Jason Halpin and Mac Jankov
Halpin shares top prizes with Jankov ahead of a potential 6 a.m. final
Mac Jankov used to run a pool tour known as the Mac Attack. It emerged out of the COVID pandemic in ‘20/’21 to fill a vacuum created when the confined spaces of pool rooms led to the cessation of a lot of closed-space activities that would normally attract a high volume of participants like pool, bowling, darts, etc. Catchy name, tour run by a well-respected member of the pool community, the tour stopped operating when the tri-state New York City pool scene got back on its feet. While Tony Robles’ Predator Pro-Am Tour had disbanded when Robles shifted his base of operations to Florida, the former Tri-State Tour, one of the oldest, continuously-operating tours in the country, picked up the sponsorship and became the Predator Tri-State Tour.
Like a lot of pool players, coast to coast, Mac Jankov’s career at the tables took a hit from the pandemic, from which he and many others have just begun to recover. After recording his best earnings year in 2019, which had topped his previous ‘best’ the year before by $20, Jankov lost a lot of TAT (time at table) until last year, when he recorded his best year since that 2019 pinnacle. This past weekend (March 30), Jankov recorded his first event win since he won a stop on the ‘old’ Tri-State Tour with an undefeated run on the ‘new’ Predator Tri-State Tour at an 8-ball event that drew 57 entrants to Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Jankov and Jason Halpin both went undefeated to arrive at the finals of this event, which, as Jankov finished his semifinal earlier than Halpin finished his, would have dictated a potential 6 a.m., Sunday morning start for that final. As friends, Jankov and Halpin agreed to a split of the top two prizes before Halpin’s semifinal was over and also agreed that Jankov would be the event’s ‘official’ winner.
In a modified, double-elimination format, advancing 16 players, eight from each side of a standard, double-elimination bracket to a second single-elimination phase, Jankov won three of his eventual seven matches in the double-elimination phase, downing Barbara Lamanna, Rajeev Chabra and Ambi Estevez to qualify for the event’s ‘Sweet 16.’ His eventual opponent in the finals, Jason Halpin, also joined those 16 from the winners’ side of the double-elimination bracket, defeating (after a bye) Chuck Granville and Philip St. Amand.
Also joining the 16 from the winners’ side were Levie Lampaan, David Schaeffer, Hunter Sullivan, Paulo Valverde, George Verdecia, and David Moore. Half of the eight competitors who’d lost the last possible, winners’ side qualification round, came back from a single win on the loss side to join the final 16; Julian Tierney, Pascal Dufresne, Ambi Estevez, and Carlos Duque. They were joined from the loss side by Vincent Morris, John Guzman, Giancarlo Delgado and Michael Graff.
Re-seeded for single elimination into an upper-ranked (A/B) and lower-ranked (C/D) bracket, it was Julian Tierney and Jason Halpin from the upper bracket who advanced to the semifinals; Tierney eliminating Levie Lampaan 6-4 and David Schaeffer 6-2 to get there, Halpin downing Pascal Dufresne, double hill, and Hunter Sullivan 6-4.
Jankov and Duque advanced to the semfinals from the lower bracket; Jankov defeating Michael Graf 5-2 and shutting out Paul Valverde, as Duque was eliminating George Verdecia 5-2 and David Moore, double hill. Halpin defeated Tierney in their semifinal 6-4, as Jankov downed Duque 5-3. The split had already been arranged, with Jankov going ‘into the books’ as the official winner.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Shooter’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Romer’s Trophies, Phil Capelle, and Sterling/Gaming. The Predator Tri-State Tour will return to Shooter’s Family Billiards for its next stop, scheduled for April 27.
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