May/June 2010 Inside POOL Magazine

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May/June 2010 Contents Instructions

10

Beat People With a Stick

12

Tricknology

13

Pro Pool Workout

14

The Year of Pro Secrets

15

Banking With The Beard

A Routine Investigation

For the Record

The Power of Intention Don’t Fight Physics

The Infernal, Eternal, Two-to-One Bank Angle

On the Cover: Two years after claiming the Diamond Open 10-Ball Professional Players Championship for the first time, Shane Van Boening did it again in 2010. “The South Dakota Kid” came back from the one-loss side to win the prestigious Super Billiards Expo tournament.

For the full story, please visit page 16.

Features 16

18th Annual Allen Hopkins’ Super Billiards Expo

17

E-cue-nomics

18 19

TAP League’s 14th Rally in the Valley

20

KwikFire Burns Invitational Field

21

Nikolaidis Nicks Artistic Pool Masters Championship

24

Atta Boy!

26

Moore Scores Seminole Pro Tour Stop

Van Boening Retakes Professional Players Title

Williams Sweeps Super Billiards Expo 14.1 Challenge Super Billiards Expo Women’s Title Goes to Fisher

Karl Boyes Claims WPA World 8-Ball Championships

2 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

page 26

TM

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Departments 6 8 32

Pool on TV Advertiser Directory League Player of the Month

Regional Roundup 34 40 44 46

Page 20

Northeast Southeast Central Western

Columns 27

Stripes

28

Industry News

Official Sharking

Publisher JR Calvert publisher@insidepoolmag.com

Technical Consultant Tom Simpson

Editor Sally P. Timko editor@insidepoolmag.com

Feature Photo Credits JR Calvert

Graphic Artists Laura Luzier, art@insidepoolmag.com

Email info@insidepoolmag.com

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Page 24

InsidePOOL Magazine Volume X, Issue 5 (ISSN1547-3511) is published monthly except June and August by Spheragon Publishing, PO Box 972, Kittanning, PA 16201.

Single copy price: $3.95 in U.S.A., $5.95 in Canada. Subscription prices: $19.99/yr in the U.S.A., $28/yr in Canada, $39/yr international. Periodicals postage at Kittanning, Contributing Writers PA, and additional mailing offices. SubmisFred Agnir, Lea Andrews, Mike sions of manuscripts, illustrations, and/ Bidwell, Ricky Bryant, Jose Burgos, or photographs must be accompanied by Charles Eames, Rob Johnson, Jason a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The publisher assumed no responsibility for Lynch, Ken Shuman, Jerry Tarantola, unsolicited material. Reproduction of this Kevin Vidal magazine in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited.

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Instructional Staff Johnny Archer, Freddy Bentivegna, Shannon Daulton, Bob Henning, Jason Lynch, Grady Mathews, Matt Sherman, Tom Simpson

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Pool on TV Pool on TV All times are Eastern Standard Time 2009 WPBA Pacific Coast Classic 2009 WPBA Pacific Coast Classic 2009 WPBA Pacific Coast Classic 2009 WPBA Pacific Coast Classic Luther Lassiter versus U.J. Puckett Legends of the Fall Hall of Fame Trick Shots 1993 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship 1993 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship 2009 Men’s Speed Pool Challenge 2009 Men’s Speed Pool Challenge 2009 Men’s Speed Pool Challenge Cowboy Jimmy Moore versus Luther Lassiter 2009 WPBA Great Lakes Classic 2009 WPBA Great Lakes Classic 2009 WPBA Great Lakes Classic Luther Lassiter versus Irving Crane 1993 Pro Tour Championship Semifinal #1 2009 Tournament of Champions 2002 BCA Open 9-Ball Championships 2009 WPBA Championships 2009 WPBA Championships 2009 WPBA Championships 2002 BCA Open 9-Ball Championships 1993 Pro Tour Championship Semifinal #2

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1993 Pro Tour Championship Finals Willie Mosconi versus Cowboy Jimmy Moore Willie Mosconi versus Cowboy Jimmy Moore 2009 World Cup of Trick Shots 2009 World Cup of Trick Shots 2009 Trick Shot Magic Cowboy Jimmy Moore versus Luther Lassiter Babe Cranfield versus U.J. Puckett 1995 International Challenge of Champions 1995 International Challenge of Champions Willie Mosconi versus Babe Cranfield Joe Balsis versus Irving Crane 1996 International Challenge of Champions 1996 International Challenge of Champions Luther Lassiter versus Cicero Murphy Minnesota Fats versus Luther Lassiter 1997 International Challenge of Champions 1997 International Challenge of Champions Willie Mosconi versus Irving Crane Willie Mosconi versus U.J. Puckett 1998 Tournament of Champions 1998 Tournament of Champions

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Instructi n Beat PeopleWith a Stick A Routine Investigation

by Tom Simpson

The Shooting Phase commences as soon as you’ve committed to your plan and begin to move your body into position.

This routine includes everything you do to see and get on the line of the shot, arranging your body to produce a stroke in the right direction, at the right speed, to deliver the cue ball to your precise target.The many little steps we all have in our shooting process should be designed to guide us into the confidence and physical smoothness we need to focus and deliver as precisely as pool requires. If we have doubt or mental chatter, our bodies become confused and deliver a confused result.When you have doubt or have a better idea, get up and clear up. Executing pool shots well takes everything you have. I think that’s why we like it. Does your shooting routine focus you one hundred percent on the shot?

One of my first billiard instructors warnedmeofacommonproblemamong players. It’s one of those things that, once you hear about it, makes good sense.

The advice was:“Don’t shoot in the thinking position. Don’t think in the shooting Let’s say the Accepting Phase begins at the moment the cue position.”Huh? The thinking position is standing at the table, surveying the situ- ball is struck. Past that point, there’s nothing you can do about ation. The shooting position is down on how the shot will unfold. Pool, like golf, is a game of recovery.

We don’t always land perfectly on the next shot, and we’re trying the shot. to get back in line—or back to the table. Once those balls are in The point? Make all your decisions while you’re standing. Once motion,youaregoingtohavetoacceptwhateverhappens.Often your decision-making is done, physical motion begins and you are it’s a good thing, such as pocketing the ball and getting good in the shooting phase.Your body is setting up for your plan, as best shape. Sometimes you miss, get a bad roll, get screwed by the it can. Now if you change your plan during the shooting setup or equipment. Stuff happens. Good stuff. Bad stuff. Unbelievable process, you’re sending conflicting messages to your body. It’s al- stuff. It’s part of the fun. Accept and move forward with renewed readybeenatwork,supportingyouroriginalintent,settingupalign- determination. Every shot is a new day. ments and musculature to deliver on your plan. But you’re down on the shot and you have a“better”idea. Fine. However, now you’re thinking again. Get up! Go back to the thinking position. Make your Commitment really is decisions and then begin the shooting routine again. Otherwise, what sets your body to you’re fighting your own hard-earned shooting skills.

“

Routines are vital in pool. We have pre-shot routines, stroke routines, and subroutines for stance, alignment, whatever.What’s important is that you know what you actually do in each phase, why you do it, are consistent about it, and you revisit it periodically.Write out your routine, your personal“checklist,”in whatever level of detail you like. Pull it out of your cue case in a time of need and check yourself against your known, practiced routine.

the task of shooting.

”

If you’re going to play well, you have to become able to quickly acceptwhateverjusthappened—good,bad,orembarrassing.Let’s say a very good thing happened—you made an incredible shot.

You’ll need to recover your state of mind. Maybe take a lap of the table. Get over yourself before you shoot again. Sometimes bad things happen—a miscue, or missing an easy shot.You’ll need to I find it helpful to look at shooting pool as a cycle with three getoveryourerrorandstopbeatingyourselfup.Otherwiseyou’re phases that repeat, shot after shot, game after game: Planning, still back in that bad thing while the current shot really requires your full attention. One thing leads to a mother.

Shooting, Accepting.

The Planning Phase begins as you study the table situation. It Do what you have to do to accept the current situation. Acincludes all the things you do and consider as you make your plan— cepting doesn’t mean giving in to despair—or to pride. It means studyingthelayout,determiningyouroptimumstrategy,choosing accepting the reality in front of you, so you can move forward into your pocketing sequence, visualizing ball paths and speeds, identi- the Planning Phase again, carrying no baggage. fyingandsolvingproblems,weighingdefensiveoptions,andsoon.

Tom Simpson is a Master Instructor in both the BCA and ACS Running your analysis and decision-making routines.

InstructorPrograms.Hedelivershisacclaimed3-DayWeekendIntenOne way or another, to get respectable results, you’re going siveinColumbus,Ohio,andinselectedcitiesnationwide.Asinventor to need to settle on a plan and commit to it. Commitment really is ofElephantPracticeBalls®,theStrokeGroover™,andtheGhostball what sets your body to the task of shooting. At this point, you know AimTrainer®,andauthorizedinstructorforSecretAimingSystems™, what you’re going to do, and how and why. No more need to think. Tom’sinnovationsintraininghavehelpedthousandsofplayers.Listen Now it’s time to do. You trusted your brain. Now, trust your body. toanaudiodescriptionoftheIntensive,andread35instructionalarticlesatwww.NationalBilliardAcademy.com.Contact:Tom@PoolClinIndecision will make you miss. ics.com.

10 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Play Video Play Video

Instructi n

Play Play Video Video

Tricknology

For The Record

by Jason Lynch

I have talked in the past on how differentobjectscaninspirenewtrickshots.It maybeacertaincupinthesupermarket orevenachild’stoy.IhavetoadmitIshop in the toy section as much for ideas as I dofortoysformyten-year-olddaughter, Grace. I had an epiphany one evening in my basement with an objectIhavehadinmyhandthousandsoftimes—arecordalbum.This month’sshotismyrecordalbumshot.ItiscurrentlyfeaturedonSears’ “HitUsWithYourBestShot”videocontestwebsite,hituswithyourbestshot.com, as the grand prize winner of a $5,000 Sears gift card.

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The items you will need for the shot are: Two33rpmalbums(preferablyveryflexibleones—garagesales are a good source) Two wood racks Two finishing nails or small screws Two chalk cubes Two quarter wrappers (the ones that come folded flat)

Now set three balls as shown by the side pocket. These are the easiestpartofthesetupandtheeasiestballstopocketwhileattempting theshot.Nextsetaballonthetallerofthetwocoinwrappersapproximatelyonediamondawayfromthesidepocketwiththecluster.Seta secondballontheshorterofthetwocoinwrappersandslideituptoand undertheedgeofthefirstballaimedatthesidepocket(seePicture3).

Here is the setup and where the idiocy begins. Place the racks on thetableasshown,usingachalkcubeto“aim”eachofthetrianglesto theoppositecorner.Placetheedgeoftherecordonthenailorscrew you installed (Picture 1), bend the record over, and sandwich a ball betweentherecordandtheapexofthetrianglejustenoughtoholdit there.Thispartisthetrickiestsinceitinvolvesafeeloftherighttension betweentheballandthealbum.Repeatthisprocesswiththeother triangle. After these are set in place, be careful not to jar the table as the balls can launch out prematurely.

Jason Lynch grew up playing pool in Michigan. In his early twenties hestartedplayingintheVNEAandplacedashighas16thin8-balland 9-ball.In2005,hewontheMichiganVNEAspeedpoolcontest.Hehas alsopocketed11,100and12,011ballsin24hoursasfundraisersforthe American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. In 2007 he had his best finishtodate,placingsixthattheArtisticPoolU.S.Openandwinningthe strokecategory.Jasonisranked14thintheworldbytheWPA.Hissponsors are Shelti PoolTables, Seybert’s Billiard Supply, Pechauer Cues, DieckmanCues,OB-1Shafts,andLeisureElements.Visithiswebsiteat www.michigankid.com.

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Now to the shot. Place the cue ball as shown and aim as if the coin wrappers aren’t there to hit half of Ball X by the side pocket.Top-right ortopenglishworksbest.Ifhitcorrectly,thecueballwillflattenthecoin wrappers,sendingBalls1and2tothesidepocketsandthencontinue on to hit Ball 3.This will in turn send Balls 4 and 5 into the side.The cue ball will carom down to“trigger”one of the racks, while Ball 3 triggers theother.Ifthelaunchedballshaveamid-aircollision,placethebuttof Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3 acueagainstthethecushionthecueballiscaromingtoandslidethat rackoutfromtherail.Thatwaythecuewillslideintothepocketwithout triggeringtherack,anditwillstillbesetwhentheballfromtheotherend Take one of the wrappers and cut it down to approximately 2 1/2”. of the table triggers it.

Leave the other full length (see picture 2).Take the wood racks and eithernailafinishingnailorinstallascrewnearthebaseofoneofthe I tell my audience that just like records, some shots are hits and long sides of the racks (see picture 3). somearen’t.Untilnexttime,Ihopeallyourshotsarerecord-breakers.

12 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Pro Pool Workout

The Power of Intention

by Bob Henning

There’s a lot of attention in the publicarenathesedaysaboutthepowerof intention. Many writers and speakers even say that if you want to discover whatyourtrueintentionwasinanyendeavor,justtakealookathowitturned out.Theysayyoualwaysgetwhatyou intended.

This is also true about pool competition. Consider the following reportfromaplayerwhocontactedmerecently:“InthefirstmatchI was up 3-1 in a race to 5, playing fairly well. Just then a guy from my leaguestartsplayingrightnexttome. Well,thisbothersmebecauseI seemtothinkthatheisbeingcriticalofmygame,whenofcourseheis onlybusywithhisowngame. ButImanagetolosehill-hill. Sothenext matchIgettheveryfronttable,sotheneverybodyiswatchingme, andIplayevenworse,andwinonlyonegame. IfeltsobadthatIwas considering going right home and quitting pool then and there.”

This is a very common pool scenario. Most pool players are eitherdealingwithitnoworhaveconfronteditinthepast.Taking an early lead, such as 3-1 in a race to 5 and then backing off to lose hill-hillisindicativeofhavingaprimaryintentionof“beingintheevent to impress others with my skill and talent.”

If the goal is to show everyone that you can play, then you can easilyachievethatgoalbytakinganearlylead. Youdon’thavetoactuallywin.Onceyou’vedemonstratedwhatyoucando,youcanback offandnothavetodealwithanopponentwhoisupsetoverlosing andmaybeevenavoidanargumentgeneratedbyhimonhiswayto losing.Haveyouevernoticedthateverybodylikesyouaftertheywin theirmatchwithyou? Evernoticethatwheneveraplayergetsupset withyouorhowyouplay,heiseitherlosingorhaslost?Runningout a quick lead of three or four games and then losing is an amazingly cost-effectivewayofachievingthegoalofimpressingthepoolroom andatthesametimeavoidingthediscomfortofcrushingsomeone else’s dreams of grandeur.

Beingactivelyconcernedaboutwhatothersthinkaboutyouand yourgameisadistinctintention.There’snothingwrongwithit—it’s justantitheticaltoseveral otherhigher-levelintentions,suchas being intheeventtowin, beingintheeventtohavefun, beingintheevent tofraternizewithotherswholovethegame, beingintheeventtolearn more about the game, et cetera.

