Stroke Pool Magazine November Issue 2015 by Stroke Magazine

Our 333rd year... and we hardly look a day over 200.

Founded upon unwavering principles of quality and value, 2013 marks our 333rd continuous year in business. We are the oldest company in the billiard industry. Being the oldest didn’t make us the best... being the best has made us the oldest. Premium products with premium value. Iwan Simonis.

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4 Stroke Magazine - September 2013

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Photo by: Don Akerlow

FEATURES

COVER ARTICLE

18 First 9-Ball Classic COLUMNISTS

12 Tom Simpson 15 Anthony Beeler 13 Michael Glass 16 C J Wiley 14 Bob Jewett 17 Stefano Pelinga

6,7 Holiday Gift Guide 8 CWO 10 Who Won U S Open? 11 NJ State 9-Ball 20 Clark Wins 22 Pool For Paws 24 Upsets 25 Cues for the Cure 27 Hewitt Undefeated 29 ESPN Tournament of Champions 30 Powder Puff 8-Ball 31 Back to Back 32 ESPN Challenge of Champions DEADLINE:

WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS 33 Eastern U.S. Weekly Tournaments 34 Eastern U.S. Tournaments OnTheBreakNews.com

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PLACES PEOPLE PLAY Amy’s Billiards Stuart, FL 22

Bison Billiards Williamsville, NY 26 Borderline Billiards Bristol, TN 31 Corner Pocket Billiards Martins Ferry, OH 24 Crooked Cue Clearwater, FL 28 Diamond 8 Latham, NY 28 Gate City Billiards Greensboro, NC 31 Gotham City Billiards Brooklyn, NY 19 Gradys Lexington, SC 28 Holiday Gift Guide 6,7 Lucky 7 Billiards Hollywood, FL 26 Michael’s Billiards Fairfield, OH 28 Premium Billiards Syracuse, NY 24 Sandcastle Billiards Edison, NJ 30 Scotty B’s Rural Hall, NC 31 Snookers Providence, RI 27 South Florida BCAPL Davie, FL 22 Steinway Billiards Astoria, NY 28 TNT Billiards St Paul, MN 26 Union Station Billiards Portland, ME 26 UPA Broward County Florida 27 Zingale’s Talahassee, FL 28

BILLIARD SUPPLIES

Aramith Libertyville, IL 3 CueStix International Lafayette, CO 36 McDermott Menomonee Falls, WI 2 Mueller Lincoln, NE 23 Simonis Libertyville, IL 3 Tiger Products Burbank, CA 4 Valhalla Middleton, WI 21 Viking Cue Middleton, WI 35

INSTRUCTION/SERVICES Anthony Beeler Bob Jewett Michael Glass National Billiard Academy C J Wiley Stefano Pelinga

POOL TOURNAMENTS Tournament Trail Weekly Tournaments

15 14 13 12 16 17

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Stroke is a monthly publication, dedicated to the advancement of the sport of pool. The opinions expressed are those of the author or advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the views of On The Break News or its staff. We reserve the right to edit or reject any material submitted for publication. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may Publisher be reproduced.

Don “Cheese” Akerlow

On The Cover

Serving Pool Players in the U.S.A. all 50 States and Online Worldwide

Stroke November 2015

Holiday Pool Cue Kits McDermott Play Packages

McDermott Play Packages make a great family gift! The pack includes everything needed for your pool table, including a McDermott Traditional Series billiard ball set, pool cues, a wall-mounted cue rack, 8-ball and 9-ball racks, a table cover and much more. The best part is: YOU get to choose your own cues! Learn more at www.mcdermottcue.com/playpacks or call 1-262-251-4090.

4x7 Hard/Soft Hybrid Case

McDermott’s brand new 4x7 Hard/Soft Hybrid Case is unlike anything you’ve seen before. It features a unique 2x3 hard shell end compartment for cue and shaft storage, as well as two 1x2 removable soft felt sleeves that fit inside the zippered top section. This case is designed with an extra long 32” interior and a special storage area for your jump handle. The 4x7 Hybrid Case retails for $169 and makes a perfect gift for any pool player. If you need less storage space, McDermott also offers a 2x3 version for only $129. Learn more at www.mcdermottcue.com/cases or call 1-262-251-4090.

November 2015

Looking for the perfect gift for a beginner pool player? Look no further than McDermott’s selection of pool cue kits. These kits include everything you need to get started as a pool player. McDermott kits range in price from $52.50 to $92.50 and come with a 2-piece maple cue, a protective case and a variety of billiard accessories. Learn more about McDermott cue kits at www.mcdermottcue.com or call 1-262251-4090.

G230

The G230 is a new addition to McDermott’s G-Series cue line for 2015. Beautifully crafted with a Birdseye maple forearm/sleeve with a Pacific blue stain, this cue features a sophisticated no-wrap handle that is accented with silver, black urethane and white urethane rings. The G230 retails for $265 and comes standard with McDermott’s high-performance G-Core shaft. This cue is covered by McDermott’s Lifetime Warranty and Maintenance Plan, which includes warpage. Learn more at www.mcdermottcue.com/g230 or call 1-262-251-4090.

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Gift Guide VA501 MSRP $139.99 Designed and engineered by Viking, our Valhalla line is aggressive and pure in style. The VA501 encompasses this and plays as good as it looks. This cue features HD graphic transfers, hard rock maple forearm/ sleeve, European stain, nickel silver rings, linen wrap and more. Every Valhalla cue is checked, rolled and weighted by our Viking craftsmen before sale with the assurance of Viking’s Limited Lifetime Warranty against defects, including warpage. Valhalla, it’s more than just a pool cue, it’s a way of life. For more information contact us at www.vikingcue.com or call (800) 3970122.

A681 MSRP $775 Find perfect balance of accuracy and appearance with this stunning addition to our 50thAnniversary line of Viking Cues. We started the A681 with a deep red bordeaux stain applied by hand. Next we intricately inlaid genuine abalone shell, black and mirror inlays for added embellishment from the forearm down. Lastly, we finished it off with hand wrapped gator embossed leather wrap. For enhanced performance, we’ve paired the A681 with the the ViKORE® Performance Shaft, known for its low deflection and Softouch® dampening technology. 100% Made in the USA. For more information contact us at www. vikingcue.com or call (800) 3970122.

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VIKING PROTOTYPE CUES

For a very limited time, you can save 30% on Viking one-of-a-kind prototypes, just in time for the holidays. This unique selection includes exotic woods, metallic paints, unique stains, engravings, inlays, Skinny cues, luxurious wraps, ringwork and the ViKORE ® American Performance Shaft. All Viking cues come standard with quick release joints (up to $125 upgrade for other brands), indestructible ferrule, and your choice weight, tip size and optional engraving! To get your hands on this exclusive deal, visit www.vikingcue.com or call (800) 397-0122

SS-1015A

MSRP $795

We’ve recaptured how the west was won by encompassing the rustic history of American cowboys, longhorn cattle, barbed wire and billiards, all in one cue design. This exclusive Smart Shops cue is made in the USA and adorned with an intricate long horn skull engraving; wenge wood barbed wire inlays and finished with rosewood and tulipwood ringwork. This cue comes standard with the ViKORE® American Performance Shaft (MSRP $179). Made 100% in the USA. To get your hands on this cue for a cool $695, after an instant $100 rebate, visit your local Viking Authorized Smart Shops dealer. For more information contact us at www.vikingcue.com or call (800) 397-0122.

LTD & Retired Viking Cues

Save between 40 and 50% on Viking Limited Edition and Retired cues, right in time for the holidays. Our stock is in limited supply, so hurry before they are gone! Our selection includes a variety of exotic woods, unique stains, luxurious wraps, custom inlays, ringwork, VPRO and ViKORE American Performance shafts. All Viking cues come standard with quick release joints (up to $125 upgrade for other brands), indestructible ferrule, and your choice weight, tip size and optional engraving! To get your hands on this exclusive deal, visit www.vikingcue.com or call (800) 397-0122

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Stroke November 2015

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Women’s WarmUP Tournament 1st - Sharry Ahola 2nd - Mary Coffman

1st

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Men’s CWO Results

Rodney Morris

2nd Carlo Biado

$10,000

$ 5,000

Results

Rodney Morris Men’s 2015 CWO Champion

3rd

Stan Tourangeau

$ 3,000

4th

Danny Gokhul

$ 1,880

5th/6th Miguel Morfin/Warren Kiamco

WA/PH $ 1,180

7th/8th Marc Vidal/Randy Baker

CO/OR $ 750

9-12th

Derek Moore/Jamie Bruce

AB/NV $ 470

Eddie Carrido/Darrold Crain

WA/OR $ 470

13-16th Damian Pongpanik/Amar Kang WA/CA $ 300 Nick Kruger/John Schmidt

BC/CA $ 300

17-24th Randy Hatten/Robert Zack

NC/OR $ 180

Eddie Mataya/Paul Schweigart

WA/OR $ 180

Chris Byers/Marvin Holmes

OR/WA $ 180

Steve Lingelbach/Paul Potier

OR/AB $ 180

25-32nd Jeff Jimenez/Clay Belvoir

WA/WA $ 140

Tommy Sliva/Rick Tillett

WA/OR $ 140

Ed Hobbs/Jesse Johnson

WA/AZ $ 140

Tommy Rossi/Max Eberle

OR/NV $ 140

Women’s CWO Results

November 2015

1st

Rebecca Wagner

$3700

2nd

Allison Fisher

$2000

3rd

Susie O’Conner

$1000

4th

Cindy Sliva

$ 720

5th/6th

Liz Cole/Joanne Ashton

OR/AB $ 510

7th/8th

Bernie Store/Kimberly Kirk

AZ/WA $ 370

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P O

It w a s all about West Coast pool action this October in Lincoln City, Oregon. The 3rd Annual Chinook Winds 10-Ball Open hit the top of the charts and, once again, the beach was a great backdrop for the event. Chinook Winds Casino Resort added $17,000 prize money to the 10-Ball Open events - $12,000 to Men’s division based on 96 entries with a guaranteed $10,000 for 1st; and $5,000 to the Women’s division with $4000 guaranteed for 1st place based on 32 entries. The Men’s division raced to 7 and the Women’s raced to 5. Overall, 118 men and 30 women entered all contending to get into the money. Players came from all over the United States and beyond to participate and a huge gallery of spectators watched many excellent matches as the tournament unfolded. People were able to observe and learn what great pool playing is all about. The crowds were awed by the likes of top players such as Allison Fisher, Bernie Store, Joanne & Bev Ashton, Kathy MacDonald, Rebecca Wagner, Warren Kiamco, Carlo Biado, Danny Gokhul, Max Eberly, Marc Vidal Claramunt and Paul Poutier. They were equally dazzled by top regional players Cindy Sliva, Kim Jones, Liz Cole, Dan Louie, Stan Tourangeau, Randy Baker and Eddie Carrido, to name just a few. All the players showed great class, talent and sportsmanship. Prior to the CWO itself, a $1,000 added Warm Up 10-ball tournament took place on Thursday night, sponsored by Bud Light. League players and those entered in main event were welcome to play. 90 men entered the $25 entry, race to 3, double- elimination event. A short race can be an equalizer with top players and the event was a smash. There was over $3000 in prize money up for grabs. Warren Kiamco took 1st, Randy Baker-2nd, Sean McDonough-3rd, Carlos Biado4th. The Women’s Warm-up tournament featured 12 women. Sherry Ahola run through field to take top spot followed by Mary Coffman-2nd, Kimberly Kirk3rd and Natasha Hook-4th.

