Contents
PLACES PEOPLE PLAY
7 11 8 FEATURES
5 Super Billiards Expo 7 Lone Star Tour 11 Rally in the Valley
19 Fast Eddie’s Tour 24 Lucky 25 Scoreboard LIVE Streaming
Watch on www.OTBnTV.com ustream.tv/channel/otbntv-live www.facebook.com/otbntv
Sponsored by: www.tigerproducts.com
6 25 27 27 11 21 27 10 28 11 12 13 21 2 9 12 3 3,26 11 8 4,26 21 10
POOL ON TV All times are Central time.
4/08/2012 2:00PM 2011 World Cup of Trick Shots Mohegan Sun Casino Uncasville, CT These schedules have been provided by ESPN. These are tentative dates and are subject to change
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Rackem P.O. Box 100 Three Forks, MT 59752 Phone 1-406-285-3099 Fax 1-406-285-3098 pool@onthebreaknews.com www.RackemMag.com
Cover Photo Courtesy of: Ricky Bryant - RB Promotions
RACKEM STAFF PUBLISHER/EDITOR Don “Cheese” Akerlow
MARKETING DIRECTOR Mary Akerlow
LAYOUTS & DESIGN Wendy Swenson Mary Akerlow Don Akerlow
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Don “Cheese” Akerlow
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ABOUT US
Rackem is a monthly publication, dedicated to the advancement of the sport of pool and to promoting enthusiasm and encouragement among the Publisher players at all levels, regardless of their league affiliation, in addition to recognizing those businesses who support them all. Covering the midwest. Look for Rackem by the 10th of each month. The opinions expressed are those of the author or advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the views of Rackem 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 be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher. © 2012 Rackem
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 3
4 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
The Man Behind the Super Billiards Expo BY: DON “CHEESE” AKERLOW The 20th Annual Super Billiards Expo (SBE) was held March 8-11, 2012 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Philadelphia, PA. Once again brought to you by Allen Hopkins Productions and run in conjunction with the TAP Rally in the Valley. This has become a huge event! I called Allen to find out his opinion on some of the things that were concerning the players and of course the success of the event. The first Super Billiards Expo was held in Secaucus, NJ at the Meadowlands Convention Center and when I asked Allen how the event has grown he responded, “Enormously! When we started in 1993 we started with 40 pool tables and about 27 booths. Some exhibitors took two booths so it was less than 27 actual exhibitors. We had the open event and I don’t know if I had the kids there then. I know I didn’t have the Seniors or the Super Seniors, didn’t have the Pro-Am. I think it was just the open event.” The SBE moved the next year to the Valley Forge Convention Center and remained there for the next 18 years expanding and taking up more space at the center until they finally had to move to their current location, a facility of over 200,000 square feet. A short 6 mile move down the road to a facility that is twice the size of the Valley Forge Convention Center - plenty of room to grow and plenty of parking. The SBE was informed after the 2011 Expo that the convention center was being closed and has now been renovated into a casino. So there was no possible way that they could stay.
PHOTO CREDIT: RICKY BRYANT RB PROMOTIONS
This is a short 4 day event but is packed with wall to wall pool. According to Allen, “it’s actually like pool heaven. All the best pool players in the world are here, all the best cue makers in the world are here, all the best table people are here.” Allen brought in 180 Diamond tables for the amateur events and 13 Diamond tables for the pro event and practice tables. And attendance was astounding, Allen said there were 979 players in the Open Division, 175 in the Women’s Division, 365 in the Senior Division and 157 in the Super Senior Division for the Amateur Events. Junior events 17 & under had 64 players and the 12 & under Division had 50, not to mention the 32 player ProAm Bar Box Event and 68 players in the Diamond Open 10-Ball Professional Players Championship”. Besides these events you have the WPA World Artistic Championship, Fury 14-1 Challenge and the Challenge of Champions 3 Cushion Tournament. That takes us through all that Allen Hopkins offers, you also have to factor in 160 TAP teams of 8 players each for a total of almost 3200 players. You can see why this could be considered heaven for a pool player. A unique addition for the players that attended the SBE was the phone app created by Allen Hopkins Jr. It was available for both iPhone and Android phones. Allen had my call on speaker, when Allen Jr. spoke about the app. Through the app you locate vendors, find their booth on the floor plan and get their contact information. You could also check out tournament information and brackets and scan the vendors QR Codes for special offers. Allen Jr said he also had a text message feature available. This will be a big plus going forward. Each year the show changes a little from the year before. New problems arise and are addressed, corrected or accounted for in some way. This year being in a new venue was a challenge for the staff of the SBE but they are aware of the problems and are working with the expo center to make things better next year. Some of the issues were lighting, food vendors, restrooms and a secure area for the vendors. I have found in life, when you think you have everything planned down to the last detail, something happens and you have to change and adjust and make the best of the situation. Everything is a work in progress. I can attest to that through the 4 pool magazines that we publish and you can be assured that both Allen and his staff will next year make these problems disappear. Allen had high praises for his staff, the players, exhibitors and the attendees at the show. The town of Valley Forge provided shuttle service from the Radisson (the host hotel) to the convention center during the show. All in all the show was another success and the problems that did arise are being taken care of for next year. If you are looking for more information about the Super Billiards Expo or photos from the event check out http://www.superbilliardsexpo.com or the photos and comments posted on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/SuperBilliardsExpo Hope to see you all there next year!
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 5
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6 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
BCAPL Grows To Record Numbers Henderson, NV. - March 30, 2012 - The CueSports International (CSI) motto, “More Choices for All Players,” is embodied in the diversity of its many products. CSI sanctions about 500 independent leagues through BCA Pool League, offers a uniform nationwide handicap league system through USA Pool League, produces major professional events such as the US Open 10-Ball Championships, offers pro and semi-pro events on 7’ and 9’ tables such as the Swanee Memorial and US Bar Table Championships, supports national and world junior competition, promotes high level action and pool media through The Action Report, and leads the industry in the development of software and technology for the future good of the sport.
