesday will be a day that Chinakov, and those that watched it, won’t soon forget as Corteza had few answers and the score quickly went to 12-4. The Filipino tried to he manhandled two of the Philippines best on route to the winner’s circle. In his semimount a comeback with two racks of his own, but the day belonged to Chinakov, who final match against hot shot Pinoy Johann Chua, also 23 years old, the Russian wasted was just too strong, too good and clearly destined for victory. Chinakov took the next little time in stamping his class on the proceedings. Chinakov lived up to his nickname, four racks, and when he dropped the final 8-ball he had claimed an emphatic, awe “the Siberian Express” as won the lag and proceeded to run the first six racks on the inspiring16-6 win.
RUSLAN V CHINAKO
26
February 2017
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SERIES: 8-BALL Mokinari Players Championship
Ruslan Chinakov Afterward a clearly delighted and overwhelmed Chinakov basked in the glow of his sensational victory. Already a hard worker, he said he had doubled his efforts over the last two years, even hiring famed Dutch coach Johan Rysink to help him build up not just his technical skills, but also his mental toughness to deal with his sometimes uncontrollable nerves. The work had clearly paid off on all fronts. The future for 2017 and beyond was suddenly looking very bright indeed. “This is probably the biggest event I have ever won,” Chinakov said. “It’s a great feeling. I still can’t believe I just did this. I didn’t really think about winning today, I just tried to play good and show what l can do. I didn’t play 100% but I still won. Even at this level anyone can miss balls, I just missed less than the other guys. That’s why I’m quite happy about it. “This is very satisfying because I’ve worked hard for the last two years. This is definitely going to give me a very big boost going forward and hopefully I can keep winning. I also know that this win will help me to perhaps win even more this year. When you can compete and then win against the best players in the world, world champions and other greats, I think 40 of them, and you can even win the tournament, it really tells me that I am headed in the right direction. “We both made some mistakes and that’s to be expected in a race
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Results
to 16, these are really long sets and there’s a lot of ups and downs. When it was up 4-3 I made a few good runs, some break and runs and my lead kept increasing. I think that put him under pressure and he then made a few mistakes, and I just cleaned the table.” As befitting the always classy Filipinos, Corteza took the loss on the chin and gave credit where it was clearly due. The Filipino took solace in the fact that he started 2017 with one of his best finishes in the last two years as well as $8,500 in prize money. “I missed a couple of shots, the 8-ball in one rack, then the 10-ball in another,” Corteza said. “I just had bad luck today. I couldn’t get good layouts on the break shot, or I have no shot on the break. It was very difficult to figure out what to do. He broke fantastic and was always getting shots and he had the momentum. I was also feeling a bit tired. “But he deserved to win. He broke better than me, he really had power on the break. I’m still happy because I played good this week. This is one of my best finishes in a while so I just have to go to the next event and I feel really good about my game.” With the biggest win in his ten-year career to date plus a $20,000 prize, Chinakov deservedly felt even better about his game and prospects for the coming months. “After you win big tournaments, you just come to believe in yourself more and more, “Chinakov said. “And that means in the next big match, I might be less nervous and have better concentration, and that means you have more chances to get the title or finish quite close to the title. This is the best start of the year that I could ever imagine.”
