Roland Garcia with Tommy Terrebonne and room owner Keith Hulin
It’s been several years since Keith Hulin hosted a major event at his room, Emerald Billiards, in New Iberia, LA. This year, he welcomed players back for the $16,000 added Bayou State Classic.
The star-studded field included two-time Derby City Classic Master of the Table Fedor Gorst, reigning Derby City Classic One Pocket champ Tony Chohan, 2020 Derby City Classic Nine Ball champ Lee Vann Corteza, current Music City Open champ Roberto Gomez, 2021 US Open One Pocket champ Justin Hall, BCA & One Pocket Hall of Famer Alex Pagulayan and the newly minted 2023 Cajun Coast Classic 9 Ball champ Roland Garcia. Others spotted around the room were two-time Derby City Classic One Pocket champ Billy Thorpe, current Space City Open X One Pocket champ John Gabriel, current US Open Bank Pool champ & One Pocket Hall of Famer Scott Frost, BCA Hall of Famer Rodney Morris, former ESPN World champ CJ Wiley, current Iron City Open One Pocket champ Josh Roberts and current Texas Open 9 Ball champ Vitaliy Patsura.
The event kicked off with the $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket Championship – $200 entry, single elimination and races to four. The eighteen player field was whittled down to two players. Fedor Gorst took it down 4-2 leavingRoberto Gomez in second place.
The main event – the $10,000 added One Pocket Championship – had 25 players who paid a $300 entry fee to compete in this double elimination, race to three alternate break format.
Notable first round matches saw Justin Hall defeat Jeff de Luna 3-1 and Roberto Gomez blitz Lee Vann Corteza 3-0 while John Gabriel edged out Mike DeLawder 3-2.
Next round had Alex Pagulayan squeak out a tough oneover Scott Frost as did John Gabriel against Hunter White – both matches 3-2 and in a repeat of the one ball one pocket finals, Gorst beat Gomez again 3-1.
In third round action, Gorst got past John Gabriel and Billy Thorpe succumbed to Justin Hall – both 3-1 while Tony Chohan went down to Roland Garcia in a close one 3-2.
Hall just got by Pagulayan 3-2 while the other winners side match saw Gorst smoke Garcia 3-0.
In dead punch, Gorst demolished Hall in hot seat action 3-0 and claimed a seat in the finals. Justin headed west only to be derailed by the Gomez freight train. After losing to Gorst, Roberto started mowing down his opponents – White 3-2 and then Drew Jordan, Thorpe, Garcia, Pagulayan and Hall – all 3-1.
Back in the finals again, the smoking hot Roberto got his revenge against Fedor and took the title down in an extended race to four – score 4-0.
The final event of this tournament was the $5,000 added Open 9 Ball Championship Playing on seven footers, a full field of 128 paid their $100 entries to compete in this double elimination, alternate break with races to 9/7.
Still red hot, Gomez plowed through Dallas Broussard 9-2, David Walker 9-3, Jeff de Luna 9-5, Derek Fontenet 9-6 and Scott Frost 9-7 to arrive as one of the final four on the winners side.
Making his way through the bracket, Roland had wins over Jeremy Howard and Rodney Morris – both 9-4, beat back a challenge from Jacob Pennison 9-8 and demolished Tookie Babineaux 9-0 and Hunter White 9-5. Finally arriving to play Gomez to get into the hot seat match, it was a hard fought battle but he survived 9-8 and Gomez headed west.
In the bottom half of the chart, Lee Vann Corteza was making his presence felt as his victims included Oscar Ruiz 9-3, Jason Procell 9-2, Chris Facundus 9-3, Fedor Gorst 9-7 and Sergio Rivas 9-4 making it to the final four on the winners side.
Meanwhile, Zach Marquardt was quietly working his way through the field as he notched victories over Brent Prade 9-5, Zack Louviere 9-4, Dillon Hayes 9-5, Steve Lenz 9-6 and Tony Chohan 9-1 to then face Lee Vann Corteza.