In addition to the heralded annual BCAPL National Championships, BCAPL affiliated state and regional organizations produce a growing number of events across North America. CSI adds money to numerous regional and state BCAPL sanctioned events including: the BCAPL Texas State Championships, the BCAPL Southwest Regional Championships, Western BCA championship events, the Wisconsin State BCAPL Championships, and the BCAPL Canadian Open Series to name a few. The BCAPL embraces all manner of pool competition, with many different sanctioned league formats in 8-Ball and 9-Ball, and in 14.1 Continuous (straight pool) and One Pocket. The BCAPL does not limit or restrict the type of game played, nor stipulate a particular handicap system. Over 6,000 players of all abilities travel each year to Las Vegas for the BCAPL championships, which has been tagged “The Greatest Pool Tournament in the World!”
In short, every pool player on the planet can to participate in, and benefit from, a league or event produced by CSI. The leading CSI promotion, the BCA Pool League (BCAPL), has sanctioned more local leagues in each of the eight years that CSI has been involved. Going into the 36th BCAPL National Championships (May 9-20, 2012), the BCA Pool League has grown to 500 active leagues across the United States, plus Canada, Taiwan and the Bahamas. Players ranging from beginner to grand master level are welcome and enjoy the organization and level of competition that CSI and the BCAPL provides.
Without question, CSI offers “More Choices for All Players”! com
Visit www.playcsipool.com, www.playbca.com and www.playusapool. for more information about CSI and its divisions.
U.S. Open 9-Ball
The U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships makes some great changes for 2012 and beyond Hello everyone, we hope all is well. We have some news for everyone along with some exciting changes that we have made. We regret to inform our past champions that they will no longer be receiving paid entry fees into the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships. We have deep admiration and respect for our champions and will continue to express our appreciation to them with our yearly traditions such as the parade of champions, which takes place every five years, as well as during additional traditions that we all enjoy. Only the defending champion will receive a paid entry fee each year, in addition to a free hotel room. We have made many wonderful changes for the 37th Annual U.S. Open and feel that this is a step in the right direction. With these changes, the total purse has been raised to $200,000.00 instead of $178,000.00. We will be adding $72,000.00 with a full field of 256 players, which we know will be full every year now since we have structured the prize fund breakdown extremely well, paying the champion $30,000.00 and now 65th-96th place receiving $1,000.00 each. Since we have discontinued the past champion entries, we have still included the $10,000-$12,000 additional to get to the 72,000 added. Unfortunately, there will also no longer be any discounts on entry fees this year since we are adding more. The entry fee will remain at $500.00 and will be collected by the BCA just like last year. You may begin sending in entry fees Tuesday, April 2nd, to The BCA. Details will be on our website, www.usopen9ballchampionships.com. We would like to thank Rob Johnson, President of the BCA. We are very happy to see the BCA become even more involved with American Professional Pool. In addition, we have decided to seed the top players from around the world and America. We believe that it only makes sense to provide true seeds to the players from each continent, as they have genuinely earned a seed. This will assure that even more foreign players will be coming and the U.S. Open is the only professional tournament that has 256 players. This is a wonderful opportunity and with the help of Ken Shuman, Jay Helfert, and Bill Stock, we will work together to decide to have 32, 48, or 64 seeded players. The seeding will come from the WPA, BCA, ABP, as well as 4 promoter’s discretion seeds from Barry and Shannon. In addition, we will
gladly seed players from the WPBA which will be determined by the number of participants. Along with the added purse and seeding, the U.S. Open will be held at a new location. Our new venue, the Holiday Inn, is located just three blocks away from Q-Master Billiards. The Holiday Inn had a $14,000.000.00 remodel and everything is beautiful. Visit www.hivabeachnorfolk.com to check it out. The U.S. Open rates for single or double rooms are only $79.99, use the code USO. We believe strongly that everyone is going to love the new location and layouts for the tournament. Shannon and I will have the exact ballroom layouts very soon. Our ticket prices and VIP ticket prices will remain the same as they have been for the past 20 years and will stay that way for quite some time. We feel so blessed to have wonderful sponsors that are so giving each year and we hope in the near future to raise the added money more and more. These days professional pool players need all the help they can get and we want to October 20-27, 2012 help more and hopefully others will as well. Here is the full breakdown: Professional pool in America is not in very good 1st $30,000.00 shape and we cannot fix it alone. Our advice is 2nd $15,000.00 for promoters to reach out more to the industry 3rd $8,000.00 leaders. After all, we are all working hard to put 4th $6,000.00 on wonderful events and industry leaders should 5-6 $4,500.00 each take advantage of the opportunity and the 7-8 $3,500.00 each exposure they would receive due to our efforts. We are all in this together. 9-12 $2,500.00 each We thank you all for taking the time to read our 13-16 $2,250.00 each letter and we hope to have your support at the 17-24 $2,000.00 each 37th Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships! 25-32 $1,750.00 each We thank you all, with love and respect, 33-48 $1,500.00 each Barry Behrman & Shannon Behrman Paschall 49-64 $1,250.00 each By Barry Behrman - 2012-03-29 65-96 $1,000.00 each
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 7
Bob Jewett
COLUMNIST San Francisco Billiard Academy www.sfbilliards.com
S oft
and
S ofter
Many beginning players have two speeds of shots hard and too hard. They have hard time with anything below “firm.” This lack of range often causes problems on soft safeties and rolling shots where the least amount of roll-through is needed. Here are two drills to improve accuracy at the low end of your speedometer. They are from the Video Encyclopedia of Pool Practice (VEPP), a series of DVDs that I recently worked on with “Dr. Dave” Alciatore.