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$20,000 $8,500 $5,250 $5,250 $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250
Ruslan Chinakov Lee Van Corteza Darren Appleton Johann Chua Karl Boyes Dennis Orcollo Naoyuki Oi Chris Melling Alex Kazakis Jayson Shaw Ralf Souquet Mika Immonen Thorsten Hohmann Earl Strickland Billy Thorpe Carlo Biado Nick Ekonomopoulos Alex Pagulayan Ramil Gallego Lo Li Wen Rodney Morris Brandon Shuff Pat Holtz Jeremy jones Petri Makkonen Raj Hundal M Vidal Claramunt Stephan Cohen Vilmos Földes Imran Majid Mark Gray David Alcaide Bermudez
Lee Van Corteza, Darren Appleton, Ruslan Chinakov, Johann Chua
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February 2017
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TWCWT ELEANOR CALLADO
Undefeated
Eleanor Callado Tiger West Coast Women’s Tour’s 7th stop (of 8 for the season) was held on the weekend of January 14th & 15th, 2017 and hosted by one of the newest sponsors, Billiard Palacade, in San Francisco. Located in the Mission district, there are 13 nine-foot pool tables, 3 billiards tables, and a couple of bar tables, all which are maintained well, equipped with Aramith Pro Cup balls and 6-dot measle cue balls. This is a family-owned and managed establishment. Mr. Francisco Murcia and his daughter, Elizabeth, welcomed all members with open arms and took care of all of us for the entire weekend. He shared that he has been at this location for 41 years. The mix of delicious pupusas, tamales and a variety of Mexican drinks fueled the women from Tiger during the event. We had 27 participants show up to compete, including the addition of two new players to roster. One of our regular finalists, Eleanor Callado (7), received a bye in the first round and then won matches against Leslie Bernardi (7), Gigi Callejas (6). In the next Bracket, Holly Robinson (6) would receive a bye and win key matches against Emilyn Callado (7) and Revelina Um (7). She would set herself for a Sunday match against Eleanor Callado on the winner’s side. Holly is the BCA 2008 Senior Champion. She has been off the tour due to health issues and is now back into competition. She is definitely a force to be reckoned with, and she definitely brought her A-game when she played against two of the Tour’s regular top 8 finishers. Olga Azarova (6), who continues to improve at every stop, won matches against Karen Zeng (6), Khahn Ngo (7), and Moon Kim (6) to set herself for another 2nd day showing. Shawn Modelo (7) received a bye, then won matches against Mary Dughi (6) and Alice Loo (6), to set up a Sunday match against Olga Azarova. At the end of Saturday evening these were the matches for top 8 on the winners’ side: Eleanor Callado (7) vs. Holly Robinson (6) and Shawn Modelo (7) vs. Olga Azarova (6) The four players who survived on the one-loss side were: Revelina Um (7) vs. Khanh Ngo (7) and Emilyn Callado (7) vs. Renée Mata (6) On the one-loss side, there was a lot of heated competition with a few of our top 8-ranked players working their way back into the competition. These are players that are often in the winners’ bracket. After a loss to Holly, Emilyn would defeat Karen Zeng (6), Amani Ali (5), Alice Loo (6) and Renée Mata (6) to wait for the loser of the Eleanor Callado and Holly Robinson match. On the other side, Revelina Um (7) defeated Khanh Ngo (7), and Mary Dughi (6) to wait for the loser of the match between Olga Azarova and Shawn Modelo.
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At the end of the weekend, Eleanor Callado, 2015 Tiger Champion, would defeat Holly Robinson, and Olga Azarova to wait for the sole survivor of the one-loss side, in this case it would be Emilyn Callado. Out of 7 possible stops, Eleanor has won 2 stops (The Broken Rack-Emeryville, Diamond Billiards – Modesto), taken 2nd (Family Billiards) and 5th (Diamond Billiards – Fresno). She seemed very focused at this stop. Any mistake any of her opponents made became a win for her. Even when she faced her sister, Emilyn, for the second time this year in the finals, she made very few mistakes, and gave Emilyn few opportunities to keep the match close. A couple of unfortunate scratches gave Eleanor the edge she needed to win the match. Eleanor will be participating on the WPBA Master’s event February 1-5th at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, in Pittsburg. We wish her much luck. The crowd always loves an opportunity to see the Callado sisters compete against each other as the fast pace, the defense, and the offense skills they both have allow for a very enjoyable match. Standings for the main event with 26 participants were: 1st $350 Eleanor Callado 2nd $250 Emilyn Callado 3rd $175 Olga Azarova 4nd $130 Revelina Um 5/6 $90 Shawn Modelo – Holly Robinson 7/8 $50 Khanh Ngo – Renée Mata Standings for the second chance with 15 participants were: 1st $80 Gigi Callejas 2nd $50 Naomi Callado 3/4 $20 Cony Mendoza - Amani Ali For our final stop #8 of the 2016 season, the women