Stroke Pool Magazine February Issue 2017

INSIDE:

UNION STATION STEINWAY BILLIARDS

TURNING STONE FLORIDA STATE MUSIC CITY OPEN

hinook C inds Wpen O 4th Annual

March 9-11, 2017 Chinook Winds Casino Resort Lincoln City, OR

$24,000 Added Men’s Division Race to 7, Alternate Breaks $15,000 guaranteed for 1st place if FF $10,000 guaranteed for 2nd place if FF FF = Full Field = 128 entries Maximum bracket size - 256

Women’s Division Race to 5, Alternate Breaks $6,000 guaranteed for 1st place if FF $3,670 guaranteed for 2nd place if FF FF = Full Field = 48 entries Maximum bracket size - 64

8-Ball Championships Entry Fees: $200 ($175 entry + $25 gf) Entry Deadline: March 3, 2017 Entry Forms: go to westernbca.org

Schedule of Events

March 8 (Wed), 6p - Calcutta March 9 (Thurs), Noon - Play Starts March 10 (FrI), 7p - 2nd Chance Tournament $2000 added/$100 entry Limited to 64 players Finals will be Saturday, times TBA

Dress Code

Collared Shirts/Slacks/Jeans ok if not torn or frayed. No leggings or shorts.

Questions-Call Mike Jensen at 360-703-4081

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FEATURE ARTICLES

STEINWAY BILLIARDS TURNING STONE

6 Turning Stone 11 Joy Chinese 8-Ball 18 World Pool Series 21 Music City Open

FLORIDA STATE MUSIC CITY OPEN

COLUMNISTS

12 Tom Simpson 15 Anthony Beeler 14 Bob Jewett 13 Stefano Pelinga

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INSTRUCTION/SERVICES

Anthony Beeler 15 Bob Jewett 14 Cue of the Month 27 OnTheBreakNews.com 29 Stefano Pelinga 13 Subscription 32 Tom Simpson 12 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.

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Don “Cheese” Akerlow

2017

February 2017

5

JAYSON SHAW TURNING STONE VERONA, NY Jayson Shaw has just won the Turning Stone Classic for the fifth time in the last six attempts. We call that domination. And we call Jayson Shaw a player.

Rarely do fans get to witness a player who is so hot. We saw it in Greenleaf and Mosconi back in their day, and more recently we saw it with Mike Sigel, Nick Varner, Johnny Archer and Earl Strickland and most recently with Shane Van Boening (whose streak is coincident to Shaw’s.)

All of these players went through stages where they seemed to win everything they entered. And now we are seeing it with Jayson Shaw. The only question that remains is for how long he will be able to maintain this high level. Some burn out on it, others prosper in the heat.

Shaw defeated Rodney Morris in the finals of Turning Stone13-6.

Rodney made a late comeback after trailing 7-1 but this one was in Shaw’s control the whole way. With the exception of Shaw, Rodney Morris had a very good week. He defeated the likes of Dennis Hatch (9-7) and Amar Kang (9-4). He then lost the hot seat match to Shaw (9-3) and that sent him way left to take down Dennis Hatch with a convincing 9-3. Then he had to go face Shaw again in the finals and that just didn’t work out well at all. Shaw jumped out to a large early lead and while Rodney fought back gallantly he just had too much road to get there by darkness and Shaw seated him in second place 13-6.

w an a h S l n g o u s y Z Ja Mike with Photo and article from: Mike Zuglan - Joss9BallTour.com (Story by AZB Staff)

Main Event Payouts 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5/6th 7/8th 9-12th

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Jayson Shaw Rodney Morris Dennis Hatch Amar Kang John Morra, Thorsten Hohmann Oscar Dominguez, Johnny Archer Sebastian Laramee, Jarrod Clowery Darren Appleton, Jorge Rodriguez

February 2017

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13-16th $850 Tom Theriault, Joey Cicero, Nelson Oliveira, Tom D’alfonso 17-24th $550 Phil Davis, Ernesto Dominguez, Del Sim, Spencer Auigbelle, Jeremy Sossei, Hunter Lombardo, Karen Corr, Tom Zippler 25-32nd $300 Erik Hjorleifson, Eric Cloutier, Ed Saur, Dan Hewitt, Luc Salvas, Brandon Shuff, Tony Antone, Bucky Souvanthong

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2ND CHANCE event-32 players with a total prize fund of $1,600.

1st $500 Spencer Auigbelle 2nd $300 Rob Sakell 3/4th $200 Chad Bowling, Phil Davis 5/8th $100 John Babravich, John Vitale, Steve Fleming, Dave Mills

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FLorida State Zingale’s Open 10-Ball

What a fantastic event we just had at Zingales Billiard Room & Sports Bar, Tallahassee, FL! Kicking things off with a super sweet and heartfelt tribute to Scotty Townsend. Kollet Nichole Probst, you did an amazing job on his portrait, which will now hang in the pool room for all to see and pay respect to. Then right into a great player auction and then onto crowning a brand new champion on the Florida Pool Tour. 77 players in the Main Event draw and a cool 40 players in the Second Chance event. There were lots of intense matches going on all weekend. We had notable players like Sky Woodward, Manny Perez, Robb Saez, Shane McMinn, Butch Croft, Tom Kennedy, Anthony Crosby, Justin Hall, Benji Buckley, Raymond Linares, Stoney Stone, Michael DeLawder, and

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Top 16 Finishers 1st Daniel McKenney 2nd Benji Buckley 3rd Butch Croft 4th Stoney Stone 5/6 Manny Perez, Denny Singletary 7/8 Robb Saez, Shane McMinn 9-12 Clint Nichols, Sky Woodward,

Tony Crosby, Tommy Kennedy 13-16 Howie Gordon, Randy Jordan,

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Congratulations to Daniel McKenney for taking the win and Benji Buckley for taking runner-up (He won it last year, strong!) Butch Croft snuck in there to get a 3rd place finish as well!

In the Second Chance event, Jamie Baraks put the beast mode on and started running for the win.

Matthew Bulfin took 2nd place with Rod Rentz just behind him rounding out the top 3.

Once again big thanks to Michael Zingale and the staff for being so hospitable throughout the entire weekend. XPC - Xtreme Pool Challenge, once again provided the best stream in the country.

5 HD Tables, free all weekend long! It doesn’t get any better than that folks.

Round Robin Tournaments 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month $5.00 8-Ball tournament every Wed. at 1:00pm

www.michaelsbilliards.com

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February 2017

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Steinway Billiards Astoria,NY AMATEURS 1st Max Watanabe 2nd Abel Rosario 3rd Brooke Meyer 4th George Poltorak 5/6th Rhys Chen, Troy Deocharran 7/8th Annie Flores, Tommy Schreiber 9-12th Ross Lacy, Dev Battacharya, Bryan Toolsee, Jose Kuilan 13-16th Carl Yusuf Khan, Shawn Sookhai, Andrew Cleary, Gary Boigian

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93 Avenue U - Brooklyn, NY

February 2017

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l a B 9 s e i r e S s d r a i l i B n o i t Union Sta

PORTLAND, ME This Saturday, January 7, 2017 was the date of the USB Tournament Series Event #5. There was $250 added to this 9-Ball, non-handicapped event, $40 buy in tournament.

Congratulations to Today’s Series #5 Winners (pictured at left)!!!

1st Jimmy Hayden 2nd JoshRupard 3rd Samoth Sam 4th Lindsey Monto !!Reminder!! You must play in 4 of the 9 Series Tournaments to Qualify for the June Finale. There are only 4 more Series Tournament Dates: February 5, March 5, April 2 and May 6.

Union Station Crowns In-House League Finale Winners January 8th, 2017 Union Station Billliards Crowned our In-House League Finale Winners! Congrats to all!

1st Samoth Sam 2nd Brandon Cole 3rd Josh Rupard 4th Bill Pepin

Brandon Cole and Samoth Sam

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Home of the Pink Table (pinkie)

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Monday Madness 9-Ball Tournaments Have Begun! l-r: John Howard (3rd), Bob Delpiaz (1st) and Merlin Fisher-Levine (2nd)

SANDCASTLE BILLIARDS EDISON, NJ It’s only a race to 3 in this double-elimination tournament where anyone can win playing EVEN UP! This was proven the very first week when the top three finishers were all from different skill sets; An “A class”, a “B class” and a “C class” player. We hope to see even more of you this next coming Monday!!!

