That's Johnson City, Texas, not Illinois. The "Hustler's Shoot Out Near Johnson City" was held at Dillinger's in San Marcos, Texas on June 6 - 8. The event was hosted by Ed "Redbird" Tarbutton, owner of Dillinger's, and PKL Promotions. Dillinger's, recently remodeled and featured in national billiard publications, still retains the flair of an old time pool room.
What the event lacked in numbers was more than made up for in talent. Forty of the "Best in Texas" showed to shoot it out on the great slate. The top picks were John Hager, Javier Franco, Al Mason, David Henson, Gilbert Martinez, Aaron Salinas, Robert Almaraz, T. J. Davis and the legendary Junior Norris, "Nine Ball Player of the Sixties" and inductee in the Texas Hall of Fame. Junior was playing great nine ball before most players in the field were even born.
With the toughest draw of the tournament, David Henson of Austin looked on fire with wins over Sparky Webb, 9-2, John Hager, 9-4, T. J. Davis, 9-6, Gilbert Martinez, 9-5, only to run into Brian Sanders for his first loss, 9-6. David was defeated on the one loss side by James Davis Sr., 7-1 for a nice 5-6th finish.
With a opening round bye, Kevin Welling of Roundrock, General Manager of GQ Billiards ( home of the Texas State 9 Ball Open), defeated Matt Wilson, 9-3, Aaron Salinas, 9-8, Sylver Ochoa, 9-6, and ran into a very determined Javier Franco and was given his first loss, 9-2. After being down 6-3 on the one loss side to Bobby Brown, Kevin tied it up at 6-6, only to have Bobby win the deciding game. Kevin showed a lot of heart on his way to a 5-6th placement.
Bobby Brown of San Antonio got a free ride to the third round after a opening round bye and a no-show forfeit by Al Mason due to illness. Bobby was handed his first loss by Javier Franco, 9-8, when he went to work in the brutal bracket with wins over Candy Ramos, 7-6, John Hager, 7-4, J. P. Martinez, 7-4, Gilbert Martinez, 7-4, and Kevin Welling, 7-6. Bobby was defeated by James Davis Sr., 7-5, to finish in fourth place.
Brian Sanders of Austin played the tournament of his life with wins over Robert Newkirk, 9-6, Kevin Moore, 9-4, Chase Rudder, 9-0, J. P. Martinez, 9-4, and David Henson, 9-6. Brian met Javier Franco in the finals of the winner's side and was defeated 9-3. Brian was defeated in the finals of the brutal bracket by James Davis Sr., 7-4 for a great third place finish. Hopefully, we will be seeing more of this young man in the money rounds in the future.
He looked like the Javier of old as Javier Franco of Houston zoomed through the winner's side with wins over Tim Towell, 9-7, Bobby Brown, 9-8, Corey Dordek, 9-7, Kevin Welling, 9-2, and Brian Sanders, 9-3, to advance to the hot seat of the winner's bracket.
James "Bastrop" Davis Sr. of Austin took the long road to the finals. After a first round win over Candy Ramos, 9-7, James lost to Aaron Salinas, 9-8. Starting his march through the one loss side, James had wins over Matt Wilson, 7-4, Steve Espinosa, forfeit, Bill Fuller, 7-4, Corey Dordek, 7-3, T. J. Davis, 7-2, David Henson, 7-1, Bobby Brown, 7-5, and Brian Sanders, 7-4, to meet Javier Franco in the finals.
The wait in the hot seat must have cooled off for Javier for the finals were all "Bastrop"with James defeating Javier in double sets, 9-5 and 9-5. Congratulations to both players for their fine performances.
Congratulations to T. J. Davis on winning the cue raffle offered by Ron Geyer of The Custom Cue Collection.
Also, Thanks to Ed "Redbird" Tarbutton and his staff at Dillingers for hosting a great show. To say the least, you and your staff are "the best"!
Total Payouts:
1st James Davis Sr.- $2710
2nd Javier Franco - $1880
3rd Brian Sanders - $1260
4th Bobby Brown - $690
5th Kevin Welling - $395
5th David Henson - $395
7th Gilbert Martinez - $100
7th T. J. Davis - $100