Bob Jewett
San Francisco Billiard Academy is a BCA Certified Master Academy. The academy offers: Private Instruction Basics Clinic Eight Ball Clinic Nine Ball Clinic Introduction to Billiard Instruction BCA Recognized Instructor Course BCA Certified Instructor Course
The bottom drill is one I originally learned from Tom Riccobene, an instructor in Albuquerque, and covered in a 2006 column. The goals is to start with 8 balls on the line and hit each one a slightly longer distance without any ball hitting the end rail. (Take cue ball in hand for each shot.) If you do 8, move on to one more ball. If a ball doesn’t pass the previous ball, start over with one fewer balls. 15 is really tough. The second drill is simpler to set up and score. You start with the cue ball in the jaws of the side pocket and the object ball (15) a short distance away and straight towards the other side pocket. The goal is to make the ball in the side pocket but your score is how many shots it takes to get there. (No cushion contact is required.) You get no score if you fail to hit the 15 on any shot along the way so you have to hit the ball on every shot. A good beginning score is 4 shots to get to the other side. A pro can stretch the drill out for a few dozen shots. To play shots like these, there are several techniques that may help. If you normally have a very low stance, try standing up a little higher. This will help your depth perception to better see the distance between the balls. Try for a specific goal for the ending spot for the object ball. Of course you should have a specific goal in mind on all shots, but on these very short shots try for quarter-inch accuracy. You might not get it right away, but if you never try for it, you will never get it. Use a shorter bridge than normal. If your usual bridge is 15 inches long, it’s hard to drive the ball less than a table length. A short ball-to-bridge-hand distance will make sure your backstroke is short and that’s the easiect way to turn down the speed. You can also elevate a little or use some draw to slow the cue ball down. Experiment with both of these and do a complete crossing with each of these techniques. If you get close to mastery of the single ball drill, you can get a wider variety of shots by alternating very soft and medium pace shots. That is, try to barely move the object ball on the odd shots and move it eight or ten inches on the even shots. Or, you can turn the shot the long way on the table -- try for more than 30 shots.
8 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
COLUMNIST
Mike Massey
Mike’s Massive Draw Shot People have asked me forever to explain my technique for drawing the cue ball long distances. Mike’s Massive Draw Shot will reveal my secrets and give you an objective test fro determining the power of your draw stroke.
The first step is to have excellent equipment. That means a cue you are completely confident in and a tip that is in perfect condition. I recommend a dime radius because it allows a little more of the tip’s surface to contact the cue ball. This is critical because you will need to strike the cue ball as close to the miscue zone as possible for maximum draw. Place an object ball a diamond from Pocket E. (Note: some of you, including left-handers, may be more comfortable shooting the shot on the opposite side of the table.) Position the cue ball about two inches from the edge of Pocket C. If you find this is too much of a stretch, move the cue ball closer to Pocket A until you feel comfortable. I use a 12-inch bridge, which is almost exactly the distance between the diamonds. Position your tip as low as possible without entering the miscue zone. Use a firm closed bridge. Make sure your shooting arm is very relaxed. You will need to use an extremely hard stroke. Take several smooth warm up strokes to establish your rhythm. On your final stroke, be sure to let your elbow drop as you accelerate through the shot. This will keep your cue level and prevent it from dipping into the cloth. Make sure to avoid putting any right english on the cue ball as this can greatly alter the cue ball’s direction. Let your follow through extend unrestricted. The diagram show several possible results. My personal best is 2 3/8 table lengths. The cue ball will stop at or near the end rail (1 7/8 table lengths) when I hit the shot really pure. A good pro will draw about 1 3/8 table lengths while a good amateur will draw about one table length. (Note: all measurements are from the objet ball’s location.) You should see Larry Nevel play this shot. He might even draw it further than I do. EXPLANATION OF ABBREVIATIONS: SUR: 1.0 SUR: Set up Ratings EXR: 5.0 EXR: Execution Ratings MSR: 70% MSR: Mike’s Success Ratio
Mike Massey
Nine time World Champion, Mike Massey is considered pool’s best trick shot artist. He was voted the “Best in History” and is a member of the BCA Hall of Fame. Mike’s most amazing accomplishments were in two 24 hour poolathons. In one he pocketed 8,090 balls playing with one arm. In the other poolathon he ran 330 racks of 9-ball in Austria on live TV. Mike has consulted or appeared in the movies, “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”, “The Baron and the Kid”, “Justice”, “Chalk”, and “Pool Hall Junkies” Mike is available for exhibitions and clinics. Please contact Mike or Francine Massey at 435.640.5787 or francine.massey@gmail.com
The ideal conditions for maximum draw are almost new cloth and high humidity. The almost new cloth works better than new cloth because on new cloth the cue ball spins too much in place and loses much of its energy. The humidity give the cue ball a boinging action when it bounced off the rails.
MIKE MASSEY
Nine Time World Champion
EXHIBITIONS & CLINICS Contact Mike or Francine Massey 435.640.5787 francine.massey@gmail.com
To order Mike’s book call 888.295.7665 or 714.894.1157 Visit us on the web at www.billiardspress.com
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 9
Product Review Informative, unique, concentrating on situational shots. It’s like you are having a private lesson. He answers your questions before you know you have them. Easy to understand and follow! You can’t get more for your money. I recommend it! A must have to improve your game. “Winning with Bobby Burnett” - Call Bobby at 831-455-8014 or email winningwithbobbyburnett@ yahoo.com
10 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
JUNIOR PLAYER PROFILE: HOME TOWN: Waterville, ME (Maine) BIRTH DATE: May 25, 1997 NICKNAME: Tay SCHOOL YOU CURRENTLY ATTEND: Winslow High School GRADE: 9 FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: Math AT WHAT AGE DID YOU START PLAYING POOL? 6 TITLES/HIGH FINISHES: 2011 BEF Junior National 9-Ball Champion, 14-and-under girls’ division 2011 Maine State 8-Ball Women’s Champion 2010 NE Seacoast Women’s 9-Ball Champion OTHER NOTABLE AWARDS: Represented USA in the 2011 WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championships in Kielce, Poland Featured on the Cover of Inside Pool Magazine July/August 2010 WHAT KIND OF CUE(S) DO YOU USE? Pechauer LEFT OR RIGHT HANDED: Right SPONSORS: Pechauer Custom Cues, Total Amusements & Tj’s Classic Billiards FAVORITE BAND/MUSIC: Coldplay HOBBIES: Basketball and CrossCountry Memorable pool moment: When I was 9 my parents had just bought our pool hall and were having their first pro event (Joss Tour). My mom put me in it and no one thought I had a chance and I ended up winning my first match hill-hill with everyone at Tj’s watching and cheering me on. FAVORITE FOOD: Lobster FICTIONAL HERO: Spongebob Squarepants REAL-WORLD HERO: Johnny Archer FONDEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY: The year I was in third grade my parents took my sister and I from Maine to California and back by van and we stopped at all the National Parks we could fit in. My favorites were Niagara Falls, Yellowstone and seeing the redwood trees in California. GOALS (PERSONAL AND/OR CAREER): Stay on the honor roll, and get setup for college while I work on my pool and basketball games. I’d like to see how far I can get in each sport.