Congrats to our top 3 finishers from our very 1st Monday Madness Tournament:

Joy Chinese 8-Ball

After housing the very 1st Joy Chinese 8-Ball table in the United States, hosting the very first US qualifier, which Corey Deuel won, and getting over 3,5000 viewers between his Ustream channel and the PoolLive COREY DEUEL phone app, owner of Sandcastle Billiards, Ed “Sandman” Liddawi was graciously invited by Joy Billiards to join them in China for the 5th Annual Joy Cup World Chinese 8-Ball Masters.

It was a spectacular event with an opening ceremony which would make you think you were watching the Olympics! Coincidentally, this year’s venue for the event was indeed the very same Olympic stadium used for the 2008 Olympics in Qinhuangdao, China. Not only were the opening ceremonies, dancers, violinists, drummers, performers, singers, player introductions, global partners’ intros, the incredibly tough competition itself and the expo absolutely amazing but many negotiations went on between the 11 new countries joining in the movement to bring Joy tables and Chinese 8-Ball to cueists all around the world!

The game of Chinese 8-Ball brings together various disciplines from American 8-Ball, Snooker, Black Ball & Black Pool on a Joy Billiards 4.5 x 9-foot snooker style playing surface with the very best construction of hard maple laminated framework and 2-inch slate. The 1.3-ton table is by far a superior built table than what most of us Americans are used to unless you are one of the few who are fortunate enough to own something like a Gabriel table or such. Your all around game will definitely improve once you learn how to adapt your stroke and pattern play to this beauty!

After negotiations with the GM and President of Joy, Ed Liddawi was able to get competitive pricing for us here in the US so that we can have the availability of the table here in America for everyone to try out. Ed is currently recruiting regional organizers and billiard parlors dedicated to the players and the game to become sanctioned, house a top of the line gold leg edition Joy Chinese 8-Ball table, and host several official qualifiers all over the nation this year. Sanctioned regional

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qualifier winners from 16 locations all over the US will be flown out to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, New Jersey and put up in hotels for 3 nights as the 16 worthy competitors battle it out in the national qualifier and get an all expense paid & sponsored round trip airfare, 5-star hotel stay for up to 10 days, and entry into a Joy event in China to vie for a $100,000RMB prize. This will be done 4 times this year!

The highest points earner out of those 4 players sent to China will be invited back once again to compete in the grand finale 64 player event, The 6th Joy Cup World Chinese 8-Ball Masters! Not too shabby if you ask me!

For further information on getting involved here in the US as part of a global movement as either a regional coordinator or host venue, feel free to contact Ed Liddawi at Sandcastle Billiards (732) 632-9277 Email him at Sandman@ SandcastleBilliards.com or send him a private message on his Facebook account.

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February 2017

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PUT SOME LIFE IN YOUR GAME

by Tom Simpson © May 2007 – All Rights Reserved – PoolClinics.com

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

Tom Simpson

Tom Simpson

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February 2017

Most pool players don’t think of themselves as athletes – at least not in pool. I’ve come to think we are athletes, and to the extent we act and become athletic at the table, we can improve our performance.

Pool is a physical performance art. Excellent physical performers use their bodies beautifully and gracefully. To me, this is athletic – filled with life, moving with fullness.

Pool players don’t have to be large or muscular to play athletically. We can probably agree that good pool looks full, alive, connected. We can probably agree this is a good thing.

If you’re slouching, if you’re dragging your butt around the table, if you’re feeling weak, if you’re thinking about something else, life is leaking out of your game.

The “life in your game” is the fun, the zing, the energy behind your wins. Let’s explore some ways to get more life in your game. This is not the typical approach to things, but this is not a typical topic. It won’t hurt you to try this stuff.

1.

Life in your demeanor: The general idea is to try to feel large in your body, as if you are slightly inflated. Your joints are open, you feel tall, and you move smoothly around the table, connected to the balls. One way to experience this sensation is to imagine you are ever so slightly suspended from the top of your head. Keep this feeling as you stalk the layout.

2.

Life in your stance: As you settle into your stance, it should look and feel athletic. That means it’s not twisted up and it’s not relying heavily on muscle. It’s using your skeleton well. An athletic stance is in between locked knees and crouching. It’s easy but strong and stable. You should be bending from the pelvis, not slumping your shoulders and back. Slumping is not athletic and will produce slumpy results. Your feet can also come to life. As you notice your weight in your feet, and as you can get that weight happily onto the balls of your feet, you’ll feel solid and balanced. Wiggle your toes and wake up your feet. The better you land your feet,

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the more likely you’ll feel right and make the shot.

3.

Life in your bridge: To inject some life into your bridge, try increasing the awareness (sense of touch) in your fingers. Work your bridge into exactly the rock you need it to be to precisely deliver the tip for the shot at hand. Anchor the bridge in place with a little “life”. Nail it down and let it be.

4.

Life in your grip: To have life in your stroke, you need a soft grip. Squeezing hard robs you of fluidity. Try increasing the awareness in your fingertips. Really feel the weight and texture of the cue in your fingers.

5.

Life in your stroke: Your arm should bend smoothly. Jerky motions are difficult to control and produce iffy results. Get through the ball.

No poking. It’s vital that your elbow bend easily and fluidly. Don’t shoot until you have an athletic connection to the shot. Feel the groove of the stroke and do not interfere.

6.

Life in your eyes: This does not mean wild, bulging eyes, darting all over. Generally, we perform better when our eyes are quiet and focused. Yes, we look back & forth down the shot line, but smoothly, calmly, undistracted. It’s just you and the balls.

7.

Life in your thinking: Be positive. Expect to make your shots. Expect to get shape. Expect to get rolls. Expect to win. Don’t let a bad shot or a bad roll change your attitude. Enjoy the good stuff.

Hey, you’re playing pool. How bad is that?

Play with all the athletic ability and feeling you can muster. It’s what makes us look good at the table. When we look good, we feel good. That breeds confidence, and confidence sinks balls like crazy. How would a cat play pool?

Try to feel like a big cat at the table. Glide smoothly about, never lose focus, stretch luxuriously into your shooting position. No hitches, no hesitation.

Put some life in your game, and maybe get some more game in your life.

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KYOTO’S FREEWAY 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.

As most of you may know, set-up shots don’t really require a lot of skills in their execution. However, they do need a lot of experience to be set up quickly and flawlessly. I never cared too much for set-up shots but I happen to really like a few of them which are hard to arrange and even to execute. This month’s trick shot is surely one of my favorite set-up shots. I learned it in the late 80s directly from its creator, the legendary Japanese champion Yoshikazu Kimura. He named it “Kyoto’s Freeway” as supposedly the roads are very busy and traffic chaotic in that beautiful Japanese city of his. Let’s set it up!

First, place a ball right on the head spot and the 1-ball straight behind it. Then remove the first ball from the spot and place the 2-ball frozen to the 1-ball and with their line of centers (the red dotted line) aiming at the right point of the right corner pocket. Then place the CB one ball from the short rail and at its very center. Freeze the 3-ball and the 4-ball to the CB with their line of centers aiming at 1.5 diamonds from the corner pockets on the long rails (black dotted lines).

Place the 5-ball very close to the 3-ball and in line with the right point of the top left corner pocket. Similarly, place the 6-ball close to the 4-ball and in line with the left point of the top right corner pocket. The gaps between these couple of balls are of about 1/8”.

Shoot the CB dead center and a 3-speed stroke aiming at the 1-ball full. I personally use a closed bridge on the rail. If you manage to hit the CB purely in the center, without putting any unwanted English on it, you will very likely be able to pocket all six balls in one shot and in four different pockets, as shown in the diagram.

The most common adjustment you may need while attempting this shot will be the alignment between the 3- and 5-ball and 3-5 4-6 between the 4- and 6-ball.

Depending on their cleanliness, they may need to be aimed at the center of the corner pockets or even at the opposite points.

