The Pechauer West Coast Tour invaded The Billiard Connection in Northridge California this weekend with a field of some of the top 9-ball talent on the west coast.
Play started on Sunday with four players left on the winners side. Canadian powerhouse Stan Tourangeau sent John Bryant to the one-loss side and Jerry 'The Dentist' Lin held off a charging Steve Lingelbach in the other winners side match. Linglebach trailed 7-2 in the match and came back to tie it at 8-8, but was unable to win the final game.
Tourangeau did not allow 'The Dentist' to get out of the chair much in the hot-seat match as Tourangeau cruised to a 9-3 win.
On the one-loss side Lin ran into a determined Ismael 'Morro' Paez who had been eliminating opponents all day. Lin was no different as 'Morro' won 9-6 to set up the final match with Tourangeau.
Tourangeau took the early lead, but Paez fought back and tied the match at 9-9. The players traded games for ties at 10-10 and 11-11 before Paez got to the hill at 12-11. The match looked to be completely over as Paez ran out the rack, but he babied the 9-ball and left it hanging in the jaws for Tourangeau. This tied the match at 12-12 with Tourangeau breaking. Tourangeau came up empty on the break, but Morro gave him another shot at the table when he scratched on a 3-ball. The final hurdle on the table was a 5-9 that was tied up with a possible combination available. Tourangeau ran to the combo but could not pocket the shot. Morro took full advantage of the missed shot and ran the final balls for the 13-12 win.
Paez pocketed $1100 for first place, while Tourangeau settled for $800. Jerry Lin and Arturo Rivera filled out the top four spots. With his second place finish, Tourangeau took over 1st place on the Pechauer Tour points list from Paul Potier who did not play at this stop. Both players are expected to compete at the next two event which will end the 2004 season.
The Pechauer West Coast Tour will be at Gaslamp Billiards in San Diego, CA next weekend for a $4000 added Pokertropolis.com event.