JUNIOR BILLIARDS... PLAY. SPONSOR. GET INVOLVED WWW.BILLIARDEDUCATION.ORG
Taylor Reynolds
6149 E 31st St Tulsa, OK
918-779-6204
Pool Tournaments Every Fri & Sat 933 8th St (Hwy 3 & 50) Farmington, MN 651-463-2636 www.farmingtonbilliardsmn.com
Hours: Sun 2-10 pm Mon-Thurs 12-2am Fri-Sat 12-1am
FAMILY BILLIARDS ROOM PRO SHOP - CUE REPAIR CUES - CASES - SUPPLIES April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 11
COLUMNIST
The Monk
KEYS TO SUCCESS!
CONFIDENCE, LUCK AND CONCENTATTION Tim Miller
Much has been written about confidence. In fact, I wrote about this time honored skill in my book I CAME TO WIN. Some say you need confidence to win and others say you need to win to gain confidence. In this case, two different opinions and both are right.
I thought I would miss every single one of them! I had no confidence, no concentration, and did not think I was going to be lucky. I had something better. I had something we all need in pocket billiards. I had the ability to stand over a shot and let the results be whatever they want to be. Since I did not know if I was going to make the shot and I did not know if I was going to miss the shot, I might as well do what I can do and that is to look good shooting the shot. This is why the guy in our foursome thought I had confidence and great concentration skills. I acted like I make these putts all the time. I do that in pool. I act as if it is an easy shot.
This is not a feel good program. This is the real deal. You will be working with the monk for over four months. You will be working step by step to build the skills at nine ball that your opponent does not have. You will master the important moves this game calls for. You will become a master nine ball player and play better nine ball than you have every played this game before.
My chapter on confidence suggests you learn to play without confidence. Who really controls confidence anyways? And who really controls concentration. How many times do we decide to lose our concentration? We suddenly lose our confidence just when we need it the most. We can agree that confidence and concentration are subject to their own whim. Let’s learn to play without them.
May all the rolls go your way,
For over twenty years I have signed my books “May all the rolls go your own way”. Luck is something that comes to you when you expect it.
The reason you develop the ability to be free from results is because you know the results are not in your control. If they were you would run a thousand racks and win every tournament. THE RESULTS ARE NOT IN YOUR CONTROL.
Concentration - Luck - Confidence, are like the lover who decides to show up or not. You never know when they will arrive in a favorable situation.
Let’s not chase those three lovers of mischief. CLC can spend time with us or go out to pasture. We see the shot know the stroke and we shoot the shot.
Let’s learn to play without them.
I hope you will join me in special nine ball training. Go on my site www.monkbilliardacademy.net and click on ROAD PLAYERS NINE BALL.
The Monk
CALL THE MONK TODAY 1-603-566-6229
Luck is always on the side of the winner. Confidence follows the winner and concentration is more easily acquired by the winner. Without the three however, you cannot win. So they say.
I faced nine putts of more than four feet for a good score. Make the putt and the hole was a good one. Miss it and it was a disaster. I made all nine putts. A guy in the foursome told me he has never seen a guy putt this good. He did not know that when I stood over the putt
http://www.monkbilliardacademy.net/9-balltrainongprogram.html
12 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
YOU CAN ONLY DO THIS IF YOU TRULY DON’T CARE ABOUT RESULTS.
Ochoa Breaks the Ice This past weekend the Lone Star Event hosted its second 9-ball stop of the year at Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar in Houston, Texas with 73 Amateur players and 52 Open players in attendance. Participants came from all over including Tyler, Temple, San Antonio, and Austin to take the Lone Star plunge. Open side notables included Joey Barnes, James Baraks, Manny Chau, and Sylver Ochoa. Amateurs included Calvin Trimont, Robert Hitchcock, Rocky Esquivel, Robert Odom, Steve Espinosa and many more.
Match play commenced at approximately 3pm on Saturday after 125 players were auctioned off. The Amateur division winners’ side final 8 saw Jason Pearce defeat Steve Lindgren 7-1, Raul Escobedo oust Calvin Trimont 7-4, Victor Rojas best Sonny Bosshamer 7-1, and Karl McClendon defeat Rocky Esquivel 7-2. On the oneloss side it was Bobby Perez making a great comeback with 6 straight wins after a second round loss to Steve Lindgren. His end came at the hands of Will Felder 5-3. It was Mikey Frost over Charlie Buckner 5-3 and David Massie over Eric Olivo which moved them into 9th -12th position on the one-loss side along with Felder and Perez. It was Felder and Rojas who dueled for 3rd after Rojas
was dealt a blow by MCclendon 7-5 on the winners’ side. Pearce sent Escobedo west 7-4 and earned himself a firsttime hot seat match up with McClendon. Pearce secured his place 7-3 while Rojas defeated Felder 5-3. McClendon overcame Rojas but fell to Pearce in the final.