Competition is a mix of all these (and other) intentions, yet every player,asthemanagerofhisownmindandlife,getstodeterminethe priorityof theseintentions. Ifyouaredealingwiththe“impressotherssyndrome,”thesolutionistogetclearaboutwhatyouarereally upto. Writeitdown—don’tsnowyourselfaboutit—justtellthetruth.

Inthefinalevaluation,noneoftheseintentionsismoreimportantor representsagreateraccomplishmentthananother. Theonlywayto winwithyourselfistoactuallytellthetruthaboutwhoyouareandwhat youareuptoateverymoment. Insteadofhidingorfightingthefact thatyouareconcernedaboutlookinggoodtoothers,celebrateit. Tell othersaboutit. Letthemknow:“I’mnotreallyheretowin—Ijustwant toimpresseverybodywithmy skillandtalent.” Remember: Whatyou resist will persist. The truth, on the other hand, will set you free.

“

The only way to win with yourself is to actually tell the truth about who you are and what you are up to at every moment.

”

Once you get clear about your unconscious intentions, you will thenhavethementalroomtocreateaconsciousintention,suchas beingintheeventtowin.Thenextstepistofindoutwhatisincluded inandconsistentwithhavingtheprimaryintentionofwinning. Having fun and enjoying the action are surprisingly high on that list.

Good luck and good shootin’!

Bob Henning is the author ofThe Pro Book, widely considered to bethemostadvancedtrainingresourceforcompetitivepoolplayers.

It bringsthe latest techniquesofthe topcoachesandtrainers of all sportsintopool.Itisintendedforthosewhowishtopreparephysically, mentally,andpsychologicallyforpoolcompetition.Bobisalsotheauthorof“TheProBookVideoSeries,”acomplete,on-the-tabletraining system,andhealsoreleasedTheAdvancedProBookandTheStroke Zone: The Pool Player’s Guide to Dead Stroke. In addition, he has authored Cornbread Red, a biography of the colorful Billy Burge.

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 13

Instructi n The Year of Pro Secrets Don’t Fight Physics

by Matt Sherman Last month I explained how top players Understand the pro bag of tricks for working a cue ball without getsuperbspinandsuper-straightstrokes strong draw or topspin: using an ultra-light grip on the cue stick. • Hit a shot harder or softer using stun to alter cue ball path • Chooseforaballnearthepocketwhethertodriveitinwithamore fullhitorsliceitinwithathinnercut—anapproximateruleofthumb Now that your stance and stroke have ishitting“50%ofaball”(ahalf-ballhitangle)sendsbothballsfrom improved through our series, it’s time to impactatequalspeed,aone-quartercutmeansthecueballimgaugecueballactionbetter.Here’samaxim parts75%ofspeedtotheobjectballandretains25%ofspeed,a topplayersunderstandbutmanysuccessful 90%cutsendsthecueat90%andtheobjectatone-tenthor10% amateursdon’t:Acknowledgephysicalrealspeed, et cetera) ity when making your shot selections.

• “Cheatthepocket”bychoosingasideofthepocketratherthan pocket center for the object ball • Addafractionofatiptotwotipsofaimedtopspinorbottomspin tothecueballbutwithouttakingaforcefulstroke(simplytakea Acknowledge physical center-ball-stylestrokebutletthecuestickgoitsownwaywithout reality when making your any extra gusto added from your stroking arm) • Punchthecueballwithastroketakenataboutatenthofaninch shot selections. belowcentertoslowtherockdownonamicro-jumpatimpact • Getimmediaterollonthecueballwithastroketakenatseventenths up the vertical axis (70% to the top of the ball) • Usestunactionoverashortdistancewithagentlecenterballtap BythisImeanI’vewatchedhundredsofamateursmissattempting shotsphysicallyimpossibletoexecute.Aprimeexampleisaddingin- Notehownoneoftheoptionsaboveinvolvecomplicatedkicking tensedrawortopspintoacutshotfarbeyondahalfballhit,stillplanning orbankingorsidespinwithallthestrokeanddeflectionconsiderations involvedwithenglish.Becauseofthislistandothershotoptions,I’lloften for (hoping for) the cue ball path to bend much past impact. playfor30minutesormorebeforeusingsignificantsidespinforany Iwantyoutostoptryingtoboldlytrekyourcueballwherenonehas stroke. gonebefore.Dothisexperimentandinminutes,you’llunderstandwhen Tosumup,exploretheoptionsandlearnwhento notattempttopyour stroke is the issue and when physics is the issue. spinanddrawstrokesthatmakepoolfunbutmakesingleshotsrisky.

Place a cue ball and an object ball along a straight line to a corner Also,getreadyfornextmonth’sprosecretsonspeedcontrolbyanpocket.Chooseballpositionswithinyourcomfortzonefordrawforthis sweringthisquestion,“Whydoallinstructionalmaterialssuggestsoft, fullballhitthenshootafewtimeswithmediumspeeddrawstrokes.Are medium,andhardstrokesbutneverslow,medium,andfaststrokes?” you getting some brisk action with the cue ball?

“

”

If all is well with your stroke over the chosen distance, shoot a few Matt “Quick Draw” Sherman has appeared dozens of times in moretimes,continuingtostrokethecueballstraighttowardthecorner major printmediaandpopularTVchannelspromotingbilliardsand pocketbutsettingtheobjectballslightlytooneside,soyoucutitmore entertainment.

Hehastaughthundredsofstudentsandhasdirected andmorethinly.Yes,theobjectballwillsoonmissthecornerpocket,but pool leagues, pool tournaments,poolfundraisers,andpooladulted we’reassessingthecueballactionontheseincreasinglyangledshots. courses.ShermandirectstheUniversityofFlorida’sleagues,which Atwhichanglesdoesthedrawaction“actfunny”toyourunderstand- have produced six national champions, and is the Guide to Pool & ing?Andbeyondwhatdegreeofcutdoesbackspinbarelytakeeffectat BilliardsatAbout.com,oneoftheworld’smostpopularwebsites.Heis all?Addthesespecificshotobservationstoyourmemorybanktoavoid theauthorofPictureYourselfShootingPool,availableatAmazon.com as a book/DVD combo and also as an electronic book. trapping your own play later.

14 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Banking With The Beard

The Infernal, Eternal, Two-to-One Bank Angle

3.Apass-overanglewherethecueballliesoutsidethenaturalangle and must pass over the object ball to cut it back to the natural angle. Refer to Diagram C. Diagram C

by Freddy Bentivegna The most basic calculation you can makeinbanksistobeabletodetermine theso-calledtwo-to-oneangle.Thisis alsoknownasdividingtheangleorbisectingtheangle. Allbankcalculations begin there.

Here are the three possible bank angles:

If merely calculating the correct two-to-one bank angle was the 1.Aperfect,straightin,two-to-oneratio, onlyprobleminmakingbanks,we’dbedonerightnow.Unfortunately, naturalangle.RefertoDiagramA.Whenabankislyingstraightinto eventhesimplebanksshownherewillonlyscorewhenplayedwith the proper diamond as shown, we call it a “natural” 2:1 bank. the right blend of english, speed, or cut angle.

Diagram A1 0

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On all pass-over banks the object ball picks up collision-induced spin* in the form of running english, and those type shots will add about a 1/4 diamond to the shot, allowing us to make the bank by shootingdirectlyintothenaturalanglebecauseofthehelping,orrunning, english.

4:2 natural bank

2:1 natural bank

On all cut banks the object ball picks up collision-induced spin* intheformofreverseenglish,andthosetypeofshotswilltendtorun about1/4diamondshortofthenaturalanglebecauseofthereverseenglish effect.

*Collision-induced spin can be described as the result of the cue ballswipingacrossthefaceoftheobjectballandturningitslightly intheoppositedirection,givingtheobjectballalittlesidespin.Ifyou canvisualizethecuetiphittingthesideofthecueballturningitand impartingenglishontoit,thinkofthesideofthecueballactinglikethe cuetipandhittingthesideoftheobjectballandturningitand,ineffect, applyingenglish.Naturallythecueballcannotputonasmuchenglish 2.Acutangle,wherethecueballliesinsidethenaturalangleandhasto as a cue tip, but enough is applied to affect the object ball when it cut the object ball back to the natural angle. Refer to Diagram B. contacts a cushion.

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3

4

Theillustrationshowsthesimpletwo-to-onebankingsystemthat isusedtocalculatemostone-cushionbankshots,commonlycalled dividingtheangleorbisectingtheangle.Banktracksarefiguredby dividingthedistancetothetargetpocketbytwoandthenvisuallyextending the bank lane or track through the diamond.

Diagram B

Shootingsoftlyorhard,withoutsideenglish,throughthebisecting diamondmakesmostcutorstraight-inbanks.Mediumspeediswhere wedevelopproblems.Conversely,mediumspeedistheoptimum speed of stroke to use on pass-over banks.

Chicago-born Freddy“The Beard”Bentivegna has been in themainstreamandtheunderbellyofpoolforover50years.In 2005,FreddywaselectedonthefirstballotintotheBankPool HallofFame.HehaswrittentwobooksandtwopopularDVDs onhisspecialty,bankpool.Heiswidelyregardedasoneofthe premier experts on the game and science of banks.

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 15

ollow F

The final match was a first: Finland versus France. To date,The neither ever wonstrong a World 14.1this billiards secondcountry semifinalshad featured another match-up, title, nor had Frenchman or not -woman ever claimed a time between Kima and Hofstatter. It did start out auspiciously for Kim, though, whenThe her cue ball flstarted ew off thewith table heavy on her first world title in pool. match favorite break and Hofstatter cleared to win the first game. But Kim was Immonen 97-ball run. eventually held able to focuswith betteraafter that, and herHe trademark aggressive styleCohen tokicked a devastating a matter lessKim than an hour. in as she won145-15 the next in three racks in of a row. fouled on a jump shot attempt on the 8 ball in the following game, and Hofstatter took that to draw within one, and then a carom into the But Cohen way backofwith a couple 9 brought the scoreclawed to even athis 3-all.

A couple tactical errors by small but helpful runs, Immonen made twoa more the Austria gave Kimand a two-rack lead again, and then long 2-9errors. combo put Kim on the players hill 6-3. A defensive battle over the 2with ball ImEventually both were very close, left Hofstatter in charge of the table, and though she missed the 6 monen 160-145.

Immonen hadwon another ball, Kimleading then missed a kick shot, and Hofstatter that rack.turn at the and it seemed he would close theofmatch Buttable, it was not enough, for Kim broke and ran out the fiout nal rack that match to win 7-4. still as expected, but at 181 he left himself with either

a jacked-up onagainst the 4Corr, balland orthough a kickthey shot Kim went cut on toshot the finals trad-on the ed the fiHe rst two games, Kim pulled to but a two-rack after 12ball. opted for the kickaway shot onlylead managed to a break and not then athreaten dry break by Corr.

She brokeCohen and ran came hit the and ballrunand the pocket. out again despite a dicey shot on the 9 ball, but with a missed 2 back and left“The himself a tough backwards ball in the ran next out. rack, Cohen she allowed Irish Invader” back into the shot match,on andthe Corr4grabbed by shot clearing thehit table cut ball asher thechance break but it to beautimake it 4-2 Kim. Though they split the next two racks, Corr took fully. This started his final run, and he closed the match advantage of poor position on the part of Kim to even the score at out 200-181 with a jubilant shout and st in the air.

5 apiece.

Kim had to push out on her next break, and fi Corr again

pressed her advantage and began running out, but an ugly miscue on the 5 ball handed game toundefeated Kim. Corr then broke and made the Cohen had that gone throughout a ball but had to play safe on the 1 ball. Kim made the tough entire pocketed 1300 balls.

Emotionlong shotevent but had toand two-rail kick at the 2 ball, which she clipped, hooking Corr behind the 6.

After getting out her jump cue, Corr went ally, Cohen squeaked out a few tears and sent the cue ball into the 2 but left it by the side pocket. Kim pocketed the ball and went two rails for position on the 4. With that accomplished, Kim successfully cleared the remaining balls to win 7-5, collecting her first WPBA title in two years.

to Danny Diliberto, Accu-Stats commentator and former billiards champion, and embraced him.

Allison FIsher

“I owe this world title and everything I know of straight pool to this man. He gave me all his knowledge, and I wouldn’t have won without 1st Ga Young Kim him,” said Cohen in his victory speech to the fans.

Results: 2nd 3rd

Karen Corr Allison Fisher Gerda Hofstatter 5th Xiaoting Pan Vivian Villareal Helena Thornfeldt Monica Webb 9th Line Kjorsvik 1st Stephan Cohen Tracie Hines 2nd Mika Immonen Jasmin Ouschan Kyoko Sone 3rd Johnny Archer Kim White Oliver Ortmann Angelina Paglia 5th Thorsten Hohmann Jeanette Lee Kelly Fisher Tony Robles 17th Iris Ranola Charlie Williams Megan Smith Jonathan Fulcher Yu Ram Cha Michell Monk Brittany Tournament brackets available online at Bryant Morgan Steinman www.InsidePOOLmag.com Kim Shaw Nicole Keeney

Results

Check out the Inside POOL online magazine!

-free online viewing -turning pages -zoom view -share it with a friend -printable

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18th Annual Allen Hopkins’

Super Billiards Expo

Van Boening Retakes Professional Players Title

A

by Sally P. Timko

fter suffering a close 9-7 loss Saturday night to Johnathan “Hennessee” Pinegar in the final four of the winners’ side of the Diamond Open 10-Ball Professional Players Championship, Shane Van Boening came back through the one-loss side to win it all. Van Boening took this title in 2008 over Shaun “Get Some” Wilkie, and this year his finals victim was Pinegar.

The professional players’ event is one of the main draws at Allen Hopkins’ Super Billiards Expo. With a full field of 64 of the top players in 10-ball, the tournament boasted a $20,000-added prize purse, with $10,000 for first place. A rule change spiced up this year’s event: Players had to call all shots, and if they missed, the incoming player had the option of shooting or passing back the shot.

Van Boening enjoyed an unchallenged run until he met up with Pinegar, having defeated Raj Vannala 9-2, Frankie Hernandez 9-4, Mike Davis 9-6, and Shawn Putnam 9-6. There he met the often-emotional Pinegar, who had just come off an intense hill-hill victory over Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer in which he had rallied from an early deficit to win 9-8. Continued on page 22

16 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

E-cue-nomics

by Fred Agnir

A

s the first decade of the new millennium neared its end, the wake of the world economy left nearly every industry in a state of global anxiety. Billiards and billiard accessories were no different. The public trade show that is the 2010 Super Billiards Expo quickly revealed the state of the cue-making world. And by most accounts, the cue makers, dealers, and buyers are making a statement: Business is good.

