The final day of the USPPA Pro Am Classic at the Sands Regency found 6 players left trying to claim the title and $3000 first place. Of the six players left, two, Wayne Pullen and Travis Reil, were still eligible for the $6000 first place bonus or a consolation bonus of $1000 for their rating bracket (50 to 100 Rating).
56 players had met the eligibility requirements this trip and Travis & Wayne were the only two left that could deny the entire USPPA membership from a expanded bonus still to be determined in December.
The two 11:00 am matches featured John Field (93 Rating) vs. Travis Reil (85 Rating) as well as Wayne Pullen (96 Rating) vs. Duke Obaob (81 Rating). The Field/Reil match up was even and the Pullen/Oboab was a 1 game handicap with the spot going to Oboab.
Neither Field or Oboab were able to muster their usual game and wound up settling for 5th and 6th (see payouts ). Field went down to Reil 8 to 5 while Oboab went down to Pullen 8 to 4.
In the 12:30 matches Jeff Gregory (109 Rating) met Joey Gebron (126 Rating ) . The one game spot proved not enough for Gregory as the hot seat match went Hill/Hill in favor of Gebron.
While Gebron and Gregory were slugging it out, who would of thought that the other semi-final match would result in Pullen vs. Reil woud end up Hill/Hill on the other table. How close can You get?
With one of the two bonus finalists eliminating each other, only Travis Reil was alive to deny a roll-up for December.
The burden of that pressure fell squarely on the shoulders of Jeff Gregory and he answered the call admirably dispatching a game Travis Reil despite the 1 game handicap, 8 to 6. That left Reil in 3rd place with $1300 in prize money and a $1000 consolation bonus for his bracket.
The final dust had settled and we had a rematch of the hot seat match between Gregory & Gebron. The final set format was a race to 11 with Gebron having to give up a 1 game handicap.
Uncharacteristically, Gebron served early opportunities to score into the net. and Gregory pulled out to a 7 to 2 lead and appeared in command. Suddenly, out of no where Gregory began to falter, and Gebron miraculously won 6 games in a row to take a 8 to 7 lead.
Gregory wisely took a 5 minute break and came back to the table the first game after the break to a lucky 4 ball shot rattling around the table and in . Jeff never looked back, closing out Gebron 11 to 8 to grab both the title and the $ 3000 Scooties !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Naturally, anytime you are dealing with handicapping, the obvious comments follow that all winners are underrated. Well, the USPPA is ready with the answers in the final three matches.
Travis Reil shot an average of 62 in his semi-final match against Wayne Pullen, some 23 points lower than his 85 handicap. Unfortunately for Pullen, he played at a paltry 56, 40 points below his average of 96 and almost 50 per cent of his rating.
In the next match, Reil receiving a 1 game handicap only could muster a 68 average in the match, again well below his 85 Rating. The ever steady Jeff Gregory was right at 104, 1 miss or so off his 109 average.
It was no surprise to USPPA Management to see Gregory win the tournament, when in the final match, his opponent, Joey Gebron, only managed a 78, a whopping 48 points off his average rating !!!!!!!
The tournament champion, Gregory, while not shooting his average rating, was a respectable 95, reasonably with in margin.
The final match count in the event was 388 matches, 144 decided by 2 games or less !!!!!
