The tour visited the new Cheers Bar & Grill in Baltimore, MD on June 24/25th. This was a special 10 ball ring game playoff with entry fees for an IPT qualifier and the US Open 9 ball championships up for grabs. Players qualified all year long to be eligible for these bonus prizes while anyone could win the regular cash prizes. The tables were all newly covered with Z9 cloth making for some great playing conditions.
41 players signed up to play in this exciting ring game format. All players received 20 poker chips at the beginning of play. 9 tables were in play with everyone in action simultaneously. The ante in the first round was just one chip with 4 or 5 players at each table. Rounds lasted 45 minutes with the ante amount being raised each round. Once a player was out of chips, they were out of the tournament.
The early chip leader was Danny Green out in front with Matt Krah and Josh Brothers holding onto healthy stacks. Tables were constantly rearranged as players ran out of chips. The 9 tables were ultimately reduced to 6 survivors at the final table: Josh Brothers, Matt Krah, Danny Green, Doug Sharp, Myke Munoz and Frank Heck. By this time, the ante per game was 25 chips which can quickly reduce a chip stack. Heck was the first to go after not getting much to shoot at in 4 games. Green was next followed by Munoz and then Sharp. This left Krah challenging Brothers head-to-head. Brothers had a comfortable lead but the ante was now 50 chips and Krah won a few games to stay alive. After about 10 games, Brothers held all the chips to win the event. Brothers earned $800 and a paid entry into an upcoming IPT Qualifier event. Munoz was the next highest player that was eligible and received a paid entry into the US Open 9 Ball Championships.
A field of 16 ladies entered the regular 9 ball double elimination Sunday Women's event. Current points list leader Pamela Treadway dominated outscoring her opponents 28-4 including a 7-1 win over Malea Haacke for the hot seat. WPBA pro Sueyen Rhee lost a second round match to Haacke 7-5 but recovered nicely in the elimination bracket. She defeated Amy Foster, Kathleen Lawless and Teresa Savage before placing My-Hanh Lac into 4th place. Rhee then avenged her loss to Haacke to continue on to the single set final with Treadway. Careful methodical play led Rhee to a 9-4 win in the final. 1st paid $360 with $240 for 2nd.