The Open division winners’ side final 8 saw Andy Jethwa skim by Manny Chau 9-8, Raul Escobedo best Bill Fuller 9-3, Sylver Ochoa defeat Brent Thomas, and James Baraks glide by Brian Rosenbaum. On the west side, Danny Lee defeated Thomas, Joey Barnes bested Brian Rosenbaum, Chau sent home McClendon, and Mike Alonzo eliminated Fuller. Upsets included Barnes and Chau who suffered winners’ side blows from Jethwa by the same score of 9-8, but when the smoke cleared it was Ochoa over Escobedo for the hot seat 9-6. On the one-loss side, Barnes and Escobedo were stopped short by Chau 7-4, 7-2, respectively. Ochoa made quick work of Chau and finished the event undefeated by a final score of 9-2.
young up-and-comer took home first for his efforts in the Junior division held on Sunday. Rocky Esquivel, Steve Espinosa, and Brittany McCombs all took home a Poison Cue from the Poison Cue Raffles. Congratulations! The Lone Star Tour would like to thank its sponsors, www.PoisonBilliards.com, www.PredatorCues.com, www. Delta-13.com, www.PoolWebsites.com, the APA of North Harris County, Roger Allen Cue Repair, Gulf Coast Billiards, www.Pool-Trax.net, and James Walker who donated two T-Shirts to our Junior event winners. Our tour referee, Derrell Montgomery, did an outstanding job of keeping the event running smoothly as well as John Newsome who took over the tournament command post on Sunday. The next Lone Star Event is April 14th-15th at Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar. We would love for you to join us! Here is another chance to qualify for the Poison by Predator Tour!
RESULTS
OPEN 1st $600/$1000 Sylver Ochoa 2nd $420/$700 Manny Chau 3rd $280/$500 Raul Escobedo 4th $120/$200 Joey Barnes 5th/6th $70 Andy Jethwa James Baraks 7th-8th $50 Danny Lee Mike Alonzo 9th-12th $35 Brent Thomas Brian Rosenbaum, Karl McClendon Bill Fuller TOP LADIES Courtney Peters $50 Loretta Lindgren $50
Other winners included Courtney Peters and Loretta Lindgren who split the $100 Top Lady prize awarded in the Amateur division. Nick Calderaro, Houston’s hottest
For information on how to become a Lone Star Tour Sponsor, host an event, or general information, please call Kim White-Newsome at 713.825-1411.
JUNIORS 1st Nick Calderaro $50 + Shirt 2nd Ron Esman $25 + Shirt
AMATEUR 1st $570/$750 Jason Pearce 2nd $400/$500 Karl McClendon 3rd $250/$300 Victor Rojas 4th $100/$115 Will Felder Toll Free 5th-6th $70/$50 Mikey Frost, Raul Escobedo 800-938-3000 7th-8th $50/$30 Calvin Trimont, Bobby Perez 9th-12th $35 Steve Lindgren, David Massie, Custom Pool Sonny Bosshamer, Rocky Esquivel Cues, Cue 13th-16th $25 Charlie Buckner, Eric Olivo, Cases, Billiard Dee Davis, Brent Thomas Supples and 17th-24th $10 John Doty, Pedro Medina, Gameroom Joe Rodriguez, Jay Russell, Furnishings Danny Lee, Robert Bell, ask for the Facebook Fan discount Grady Cooper, Jason Watson
www.hawleys.com
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 13
STEVIE MOORE vs Shane Van Boening has won the Players Championship at the Super Billiards Expo and has sent yet another strong message that he is the cream of the American crop of pro pool players. When Shane gets close to the finals there is just no stopping him. Even a long trip throughout the one-loss side (Shane lost early to Brian Brekke) cannot cause his game to weaken or his heart to lose spirit. On Sunday Van Boening swept aside the rest of the best as if they were mere mortals trying to exist in the realm of the gods. Raj Hundal got the message first when he just sat and watched as Van Boening picked the meat off of his bones and tossed him to the scrap heap 10-1. Hundal was no more a participant in that match than was the kid in the third row of the stands. Darren Appleton would fare little better. The two-time US Open champion was dismantled and destroyed by the rack-running ability of the South Dakota Kid. Obviously dismayed by Van Boening's ability to control the table and deny an opponent any opportunity to rally, Appleton found himself a 10-2 loser against Van Boening who only appeared to get stronger with each stroke. Van Boening had one more hill to climb. An undefeated and confident Stevie Moore was waiting for him. That confidence would take an early beatdown as Van Boeing wasted no time in establishing a 7-0 lead in the final race to 13 games. Moore stayed cool and fought well enough to bring the score to 12-6, but Van Boening on the hill is a tough task and when Moore fouled early in the final rack to give ball in hand to Van Boening it was the end. Shane Van Boening won his third Players Championship with a 13-6 victory against Moore. Shane is now on track for what could become a record year. Prior to this victory he nabbed both the Derby City 9-Ball and One-Pocket events, taking Master of the Table honors with those wins. The Kid also commands the short track stuff. He won the US Bar Box Championship Open 10-Ball division held by CSI in Reno. All of this comes on the heels of a final quarter of 2011 that presented Van Boening with victories at the Steve Mizerak Championship, Turning Stone XVIII and at the Ocho Open. -- BY AZBILLIARDS.COM PHOTO BY: RICKY BRYANT-RB PROMOTIONS 14 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
SHANE VAN BOENING
RESULTS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th 13th 17th
$20,000 $7,000 $4,000 $3,000 $2,500 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000 $750
Shane Van Boening Stevie Moore Darren Appleton Raj Hundal Mika Immonen, Ryan McCreesh Mike Davis, Dennis Hatch John Schmidt, Brandon Shuff Louis Ulrich, Craig McPartlin Jayson Shaw, Mike Dechaine Ralf Souquet, Corey Deuel Jayson Shaw, Klaus Zobrekis Oscar Dominguez, Shaun Wilkie Brian Brekke, Charlie Williams Jeremy Sossei, Robb Saez
PHOTO BY: RICKY BRYANT-RB PROMOTIONS April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 15
RALLY IN THE VALLEY