Lee Vann moved on to the hot seat match after handily defeating Zach 9-3. Hungry for a title, Roland dispatched Lee Vann 9-5 west and secured his berth in the finals.
Champions were falling right and left as they all battled for that other seat in the finals. When it was all over, Gomez had survived after eliminating Rivas 7-6, Gorst 7-5 and finally Corteza 7-6 to arrive at the finals battered and bruised.
As this was true double elimination, Roberto had to win two matches to claim the title. However, it was not to be! In a nailbiter of a match, Roland claimed the match and title 9-8 giving him back to back title wins!
Congratulations to the three Gs – Gomez, Garcia & Gorst – as the new Bayou State Classic champions!
Local sponsors for this event included APA Arcadiana, Oubre Memorial & Burial Vaults, LLC, Chops Meats, Arceneaux Ford, Global Vessel & Tank, FLOQUIP, Inc. and Emerald Billiards.
Sponsors for this event included Emerald Billiards and PoolActionTV.com as well as JB Cases, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Thanks go out to Keith Hulin and his staff for rolling out the red carpet for all the players and fans as well as Tournament Director Jimmy Rogers for doing a great job.
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Larry Schwartz, Josh Roberts, Scott Frost, Hunter White, Mike DeLawder and Ray Hansen for their topnotch commentary.
We’d also like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Lomax Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, Durbin Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramis, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore in Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the Inaugural $14,000 added Skinny Bob’s Nine Ball Classic in Round Rock, TX. Tournaments include a one pocket division, ladies nine ball and open nine ball. Dates are February 14th-20th – hope to see you there!
As several inches of snow swept through Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Inaugural Diamond Oklahoma Winter Classic, so does Roberto “Superman” Gomez, taking down both events!!!
The festivities kicked off March the 8th with the One Pocket event having Carlo and Roberto plowing through their opponents. Three days of action left Carlo Biado and Roberto Gomez battling it for the hot seat, where Carlo triumph over Roberto, sending him to face the fearless and seasoned, Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant. Roberto did not hold back and defeated Hillbilly 4-0 in order to face the Black Tiger in the finals. With an extended race, Roberto brought in the heat and defeated world champion, Carlo Biado, 5-3 to claim the Diamond Winter Classic Pro One Pocket Champion title.
Switching gears into the 9 Ball Open and determined to take down both events and bring home all the cash, Roberto, went on to defeat Aloysius Yapp, Robbie Capito, Chuck Raulston, and Darren Everett, before facing former ESPN world champion, CJ Wiley for the hot seat. CJ gave it one hell of a fight on the hot seat match; but, in the end, Roberto sent him to the 1 loss side to face up and coming young gun from Hong Kong, Robbie Capito. CJ came out of the gates strong and determined to keep Robbie in his seat defeating Robbie 9-2 and headed back to the finals to face Roberto. CJs powerful break and strategic pattern play earned him a 11-6 win against Roberto and a second chance at the championship. CJ wins the flip and missing a crucial 2 ball shot in the side pocket, handed over the wide open table and the break to Roberto where he jumps to a 4-0 lead on this winner break format tournament. CJ fought back hard and with heart; but, wasn’t able to overcome Roberto’s early lead; being defeated 9-5, and crowning Roberto the Diamond Oklahoma Winter Classic 9 Ball Champion!
Congratulations to all the other top finishers and thank you for coming out!
A special shoutout to Bruce Norfleet, Jennifer Lynn Norfleet and the Deep Pockets Tournament Group entire staff for the amazing venue and hospitality. Michael Smith and team for running a smooth event and John Gabriel for all of your help leading up to the event.
To our sponsors, thank you for always supporting SullyVision and being part of the team!
Stay tuned for an action match to be announced soon.
West Monroe, LA was the place to be this past week for the 5th Annual Scotty Townsend Memorial Pool Tournament. It was hosted by owner Josh Hoff at Arena Billiards.
Boasting $15,000 added, this year’s tournament had several events – one pocket, a 10 ball mini, open 9 ball and ladies 9 ball. Produced by Cue & A Promotions, local sponsors included James Hanshew of Hanshew Jump Cues, Interstate Dodge, Joe Long Attorney at Law, Magic Grill, Tommy Semmes Surveying, Simonis Cloth and Diamond Billiards.