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A Calcutta was held and, although auctioning through both fields took some time, it was well worth it. There was a net of $16,890 in the men’s and $4,945 in the women’s. Paul “Kez” Marquez was calling on bidders to buy horses and his enthusiasm propelled the bids. It was a fun and exciting event. The Women’s finals featured Allison Fisher of North Carolina and Rebecca Wagner of Nevada. Wagner, 2013 US Bar Table 9-Ball Champion, fought her way out of the loser’s bracket after being defeated in her first match by Liz Cole. She faced a gauntlet of tough competitors on the B side, including Sherry Ahola, Kimberly Kirk, Bev Ashton, Cindy Silva and Susie O’Connor on her way to the finals. The finals match featured a lot of great play from both women and both played like the champions they are. Billiards Hall-ofFamer Fisher seemed to struggle a bit on the Diamond 7 footer while Wagner played steady on to capture the first set 5-0, a rare shut out for Fisher. Wagner kept up the pace in the second set, leading 3 -0 until Fisher won a game. Wagner’s near flawless play proved to be too much for Fisher and in the end Wagner double-dipped The Duchess of Doom, winning 5-4 in the second set. In the Men’s Finals, Rodney “The Rocket” Morris of California drove at a run-out pace and met Filipino Champion Carlo Biado in the finals. Biado had sliced his way through a star-studded loser’s bracket featuring Marc Vidal Claramunt, and his fellow Filipino, Warren Kiamco, on way to the finals match. Biado showed why he is the feared competitor he is. Morris’ performance dominance in the tournament can be described as a ‘Mack truck’. “The Rocket” matched against some considerable competitors along his way - Danny Gokhul and Stan Tourangeau to name a few, but ran over Biado 5-3 in the finals on his way to the $10,000 1st place prize. Praise for the tournament came in from all fronts. The acclaim coming from both participants and spectators was very rewarding to hear. Players new to the event said they had never seen such a great event and are coming back to play at next one in March, 2016. Pool Coach Paul Potier gave

A •B

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free stroke analysis - What fun! The event is growing in stature with professionalism and popularity. The Chinook Winds Open 8-Ball in March will be a qualifier for Mosconi Cup Points where pros can vie for a spot on Team USA. It took a lot of hard work producing the Chinook Winds Open event. Co-coordinators/directors Andrew Monstis and Mike Jensen managed the event from start to finish. Additionally, the WBCA team of Robbin Iredale - PR staff coordinator; Cathy Dunford Financial manager; Pam Carraway - Podium supervisor; and numerous other staff worked hundreds of hours to make this event successful. They say it’s better at the beach and they are right! Chinook Winds Casino Resort is a full service facility and is an exceptional venue for a world class tournament. Having this event tucked in at the beach in Lincoln City, Oregon creates an atmosphere you can’t find everywhere else. The CWO was sponsored by Chinook Winds Resort and Casino, a grant from the Lincoln City Visitor and Convention Bureau, and Anheuser-Busch. Bud Light was the official beer of the event and sponsor of the Warm-up Tournament. Special thanks to Mike Howerton, AzBilliards; Lenny Marshall, On The Rail TV; Ozzie Reynolds, Cuesports International; Ric and Bonnie Jones - Bad Boys Billiards Productions; Zero-X Billiards; EYO Cues; and the NW Women’s Pool Player Association.

H C

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Men’s WarmUp Tournament 1st - Warren Kiamco 2nd - Randy Baker

2 , 11

9 r Rebecca Wagner

e b to

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Women’s 2015 CWO Champion

Stroke November 2015

First Chinese Taipei Pool Player to Win the US Open

AzBilliards.com Staff Oct. 30, 2015 everything had a pocket but some balls were close to others so shape would be When the final day began at the U.S. Open, there were only four men left in action. crucial for Liu to claim this rack. Liu had a long opening shot and missed it. The The first to fall away was Ralf Souguet who lost 11-6 to Haitao Liu. The hot seat footsteps in his ear were now ahead of him. Boyes approached the table like he match was not much of a contest. Yu-Hsuan Cheng owned it. He made the tough run look routine and dominated the match and Karl Boyes only rarely won the match 11-9. This was a truly remarkable rose from his chair. The final result was 11-3 and Karl performance. The man had been down 9-4 and then could do nothing but await his opportunity against denied his opponent another rack. He won 7 racks Haitao Liu. in a row. I see a Mosconi Cup in his near future. Boyes got a better start in this match and soon led Yu-Hsuan Cheng opened our final with a break and 3-1. But in the next rack Boyes scratched while run but then broke dry in the second rack. Boyes shooting the one ball and Liu took that gift home to took full advantage and we were tied at 1 in this narrow the score to 3-2. Boyes fouled again in the race to thirteen (with the aforementioned win-by6th rack and again Liu capitalized to tie the score two stipulation). Then the Cheng train began to at three apiece. Liu scratched on the next break roll. Racks began to fall for him and soon he led and Boyes ran the rack to lead 4-3 in the race to 11 4-1 before committing an illegal break where three games. From there, Liu grabbed the momentum and balls failed to pass the side pocket. It mattered little. continued claiming racks until he led 9-4. Boyes Cheng regained control of the table late in the rack won the next one to bring us to 9-5 and called for a and ran it out to lead 6-1. 5-minute break. When play resumed Boyes appeared Then Cheng again hit an illegal break shot in rack 8. energized and committed. He broke and ran the next Boyes took that one to trail 6-2 and took a timeout. rack and then in game 18 he played a safe that caused Boyes broke and ran the next rack and then the next Liu to make a bad hit and then he made a heroic went his way as well to bring us to 6-4. When he bank on the 5-ball to claim the rack. The heightened broke the next rack, the cueball nearly scratched but aggression was paying off. 9-7 with Boyes breaking. hung up in the corner leaving Cheng shooting deep Boyes broke dry and left a wide-open table. out of the corner on a long 1 ball that he missed. Liu was hearing the footsteps. He began to hesitate Boyes made a nice run and had things in hand when at the table, blew his position on the 4 ball, and he took an easy 8 ball for granted and hung it in the that caused him to be so out of line on the 5 that corner. Cheng increased his lead to 7-4. he fouled the shot. When the 9 ball fell Boyes had Boyes took the next rack (7-5) but then fouled on pulled within a single game at 9-8. Boyes cleared the the 1 ball in the next rack and let Cheng out to next table like it was routine and now stood tied with 8-5. Boyes took one back in the next rack but then Liu at 9. Cheng took the next and our score stood at 9-6. He Here is where we need to tell you that in the semithen took the next two racks with just solid pool final and final of the U.S. Open you must win by two playing and led 11-6. Things had turned very dark games, though there is a cap at 13 games (15 in the for Karl Boyes. It would get no brighter. Cheng finals as it is a race to 13) so Boyes or Liu could win commanded the table from there and ran away with from the hill if the game were to become tied at 12. the games to win the 40th Annual U.S. Open 13-6. Photos by: Alison Fischer Boyes broke and ran the next rack to get to the initial hill. He broke dry and

Results

Yu-Hsuan Cheng

1 $40,000 CHENG Yu-Hsuan 2 $20,000 BOYES Karl 3 $10,000 LIU Haitao 4 $7,000 SOUQUET Ralf 5 $5,000 SHAW Jayson, HSU Kai Lun 7 $4,000 ORCOLLO Dennis, CHINAHOV Ruslan 9 $3,000 DEUEL Corey, BERGMAN Justin MAZON Jundel, ORTMANN Oliver 13 $2,750 DECHAINE Mike, IGNACIO Jeffrey BIADO Carlo, MORRIS Rodney 17 $2,500 FELICILDA Francisco, APPLETON Darren KIAMCO Warren, IMMONEN Mika, GRABE Denis OUSCHAN Albin, DANG Jin-Hu, LI He Wen 25 $2,250 PEACH Daryl, GOMEZ Roberto, WOODWARD Skyler HOHMANN Thorsten, VAN BOENING Shane VAN DEN BERG Nick, KLATT Jason, TEUTSCHER Marco 33 $2,000 DAVIS Mike, DRAGO Tony, GALLEGO Ramil DAIGLE Martin, YILDRIM Onur, SANCHEZ-RUIZ Francisco CHANG Jung-Lin, CORR Karen, HALL Justin DAULTON Shannon, FEIJEN Niels, ROBERTS Josh MORRA John, KAZAKIS Alexandros EKONOMOPOULOS Nick, UCHIGAKI Kenichi

November 2015

Stroke

BCA Billiards Hall of Fame

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(L to R) Charles Ursittiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s & Oliver Ortmann induction into the BCA Billiards Hall of Fame, in conjunction with the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship.

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SandCastle NJ State 9 Ball EDISON, NJ Congratulations to Waleed Majid, Matt Krah & Jennifer Barretta for finishing top 3 in the 2015 New Jersey State 9-Ball Championships!!! Waleed and Jennifer were undefeated as they faced off for the hot seat after a tough 2 days of battle. Matt fought his way though the one loss side with no mercy upon his opponents. After suffering a loss from Majid, Barretta was sent to the B side to face Krah. After a though set, Matt came out on top to take on Waleed in the finals. It was a see-saw battle as an impressive Matt Krah gave Waleed Majid a very hard time exchanging racks but keeping ahead him in the cat-andmouse game. It was an unexpected error at 4-4 that cost Matt control of the match as Waleed was able to capitalize on a mistake, run out that rack and then break and run the next one to take a 6-4 lead. It was an uphill battle after that for Krah as Majid caught another gear to finish out the set 9-4 over his worthy adversary. Many matches can be watched on the Sandcastle Ustream channel in the video archives. Special thanks goes out to co-tournament directors, Jose Burgos & Robert Milane for a great job and Patrick Fleming & Jim Fredericks of Accu-Stats Video Productions for an incredible job behind the scenes and online. A huge thank you goes out to all the participants in the event, spectators on site and all of you who tuned in online to enjoy the broadcast! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d also like to thank all my guests in the commentary booth. You all did a great job in there! I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait for the next event!!!

1ST WALEED MAJID

results 1st

Waleed Majid

2nd

Matt Krah

3rd

Jennifer Barretta 2ND MATT KRAH

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3RDJENNIFER BARRETTA

Stroke November 2015

Master Instructor, National Billiard Academy, “Beat People With a Stick!”