From the moment players first walk into the halls of the Valley Forge Convention Center in King of Prussia, PA, they immediate understand that for a fan of the game this show is the Mecca for pool cues. It’s a yearly gathering for some of the greatest cue builders to engage with their peers as well as show their latest creation to their customers, old and new. Trends for creating are presented and trends for buyers are instantly defined.

As every year, the two major cue makers associations displayed their craftsmanship as did other well-known independents. The American Cuemakers Association (ACA) once again held court in the ground floor. The International Cuemakers Association (ICA) dominated the expansive room below.

The ACA included long-time booth exhibitors like Jerry McWorter, Andy Gilbert, and Prather Cues, the recipient of the 2010 ACA Cue Maker of the Year honor. Relatively new show exhibitors Curtis Robertson from Abilene, TX, and Pete Tonkin from Willow Creek, CA, made the most of their time presenting their exquisite selections to the East Coast attendees who may otherwise have never seen their cues. Tonkin’s artistry was rewarded as his submission won the annual ACA Cue of the Year as voted on by the viewing public.

The ICA, led by Chris Hightower and Barry Cameron, provided the hundreds of players and fans an equally impressive display of cues from unadorned to ultra-fancy. Cameron’s cues were in such high demand that every cue he brought was purchased on the first day. The downside was that he no longer had a cue to display for the rest of the show. That’s a lesson for potential cue buyers: Come early and buy quickly. If you wait, “your” cue may have left in someone else’s hands.

Overall, the show was a great success for buyers and for sellers.

The cue makers, both custom and production, reported fantastic sales across the board from low end to the highest-priced and from plain Jane to delectably ornate. Additionally, particularly high-dollar and rare cue dealers like Mark Kulungian (Pool Table Magic) and Ken Kerner (HighEndCues) reported incredible cue sales at the show to truly illustrate just how well the cue-buying market currently is doing. The repeated “complaint” heard from cue exhibitors were that they wished they could have brought more cues.

So, if you think you are in the market for a cue, the annual Super Billiards Expo is for you. It is the only show of its magnitude for cue builders and buyers and is really the one show that presents the direction and trends of the cue industry. If you’re wondering how the industry has fared in the global economy, indications from the Super Billiards Expo point to a cue industry that is alive and well.

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 17

TAP League’s 14th

Rally in the Valley

by InsidePOOL Staff

A

On Friday the sold-out, 144-team event kicked off at 8 a.m. and ran through Sunday. TAP’s Dream Team event is a round robin event that goes to single elimination of Elite, Championship, and Best of the Rest and guarantees four rounds of play.

On March 17, licensees and players alike started to arrive to the Valley Forge Convention Center. Registration was offered to the players for the first time that evening, along with a social gathering at Fox and Hound for the licensees to get acquainted.

Over $100,000 in total prizes were given out at the event. Players enjoyed 100% payback in the singles event, open Diamond tables, and the competition of players throughout the USA and Canada. As with all Rally events, friendships were always formed because of the common love of the game with new people.

fter 14 years of an event that shows continued growth, increasing participation numbers, and improvements that players recognize were done to better serve them, the TAP League and its growing number of licensees returned home from Valley Forge, PA, on a positive roll.

Licensees had their annual national meeting March 18 to go over training modules throughout the day lead by TAP founder, owner, and CEO Loyd Schonter. In the last hour new licensees (of which TAP has over 15) spent time solely with Mr. Schonter to be welcomed as part of the TAP family and have one-on-one time with him. New licensees, UPSTATE TAP, Chris Ruegsegger, and April Bradley from South Carolina were awarded plaques for starting up with over 50 new teams in their first month of operation. At TAP, licensees are encouraged to share experiences and ideas and work together to provide the best sanctioned amateur league experience to the players. Positive feedback from several licensees was received on the format, structure, and educational information provided to them at this annual meeting.

Thursday evening saw the beginning of the single competition. This year TAP brought back the round robin format and added a “best of the rest” so that all singles participants got four rounds of play guaranteed.

As always, the entry of all score sheets for team and singles events ensures an overall solid handicap based on player performance week to week and at National competitions. New Pool Net features were used for the planning of the event, which took manual processes and made them automated, efficiently and effectively streamlining preparations. Also available for the first time, a new qualification report and the release of automated flagging report features helped the director and his staff run the event.

Players were appreciative of the communication efforts and improvements to registration, proving once again TAP listens to their players and is continually using their resources and efforts to constantly improve based on player feedback.

Once again, the Predator Group was an event sponsor, providing items from their Predator and Poison lines to all TAP players, Poison jump cues to each player on the Elite Bracket Dream Team and to each singles handicap winner, and various cues for the player prize giveaway.

Omega Billiards sponsored badges and provided a 10% discount for all players and licensees in attendance at the event. Additional sponsors and advertisers included Fox and Hound, Crown Cues, Mickey’s Cues and Brews, and Diamond Tables.

“Mulligans.” Front row left to right: Brian McGee, Dennis Dudgeon, Kurt Wanyek, Dave Kriak, Larry Holschuh. Back row left to right: Greg Kencson, Bryan Kasper, and Karl Abend.

Congratulations to the 2010 TAP Rally in the Valley Elite Board Champions: “Mulligans.” Front row left to right: Brian McGee, Dennis Dudgeon, Kurt Wanyek, Dave Kriak, Larry Holschuh. Back row left to right: Greg Kencson, Bryan Kasper and Karl Abend Congratulations to the 2010 TAP Rally in the Valley Championship Board Winners: “Fat Guy Assassins.” Back row left to right: Bert Csizek, Ron Perry, Winston Davis, Tim Hyatt, John Walsh. Front row left to right: Jack Albainy, Justin Yankowski and Bill Varkonyl.

Congratulations to the 2010 TAP Rally in the Valley Best of the Rest Board Winners: “All or Nothing 1.”

Congratulations to Singles Championship Winners: Butch Weimer, 7 Handicap; Nick Comstock, 6 Handicap; Travis Babcock, 5 Handicap; Greg Campbell, 4 Handicap; Laura Mallery, 3 Handicap.

“Fat Guy Assassins.” Back row left to right: Bert Csizek, Ron Perry, Winston Davis, Tim Hyatt, John Walsh. Front row left to right: Jack Albainy, Justin Yankowski, and Bill Varkonyl.

18 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

A complete list of team and singles winners will be posted on tapleague.com and on TAP Facebook.

Williams Sweeps

Super Billiards Expo 14.1 Challenge

by Charles Eames

F

rom a late-night entry into the Super Billiards Expo 14.1 Challenge, Charlie Williams knocked Germany's Thorsten Hohmann out of the running with incredible play surpassing over one hundred players to earn his spot in the final eight. Williams notched wins over Corey Deuel in the first round, Mike Davis, in the semifinals, and then a huge win over straight pool juggernaut John Schmidt to take the finals.

The format was a simple one: Players took ball in hand and set up a break shot of their choosing. They shot until they missed or fouled, and the score was counted. This was done five times, and the five scores were tabulated. The top eight players went to a single-elimination tournament Sunday to compete for the title. All matches in the tournament stage were races to 100, including the finals.

The top eight qualifying players with their preliminary scores to make the final tournament were: 271 1. John Schmidt: 2. Bobby Chamberlain: 209 201 3. Mike Davis: 181 4. Charlie Williams: 178 5. Dave Daya: 157 6. Bob Maidof: 151 7. Corey Deuel: 132 8. Steve Lipsky: The Diamond 9-foot tables that were used in the challenge had some tough pockets that were unforgiving. But Schmidt seemed to have no problem during his challenge high run of a whopping 204.

The only other player to have a run over 100 was Chamberlain with 110. Other high runs included Lipsky’s 85, and Daya and Davis both had runs in the 70s.

First-round action saw Williams take down Deuel, Schmidt edge

by Daya, Davis sneak past Chamberlain, and Lipsky with a convincing win over Maidof. In the semifinals it was all Williams once again with his win over Davis, while Schmidt ended the run of Lipsky. In the finals, straight pool dynamo Schmidt proved to be no match for Williams, as Williams went on a rampage early on and won 100-35.

The event is slated to be even bigger next year, with more tables and the addition of a new program called the “14.1 For Everyone Initiative” being implemented by tournament director Charles Eames. This will involve a junior’s event involving players 16 and under being coached through their racks by professional players and exposing a new generation of players to the game of 14.1 continuous straight pool. “We have some very big irons in the fire, and we are quite hopeful for next year,” Eames said.

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 19

KwikFire Burns Invitational Field

Super Billiards Expo Women’s Title Goes to Fisher

by Ricky Bryant

K

elly “KwikFire” Fisher was like a flash fire burning her way through the 16-woman field at the 2010 Super Billiards Expo Pro Women’s Invitational 10-Ball Pro Players Shootout. Fisher found herself faced with 18-year-old Brittany Bryant in the finals and was able to claim the title convincingly.

The event was impromptu, based on the availability of women players onsite at the Expo. The event was single elimination, call shot 10-ball. There were three special rules of interest. First, the 10 on the break didn’t count if the 10 ball went into either of the two corner pockets at the foot of the table. If made in the bottom two pockets, the 10 was spotted and the player kept shooting if there had been no foul. Second, all shots were called. After a miss on a called shot the incoming player had the option to pass the shot back. Third, if a ball falls on a safety, the incoming player had the option to pass the shot back. The break was rotating. Other rules were standard for 10-ball, including the three-foul rule.

Fisher breezed through her first-round match against Val Finnie 9-1, while Bryant advanced over Megan Smith 9-5. The other players to advance to the second round were Angel Paglia, Morgan Steinman, Jennifer Barretta, Amy Chen, Sarah Rousey, and Liz Ford. The second round would prove to be Fisher’s toughest of the day, as she went up against Jennifer “9MM” Barretta. Though Barretta mounted a late comeback, Fisher took her time and won the match 9-4. Bryant had a closer match with Liz Ford that she ended up taking 9-7.

Rousey dominated Chen, eliminating her 9-3, while Paglia ousted Steinman 9-4.

The second round was the last for Saturday night, with the semifinals and finals set for Sunday. Fisher was still on fire Sunday, and she whipped through Paglia in the semifinals by an astounding 9-1 score. The other semifinal match looked to be all Rousey with a four-rack lead at one point, but Bryant caught another gear to tie the match at hill-hill. Rousey received no love from the table, and Bryant closed out the match 9-8 to meet Fisher in the finals.

The final match got a late start because of Bryant’s double-hill duel against Rousey. Fisher had been waiting in the wings, but the wait didn’t cool off “KwikFire.” Bryant was only able to notch three games before Fisher arrived in the winner’s circle with a 9-3 victory.

20 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 5th

Kelly Fisher Brittany Bryant Sarah Rousey Angelina Paglia Morgan Steinman Jennifer Barretta Amy Chen Liz Ford

$2,500 $1,500 $1,000 $500

Nikolaidas

Nicks Artistic Pool Masters Championship

by Jason Lynch

O

ne of the most fan-friendly events of the Super Billiards Expo is the Artistic Pool Masters Championships. This year 25 players brought their finest tricks with them to the show, and it was Nick Nikolaidas who took home the title.

At the end of four playoff rounds, there were twelve contestants moving on to the playoffs. The first match was a nail-biter between Jason Lynch and Gilbert Olsen that came down to the last shot. Lynch moved on to face Nikolaidas, runner-up at last year’s event.

Gene La Viness, Jim Barnard, Stacy Mendrick

In another playoff match, the competition between Tom Kinzel and Dave Nangle was pretty much one-sided with Nangle taking control early and moving on to face friend Gabriel Visiou in the next round.

The third match of this round saw Steve “Triple C” Markle facing Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman. Markle started slow and came on late, but in the end Rossman’s experience and play outdistanced the young gun.

The last match in the first round of the playoffs saw Paul “Book ‘Em” Danno and Abram Diaz face off, with Danno advancing to face defending Masters champion Andy “The Magic Man” Segal.

The next round saw Nikolaidas best Lynch by a comfortable margin, Segal moving on after defeating Danno, Rossman playing with newfound determination and ousting Jamey Gray, and Visiou eliminating longtime friend Nangle.

Dave Nangle, Gilbert Olsen, Jamey Gray, Andy Segal, Bruce Barthelette

With only four players remaining in the competition, Segal faced off with Visiou in a match that saw some highs and lows, ending with Segal moving on to the finals for an unprecedented four out of the last five years. The other match showcased Nikolaidas and Rossman trading the shots filled with the precision and Nick Nikolaidas 1st unyielding tenacity they are known 2nd Andy Segal for. Nikolaidas bested Rossman to Gabriel Visiou 3rd move on to the finals.

Tom Rossman 4th Jamey Gray 5th Last year’s event saw the same two David Nangle 6th competitors facing each other in the Paul Danno 7th finals. The crowd was expecting a Jason Lynch 8th match to be remembered, and that is Gil Olsen 9th exactly what was delivered. Segal and 10th Abraham Diaz Nikolaidas went shot for shot, and 11th Steve Markle when the smoke finally cleared, 12th Tom Kinzel Nikolaidas was the 2010 Artistic Pool Masters champion.

Results:

Nick Nikolaidas, Allen Hopkins, Andy Segal May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 21

Van Boening Retakes Professional Players Title

continued from page 16 Pinegar took the lead in the match against “The South Dakota Kid,” but Van Boening knotted the score at 5 apiece and then moved ahead 7-5. However, Pinegar countered, taking the next two racks and then the next two again for the 9-7 win.

Johnathan “Hennessee” Pinegar defeated Van Boening once in this event but couldn’t quite pull it off the second time.

Advancing to the hot seat match, Pinegar then faced Corey Deuel, who had just sent Thorsten Hohmann west 9-5. It was fairly even at the beginning, but at 4-2 Pinegar, Deuel had an open table and scratched. Pinegar took full advantage and surged ahead, reaching a 7-3 lead. It was Deuel’s break, and he scratched, leaving a dead 3-10 combo. Pinegar coolly took ball in hand and ran out to the combo to win 9-3.

His defeat on the winners’ side must have motivated Van Boening, for he went on Saturday evening to whitewash Northeast terror Dennis Hatch, sending the Mosconi Cup VIP home in fifth place. Sunday morning Van Boening went up against former world 9-ball champion Hohmann.

In an interview after the event, Van Boening was asked at what point in the tournament he felt he was going to win. He answered, “It was the point where I beat Thorsten.

When I got the last game and I won, I figured I might win then. I had been worried about Thorsten. He breaks good, he’s a tough player.”

Hohmann hung with the 2007 Player of the Year at the start of the match, but Van Boening reached a two-game lead to go up 5-3 in the race to 9. However, Hohmann was able to even the score at 5-all and then 6-all. A safety battle over the 8 ball in the next rack saw Hohmann thin it in beautifully, and then a break and run put the German on the hill 8-6. Another couple of safety exchanges saw Van Boening join Hohmann on the hill.

In the final rack, Van Boening pocketed the 10 ball on the break. It did not count as a win, but he was able to continue shooting. He proceeded to run out and win the match 9-8.