The six-day poolfest started Tuesday evening with an auction and players meeting for the $7000 added Pro One Pocket event. Although the field only had eleven players, there wasn’t a lightweight in the bunch! Each paid $1000 to compete in this double elimination race to four event. Finals was to be one set – race to six.
Garcia, Calderon, Corteza, Chohan and Pagulayan drew the coveted byes. Frost and Morra, Biado and Woodward plus Compton and Gomez all battled down to the wire with Frost, Biado and Compton claiming victory 4-3.
Second round matches saw Frost edging out Garcia as did Calderon over Biado – each match also 4-3. Pagulayan defeated the always tough Chohan 4-2 and Compton skunked Corteza 4-0.
Down to four on the winners side, Frost pummeled Calderon and Pagulayan did the same to Compton with identical scores of 4-1. Compton and Calderon headed west while Frost and Pagulayan awaited the hot seat match.
Working their way through the one loss side of the chart, Woodward and Biado emerged to play each other. Carlo easily defeated Sky 4-1 leaving him with a fourth place finish.
The following day, fighting tooth and nail, Frost and Pagulayan battled it out in the hot seat match. Scott emerged the victor 4-3 locking up his seat in the finals. Alex had to play Carlo for the other berth.
Not to be denied another shot at Frost, Pagulayan defeated Carlo 4-2 leaving Carlo in third place.
As mentioned previously, the finals would be one set – race to six. Taking no prisoners, Alex smoked Scott 6-2 to claim the title!
Continuing his winning ways, Alex and Lee Vann split the top prize in the $1,000 added 10 Ball Mini!
The next day, 150 players put up their $100 entries for the $6,000 added Open 9 Ball event.Being played on bar boxes, the format was alternate break, rack your own and races to 9/7.
In dead punch, Alex Pagulayan continued on the warpath dispatching opponents Jeff Davies 9-1, James Jordan 9-0, Monroe Jones 9-3 and Jonathan Martin 9-0.
Running into Roberto Gomez, they battled it out but licking his wounds, Alex took him down too – final score 9-7. Not getting any easier, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp was next. He fell too – 9-4! Then, Hong Kong’s Robbie Capito fought hard but he lost also – 9-7. Alex had arrived at the hot seat match.
Meanwhile, on the lower portion of the bracket, Joe Keith of Dyersburgh, TN, was slowly working his way through the mine fields! After initially drawing a bye in the first round and having a no-show in the second, Joe defeated Ceza Mungal 9-5, Eric Alcinena and Mark Krech – both 9-2 –before meeting Lee Vann Corteza.
They went down to the end but Joe pulled out a 9-7 victory! Sergio Rivas was next and Joe won 9-6. He had arrived at the hot seat match!
Hot seat action was pretty much all Alex as he sent Joe west with a score of 9-3. Joe headed west to await the results of the Capito-Rivas match.
This was a tough one too but when the smoke cleared, it was Robbie over Sergio 7-5. Capito and Keith were to cross swords to see who’d face Alex in the finals!
Joe Keith’s Cinderella story was not to be…Robbie Capito defeated him 9-3 to move into the finals against Alex. Joe finished in a solid third place for the event.
Only twenty years old and a former junior champion, Robbie would have to defeat the Lion twice to take the title.
The match started out neck and neck until Capito pulled out to an 8-3 lead! He was on the hill and breaking!
Robbie broke the balls but had no shot. Alex won the next two games to make it 8-5. Robbie broke the balls and made five balls on the break! Left with a long straight shot on the four, he fired it in, ran out the remaining few balls and forced a second set – final score 9-5.
Having won the flip, Alex won the first two games but Robbie tied it up. Alex went ahead the next two games and Robbie tied it up again. Alex pulled ahead to 5-4 and again, Robbie tied it up! Alex got to the hill first and Robbie tied it up! 6-6! WOW! One game for it all! To Robbie’s disappointment, Alex broke and ran out for the title!!! Good tournament, Robbie! So close…
What a great finals! Congratulations to Alex for taking both the nine ball and the one pocket events as well as splitting the 10 ball mini!