of the tour will be returning to one of our favorite stops, Hard Times Billiards, in Sacramento. The last stop will include points payout to the players who played at least 4 of the 8 stops. Depending on how each player finished, a certain amount of points are awarded. We accumulate points and keep a running total, and that final tally is paid out (each point will have a value). Also, we will hold the raffle for the beautifully crafted Tiger Case (valued at $350) as well as other Tiger prizes. This will be the last opportunity for our players who have received an invite to the NAPT event at the end of February to compete one more time. We wish best of luck to them. The players who will be representing us are: Teresa Teague, Jessica Skye and Emilyn Callado We are excited to be able to participate in the North American Pool Tour (NAPT) Division II Championships will be held at one of our regular sponsors, Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento, on February 23-26, 2017. The NAPT is comprised of tours just like the TWCWT from around the country. Players have to be a member of the NAPT, and qualify on their individual tour’s rankings to receive an invitation. TWCWT will have at least three invites into the field of sixty four. As always, we want to thank our regular sponsors: Tony Kalamdaryan, President of Tiger Products Don Akerlow of On the Break News Cony and Tina Mendoza of Diablo Valley Pool Leagues Photos courtesy of: Naomi Manuel Callado
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Ruijsink is New Captain America
“When Europe was in trouble I thought that was unnecessary – one win in ten years - as I now feel it is not correct that the US is in trouble. Both sides have great players and the MC should bring this greatness out of every player competing. “As a coach in pool, there is no higher goal then working in the “home of pool”, the USA. Although the number of players is not as big as when I started, there is still a huge number of players and lovers of the game in the US. “My entire coaching career has been founded on seeing the American players compete at the World Championship in Bergheim, Germany in 1990. There I saw Earl, Varner, Davenport, Mizerak, Mataya, Lebron and a young Johnny Archer and they made me love the game even more. It also ignited the wish to understand why and how they played at this incredible level, so from that time onwards I have been chasing for my players to perfect their performance. “Now, 25 years later, it hurts to see these great players having trouble to show their high standard in the MC and it is a great honour to be given the opportunity to help them in doing just that. “I sincerely hope that people will see me neither as an intruder (from the US side) nor a traitor (from the European side) and I hope the pool scene will understand that as a coach, there is no bigger challenge today and as a pool lover it is my greatest wish to see a competitive US squad at the Mosconi Cup. The players, audience and the pool world deserve just that,” he concluded. Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn said, “It was a big decision to make in appointing a non-American to guide Team USA. However, in this day and age sport and success is an international business and there are plenty of precedents. For example, the USA men’s and ladies’ soccer teams both achieved great accomplishments managed by a German and a Swede respectively. “Johan is passionate about pool and about creating winning mindsets for players. He leaves no stone unturned and I know he will be giving it everything he’s got between now and the evening of the 7th December when the outcome of the 24th annual Mosconi Cup is determined. “Make no mistake, this is one tough job. The Americans have won just once in the past 11 years and there is plenty of work to be done, but I believe that if anyone can get the USA competitive again, Johan can.” — Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport
JOHAN RUIJSINK, the authoritative Dutchman who led the European side undefeated through seven Mosconi Cups, makes a return to the competition after a two-year absence as he takes the reins of Team USA in an attempt to revive America’s flagging fortunes in the transatlantic team event. Ruijsink last captained the European side at Blackpool in 2014 when they ran out comfortable 11-5 winners over the USA. He promptly announced his retirement from an event that he had come to over-shadow after turning Europe from regular losers into the dominant Mosconi Cup force. Following three barren years with Mark Wilson at the helm, it was felt that the Dutchman’s fantastic experience and his progressive methods in producing winners were ideally suited to get America competitive again. Commented Ruijsink, “The reason to take on the job is quite obvious; I am an authentic lover of the game and especially of the Mosconi Cup. In 25 years of coaching, the Mosconi has proven to be by far the most exciting event in the world of pool.