Tom Simpson

November 2015

I like to tell players that 15 minutes of serious, focused, solid practice is worth 3 hours of play. I really believe this. Hardly anyone really practices. Yeah, they bang balls around. OK, they shoot their favorite shots. Sure, they set up their favorite drill from time to time. And that shot that cost them the match the other day – maybe they shoot it two or three times. I don’t consider this practice. Practice is working on the things you suck at. Improve the worst things about your game, and you raise your whole game. We all have them. We probably even know what they are, but it’s hard to admit we’re afraid of rail shots or our speed control is bad or there is a certain angle we see wrong every time. And it’s even harder to hunker down and work on these things in the poolroom because 1) it’s hard work and 2) we don’t want to look bad in front of all those players and railbirds we’re so certain are watching our every move. We are self-conscious. We are making an impression on everyone that’s watching, and we usually (hustling aside) want that impression to be that we are in the zone. We want to intimidate our future opponents. I’ve described some good practice techniques in other columns, and I’ll certainly be presenting more in future columns. There are many worthwhile practices. But while I like to promote real practice, I know you’re going to get tired of it pretty quickly and want to get busy playing or sitting around. So, let’s shift to looking at what you can do to learn and improve while you’re playing or sitting around in the poolroom. When you play, you spend some time in the chair, waiting your for next inning. A lot of players spend their time in the chair cursing themselves for their last miss, hoping their opponent will miss, looking around the room, trying to look disinterested, or slouching and sulking. This is unproductive, and may even be counter-productive. Instead, how about seeing your chair time as

Stroke OnTheBreakNews.com

practice time? Continue to study the layout just as if you were still at the table. What sequence of shots would you shoot? Why? What’s the best way to play that safety? How could you get back in line? How could you win from here? Stay fully focused and involved. No slouching. No feeling sorry for yourself. Part of the challenge of pool is warming up – getting your body and your attention activated and involved, fully and appropriately. I believe remaining engaged in the action while you’re in the chair helps you get warmed up and helps you get focused and stay focused. In pool, it’s absolutely vital to come out of the chair warm, focused, and ready. This is a skill – and a choice. Choose to come out of the chair fully present, fully engaged. We’re not always in a match or a practice session. Sometimes we’re just sitting around, casually watching others play. I suggest you use this same approach during casual watching. You can learn a great deal by watching the best players around. Watch their shot selection, their position play, their speed, their demeanor, their form. Why are they doing things the way they’re doing them? Actively think about what you see. What can you apply in your own game? What qualities could you incorporate? You can even learn by watching lesser players. Their mistakes will be more obvious. Why and how would you have done it differently? Do they have some of the same weaknesses as you? How could they improve? You get the idea. There is no end to what you can learn by watching. But there is a big difference between watching a thousand shots with your brain engaged and watching a thousand shots in a daze. This game calls for full concentration. Choose to focus and choose to learn. Take advantage of all that play going on around you – observe closely, and choose to get better.

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TABLE TALK

I STREAM, USTREAM… Televising Pool For the 21st Century

Michael K Glass

Michael Glass has been teaching pool for close to 10 years. He is a Recognized PBIA Billiards Instructor, taught by none other than Bob Jewett of the San Francisco Billiard Academy. Michael has been playing pool almost all of his life (except when he was in the Navy — it’s hard to install a pool table on a rocking ship!). He managed to stay away from the hustler life; he doesn’t believe in being dishonest in order to win money. He will, however, occasionally play for a beer or two at the local watering hole. Michael teaches all levels of pool players, from beginner to pro, and works on all aspects of the game, from fundamentals, to pattern play, to trick shots. He can be found playing in his home town of San Ramon, CA at Crown Billiards. Visit his website at billiardsprofessor.com for pool tips or to schedule a lesson!

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Not long ago, I played in the BCAPL National Championships. It was a lot of fun; anyone who has been to Las Vegas for these events knows, it’s a great time. Unfortunately, my family and friends could not all go to Vegas to cheer us on, and would be doing so from afar. My gal helps out tremendously for events like this, sending out texts and updating my Facebook page to update them on our progress. This is awesome, but what if we could do more? One day, she and I were brainstorming, and suddenly realized we had the answer in the palm of our hands. Literally! Could we stream our matches from our smart phone? In short, yes! After much fiddling and testing, we decided to set up our iPad to use Ustream, and we met with resounding success. My family and friends were able to watch many of my matches over the course of a week, live. Plus, they could chat with each other and with my girlfriend as well. I love living in the future. As you might know, I play in the Mezz West State Tour. They have a “TV table,” and every match played on this table is streamed live, for free. On top of that, they use tablets for each table to keep score, which gets updated on their website in real time. They usually have two commentators who are very knowledgeable about the game and the tour, and they have a chat room set up where people can comment on the match as they are playing. The commentators even interact with the chat room, answering questions as they go. You won’t see that on ESPN! There are many other billiards events now that follow this same format. It is the way of the future, and we must embrace it. These days, I have heard and read many discussions about the state of the game of pool – how ESPN will show bowling or golf on TV, but you rarely see billiards any more. That the sport is “dying,” and that

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there is a dwindling following. You know what’s dying? TV. There is a tremendous dilution of viewers for most television shows these days. 9000 channels, and now competition from the likes of Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and Roku. In a short time, I truly believe more and more people will abandon the sinking ship of large cable companies, and will begin embracing the idea of getting their content online. We are at the beginning of this paradigm shift, and it’s time that pool rides that wave. Do you want to see great pool? Go online. Jump onto those live streams, and get involved in the discussion. Best of all, give something back. Donate a little, and show the streamers that you support the hard work they do to consistently provide us with quality HD content. We’re never going to get back to the days of ESPN broadcasting epic pool matches. We don’t need them. We are the Online Generation, and we are the pioneers of the streaming world. Let’s embrace it, encourage it, and support it. If you are interested in setting up your own stream, there are a few options. I am not partial to any of them; I happened to pick Ustream because I was more familiar with it, and we needed a quick solution. I would look at Ustream, Livestream, or Youtube. Do some research; I am sure there other options as well. Most have a free option, if you just want to stream for a couple of people to watch, and a pay option to remove ads and allow more viewers. If you would like to share some of your success stories (or even the failures), or have suggestions for future articles, please feel free to drop me a line at pool@billiardsprofessor. com. I can also be found hanging out with fellow billiards enthusiasts at reddit.com/r/billiards. Come on by and join the discussion!

Stroke November 2015

San Francisco Billiard Academy www.sfbilliards.com PBIA certified instruction is available for all levels from beginners to instructor training.

Starting an In-House League

Bob Jewett

November 2015

Sometimes it’s hard to find competitive pool games and it’s competition that will keep you sharp and measure your real progress at this game. Leagues provide an excellent opportunity for challenging games but sometimes playing in one of the national leagues just doesn’t work for a particular room. Below is how you can set up your own in-house league. The bookkeeping is pretty simple and if you choose the drop-in format described below there is almost no scheduling involved. The overview: The basic format is a league for individuals, not teams. It can be used for either a season or for weekly tournaments. It has a 100% handicap and that handicap is adjusted automatically for each player. First, how does the handicapping work? Each player has a rating. Players with higher ratings have to spot lower players according to the difference of their ratings. If a player wins, his rating goes up, if he loses it goes down, and that happens after every match. The match handicaps are given by tables. I’ll show tables for rack-based games as well as for straight pool (14.1 continuous). The tables are pretty simple to construct if you’re good with math, but in case you’re not, I’ll be glad to provide tables for various match lengths. Just send email to jewett@sfbilliards.com and let me know what sort of league you’re planning. Here is a table for nine ball with the race to about 5: So if a player rated at 500 plays a 550-rated player, the difference in their ratings is 50 points and the stronger player has to win 6 games before the weaker player wins 4. The largest handicap for this particular table is 6-2 which is the match for all pairs of players that are 156 or more rating points apart. Note that there are many, many rating levels in this system, not just A, B, C … as you see in some systems. This makes weekly automatic adjustment of the ratings possible. After each match, the winner of the match goes up 3 rating points while the loser goes down 3 rating points. That’s not a big change, so a single win won’t make much difference to a player’s rating, but if he consistently wins more than half his matches, his rating will gradually rise to his true skill level against the other players in the system. This is simple enough to do on paper or you could make a simple spread sheet to keep track of things. I favor paper which can be posted where everyone can see how the ratings change. There are several league season formats you can use with this system. A common one in my area is the weekly drop-in format for individuals. On, say, Tuesday night whoever wants to play shows up and they are matched up by the league operator according to the handicap table.

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Each player pays $10 for the match, some of which is for table time and some goes into the prize fund. If some players want to play a second match or even a third match, that’s OK as long as they have an opponent. At the end of the 12-week session, every player who has at least 12 matches completed gets to play in the playoffs. Cash prizes are awarded for best records during the session and for the top places in the playoffs. Another popular format is the single-night tournament. On Wednesdays, everyone who shows up by 7:30 gets in a single-elimination tournament and prizes are awarded each night. You could also have a quarterly tourney for the most frequent players in the weekly to reward regular participation. Finally, you could do the usual round-robin format where everyone plays everyone else. If you don’t want to work out a schedule, you could have the players schedule their own matches according to when they and tables are available. If you do that, I strongly recommend collecting half of the money for the entire season from each player at the start. The hardest part of running this system is setting initial ratings for players. If you know the players pretty well, you can figure about what a fair spot is and figure out the rating difference between them from the table. Set the strongest player in your area to a rating of 700 and the rest relative to him. You may want to manually adjust players after they play several matches in case you see they are clearly at the wrong level. You could also adjust players by 6 points per match for the first year they are in the system which levels things out faster. The rating scale described above is similar to the FargoRate system (see fargorate.com) which rates over 30,000 players worldwide, and if any of your local players have ratings there, you should use them as their initial ratings for your local system and adjust the other players relative to them. If you want to set up a handicapped straight pool league, here is a table for medium-length matches in which the better player goes to 80 points: Rating Diff. Match 0-4 80-80 5-14 80-75 15-24 80-70 25-35 80-65 36-47 80-60 48-60 80-55 61-75 80-50 76-91 80-45 92-109 80-40 110-129 80-35 130-154 80-30 155-183 80-25 184-219 80-20 220-up 80-15 If you would like to try the above and have question, shoot me an email.

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ESSENTIAL PLAYING SKILLS finest performance.”

Anthony Beeler is a 2013 BCA National 9-Ball team champion. He also finished 9th out of 1086 players in the 2013 BCA National 8-Ball Championships. He is a certified Level 3 instructor for the American CueSports Alliance and is the founder of Maximize Your Potential Billiards Academy located in Bradfordsville, Kentucky. Beeler is also a fully licensed Kentucky Educator having, received his bachelor’s degree at Campbellsville University and his master’s degree in Education Leadership at Eastern Kentucky University. Throughout his poolplaying career Anthony has won over 300 tournaments and has defeated numerous professional players in tournament competition.

Composure: Have you ever seen a professional pool player break their cue in the middle of a match? Missing an easy shot can be very frustrating! What most players don’t seem to understand is that remaining positive is often their best option. Being cool, calm, and collected are some of the best characteristics that a pool player can have. Understanding how to harness your negative feelings and transform them into something positive will not only make you a better player, it will also intimidate your opponent.