While the Open 9 Ball was in progress, the $1,000 added Women’s 9 Ball event began. Twenty eight ladies posted their $100 entry fees into this double elimination, alternate break event – races were also 7/5.
April Larson (Pool Action TV)
April Larson took top honors leaving Nicole Keeney in runner-up position & Janeen Lee finished in third place. Good job, ladies!!!
Thanks again to owner Josh Hoff and his staff for going the extra mile to make everyone feel at home while Tournament Director Jason Hill kept things running smoothly.
We’d also like to thank our sponsors and fans for another fantastic event! Our sponsors include Lomax Custom Cues, JB Cases, Durbin Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Hanshew Jump Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next stop is the Midwest Open Billiards Championships at Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH. Dates are March 15th-20th. Hope to see you there!!!
Anthony Meglino, CJ Wiley, Jeffrey De Luna and David Singleton
You’d think, given the sample size (nation-wide players and events, over a lot of time) that it would be a lot more common. Two competitors going back-to-back as winner and runner-up at successive stops on a pool tour. But as it actually happens? Rare.
Jeffrey De Luna and Anthony Meglino repeated their winner/runner-up scene from the last weekend in February on the last weekend in March on the Sunshine State Predator Pro Am Tour. De Luna went undefeated in February, having downed Meglino in the hot seat match and finals. He went just as undefeated this past weekend (March 27-28) and for the second time, downed Meglino in the hot seat and finals. And if Meglino hadn’t stepped up his game a bit in the finals of this last one (winning two more games) they’d have gone back-to-back and finished with identical scores in the final two matches. The $750-added (plus $370 raffle) event drew 61 entrants to Boulevard Billiards in Ocala, FL.
De Luna’s path to the hot seat this time around went through Jodi Rubin, Francisco Serrano, Benjie Estor and CJ Wiley (who Meglino played and defeated in both events), to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against David Singleton. Meglino got by Jay Stock, Cody Ingle, Don Kreischer and John Francisco to arrive at his winners’ semifinal matchup against co-tour director, Bobby Garza.
De Luna got into the hot seat match 7-4 over Singleton. Meglino joined him with a 7-2 win over Garza. And for the second time in a row, De Luna claimed the hot seat 7-3.
On the loss side, Garza picked up CJ Wiley, who’d lost to De Luna 7-3 in a winners’ side quarterfinal. Wiley then defeated Jon Gore 5-2 and survived a double hill fight versus Les Duffy to face Garza. Singleton drew Steve Foster, who’d lost his winners’ side quarterfinal match to Garza 7-1 and defeated Alec Saputo and Jason Richko, both 5-1.
Garza and CJ Wiley locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Wiley to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Singleton, who’d eliminated Foster 5-2. Wiley stretched his loss-side trip by one more match, downing Singleton 5-3 in those quarterfinals. Meglino earned his second shot against De Luna in the hot seat with a 5-1 victory over Wiley in the semifinals (Meglino had fought and won a double hill match against Mike Delawder in the February semifinals).
Meglino’s strong showing versus CJ Wiley may have contributed to his picking up a couple of extra games in his second finals versus De Luna in a row. De Luna, though, prevailed a second time and claimed his second straight Sunshine State Predator Pro Am title in a row 9-4. De Luna played five more games than he had in February and lost four of those extra games; winning 51 games total, both times. Meglino played nine games less, total, winning 55 in the Feb. event and only 50 this time around. He lost nine less (42-33). The February event drew more than twice the numbers, thus fewer matchups, overall.
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked Don Kreischer and his staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor, Predator Cues.
“We are very grateful to have Predator as our title sponsor,” they wrote. “We look forward to being a part of the best cue maker in the business and can’t wait to see what they are working on next!”