That will slightly change the •2 tangent lines between these 1 pairs of balls but the 3- and the 4-ball should still sink in the corner pockets.

Enjoy and drive carefully out there, especially when in Kyoto or… Rome!

CB-3

CB-4

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San Francisco Billiard Academy www.sfbilliards.com

PBIA certified instruction is available for all levels from beginners to instructor training.

Honolulu -- No Standard Shot

Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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February 2017

You may have noticed that I’m a big advocate of trying games you don’t usually play to work on shots you might otherwise avoid and look at different strategies. This month’s game is called Honolulu. The legend is that it started at Hawaiian Brian’s room in that city.

The basic rules are pretty simple. It’s just like straight pool except it is played with only one rack and to 8 points. The rule that sets it apart is that you are not allowed to play any simple shot -- you can’t play a ball directly into a pocket. Banks, kicks, combinations, caroms and any more complicated assembly of those are allowed. You have to call the ball and the pocket but don’t have to say exactly how the shot will unfold.

If you are playing a kick shot (cue ball to the cushion before ball contact), you can’t play a “cheap” kick where you hit a cushion that connects to the pocket you are going for. In the diagram, you can’t call the 9 ball and come off the end rail right by the ball.

On the break shot at the fifteen-ball rack, you have to get two balls and the cue ball to cushions or pocket a called ball, just like 14.1. Fouls are penalized by spotting a previously made ball or the player owes a ball to the table as at one pocket. Any ball pocketed without having been called is returned to the table at the end of the player’s inning (called “delayed”). Also, if a player clears the table on a scoring shot without having won, all owed and delayed balls are spotted at that time and the player continues.

Unlike 14.1 where only the crazy people try for a ball on the break, it’s not such a bad idea at Honolulu. Banking the corner ball back is a fairly high percentage if you practice it and it gets the game started. You could also try the head ball into the side pocket.

You have to think about this game differently and that’s good. How many reasonable shots can you see in the diagram? I can see at least 8 that have a pretty good chance to go. Try to find them all before reading on for my list.

Ready? The only bank I like here is the 14 ball cross-side. You could bank the 7 or the 2 but I would only consider those as a last resort. The 2 in the side off the 3; 9 by three different combinations; 7 on a carom off the 6; kiss the 1 off the 11; 4-11 combo. If none of those shots was available, I’d also consider the billiard shot off the left side of the 6 to the 9 and the kick shot off the head rail to the 9.

Which shot should you take here? Well, with the 9 in the jaws, you have a chance to plan a run. Play the 10-9 combo and bump lightly into the 6. If you have left the 10 by the pocket, you will then

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9

15

8

6

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1 11 5

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REJ

have the 8-10 combo followed by the 15-8 combo. Of course you have to shoot the combos with the right speed and a full hit to leave the first ball near the pocket and not bounce away or follow the second ball in.

There is one optional rule and that is the double call. If you think you are going to pocket two balls, both by nondirect shots, you can call both of them but you have to make both of them for either shot to count. In the diagram, you could play the 6-9 combo and carom into the 7 to make it also.

Happy banking, kissing, caroming, and combinationing.

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A LESSON FROM LUTHER

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.

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Have you ever noticed the number of professional players that rest their head almost directly above their cue? In fact, modern snooker players are well known for this. Sometimes it appears that the cue is rubbing or almost scraping against their chin each time the cue is stroked. At some point, you probably have asked yourself the question, “How far above the cue should I rest my head?”

The answer to this question can be found by using a simple formula. The formula I am referring to uses 3 simple reference points. The reference points include the elbow, grip and “V” on your bridge hand. Once the reference points are found, an imaginary triangle is formed as shown in the diagram below. Your eyes should be either “on” or “somewhere inside of the imaginary triangle.”

cue. Snooker players have recognized this advantage for years. This is because they regularly play on 6x12 tables where long shots are the norm.

The photo below shows the distance your eyes have to travel when they are positioned above the triangle (not crouched). You will note that your eyes have to move around 5 inches as they transition back and forth from the top of the cue ball to the bottom of the object ball (eight-ball).

You might ask the question, “How will this help me pocket balls?” There are in fact many answers to this question. One answer is that it becomes much easier for a player to be consistent with their visual alignment when their head is positioned closer to the cue. When the chin is placed near the cue, it is easier to see if you are off line.

It will also allow you to visually maintain a straighter stroke.

Having your head closer to the cue also allows you to sight as though you were looking down the sights of a gun barrel. If you normally have trouble pocketing long shots, you might not be bending over far enough and aiming with your dominant eye.

World Champion, Luther “Wimpy” Lassiter once suggested that the key to pocketing long difficult shots is to get into your stance then crouch just a little more. In fact, there is considerably less eye movement between the cue ball and object ball if your head is positioned closer to the

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Conversely, your eyes won’t have to do nearly as much work if they are located inside of the imaginary triangle (as suggested by Lassiter). Our next photo shows the same shot, but this time the player’s eyes only have to move around 2 inches (3 inches less than before).

The reason for this is that the view is from a crouched perspective (inside the triangle).

The overall distance will vary from shot to shot, but the distance your eyes have to travel will always be diminished as you move closer to your cue. Over the course of time this can be a huge advantage. Obviously less eye movement is better, because there is less room for error.

So the next time you are faced with a long difficult shot remember to take the advice of Lassiter and crouch just a little more.

Remember to practice positioning your eyes inside of the imaginary triangle. Once mastered, your eyes will do less work and you will pocket difficult shots a much higher percentage of the time.

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Robert Ash takes GSBT Stop #1

Robert Ash

Bernard Andigo

The Great Southern Billiard Tour kicked off 2017 in style at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA this weekend!!! We started out Friday night with a great mini tournament with 31 players with the win going to Raymart Lim and Chris Futrell coming in 2nd and Jacki Noble Duggan with a great 3rd place finish!!

One of the great players from the area, Bernard Andigo, came in 2nd with his clutch late night play and another strong local player Greg Sabines finished 3rd!! The field was rounded out by John Cagle 4th John THE SAILOR and Raymart Lim in 5-6th and Thomas Williams and Scott Gushell finishing in 7-8th position!!!

We kicked off Saturdays main event with 48 talented players from across the region and by the early morning hours on Sunday we finally crowned a new and 1st time champion on the tour Robert Ash!!! He has been playing with us on the tour for almost 9 years and finally notched his 1st win!!

I myself cannot say thank you enough to the amazing staff at Q Master for all of there hard work and services throughout the weekend you guys are 2nd to none! This famous room has begun a new chapter in the last year with the children of Mr. Barry Behrman taking over since his untimely passing and to say the least for Brady Behrman and Shannon

GRADY’S BILLIARDS

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

FULL BAR - FOOD WEEKLY POOL TOURNAMENTS LEAGUES - CUE REPAIR 850C South Lake Dr - Lexington, SC 803-957-7665

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Paschall you guys have really stepped up and are doing an incredible job that would make your father really proud of you both!! I was extremely pleased with everything this entire weekend and cannot wait to bring more and even bigger events back to Q Master Billiards on our 2017 tour schedule!! Congratulations to everyone on the great playing this weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone real soon for another awesome event!!!

Mon - Thurs : 5pm - 1am Fri - Sat: Noon - 2am Sun: Noon - 1am

• Pool Tables • Great Food • • Full-Service Elevated Bar • Drink Specials • Lottery & Quickdraw • Electronic Darts • • Foosball • Video Games • Pro Shop And More!

9 Johnson Road Latham, NY • 518-786-8048 www.diamondeight.com

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

Robert Ash Bernard Andigo Greg Sabines John Cagle John “The Sailor”, Raymart Lim Thomas Williams, Scott Gushell

Host of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships 25,000 square feet Full retail department Two lavishly stocked bars 70 pool tables covered with Simonis 860

Tournaments and Leagues Corporate functions 5612 Princess Anne Rd Private parties Virginia Beach, VA Smoking and non smoking areas Fun for the whole family (757) 499-8900 Q-Masters.com The largest billiards room in the country

February 2017

17

2017

WORLD POOL Russian Ruslan Chinakov Takes

Russia’s Ruslan Filipino, and quickly Chinakov claims pushed his lead up to the Molinari Players 9-1 with his smashing Championship with an break shot and crafty emphatic 16-6 win over shot making. Chua did the Philippines Lee Vann manage a brief fight back, Corteza in New York but the Russian rebuffed City. This first event of him at every turn and the World Pool Series, walked into the final with The Molinari Players a 15-8 victory.