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February 2017
29
Williams Takes the Final Stop
l-r Tara Williams, Melinda Bailey, Orietta Strickland, Natalie Mans OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour held their 6th and final tour stop December 3-4, 2016 at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas. Thirty-three players were on-hand to close out the 2016 tour year and see who would take top honors for the annual awards. The owner and manager, Jeff Pitts and the entire bar and wait staff did a wonderful job taking care of all the ladies. Rusty’s is a great room to visit and play at, so be sure to hit them up whenever you can! At the players meeting, board member Monica Anderson announced yearly awards. The Best Sportswomanship Award went to Teresa Garland of Houston, for her positive attitude both on and off the table, regardless of the match outcome. The Most Improved Player was Corina Campbell of Carrollton. Corina had a banner year on the OB tour, finishing 6th in the ranking and posting a second place in one tour stop, earning her well-deserved title of Most Improved for 2016. For the 3rd year running, Tara Williams of Fort Worth secured her first place ranking on the tour by winning four tour stops and finishing 4th in the remaining two. Three additional awards are drawn at the tour finale, based on attendance and performance at the tour stops throughout the year. For the Perfect Attendance award, seven players were eligible to be drawn for the $200 cash award. Tara Williams, Orietta Strickland, Jennifer Yo, Natalie Mans, Shayla Neris, Monica Anderson, and Julie Enzensperger were at every event in 2016 and one of them would receive $200 cash even before the tournament started. OB Cues Customer Service Manager, David “Doc” Reyes officiated the draw and Shayla Neris was the lucky recipient of the extra $200. At every tour stop, when a player gets a 9-on-the-snap award or a break and run,
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they receive a scratch-off. At the end of the year, each player who earned a scratch off also received an entry for a drawing for a $20 scratch-off and that winner was Marilina Nieves from San Antonio. Same rules apply for a break and run and the lucky player whose name was drawn for the $50 scratch-off was Jeannie Kim of Dallas. On Saturday, the top eight ladies returned to continue in the Main Event on Sunday morning. The final four remaining in the winner’s bracket were Tara Williams (Ft. Worth) vs. Jeannie Kim (Dallas) and Natalie Mans (League City) vs. Orietta Strickland (Dallas). The four ladies returning on the one loss side were Melinda Bailey (Ft. Worth) vs. Tracie Voelkering (Ft. Worth) and Chris Fields (Weatherford) vs. Brittany Williams (Longview). Eliminated first round Sunday morning at the 7th-8th position was Chris Fields and board member Tracie Voelkering. In the winner’s side matches, Tara defeated Jeannie and Orietta defeated Natalie to set the hot seat match. Moving over to the one-loss side for the 5/6th place matches, Brittany was eliminated by Natalie and Melinda came out the winner over Jeannie. For the next match, Melinda once again persevered, leaving Natalie to settle for the 4th place spot. Tara made her way through Saturday with wins in a first round tournament matchup over Melinda Bailey (7-3), Shirley Fields (7-1), Jennifer Yo (7-2) and Snowy Belt (7-0). On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Orietta was making her way through her Saturday matches with her speedy, yet consistent play. She posted wins over Tina Soto (7-1), Chris Fields (7-4), and Tracie Voelkering (7-2). In the hot seat match, Tara ended up on top in the match 7-3 and waited to see who would be coming through the one-loss side to meet her in the finals.
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Williams
Joy Chinese 8-Ball
(continued)