They added further thanks to their other sponsors, Kamui, Diamond Products, Stitch It To Me Embroidery and the Central Florida USA Pool League, as well as giving a “shout out” to Rob McLaren, who’s been their “right hand man for the past few stops.” They also thanked Leah Nusbaum of Leah Nusbaum Photography for photos and her help with the event.
According to Phillips and Garza, the next stop on the Sunshine State Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of April 24-25, for 600 and under Fargo Rates, has already been sold out. The tour will hold an Open 9-Ball event the following weekend, May 1-2 at Stroker’s Billiards in Palm Harbor, FL.
Going into the DFW 9-Ball Tour finale, held on the weekend of Nov. 10-11, the 2018 Tour Championship title was still very much in play. CJ Wiley stood atop the 10-stop point standings, poised to win it all, though Paul Guernsey and TJ Davis were a hair-width 40 and 80 points away (680-640-600). Had Guernsey won the final tour stop, with Wiley as runner-up, they’d have tied for first place. If Davis had won with Guernsey as runner-up, they’d have tied for first place. Had Wiley faltered in his quest for the event win and Tour Champion title, there were numerous ways it might have turned out.
But he didn’t falter. He faced seven opponents, including Jeremy Jones twice (early and late), played 84 games, winning (on average) three out of every four of them and finished undefeated to claim both the season finale and 2018 Tour Championship titles. The $5,000-added event drew 64 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
As it turned out, Wiley and Davis faced each other in the hot seat match. Wiley had gotten by Neil Nabil Saidawi and Douglas Pitts before running into Jeremy Jones for the first time. In races to 9, handicapped with Fargo Ratings, Jones chalked up more racks against Wiley (6) in their third-round meeting than any other opponent Wiley faced all weekend, including Jones in their later meeting in the finals. Wiley then advanced to meet and defeat Phil Auteri, which set him up to face Jordan Gartenberg in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
Davis, meanwhile, had defeated Michael Montgomery, Cody Wright, Brian Horvath and Greg Sandifer to draw Jersey Jack Lynch in the other winner’s side semifinal. Davis sent Lynch to the loss side 8-2, as Wiley shut Gartenberg out to join him. Wiley assured himself a minimum second place finish by defeating Davis 9-2. Davis moved to the semifinals, having secured a minimum third place finish.
On the loss side, Jones was at work on the seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would earn him a re-match against Wiley in the finals. A victory over Denny Sneed put Jones into the first money round (13th-16th) where he defeated Oscar Araujo 9-4. He advanced to eliminate Greg Sandifer and Tim Larson, both 9-5, to draw Gartenberg, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Jersey Jack Lynch drew Corey Flud, who’d been sent to the loss side by Jones in the second round and was on his own seven-match, loss-side quest for a re-match, against Jones. Flud eliminated Billy Guy, Douglas Pitts, Suliman Abu Salem and Steve Raynes, before defeating Clint Palaci, double hill, and Phil Auteri 7-3 to draw Jersey Jack.
Flud earned his quarterfinal re-match against Jones with a 7-5 victory over Lynch. Jones did his part with a 9-2 victory over Gartenberg. Flud started the quarterfinal with two on the wire in a race to 9. Jones defeated him a second time 9-4, and then moved on to give up only a single rack in a semifinal win over Davis.
Their Fargo Rates are 37 points apart with Jones given the edge over Wiley, 749-712. Wiley defied the FargoRate Match odds, giving him a roughly 30% chance of winning (29.6% to be precise). Jones chalked up the second-highest number of racks against him in the tournament, but Wiley took the match 9-5 to claim both the event and Tour Champion title.
Wiley finished the event as he’d started it, at the top of the tour rankings. TJ Davis and Paul Guernsey (who finished the event in the tie for 25th) switched places; Davis, finishing second and Guernsey finishing third. In addition to awarding the Tour Championship to Wiley, the tour gave a Best Sportsman Award to Billy Guy.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty's Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Super Billiards Store JB Cases, Outsville (Accu-Rack), Granite Guyz, BCAPL/CSI and Dallas Eight-Ball League.
Action junkies should be in heaven this week with two major challenge matches being streamed online.