Championship, took Corteza came into place at Steinway Billiards the final playing some in Astoria, Queens, New of his best pool in the York City, January 14-17, last two years, but he 2017. nearly didn’t even make Employing an it out of his semi-final absolute monster match with Appleton. break, combined with The Englishman was some seriously solid wearing two hats as both potting and pattern promoter and player this play, Russia’s Ruslan week, and was playing Chinakov handily won care free and as strong as both his matches today, ever. Appleton looked to including an emphatic be on his way to a finals 16-6 finals win over the date as he powered out Philippines Lee Vann to a 9-4 lead. Corteza, Corteza, and captured though, would have none the inaugural Molinari of it as he stormed back Players Championship at with six straight racks to Steinway Billiards in New lead 10-9.

York City.

From there the two Chinakov’s success greats went toe to toe, on Tuesday represents and headed straight for the biggest win of the the cliff. Down 14-13 and 23-year-old’s career. Since with the pressure bearing he began his international down, Corteza took career at the tender age advantage of a dry break of just 13 years old, the

by Appleton and cleared a young Russian, a veritable very difficult layout to tie. pool prodigy since the In the ensuing shootout very beginning, has been Corteza shot first and a fixture on the pro scene made his first attempt at around the world. At the full table spot shot on 15 years old he won the the 8-ball. From there he WPA Jr. World 9-ball never trailed, eventually Championship. He also winning 4-2 to advance captured two straight to the final against Kremlin Cup titles.

Chinakov.

And he’s had many solid At over 3 1/2 hours finishes in tournaments long, Corteza’s match Photos courtesy of WPS and JP Parmentier globally. against Appleton had But this week’s win clearly drained the in the Big Apple surely represents a new level of accomplishment for Chinakov, and Filipino. He had only one hour to get ready for Chinakov, while the Russian had rested signals a new phase in the towering and talented Russian’s career. The Molinari Players for 6 hours. In the end, however, it probably made little difference as Chinakov was Championship, the first of four 8-ball tournaments that make up Darren Appleton’s playing too good to be stopped. brand new tour called the World Pool Series, attracted a seriously world class field of The pair traded several racks to open the race to 16, winner breaks final. But when 120 players from over 35 countries. They played a version of 8-ball that was designed Corteza missed a makeable 8-ball while down just 4-3, Chinakov pounced and never to be as tough a test as players could possibly face. And when the four-day slugfest looked back. His towering break shot led to balls dropping and patterns opening up, concluded, it was Chinakov who clearly stood well above this amazing field. and soon the Russian was up 7-3. Chinakov kept feeding off the momentum while Tuesday will be a day that Chinakov, and those that watched it, won’t soon forget as Corteza had few answers and the score quickly went to 12-4. The Filipino tried to he manhandled two of the Philippines best on route to the winner’s circle. In his semimount a comeback with two racks of his own, but the day belonged to Chinakov, who final match against hot shot Pinoy Johann Chua, also 23 years old, the Russian wasted was just too strong, too good and clearly destined for victory. Chinakov took the next little time in stamping his class on the proceedings. Chinakov lived up to his nickname, four racks, and when he dropped the final 8-ball he had claimed an emphatic, awe “the Siberian Express” as won the lag and proceeded to run the first six racks on the inspiring16-6 win.

RUSLAN V CHINAKO

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SERIES: 8-BALL Mokinari Players Championship

Ruslan Chinakov Afterward a clearly delighted and overwhelmed Chinakov basked in the glow of his sensational victory.

Already a hard worker, he said he had doubled his efforts over the last two years, even hiring famed Dutch coach Johan Rysink to help him build up not just his technical skills, but also his mental toughness to deal with his sometimes uncontrollable nerves. The work had clearly paid off on all fronts. The future for 2017 and beyond was suddenly looking very bright indeed.

“This is probably the biggest event I have ever won,” Chinakov said. “It’s a great feeling.

I still can’t believe I just did this. I didn’t really think about winning today, I just tried to play good and show what l can do. I didn’t play 100% but I still won.

Even at this level anyone can miss balls, I just missed less than the other guys. That’s why I’m quite happy about it.

“This is very satisfying because I’ve worked hard for the last two years. This is definitely going to give me a very big boost going forward and hopefully I can keep winning. I also know that this win will help me to perhaps win even more this year. When you can compete and then win against the best players in the world, world champions and other greats, I think 40 of them, and you can even win the tournament, it really tells me that I am headed in the right direction.

“We both made some mistakes and that’s to be expected in a race

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Results

to 16, these are really long sets and there’s a lot of ups and downs. When it was up 4-3 I made a few good runs, some break and runs and my lead kept increasing. I think that put him under pressure and he then made a few mistakes, and I just cleaned the table.”

As befitting the always classy Filipinos, Corteza took the loss on the chin and gave credit where it was clearly due. The Filipino took solace in the fact that he started 2017 with one of his best finishes in the last two years as well as $8,500 in prize money.

“I missed a couple of shots, the 8-ball in one rack, then the 10-ball in another,” Corteza said. “I just had bad luck today. I couldn’t get good layouts on the break shot, or I have no shot on the break. It was very difficult to figure out what to do. He broke fantastic and was always getting shots and he had the momentum. I was also feeling a bit tired.

“But he deserved to win. He broke better than me, he really had power on the break.

I’m still happy because I played good this week. This is one of my best finishes in a while so I just have to go to the next event and I feel really good about my game.”

With the biggest win in his ten-year career to date plus a $20,000 prize, Chinakov deservedly felt even better about his game and prospects for the coming months.

“After you win big tournaments, you just come to believe in yourself more and more, “Chinakov said. “And that means in the next big match, I might be less nervous and have better concentration, and that means you have more chances to get the title or finish quite close to the title. This is the best start of the year that I could ever imagine.”

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$20,000 $8,500 $5,250 $5,250 $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $2,000 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250

Ruslan Chinakov Lee Van Corteza Darren Appleton Johann Chua Karl Boyes Dennis Orcollo Naoyuki Oi Chris Melling Alex Kazakis Jayson Shaw Ralf Souquet Mika Immonen Thorsten Hohmann Earl Strickland Billy Thorpe Carlo Biado Nick Ekonomopoulos Alex Pagulayan Ramil Gallego Lo Li Wen Rodney Morris Brandon Shuff Pat Holtz Jeremy jones Petri Makkonen Raj Hundal M Vidal Claramunt Stephan Cohen Vilmos Földes Imran Majid Mark Gray David Alcaide Bermudez

Lee Van Corteza, Darren Appleton, Ruslan Chinakov, Johann Chua

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February 2017

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Markley Billiards Season Finale

NORRISTOWN, PA - January 15, 2017 Today’s finale boasted a strong field of 17 players who spent the past few months putting in the effort to qualify for the final event. $3000 was given away in cash prizes today and after a long battle of a day Derick Daya & Tim Tanana came out as co-champions, with a strong 3rd place finish from Ed McCann. A lot of work goes into this series so a big thank you to Markley Billiards as well for being gracious hosts and Jose Burgos /mezz tour for becoming part of this series. Especially Thank you to all participants

through the second season as without the players we would have no events, and I look forward to seeing you all again for a bigger and better 3rd season!

1st: Derick Daya 1st: Tim Tanana 3rd: Ed McCann 4th: Shaun Dobson 5/6: Benny Blanco 5/6: Larry Ingrim

56731 Colerain Pike Martins Ferry, Oh 43935 740-738-0357 www.bhindthe8ball.com

WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS

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

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E E S S E N N E H KES IT MA R!!!

U O F Jonathan Hennessee

Sky Wooddward

JOB’s Billiards – Madison, TN. The 30th Annual Music City Open. Barbox 9 ball – winner breaks, true double elimination. Sure doesn’t get much better than this!!!

staff for doing all they could to make everyone feel welcome. Owner Ricky Gamble and Tournament Director Steve McDonald went above and beyond to make sure everything ran smoothly and make us feel at home.

