Joey Torres and James Baraks
On December 10th-11, 2011, the 3rd Annual Lone Star Tour Championships was held at Bogies Billiards in Houston, Texas. The 5 division 9-ball event was $2,000 added and live streamed for all the fans unable to attend. The Amateur and Open divisions saw 77 entries with One Pocket, Ladies, and Junior divisions totaling 28 entries. Super talent included James Baraks, Sylver Ochoa, Andy Jethwa, current U.S Amateur Champion Ernesto Bayaua, and Tommy Tokoph of Albuquerque, N.M. The "B" side boasted Kenneth Price, Val Charles, Steve Lindgren, Wendell Moser, Jason Smiser, Jason Pearce, and Brian Rosenbaum, all of whom will be competing with 43 other players in the first Poison by Predator 9-ball Tour event on Saturday, January 7, 2012 at Bogies Billiards.
Saturday's Open action saw upsets including junior phenom Joey Torres over Lanny Herrin and twice over Ernesto Bayaua. Tommy Tokoph fell to Bayaua in the second round 9-6, but came back with 5 straight wins over Bill Fuller, Sonny Bosshamer, Kenneth Price, Sylver Ochoa, and Herrin, until he met a vengeful Bayaua. The hot seat match featured Torres and the indomitable James Baraks who had earlier eliminated Tim Heath, Sylver Ochoa, and Bernard Walker during his trek. Torres lost the set when he missed a crucial 9-ball at 8-7. After Torres passed Bayaua 7-6, Baraks made quick work of Torres in the final, settling the question 9-4. This is Baraks second consecutive Open division title win.
Brand new to the winners' circle and the talk of the tournament was Kenneth Price. He conquered the Amateur field undefeated with wins over Allen Baker 7-4, Tim Heath 7-3, and Ty Few 7-1. Will Felder was on roll of his own with wins over Bobby Perez 7-6, Charlie Mora 7-6, and Mitchell Lang 7-6. It was Price v. Felder for the hot seat match with Price moving forward, 7-4. This loss earned Felder another round with Mora, but this time, Mora took it down 5-2. Grady Cooper and Brian Rosenbaum made incredible bids after losing in the first round. Cooper fell to Bill Fuller after 4 consecutive wins while Rosenbaum secured 5 straight wins before falling to Tim Heath, 5-4. When the smoke cleared on the one-loss side, it was Mora who eliminated Heath 5-4 and earned himself a rematch with Felder. This time Mora took down Felder 5-2, but was brought down by Price in the final, 7-5. Kenneth Price has competed in many Texas' tournaments, but never executed a "win" until now.
Sylver Ochoa and Courtney Peters were crowned "2011 Lone Star Tour Champions", accumulating the most points for their ranking divisions. Peters also captured a final victory in the Ladies division while Ochoa captured the final One Pocket event, both undefeated. For their year-long efforts they each received plaques, Delta-13 Elite Racks, and Poison VX Jump Cues.
In the Junior division, Nick Calderaro captured his second Lone Star Tour Junior event, this time from the one-loss side. He bested the undefeated Joey Torres, 7-5 then 5-1, to win the final Junior event of 2011.
The Tour would like to thank its longtime sponsors: Poison by Predator Cues, Predator Cues, Delta-13 Rack, www.PoolWebsites.com, APA of North Harris County, and the newest additions, Gulf Coast Billiards and Www.Pool-Trax.net. Many thanks to Damien Nelson, Nelson & Company, and James Painter for producing an impeccable HD live stream, and Mark Fusina and John Newsome of the "Run Out Review" for keeping the fans at home informed and entertained. A special "thank you" goes out to long-time friend and author, Carl Miller, for updating all of the point standings.
The owners of Bogies David and Shannon Richardson and their incredible staff hosted a first rate event. In 2012 they will play exclusive host to the Poison by Predator 9-Ball Tour, www.PxPTour.com.The first event is Saturday, January 7th, 2012. This will be a true spectator event, hosting 50 invited, pre-paid players, competing in a $1,000 added, one day, live streamed event. Spectators will be able to enjoy all the excitement of a two day event, packed into one day. The player auction will begin promptly at 12pm and match times will be posted.
The first Lone Star Tour event of 2012 will be held at Future Cues, February 4th-5th. Visit www.futurecues.com for more information on this fabulous, 10,000 square foot room nestled in the heart of Temple, Texas. The Tour will also be coming to Hawley's Billiards in Dallas, Texas in October, and re-visiting Big Tyme Billiards in Spring, and Skinny Bob's Billiards in Round Rock.
The Tour extends its deepest appreciation to all the players, fans, rooms, sponsors, and press who help make these events possible. We hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.
Open
1st James Baraks $550/$360
2nd Joey Torres $370/$270
3rd Ernesto Bayaua $250/$180
4th Tommy Tokoph $160/$90
5th-6th Lanny Herrin, Tim Heath $100 ea.
7th-8th Sylver Ochoa, Bobby Perez $35 ea.
Amateurs
1st Kenneth Price $600/$435
2nd Charlie Mora $475/$275
3rd Will Felder $290/$190
4th Tim Heath $125/$110
5th-6th Ty Few, Mitchell Lang $75 ea.
7th-8th Jason Pearce, Brian Rosenbaum $50 ea.
9th-12th Jason Smiser, Bill Fuller, Jeff Fox, Joey Torres $25 ea.
Ladies
1st Courtney Peters $200/$90
2nd Belinda Lee $90/$45
3rd Loretta Lindgren $90
One Pocket
1st Sylver Ochoa $300/$110
2nd Charlie Mora $180/$50
3rd Ernesto Bayaua $100
Juniors
1st Nick Calderaro $90
2nd Joey Torres $60
3rd Mike Calderaro $40