Things get started on November 15th with Tony Chohan facing Alex Pagulayan in a five day one pocket match at Buffalo Billiards in Jefferson Louisiana. The match will be a best of five races to ten, and will be streamed online by Pool Action Tv.
If one pocket isn't your game, you can tune in to Sullyvision's online coverage of Dennis Orcollo vs CJ Wiley and Legends Sports Bar in Ft Worth, Texas. This match is 10-ball, race to 25, with CJ getting the 7-ball.
Both matches should be action packed, so pick your favorite game and tune in online with Pool Action TV or Sullyvision.
(l to r): Juan Parra, Jr., Daniel Herring & Tony Top
Daniel Herring has been at the Texas tables for about a decade now, chalking up his first recorded appearance on a payout list at a stop on the Fast Eddie’s Tour in January, 2008. He started appearing on the payout lists of Melinda Bailey’s Omega Tour a few years after that and in February, 2015, he broke through to win a stop on that tour; his first, and until this weekend (Sept. 8-9), his only recorded victory on a tour. At stop #9 on the DFW 9-Ball Tour (which grew out of the Omega Tour), he went undefeated through a field of 89 entrants, on-hand for the $1,500-added event, hosted by Clicks in Arlington, TX.
Herring started strong, giving up only two racks over his first 19 games, and seven over his next 23 (four of those to his eventual finals’ opponent, Juan Parra) to arrive at what proved to be his first double hill challenge in a winners’ side semifinal against Angelo Inness. Tony Top, in the meantime, who played an extra match in a preliminary round to get the field to a 32-match opening round, gave up 12 racks in the 52 games that it took him to reach the other winners’ side semifinal against Philip Palmer.
Herring survived the double hill battle over Inness and advanced to the hot seat match and a battle against Top, who’d sent Palmer to the loss side 8-5. Herring claimed the hot seat 8-6, and waited on the return of Parra.
On the loss side, Palmer picked up Parra, who, following his defeat at the hands of Herring, had eliminated Tommy Ulbik 7-3 and the tour’s #2-ranked competitor, CJ Wiley, double hill (in the absence at this event of the tour’s #1-ranked player, Chase Rudder, Wiley’s finish in the 7/8 slot moved him into the #1 ranking spot). Inness had the misfortune of running into Tim Larson, who, following a defeat in the event’s opening round (to Josh Keller) was in the midst of a nine-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals.
Parra and Palmer locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Parra to the quarterfinals. Larson chalked up what proved to be his last victory 8-4 over Inness and joined him. Parra ended Larson’s loss-side run 7-4 in those quarterfinals, and then, double hill, stopped Top’s short-lived, loss-side run in the semifinals.
Herring completed his undefeated run with an 8-4 victory over Parra in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Click’s for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ft. Worth Billiard Superstore, JB Custom Cue Cases, Solutions, Granite Guyz, BCAPL, CSI, Dallas 8-Ball, Accu-Rack and Fargo Rate. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for Oct. 20-21, will be a $1,500-added event, hosted by Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
Sitting atop the early-season standings on the Predator Cues’ DFW 9-Ball Tour, CJ Wiley went into the finals of that 2018 tour’s third stop with a win and runner-up finish to his credit. Thanks to TJ Davis, Wiley had to settle for his second straight runner-up finish. On the weekend of March 24-25, Davis completed an undefeated run with two straight victories over Wiley, in the hot seat match and finals. While this allowed Wiley to retain his position at the top of the standings chart, Davis’ victory allowed him to jump up two steps, to settle in (for now) the runner-up spot. The $1,700-added event drew 105 entrants to Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX.
Davis and Wiley faced four opponents each on the trip to their respective winners’ side final matches. In their first four handicapped matches, Davis and Wiley, both racing to 9, faced an exactly equal average opponent, racing to 6; Davis faced one 7, two 6s and a 5, as Wiley squared off against two 7s, a 6, and a 4. Wiley did just a little better in the average score department over the first four matches (9-2.5 over Davis’ 9-3.2).