The event kicked off on Wednesday night with a 64-player mini tournament.

When the smoke had cleared, Nick Hickerson had taken it down after defeating Sean King in the finals.

We’d also like to thank our sponsors – Lomax Custom Cues, EnviroAssessments.com, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Hanshew Custom Cues, Simonis, Diveney Custom Cues, GoPlayPool.com, Kamui, Outsville, Diamond Billiard Tables and Club Billiards of Wichita, KS. Thank you all for your continued support.

The women’s division started on Friday night with 41 players. In the end, it came down to Allison Hardwick winning a hill-hill thriller with a break and run on the final rack. Congratulations, Allison! Jessica Mollinet took the well-deserved runner-up position with Lisa Porter in third and Robin Parker in fourth place.

The Midnight Madness Mini kicked off Saturday night – eight players putting up $500 apiece to play – winner take all. Sky Woodward took the cheese over a strong Roberto Gomez in the finals.

Our next stop is the Derby City Classic at the Horseshoe Casino in Elizabeth, IN!!! Come on by and sweat the action in our Aramith Action Room!!! Dates are January 20-28th!!! Hope to see you there!!!

— By Mary Kenniston

The main event had a full field of 128 players. After a raucous player auction on Thursday evening, play began. By Sunday night, the field had whittled down to an undefeated Sky Woodward and Johnathan Pinegar. The smart money was on Sky to take the title as he had played phenomenally throughout the entire event - including two 10-packs.

Hennessee had to defeat Sky twice and won the first set convincingly 11-5. A determined Sky rocketed out to an 8-1 lead in the second set but but never won another game. Henny slowly but surely won game after game to tie the match at 8. From there, he went on ahead to close out the set 11-8, adding a fourth Music City Open title to his resume and leaving a disappointed Sky Woodward in second place. Congratulations to Hennessee for a great tournament!!! Solid performances in a super tough field were turned in by Roberto Gomez for third and Shane Winters for fourth place.

1st $4,000 2nd $2,600 3rd $1,700 4th $1,100 5/6th $780 7/8th $470 9-12th $275

Jonathan Hennessee Sky Woodward Roberto Gomez Shane Winters John Gabriel, Shane McMinn Sean King, Daniel McKenney Bobby McGrath, Chuck Raulston, David Anderson, Nick Hickerson 13-16th $190 Josh O’Neal, Taylor Anderson, Robert Frost, Joe Keith 17-24th $130 Lee Alford, Steve Wiggins, Tommy Najar, Jerry Claymen, Lee Unless, Anthony Green, Cliff Joyner, Charlie Taylor 25-32nd $100 Mitchell Perry, Matt Bulfin, Joe Coleman, Raed Shabeb, Jack Campbell, Wade Keeling, Bobby Emmons, Chris Crawford

As always, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank JOB’s Billiards and their

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February 2017

21

BISON BILLIARDS Williamsville, NY January 7th, 2017 Great tournament today, excellent field of 26 shooters.

All competing for their share of $1900.00 in cash.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5/6

Nick Brucato Dave Grau Cory Welfare Santo Merlo Mark Hatch Eddie Ashman

$300.00 + $700.00 $130.00 + $350.00 $80.00 + $150.00 $50.00 + $50.00 $35.00 each

January 14, 2017 Scotch Doubles 8 Ball Bar Box Tournament : 1st Tom B.& Mike G. 2nd Tariq & Tahir 3rd Cheryl Reed

John Smith

$180.00 + $330.00 $100.00 + $165.00 $50.00

January 21, 2017 Only 11 shooters came out today but the payout was real strong.

We decided to go to triple elimination, races to 5,4,3,.

Over in 8 hours.

1st Cory Welfare $300.00 + $300.00 2nd Karl Kasprzak $150.00 + $140.00 3rd Santo Merlo $100.00

NON SMOKING

Bar Box 8-Ball

Added Money

1st Saturday of the Month

$35 entry includes green fee - Double Elimination - Race to 3 Doors open Noon - Calcutta 2pm - Starts 2:30pm

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R

the

Assistant TD Ralph and Ms. Gomes We would like to thank all who attended the Tournament yesterday, January 15, 2017 at Bo’s Bar and Billiards in Warwick, RI. It was a great success. We had 57 players and paid out $4,350.00, auctioned a case valued at almost $1,000.00, as well as a G2 Tip from our newest sponsor. Thank you to all who supported our raffles. It helps us to keep our payouts high.

(Next tournament with A, B, C payouts, and Top Male, we will give prize money to the people who succeed the winner in each category. I did not word it that way prior to the tournament, so I could not in good conscience change it mid tournament.

Thank you for understanding.)

Starting off, the Winner’s top bracket was Mike Pettit our winner from the last straight race in November! He won five (5) matches beating favored players such as Thomas J Bertrand, Tim Perry, Ranulf Tamba, until meeting Ryan Lineham.

Thomas J Bertrand and Danny Pavao also winning four (4). Great job guys.

Starting off the Winner’s bottom bracket was none other than Ryan Lineham, going straight to the hot seat! Enough said.

Going to the one-loss side upper bracket, an old friend came to visit us after many years, Tsephel Tenzin. He lost his first round to Ryan Lineham, then went on to win four (4) until losing to Darren Jevons, finishing 9-12. Nice job, Tsephel Tenzin.

Rick Gatta also won four (4) before succumbing to Tsephel Tenzin.

T

Winner Ryan Lineham On to the lower part of the one-loss side bracket, Mike DeMarco, lost his first match to Ryan Lineham, and went on to win six (6) until facing Tim Perry aka Buzzsaw! Nice job. Mike went on to finish 7-8th.

Thank you to Clyde Matta for his help in the Auction. Also a huge thank you to Ralph W. Caton, Quoc Dinh, Linda Morton, Ricardo Castro, and Curtis James for their tireless enthusiastic team work!

We had 17, yes 17 fearless C players hungry to better their game and take a shot at the Pot. Yes, 1/3 of our field!!!! Wow! A huge round of applause to these players. To boot, 5 were Female!

I would also like to thank those who donated to our cause for the homeless and pets in shelters: Alan McGuane, Karen Greene, Ralph W. Caton, William Hurst, Johnny Vegas, Rob Paul, and many others. Please put your name in the comments section.

WE ARE SO GRATEFUL!! We will try to video our stops or go live to show you their reactions:-) This may not happen until next week, as I will be away from home and people are still donating, as they forgot their donations yesterday.

We are currently assessing other handicaps but want to Congratulate Mike Pettit for becoming an A player.

Auctioneer Clyde Matta

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS: 1st $750 Ryan Lineham 2nd $450 Mike Pettit 3rd $300 Thomas J Bertrand 4th $250 Danny Pavao 5/6 $125 Tim Perry, Francisco Cabral 7/8 $75 Mike DeMarco, Darren Jevons 9-12 $40 Billy Lanna, Alan McGuane,

Tsephel Tenzin, Dennis Levasque Volturi Case: G2 Tip (soft): Top Female: Top Male:

Tam Trinh Zen Draken Mary Ann Gomes Ryan Lineham

Top Category:

A: Ryan Lineham $80.00

B: Mike Pettit $80.00

C: Paul Pesoa $80.00

(336)856-8800

MARCH 4TH CAROLINA BILLIARDS TOUR One Pocket Extravaganza

$150 ENTRY FEE 16 players - Double Elim - Race to 3 FINAL race to 5 - 9’ Tables Meeting & Auction at 1pm - Starts 2PM 6004 Landmark Center Blvd - Greensboro, NC

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February 2017

23

John Binion pulled off the double dip to to take home 1st in the A-Pro 8 Ball

Houston Rodriguez went undefeated in the A-Pro 9 Ball to take home the cash!