“Focus” Pool is a brain game. The majority of what occurs between the break and the money ball depends in large part upon what’s going on inside of someone’s mind. Although not as strenuous as some sports, pool is perhaps the most difficult game ever invented. Regardless of a player’s ability or the conditions of the table, our thought processes dictate everything that we do. Our thoughts determine if we are going to shoot or play safe or whether we are going to be calm or nervous, and it also sets the tempo that determines whether we play fast or slow. Here’s a look at a few of the essential mental skills pool players of all ability levels (both amateur and professional) need to master. Confidence, composure, focus, and control are all functions of the mind and all share equal roles in our ability to play well. Confidence: Pool players have got to accept the fact that they must live in the present moment. No matter how good your last match was, you are only as good as your next shot. Developing self-confidence is essential for players seeking to reach the professional level. Sure, it doesn’t hurt to have come off a great performance, but a positive outlook will allow you to return to the table after losing five games in a row and say to yourself, “From here on out, this is going to be my

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Focus: There are two types of distractions in the game of pool: external and internal. External distractions include playing conditions, noise, and the aggravation that comes along with the fact that your opponent may be trying to intentionally “shark” you. You really can’t control external distractions, but you can definitely improve the way that you deal with the internal ones. By changing the way we think, we can effectively reduce the negative effects distractions have on our game. Our ability to concentrate on one shot at a time requires practice, but the benefit of learning how to focus fosters a positive outlook that is well worth any player’s time and effort. Control: Being able to stay focused, composed, and maintain a high level of self-confidence sum up to what most pool players seek to achieve every time they approach the table. When you learn to control your mental game, you can visualize the physical aspects more clearly. And when the two work together in harmony at the correct tempo, you experience a positive, pure, and effortless performance that only takes place when you are functioning subconsciously. Players refer to this state as “Dead Stroke.” A strong mental game is crucial. A powerful game takes commitment, determination and lots of practice. Players must learn how to apply mental concepts during game play. It’s easy to read an article on mental training and then forget about the strategies you learned a few days later. The key is to find mental game strategies and apply them to your practice so you become comfortable with them during competition.

Stroke November 2015

On The Road with ... C J Wiley http://www.cjwiley.com

He hustled pool for a while and made a living, then turned pro and made a killing. Clearly, Dallas’ CJ Wiley is on the ball. By Michael P. Geffner DVD LIST:

Million Dollar Challenge Package of Three 1) ‘Billiard’s Greatest Shot’ Documentary 2) PCA’s 2nd Tour Stop at the Hollywood Park Casino - Semi Finals between David Matlock and Oliver Ortmann and Finals between Matlock and Allen Hopkins.

OMAHA JOHN “Omaha John” and I went in a small town Kentucky pool room to get some action. Back then they didn’t even hesitate and agreed to play both of us. We went out to get our cues and discovered that John had accidently locked the keys in the car. We went back in and said “can someone call a locksmith, we locked our keys in the car”. Six guys jumped up at the same time and said “I’ll get it open for ya,” pulling slim-jims out of their pockets. One of them got to the door first and preceded to get our car open as fast with his slim-jim as we could with the key. We didn’t waste a minute and won a couple thousand in 4-5 hours. Later that year we heard that one of the biggest car theft rings in the country was busted in that town. The newspaper said they all hung out at a local pool room. John and I had a good laugh about that, suddenly it all made sense. ‘The Game is the Teacher’

3) PCA Million Dollar Challenge Semis with Earl Strickland vs CJ Wiley and Finals with Earl Strickland vs CJ Wiley (highlights from CJ Wiley vs Paul Potier).

Million Dollar Challenge ‘Billiard’s Greatest Shot’ Documentary Semi-Finals & Finals Million Dollar Challenge Semi-Finals & Finals PCA on TV at Hollywood Park

November 2015

CJ Wiley’s Master Collection 8 Videos on 6 DVDs $99.95 $49.95 Order online at www.cjwiley.com

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Hop over

(if you can’t get around it)

STEFANO PELINGA stefanopelinga.com Stefano Pelinga (born 1964) hails from Rome, Italy, where he has served since 1985 as a police officer for the Italian government (Polizia di Stato), until his retirement in 2011. He began to play pool at the age of 12, drawing inspiration from his favorite singer and actor, Dean Martin. Stefano, currently a 5-time World Champion in Pool Trick Shots, won several titles in Italy in straight pool and nine-ball throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. In 1990, he devoted himself entirely to “Artistic Pool,” commonly referred to in its practice as “Trick Shots.” Due to his outstanding achievements, Stefano is recognized worldwide as one of the greatest Trick Shot champions in the history of the sport, and has earned a spot in ESPN’s Trick Shot Magic Hall of Fame. Most importantly, on November 17, 2012, Stefano was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. In the presence of approximately 500 VIP guests and many sports stars such as Tommy Lasorda, Mike Piazza, Tony Esposito and Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Stefano was awarded this honor, becoming a member of this group of legendary Italian Americans.

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This month’s shot is from the official Artistic Pool program and the principle it is based on is going to be very useful during any kind of pool game. Let’s take a look at the diagram for the correct set up. The Cue Ball is frozen to the long rail at 1.5 diamonds from the closest corner pocket. Our first object ball, the red 3-Ball, is also frozen to the rail at the second diamond from the same corner pocket. The green 6-Ball is placed next to it, frozen to it and their line of centers is perpendicular to the long rail. Place the 8-Ball behind the Cue Ball at the first diamond and at about 1/2 inch from the rail. Finally place the 9-Ball hanging by the corner pocket. We obviously want to win the game and if the 8-Ball had not been in that spot, we could have drawn the Cue Ball back after hitting the 3-Ball and thus pocketing the 9-Ball. Instead we are still going to hit the 3-Ball first but we are using it as our “Ramp Ball”. This concept is rather useful while playing any pool game: if a ball happens to obstruct the path you need to send your Cue Ball along, always check for any other ball which could serve as a ramp so you can easily hop over the obstacle ball. Going back to our shot, place your “elevated bridge” behind the 8-Ball, where the “X” is. An “elevated bridge” is when the palm of your bridge hand is off the table but you are still keeping the tips of 3 or 4 fingers on it, except for your thumb. That allows you to shoot over an obstructing ball by also jacking up the back of your cue. For our shot, elevate your cue about 20⁰ and aim the 3-Ball full, using 2 tips of top-left English on the Cue Ball (10:30 on the clock). Use a 3-speed stroke. The Cue Ball will hit the 3-Ball and hop over the 6-ball, then travel two rails and sink the 9-Ball in the corner pocket. To master this shot, try also different approaches such as using a little more elevation, or a 10 o’clock or even an 11 o’clock stroke on the Cue Ball and find out for yourself the different outcomes. Keep in mind that Ramp Balls can be used to jump the Cue Ball over an obstacle ball or a whole cluster of balls provided the distance between the Cue Ball and the Ramp Ball is no more than 8” and the distance between the Ramp Ball and the obstacle is under 1-1.5 feet, otherwise the power you’ll need to clear the obstacles will likely send the Cue Ball off the table.

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November 2015

MIKE DECHAINE Wins the First 9-Ball

Story by Alison M. Fischer

On October 17-19, 2015, what was originally scheduled to be a traditional two-day Predator Pro/Am Tour stop at Gotham City Billiards would become the three-day Gotham City Pro 9-Ball Classic. Gotham, which is located in the southern Brooklyn, NY neighborhood of Gravesend which has established a reputation for not only having high-quality playing conditions on its Diamond tables but also for its generous funds added to the tournaments hosted there. The initiative for the event was inspired by Gotham owner Kevin Buckley’s desire to both provide an opportunity for the pros to compete and to memorialize his late sister Sharon “Sam” Fagnoni, who recently passed in May of 2015. For this event, Gotham pulled out all the stops, adding $11,000 to the prize fund, which helped to draw a full field of 64 players, including a number of internationally-known stars of the game. With little over a week before the start of the 40th Annual US Open 9-Ball Championships, touring pros from around the world were already preparing for their trips to the U.S. making New York their first stop along the way. The Philippines, England, Scotland, Spain, Taiwan, Canada, Germany, Greece, Finland, and Israel were among the countries represented by players in this event. The format for the tournament would be alternate-break races to ten, playing call-shot and call-safe with the 9-ball racked on the spot. Among the elite players in the field, one of the stand-outs made his debut appearance in tournament competition in the U.S. and did not disappoint—23-year-old former Junior World Champion Francisco Sanchez Ruiz from Spain. Although Ruiz lost in the third round to Filipino Jundel Mazon, his time in the spotlight came on the loss side—as he took out headlining names including Thorsten Hohmann, Mika Immonen, Carlo Biado, and Gotham house pro Jorge Rodriguez to position himself in the quarterfinal. Meanwhile, the winner’s bracket of this event would be spearheaded by two of North America’s most accomplished touring pros of the last decade; Mike Dechaine and Jason Klatt. For Dechaine, the second-round draw of former World Champion Karl Boyes did not prove to be tough as he ran through the match 10-3 and continued his climb to the top with wins over Jeremy Sossei (10-7), Dennis Orcollo (10-7), and Jorge Rodriguez (10-4), where he would be met by Klatt. Leading up to his meeting against Dechaine in the winner’s side final, Klatt dealt former World 10-Ball Champion and two-time US Open Champion Darren Appleton his first loss (10-9) and also defeated reigning Derby City Classic 9-Ball Champion Warren Kiamco (10-7). Facing off for the “hot seat” against Dechaine on the event’s third day, Klatt was not able to build momentum, and aided Dechaine’s efforts with a number of scratches. Dechaine kept the pressure on, and pushed ahead to a decisive 10-4 victory to establish his place in the final. Back on the loss side of the bracket, the third and final day opened up at noon with

November 2015 Stroke

Tony Robles, Mike Dechaine and Kevin Buckley the matches to determine the 5th and 6th place spots. In this round, while Francisco Ruiz eliminated Jorge Rodriguez, former World 10-Ball Champion Dennis Orcollo was positioned against countryman Warren Kiamco. The match was closely-tied through the duration, but Kiamco pulled ahead to the finish line, marking a win at 10-8. Warren Kiamco then put on a stunning performance in the quarterfinal against Francisco Ruiz, leaving very few opportunities for the young player to establish himself in the match. Ruiz was only able to put up five racks before Kiamco closed the match at 10-5 and move on to the quarterfinal. Kiamco’s result in the semifinal turned out to be similar to his previous win in the quarterfinal. In the semi, he took on Klatt for the second time in the tournament, but reversed the outcome winning by a score of 10-6 to proceed to the final. As with feature matches throughout the three days, the final was live streamed by “Upstate Al” Leon of AZBtv on GothamCityBilliards.com. Many of pool’s notables were in attendance throughout the final day and into the finale, including acclaimed author Phil Capelle, LoreeJon Hasson (formerly Jones), Darren Appleton (who also