“In ten ball, you really gotta break ‘em hard,” Van Boening explained. “It’s a different game. There’s more strategy, you gotta control the cue ball more, it takes a lot of time to get that down.”

The bout with Hohmann was Van Boening’s closest of the day. He went on to challenge Deuel in the semifinals. Deuel and Van Boening split the first four racks, but it wasn’t long before it became apparent that Deuel was having an off day, while Van Boening was unstoppable. Several errors by Deuel added to Van Boening’s score, and several break and run-outs did as well. When Deuel came up empty on his break in the final rack, it was all over. Van Boening had a wide-open table and negotiated through it easily, winning 9-4.

The finals comprised an extended single race to 13, with Van Boening’s prior loss erased. Pinegar jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a quick 2-10 combo in the first and a missed 8 ball by Van Boening in the second. But Van Boening not only drew even, he won six racks in a row to take a commanding 6-2 lead, charging Pinegar for every small mistake. With his massive break in full effect, Van Boening was an unstoppable force, and though Pinegar managed to gather another few racks to put under his belt, with the alternate-break format, the debt he accrued was almost insurmountable.

At 8-5 in Van Boening’s favor, Pinegar scratched on the 2 ball, and Van Boening took that rack and then the next when Pinegar missed the 2 ball. Now in full stride, Van Boening broke and ran the next to make it 11-5. Pinegar had the break next but came up dry.

It was his last time at the table. Van Boening cleared that table to reach the hill and then, with his break splitting the rack wide open, he dropped the 1 ball on his final break and ran out to win 13-5.

McDermott Cue Manufacturing, Inc., sponsored the live stream that was provided

by InsidePOOL Magazine. To view videos from this event and others, please visit InsidePOOLmag.com.

22 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

A winner of this event in 2007, Corey Deuel was flummoxed by Van Boening in the semifinals this year.

The quarterfinal match with former world champion Thorsten Hohmann was the one Van Boening recalled as his toughest of the tournament.

Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th

13th

17th

Shane Van Boening Johnathan Pinegar Corey Deuel Thorsten Hohmann Shawn Putnam Dennis Hatch Mike Davis Rodney Morris Al Lapena Earl Strickland Johnny Archer Mike Dechaine Marlon Manalo Ryan McCreesh Joey Testa Shaun Wilkie Chris Bartram James Baraks Jason Klatt Ronnie Wiseman Charlie Williams Hunter Lombardo Ralph Eckert Robb Saez

$10,000 $5,000 $4,000 $3,000 $2,500 $2,000 $1,700

$1,400

$1,200

Super Billiards Expo

Results

Pro-Am Players Championship Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 5th

9th

Matt Krah Oscar Dominguez Jorge Rodriguez Shane Winters David Grau Tommy Najar Robb Saez Brandon Shuff Manuel Chau Michael DeLawder Bill Dunsmore Ryan McCreesh Shannon Murphy Tony Robles Scott Tollefson Ronnie Wiseman

$2,000 $1,400 $900 $595

$300

Women’s Amateur Players Championship Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 5th

9th

Open Amateur Players Championship Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 5th

9th

17th

Matt Clatterbuck Ron Frank Jr. Marc Vidal Tom D’Alfonso Joseph Dupois Dave Krenzel Tom McCluskey Nelson Oliveira Scott Freeman Michael Gasper Johnny Griffin Chris Loar Kenneth Patrick Ray Houston Rodriguez Derek Schwager Brandon Sluzalis Dee Adkins Brendan Crockett Joe DiPietro Chris Futrell Jerry Hager Jeff Kerr Tony Long Joshua McCauley Alex Olinger William Pinion III Sean Sporleder Don Steele Mhet Vergara KC Wagman Richard Winpigler Michael Wong

$5,000 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000

$800

$1,800 $1,000 $750 $500

$300

Second Chance Scramble Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 5th

9th

Seniors’ Amateur Players Championship Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 5th

$595

Briana Miller Grace Nakamura Liz Lovely Erin McManus Teruko Cucculelli Christina Drexel Neslihan Gurel Sharon O’Hanlon Borana Andoni Abiana Chaklos Jessica Cote Dana Gilmore Jacqueline Herrera Christine Lott Marie Rethorn Cheryl Squire

9th

Larry Price Ezekial Espinoza Kenneth Brisbon T. Earl Herring Dennis Bolella Dinko Busanich William Emmett Ike Runnels Dennis Besch Michael Boyer Dave Fernandez Mike Katsuras John Maki Patrick O’Neil Steve Shaw Larry Szwaczkowski

$3,000 $1,500 $1,000

Sklyer Woodward Chris Bruner Jeremy Gibson Kyle Ray

$1,000 $600 $400 $300

$175

$700

$500

Women’s Second Chance Scramble Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 5th

Juniors’ Players Championship 17 and Under Results: 1st 2nd 3rd

Robert Krull Daniel Mulhollen Paul Adolini Geoffrey Montgomery Jim DeNegris Nicholas Jankowski Ryan Jones Kirk Totten Curtis Branker Chuck Fought Jr. Dave Gavrish Andrew Gibson Mark Hadley Greg LaFlar Chris Ruggerio Greg Stahora

$500

Diana Minor Shana Lewis Lenore Donovan Aubrey James Theresa Intelisano Angeliki Morfessi Debra Nicoll Kim Smith

$600 $400 $100 $50

Juniors’ Players Championship 12 and Under Results: 1st Ethan Madara $500 Scholarship 2nd Taylor Reynolds Ray Rodriguez Ronald Sabine May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 23

Super Billiards Expo

Videos Artistic Pool Masters Pool Trick Shots Part 3 Artistic Pool Masters Pool Trick Shots Part 2 Tom Rossman At the Artistic Pool Masters Joey Testa vs Gabe Owen at the Super Billiards Expo Steve Markle at the Artistic Pool Masters Artistic World Masters at the Super Billiards Expo 4 Artistic Pool Masters at the Super Billiards Expo Steve Markle and Gil Olsen Rodney Morris vs Ryan McCreesh at the Super Billiards Expo Mika Immonen vs Ralf Eckert at the Super Billiards Expo Frankie Hernandez vs Shane Van Boening at the Super Billiards Expo Dennis Hatch vs George Sansouci at the Super Billiards Expo 2 Dennis Hatch vs George Sansouci at the Super Billiards Expo Oscar Dominguez vs Marlon Manalo at the Super Billiards Expo Corey Deuel vs Charlie Williams at the Super Billiards Expo Mike Dechaine vs Ralf Eckert at the Super Billiards Expo Corey Deuel vs Dennis Hatch at the Super Billiards Expo Danny Basavich v Mika Immonen at the Super Billiards Expo John Schmidt v Earl Strickland at Super Billiards Expo

Earl Strickland at Super Billiards Expo Diamond 10-Ball Part 2 Earl Strickland at Super Billiards Expo Diamond 10-Ball Corey Deuel Practicing at the 2010 Super Billiards Expo Super Billiards Expo Artistic Pool Masters Championship Borana Andoni at the 2010 Super Billiards Expo Whats in the Case?-Jarrod Clowery- Super Billiards Expo 2010 Mike Davis v Al Lapena Part 1 Mike Davis v Al Lapena Part 2 Corey Deuel v Johnathan Pinegar Thorsten Hohmann vs Shane Van Boening Part 1 Thorsten Hohmann vs Shane Van Boening Corey Deuel vs Shane Van Boening Super Billiards Expo Finals Part 1 Super Billiards Expo Finals Part 2 Caroline Pao Whats in the Case?

Leveling a Pool Table by Paul Smith Quick-Clean Pool Table Cleaner with David Hodges Mike Dechaine Extended Interview with Bloopers Mike Dechaine Interview Shane Van Boening Wins Super Billiards Expo Allen Hopkins Interview Super Billiards Expo John Scmhidt v Earl Strickland at the Super Billiards Expo Jamie Moody Trick Shots

Atta Boy!

Karl Boyes Claims WPA World 8-Ball Championships

G

by InsidePOOL Staff

reat Britain’s Karl Boyes survived a hill-hill nail-biter against Niels Feijen to become the newest world 8-ball champion with his victory at the Etisalat WPA World 8-Ball Championships. Held April 5-10 at the Fujairah Tennis Club in Fujairah, UAE, the event brought in an international 64player field and offered a stunning $17,000 for first place.

Eight groups of eight players met to play double-elimination races to 8 until only two players from each were left on both the winners’ and the one-loss side. The 16 winners’ side players formed a single-elimination bracket, seeded according to their performances, while the 16 on the one-loss side were drawn randomly into the bracket.

Karl Boyes

Boyes went through the first phase of the tournament with no troubles. His first match was against local player Saeed Al Mutawe, and he bested him 8-5. In the second round he faced Won Sik Ham of Korea and sent him to the one-loss side 8-3. The undefeated Brit then went on to the elimination round of 32.

Feijen also went undefeated through the initial phase of the event, defeating first Amin Fekry 8-5 and then Shaker Wahdan 8-5 to reach the elimination round.

The first upset of the event saw France’s Vincent Facquet upend world number one Mika Immonen 8-6. Once on the west side of the bracket, Immonen squeaked past Mohammed Hosani 8-7 to survive to play another day. But his hopes of winning another world title were crushed when Ruslan Chinakov of Russia ousted him by a strong 10-5.

Chinakov continued on his winning streak, eliminating Japan’s Yukio Akakariyama 10-7 to reach the final eight. His next match was against Jeff De Luna of the Philippines, who had just sent home fellow countryman Lee Van Corteza 10-2.

Another Pinoy player, Vicencio Tanio, made it to the final eight, having defeated Jalal Al Saresi of Jordan 10-6 and Ronnie Alcano of the Philippines 10-4.

Tanio faced off against Boyes, who was flourishing with victories over Japan’s Masaki Tanaka 10-3 and France’s Stephan Cohen 10-6.

After a fairly easy match with Basher Hussain that he won 10-5, Feijen had a close match with Ralf “The Surgeon” Souquet that he barely escaped 10-9.

Meeting Feijen in the final eight was Germany’s Andreas Roschkowsky, who had earlier defeated Mateusz Sniegock of Poland 10-7 and Sweden’s Marcus Chamat 10-6.

Great Britain was well-represented by not only Boyes but Darren Appleton in the final eight. Appleton started off the elimination round with a 10-4 defeat of

24 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Niels Feijen

Ruslan Chinakov

Antonio Gabica

Canada’s John Morra and then bested Ko Pin Yi of Taipei 10-8. Final Filipino Joven Alba matched up with Appleton, having ousted fellow countrymen Oliver Medinilla 10-3 and then Antonio Gabica 10-7.

Of the final four matches, three of them made the most of the early going. Only 45 minutes into the round Chinakhov led De Luna 5-1, Boyes enjoyed the same lead over Tanio, and Appleton had a 4-1 gap over Alba. Feijen and Roschkowsky were a bit more deliberate, as Feijen led their match 3-2 at that point.

None of the leaders faltered. Chinakov and Boyes both won their matches by score lines of 10-5, Appleton squeaked past Alba 10-8, and Feijen gradually widened the gap between himself and Roschkowsky until he sank the final 10 ball to win 10-6.

The semifinal rounds saw Chinakhov facing Boyes, while Appleton squared off against Feijen. Early leads were again the order of the day as Boyes jumped out to a 6-1 lead over Chinakhov and Feijen led 5-1 over Appleton. In a winnerbreaks format such as this huge comebacks are possible but first you have to win and gain control of the table. Our leaders were not giving up that control.

For Chinakhov, the semifinal round was was mostly an evening spent as a spectator. Boyes broke and ran the balls time and again, winding up putting on a completely dominating display of 8-ball and winning their match 10-2.

Feijen dominated his match as well. Appleton did his best to make a match of it when, at 9-4, Feijen suffered a dry break. Appleton took that rack to draw within four games and then three. But the next break left him in difficult position, and his first shot failed him, leaving the opportunity for Feijen. He ran the tablet to win the match 10-6 and grab the second chair in the finals.

The final match was a run-out clinic. Boyes took the first rack after trading innings with Feijen, but then Boyes broke and ran three racks to take the lead 4-0 in the race to 13. Feijen took advantage of a dry break by Boyes and grabbed two racks to get on the board, but his own empty break put Boyes up 6-2. They traded the next two games, and then two more break and run-outs for Boyes gave the Brit a seemingly insurmountable 9-3 lead.

But Feijen dug deep and managed to turn the match around, allowing Boyes two games while he took six for himself. Now down only 11-9, the Dutch player broke dry. Boyes cleared the table to reach the hill but came up empty on his next break, and Feijen ran out. Feijen got another game when Boyes gave him ball in hand, and then Feijen negotiated through a very difficult rack next to make it a hill-hill encounter. His final break failed him again, and Feijen turned the wide-open table over to Boyes, who calmly cleared the table and followed that up with a fist pump as he became a new world champion.

Jeff De Luna

Results: 1st 2nd 3rd

Karl Boyes Niels Feijen Ruslan Chinakov Darren Appleton 5th Jeff De Luna Vicencio Tanio Andreas Roschkowski Joven Alba 9th Antonio Gabica Ko Pin Yi Marcus Chamat Ralf Souquet Ronnie Alcano Lee Van Corteza Stephan Cohen Yukio Akakariyama 17th Ricky Yang Dennis Orcollo Mika Immonen Francis Crevier Scott Higgins Jalal Al Saresi Masaki Tanaka Pei Wei Chang Huidji See Basher Hussain Mateusz Sniegock Shane Van Boening Raymond Faraon John Morra Marlon Manalo Oliver Medinilla

$17,000 $12,000 $7,000 $3,750

$2,250

$1,000

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 25

Moore

Scores Seminole Pro Tour Stop

by InsidePOOL Staff

S

On the one-loss side, “Iron Mike” Davis, having suffered a first-round loss to Livrago, eliminated Archer in the next round and then went on to fight through another three opponents to make it back to Sunday’s matches. He then ousted Shawn Putnam, Calderone, and Kennedy all by 8-4 scores. However, he himself was sent home in fifth place by Crosby, who won their match 8-4.

teve “The Blade” Moore came back from a late defeat by Keith Bennett in the hot seat match to take the Seminole Pro Tour’s April 10-11 stop, collecting $3,000 for first place. The event was hosted by Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville, FL, and attracted 53 pros to vie for a piece of the prize fund.

To survive undefeated to Sunday’s rounds, Moore enjoyed a first-round bye and then sent both Jose Del Rio and David Grossman to the west side of the chart. Bennett was having a great event as well, knocking off Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer in the first round and then going on to best Bobby Livrago and Tommy Kennedy.

Owen rebounded from his loss in the final four on the winners’ side and delivered John Rouse a fifth-place finish 8-4. In the quarterfinal match, Owen and Crosby went head to head, and it was Crosby who triumphed with an 8-3 score. Moore shook off his earlier loss to Bennett and sent Crosby home in third place 8-4 to advance to the finals where Bennett was waiting. In this rematch, the players traded rack for rack relentlessly, until finally Moore was the only player left standing as he won 9-8.