Thank you to all the players that came out to support this event. Over $30,000 in cash prizes was awarded over the 4 days of competition January 12-15, 2017 at the Causeway Bay Hotel in Lansing, Michigan. The victors are:

Andy Benn shot his game and took home 1st in the BB 8 Ball

Matt Compton, the home town favorite, took home first in the BB 9 Ball

Congrats to Dave Miedel for taking 1st in the B 8 Ball

Zachary Clark fought hard for his 1st place in the B 9 Ball

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8-BALL 9-BALL A-Pro A-Pro 1st- John Binion 1st- Houston Rodriguez 2nd- Jeremy Seaman 2nd- Jeremy Seaman 3rd- Rick Schroeder 3rd- John Binion 4th- Joseph Henry 4th- Rich Schmiege BB BB 1st- Andy Benn 1st- Matt Compton 2nd- Jeff Ciuzicki 2nd- Jesse London 3rd- Bill Fate 3rd- Danny Coleman 4th- Tommy Medina 4th- Ben Blaker B B 1st- Dave Miedel 1st- Zachary Clark 2nd-Ken Johnson 2nd- Ryan Torck 3rd- Phil Bone 3rd- Nathan Moore 4th-Matt Partain 4th- Roger Simmons 5/6- Mike Ryan 5/6- Mike Lovell Tim LeVasseur Chris Johnson 7/8-Brad Thomas 7/8- Tim LeVasseur Roger Simmons Brad Thomas C C 1st- AJ Sierosawski 1st- Brock McClelland 2nd- Bob Bailey 2nd- Jim DeWitt 3rd-Willie Schmidt 3rd- Mark Whitaker 4th- Ivan Keener Sr 4th- Scott Campbell 5/6-James O’brien 5/6-Shawn Muszynski Wayne Neveau John Easton

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Congratulations AJ Sieroslawski on his 1st place in the C bracket

Brock McClelland was happy to flash his cash from his 1st place in the C 9 ball

Elise Bentley swept the women’s brackets taking home the trophy in the 8 Ball & 9 Ball 8-BALL 9-BALL D D 1st- Margot Brethour 1st- Alex Harrison (14 yrs old) 2nd-Cyndy Apley 2nd- Joseph Derby (16 yrs old) 3rd- Kim Cooper 3rd- Cassee Fox 4th- Shawn Curtis 4th- Aidan Carver (13yrs old) WOMEN WOMEN 1st- Elise Bentley

Congratulations Margot Brethour on her 1st place win in the D 8 ball

1st- Elise Bentley

Congratulations to Alex Harrison on his first place win in the D 9 ball.

SOUTH FLORIDA BCA POOL LEAGUE League Operator: Janis Sessions - 305-903-4029 - sesh51@hotmail.com BEYOND BILLIARDS K & K BILLIARDS 5705 S University Dr, 1090 NE 79th St. Davie, FL 33328 Miami, FL. 33138 (9 Ball - Monday Night) (9 Ball - Monday Night) (8 Ball - Thursday Night) In House Both In House

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PREMIER BILLIARD CLUB GREAT DAILY SPECIALS

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February 2017

25

GREG GAUTHIER

Gets It Going in Moncton!

GregGauthier

A great field of 43 players showed up at Doolys Mountain Rd. Moncton, NB Canada on January 21, for the eighth and final stop of the New Brunswick Billiards Association (NBBA) Viking Cues Tour Open Division.

Greg Gauthier and Rob Sakell set sail across the A-side to meet in the winner side final. Gauthier came out on top 7-3 and then waited to see who he would face in the event final. Meanwhile, Kyle Richard, who lost to Sakell in A-Side semi-final, took out Yvon Azard 7-6 and then Paul Gordon 7-4 in the 3rd-4th place match. Richard then took down Sakell 7-5. Richard then went after Gauthier in the final and came up short in tight match 9-7.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th

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$610 $465 $340 $230

Kyle Richard

Richard and Serge Therrien gained entries into the Canadian Championships Amateur 9-ball division, based on their points from the tour. Tom Theriault and Chris Dempsey will represent the tour in the Open 9-ball Division. The event is scheduled for May 23-28 in Thetford Mines, Quebec.

Next up: The Open & Amateur Playoffs at Doolys Main St. in Fredericton on Saturday, February 4, 2017 and is open to players who played 4 Tour events. The Ladies meet the same day at Fairville Shooters, in Saint John.

Greg Gauthier Kyle Richard Rob Sakell Paul Gordon

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PRESS RELEASE

VIKING A C u e

o f

nnounces t h e

Mo

Po w e r B u y s n t h

G i v e a w ay L a u n c h

MIDDLETON, WI (February 3, 2017)

Viking Cue Manufacturing, LLC is a World leading designer, developer and manufacturer of authentic, American-Made billiard cues, cases, low deflection shafts and accessories. Viking is proud to announce the introduction of the new PowerBuys Cue of the Month Giveaway for the month of February.

February, we took the very popular A291 and customized it to make the C-A291. The C-A291 features custom Red and Silver Premium Pearl and Black IMA Rings, Bordeaux stain and Black Butt Cap. It also comes standard with the Viking low-deflection ViKORE American Performance shaft with Everest Tip as well as the Viking Limited Lifetime Warranty including warpage.

Starting in February 2017, the artisans at Viking Cue will be taking one of our legendary designs and transforming it into a new and exciting custom cue, each and every month. By exploring our vast collection of rich custom stains, paints, wraps, inlay and ring materials, exotic woods, performance shafts and tip options, our designers will create a truly custom, limited edition cue without the additional customization charges you would normally expect to pay for when creating a custom cue.

Every month, Viking Cue will be giving away the PowerBuys Cue of the Month to one very lucky individual. For the month of

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To enter the drawing, please visit vikingcue.com/cue-of-the-month-giveaway/.

Enter as many times as you wish and we will randomly choose the winner of the C-A291 at the end of the month.

The Headquarters of Viking Cue is located in Middleton, WI and distributes internationally under the brands of Viking, ViKORE, eXact Shot, eXact Shot2, VCrush, VPro, VSpin, Crush, Punch and Valhalla.

For more information, please contact Viking Cue at sales@vikingcue.comor call 1-800-391-0122.

To find a Viking Dealer near you, visit our website at www.vikingcue.com

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February 2017

27

Williams Takes the Final Stop

l-r Tara Williams, Melinda Bailey, Orietta Strickland, Natalie Mans

OB Cues Ladies 9-Ball Tour held their 6th and final tour stop December 3-4, 2016 at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas. Thirty-three players were on-hand to close out the 2016 tour year and see who would take top honors for the annual awards. The owner and manager, Jeff Pitts and the entire bar and wait staff did a wonderful job taking care of all the ladies. Rusty’s is a great room to visit and play at, so be sure to hit them up whenever you can!

2016 and one of them would receive $200 cash even before the tournament started. OB Cues Customer Service Manager, David “Doc” Reyes officiated the draw and Shayla Neris was the lucky recipient of the extra $200.

At the players meeting, board member Monica Anderson announced yearly awards. The Best Sportswomanship Award went to Teresa Garland of Houston, for her positive attitude both on and off the table, regardless of the match outcome. The Most Improved Player was Corina Campbell of Carrollton. Corina had a banner year on the OB tour, finishing 6th in the ranking and posting a second place in one tour stop, earning her well-deserved title of Most Improved for 2016. For the 3rd year running, Tara Williams of Fort Worth secured her first place ranking on the tour by winning four tour stops and finishing 4th in the remaining two.

At every tour stop, when a player gets a 9-on-the-snap award or a break and run, they receive a scratch-off. At the end of the year, each player who earned a scratch off also received an entry for a drawing for a $20 scratch-off and that winner was Marilina Nieves from San Antonio. Same rules apply for a break and run and the lucky player whose name was drawn for the $50 scratch-off was Jeannie Kim of Dallas.

On Saturday, the top eight ladies returned to continue in the Main Event on Sunday morning. The final four remaining in the winner’s bracket were Tara Williams (Ft. Worth) vs. Jeannie Kim (Dallas) and Natalie Mans (League City) vs. Orietta Strickland (Dallas). The four ladies returning on the one loss side were Melinda Bailey (Ft. Worth) vs. Tracie Voelkering (Ft. Worth) and Chris Fields (Weatherford) vs. Brittany Williams (Longview).