For the 3rd place match, Melinda was blazing trails and steadily fighting all through the tournament after her 1st match loss against Tara. She had a successful run through the B-side eliminating Orietta to move to the finals against Tara and a rematch for revenge. Congratulations to Orietta for a great tournament! With Melinda and Tara in the finals, Melinda had quite a run to make it back to the finals surviving three hill-hill matches on her path to the finals. However, in the finals, Tara got out to a quick lead and didn’t look back. Melinda put forth her best effort to try and stop the tour champion’s effort, but came up short, with Tara winning the match with a final score of 7-2. Congratulations to both ladies for an exciting finals match and great tournament finish! Thanks again to Rusty’s for our first and last tournament this year, and to all our board members who do a fantastic job all year around. A special yearend thank you to the man behind the tour, always supporting the ladies and feeding us bananas, chocolate and other energizing food and goodies, such a great friend and wonderful person, Carter, we love you. Special recognition and thanks to OB Cues our main tournament sponsor. If you want to get serious about your game, check out OB Cues at obcues.com. The new Digicue is available so be sure to get you one. Also many thanks and love to all our families, fans, supporters — we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Also to the many, many ladies/ players/ friends who traveled from near and far; we loved seeing you all again and greatly appreciate you making the journey to play on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone once again in 2017. Our first stop of the 2017 season will at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas, on February 4-5. Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times – we are the OB Cues Ladies Tour!!!!! Check us out at obcuestour.com or stay up to date by adding us on Facebook/ obcuestour. Tournament Results/Payouts $2000 added/33 players 1st $800 Tara Williams 2nd $640 Melinda Bailey 3rd $465 Orietta Strickland 4th $340 Natalie Mans 5/6 $160 Jeannie Kim, Brittany Williams 7/8 $80 Chris Fields, Tracie Voelkering Best of the Rest Tournament Results/Payouts $100 added/15 players 1st $100 Monica Anderson 2nd $75 Snowy Belt 3rd $40 Jennifer Yo 4th $25 Tina Williams Goody-Giveaway Winners: $50 Shell Gift Cards (5) – Aryana Lynch, Jeannie Kim, Tracie Voelkering, Jessica DeMello, Lee Anne Barham $30 Tough Luck Draw for drawing the reigning Tour Champ first round – Melinda Bailey OB Cues Raffle Winners: Chris Beach, Joey Barnes
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COREY DEUEL After housing the very 1st Joy Chinese 8-Ball table in the United States, hosting the very first US qualifier, which Corey Deuel won, and getting over 3,5000 viewers between his Ustream channel and the PoolLive phone app, owner of Sandcastle Billiards, Ed “Sandman” Liddawi was graciously invited by Joy Billiards to join them in China for the 5th Annual Joy Cup World Chinese 8-Ball Masters. It was a spectacular event with an opening ceremony which would make you think you were watching the Olympics! Coincidentally, this year’s venue for the event was indeed the very same Olympic stadium used for the 2008 Olympics in Qinhuangdao, China. Not only were the opening ceremonies, dancers, violinists, drummers, performers, singers, player introductions, global partners’ intros, the incredibly tough competition itself and the expo absolutely amazing but many negotiations went on between the 11 new countries joining in the movement to bring Joy tables and Chinese 8-Ball to cueists all around the world! The game of Chinese 8-Ball brings together various disciplines from American 8-Ball, Snooker, Black Ball & Black Pool on a Joy Billiards 4.5 x 9-foot snooker style playing surface with the very best construction of hard maple laminated framework and 2-inch slate. The 1.3-ton table is by far a superior built table than what most of us Americans are used to unless you are one of the few who are fortunate enough to own something like a Gabriel table or such. Your all around game will