Steve Moore

In Sunday’s first match, Moore sent Jeff Crawford to the left side 8-4 and went on to face Gabe “The Babe” Owen, fresh off an 8-2 victory over Jerry Calderone. It was a close call, but Moore edged out Owen 8-6 to advance to the hot seat match.

Bennett had a narrow 8-6 Keith Bennett victory over Javier Chirino to start out his Sunday and then had an 8-4 win over Tony “The Sniper” Crosby, who had just bested John Rouse 8-6. Bennett dominated the hot seat match as Moore foundered, and Bennett ended up the 8-3 victor.

26 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th

13th

Steve Moore Keith Bennett Tony Crosby Gabe Owen John Rouse Mike Davis Tommy Kennedy Hunter Lombardo Jerry Calderone Jeff Crawford Javier Chirino Corey Deuel Shawn Putnam James Roberts Ralph Eckert Charlie Williams

$3,000 $2,000 $1,500 $1,200 $950 $600 $400

$300

Stripes

Official Sharking

by Ken Shuman

When I began this column a few 9. years ago, one of my main goals was to help you learn and understand the rules we play by. In doing so, we’ve discussed things like the intent of the rules, their application, how rules are made, why certain rules exist, and similar issues. We’ve 10. also discussed how having a sound rules knowledge can work to your advantage.

With that in mind, I now invite you to take the inaugural Stripes Rules Challenge. Hopefully you’ll have some fun while you continue to learn.

When playing 8-ball, you lose the game if you: a. make the 8 ball on the break and scratch b. jump the 8 ball off the table on the break c. fail to contact the 8 ball when it is your only ball left d. none of the above When playing banks, if you have cue ball in hand behind the line and all remaining object balls are also behind the line: a. the lowest numbered ball is spotted b. the highest numbered ball is spotted c. the ball closest to the head string is spotted d. your opponent decides which ball is spotted

11. When playing 10-ball, if you call “safety” but accidentally pocket the legal object ball: a. you continue to shoot b. it is a foul There are six true/false and six multiple choice questions. Some c. your opponent can shoot or make you shoot again of the multiple choice questions may have more than one correct d. the ball spots and your opponent gets ball in hand behind answer. You’ll find the answer key at the end of the article, so be sure the line to cover the last paragraph before you start. If you want to talk about any of the rules after taking the challenge, send me an e-mail. Good 12. When playing straight pool, if the fifteenth ball and the cue ball luck! are both in the rack, what happens? a. Cue ball on the head spot, fifteenth ball on the center spot 1. True or False: When playing 8-ball or 9-ball, time-outs are only b. Cue ball on the center spot; fifteenth ball on the head spot allowed between games. c. Cue ball in the kitchen; fifteenth ball on the center spot d. Cue ball in the kitchen; fifteenth ball on the foot spot 2. True or False: For the opening break shot in straight pool, the 1 ball and 5 ball must be racked in the corners of the triangle.

Answer Key (answers come from either Billiards: The Official Rules 3. True or False: You can have a stalemate game in 9-ball. and Records or the WPBA website) All questions are based upon the current World Standardized Rules (WSR).

4.

True or False: There is no minimum cue weight or maximum tip width.

5.

True or False: In straight pool, after three consecutive fouls, the incoming player has the option to shoot from that position or require their opponent to shoot under the requirements of the opening break.

6.

True or False: You may call the 10 ball on the break shot.

7.

When playing “cue ball fouls only,” an accidentally moved object ball would still result in a foul if: a. it falls into a pocket b. it touches another ball c. any ball passes through the area originally occupied by the moved ball d. none of the above

8.

When playing one-pocket, a legal opening break shot requires: a. two object balls to contact a cushion b. one object ball and the cue ball to contact a cushion c. a ball to be pocketed in the breaker’s pocket d. one object ball to contact a cushion

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

True (instructions for referees; pg. 26) False (no longer required as of 1/1/08) True (rules 1.12 and 2.9) False (maximum tip width is 14mm; see cue specs pg. 5) False (rule 4.11; no option to shoot from position) False (per WPA website; 10-ball rules as of 1/1/09) B and C (instructions for referees; pg. 27) D and D (one pocket rules; pg. 57) D (rule 3.8; pg.37 ) C (bank pool rules, pg. 64 #5) C (per WPA website; 10-ball rule 9.6) D (rule 4.8b; pg.39)

Ken Shuman of Sacramento, CA, is one of the top professional referees and tournament directors in the country. He is the referee instructor for the BCA Pool League’s national referee school and is considered by his peers to be an expert on the rules of play. Ken has served as head referee for the International Pool Tour and currently directs or co-directs several major events, including the Reno Open, the Derby City Classic, and the U.S. Bar Table and U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships. Contact him at shucue@yahoo.com.

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 27

Industry News Planet Pool Rebounds With New Triniti Tour After a short hiatus last year, Planet Pool, the promoters that brought you the Tiger Pool Tour, are back in the game with a new look and a new format that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. When asked about the hiatus tour owner Cecilia Strain commented, “The rooms were struggling through the recession, the players weren’t making back enough money to offset their costs for coming to events, and the sponsors had seen a decline in sales. Taking the year off was the responsible thing to do, and it gave us the opportunity to regroup and put together what we think will truly be a winning combination for everyone involved.”

Planet Pool is combining its efforts with a new title sponsor, Allen Hopkins and his new cue line, Triniti Cues, as well as Allen Hopkins Jr., the marketing and design force. The tour will be hosting an array of events,

beginning with the Triniti Turbo 9-ball events. The new format for the Triniti Turbo event is similar to the style of a survivor-format poker tournament. One out of every eight players cashes in the event, and if a player wins three matches, he wins cash. The Turbo events are fast and economical and allow for a larger field size. Each event will be a one-day event with a $45 entry fee (no additional membership fees), and one in eight players will leave the same day with $320 in cash. Once the field is down to the final bracket, a second chance event will begin with a $35 entry fee. One out of eight players from the second chance event walks away with $240.

The Turbo events format will be best of three sets, with each set being a race to 3, with an alternating break.

Cecilia Strain went on to comment about this exciting change in format for Planet Pool by saying, “I’ve worked with Allen at the Super Billiards Expo for the last couple of years. He came to me before the Expo with the idea for this new format and asked that I direct the event as a warm-up event. It was a phenomenal idea. Even though we only expected a small field for this first time event, we ended up with 296 players. It seemed like the perfect solution to so many issues. With the players’ reaction to this new format being greater than expected, it sparked something in me. Allen has always strived to do more for the billiards industry, and with this concept and my tour he could achieve that. Several conversations later, the idea just took off.”

The tour won’t be completely leaving the original two-day, double-elimination format. Aside from the Triniti Turbo events, approximately every two to three months the tour will be holding a “Super Triniti” tournament, the first of which will be a 64-player, $10,000-guaranteed prize pool event. Players who are participating in any of the turbo events will have the opportunity to sign up for the larger 64-player double-elimination event.

Play Play Video Video

When asked about the collaborative effort, Allen Hopkins replied, “The poker world has seen a huge success with the survivor format, and it’s just clear to me that the pool world can take a few lessons from their playbook. This is the kind of event that will allow players to win money week to week instead of just barely breaking even. Ceci has always been extremely professional and is appreciated by the players for her directing capabilities. We’re both big fans of pool and poker—it just seems like a perfect opportunity for billiards.”

The first two tour events will be hosted on June 12 and June 13 at Orange Ball Billiards in Rockville, MD. The first Super Triniti event will also be hosted at Orange Ball Billiards in late September. For more details about the formats, host opportunities, sponsorship opportunities, and the schedule, please visit www.trinititour.com or www.pooltour.com.

28 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

one pg ad

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Industry News Billiard Education Foundation Attends Grand Opening of the Challenger Learning Center of New Mexico The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) was honored to be part of the grand opening of the Challenger Learning Center held at the Unser Discovery Campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 6, 2010.

The BEF made the 9 ball on the break when Al and Susan Unser invited billiards to be a part of their benefit celebration to launch their newest addition to the Unser Discovery Campus, the Challenger Learning Center. The billiard festivities included challenge matches with WPBA touring pros and BEF Director of Program Development Dawn Hopkins and Executive Director Laura Smith. Also in attendance to enjoy the gala was 2009 New Mexico Top CEO, small business category, and BEF President Tom Riccobene.

Attendees of the grand opening were encouraged to bid on various items including a Valley billiard table donated by Zabel Vending & Amusement of Albuquerque, draped with cloth donated by Simonis. Donations from the Challenger Learning Center to benefit the BEF totaled over $6,000. The Valley table was ultimately placed at the Learning Community Charter School to expand their “Pool In School” program.

Tiger Products Sponsors Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour Tommy and Denise Kennedy are proud to welcome Tiger Products of Burbank, CA, as their new title sponsor. Tony Kalamdaryan, president of Tiger Products, and Tommy “TK” Kennedy have been working together on the tour details for some time and have come to a mutual agreement on how Tiger Products can help the Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour become a driving force on the regional circuit once again.

Kennedy and Tiger are planning between 10 and 15 events for the season. All Tiger Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour events will consist of open and amateur/semi-pro events, venue permitting. The different venues will dictate what format the Tiger Tour will use. The added money will be anywhere from $500-$1,000 added per event. The Tiger Tour will end the season with more added money than on their regular tour stops.

30 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Tiger Products are made in the USA and is the manufacturer of Sniper, Everest laminated cue tips, the Tiger Paw cue holder, the Corona leather bridge head, and many other products. Tiger also carries the Stack Leather Wrap and several varieties of performance Tiger cues, all with the patented Tiger “X-Ultra” Shaft. Tiger is also a proud sponsor of many top-notch players such as Shawn Putnam, Oscar Dominguez, and Melissa Herndon. Tiger even carries a line of Shawn Putnam signature cues.

For more information on the tour, please visit southeastopen.com. To visit Tiger Products, please log onto tigerproducts.com for more info.

Team Gambler Adds Three Players Team Gambler, the sponsored team of players for Gambler Clothing Company, Inc., has recently added a group of talented lady pool players to its stable. Players Cristina De La Garza, Michell Monk, and Betty Sessions have signed sponsorship deals with Gambler Clothing Company.

Gambler Clothing Company President Dan Dennis said, “This will add a new vibe to the mix. Up to this point there were no female Team Gambler players. All of these ladies are very respected players in the game of billiards with great attitudes and the desire to promote the game. I look forward to watching the ladies’ games progress, and Gambler Clothing will be there to help support them in any way possible.”

WPBA player Cristina De La Garza lives in Texas and plays tour stops and tournaments all around the country. She is a known player to the WPBA Tour, Lone Star Ladies’ Tour, OB Cues Ladies’ Tour, as well as others. A true promoter of the game, Cristina’s sponsors include Poison Cues, Cue It Up! Holders by BilliardBush.com, A-Tex Family Fun Center, and now Gambler Clothing. Cristina said, “I am very excited to be part of Team Gambler. The girls are great friends of mine, and I have worked with the owner of the company on many projects, so I’m very happy to be part of this great group of people!”

WPBA player Michell Monk lives in Orlando, FL, and plays tours stops in the Southeast as well as other tournaments around the country. A new card holder this year on the WPBA Tour as well as a known player on the KF Cue Tour, Flamingo Tour, and BAAT Tour, Michell said, “I am excited and thankful for this opportunity to represent Gambler Clothing, and I am looking forward to a long working relationship as well as future endeavors with the McDermott Gambler Pro Tour and more!”

Industry News Betty Sessions, the 2009 U.S. Amateur Ladies’ champion, lives in the Atlanta, GA, area and frequents tour stops in the Southeast region. A known player to such tours as the KwikFire Tour, Mid-American Ladies’ Tour, Jacoby Tour, Viking Tour, Southeast Open Tour, and Great Southern Billiard Tour, Betty said, “I am very excited about this opportunity to be a part of Team Gambler. I have always been a huge supporter and promoter of the sport of billiards and look forward to continuing that with the McDermott Gambler Pro Tour.”

All of these ladies’ profiles can be seen at TeamGambler. com in addition to other great players on Team Gambler such as Shannon Daulton, Adam Wheeler, Dan LaVoie, Mark Ritter, Tommy Najar, Dan Dennis, and Trevor Heal. You can also view Gambler Clothing Company at GamblerClothing.com.

World Wide Sport of Billiards Introduces Jim Wych as the “The Voice of the Bonus Ball” Introduced to the new game of Bonus Ball at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships in Chesapeake last fall, Jim Wych is delighted to be a part of the exciting new billiard game, Bonus Ball. With 40 years of cue sport experience, Wych believes the sport is perfectly poised to welcome a game that brings out the best of all the different billiard disciplines. His exact words were, “Bonus Ball hits the bulls eye dead on!”

Bremner, is a dream scenario for me,” noted Wych. “Bonus Ball incorporates different aspects of virtually every billiard game and rewards players for their level of skill and execution. With Bonus Ball the luck element has been greatly reduced, and success will be based solely on performance.

This is something that all competitive players appreciate and strive for.

“I have had a long-standing relationship with the creator of Bonus Ball, Larry Chiborak, and I have seen this game evolve to the point where it ready to be introduced to the world. Innovation and creativity are the key ingredients behind its evolution, and I am confident, once a player plays this dynamic new game, they will be forever smitten. This is an exciting time for pool and I believe that Bonus Ball will capture the imagination of every cue sport enthusiast.”

WPBL tournament director Barry Bremner commented on Jim Wych, “He has a very good understanding of the strategies of Bonus Ball, and his knowledge of our eight professional players makes him the very best choice to be our commentator and game analyst.” There is no doubt that Wych’s billiard experience makes him the perfect choice of the World Professional Billiard League for their premier event, “The Super Series of Billiards,” in Winnipeg, Canada, May 6-9.

Wych is a two-time Canadian snooker champion and has been a world-ranked snooker professional for over 15 years.

Following a successful professional snooker career, his attention turned towards broadcasting, where he has now become universally recognized as the “Voice of Billiards.”

As a host and commentator for over 20 years, his expert analysis can be heard on most of the world’s premier pool events. The success he has garnered over his playing and broadcasting career has earned him the respect of the global billiard community.

“To be getting on board with the World Wide Sport of Billiards, owned by fellow Canadians Larry Chiborak and Barry

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 31

APA Player of the Month The APA Player of the Month of May is Earl Burton of Caledonia, MI, a member of the West Michigan APA. Burton turned 89 years young in March, and his teammates (one a chef at a local five-star restaurant) had a pool table cake made for Earl to help celebrate his birthday. Burton has been an APA member since 2005, playing on three teams (two 8-ball and one 9-ball). He plays at least once a week, usually twice, but on occasion will play with all three of his teams in a week. Burton is a skill level 4 shooter in 8-ball and is on the verge of becoming a skill level 5 shooter in 9-ball. “Earl is a terrific guy to be around, and how wonderful of his teammates to something special for him on his birthday,” said League Operator Ronda Ayers. Happy belated birthday, Earl.