The first day of the TAP agenda was a National Meeting with an impressive attendance of licensees, as it was standing room only. This meeting was conducted by Founder, President and CEO Loyd Schonter, covering all details of the present and the future drive for TAP. It is very understandable that most discussions in this room were confidential and for only the TAP family however I am sure the Billiard Industry will be more than impressed with where he is leading the TAP Organization. TAP proudly announced a new relationship at this meeting with McDermott Cues which was attended by their Representatives Larry Liebl Executive Vice President and Jayme Cernika Customer Service and Special Events Manager. They introduced their impressive line to the TAP family. McDermott also contributed $10,000.00 in cues and other McDermott products to the Rally in the Valley events in addition to this they had their Instructor nearby demonstrating the abilities of their cue line. While the National meeting was coming to an end the TAP Singles event was kicking off with record breaking registrations in all brackets. 7 handicap singles had 36 players, 6 singles with 64 players, 5 singles with 80 players, 4 singles with 77 players and the 2 and 3 singles had 42 players. At 8 am on Friday March 9th,
2/3 HANDICAP AMANDA KARRIP 16 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
4 HANDICAP JAMIE SPIKER
the 8-ball and for the first time the 9-Ball “Dream Team Events� kicked off totaling 176 eight person teams. This was another record breaking event for team counts. As always at TAP events keeping you warmed up is a must, so the minis ran in the evening of each day to make sure your game stayed in tune. Then Sunday March 11th brought the final rounds only to close up another historical event leaving the TAP player with memories and conversation that will be with them for years to come. A room once filled with players from across the United States and Canada is left with only the footprints of the TAP Pool Player. And as each year goes by that foot print is getting bigger and bigger. For the first time in many years, TAP also had another presence at the expo with a TAP sales and information booth. This also saw heavy activity throughout the entire weekend. People interested in TAP got to see firsthand the new innovations that TAP has done to their handicapping system known as Pool-Net and all of the features that no other league can provide to their members. Prospective TAP licensees were amazed at what they saw and how user friendly the system is. Many times during the weekend people were often heard saying, "That's cool or Talk about Tech Savvy". On behalf of all of us here at TAP, we would like to congratulate Allen Hopkins on
5 HANDICAP KEVIN KARAS
6 HANDICAP ELIAS NASSIF
a job well done and as is customary here at TAP when a licensee does well.... Allen, you and your staff get a huge "Atta Boy" from TAP!! We would also like to Thank All of our Staff and Volunteers for once again making this TAP Event a huge success. Thus showing “One Team, One Goal” truly is our Family motto. Let us not forget McDermott Cues, we are looking forward to our new relationship and happy to have them as a part of the TAP Family. Over $107,000 was paid out with the singles events paid back at 100%.
DREAM TEAM EVENT (8 BALL) ELITE BOARD 1ST POLISH FALCONS LAUREL HIGHLANDS PA 2ND BELLY HOOKED MISSOURI 3RD GEO'S FINEST LAUREL HIGHLANDS PA 4TH NORTHCOAST ROCKS NORTHCOAST TAP OH 5TH HAMMERTIME BEAVER VALLEY PA 6TH ROCK SOLID TAP NH 7TH DREAM KILLAZ NORTHCOAST TAP OH 8TH WHISKEY ALPHA WA CHAMPIONSHIP BOARD 1ST STROKIN & SMOKIN JERSEY BOYS NJ 2ND COLOR OF MONEY CANADA 3RD JULIE'S CAFÉ KEYSTONE TAP PA 4TH SHARKIEZ 2 OH ALDRICH BEST OF THE REST 1ST BAZINGA MIDATLANTIC MD 2ND 16 BALLS KEYSTONE TAP PA 3RD OUR COACH WENT SHOPPING KEY TAP PA 4TH PORTAGE MOOSE LAUREL HIGHLAND PA 9 BALL DREAM TEAM EVENT RALLY 2012 CHAMPIONSHIP BOARD 1ST SMOKIN 9'S - KEYSTONE TAP PA 2ND DEEZ NUTS - JERSEY TAP NJ 3RD IN THE SPOTLIGHT - KEYSTONE TAP PA 4TH T.D.A. - BEAVER VALLEY TAP PA BEST OF REST 1ST COLOR OF MONEY - CANADA 2ND KEYSTONE KUEBALLERS KEYSTONE TAP PA SINGLES 8 BALL CHAMPIONS 2/3 HANDICAP Amanda Karrip - Saginaw, MI 4 HANDICAP Jamie Spiker - Frostburg MD. 5 HANDICAP Kevin Karas - Pittsburgh PA 6 HANDICAP Elias Nassif – Plantation FL 7 HANDICAP Tommy Najar – Kennesaw GA
1ST PLACE C HAMPIONSH IP BOARD STROKIN
RD ALL ELITE BOA B 8 E C A L P T 1S N LAURAL POLISH FALCO P PA HIGHLAND TA
1ST PLACE BEST O F THE REST BAZINGA FROM M ID ATLANTIC VA
More Results on page 18
7 HANDICAP TOMMY NAJAR
CE CHAMPIONS A L P T S R FI L L A B 9 STONE TAP PA EY K M O FR ’S 9 IN SMOK
PHOTO CREDIT: RICKY BRYANT RB PROMOTIONS
RESULTS
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 17
1ST PLACE SUPER SENIORS EVERT SNOW WITH CECILIA STRAIN
ALLEN HOPKINS, 1ST PLACE OPEN DIVISION LEE HOLT
1ST PLACE 17 & UNDER NICK EVANS 1ST PLACE PRO-AM BUCKY SOUVANTHONG 18 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
1ST PLACE 12 & UNDER RICKY EVANS
1ST PLACE SENIORS TONY RODRIGUEZ
PHOTO CREDIT: RICKY BRYANT RB PROMOTIONS
1ST PLACE WOMEN’S LIZ TAYLOR
Shuff Wins
Story courtesy of AZBilliards.com
Shuff wins inaugural event on the return of Fast Eddie’s 9-Ball Tour Brandon Shuff and Manny Chau met three times in the first Fast Eddie’s 9-Ball Tour stop in 15 months. Once in the hot seat, and twice in the finals, they played a total of 42 games. Shuff won two more than half of them, and two of the three matches to claim the event title. The $1,000-added event drew 68 entrants to Fast Eddie’s in Round Rock, TX. From among the winners’ side final four, just after sending Sylver Ochoa to the loss side, Manny Chau faced and defeated Junior Jueco 9-6. Shuff, in the meantime, having sent Bernard Walker over, met and defeated David (LD; Little Dave) Henson 9-3 to square off against Chau in the hot seat match. The two battled back and forth to a 6-6 tie, before Chau won two in a row to reach the hill first. Shuff came back to win the next rack, but Chau finished it one rack later and sat in the hot seat. Over on the loss-side, Henson drew Ochoa, who’d gotten by J.P. Lopez and Tokoph. Jueco picked up Eric Aicenena, who’d defeated Charlie Mora and Walker. Jueco downed Aicenena 7-3, while Henson locked up in a double hill battle that he eventually won against Ochoa. Henson was on a roll, and shut Jueco out in the quarterfinals, before battling and eventually, giving way to Shuff in a double hill semifinal. In the opening set of the true double elimination final, shortly after he had informed stream commentator Ray Hansen that he was going to see some “free-wheeling,” Shuff jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Chau finally got on the board, and then, almost made it two in a row, when an 8-ball rattled in the hole and instead, gave Shuff his fifth. Chau was shooting at the 8-ball in the seventh rack, too, and scratched to give Shuff his sixth. Chau then chalked up two in a row, Shuff chalked up one and Chau got his last. Chau scratched early in the 12th rack and 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th 13th