definitely improve once you learn how to adapt your stroke and pattern play to this beauty! After negotiations with the GM and President of Joy, Ed Liddawi was able to get competitive pricing for us here in the US so that we can have the availability of the table here in America for everyone to try out. Ed is currently recruiting regional organizers and billiard parlors dedicated to the players and the game to become sanctioned, house a top of the line gold leg edition Joy Chinese 8-Ball table, and host several official qualifiers all over the nation this year. Sanctioned regional qualifier winners from 16 locations all over the US will be flown out to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, New Jersey and put up in hotels for 3 nights as the 16 worthy competitors battle it out in the national qualifier and get an all expense paid & sponsored round trip airfare, 5-star hotel stay for up to 10 days, and entry into a Joy event in China to vie for a $100,000RMB prize. This will be done 4 times this year! The highest points earner out of those 4 players sent to China will be invited back once again to compete in the grand finale 64 player event, The 6th Joy Cup World Chinese 8-Ball Masters! Not too shabby if you ask me! For further information on getting involved here in the US as part of a global movement as either a regional coordinator or host venue, feel free to contact Ed Liddawi at Sandcastle Billiards (732) 632-9277 Email him at Sandman@ SandcastleBilliards.com or send him a private message on his Facebook account.
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WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS If you have any changes to your weekly pool tournaments EMAIL: billiards@OnTheBreakNews.com DATE CITY Mondays Davenport, IA Houston, TX Des Moines, IA Green Bay, WI Tuesdays Lawrence, KS Des Moines, IA Houston, TX Wednesdays McAlester, OK Davenport, IA Des Moines, IA Midwest City, OK St Peters, MO Houston, TX Alsip, IL Oshkosh, WI Thursdays Azle, TX Oshkosh, WI Davenport, IA Des Moines, IA Lawrence, KS Fridays Azle, TX McAlester, OK Houston, TX Coon Rapids, MN Des Moines, IA Shreveport, LA Tulsa, OK Poplar Bluff, MO Midwest City, OK Davenport, IA Round Rock, TX Oshkosh, WI Mankato, MN Green Bay, WI St Peters, MO Decatur, AL Saturdays Azle, TX Houston, TX Tulsa, OK Decatur, AL Des Moines, IA Round Rock, TX Houston, TX Tulsa, OK St Peters, MO Springfield, MO Sundays Azle, TX McAlester, OK Des Moines, IA Davenport, IA Lawrence, KS Round Rock, TX Oshkosh, WI Springfield, MO
LOCATION Sharky’s Bar & Billiards Bogies Billiards Big Dog Billiards KK Billiards Astro’s Big Dog Billiards Bogie’s West Back Alley Billiards Sharky’s Bar & Billiards Big Dog Billiards Jamaica Joe’s Teachers Billiards Bogies Billiards Red Shoes Varsity Club Open Table Sports Grill Varsity Club Sharky’s Bar & Billiards Big Dog Billiards Astro’s Open Table Sports Grill Back Alley Billiards Bogies Billiards CR’s Sports Bar Big Dog Billiards Sidepockets Q-Spot Billiards Smokin’ Aces Jamaica Joe’s Sharky’s Bar & Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Varsity Club Kato Cue Club KK Billiards Teachers Billiards 6 Pockets Open Table Sports Grill Bogies Billiards T’s Billiards 6 Pockets Big Dog Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Bogie’s West Q-Spot Billiards Teachers Billiards Shooters Billiards Open Table Sports Grill Back Alley Billiards Big Dog Billiards Sharky’s Bar & Billiards Astro’s Skinny Bob’s Billiards Varsity Club Shooters Billiards