The Original

Cue Tattoo Come see us at the BCA Nationals in Las Vegas from May 14-22 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino

773-491-0018 sales@castilloleathergoods.com www.CastilloLeatherGoods.com 32 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Regional roundup “The Hatchet Man” Cuts Through Joss Field Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Clifton Park, NY

by Lea Andrews

Vergara Escapes Wong to Win Tri-State Tour / Queens, NY

by InsidePOOL Staff

Dennis Hatch, Tim Berlin, Bucky Souvanthong

Tony Eglesias, Mhet Vergara, Mike Wong

Dennis “The Hatchet Man” Hatch took a brief hiatus from the winner’s circle at the last stop of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, coming in second to Steve Moore’s first, but he reclaimed his regular spot on top at the March 13-14 stop. The $2,000-added event, held at Trick Shot Billiards in Clifton Park, NY, marked Hatch’s fifth number-one finish on the tour this season.

Mhet Vergara narrowly escaped being double-dipped by Mike Wong in the final match of the Tri-State Tour’s March 13-14 event.

Vergara topped a 19-player field that came out to vie for their share of the $500-added prize purse. The open 9-ball event was hosted by Master Billiards in Queens, NY. Vergara went to the finals undefeated. In the winners’ side final four, he bested Trevor Heal 9-5 to reach the hot seat match. There he faced off against Tony Eglesias, who had just sent Kwa Nguyen to the one-loss side of the chart 9-6. Their match was as close as could be, with Vergara edging out Eglesias 9-8 to earn the hot seat.

Hatch cruised past Dwight Dixon 9-5 to reach the hot seat match against Bucky Souvanthong, who’d gotten past Jason Michas 9-6.

Souvanthong found himself in another 9-6 match against Hatch, but his was the short end of the stick, and he moved over to the semifinals.

Results:

Meanwhile, Wong was working his way through the left side of the chart, eliminating players such as Jorge Rodriquez 9-8 and Dave Ascolese 9-6. He then faced down Nguyen and sent him home in fifth place 9-5. Heal tied with Nguyen after his match against Gary Murgia ended in a 9-6 loss.

On the left side of the 2nd Bucky Souvanthong $900 bracket were two men 3rd Dave Grau $700 making a strong bid for 4th Mike Zuglan $450 the finals. Dave Grau, 5th Dwight Dixon $250 who’d taken a Jason Michas first-round hit from Jeff 7th Chance Chin $100 Smolen, edged out Dave Valano Bruce Carroll 9-8 to meet Chance Chin, who’d just ousted Smolen 9-7. Taking care of Chin 9-5, Grau moved on to Dixon. Meanwhile, tour director Mike Zuglan, a third-round 9-7 victim of Hatch’s, was plowing a steady path, notching a 9-6 win over Angelo Hilton and a 9-4 win over Dave Valano, who’d just squeezed past Jim Yonge 9-8. Next up was Michas, who managed to reach the hill, but the final game went to Zuglan, and he advanced to the quarterfinals against Grau, who’d breezed past Dixon 9-3. Though both fought hard in their hill-hill battle, it was Grau who marked up the last game to move on to the semifinals against Souvanthong, but it was there that Grau’s journey ended, and he landed in third 9-6.

In the quarterfinals, Wong and Murgia clashed, but it was Wong who advanced to the semifinals 9-6. There he played Eglesias, but it was a somewhat lopsided match, as Wong sent Eglesias home in third place 9-4. In the double-elimination final match, Wong squeaked by Vergara 9-8 in the first set. In the second set, Results: 1st Mhet Vergara $685 though, it was Vergara who 2nd Mike Wong $345 gained the ultimate prize, 3rd Tony Eglesias $220 winning 9-8 with a bank shot on 4th Gary Murgia $140 the 9 ball.

1st Dennis Hatch

$1,170

In the true double-elimination final match, a second set seemed to be a possibility, as Souvanthong kept pace with Hatch, tying it up at six games apiece. But then Hatch made his move, taking three straight racks to earn his victory 9-6. The tournament wasn’t his only victory, though—his name was drawn in the raffle, earning him a custom-engraved Joss Cue valued at $1,200.

34 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Northeast Edmonds Ekes out Tri-State Win Tri-State Tour / East Rutherford, NJ

Mezz Win for Wilkie Mezz Pro-Am Tour / Vineland, NJ

by Jose Burgos

by InsidePOOL Staff Tim Edmonds narrowly escaped being defeated twice by Annie Flores in the March 20 installment of the Tri-State Tour. This $500-added stop was hosted by Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, and drew a total of 18 players.

Shaun Wilkie, Matt Krah, Joey Testa, Jose Garcia Shaun “Get Some” Wilkie took the Mezz Pro-Am Tour by storm March 14, going undefeated to earn the title over Matt Krah in the finals. The $1,000added stop was hosted by Q-Ball Billiards in Vineland, NJ, and drew a strong field, including players such as Adam Kielar, Joey Testa, Eddie Abraham, and Victor Nau. Krah went through the top half of the bracket easily, with wins over Bob Giandomenico 7-2, Matt Douglas 7-5, Jose Burgos 7-0, and Eddie Tiabi 7-6.

Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Wilkie, who scored victories over Jay Paranich 7-4, Nicholas Jankowski 7-2, Results: Victor Nau 7-5, and Bruce Nagle 7-1.

1st Shaun Wilkie $950 These two competitors met in the hot 2nd Matt Krah $530 seat match, with Wilkie pulling away late 3rd Joey Testa $325 to notch a 7-4 win.

4th Adam Kielar

Flores and Edmonds had their first meeting in the hot seat match, which Flores won decisively 7-3. In the winners’ side final four in the previous round, Flores had allowed Cory Sohlman one rack before winning 6-1, while Edmonds sent Christian Smith to the one-loss side 7-5.

Sohlman and Smith rebounded on the west side, defeating Rick Jaeger 6-3 and Scott Simonetti 7-6, respectively. They moved on to the quarterfinal match, where it was Smith who advanced to the semis 8-3, as Sohlman went home with fourth place. Results: 1st Tim Edmonds $500 Edmonds was raring to go in 2nd Annie Flores the semifinals and ousted $200 3rd Christian Smith $100 Smith 7-4 to earn a rematch 4th Cory Sohlman with Flores. Though Flores put up a good fight, it was all 5th Rick Jaeger Edmonds in the final, as he Scott Simonetti won the title 9-4.

$180

5th Bruce Nagle Waiting for Krah on the one-loss side $120 of the chart, Testa put up a good fight in Eddie Tiabi the semifinals, but still it was Krah who walked away with the 7-5 victory to advance to the finals. There Krah had to defeat Wilkie twice to win the event. But the day belonged to Wilkie, who won the first set 7-4 to take the title.

Rozonewski Dominates Dominiak Tour Dominiak Cues Northeast 10-Ball Tour / Albany, NY

by Kevin Vidal Paul Rozonewski took the title at the March 14 stop on the Dominiak Cues Northeast 10-Ball Tour, defeating Tom Acciavatti in the final match. The tour visited The Golden Cue in Albany, NY, March 14, and attracted 26 players.

The top half of the winners’ bracket saw steady play from local Acciavatti making his way to the hot seat match with wins over Brandon Ryan, Chis Whalen, and Keith Lauer after catching a bye in the opening round. Rozonewski took control of the bottom half, Results: scoring wins over Josh Lerner, Paul 1st Paul Rozonewski $250 Picard, Bob Cunningham, and then Frank Rich to meet up with Acciavatti for the 2nd Tom Acciavatti $150 $100 hot seat match. Rozonewski pulled this 3rd Keith Lauer $75 match out in a closely contested battle 4th Frank Rich 5th Brandon Ryan $40 and move on into the finals.

Jim Taylor

In the quarterfinals, Lauer overtook Frank Rich in a close match to advance to meet Acciavatti. This match went all Acciavatti’s way, and he earned another shot at Rozonewski. In the finals, the players split the first four games, but then Rozonewski started pulling away to take the title 5-2.

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 35

Regional roundup Two in a Row for “The Hatchet Man” Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / N. Syracuse, NY

by Lea Andrews

Dennis “The Hatchet Man” Hatch, who went undefeated at the March 13-14 Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop, made a repeat performance at the March 27-28 stop. The $1,500-added event, which featured a total prize purse of $3,660, drew 27 competitors to Salt City Billiards in Syracuse, NY.

Randy Mackin, Alex Popov, Richard Ng Debroske rebounded on the west side of the chart, besting Qian Chen 7-3 and sending him home in fifth place. Tying with Chen was Varvaro, who suffered his second loss of the event to Richard Ng 6-4.

Debroske and Ng collided in the quarterfinals, with Ng managing to stay alive after a hill-hill battle 6-5.

Hatch took care of Ron Dennis Hatch Casanzio 9-6 to reach the hot seat match against Robb Saez, who’d squeaked past Dave Grau 9-8.

Another 9-6 victory gave the hot seat to Hatch and sent Saez to the west side.

Results:

On that side of the bracket, recent winner Chris Orme, who’d taken a third-round 9-7 hit from Grau, went on to oust Nick Brucato 9-2 and Mike Renshaw 9-3 before coming up on Casanzio. Meanwhile, Lyn Wechsler, Hatch’s first-round 9-5 victim, was $130 edging out tour director Mike Zuglan 9-8 and Grau 9-8 to match up with Orme in the quarterfinals. Wechsler’s chance for a rematch with Hatch in the finals ended there, though, and he landed in fourth 9-5. Orme advanced to the semifinals against Saez, who dropped him into third 9-7 to earn another go at Hatch.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Dennis Hatch Robb Saez Chris Orme Lyn Wechsler Dave Grau Ron Casanzio 7th Mike Zuglan Mike Renshaw

$1,100 $800 $600 $400 $250

In the true double-elimination final match, Hatch jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and though Saez managed to get within two at 5-3, Hatch pulled back ahead, earning his sixth tour win this season 9-5.

Popov Plays to Win Tri-State Tour / Edison, NJ

by InsidePOOL Staff

Alex Popov cut through the field at the March 27 Tri-State Tour stop and went undefeated to the finals. This $750-added stop was hosted by Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, and attracted a field of 30 players.

After besting Ken Debroske in the winners’ side final four 6-4, Popov went on to the hot seat match. There he faced off against Randy Mackin, who had just sent Joe Varvaro to the one-loss side 6-3. Their match went hill-hill, but it was Popov who prevailed 6-5.

36 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Alex Popov Richard Ng Randy Mackin Ken Debroske Joe Varvaro Qian Chen

$490 $280 $180 $110 $70

Ng advanced to the semifinal match against Mackin, who had been cooling his heels since the hot seat match. It was a close call, but Ng sent Mackin home with a third-place finish and moved on. In the finals, it was another hill-hill nail-biter that saw Popov remain undefeated to take the title.

Northeast Dominiak Cues Northeast Tour Finale Dominiak Cues Northeast Amateur 10-Ball Tour / Springfield, MA

Estevez and Robles Claim Predator Victories Ozone Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour / Queens, NY

by Jerry Tarantola

by Kevin Vidal

Matthew Harricharan, Alberto Estevez

Oscar Bonilla, Tony Robles

The Ozone Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour took the 7 train to Queens, NY, March 26-27 for their fifth stop of their season, which Master Billiards hosted.

For each of the tour stops, the event is split into two separate tournamentsone for pros and the other for amateurs. The amateur event, won by Alberto Estevez, drew a full field of 64 players, while the pro event, which was won by tour director Tony Robles, drew 14 open and pro players.

In the amateur event, Matthew Harricharan seemed to be unstoppable, and he scored wins over Asif Mostafa 7-3, Luis Novas 7-5, Michael Hertz 7-6, Bob Schlott 7-6, Christopher Chang 7-2, and Dinko Busavich Amateur Results: 1st Alberto Estevez $1,000 7-3. This impressive run put 2nd Matthew Harricharan $600 Harricharan in the finals, where 3rd Dinko Busanich $400 he would wait for two matches to 4th Victor Nau $300 finish on the one-loss side On the left side of the chart, Victor Nau was not able to stop Estevez, who was impressive in the 7-5 win. Estevez continued his hot hand as he rolled over Dinko Busavich 7-3 in the semifinal match.

5th Christopher Chang Mark Finklestein 7th Michael Yednak Mike Ettl 9th Bob Schlott Ron Gabia Yusuf Khan Justin Won 13th Stew Warnock Scott Simonetti Luis Novas Nicholas Chan

The Dominiak Cues Northeast Amateur 10-Ball Tour wound down for the season at the popular Snooker's Billiards in Springfield, MA, with the tour finale March 28. Strong regular tour players were in attendance, including Gene Hunt, Chuck Hill, Carl Guimond, and Brandon Charon, with Paul Rozonewski taking home top honors.Rozonewski made his way to the finals from the one-loss side with wins over Mike Lucas, Tim Haley, Hunt, and Phil Davis. Norm Wadden ran through the winners’ side, defeating Tony Hubbard, Mike Wheeler, Walt Rogowski, and Rozonewski in the hot seat match. The finals between Wadden and Rozonewski was another hill-hill thriller that went 6-5 to Rozonewski.

After the players’ meeting there was a tour awards ceremony for player achievements throughout the season. Points leader Chuck Hill took Player of the Year honors for the second season in a row with top tour points of 400. Tour regular Mike Wheeler won the Tour Most Improved Results: Player award as he climbed 1st Paul Rozonewski $300 to finish third in point 2nd Norm Wadden $175 standings. The Top Female 3rd Phil Davis $100 Player on Tour award went 4th Jerry Brayson $65 to Janet Tycks for her great efforts on tour this season.

$250 $175 $135

$100 The win put Estevez in the finals with Harricharan. Estevez had a strong break going for him, and he showed the composure and shot selection of a seasoned veteran. In the final match, Estevez’s firepower was too much for Harricharan to handle, as he went on to cap off an impressive 9-4 win in the finals.

In the pro 10-ball event, Oscar Bonilla earned a clutch win over Joey Korsiak 8-6 to get a chance to come back Sunday. Robles topped Mike Miller 8-6, lining up a match up with Bonilla, who then defeated Robles in a doublehill hot seat match.

Open/Pro Results:

Kwa Nguyen shook off some rust after taking some time away from the game to come back strong. Nguyen made a statement by defeating top NY player Frankie Hernandez 8-7.

Korsiak was his next opponent, and he proved to be too much for Nguyen to handle as Korsiak clutched out the set 8-7. Rodriguez then topped Korsiak 8-6 before falling to Robles 8-4 in the semifinals. In the finals, Robles defeated Bonilla 8-4 and also regaining the lead in the point standings for the season.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Tony Robles Oscar Bonilla Jorge Rodriguez Joey Korsiak

$800 $400 $225 $100

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 37

Regional roundup

Northeast

Krull One for One on Joss Tour Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / West Hempstead, NY

by Lea Andrews It was his first time competing on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, but Rob Krull took it all in stride, snatching victory from Tony “The Silent Assassin” Robles in the finals.

The $1,500-added main event drew 47 players to Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, April 10-11.