Three additional awards are drawn at the tour finale, based on attendance and performance at the tour stops throughout the year. For the Perfect Attendance award, seven players were eligible to be drawn for the $200 cash award. Tara Williams, Orietta Strickland, Jennifer Yo, Natalie Mans, Shayla Neris, Monica Anderson, and Julie Enzensperger were at every event in

Eliminated first round Sunday morning at the 7th-8th position was Chris Fields and board member Tracie Voelkering. In the winner’s side matches, Tara defeated Jeannie and Orietta defeated Natalie to set the hot seat match.

Moving over to the one-loss side for the 5/6th place matches, Brittany was eliminated by Natalie and Melinda came out the winner over Jeannie. For

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Williams

(continued)

the next match, Melinda once again persevered, leaving Natalie to settle for the 4th place spot.

Tara made her way through Saturday with wins in a first round tournament matchup over Melinda Bailey (7-3), Shirley Fields (7-1), Jennifer Yo (7-2) and Snowy Belt (7-0). On the other side of the winner’s bracket, Orietta was making her way through her Saturday matches with her speedy, yet consistent play. She posted wins over Tina Soto (7-1), Chris Fields (7-4), and Tracie Voelkering (7-2). In the hot seat match, Tara ended up on top in the match 7-3 and waited to see who would be coming through the one-loss side to meet her in the finals.

For the 3rd place match, Melinda was blazing trails and steadily fighting all through the tournament after her 1st match loss against Tara. She had a successful run through the B-side eliminating Orietta to move to the finals against Tara and a rematch for revenge. Congratulations to Orietta for a great tournament!

Also many thanks and love to all our families, fans, supporters — we greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Also to the many, many ladies/ players/friends who traveled from near and far; we loved seeing you all again and greatly appreciate you making the journey to play on the OB Cues Ladies Tour. We look forward to seeing everyone once again in 2017. Our first stop of the 2017 season will at Rusty’s Billiards in Arlington, Texas, on February 4-5.

Good Pool, Good Friends, Good Times – we are the OB Cues Ladies Tour!!!!!

Check us out at obcuestour.com or stay up to date by adding us on Facebook/obcuestour.

With Melinda and Tara in the finals, Melinda had quite a run to make it back to the finals surviving three hill-hill matches on her path to the finals. However, in the finals, Tara got out to a quick lead and didn’t look back. Melinda put forth her best effort to try and stop the tour champion’s effort, but came up short, with Tara winning the match with a final score of 7-2. Congratulations to both ladies for an exciting finals match and great tournament finish!

Thanks again to Rusty’s for our first and last tournament this year, and to all our board members who do a fantastic job all year around. A special yearend thank you to the man behind the tour, always supporting the ladies and feeding us bananas, chocolate and other energizing food and goodies, such a great friend and wonderful person, Carter, we love you.

Special recognition and thanks to OB Cues our main tournament sponsor.

If you want to get serious about your game, check out OB Cues at obcues. com. The new Digicue is available so be sure to get you one.

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Tournament Results/Payouts $2000 added/33 players 1st $800 Tara Williams 2nd $640 Melinda Bailey 3rd $465 Orietta Strickland 4th $340 Natalie Mans 5/6 $160 Jeannie Kim, Brittany Williams 7/8 $80 Chris Fields, Tracie Voelkering Best of the Rest Tournament Results/Payouts $100 added/15 players 1st $100 Monica Anderson 2nd $75 Snowy Belt 3rd $40 Jennifer Yo 4th $25 Tina Williams Goody-Giveaway Winners: $50 Shell Gift Cards (5) – Aryana Lynch, Jeannie Kim, Tracie Voelkering, Jessica DeMello, Lee Anne Barham $30 Tough Luck Draw for drawing the reigning Tour Champ first round – Melinda Bailey OB Cues Raffle Winners: Chris Beach, Joey Barnes

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Ruijsink is New Captain America

JOHAN RUIJSINK, the authoritative Dutchman who led the European side undefeated through seven Mosconi Cups, makes a return to the competition after a two-year absence as he takes the reins of Team USA in an attempt to revive America’s flagging fortunes in the transatlantic team event.

Ruijsink last captained the European side at Blackpool in 2014 when they ran out comfortable 11-5 winners over the USA. He promptly announced his retirement from an event that he had come to over-shadow after turning Europe from regular losers into the dominant Mosconi Cup force.

Following three barren years with Mark Wilson at the helm, it was felt that

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the Dutchman’s fantastic experience and his progressive methods in producing winners were ideally suited to get America competitive again.

Commented Ruijsink, “The reason to take on the job is quite obvious; I am an authentic lover of the game and especially of the Mosconi Cup. In 25 years of coaching, the Mosconi has proven to be by far the most exciting event in the world of pool.

“When Europe was in trouble I thought that was unnecessary – one win in ten years - as I now feel it is not correct that the US is in trouble. Both sides have great players and the MC should bring this greatness out of every player competing.

“As a coach in pool, there is no higher goal then working in the “home of pool”, the USA. Although the number of players is not as big as when I started, there is still a huge number of players and lovers of the game in the US. “My entire coaching career has been founded on seeing the American players compete at the World Championship in Bergheim, Germany in 1990. There I saw Earl, Varner, Davenport, Mizerak, Mataya, Lebron and a young Johnny Archer and they made me love the game even more. It also ignited the wish to understand why and how they played at this incredible level, so from that time onwards I have been chasing for my players to perfect their performance.

“Now, 25 years later, it hurts to see these great players having trouble to show their high standard in the MC and it is a great honour to be given the opportunity to help them in doing just that.

“I sincerely hope that people will see me neither as an intruder (from the US side) nor a traitor (from the European side) and I hope the pool scene will understand that as a coach, there is no bigger challenge today and as a pool lover it is my greatest wish to see a competitive US squad at the Mosconi Cup. The players, audience and the pool world deserve just that,” he concluded.

Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn said, “It was a big decision to make in appointing a non-American to guide Team USA. However, in this day and age sport and success is an international business and there are plenty of precedents. For example, the USA men’s and ladies’ soccer teams both achieved great accomplishments managed by a German and a Swede

respectively.

“Johan is passionate about pool and about creating winning mindsets for players. He leaves no stone unturned and I know he will be giving it everything he’s got between now and the evening of the 7th December when the outcome of the 24th annual Mosconi Cup is determined.

“Make no mistake, this is one tough job. The Americans have won just once in the past 11 years and there is plenty of work to be done, but I believe that if anyone can get the USA competitive again, Johan can.”

— Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport

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WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS

If you have any changes to your weekly pool tournaments EMAIL: billiards@OnTheBreakNews.com DATE CITY Mondays Astoria, NY

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LOCATION Steinway Billiards Sandcastle Billiards Ultimate Sports Bar Hall of Fame Airway Bankshots Crown Billiards Sandcastle Billiards Cue Time Corner Pocket Zingales Crooked Cue Billiards Steinway Billiards Grady’s Pool Room Corner Pocket Q-Master Billiards Buck’s Billiards Sandcastle Billiards Bison Billiards Cue Time Coaches Ultimate Sports Bar Phat Guy Birds League Room 6 Pockets Billiards Lucky 7 Billiards Gate City Billiards Club Brown’s Billiards Grady’s Pool Room Corner Pocket Union Station Billiards Michael’s 6 Pockets Billiards Lucky 7 Billiards Gate City Billiards Club Grady’s Pool Room League Room Scotty B’s Scooters on Main St Corner Pocket The Break Room The Break Room Brickyard Brickyard Scotty’s Crooked Cue Billiards (1st Sun) Sandcastle Billiards Sandcastle Billiards Q-Master Billiards Rack Clicks Billiards Premium Billiards Play Time Snookers Phat Guy Birds Airway Cushions Michael’s (every other Sun) Sundown

PHONE (718) 472-2124 (732) 632-9277 (586) 751-2222 (586) 939-8880 (937) 274-1230 (614) 777-0022 (330) 644-3985 (732) 632-9277 (270) 782-2740 (740) 738-0357 (850) 224-8644 (727) 539-7665 (718) 472-2124 (803) 957-7665 (740) 738-0357 757-499-8900 (919) 467-5411 (732) 632-9277 (716) 632-0281 (270) 782-2740 (517) 882-2013 (586) 751-2222 (812) 346-0870 304-893-9640 256-686-3171 (954) 239-8254 (336) 856-8800 (919) 878-9092 (803) 957-7665 (740) 738-0357 (207) 899-3693 (513) 860-0044 256-686-3171 (954) 239-8254 (336) 856-8800 (803) 957-7665 304-893-9640 (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 (732) 632-9277 (732) 632-9277 757-499-8900 (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