Davis picked up Tony Sulsar (racing to 8) in his winners’ side semifinal match, while Wiley drew Jordan Gartenberg (racing to 7). Davis downed Sulsar 9-5. Wiley joined him in the hot seat match with a 9-3 win over Gartenberg. Davis took the first of two over Wiley 9-4, which put him in the hot seat and guaranteed that he’d be recording his best finish, to date, on the 2018 tour (he’d finished 9/12th and 4th in the previous two events).
Sulsar, looking to improve on his 9th place spot on the tour standings, moved to the loss side and picked up Tony Top, who’d most recently defeated Alberto Nieto Garcia 7-3 and Isaac Leyendecker 7-2 to reach him. Gartenberger drew Justin Whitehead, who was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had seen him eliminate the #2 player in the tour standings, Rick Stanley, as well as, most recently Corey Flud (#6) 8-3 and Tim Larsen 8-6.
Top downed Sulsar 7-6 (Sulsar racing to 8), as Gartenberg ended Whitehead’s loss-side winning streak, double hill. Gartenberg, already assured of his best finish, to date, on the 2018 tour, took another step, downing Top in the quarterfinals 7-5 to earn himself a re-match against Wiley in the semifinals.
Gartenberg fought furiously in that semifinal match, forcing a single deciding game. Wiley, however, won it 9-6 (Gartenberg racing to 7) to earn himself a second shot at Davis in the hot seat. Davis and Wiley duplicated their 9-4 score from the hot seat match, and Davis claimed the event title.
Last Lady honors went to Alicia Stanley, with a second-place split between Tracie Voelkering and Ricki Casper. A Second Chance event drew 12 entrants, and was won by Dee Davis. In a rare Second Chance appearance, Rick Stanley finished second.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Fort Worth Billiards Store, JB Cases, Dallas Eightball League, Outsville (AccuRack), Fargo Rate, BCAPL/CSI, Internet Marketing Solutions and Granite Guyz. The next stop on the Predator Cues’ DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for April 28-29, will be hosted by JR Pockets in Denton, TX.
CJ Wiley should be the ‘poster child’ for some form of additional prize awarded to competitors in pool tournaments who lose an opening round match and win 10 or more on the loss side to meet and ultimately either defeat or lose to the occupant of a given tournament’s hot seat. Perhaps extra tour ranking points, a little bonus cash? Something, for while runner-up money is all well and good, a 10-match or more winning streak on the loss side of a double elimination bracket is a significant accomplishment, worthy of some official kind of recognition.
Though Rick Stanley went undefeated on the February 17-18 stop (#2) on the Dallas/Fort Worth 9-Ball Tour and deserves all of the accolades that go along with that, he did so by chalking up eight match victories, all with the double elimination bracket’s built-in margin for error, allowing a single loss without elimination. The handicap format saw Stanley (racing to 9) face six 7s, one 6, and one 9 (Wiley), and chalk up an average score against opponents of 9-2.7. CJ Wiley won 12 on the loss side of that double elimination bracket, with an average match score of 9-3, and faced five 6s, six 7s, and one 8, before his straight-up race to 9 in the finals against Stanley. The tour-ranking end result allowed Wiley to maintain his #1 spot on the tour rankings, while Stanley, competing in his first stop on the 2018 tour, moved from nowhere into second place. The $1,700-added event drew 108 competitors to The Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
Stanley downed Bush 9-1, as Flud (in a straight-up race to 7) defeated Hunter 7-3. Stanley claimed the hot seat 9-4 over Flud and waited for Wiley to complete his epic loss-side run.
Over on the loss side, Wiley got by five opponents just to advance to the first money round (the tie for 25th place). He got by four more, including a 9-5 win over Donny Gregory and a 9-4 win over Steve Collins, before running into Bush, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Hunter drew TJ Davis, who’d eliminated Cody Wright 8-4 and Marcelino Santiago 8-1 to reach him.
Wiley downed Bush 9-4, and was joined in the quarterfinal match by Davis, who’d eliminated Hunter 8-2. Wiley took the quarterfinal match over Davis 9-3 and completed his long trek back to the finals with a 9-5 win over Flud in the semifinals.