Krull breezed through his match with Brent Boemmels 9-2 to reach the hot seat match, where he faced Robles for the first time. Robles, who’d just sent Jorge Rodriguez west 9-4, did the same to Krull.

On the left side of the bracket, past winner Shaun “Get Some” Wilkie, who’d been edged out earlier by Robles 9-8, took care of Pete Bowman 9-5 and Joey Korsiak 9-7 to face Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Ed Abraham went through Ed Vazquez 9-6 and Mhet Vergara 9-3 to face Boemmels, a tour regular who was in the middle of his best tournament performance to date. Boemmels put Abraham in fifth 9-3 to meet up with Wilkie, who’d had his own 9-3 victory over Rodriguez. Yet another 9-3 match ensued in the quarterfinals, and it was Wilkie who earned the spot in the semifinals, while Broemmels earned fourth, his highest finish. Wilkie’s hopes for a rematch with Robles were dashed by Krull, though, who took the rematch for himself 9-5.

In the true double-elimination final match, Krull made up for his earlier loss and pushed the second set 9-6. In the second set, Krull took advantage wherever he could to earn his first victory his first time out 9-7.

Another winner was Mike “Fingers” Badsteubner, who topped the inaugural $500-added second chance event on Sunday. The race-to-3, double-elimination event was open to any non-pro who was knocked out of the main event on Saturday. “Fingers” earned $300 for his 3-1 victory in the finals over Oscar Bonilla, who pocketed $200. Dave Ascolege took home $150 for third, Results: while Megan Smith’s 1st Rob Krull $1,100 fourth-place finish earned 2nd Tony Robles $800 her $50. The final winner 3rd Shaun Wilkie $600 of the weekend was Pat 4th Brent Boemmels $450 DiBuono, who earned a 5th Jorge Rodriguez $300 three-night hotel stay and Ed Abraham paid entry into August’s 7th Joey Korsiak $175 Turning Stone Classic Mhet Vergara event when his name was 9th Pete Bowman $75 drawn from among those Daniel Smith who finished out of the John Alicea money and had never Ed Vazquez won a Joss event.

Upcoming Northeast Tournaments 5/1 5/1-2 5/1-2 5/2 5/15 5/22 5/22-23 5/29-30 5/30 6/5 6/6 6/12-13 6/12-13 6/13 6/19 6/19 6/26-27 6/27 7/11 7/17 7/18 7/25

Tri-State Tour CNY 9-Ball Tour Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour Mezz Pro-Am Tour Tri-State Tour Tri-State Tour Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour Tri-State Tour Mezz Pro-Am Tour Tri-State Tour Blaze ABCD Tour Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour Tri-State Tour Mezz Pro-Am Tour Tri-State Tour Blaze ABCD Tour Tri-State Tour Mezz Pro-Am Tour Mezz Pro-Am Tour Blaze ABCD Tour Mezz Pro-Am Tour Mezz Pro-Am Tour

38 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Master Billiards Hippo’s House of Billiards Raxx Pool Room and Grill Atlantic City Billiards Castle Billiards Sandcastle Billiards Raxx Pool Room Amsterdam Billiards and Bar Riley’s Concord Billiards Castle Billiards Atlantic City Billiards Snookers Billiards Master Billiards Rockaway Billiards Sandcastle Billiards One Shot Billiards Amsterdam Billiards and Bar Drexeline Billiards Raxx Billiards One Shot Billiards Atlantic City Billiards Main Line Billiards Club

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718-706-6789 315-768-0218 516-538-9896 609-645-7576 201-966-6007 732-632-9277 516-538-9896 212-496-8180 610-859-8058 201-933-6007 609-645-7765 401-351-7665 718-706-6789 973-625-5777 732-632-9277 732-249-4555 212-496-8180 610-259-9144 516-538-9896 732-249-4555 609-645-7576 610-647-8805

$750 $600 $2,000 $1,000 $500 $750 $2,000 $1,000 $1,000 $500 $1,000 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000 $750 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $2,000 $1,000

B-D players Amateurs Open Open B-D players B-D players Open B-D players Open B-D players A-D players Open A-D players Open B-D players A-D players Aplayers Open Open A-D players Open Open

Regional roundup White Wipes out the Competition Great Southern Billiard Tour / Cornelius, NC

by Lea Andrews

Brian White, Shannon Daulton, Ron Park Though Ron Park tried twice, he couldn’t take down Brian White, who went undefeated to top the March 13-14 stop of the Great Southern Billiard Tour. White and Park were among the field of 43 that arrived at Kylie’s Sports Bar and Grill in Cornelius, NC, for the $1,500-added event.

AA-ranked White took care of A-ranked Matt Reed, who was racing to 9, 11-6 to face Park for the first time in the hot seat match. Park, who’d just blown through B-ranked JR Poste 9-2, moved over to the semifinals after notching just one game against White.

On the one-loss side, Mark Patterson got past fellow B-player Doug Bartlett 7-5 to face Jeff Peele, who’d ousted Bartlett’s brother Tim 9-3. But Peele, who owns the room named after his five-year old daughter, Kylie, with his wife, Amy, managed just three games himself against Patterson, landing in seventh. Meanwhile, last stop’s winner Josh Newman took care of B-ranked Paul Mullins 9-4 to meet up with Marty Free, who’d shut out B-ranked Robert Ash. Newman’s bid for two in a row ended there, though, and he finished in seventh 7-5. Free moved on to Poste, who held him to four games to Results: advance to the quarterfi- 1st Brian White $1,000 nals against Reed, who’d 2nd Ron Park $500 put Patterson in fifth 9-3.

3rd JR Poste $300 But against Poste, PatterMatt Reed 4th $200 son came up two games Mark Patterson 5th $125 shy of his goal of nine Marty Free games, and Poste $55 advanced to the semifi- 7th Jeff Peele nals against Park. Their Josh Newman match-up went a little better for Poste this time around, but still not well enough. Park earned the rematch with White hill-hill 9-6.

In the true double-elimination final match, White could afford to lose the first set, but he didn’t take any chances. He stayed ahead of Park to earn his victory in one 11-6 set.

40 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Troy and Hall Come From Behind in Tampa KF Cue Tour / Tampa, FL

by Lea Andrews

Justin Hall’s first KF Cue Tour open division win came in February, and he added a second win the weekend of March 13-14 at Strokers II in Tampa, FL, while Jerry Troy notched his first amateur title.

Troy suffered an early loss to take the long road through the field of 41 that arrived for the $1,000-added amateur event, while Hall took a late loss to Tommy Kennedy on his way to ultimate victory in the $1,000-added open division.

Todd Anderson, Natalie Crosby, Jerry Troy

In Saturday’s amateur division, Todd Anderson blew past Thomas Giorgi 7-1 to reach the hot seat match against recent winner Jason Justin Hall, Tommy Kennedy Richko, who’d taken care of Han Berber 7-4. Anderson edged out Richko 7-6 to earn an undefeated spot in the finals of a KF Cue event for the first time. On the one-loss side, Troy, who’d ousted Wesley White 5-4, Lincoln Seiffert 5-0, Louie Smith 5-1, and room owner Jose Del Rio 5-3, squeaked past Giorgi 5-4 to advance to the quarterfinals against Berber, who’d just knocked out Jeremy Aurswald. A 5-3 win over Berber pitted Troy against Richko, whose two games put him in third. In the single race-to-8 final match, both Troy and Anderson were coming off long Amateur Results: 1st Jerry Troy $550 winning streaks, but it was Troy who kept it up to earn his first title 8-4.

2nd Todd Anderson $400 In Sunday’s open division, Tommy Kennedy got past Mike Davis 7-4 to face Hall in the hot seat match. Hall, who’d just sent Lee Holland west, managed four games against Kennedy to move west himself. On the left side, Louis Altes and tour director Tony Crosby took care of Holland and Davis, respectively, to meet up in the quarterfinal match. Altes put Crosby in third to reach the semifinal match against Hall, who earned the spot in the finals 6-4. The single race-to-9 final match featured two recent KF Cue Tour winners, but Kennedy wasn’t able to put the racks together this time. Hall finished off his second win this season with a decisive 9-2 victory.

3rd Jason Richko 4th Han Berber 5th Jeremy Aurswald Thomas Giorgi 7th Jimmy B. Dean Jose Del Rio 9th Mike Hawks Bill Stoll Elvis Rodriguez Louie Smith

$300 $200 $150 $90 $60

Open Results: Justin Hall $550 Tommy Kennedy $430 Louis Altes $350 Tony Crosby $250 Mike Davis $160 Lee Holland 7th Bobby Livrago $100 Hunter Lombardo 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Southeast Whatley Wipes out NGB Competition NGB Amateur Billiards Tour / Winder, GA

Caso Conquers Corner Pocket Tiger Bay Area Amateur Tour / Largo, FL

by Mike Bidwell

by InsidePOOL Staff

Leon Whatley dominated the March 13 stop of the NGB Amateur Billiards Tour, taking first place over Robert South. The $1,000-added stop was hosted by AllStar Billiards in Winder, GA, and drew 45 competitors for this 10-ball competition.

Whatley went unchallenged through the field, defeating Jimmy Lee 6-3 in the winners’ side final four to advance to the hot seat match.

Meeting him there was Robert South, fresh off a hill-hill victory over David Shaddon. The battle for the hot seat was a close one, but Whatley ultimately prevailed 6-4.

Once on the one-loss side of the chart, Lee and Shaddon ended up tied for fifth place after being eliminated by Joe Pierce 6-2 and Shane Winters 7-5, respectively. Pierce and Winters collided in the quarterfinals, and that match went hill-hill with Pierce squeaking by 6-5. Advancing to the semifinal match, Pierce ran into South, who sent Pierce home in third place 7-3. But South could not prevail over Whatley, whose mental toughness and skilled mechanics earned him the title 6-4.

Ameteur Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Leon Whatley Robert South Joe Pierce Shane Winters Jimmy Lee David Shaddon 7th Jim Giorllia Jeff Scarbough

Kim Caso, Stephanie Mitchell, Keva Hevener, Jeff Mendez

Newcomers topped the field once again as Kim Caso, who joined the Tiger Bay Area Amateur Tour in January, bested Keva Hevener in her first-ever BAAT tournament. The $500-added event took place at The Corner Pocket in Largo, FL, March 20. Setting a trend, for the third time this year, different faces were seen in the top four spots of the 28-player event.

On the right side of the chart, Keva Hevener had wins over Tanya O'Hearn 6-1, Mika Culpepper 4-3, Stephanie McFarlin 4-0, Michell Monk 4-2, and then she took the hot seat match over Caso with a scalding 5-0. Caso’s run included wins over Rena Dyer 4-0, Sabra Beahn 4-6, Patti Mitchell 4-1, and Jamie Toennies 4-5 before being sent to the semifinal match.

$800 $400 $200 $150 $75 $50 Leon Whatley

Toennies and Monk faced off in the quarterfinals, where a hard-fought battle left Toennies in Monk’s dust 7-2. Monk, who has had a slow start this year, found her form returning Saturday, defeating Chase, Dar Pedrick, and Soash, before being sent west by Hevener.

After her one-loss side wins over Helene Caukin and Toennies, she matched up with Caso. Caso, who had to win four games before Monk won eight, took the match in style by defeating Monk 4-1 in the semifinals.

This set up the final match between Hevener and Caso, with Caso looking for revenge and Hevener seeing a possible win for her first BAAT tournament. The true double-elimination format gave Hevener a one-match cushion, but she had to overcome the one-game spot she gave Caso. The players showed weariness with some uncharacteristic misses and seesaw scores, but the double-hill match was finally put away by Caso 4-4.

Ameteur Results:

Now Hevener was against the ropes, and she came out fighting in the last match, winning the first two games and putting Caso on the defensive. Caso retaliated by taking the next two games.

Hevener found a little luck in the fifth game with a kiss that sent the 9 in the corner pocket.

Undaunted, Caso came back, winning the next two games and the match with a score of 4-3.

1st Kim Caso 2nd Keva Hevene 3rd Michell Monk 4th Jamie Toennies 5th Helene Caukin Bettina Chase 7th Patti Mitchell Margie Soash 9th Barbara Ellis Sis Tarver Stephanie McFarlin Stephanie Mitchell

$350 $250 $180 $125 $85 $50 Prizes

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 41

Regional roundup “Bulldawg” Blasts Jacoby Field Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Raleigh, NC

by Lea Andrews One of the Southeast’s most dominant forces, Michael “Bulldawg” Fuller added another notch to his belt when he went undefeated through the March 27-28 Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour stop. The $1,000-added event drew a talented field to Babineau’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC. A 7-5 win over Brad Shearer put Fuller into the hot seat match against Chris Turner, who’d just sent Johnny Griffin west 7-5. Turner found himself on the flip side of another 7-5 match, and he moved to the other side to vie for a rematch.

On the left side of the bracket, two tour hotshots were fighting for the right to go on. Recent winner B.J. Ussery, who’d taken a first-round loss to Shearer, earned the right to continue by holding Sam Monday to three games. Meanwhile, another former winner, Arnold Hamlet, ousted Keith Crawford 7-4 to meet up with Griffin. A 7-4 victory put Griffin into the quarterfinals against Ussery, who’d earned his revenge on Shearer 7-6. Ussery’s 7-5 win over Griffin pushed him into the semifinals, and after edging out Turner 7-6, Ussery moved on to the single race-to-11 final match against Fuller.

Ussery broke the first rack but missed his first shot after the break, allowing Fuller to clean up and mark up the first game, and though Ussery managed to take the next rack, Fuller notched four in a row to Results: take the lead 5-1. Ussery fought 1st Michael Fuller $1,000 $400 back, managing to get within two at 2nd B.J. Ussery 6-4, but Fuller finished strong to take 3rd Chris Turner $100 his first Jacoby win this season 11-4.

Rice Rebounds for Victory Great Southern Billiards Tour / Duluth, GA

by Lea Andrews A late loss to Billy Kuykendall didn’t stop David Rice from powering through to ultimate victory at the March 27-28 stop of the Great Southern Billiards Tour. Rice and Kuykendall, who faced each other three times, were among the field of 60 that gathered at The Pool Room in Duluth, GA, for the $1,500-added amateur event.

A-ranked Rice got past recent winner Josh Newman 9-6 to meet A-ranked Sean Davis in the hot seat match. Davis, who’d just breezed past B-ranked Jack Cavalier 9-4, fell just short of his goal against Rice and moved to the west side 9-8.

On the one-loss side, B-ranked Kuykendall was on a mission to get back to Rice, who’d edged him out 9-6. Kuykendall took care of B-ranked Amy Chen 7-4 to face AA-ranked Benny Conway Jr., who was coming off a big 11-1 win over fellow AA-player Brian White.

Conway fell 7-7 in the weighted race, landing in seventh while Kuykendall moved on to Cavalier. Meanwhile, B-ranked Curtis Hale moved past A-ranked Robert South 7-7 to meet B-ranked Richard Andrews, who’d gone hill-hill 7-10 with AA-ranked Danny Smith.