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Classic on to lead 7-5. Dechaine then broke dry and cracked his cue against the rail of the table in frustration. Subsequently, Kiamco ran out the table and extended his lead to 8-5. In the following game, after some safety exchanges, the ferrule on Dechaine’s cue came off, and he paused to get a replacement shaft. Although Dechaine did not win that rack, his game then came back to life while trailing 5-9. He won the following two racks before Kiamco won another, putting the score at 10-7. The fast-paced, fearless style that Dechaine is known for was then in full force, while Kiamco was struggling to make a ball on his breaks. “Fireball” Dechaine proceeded on a streak of six straight racks to make it to the thirteen mark—securing an undefeated record for the title of inaugural Gotham City Pro 9-Ball Champion! Predator Tour director Tony Robles thanked Gotham City Billiard Club owners, Kevin and Isabel Buckley, for their hospitality and the money added to the tournament. Thanks were also extended to sponsors Predator Cues, The National Amateur Pool League (PlayNAPL.com), Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 racks, Gothamcitytechnologies.com, PoolontheNet.com, Phil Cappelle of Billiards Press, and TheDevitoTeam.com. Special thanks went out to event photographers Eli Ceballos, Laye Kaba, Karl Kantrowitz and to Robles’ tour staff - William Finnegan, Mandy Wu, Ron Mason, Rob Omen, Irene Kim, Upstate AL of AZBTV (which streamed the event throughout the weekend), Brad McDuffie, Joe Wilson Torres, and Tony’s “amazing wife, Gail Robles.”

appeared as a commentator after being eliminated from the tournament), and NYC Grind founder Jerry Tarantola. In the final battle between Kiamco and undefeated Mike Dechaine (an extendedformat race to 13 or 15), a lead was first established by Kiamco at 3-1…but it was not long before Dechaine stepped in and tied the match 3-3. The next few games kept the match close, with the score tying at 4-4 and 5-5. At that point, Dechaine missed a two ball and scratched, allowing Kiamco to claim the momentum and go

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1 $7,500 2 $5,000 3 $3,500 4 $2,000 5 $1,000 7 $600

Next on tap, moving from one Classic to the next, will be the $7,000-added, 4th Annual Steinway Classic, set for November 1-3 at Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. Coming on the heels of the US Open 9-Ball Championships, the Steinway Classic has already signed up many of the players who competed in the Gotham City Billiards Pro 9-Ball Classic, including the Steinway Classic’s defending champion, Warren Kiamco. The event’s 2013 champion, Shane Van Boening, will be competing as well, along with (among others) Ralf Souquet, Alex Pagulayan, Johnny Archer, Rodney Morris, Justin Bergman, Dennis Hatch, Jeremy Sossei, and Brandon Shuff. According to contributing AZBilliards writer, Geoff Conway, the field will be the largest turnout for this event in the four years that it has been held.

Results

DECHAINE Mike KIAMCO Warren KLATT Jason SANCHEZ-RUIZ Francisco ORCOLLO Dennis RODRIGUEZ Jorge BIADO Carlo MAZON Jundel

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9 $400 SHAW Jayson DAVIS Mike APPLETON Darren IMMONEN Mika 13 $250 BOYES Karl STRICKLAND Earl KAZAKIS Alexandros HOHMANN Thorsten

Stroke November 2015

Clark wins at Chandley’s chalk & cue

Photos and Article by: Don Akerlow - Stroke Pool Magazine

BY: HERMAN PARKER STATESVILLE, NC GREAT EVENT THIS PAST WEEKEND AT CHANDLEY’S. 56 PLAYERS CAME OUT. WE HAD A VERY STRONG FIELD REPRESENTING 5 STATES. HUGE THANKS TO MIKE CHANDLEY AND ALAYNA CHANDLEY AND THEIR ENTIRE STAFF FOR MAKING US FEEL AT HOME. CANNOT WAIT TO BE BACK. ALSO, GOT TO MEET DON AKERLOW FROM STROKE POOL MAGAZINE. THEY PUBLISH ARTICLES AND RESULTS ABOUT PLAYERS, TOURS AND TOURNAMENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY. DON WAS VERY PROFESSIONAL AND HAD A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF KNOWLEDGE. RESULTS: Payout / Calcutta 1ST $700 / $700 CLINT CLARK 2ND $450 / $450 RICK ‘YOYO’ ROPER 3RD $275 / $250 TAZ HOLIDAY 4TH $200 / $100 BRENT KYLES 5-6 $100 / $50 ZACH LEONARD JOEY FOX 7-8 $50 BRYAN PATE COLLIN HALL BIG THANKS TO ALL OF OUR SPONSORS: DELTA 13 RACKS HEIDRICH CUSTOM CUES GOPLAYPOOL.COM AZBILLIARDS STROKE POOL MAGAZINE PROFESSOR Q BALL BET SOMETHIN APPAREL THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!

CLINT CLARK It was my first time coming to Chandley’s Chalk and Cue in Statesville, NC. When we walked in I thought I was in one of the rooms that hosted nationals in Las Vegas. There was over 50 some Diamond pool tables both 7 and 9 footers, virtually a sea of blue. My first order of business was to meet the owner of this relatively new pool hall. Statesville is only just over 25,000 residents. Where two interstates meet I-40 and I-77 which is a big reason why Mike Chandley the owner put his pool room here in Statesville, NC. I asked around where I could find Mike and went up to him and introduced myself. Mike was full of energy and proud of his newly formed pool room. He explained why he had picked this location over several that he had scouted out and the biggest reason was the two interstates RICK “YOYO” ROPER that met. To my surprise the room was relatively full. This was on a Saturday afternoon and there was a pool tournament that was going on that was being run by Herman Parker from The Q City 9-Ball Tour. Herman runs his tournaments 50 weeks out of the year covering 5 different states. Which includes, VA, NC, SC, TN and WV. I didn’t have a chance to talk to Herman on Saturday but did on Sunday for 2-3 hours. I can’t say enough about Mike Chandley, he was so exuberant about his pool room and future plans for 2016 that will be unveiled in the months to come. Some really big tournaments. I also met Mike’s daughter Alayna who also plays in APA as a 5 and is eager to learn more. In the tournament it was a handicap event. You raced to your handicap. Handicap are from 4 - 13. If you are a 13 you have to win 13 games, if you are playing someone who is a 7 they would have to win 7 games and so on. The matches that I watched, some were long but there was a lot of talent on the table. There were a lot of table runs I saw and just out and out great play.

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Stroke September 2015

2 Pool 4 Paws nd

Article & Photos by: Janis Sessions

On October 10, 2015 hosted at Lucky 7 (4850 South State Rd 7, Davie FL.) League Operators; Jim DeCesare (NAPA); Janis Sessions (South Florida BCA) and Coordinator David Motarjemi. This tournament was a fund raiser for “S.H.A.R.E” rescue for Shepard’s. For more information, please go to: http://shepherdhelp.org/ We had 46 players showed up and we were able to put together four different brackets; A, B, C and D. Game for the A players was 9 ball and B, C and D played 8 ball. All brackets were double elimination and NAPA rules.

Although this tournament did not have a large pay out for the players, the players came out to support this fund raiser and we were able to give S.H.A.R.E - $335. We raffled off a cue stick (donated by Janis Sessions), T-shirt and Cap (donated by Larry with GRIND’N Clothing Company). GRIND’N has some very cool clothing items, check them out grindclothing.com. Thank you to all the pool players for coming out. Thank you to Lucky 7 owners Charlie and Tiffany for letting us have this tournament. A special thanks to the S.H.A.R.E for all you do for the animals.

A Bracket Winners

B Bracket Winners C Bracket Winners

D Bracket Winners

Raffle Winners

results

A BRACKET RESULTS: Jose Brunet – 1st Place - $70 Rickie Charles – 2nd Place - $30 B BRACKET RESULTS: Nick Tiger – 1st Place- $110 BA Autry– 2nd Place - $60 Damien Osman – 3rd Place - $25 Christian Berrios – 4th Place - $25 (gave back to S.H.A.R.E) C BRACKET RESULTS: Julia Spinella – 1st Place - $110 Buffalo - 2nd Place - $55 Bill Moors – 3rd Place - $20 Gabe Messa – 4th Place - $20 D BRACKET RESULTS: Geo Borges– 1st Place - $110 Ken Spivack - 2nd Place - $55 Christian Alfaro – 3rd Place - $20 Billy Dipilato – 4th Place - $20

SOUTH FLORIDA BCA POOL LEAGUE League Operator: Janis Sessions - 305-903-4029 email: sesh51@hotmail.com Play out of Lucky 7 Billiards in Davie, Florida NIGHTS OF PLAY: Mon - Thurs In-house

Come Join the FUN!

November 2015 Stroke

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JPNEWT

October 3-4 Markley Billiards â&#x20AC;˘ Norristown PA

results

FROM L-R: KATHY FRIEND, LINDA SHEA, NICOLE MONACO, MEREDITH LYNCH, NICOLE FLEMING, DAWN FOX, AND JIA LI

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5/6 7/8

$500 $320 $200 $150 $100 $100 $55 $55

Linda Shea Dawn Fox Meredith Lynch Nicole Monaco Jia Li Nicole Fleming Kathy Friend Kia Sidbury

Sossei Repeats

Jeremy Sossei, Sharpshooters Owner Julie Berlin and Bucky Souvanthong Jeremy Sossei turned in his second second straight Joss NE 9-Ball Tour victory on October 10th - 11th at Sharpshooters Billiards and Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th/6th 7th/8th

USA USA USA USA USA USA

RESULTS Jeremy Sossei Bucky Souvanthong Ron Casanzio Brent Boemmels Bruce Nagle/Kam Marco Bruce Carroll/Hendrik Drost

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$1000 $ 700 $ 550 $ 400 $ 300 $ 200

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Stroke November 2015

Corner Pocket Babe "The Dream" Hanna Upsets

MARTINS FERRY, OH Corner Pocket Billiards Club held their Monthly Event Sponsored by S & S Motorsports on Oct 17th with a smaller than usual crowd due to many other events going on in the area but the 17 players were all strong with many past place winners. The players were Jerry Hager, Richard Burkey, Babe Hanna, Earl Robinson, Tv Mike, Jeff Finnicum, Lyman Wood, Jonathon Schilling, Shane Norris, Curtis Walker, Tom Purich, Jarod Graffius, Brian Waller, Chuck Tuttle, Brian Richard Jr, Mike Cumberledge, and Dave Terrant. There were some great matches going hill/hill and upsets from the start as Babe â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Dreamâ&#x20AC;? Hanna knocked one of the favorites, Jerry Hager, into the losers bracket to meet the top calcutta choice and various place winner Tom Purich for the king seat match. Tom had a hard road to go but came out on the winners side with matches over Curt Walker, Brian Waller, and Mike Cumberledge to get into the final 2. Babe came out on the winner side with a 5-3 win over Tom to advance to the king Seat. One of the best matches happened in the 3rd place rematch with Cumbo and Purich in a battle. With Cumbo up 4-1 it looked all but over until a scratch on the 8 ball made it 4-2 and Tom then secured 2 more wins to advance to his 2nd Final in consecutive months. The Final was heavily favored for Tom to repeat but Babe had dreams Babe Hanna of his own as he was playing his best pool of the year and came out on top of the sea saw battle 7-5 to claim the title!!! We thank everyone that came out and will see everyone on Dec 19th for the 9Ball Open Added event!

