The Olhausen Billiards Desert All Around Tour got out of the Phoenix heat and took a trip up north to beautiful Prescott for Straight Pool at On The Snap Billiards. The field of 32 players included some of the top talent that Arizona has to offer including Glenn Bond, Jimmy Mendoza, Eric Olson, 2004 All Around Champion Tony Confalone, Chris Adams, Babe Thompson, Tres Kane and reigning All Around Champion Terry Osborne in his first event of the 2006 season.
Round one saw Chris Adams and Terry Osborne renew their rivalry from last year, with Osborne scoring a 100-45 win. Another great match in the first round was Jimmy Mendoza's 100-97 win over Gus Briseno. Both players had opportunities and Briseno looked like he had the match won at 97-92 and Mendoza stuck in a brutal position. Mendoza had no safety to go for, so opted for a tight carom into the corner pocket that thought about staying up before it fell in the pocket and allowed Mendoza to run out for the 100-97 win.
Former Phoenix player Rich Daniels, who now makes his home up north, had a great run with wins over Ray Robles and Dale Teague before falling to Phoenix powerhouse Mike Pankoff 100-85.
One stretch of matches on the one loss side was as close as can be with Bob Soto beating Mike Williams 75-72. Soto then lost to Ed Scott 75-73 and Scott then lost to Chris Adams 75-72. Adams then went on to lose to Mendoza 75-71 to end the day.
The final four matches on the winners side Saturday night were all close with Pankoff beating Daniels, Eric Olson defeating tour regular Steve Murray 100-80, Terry Osborne outlasting Glenn Bond 100-94 and Bernie Pettipiece taking a 65-0 lead out of the gate and holding on to beat Jimmy Mendoza 100-81. Pettipiece's win over Mendoza capped off a day that included wins over Artie Barron, Tres Kane and Mendoza.
The one loss side turned brutal late Saturday night as matches lasted til 3am with Tres Kane, Babe Thompson, Jimmy Mendoza and Gus Briseno all earning spots in Sunday play and assuring themselves cash finishes.
Sunday morning's winners side matches were both nailbiters with Olson defeating Pankoff 100-93 and Pettipiece handing Osborne a 100-85 loss that truly showed that Pettipiece was quickly becoming the man to beat in this tournament.
Jimmy Mendoza had been working out with Babe Thompson prior to the this event and both Mendoza and Thompson ended up with 7th place finishes after losing to Briseno and Kane respectively. Briseno then went on to eliminate Mike Pankoff in 5th place and the tables got the better of Tres Kane as a crucial ball against Terry Osborne went into the pocket and popped back out leaving Kane in 5th place. Osborne then went on to defeat Briseno leaving Briseno in 4th place.
In the match for the hot-seat, it was Pettipiece keeping control of the table and sending Eric Olson to the one loss side to face Osborne to determine who would get to the finals. Olson would be that man. Ironically, it was the two players who managed to defeat Osborne, the reigning All Around Champion, would meet up in the finals.
The final race to 125 between Olson and Pettipiece saw both players come out a little nervous with neither player able to truly get a good sized run started. Olson led 8-0 early, but Pettipiece came back to take the lead at 15-12. Olson took the lead back at 25-15 but that didn't last long as Bernie took the lead back at 30-25. Both players stayed close for the next few racks with Olson moving back out in front and building a 55-40 lead. Bernie took the lead back for good at 65-59 Bernie increased his lead to 77-60. As the match went on, Pettipiece kept the pressure on Olson and Olson was unable to capitalize on the chances he had at the table. Bernie got to 100 first at 100-63 and went on to earn the 125-67 victory.
Bernie earned a well deserved $1175 for first place, while Olson settled for $750 in second place prize money. Steve Murray may not have cashed in the main event, but his name was drawn as the winner of the Scott Whisler Custom Cue that was given away at this event. Doug Hale, the current leader on the Poker Pool Points List, did not attend the event but held on to first place with Glenn Bond inching to within 75 points of Hale. That leaves Bond in definite striking range going into the July event at Sixshooters in Phoenix. Pettipiece's win moved him into a tie with Olson for 6th place overall on the points list.
The Olhausen Billiards Desert All Around Tour is sponsored by Olhausen Billiards ("The Best in Billiards"), as well as Poker Pool, Tiger Products, OnQ Cases, Whisler Custom Cues, Bebob Publishing, Joe Tucker, Billiards Digest, Pool and Billiard Magazine, Tom Simpson, Tim "The Monk" Miller and 9ballpoker.com.