Another hill-hill match was up next for Andrews, but it went the wrong way this time, and he finished in seventh 7-6. Hale moved on to Newman, who dealt him a 9-4 blow to reach the quarterfinals against Kuykendall, who’d blown through Cavalier 7-1. A strong 7-5 42 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

David Rice, Shannon Daulton, Billy Kuykendall

win over Newman put Kuykendall into the semifinals against Davis, who couldn’t mark up the final two games and finished in third 7-7.

In the first set of the true double-elimination final match, Kuykendall got a taste of revenge, notching the final game in the hill-hill set to push another set 7-8.

Fatigue was wearing on both players in the second set, which began a couple hours into Monday, and the two took advantage of each other’s errors to stay even through their third hill-hill set of the tournament, but the all-important final 9 ball belonged to Rice.

Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th

David Rice Bill Kuykendall Sean Davis Josh Newman Jack Cavalier Curtis Hale Benny Conway, Jr. Richard Andrews Brian White Amy Chen Danny Smith Robert South

$1,000 $600 $400 $200 $100 $70 $45

Southeast Shuffett Becomes Kentucky Champion Kentucky State 9-Ball Championship / Campbellsville, KY

Jordan Bounces Back for Victory Great Southern Billiard Tour / Conyers, GA

by Lea Andrews

by InsidePOOL Staff The Second Annual Kentucky State 9-Ball Championship was held at the Rack and Cue in Campbellsville, KY, April 3-4. Thirty players from around Landon Shuffutt, David Rice Kentucky, including such notables as David Rice, Russ Edwards, Eddie Adams, and Robert Frost, gathered with their eyes on a beautiful 6-foot trophy that would represent Kentucky’s best for 2010, but it was Landon Shuffett who ultimately claimed the top prize.

Of the 16 players that survived the first day, Rice, Shuffett, and Rob Ganote were in good position to make their charge for the state title.

Rice took out Shuffett 9-8, sending the 15-year-old to the left side.

Randy McDonald, in a strong showing, handed Ganote his first loss.

Then Rice and McDonald met in the hot seat match, with Rice prevailing 9-3.

On the one-loss side, Frost was making his charge with four consecutive wins. A huge turning point in the event occurred when Shuffett rebounded from a 6-2 deficit against Frost, taking a 7-6 win. That win propelled Shuffett past Bruce Lutrell and McDonald for the finals rematch with Rice in which Shuffett would have to defeat Rice twice.

In the first match Shuffett gained early momentum with a run of four racks, and then he cruised to a 9-2 win, setting up the final match for the state title. Rice took an early 2-0 lead, but Shuffett tied the match at 2-2.

In the sixth rack Rice played a great safe, only to see Shuffett execute a perfect kick resulting in a run-out and a score of 3-3. Shuffett took command from Results: 1st Landon Shuffett there, winning the championship match 2nd David Rice 9-4. Along with the title and the trophy, 3rd Randy McDonald Shuffett collected $1,050 of the $4,075 that was available for the top six finishes.

4th Bruce Lutrell

5th Robert Frost Gerald Russell

Upcoming Southeastern Tournaments 5/1 5/1-2 5/6-9 5/15-16 5/15-16 5/22 5/29-30 6/5-6 6/12-13 6/12-13 7/1-4 7/9-117 /10-11 7/24

Central Carolina 9-Ball Classic Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour Viking Cue Olhausen Classic Jacoby Custom Cue Carolina Tour Great Southern Billiard Tour Tiger Bay Area Amateur Tour Seminole Pro Tour Great Southern Billiard Tour Seminole Pro Tour Great Southern Billiard Tour Viking Cue Olhausen Classic Seminole Pro Tour / Gem City Open Great Southern Billiard Tour Tiger Bay Area Amateur Tour

Gate City Billiards Club Mr. Cues II The Green Room Sharks-N-Shooters Gate City Billiards Stix Billiards Hollywood Billiards Zoo City Saloon Capone’s Billiards Fast Eddie’s Sports Bar The Green Room Marietta Billiard Club Corner Pocket Sports Bar Strokers Billiards

Jeff Jordan hit a late bump in the road thanks to Mike Templeton, but he regained control for ultimate victory on the Great Southern Billiards Tour. Jordan and Templeton were among the field of 57 who vied for their share of the $1,500-added purse April 10-11 at Classic Billiards in Conyers, GA. B-ranked Jordan rode a strong 7-6 win over AA-ranked Jesse Middlebrook, who was racing to 10, into the hot seat match, where he met Mike Templeton for the first time. B-ranked Templeton, who’d just gotten past A-ranked Josh Newman 7-7, managed just four games against Jordan.

On the other side of the bracket, Jordan’s A-ranked brother, Randy, took care of fellow A-player Claude Marrier 9-6 to face recent winner Mike Basha, who’d just blown past A-ranked Jason Jones 9-2. Dealing Basha a 9-5 blow, R. Jordan moved on to Middlebrook, who took control of the match to earn his spot in the quarterfinals 10-1. Meanwhile, another AA-ranked player, Brian White, was storming through the field, ousting A-players Aaron Frady 10-7 and Floyd Reasons 10-5 to meet up with Newman, whom he blew past 10-2 to face Middlebrook. It was the second time the two had met this tournament, and while Middlebrook had come out on top 10-5 the first time, White earned his revenge and the semifinal spot 10-7. But in the semifinal match, Templeton was Results: fighting for his own 1st Jeff Jordan $1,000 rematch, and he got it with a 2nd Mike Templeton $500 decisive 7-5 victory.

3rd Brian White $300 In the first set of the true double-elimination final match, Templeton found himself on top of another 7-5 match, putting the two on equal footing, but in the second set, it was Jordan who came out on top as he won the set and the tournament 7-5.

Greensboro, NC Atlanta, GA Jackson, MS Rocky Mount, NC Greensboro, NC Palm Harbor, FL Hollywood, CA Asheboro, NC Spring Hill, FL Goldsboro, NC Jackson, MS Atlanta, GA Albemarle, NC Palm Harbor, FL

4th Jesse Middlebrook 5th Josh Newman Randy Jordan 7th Floyd Reasons Mike Basha 9th Aaron Frady Eddie Adams Claude Marrier Jason Jones

336-856-8800 770-454-7665 601-718-7665 252-937-8882 336-856-8800 727-937-9225 323-465-0115 336-683-0021 352-688-9965 919-759-0071 601-718-7665 770-971-9436 704-983-5628 727-786-6683

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$200 $105 $80 $40

Open Open Open Open Amateurs Amateur ladies Open A-B players Open A-B players Open Open A-B players Amateur ladies

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 43

Regional roundup Maresca Comes out on Top Lucasi Hybrid All-American Tour / Clinton, IA

Davis Remains Undefeated Lone Star Tour / Temple, TX

by InsidePOOL Staff

by InsidePOOL Staff

Helen Hayes, James Davis Jr., Michelle Cortez Tony Maresca , Jim Baker, Will Kohl Tony Maresca went undefeated through the field at the March 20 stop of the Lucasi Hybrid All-American Tour. Hosted by Legends Sports Bar in Clinton, IA, the $500-added event featured a full 32-player field in a double-elimination 9-ball format on 7-foot bar boxes.

Maresca won the A-side bracket, including a hill-hill semifinals win over Tommy Fuller 6-4 and a hill-hill hot seat win over Jim Baker 6-4. On the B-side Will Kohl and Keith Helfrich ousted Will Thomsen 5-4 and Woody Van Kampen 6-2 at seventh place, respectively. Kohl Results: $335 1st Tony Maresca then eliminated Fuller at fifth place by a 5-4 margin, where Fuller $225 2nd Will Kohl was tied with Helfrich, who fell at $160 3rd Jim Baker the hands of Ray Fredericksen 5-2. $100 4th Ray Fredericksen Kohl then ended Fredericksen’s run at fourth place 5-2, and in the next match Kohl gained an entrance to the finals courtesy of his win over Baker 5-3. The finals ended in one set, as Maresca remained undefeated, clipping Kohl 5-3 for the title.

$65 5th Tommy Fuller Keith Helfrich $45 7th Will Thomsen Woody Van Kampen $25 9th Crist Aiardo Don Sager Frank DeCastecker Rocky Mickelson

The Green Room in Temple, TX, hosted its first $1,000-added Lone Star Tour event the weekend of March 27-28. The superstars came out, 47 in all, including Al Mason, T.J. Davis, Doug Young, and pro player Max Eberle to battle for over $5,500 in cash, with James Davis Jr. going home with the lion’s share after winning his second consecutive tour stop.

When the smoke cleared Sunday, it was Davis Jr. against Temple’s own Noel Torres for the hot seat. On the west side Mason bested T.J. Davis, while Robert Clark won six consecutive matches, including a 7-6 win over Eberle, to meet up with Mason. Clark made Mason his seventh consecutive match win on the one-loss side and sent Mason home with fourth place. After besting Torres as well in the semifinals, Clark moved on to the finals against Davis.

Both players burned up the felt, trading racks until the score was 8-7 Davis. Clark broke and left himself a shot at the 1 ball then a shot at a 2-9 flyer. Clark missed and gave up control of the table. A safety battle ensued in which Clark ultimately ran out to the 6 ball and Open Results: hooked himself. Clark gave up ball in 1st James Davis Jr. $800 hand, and Davis put him away 9-7.

2nd Robert Clark $500 This was Davis’ second consecutive 3rd Noel Torres $300 win on the Lone Star Tour, 4th Al Mason $200 undefeated in both.

5th Nash Peterson $125 Also, 25 women vied for over $1,500 in prize money. On the winners’ side, Heather Bryant bested Michelle Cortez 7-5, and Helen Hayes overcame Kim Pierce 7-5. On the west side, Austin’s own Kim Sanders was on a five-match winning streak. Cortez bested Melinda Bailey 5-1 then ended Sander’s winning streak. In the semifinals, Cortez squeaked by Bryant 5-4 then matched up with Hayes in the final. Cortez held Hayes at bay 6-2. After a few unforced errors, Hayes came back to make it 6-all. In the final game, Hayes broke and made the 9 ball.

44 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

Max Eberle 7th T.J. Davis $80 Eric Aicenena 9th Roger Allen $50 Eric Brown Corey Dordek Doug Young

Ladies’ Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Helen Hayes Michelle Cortez Heather Bryant Kim Sanders Kim Pierce Melinda Bailey

$350 $175 $100 $70 $40

Central

Pool on TV

REBUILDING BILLIARDS HISTORY THROUGH STATS! Win a FREE CUE!

SUPER BILLIARDS EXPO PRO 10 BALL TOP-10 BY WORLD RATING FN Mika Ryan Rodney Joey John Oscar Johnathan Charlie Shannon Corey

LN Immonen McCreesh Morris Testa Schmidt Dominguez Pinegar Williams Murphy Deuel

WR 978 972 953 944 938 934 929 912 909 905

P# 33 13 7 13 25 33 2 17 49 3

$W 1400 2000 1400 5000 1200 3000

MW 1 4 6 4 2 1 6 2 0 5

GW 16 45 55 41 29 18 50 31 14 52

GL 10 39 39 43 24 9 34 26 18 11

BK 5 6 5 7 14 8 23 10 5 30

GB 3 5 3 2 10 1 12 6 2 14

FB 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2

BB 7 7 4 2 13 1 20 8 3 27

BP 80 62 37 65 114 56 192 155 37 272

HS 1 2 0 3 6 4 6 1 1 15

FG 1 1 1 0 7 0 7 5 0 8

EM 0 0 0 2 3 2 1 3 2 12

HM 0 0 1 8 4 2 10 4 8 13

SS 0 1 3 5 7 6 15 1 2 14

GS 2 8 6 12 17 7 24 14 2 28

A MODERN NEW INNOVATION IS NOW AVAILABLE TO ALL PLAYERS WORLDWIDE!

The shot by shot Pro Stats of the Super Billiards Expo Pro 10-Ball event were scored remote in Northern California while watching a live stream match filmed by Inside Pool Magazine. The results were available to the video crew and posted to the site immediately for worldwide viewing. Isn’t technology just amazing…………

The shot by shot Pro Stats were provided by PROPOOL.COM. Visit www.propool.com to see much more and find out how you can get on the list. Next month we will start the Amateur TOP-10 list..

We will hold a drawing(s) for a McDermott Cue for all the stats sent and posted each month. This is a player’s site and we need you to collect and send the stats to us from any competition.

Drawing Rules: The person that sends us the stats on our forms with a valid email address will go into the drawing. A person can send as many tournaments/leagues as desired. See the website for more detailed rules and restrictions.

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Upcoming Central Tournaments 5/1-2 6/5-6 6/12-13 6/19-20 6/19-20 7/8-11 7/10-11 7/17-18 7/24-25 7/28-8/1

Fast Eddie’s Olhausen 9-Ball Tour Fast Eddie’s Olhausen 9-Ball Tour OB Cues Ladies’ 9-Ball Tour Lucasi ACS All-American Tour Lone Star Billiards Tour Midwest 9-Ball Tour Lone Star Billiards Tour Fast Eddie’s Olhausen 9-Ball Tour Lone Star Billiards Tour WPBA U.S. Open

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Open Open Ladies Amateurs Open Open Open Open Open Pros

May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 45

Regional roundup

Western

Piazza Punishes Lucasi Field Lucasi Hybrid All-American Tour / Lakewood, CO

by InsidePOOL Staff

Tony Piazza took down the March 20 stop of the Lucasi Hybrid All-American Tour, defeating Mark Haddad in the finals. The $250added event was hosted by Lakewood, CO, at Greenfields Pool & Sports Bar and attracted 35 players in a double elimination 8-ball format on 7-foot Dynamo bar boxes. Piazza ended his run to the hot seat by outpointing Mark Morgan 5-2 in the A-side semifinals and Adam King 5-1 in the A-side finals. On the B-side, Morgan was eliminated at fifth place at the hands of Haddad 5-1, joined by Steve Chan, a 5-3 victim of Ruben Silva Jr. Haddad then ousted Silva at fourth place by a 5-3 margin.Â

Mark Morgan, Steve Chan, Ruben Silva Jr., Frank Urbaniak, Adam King, Tony Piazza, Mark HaddadÂ

Haddad won a trip to the tournament finals by virtue of his B-side finals win over Adam King 5-4. The finals showcased Piazza versus Haddad, but Piazza dominated play with a 5-1 first-set win for the title.

Results: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Tony Piazza Mark Haddad Adam King Ruben Silva Jr. Steve Chan Mike Morgan

$600 $300 $150 $75 $50

Upcoming Western Tournaments 5/7-9 5/8-9 5/18-22 5/29-30 7/24-25 8/28-29

Hard Times Mezz 10-Ball Open USSA National Snooker Tour U.S. Open 10-Ball Championships Seminole Pro Tour Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour Arizona Women’s Billiard Tour

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IɆQ CBOLJOHXJUIUIFCFBSE DPN DBU 46 InsidePOOL Magazine ◊ May/June 2010

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May/June 2010 ◊ InsidePOOLmag.com 47

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