Results

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

$610 $380 $200 $125 $50 $50

Babe Hanna Tom Purich Mike Cumberldge Jerry Hager Curtis Walker Jeff Funnicum

& Tom Purich

Mike Cumberidge

New Location CORNER POCKET BILLIARDS CLUB 56731 Colerain Pike Martins Ferry, Oh 43935 740-738-0357

WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS Tues: Straight 8-Ball $8 entry Fri: Hcp 8-Ball $15 entry Sat: Chip Tourney $15 entry

November 2015 Stroke

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Cues Cu re for the

their time and money to support this event, including those players who brought friends to play for the first time. The monies raised benefit the South Florida Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. A big shout out to Amy Poulter, owner of Amy’s Billiards, for being a great hostess of another great event! Thanks to those who donated prizes for the raffle and helped out with the fundraising: Janis Sessions, Amy Poulter, Hunter Lombardo, Tommy Kennedy, Dianna Sullivan, Tony Martz, Ulterior Chalkers and the South Florida Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. As always, thank you to Tiger Products, our title sponsor; Ozone Billiards, Discount Mugs, Simonis Cloth, Boynton Billiards and Great Lakes Billiards for their year-long support of our tour. Kudos to Jerry Sotelo for his patience and hard work for another great year as the Tournament Director.

Jeannie Seaver, winner; Amy Poulter, room owner; and Crystal McCormick, second. STUART, FL (Oct. 17, 2015) – Fifty women converged at Amy’s Billiards in Stuart, Florida, for the Tiger Florida Tour’s $1,000-added, 7th Annual “Cues for Cure” breast cancer awareness fundraiser on October 17th. At the end of the day, Jeannie Seaver went undefeated and unwaveringly over last year’s winner, Crystal McCormick, to win this special event. This event was a modified double elimination format, playing down to four players on each side. The four players on the oneloss side redrew into the winners side for a single elimination match. Seaver was flawless all day in the short races to five, defeating Irene Snelgrove 5-2, Cheryl Perez 5-2, Jeri Bouvette 5-0, Sue Roberts 5-2, Jessica Barnes 5-3 and taking the win 5-2 over McCormick. McCormick, who hasn’t played on the Tour since February defeated Sandy Change 5-1, Stephanie Mitchell 5-4, Marlene Houldsworth 5-1, Amy Poulter 5-2, and Julia Spinella 5-0 before losing to Seaver. Seaver’s win also locked up the TFT 2015 Regional Tour Champion title, for the third time since the Tour’s inception in 2009, not including one tie with McCormick for the top spot. McCormick’s second place finish earned her the paid Qualifier spot for the WPBA Masters at Soaring Eagle in February 2016. A huge thanks to all of the players and spectators who devoted

OnTheBreakNews.com

Results: 1st $700 2nd $500 3rd/4th $300 5th-8th $150 ea 9th-12th $80 ea

Results Jeannie Seaver Crystal McCormick Jessica Barnes Julia Spinella Lyn Remsen Amy Poulter Sue Roberts Shanelle Loraine Stephanie Mitchell Michell Monk Marlene Houldsworth Sharon Correa

The Tiger Florida Tour is a WPBA-recognized Regional Tour, and a stepping stone to the Women’s Professional Billiard Association for women who want to play professionally.

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Stroke November 2015

Sossei Notches Joss Tour Win Jeremy Sossei improved on his second place finish last week, and turned in an undefeated run through a field of 48 players to win the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour’s second stop of the 2015/2016 season Salt City Billiards in Syracuse, NY. Sossei cruised through the winners side and took the hot-seat with a 9-2 win over Ed Saur. Saur would end up settling for second place, after a hill-hill loss to Bruce Naglein the semifinal match. Nagle had lost to Sossei earlier in the day on Sunday, and was looking good in his bid to revenge in the finals. Nagle stayed close to Sossei until the 6-6 mark, when Sossei took control and rattled off three straight racks for the 9-6 win. The second chance tournament on Sunday saw Joe Wysocki hold off Kevin Ketz in the finals. Wysocki had the hot-seat, after a 3-2 win over Jamie Garrett. Garrett would then drop another 3-2 match; this time to Ketz. Ketz took the first set of the finals 3-1, but Wysocki righted his ship and scored a 3-0 win in the second set, for first place. The winner of this stop’s $1700 custom engraved Joss cue was Jamie Garrett. Tour director Mike Zuglan urged all players interested in competing in January’s Turning Stone Classic XXV to reach him as soon as possible. The field is half full and will definitely fill up for January. Mike can be reached at 518-356-7163

BRUCE NAGLE AND JEREMY SOSSEI

1 2 3 4 5 5

Bar Box 8-Ball

results

USA USA USA USA CAN USA

SOSSEI Jeremy NAGLE Bruce SAUR Ed CROWE Jerry AUIGBELLE Spencer SALVETTI Travis

1,000 750 550 400 300 300

7 7 9 9 9 9

USA USA USA USA USA USA

ENSLIN Paul CASANZIO Ron KAM Marco JOHNSON David GHOSTINE Peter DREIDEL Dave

200 200 100 100 100 100

Added Money

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November 2015

Stroke

Lucky

7 Billiards

4850 South State Road 7

www.lucky7billiards.com

Hollywood, FL 954-239-8254

Home of the Pink Table (pinkie)

14 Pool Tables - 1 Snooker Table - Weekly Pool Tournaments APA - TAP - Player Leagues

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Hewitt Premium Billiards manager Mark Ruzekowicz, Bucky Souvanthong and Danny Hewitt

in a field of 19 players. Ketz defeated Jamie Garrett 3-0 for the hot-seat, and then defeated Dave Mils 3-1 in the finals. Tour director Mike Zuglan said that the upcoming Turning Stone Classic XXV is over 2/3 full, and players are urged to contact him at 518-356-7163 to get their entry fees in.

results

Danny Hewitt and Kevin Ketz were the big winners when the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour found itself at Premium Billiards in Syracuse, NY on the weekend of October 17th 18th. Hewitt took the main event with an undefeated run through a field of 48 players. His place in the hot-seat was no gimme though, as he narrowly defeated Marco Kam 9-8 in that match. On the one loss side, the story was Bucky Souvanthong. After losing his second match, Souvanthong had been mowing down opponents on the one loss side. Souvanthong eliminated Kam 9-5 for his spot in the finals. It was Souvanthong’s second appearance in the finals in as many weeks, and he took early command with a 3-0 lead in the first set. Souvanthing led the match 5-2, when Hewitt took control and won seven straight games for the 9-5 win and first place. In addition to the $1000 first place prize, Hewitt was also the lucky raffle winner of the $1,700 custom engraved Joss cue for this stop. Sunday’s second chance tournament saw Keviin Ketz return to the winner’s circle

Undefeated

1st $1000 2nd $700 3rd $550 4th $450 5th/6th $300 7th/8th $200 9th-12th $100

Danny Hewitt Bucky Souvanthong Marco Kam Ron Casanzio Nick Brucato, Dominick Martoccia Dave Ricci, Geoff Montgomery Bruce Nagle, Marko Clarke Willie Oney, Jerry Crowe

José L Piatti - 954-242-8208 PiattiJose@gmail.com UPABroward.com

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Stroke November 2015

Creamer comes back AzBilliards.com Staff Oct. 6, 2015

from semifinals to defeat Tamavoughn to claim the Western New York title

ROCHESTER, NY Though Dave Johnson would give him a little double (hill) trouble in the semifinals, Marc Creamer came back from a hot seat loss to meet and defeat Seth Tamavoughn in the finals of the September 26 stop on the Western New York Tour. The $500-added, bar table 8-ball event drew 18 entrants to Eastridge Billiards in Rochester, NY. Creamer got by Jason Hunt 5-3 to earn his spot in the hot seat match, as Tamavoughn was busy sending Angie Killips to the loss side 6-4. Tamavoughn claimed the hot seat 5-3 and waited for Creamer’s return.

results

1 2 3 4 5 5

On the loss side, Hunt drew Ron Casanzio, who’d picked up a forfeit win over Chris Brainan, and defeated Tim Cassidy 7-3. Killips met up with Dave Johnson, who’d gotten by Roger Jackson 7-4 and tour director Nick Brucato 5-4. Though he’d jump out to a 4-0 lead, in a race to five, Casanzio gave way to Hunt, who won five in a row to advance to the quarterfinals. He was joined by Johnson, who’d defeated Killips 6-3. Johnson took the quarterfinal match 5-3 over Hunt, but, as originally noted, while putting up a strong, double hill fight against Creamer in the semifinals, he had to settle for third place. Creamer took his second shot against Tamavoughn and claimed the title with a 7-5 win.

CREAMER Mark TAMAVOUGHN Dave JOHNSON David HUNT Jason KILLIPS Angie CASANZIO Ron

675 350 150 75 25 25

Steinway Cafe & Billiards

(727) 539-7665 11 - 9’ tables (3 - Diamonds) Darts 8 - TV’s

9-Ball Tournaments at 8pm Every Monday & Wednesday

Take Lessons with Earl Strickland and other World Champions Hours: Monday-Sunday 11am-4am 3525 Steinway St. Astoria, NY 11102 (718) 472-2124

www.michaelsbilliards.com

GRADY’S BILLIARDS

Hours: Mon-Thur: 2pm-2am / Fri-Sat: 1pm-2am / Sun: 6pm-2am

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28 November

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Stroke

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1861 W Tennessee St. Tallahassee, Florida

850 224-8644

22 - 9’ pool tables - HD TVs Darts - Liquor - Full Kitchen 10,000 Sq Feet Tournaments weekly and monthly www.facebook.com/onthebreaknews

Florian

Kohler

Win Trick Sh s ot Magic

Ewa Laurance Wins Hall of Fame Challenge Cup

Trick Shot Magic, always garnering respectable ESPN viewership, never fails to please. Andy Segal was not to regain his title as it was Internet sensation Florian “Venom” Kohler’s time to turn the tables. Nick Nikolaidis, again, lost on the Sudden Death, 8 railer where the cue baller that lands nearer the 100 dollar bill moves on to the final. Nick lost the lag and World Draw Shot Champion Gabi Visiou, wisely, asked him to shoot first: It’s the smart way to learn the

speed of the Simonis. Expert jump shots, performed at the speed of light as players galloped round the table to screech to a sudden stop, raise their leg with knees cocked and stab at object balls with their cue sticks. This kept the audience amused as take after take was captured on tape. Skill shots had balls pocketed 3 rails after contact, superb masse´s, and draw shots executed while the cue ball was still in motion had Venom and Gabi in close combat until at 6, Venom struck ahead and sealed the championship at 9. Although the order of airing has not been determined, scheduled ESPN dates for all of the Billiards International events are December 13, 20, and 27. Mark your calendars, set your smart phones, these shows offer some of the closest, drama-filled footage captured to date. Billiards International thanks its sponsors: Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis Cloth and Aramith Balls, Cue Mate, Mueller, Pool Dawg, and Seminole Casino Hotel.