$850 $570 $390 $280 $180 $140 $110 $90
conceded the game, putting Shuff on the hill. Shooting at the 8-ball, tight on the long rail, in the 13th rack, Chau drew the cue ball back, all the way into the opposite corner, and Shuff finished up to win the opening set. In the second set, reduced to a race to seven, it was Chau opening up an early lead to 3-0, before Shuff came back to win three of the next four. Chau wasn’t able to get out in front further than two after that. He reached the hill first, but Shuff came back to bring about their second 6-6 tie. This one, though, was double hill. In the final rack, Shuff broke and then, shooting at the 1-ball, rattled it in the hole, leaving a fairly open table for Chau. Chau, though, returned the favor and rattled the 4-ball in a hole. Shuff completed the rack and went home with the event title. In addition to a big ‘welcome back’ to one and all, tour director Lewis Jones thanked Fast Eddie’s owner, Mark Lewis and his staff for their hospitality and sponsorship, as well as Ron Geyer of the Custom Cue Connection, and Paul Sumrall.
Brandon Shuff Manual Chau David Henson Junior Jueco Sylver Ochoa, Eric Aicinena Bernard Walker, Tommy Tokoph James Davis Sr., Charles Mora, JP Lopez, Terry Keith Jimmy Ramirez, Jeremiah Hoffman, Chris Hausman, Brent Thomas
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 19
ACS - Illinois
16th Annual 8-Ball State Championships
1ST MEN’S M ASTER SING LES JEFF SERGE NT
LES OPEN SING ’S N E M T 1S NGELES MARLON A
GLES ANDARD SIN T S ’S N E M 1ST GE MARK JUD 1ST MEN’S S ENIOR SING LES MILTON STR ACK
1ST WOM
1ST MASTER SCOTCH DO IKE RUNNEL UBLES S AND MILIC A KOZOMAR A
20 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
EN’S SEN IOR SING SUE KO LES SHINSK I
ES TCH DOUBL O C S N E P O VIN 1ST HEATHER LA D N A R E G E JIM KRU
State Association
Open 9-Ball Tournament March 21-25, 2012
ILL
MA’S BAR & GR
M FROM DEM 1ST MEN’S TEA
’S 9-BALL
1ST WOMEN
TER SINGLES
AS
M 1ST WOMEN’S
AMY LATZKO
*Tournaments *Cue stick tip and shaft repair *Cue sticks & supplies *Lessons *In house & traveling leagues ISPA, ACS, VNEA
218 Walnut St - Muscatine, IA
563-263-7665 www.krugzpoolhall.com
1ST WOMEN’S TEAM: SHUT THE FRONT DOOR SUSAN ULATOWSKI WIECHEC, KATHY KOON, HEATHER LAVIN, JAYMI LEVENHAGEN
-BALL PEN 9 O T S 1 IKES RICH M
1ST WOMEN’S
STANDARD SIN
JOYEL RENO
GLES
MEADOWS
Watch for Upcoming Tournaments Schedules 8525 Cottonwood St NW Coon Rapids, MN 763-780-1585
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 21
PIEDRABUENA Retains His Crown
The Champion of Champions event opened Thursday morning with 11 of the best players in America, each a former national champion or second place winner, anxious to prove who would lay claim to this year's title. Following a short practice schedule on the three Gabriels Kronos tables, the first round began. Last year's trophy holder, Pedro Piedrabuena beat Bill Smith 35-18 in 30 innungs on table 1. Miguel Torres, after driving 3 hours from New York and testing the table for a few minutes, won the lag and soon was in the midst of a run of 10. A 35 to 20 victory over Frank Torres in 19 innings quickly followed. Not to be outdone, Hugh Patino had a run of 13 in his opening round victory over George Ashby (35-20 in 28 innings). Good play continued during the second round. In a mild upset, Michael Kang bested Jae Cho 35 to 19 in 21 innings. Hugo Patino won his second of the day by a score of 35 to 14 over Frank Torres in just 24 innings. Sonny Cho topped Mercedes Gonzales in 25 innings, holding his opponent to 17 innings. Mercedes played well but missed several close billiards and could not keep pace. The struggles began in the third round. Mazin Shooni averaged 1.000 in beating Mercedes, who scored but 20. Again, Mercedes missed half a dozen close ones, and it was clear that both she and Mazin had trouble adjusting to the slippery and long tables. Pedro won his second of the day but also had trouble, needing 31 innings to defeat George Ashby, who managed 29 in the same number of frames. But the real story—and the first surprise of the event—happened on table 3 in round 3. Bill Smith and Jae Cho traded billiards for the first dozen innings, but Mr. Three Cushion started to pull away after the score was knotted at 10. By playing careful defense, Smith left his opponent without any good leaves inning after inning. Gradually, Smith pulled away, finally securing a 35 to 24 victory in 31 innings. At the end of two rounds, Pedro Piedrabuena had two victories and was averaging 1.148. Hugo Patino also had two victories but a better grand average, at 1.346. Mercedes Gonzales, Frank Torres, Jae Cho and George Ashby were winless, each 0-2. Bill Smith was 1 and 1, and Michael Kang, Miguel Torres and Mazin Shooni were each 1-0. The tournament average was at 1.064. DAY 2: The second day of the Champion of Champions extravaganza started Friday morning with the crowd still buzzing about the night before, when Mazin Shooni and Sonny Cho added another classic match to their storied rivalry. The two old foes traded billiards for twenty innings, each averaging over 1.000. Mazin slowly pulled ahead, 32 to 28. He made a reverse spin shot for 33, and a 7 rail back-up for 34. The balls rolled favorably, and he was left with a short-angle shot, which he played with confidence and a little spin. As Mazin's cue ball came off the second rail, Sonny got out of his chair to offer his hand in congratulations, but to his and Mazin's surprise, the cue ball flattened out off the third rail. It missed by less than nothing Mazin would later say. Mazin sat down, and Sonny used the reprieve by running 7 and out for the victory. 22 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
