The 2004 Gulf Coast Classic ended with different winners in each division, but it was Buddy Hall, Marco Marquez and Shannon Daulton who turned in the top performances.
The One Pocket final came down to Hall and Marquez after Marquez took the hot-seat with a win over Mike Surber. Hall then defeated Surber to earn his spot against Marquez in the finals. Marquez had beaten Hall earlier in the event and did the same thing in the finals to earn the $5000 first prize.
Immediately following that match, Hall had to change gears a little and take on Truman Hogue in the finals of the Bank Pool division. Hall had taken the hot-seat with a win over Ike Runnels and then it was Hogue eliminating Runnels in the next match. This time, it was Hall who scored a hill-hill win in the finals to earn the $2500 first prize.
Earlier on Sunday, John Schmidt bounced back from an early loss and won the 9-Ball division. Marco Marquez send Schmidt to the one-loss side earlier in the event, on his way to a win over David Grossman for the hot-seat. Schmidt came back through the one-loss side to earn his spot in the finals where he defeated Marquez 10-5. Schmidt earned $2600 for first place.
The bartable 9-Ball division was won by Will Pay who lost to Nat Green for the hot-seat. Pay defeated Cliff Joyner on the one-loss side to earn the rematch with Green and went on to take first place. Pay earned $930 for first place.
The six man bank ring game on Saturday night was won by Shannon Daulton who outlasted Truman Hogue, Glen Rogers, Tony Fargo, John Brumback and Jason Miller to pocket the $18,000 in the winner take all event.
Complete Payouts For All Divisions:
9-Ball:
1st John Schmidt $2600
2nd Marco Marquez $1600
3rd David Grossman $1100
4th Cliff Joyner $900
5th-6th John Brumback, Benny Conway Jr $550
7th-8th Jason Miller, Joey Barnes $400
9th-12th David Jacobs, Steve Deason, Rick Howard, Buddy Hall $125
Banks
1st Buddy Hall $2500
2nd Truman Hogue $1500
3rd Ike Runnels $1000
4th Gerald Reichle $800
5th/6th Jason Miller, Cliff Joyner $500
7th/8th Shannon Daulton, Jamie Farrell $350
9th/12th Will Pay, John Brumback, Fred Bentivegna, Benny Conway Jr $100
One Pocket
1st Marco Marquez $5000
2nd Buddy Hall $3000
3rd Mike Surber $2000
4th Ray Martin $1500
5th/6th Bill Blanda, Ike Runnels $1000
7th/8th Josh Hillard, Wade Crane $800
9th/12th Tony Fargo, Gerald Reichle, Randy Epperson, Richie Richeson $400
13/16th John 'Little Jon' Macias, David Grossman, Casey Kilian, Jason Miller $200
Bar Box 9-Ball
1st Will Pay $930
2nd Nat Green $697.50
3rd Cliff Joyner $465
4th Sam Gilmer $232.50
File photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics By Hoppe