And there it was. The final match between two of the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s top-ranked competitors, although one (Stanley) had yet to compete on the tour’s 2018 schedule. Stanley completed his undefeated run with a 9-5 victory over Wiley and settled into the second spot on the tour rankings.
The weekend also included a new, but soon-to-be-repeated preliminary event, held on Friday night, pitting two area teams (Dallas & Fort Worth) against each other. Called the DFW 2018 Tour Cup, and modeled after the Mosconi Cup, the first event saw Dallas take the Cup 5-2.
“It was very well-received,” noted tour representatives, “and we will more than likely be having more events of this type in the future.”
A Second Chance event that drew 17 entrants saw Tony Sulsar take the top spot, with Shan Iyer as runner-up. The “Last Lady” award of the main event ($50) was split between Kiengchay (Kitty) Phoutthavong and Tera Saunders.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of the Billiard Den, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, JB Cases, Dallas Eightball League, Outsville (AccuRack), Fargo Rate, BCAPL/CSI, Internet Marketing Solutions, and Granite Guyz. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of March 24-25, will be hosted by Rusty's Billiards in Arlington, TX.
If attendance at a premiere tour stop is any indication, the newly-established DFW 9-Ball Tour is off to a good start. Formed after the retirement of Melinda Bailey’s Omega Billiards Tour, and losing very little time in transition, the DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 9-Ball Tour opened its already-solidified schedule of 12 events with a $1,700-added stop at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, TX, on the weekend of January 13-14. The venue played host to an opening field of 93 players, out of which emerged CJ Wiley, who was defeated in the hot seat battle by Paul Guernsey, and returned from the semifinals to win both sets of a true double elimination final and claim the tour’s first title.
Wiley, racing to 9, and Guernsey, racing to 8, advanced to the winners’ side semifinals having given up an identical average of racks per opponent (3), earned in different ways. Wiley opened his campaign with two 9-3 wins over Juan Batista and a 9-1 victory over Steve Raynes. He then gave up two racks to Jessie Wilcoxson before Tony Sulsar chalked up six against him in a winners’ side quarterfinal that advanced Wiley to a winners’ side semifinal against Jersey Jack Lynch.
Guernsey’s track to the winners’ side semifinals would see him give up three racks to Garrett Dalton and one to Monica Anderson before he shut out Scott Forgason. An 8-4, winners’ side quarterfinal win over Steve Horne was followed by a narrow, double hill win over TJ Davis, which set Guernsey up to face Isaac Leyendecker in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Guernsey sent Leyendecker to the loss side 8-2, as Wiley was busy sending Lynch west 9-1. Guernsey claimed the hot seat (and his last match win of the event) 8-6 over Wiley, and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Leyendecker drew Sulsar, who, following his loss to Wiley, had shutout Peter Villatoro and eliminated Curtis Caldwell 8-5. Lynch picked up Robin Barbour, who’d gotten by Wilcoxson and Daniel Herring, both 7-3.
With Leyendecker racing to 6, and Sulsar racing to 8, the two locked up in a double hill battle that eventually (6-7) sent Leyendecker to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Lynch, who’d defeated Barbour 7-2. Leyendecker advanced one more step, defeating Lynch 6-4, before having his run stopped by Wiley 9-2 in the semifinals.
Wiley and Guernsey pretty much left it all out on the table in the opening set of the true double elimination final. They battled to double hill (Wiley ahead 8-7), before Wiley finished it to force the second set. Wiley edged out ahead in that second set and stayed there, completing his single-loss run with a 9-5 win that earned him the DFW 9-Ball Tour’s first event title.
Tour representatives awarded $50 to the event’s top finishing female, Ricki Casper. They also thanked the ownership and staff at Rusty’s Billiards, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, JB Cases, Dallas Eightball League, Outsville (AccuRack), Fargo Rate, BCAPL/CSI, and Internet Marketing Solutions. The next stop on the DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for February 17-18, will be hosted by Billiard Den in Richardson, TX.