Wins m i K g ions p Ga-Youn m a h C t of

en Tournam

Oct. 2, 2015 om mediumpool.c

It was as cold as a meat locker in the tournament room until ESPN tuned up the lights. Add the standing room only crowds and it was soon as sweltering as you’d expect in Southern Florida. That was not all that was hot: How about Ewa Laurance 4-1, 4-2 stellar play over Jeanette Lee in event’s opening Hall of Fame Challenge? Jeanette, with her rock star itinerary, was way out of stroke. Ewa, killer instinct intact, devoured The Black Widow. The loss didn’t faze the fans as the line formed to get Lee’s valuable signature on the Billiards International event program. Ewa added another trophy to her vast collection. Although the order of airing has not been determined, scheduled ESPN dates for all of the Billiards International events are December 13, 20, and 27. Mark your calendars, set your smart phones, these shows offer some of the closest, drama-filled footage captured to date.

The Tournament of Champions, the highly regarded women’s event opened with last year’s finalists, Kelly Fisher, and Allison Fisher–no relation, unlike brother and sister, Albin and Jasmin Ouschan. This year the roles, and rolls, were reversed as Allison, in the shorter races to 4, recovered after a 2-4 loss in the first set to prevail 4-3 in the second. After the climactic Sudden Death, race to one, Kelly confessed, “I gave it away but Allie maintained and deserved the win.” Korea’s Ga-Young Kim, always a contender, didn’t let Jasmine breathe as she was smothered 4-0 in the first set in semi’s #2. Jasmine, frustrated as she wasn’t given much opportunity, managed only one game in the second. Graciously, she signed autographs as she sadly exited the arena. Brother and sister could commiserate on their way back to Europe. Allison knew that she had to make every opportunity count yet Ga Young Kim was still unwavering in her determination. Gallantly, Allison got to 3-3 before Kim, alas, secured the first set. Behind 2-3 in the second, Fisher left a well played safety, snookering her opponent. Out came the jump cue. Masterfully, Kim speared the blinded ball into the pocket. Calmly, she sank the remaining 8 and 9 to run off $16,000 richer. Although the order of airing has not been determined, scheduled ESPN dates for all of the Billiards International events are December 13, 20, and 27. Mark your calendars, set your smart phones, these shows offer some of the closest, drama-filled footage captured to date.

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Stroke November 2015

Powder Puff 8-ball MARTINS FERRY, OH Corner Pocket Billiards Club held the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Powder Puff 8 ball Challenge on October 10th. 24 women came from 5 states to compete in this bi-monthly event! Some well known players attended: Shannon Dunn, Cheryl Reed, Tatum Cutting, Julie SkripacCooper, Lynn Parsons, Sonya Davis, Chelsie May, Claudia Kundrod, Mitsy Shepherd, Samantha Fordyce, Dawn Owens, Kasey Trifonoff, Missy Hewitt, Jamie Lankford, Bobbie Jo Summers, Serena Copenace, Megan Mcgee, Carrie Hamilton, Robin Gard, Teri Geary, Mj Ehler, Jamie Ashcraft, and Kayla Houk. There were some great matches and upsets with 12 hill/hill matches! 12 year old Tatum Cutting, who was the jr national runner up with year, got her first taste of the big girl matches right off the bat with a hill/hill match over Dawn Owens to then lose to eventual 3rd place winner Lynn Parsons from 21 Pool Room in Charleston WV. Tatum then went on to win 2 more matches before facing Columbus superstar Shannon Dunn. Tatum ended up tie for 7/8th but learned some good lessons for her future in Billiards! Julie Skirpac-Cooper and Lynn Parsons where making their way to the king seat matches but had to beat their familiar foes on the way. Julie made some fantastic shots to beat Jamie Ashcraft in the semi while Lynn had to beat fellow 21 Pool Room player Mitsy Shepherd who had just defeated the tournament favorite Shannon Dunn hill/hill. Julie then proceeded to the king seat to wait for her competition to battle it out. Jamie Lankford battled her way to 5th after a first round lost. Mitsy Shepherd continued her great play by defeating Shannon Dunn that left the favorite at 5th/6th also. Mitsy play great but Jamie Ashcraft was on a mission as defeated Mitsy 4-0 and Lynn

Parsons on the hill to advance into the finals. Julie did was she has been doing for years with a quiet victory easily over on Jamie to claim the Championship. We thank Jay Davis for the event and Owners Terri & Mike Simpson for the great food. Next Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Event is Dec 12th! $40 entry 1PM with calcutta.

Results

1st $880 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

Julie Skripac-Cooper $440 Jamie Ashcraft $250 Lynn Parsons $160 Mitsy Shepherd $40 Jamie Lanford $40 Shannon Dunn

1st Place - Julie Skripac-Cooper 3rd Place - Lynn Parsons

2nd Place - Jamie Ashcroft

November 2015

Stroke

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Dickerson Back-to-Back

FAIRFIELD, OH If you’ve never been to Michael’s Billiards, then you’re missing a real treat. Michael has a fondness for neon, the old-school, and smooth jazz, and that shows in the amazingly dynamic and bright decor throughout this historic pool hall. And the icing on the cake is the well-cared-for 9-foot Diamond tables. The field was smaller than usual, with only 12 shooters, but the competition was just as strong as we’ve come to expect from the Midwest Ladies’ Regional Tour. Starting out strong, Angela Williams beat Connie O’Heron 7-6, Monica Hill beat Tabitha Carmack 7-1, Adina Pelletier beat Stephanie Goens 7-6 and Christy Dickerson defeated Charlotte Alford 7-5. Second round winners included Julie Skripac-Cooper over Williams (7-5), Hill over Debbie Cervantes (7-5), Amee Schmidt over Pelletier (7-6) and Dickerson over Lupe Harpster (7-2). O’Heron and Williams rocked the B-side. Williams defeated Alford (6-4); Goens (6-4), and Hill (6-2) who had lost her quarter-finals match to Skripac-Cooper (7-1). O’Heron showed her dedication and skill, beating out Harpster (6-4), Carmack (6-4), and Schmidt (6-4), who was defeated in the quarter-finals by Dickerson (7-1). Schmidt and Hill finished 5th. O’Heron and Williams met again in the semi-finals of the B-side. The stakes were high; both women fighting for points and prestige. A great match ensued, with table play, strong form, and wicked defense. Williams started strong, leading the match 5-2 early on. But O’Heron is a real pro, and she pulled out 3 in a row to tie it on the hill. A fierce safety game proved to be a nail-biter for all those watching, and Williams skillfully—and surprisingly—locked O’Heron up tight. O’Heron threefouled on the two-ball, and Williams took the win! O’Heron finished 4th. On the winner’s side, Dickerson and Skripac-Cooper played for the chair. Both women proving why they were there, shooting clean, straight and strong, but in the end, Dickerson’s superior technique came out on top 7-4. After being defeated in the semi-finals, Skripac-Cooper came on strong in her match against Williams. Williams, determined to win the second set against the local gal, played hard, pulling out some amazing shots, and keeping pace with her opponent to the end. The final game saw both ladies struggling, not surprising for the time of night, but it was Williams who made the last error, and Skripac-Cooper finished the set, 6-5. Williams finished 3rd.

Borderline Billiards

Q City 9-Ball Tour - Dec 19th 2015 Entry: Ladies $35 - Men $50 Doors open 11:30am - Alternate break - Rack your own No lower 2 on the break - Push out - 3 foul rule Call the 9 - no slop - Race to handicap Contact: Herman Parker 336-686-5360 628 State St - Bristol, TN

423-989-7665

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Once again, Dickerson annihilated in the finals. The smooth-stroking, exceptionally consistent shooter just hit everything right. Skripac-Cooper stole a game mid-match, but there wasn’t much else she could do against the powerhouse from Indy. Dickerson finished her back-to-back win 7-1 over Skripac-Cooper, for ANOTHER undefeated victory! MLRT will hold a WPBA Masters qualifier on December 5, 2015 at Michael’s in Fairfield. Adina and Marc Pelletier have sponsored the event, so the winner will get paid entry into the WPBA Masters, to be held February 3-7, 2016 at Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort. Additionally, Michael’s will add $1000 (based on 32 players)! For more info, see their website at www.midwestladiestour.com and/or contact the tour directors at director@midwestladiestour.com.

Results

— Amee Schmidt - Tour Staff Oct. 19, 2015

1st

USA

Christy Dickerson

$375

2nd

USA

Julie Skripac

$250

3rd

USA

Angela Williams

$120

4th

USA

Connie O’Heron

$ 55

(336)856-8800

Action Available Upon Request

Double Points Event

Q CITY 9-BALL TOUR: NOV 14, 2015

Entry: $35 Ladies/$50 Men Alt Break/Rack your own/Race to handicap Registration at Noon - Players Meeting 1:30pm Pros and Amateurs Welcome for more information call Herman 828-593-0559

Scotty B’s

Wed. night 9-Ball FREE POOL Sat Leagues 336-377-9358

6004 Landmark Center Blvd - Greensboro, NC

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10-7’ and 3-9’ Pool Tables

6428 University Pkwy - Rural Hall, NC

Stroke November 2015

N E G L E L A O F H C

CHAMPIONS

The Challenge of Champions, in its 24th year on ESPN, pitted Shane Van Boening against Holland’s 2014 World 9-Ball Champion Niels Feijen. With the Dutchman taking the first set 5-4, and having opportunity to take the 2nd at 4-4, Niels fell to the comeback power of SVB. The Sudden Death, race to one, formula proved fatal for Feijen as Shane’s nerves never faltered and he was into the finals. Austrian, 2015 China Open Champion Albin Ouschannow faced 2014 Challenge winner Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann. Albin, stoic, never strayed from the task in hand. His calm composure assisted as he took the first set 5-4. Thorsten, with huge wins this year as he capture his 4th World Cup if 14.1 and CSI’s US Open 10Ball Championship at the Rio, was at a loss and, uncharacteristically, began to err. At 5-2, Albin sealed the deal and was off to the finals and a face-off with Shane. Still in stroke, Ouschan shook Shane as he snared the first set, handily, at 5-3. In an earlier conversation with Paul Smith, Diamond’s table set-up maestro, Shane confided, ”The Challenge of Champions is the tournament that I saw on ESPN that motivated me to become a pro. I really want to win this one.” It didn’t look like it was going to happen this year either. In the 2nd set, Albin took an early lead. It wasn’t until the 2nd game that nerves reared heir ugly head. Retired WPBA pro Mary Kenniston, cheerleading from the bleachers, chimed her support. “Come on Shane, let’s go!” Solid as a rock, punishing Albin for every minor error, Van Boening sped up the hill, and at 5-1, we were at Sudden Death: One game for the title–and the $25,000 first place prize money. Bupkis for second. Ouschan was shaking now, not visibly, but on the inside he later shared. Shane didn’t look too comfortable either as makable balls were missed by both players. But, it was Albin’s scratch, with only 2 balls on the table, that added another notch to Shane’s accomplishments while eliminating a lifetime goal on his bucket list. Albin was devastated. “I’ve never felt nerves like that before. Even when I was in the finals playing for $40,000. Maybe, it was the thought of not winning anything that scared me. At least in the China Open, I knew that i had 20,000 coming.” Billiards International promotor, Gregg Hovey, added, “These tournaments are the most brutal out there. It takes great courage to maintain championship composure.”