EVENT / RULES ENTRY ADDED 9-Ball - Handicapped $25 Wild 9-Ball $25 Call 9 Ball $20 $100 w/32 Open 9 Ball $10/$20 Call Open 9 Ball $5 Call 9 Ball $10 Call Open 9 Ball $8 Call 9-Ball Hdcp/DE/Race to 5/4 $25 Call 8 Ball $5 Call Straight 8-Ball $8 Call 9-Ball Handicap $10 8-Ball $5 Call Open 9 Ball Am/Pro $20/$40 8-Ball 7’ Tables race to 5 $15 $100 w/16 9-Ball $10 Call Handicapped 9-Ball-Locals $15 Call 8 Ball-Sc Doubles-Max skill 12 $20 9-Ball - Handicapped Call 10-Ball Handicap-SE $15 Call 9 Ball $5 Call 8 Ball $5 Call 9 Ball $20 $100 w/32 Open 9 Ball $5 Call 9-Ball SE $12 incl g.f.

Call 9-Ball $13 9-Ball $5 Matching w/20+ Scotch Doubles 8 Ball/9 Ball Call 8-Ball Round Robin $15 $100 w/32 9-Ball Handicap $20 $200 w/16 8-Ball $15 Call 8 Ball - Race to 2 $8 Call 8-Ball $1 $5/player 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 8-Ball (except last Saturday) $7 incl g.f.

Call 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 w/32 9-Ball - Ladies (1st Sun) Call 10-Ball (3rd Sun) Call Handicapped 9-Ball-Locals $15 Call 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

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

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Call First - All Tournaments are subject to change without notice DATE Feb 4 Feb 4 Feb 4 Feb 4 Feb 4 Feb 10 Feb 11 Feb 11 Feb 12 Feb 11 Feb 11 Feb 11 Feb 16 Feb 16 Feb 17 Feb 17 Feb 17-19 Feb 18-19 Feb 18 Feb 18 Feb 18-19 Feb 24 Feb 25-26 Feb 26 Mar 3 Mar 4-5 Mar 4 Mar 4 Mar 4 Mar 5 Mar 9-11 Mar 9-11 Mar 11-12 Mar 18 Mar 18 Mar 18-19 Mar 25-26 Mar 25-26 Apr 1 Apr 4-7 Apr 15 Apr 22-23 Apr 21 Apr 21-23 Apr 28-30 Apr 28-30 Apr 29-30 May 6 Jun 21-25 Jun 22-25 Jun 22-25 Jun 24

CITY Norristown, PA Astoria, NY Williamsville, NY Virginia Beach, VA Portland, ME Franklin, PA Franklin, PA Franklin, PA Franklin, PA Franklin, PA Williamsville, NY Portland, ME Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Round Rock, TX Virginia Beach, VA Williamsville, NY Portland, ME Shreveport, LA Shreveport, LA Astoria, NY Tacoma, WA Tacoma, WA Williamsville, NY Virginia Beach, VA Greensboro, NC Portland, ME Lincoln City, OR Lincoln City, OR Virginia Beach, VA Virginia Beach, VA Williamsville, NY Portland, ME Virginia Beach, VA Indianapolis, IN Williamsville, NY Astoria, NY Williamsville, NY Virginia Beach, VA Lafayette, LA Lafayette, LA Coon Rapids, MN Coon Rapids, MN Portland, ME Virginia Beach, VA Des Moines, IA Des Moines, IA Des Moines, IA Des Moines, IA

LOCATION Markley Billiards Steinway Billiards Bison Billiards Q-Master Billiards Union Station Billiards VFW VFW VFW VFW VFW Bison Billiards Union Station Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Skinny Bob’s Billiards Q-Master Billiards Bison Billiards Union Station Billiards Sidepockets Sidepockets Steinway Billiards Malarkey’s Malarkey’s Bison Billiards Q-Master Billiards Gate City Billiards Union Station Billiards Chinook Winds Open Chinook Winds Open Q-Master Billiards Q-Master Billiards Bison Billiards Union Station Billiards Q-Master Billiards Brickyard Billiards Bison Billiards Steinway Billiards Bison Billiards Q-Master Billiards White Diamond White Diamond C R’s Sports Bar C R’s Sports Bar Union Station Billiards Q-Master Billiards Big Dog Billiards Big Dog Billiards Big Dog Billiards Big Dog Billiards

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EVENT / RULES ENTRY ADDED TIME 9-Ball Shootout - Limit 20 $150 Call 9:30AM A-B/C-D 9-Ball Call $1,000 Call Benefit for Bella Bauer $40 incl g.f.

Call 10AM One Pocket Race 3/2 $30 Call Call USB Series 10 Ball $40 $250 11AM 8-Ball Sc Dbls Race to 2 Limit 64 $40/T incl g.f. Call 6:30PM 8-Ball Men’s Race to 3/2 Limit 128 $30 incl g.f.

Call 10AM 8-Ball Women’s Race to 3/2 Limit 64 $30 incl g.f.

Call 10AM 9-Ball Men’s Race to 4/3 Limit 128 $30 incl g.f.

Call 11AM 8-Ball Women’s Race to 4/3 Limit 64 $30 incl g.f.

Call 11AM 4th Annual Bison Billiards Shoot Out $35 incl g.f. $500 triple elim 10AM Jack & Jill Scotch Doubles $25 $250 7PM Open Bank Ring Game $100 Call 7PM Open 10-Ball-Race 3 Single Elim. $25 Call 8PM Open 10-Ball Ring Game $100 Call 2PM Ladies 10-Ball Ring Game $30 Call 2PM Texas Open 10-Ball Race 7/7 $150 incl g.f. $4,000 7PM Texas Open 10-Ball Ladies Race 7/7 $40 $500 Guar Noon One Pocket Race 3/2 $30 Call Call 8-Ball Bar Box - 6 & Under $20 incl g.f.

Call Noon 8-Ball State of Maine $60 $500 Call 10-Ball Ring Game-Limit 16 $100 Call 8PM Open 9-Ball Limit 128 $75 incl g.f. $2,000 Guar 11AM A-B/C-D 8-Ball - Dbl points Call $1,000 Call Mini $20 Call 7PM 10-Ball $75 incl fees $6,500 w/72 8AM Benefit for Bella Bauer $40 incl g.f.

Call 10AM One Pocket Race 3/2 $30 Call Call One Pocket Extravaganza $150-Limit 16 Call 1PM USB Series 8 Ball $40 $250 11AM CWO 8-Ball Men $200 incl g.f. $18,000 Noon CWO 8-Ball Women $200 incl g.f. $6,000 Noon 9-Ball - Race to 6/7 Varies $$$ 11AM One Pocket Race 3/2 $30 Call Call 8-Ball Bar Box - 6 & Under $20 incl g.f.

Call Noon 9-Ball State of Maine $60 $500 Call 757 Pool Tour Call Call Call 36th Midwest Bar Table Classic $100 $2,000 Call Benefit for Bella Bauer $40 incl g.f.

Call 10AM World Pool Series #2 $475+$50 g.f. $16,200 Guar Call 8-Ball Bar Box - 6 & Under $20 incl g.f.

Call Noon Barry Behrman Mem. 9-Ball Open Call Call Call Mini $20 Call 7:30PM Super 9-Ball $40 $1,000 w/128 9AM 8-Ball - Limit 16 - Race to 15 $1,000 $6,000 Guar Call 10-Ball - Limit 32 - Race to 7/9 $200 $2,000 Guar Call 9-Ball Pro/Am P$120/A$70 $1500/$500 Call 9-Ball Q City Tour Call Call Call One Pocket--Limit 16 $2,000 $8,000 Guar 7PM Bigfoot 10-Ball Challenge $500-Limit 16 $1,000 Guar 7PM Open 9-Ball $20-Limit 256 $2,000 Guar 7PM Banks Ring Game $250-Limit 8 $1,000 Guar 8PM

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