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EVENT / RULES ENTRY ADDED TIME 9-Ball $12 $100 every 16 7PM 9 Ball on 8’ tables-Race 4/3 $7 $100 w/20 8PM Open 8-Ball $10 Call 7PM 9-Ball-Race to 4-Alt Break-DE $10 $50 w/16 7PM BCA 8-Ball $5 Matching Call Handicap 8-Ball-DE $10 Call 7PM 9 Ball-Limit 32 $12 8PM 9 Ball Open - Race to 3 $5 $$$ 7:30PM 8-9-10 Ball Coin Toss $10 (incl g.f.) $100 every 16 6:30PM Call Pocket 9-Ball $10 Call 7PM 9 Ball - 10 & under $15 $5/player 7:30PM 5,6,7 9-Ball - Race to 3+ $13 $5 side pot 7:30PM 8 Ball on 8’ tables-Race 2/1 $7 $100 w/20 8PM 10 Ball $15 Call 8PM 9-Ball Beginners $8 Call Call BCA 8-Ball 2/2 DE $10 $100 every 16 8PM 9-Ball Intermediate $10 Call Call 8-Ball $10 $100 every 16 7PM Short Rack 8-Ball-Race to 3 $10 Call 11PM BCA 9-Ball $5 Matching 7PM BCA 8-Ball 2/2 DE $10 $100 every 16 8PM 8 Ball Open - Race to 3 $10 $$$ 7:30PM 8-Ball-on Bar Tables $10 Call 7PM 8-Ball on 7’ Diamonds $16 $100 w/16 7PM Open 10-Ball-Race to 6/5 $10 $3/player 7PM 9-Ball Open $20 Call 7PM 8-Ball 7 & under $5 Call 9 PM 9 Ball $10 $200 7PM Open 8-Ball - Rated Call Call Call 9-Ball on 7’ Valleys $10 $100 every 16 7PM 9-Ball Race 3/3-Last Woman $ $12 Call 8PM 9-Ball $15 $50 7PM 8-Ball Progressive - Hdcp $16 Call 6:30PM 8-Ball Race to 3/2 $5 $50 w/16 8PM 3,4,5 8-Ball - Race to 2+ $13 $5 side pot 7:30PM 9-Ball $13 Call 8PM BCA 8-Ball 2/2 DE $10 $100 every 16 8PM 8-Ball on Bar Tables $10 $$$ 8PM Alt 8/9 Ball - Vegas Style $25 $100 every 8 1PM 9-Ball $13 Call 8PM Bank Ring Game $1/rail Call 8PM 9-Ball Race 4/3 9-Ball Break Pot $12 Call 8PM 8 Ball-Limit 32 $11 $100 w/20 4PM 9-Ball 7 & under $10 (incl. g.f.) Call 9PM 9-Ball - Race to Hcp - DE $15 $5 side pot 1PM 8-Ball $5 $100 7:30PM BCA 8-Ball 2/2 DE $10 $100 every 16 8PM Scotch Doubles - Race to 3 $10 $$$ 5:30PM 8-Ball / 9-Ball $10 Call 6PM 10-Ball $12 $100 every 16 7PM 3-Ball Rounds - Winner take all $1 10AM 10-Ball Race 5/3 9-Ball Break Pot $12 Break&Run Pot 2PM 10-Ball on 9’ tables-Race to 5 $15 Call Call Majority Rules $5 $100 6PM
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Call First - All Tournaments are subject to change without notice DATE Feb 4 Feb 10 Feb 11-12 Feb 11-12 Feb 11 Feb 11 Feb 16 Feb 16 Feb 17 Feb 17 Feb 17-19 Feb 18-19 Feb 18 Feb 18 Feb 18-19 Feb 24 Feb 25-26 Feb 25 Feb 25 Mar 3 Mar 4-5 Mar 4 Mar 9-11 Mar 9-11 Mar 11-12 Mar 18 Mar 18 Mar 23 Mar 24-26 Mar 25-26 Mar 25-26 Mar 31-Apr2 Apr 1-Apr 2 Apr 2 Mar 31 Mar 31 Apr 1-2 Apr 1-2 Apr 1 Apr 7-9 Apr 15 Apr 21 Apr 21-23 Apr 22-23 Apr 28-30 Apr 28-30 Jun 21-25 Jun 22-25 Jun 22-25 Jun 24
CITY Decatur, AL Pocatello, ID Pocatello, ID Pocatello, ID Davenport, IA Tulsa, OK Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Keizer, OR Alsip, IL Azle, TX Shreveport, LA Shreveport, LA Davenport, IA Junction City, KS Tacoma, WA Tacoma, WA Decatur, AL Lincoln City, OR Lincoln City, OR Virginia Beach, VA Virginia Beach, VA Alsip, IL Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas, NV Sacramento, CA Indianapolis, IN Saratoga, WY Saratoga, WY Saratoga, WY Twin Falls, ID Twin Falls, ID Twin Falls, ID Twin Falls, ID Decatur, AL Electric City, WA Alsip, IL Lafayette, LA Lafayette, LA Virginia Beach, VA Coon Rapids, MN Coon Rapids, MN Des Moines, IA Des Moines, IA Des Moines, IA Des Moines, IA
LOCATION 6 Pockets Oasis Oasis Oasis Sharkys Billiards T’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Kolby’s Red Shoes Open Table Sidepockets Sidepockets Sharkys Billiards Fat Toad Billiards Malarkey’s Malarkey’s 6 Pockets Chinook Winds Open Chinook Winds Open Q-Master Billiards Q-Master Billiards Red Shoes Rum Runner Rum Runner Jointed Cue Brickyard Billiards Platte Valley Comm. Ctr Platte Valley Comm. Ctr Platte Valley Comm. Ctr The Pocket The Pocket The Pocket The Pocket 6 Pockets Banks Lake Pub Red Shoes White Diamond White Diamond Q-Master Billiards C R’s Sports Bar C R’s Sports Bar Big Dog Billiards Big Dog Billiards Big Dog Billiards Big Dog Billiards
PHONE 256-686-3171 208-406-7476 208-406-7476 208-406-7476 563-359-RACK 918-622-7747 512-721-8229 512-721-8229 512-721-8229 512-721-8229 512-721-8229 512-721-8229 503-393-POOL 708-388-3700 817-400-1990 318-425-8112 318-425-8112 563-359-RACK 913-980-9808 253-383-3301 253-383-3301 256-686-3171 360-703-4081 360-703-4081 757-499-8900 757-499-8900 708-388-3700 702-736-6366 702-736-6366 916-456-3243 317-903-9844 307-710-1447 307-710-1447 307-710-1447 208-733-9676 208-733-9676 208-733-9676 208-733-9676 256-686-3171 509-633-2000 708-388-3700 337-989-9889 337-989-9889 757-499-8900 612-240-1018 612-240-1018 515-266-6100 515-266-6100 515-266-6100 515-266-6100
