Richie Richeson and Arlo Walsman Top Fields at Latest Michigan Players Tour Event

The Michigan Players Tour held its third $1500 added stop of the year this past weekend, September 26th-28th, at Chalky's Cue Stick Café in Holland, Michigan.  Chalky's has graciously hosted two of the first three stops for the tour – thanks to owner Charles Wilson was being such a supporter of the MPT.

On Friday night, the mini event took flight at 7 p.m. with a $30 entry fee, races to seven on both sides of the chart (amateur women race to five).  A total of forty players were in attendance including names that we are all familiar with, Richie Richeson, Tony “T-Rex” Chohan, Jason Kirkwood, and so on.

The top finish in the mini came down to Richie Richeson.  After a beating by Tony Chohan 7-5, he worked his way back to the finals from the one-loss side. Included in that display were Juan Garcia 7-2, Arlo Walsman 7-4, Adam Smith 7-4, Neil Dryfhout 7-2, Tony Chohan 7-4, and then in the finals he double dipped Mark Ozman to take the prize.

Local player Ozman dazzled those that know him well by stepping up his game a notch to play with the big boys.  After a bye, he took down Mike Masters 7-3, John Skofic 7-1, Jason Kirkwood 7-4, Adam Smith 7-5, then monster Tony Chohan 7-1 in the hot-seat.  Unfortunately for Ozman, the finals were played the following day at noon and a different player showed (this has happened to all of us at one time or another) – Richeson's pace kept him off guard and the scores red 7-3 and 7-1 when it was all said and done.

Results (mini):
1st Richie Richeson $350
2nd Mark Ozman $170
3rd Tony Chohan $80
4th Neil Dryfhout $60
5th/6th Jason Kirkwood/Adam Smith $40
7th/8th Russ Andrews/Arlo Walsman $30

The $75 entry main event ($1500 added) raced to nine on both sides of the brackets (amateur women to seven).  In tow, twenty-six players came onboard to attempt to add their names to the money round finishes including many of the same faces from the mini. But this weekend, the name Arlo Walsman was on the top of the totem pole!

Walsman showed great heart and offered excellent play for the spectators as he made his way through the field.  After working hard on the one-loss side of the board, Tony Chohan was his last victim as he ended up being Walsman's opponent in the final round.  The pool gods were watching over Walsman in the finals and with his almost flawless level of play, there was not much Chohan could do but to sit in the electric chair and wait it out.

Prior to reaching the finals, Walsman bested many players including Dave Schaefer 9-4, Mark Jarvos 9-6, and Richie Richeson 9-4. Ironically, Chohan was the one that put him on the one-loss side 9-7.  But once he got there, it was no easy road, but the wins continued.  One great match was against Ronnie Wiseman.  It appeared Wiseman was dominating Walsman, but at 8-3 (Wiseman), his opponent slow rolled a straight in six ball that did not pocket.  From there forward, Wiseman primarily sat in his seat until the score tied up 8-8, with Walsman finishing off the set 9-8 only to move on to defeat Adam Smith 9-8, and Doug Young before the finals with Chohan.  Great finish for Walsman!

Kudos also go to Doug Young for taking third place with wins over Kenny Brisbon 9-2, Shawn Buckholtz 9-7, Ronnie Wiseman 9-5, Adam Smith 9-7, before taking his first loss to Chohan 9-7 and then ending the weekend with Walsman 9-5.

Also, congrats to Adam Smith who made his mark on the field with victories against Houston Rodriguez 9-3, Charles Wilson 9-2, and Jeremy Seaman 9-7.  First loss was courtesy of Doug Young 9-7, but then he continued on to defeat Jason Kirkwood 9-6 before Walsman got him too on the hill.

Rounding out 5th/6th were Ronnie Wiseman and Jason Kirkwood - great players indeed.

The tour offered live streaming of the main table and on Saturday, they had over 1000 viewers stop in to watch them online – thanks to all that participated!  For anyone interested in watching the videos, they can view them online at www.ustream.com by searching for MPT or by checking out the tour website later this week at www.freewebs.com/miplayerstour/index.htm  - keep an eye out for dates to be scheduled soon!

Results (main):
1st Arlo Walsman $1450
2nd Tony Chohan $800
3rd Doug Young $440
4th Adam Smith $250
5th/6th Ronnie Wiseman/Jason Kirkwood $125