November 2015

Shane VanBoening posted on Facebook

Being a four week old dad can do that: Our congratulations to Albin on the birth of his daughter, Lene Sophie. Although the order of airing has not been determined, scheduled ESPN dates for all of the Billiards International events are December 13, 20, and 27. Mark your calendars, set your smart phones, these shows offer some of the closest, drama-filled footage captured to date. Billiards International thanks its sponsors: Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis Cloth and Aramith Balls, Cue Mate, Mueller, Pool Dawg, and Seminole Casino Hotel.

Stroke

OnTheBreakNews.com

It’s a dream come true to win the 2015 international challenge of champions. 20 years ago, I watched earl Strickland and bustamante on ESPN challenge of champions. That day, I said to myself I wanted to be professional pool player. Today, won my match against Neil feijen on “sudden death”game with me breaking and run on last rack. The Finals match, me and Albin outschen won both sets and down to “sudden death” game. We both got to table twice and could not closed the game out. I finally got a fortunate role to win the match. To win the ESPN challenge of champions is a mission accomplished and much dream come true. Match will be edited and aired on ESPN later in December. Thanks for all support.

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6 Pockets Billiards Lucky 7 Billiards Gate City Billiards Club Premium Billiards Grady’s Pool Room Corner Pocket Union Station Billiards Michael’s Chandley’s Chalk & Cue 6 Pockets Billiards Lucky 7 Billiards Gate City Billiards Club Grady’s Pool Room Chandley’s Chalk & Cue Scotty B’s Scooters on Main St Corner Pocket The Break Room The Break Room Brickyard Brickyard Scotty’s Crooked Cue (1st Sun) Crooked Cue (3rd Sun) Sandcastle Billiards Sandcastle Billiards Chandley’s Chalk & Cue Rack Rack Clicks Billiards Premium Billiards Play Time Snookers Phat Guy Birds Airway Cushions Michael’s (every other Sun) Sundown

256-686-3171 (954) 239-8254 (336) 856-8800 (315) 488-4888 (803) 957-7665 (740) 738-0357 (207) 899-3693 (513) 860-0044 (980) 635-1109 256-686-3171 (954) 239-8254 (336) 856-8800 (803) 957-7665 (980) 635-1109 (336) 377-9358 (270) 230-1879 (740) 738-0357 (616) 454-0899 (616) 454-0899 (269) 968-0692 (269) 968-0692 (614) 755-9407 (727) 539-7665 (727) 539-7665 (732) 632-9277 (732) 632-9277 (980) 635-1109 (601) 372-6576 (601) 372-6576 (407) 275-6064 (315) 488-4888 (269) 323-2295 (734) 422-9510 (812) 346-0870 (937) 274-1230 (614) 882-5986 (513) 860-0044 (419) 564-4538

9-Ball $13 9-Ball $5 Matching w/20+ Scotch Doubles 8 Ball/9 Ball Call Open Bar Box 8 Ball-SE $20 9-Ball Handicap $20 $200 w/16 8-Ball $15 Call 8 Ball - Race to 2 $8 Call 8-Ball $1 $5/player 8 Ball on Diamond bar box-Hdcp $20 Break & run 9-Ball $13 8-Ball-Race to 2-DE $5 Match w/20+ 8 Ball/9 Ball (1st Sat) Round robin Call 9-Ball Handicap $20 $300 w/24 9 Ball on Diamond bar box-Hdcp $20 Break & run FREE POOL 8 Ball Chip Pool $15 Call 9 Ball $5 Call 8 Ball $5 Call 8 Ball $20 Call 9 Ball $20 Call 8 Ball Call 200% payout 8-Ball ‘B’ Only Mod. Rnd Robin $10 $200 1st 8-Ball Open Mod. Rnd Robin $10 $200 1st 9-Ball - Ladies (1st Sun) Call 10-Ball (3rd Sun) Call 10 Ball on 9’ Diamonds-Hdcp $25 Break & run 9 Ball $10 9 Ball $10 Mixed 8 Ball & 9 Ball $7 9 Ball - 10-Ball Break Pot $20 9 Ball $15 Call 8 Ball - bank the 8 $10 Call 8 Ball Call Call Alt 8 & 9 Ball Call Call 9 Ball $10 Call 8 Ball - Race to 3 $10 Call 8 Ball $7 1/3 pot

8PM 8PM 8PM 7PM 8PM 7:30PM 8PM 7:30PM 7:30PM 8PM 8PM 7PM 7PM 7:30PM 7PM Call 6PM 6PM 1PM 7PM 3PM 6PM 1PM Noon Noon 3PM 6PM 8:30PM 2PM 7PM 4PM 2PM 7:30PM 7PM 8PM Call 5:30PM

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Stroke November 2015

DATE Oct 31-Nov 1 Oct31-Nov 1 Oct31-Nov 1 Nov 1 Nov 1-3 Nov 7 Nov 7 Nov 7 Nov 7-8 Nov 7-8 Nov 7-8 Nov 8 Nov 8 Nov 13-15 Nov 14 Nov 14-15 Nov 14-15 Nov 15 Nov 14 Nov 21 Nov 21 Nov 21-22 Nov 21-22 Nov 21-22 Nov 21-22 Nov 27 Nov 28-29 Nov 28-29 Nov 28 Nov 29 Dec 5 Dec 5 Dec 5 Dec 6 Dec 5-6 Dec 5-6 Dec 12-13 Dec 13 Dec 13 Dec 17-20 Dec 19 Dec 20 Dec 27 Dec 27 Jan 2-3 Jan 7-9 Jan 7-10 Jan 16

CITY Statesville NC Astoria, NY Norristown, PA Clifton, NJ Astoria, NY Decatur, AL Hickory, NC Spartanburg, SC Talahassee, FL E Rutherford, NJ Yorkville, NY Somersworth, NH Jackson Hgts, NY Rocky Mount, NC Spartanburg, SC Edison, NJ Portland, ME Rockaway, NJ Greensboro, NC Raleigh, NC Rural Hall, NC Somerville, SC Astoria, NY Providence, RI Brooksville, FL Cockeysville, MD Ocala, FL Astoria, NY Orange, CT Clifton, NJ Decatur, AL Rockaway, NJ Lexington, SC Somersworth, NH Lindenhurst, NY Spartanburg, SC W Hempstead, NY Cockeysville, MD Abington, MA Edison, NJ Lexington, SC Hamden, CT Astoria, NY Plaistow, NH Greenville, SC Mt Sterling, KY Verona, NY Syracuse, NY

Call First - All Tournaments are subject to change without notice

LOCATION Chandley’s Chalk & Cue Steinway Billiards Markley Billiards Clifton Billiards Steinway Billiards 6 Pockets Randolphs Cue Time Zingale’s Castle Billiards Hippo’s Busters Billiards BQE Billiards Dots Cue Club Cue Time Sandcastle Billiards Union Station Rockaway Billiards Gate City Billiards Buck’s Billiards Scotty B’s Bentley’s Steinway Billiards Snookers Billiards Capones Magic 8 Cue Club Diamond Billiards Steinway Billiards Corner Pocket Cafe Clifton Billiards 6 Pockets Rockaway Billiards Gradys Billiards Busters Billiards Mr Cue Billiards Cue Time Raxx Bar & Grill Magic 8 Cue Club Stix and Stones Sandcastle Billiards Gradys Billiards Towne Billiards Steinway Billiards Crow’s Nest World Cup Billiards Billy Macks Billiards Turning Stone Salt City Billiards

PHONE 980-635-1109 718-472-2124 610-278-1595 973-928-6622 718-472-2124 256-686-3171 828-326-7005 864-310-4088 850-224-8644 201-933-6007 315-768-0218 603-692-7926 718-779-4348 252-212-3373 864-310-4088 732-632-9277 207-899-3693 973-625-5777 336-856-8800 919-467-5411 336-817-2412 843-695-8275 718-472-2124 401-351-7665 352-688-9965 410-628-2965 352-304-5050 718-472-2124 203-891-0777 973-928-6622 256-686-3171 973-625-5777 803-957-7665 603-692-7926 631-226-9486 864-310-4088 516-538-9896 410-628-2965 339-788-9381 732-632-9277 803-957-7665 203-281-7665 718-472-2124 603-974-1686 864-477-8369 606-495-3674 518-356-7163 315-454-8643

EVENT / RULES Halloween 9-Ball Open Steinway Classic PA State 9-Ball ABCD 9-Ball A-B/C-D Steinway Classic 10 Ball 9-Ball 9-Ball Scotch Doubles FL Pool Tour 9-Ball Amateur Open/Pro/ABCD 9-Ball Al Conte Memorial 9-Ball 9-Ball A-B/C-D 9-Ball Scotch Doubles NJ State 8-Ball 9-Ball 9-Ball A-B/C-D 9-Ball 9-Ball

ENTRY ADDED $60 $1,000 Varies $1,000 $60 $1,000 Call $1,000 $200 $7,000 $35 $500 Call Call $40 $1,200 w/32 Call $5000 Varies $1,000 $120Pro/$70Am $1500/$500 $25 to $45 $500 Call $1,000 $75 $2,500 $40/team $200 w/16 $50 to $100 $1,000 $120Pro/$70Am $1,500/$500 Call $1,000 $50 M/$35 W Call $50 M/$35 W Call 8-Ball Shelly W Hill Mem Toys 4 Tots $5+new toy Call 9-Ball $85 incl g.f. $5,000 w/64 9-Ball A-B/C-D Call $1,900 Ocean State 9-Ball $125 $5,000 10-Ball - Max 32 players $350 $5,000 1st Black Friday Pro/Am Event Varies $1,000 9-Ball Call Call Open/Pro/ABCD 9-Ball Varies $1,000 9-Ball $25 to $45 $500 9-Ball A-B/C-D Call $1,000 9-Ball $35 $500 9-Ball A-B/C-D Call $1,000 9-Ball $50 M/$35 W Call 9-Ball $25 to $45 Call Open/Pro/ABCD 9-Ball Varies $1,500 Sparkle City Shootout-Limit 128 $100 $2,500 Open/Pro/ABCD 9-Ball Varies $5,000 + Christmas Classic Pro/Am Varies $1,000 9-Ball $25 to $45 Call Make it Happen 10-Ball Invitational 9-Ball $50 incl g.f. $3,000 w/64 9-Ball $24 to $45 $500 9-Ball A-B/C-D Call $1,000 9-Ball Partners $25 to $45 Call 9-Ball $60+$10 g.f. $1,000 9-Ball-Limit 64 $40 $2,500 Turning Stone XV 9-Ball $200/$150 $25,000 9-Ball $120/$70 $1,500/$500

TIME Noon Noon Call Call 10AM 7PM Call Noon Call Noon Call 1PM Call 6PM Noon Call Call Call Noon Noon 11AM Noon Call Call Call 10AM Call Noon 1PM Call 7PM Call Noon 1PM Noon Call Noon 10AM 1PM Call Noon 1PM Call 1PM 11AM 7PM Call Call

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November 2015 Stroke

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