EVENT / RULES ENTRY ADDED TIME 9-Ball $35 $500 7PM Open 9-Ball-Race to 5/4 $20 Call 6PM Open 8-Ball-Race to 4/5 $40 $1,000 11AM Women’s 8-Ball-Race to 4/3 w/8 $25 Call 11AM 8-Ball Jack & Jill Sc Dbls $60/T incl g.f. $1,000 Call Indian 8-Ball-Race to 7/5 $20 $100 every 10 1PM Open Bank Ring Game $100 Call 7PM Open 10-Ball-Race 3 Single Elim. $25 Call 8PM Open 10-Ball Ring Game $100 Call 2PM Ladies 10-Ball Ring Game $30 Call 2PM Texas Open 10-Ball Race 7/7 $150 incl g.f. $4,000 7PM Texas Open 10-Ball Ladies Race 7/7 $40 $500 Guar Noon Open 10-Ball-Race to 7 $60+$10 g.f. $700 9:30AM One Pocket $50 incl g.f. $500 w/ff Call APA 8-Ball 6 & Below-Limit 64 $20 $1,000 w/64 Noon 10-Ball Ring Game-Limit 16 $100 Call 8PM Open 9-Ball Limit 128 $75 incl g.f. $2,000 Guar 11AM Open 10-Ball-Race to 5/5 $40 incl g.f. $1,000 Noon 9-Ball 8 & under $50 $1,000 w/64 Noon Minis $20 Call 7PM 10-Ball $75 incl fees $6,500 w/72 8AM 9-Ball $35 $500 7PM CWO 8-Ball Men $200 incl g.f. $18,000 Noon CWO 8-Ball Women $200 incl g.f. $6,000 Noon 9-Ball - Race to 6/7 Varies $$$ 11AM One Pocket Race 3/2 $30 Call Call 10-Ball $50 incl g.f. $500 w/ff Call Players meeting & draw 8PM 27th Andy Mercer Mem. 9-Ball Classic $200 incl g.f. $3,700 w/full field 11AM 9-Ball - In Memory of Terry Stonier $60 $1,000 1PM 36th Midwest Bar Table Classic $100 $2,000 Call 10th WY Open-10 Ball Sngl Elim Varies $1,000 7PM 10th WY Open-Saratoga DE Varies $3,000 9AM 10th WY Open-8-Ball Sngl Elim Varies $2,000 10AM Mini 9-Ball-Men - Sngl Elim $30+$10 g.f. Call 6PM Mini 9-Ball-Wmn - Sngl Elim $20+$10 g.f. Call 6PM 16th Rack & Crackem 8-Ball-Men $50+$10 g.f. $1,000 w/ff 9AM 16th Rack & Crackem 8-Ball-Wmn $30+$10 g.f. $500 w/32 9AM 9-Ball $35 $500 7PM 14th Vern Michael Mix Dbls-Limit 64 $20/stick $1,000 Guar 7PM Bank Pool $50 incl g.f. $500 w/ff Call Minis $20 Call 7:30PM Super 9-Ball $40 $1,000 w/128 9AM Barry Behrman Mem. 9-Ball Open Call Call Call 8-Ball - Limit 16 - Race to 15 $1,000 $6,000 Guar Call 10-Ball - Limit 32 - Race to 7/9 $200 $2,000 Guar Call One Pocket--Limit 16 $2,000 $8,000 Guar 7PM Bigfoot 10-Ball Challenge $500-Limit 16 $1,000 Guar 7PM Open 9-Ball $20-Limit 256 $2,000 Guar 7PM Banks Ring Game $250-Limit 8 $1,000 Guar 8PM
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Designed & Engineered by
Victory after victory, unleash your game with precision. Every Valhalla Cue is designed, engineered and backed by the craftsmen at Viking Cue. Valhalla Cues offer a LIFETIME WARRANTY against manufacturing defects including warpage. Valhalla premium import cues are hands down the best value in billiards. Prices starting at $49.99 VA471
VA211
VA951
New 2017 Viking Catalog
VA603
18 New Valhalla Cues Wicked Tribal Designs New Paint Cues Real Woods Rich Colors
VA601
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VA204
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PERFORMANCE
MAKES ALL OF THE DIFFERENCE The most important factor in cue ball deflection is cue end mass. Katana shafts use a ferrule that is half the length with thinner walls to reduce the amount of cue ball “squirt” during play.
7 Responsive Top Layers The top 7 layers are medium density boar hide, tanned naturally up to 12 months to achieve maximum control and consistency.
3 Foundation Layers The bottom 3 layers are high density pig skin, selected for its premium durability and legendary feel.
KATXS1
TIP: 12.5mm Katana tip by Tiger FERRULE: 3/8” Long Thin Wall Fiber TAPER: Pro
KATXS2
TIP: 11.5mm Katana tip by Tiger FERRULE: 3/8” Long Thin Wall Fiber TAPER: Conical
KATANA PERFORMANCE SHAFT TECHNOLOGY 10-Piece Spliced Radial Construction The grain in a solid wooden shaft creates a natural spine which affects how the cue ball reacts to impact. Rotating the cue, even a quarter turn, will change how the shaft performs. By splitting the shaft into ten sections and alternating the direction of the grain, Katana removes natural variances and provides lower deflection and more consistent results.
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