In other action Thursday evening, George Ashby jumped to a 10 to 0 lead in 3 innings but Miguel Torres stormed back with runs of 10 and 11, notching a 35 to 20 win in 19 innings. Pedro Piedrabuena posted the best game, closing out Mercedes Gonzales in 18 innings. As play ended Thursday, Piedrabuena, Hugo Patino, Sonny Cho and Miguel Torres remained undefeated. In first round action Friday morning, Hugo Patino put his undefeated record on the line as he lagged for the break against Mercedes Gonzales. She won the right to open the game, and she started with a 3, then followed it up with another 3, then a 4. She raced to a 20 to 4 lead, and then built it to 25 to 8. A long time out called by Hugo cooled Mercedes off, and he started making billiards in twos and threes. The audience wondered whether she could finish without being caught. She couldn't. Hugo caught her at 31, notched another in the next inning and closed with a run of 3 for a 35 to 31 victory. Mercedes had played well, averaging .796, but had nothing to show for it except five losses. After a bad first day, Jae Cho staged a comeback with a morning victory over George Ashby. In the next session, he ran 4 and out to best Mazin Shooni 35 to 30. He closed the day with a 35 to 20 victory over Mercedes, sealing the W with a run of 7 and out. After a fine victory over Jae Cho during the first day, Bill Smith was not able to continue the success, with losses to Hugo and Mazin. He rebounded with a victory over Frank Torres, who had shown great skills at times but had been inconsistent. Ashby finally found his aim in his last game of the day, defeating Sonny Cho in 20 innings. As Friday ended, Pedro, Hugo and Miguel had still not tasted defeat. They would clash on Saturday. Sonny Cho had just one loss. Mazin Shooni and Michael Kang had three losses each. All the other players had at least four losses. The overall grand average at the close of the last session on Friday was 1.096, with Pedro's 1.423 and Hugo's 1.411 setting the standard for all others. DAY 3: At the start of the third day of play at the Champion of Champions, tournament director Charles Brown awarded Pedro Piedrabuena a victory by forfeit when Mazin Shooni did not arrive on time for their 11:00 a.m. match. After waiting 40 minutes, Brown declared the forfeit. Mazin arrived a few minutes later, but Brown's decision stood despite Mazin's protest. With the forfeit in hand, Pedro remained undefeated, but not for long. Also victorious in the first round was Hugo Patino. Sonny Cho rebounded after his Friday night loss with a 35 to 24 victory over Jae Cho, whose struggles continued. With Mazin still fuming over his forfeit, he found it hard to concentrate, and Miguel Torres rolled over him to a 35 to 21 victory. Mercedes Gonzales edged Frank Torres by 1, and in one of the highlight matches between two veterans, George Ashby bested Bill Smith 35 to 23. According to Smith, that was the 39th time the two had played in a tournament. Their rivalry actually goes back to when they were youngsters.
A mutual friend, Bill Johnson from Michigan, clapped his hands as Ashby made the final billiard. “They started playing when they were 12 years old,” Johnson explained. “They've made a lot of billiards against each other in their careers.” Miguel Torres could not keep pace with Pedro or Hugo, losing to Sonny Cho 35 to 24 in 18 innings. With the score 28 to 25 in favor of Torres, Cho broke open the game with a run of 7, then closed it out two innings later. On the adjacent table, Pedro put on a display of control and position, crushing Jae Cho in 18 innings. And then, the plot thickened. Jae Cho dispensed Patino with a marvelous display of cue wizardry. Twenty minutes later, Pedro stepped to the table for his last match of the day. A win over Miguel Torres would all but seal the tournament trophy, but Torres proved a wily foe, squeaking out a 35 to 34 victory and tossing the tournament into chaos. After Saturday's last session, the overall grand average was 1.070. Pedro and Hugo have posted the highest grand averages, both over 1.400. With Pedro, Hugo and Miguel sitting with one loss each, the grand averages were critical, as the highest average would be the tie-breaker for anyone with identical win-loss records. DAY 4: The final match of the day came down to Pedro Piedrabuena and Hugo Patino. With Hugo comfortably in the lead early on, Pedro decided to run a 16, the tournament high run, taking over the lead. Talk about timing. Hugo took a time out and rightfully so. As it neared the end of the 35 point match, Pedro was winning 34-31, but Hugo was at the table. He quickly ran a 2 and then had what seemed to be a fairly easy shot but missed it a hair long. Pedro was left with a very difficult position where it seemed like he might have a 5 or 7 rail around the table shot, but potential kisses were everywhere. Instead he played a very difficult, precision up and down shot which looked as if he may have had a little reverse english on it. The last ball was right in the middle of the table so it was a very small target. Pedro made the fantastic out shot and sealed his 2nd consecutive victory as the Champion of Champions! -BY PAUL FRANKEL
PRIZE FUND 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 4th Place 5th Place 6th Place 7th Place 8th Place 9th Place 10th Place 11th Place
$5,000.00 $2,000.00 $1,500.00 $1,200.00 $1,100.00 $1,000.00 $900.00 $800.00 $700.00 $600.00 $500.00
Pedro Piedrabuena Hugo Patino Miguel Torres Sonny Cho Jae Hyung Cho Mazin Shooni Michael Kang George Ashby Bill Smith Frank Torres Mercedes Gonzales
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 23
STORY
Lucky
#15
We headed up north from our California trip. Lucky was able to make enough money towards his medical expenses. He was doing OK in this stretch, health wise. Good enough that he wanted to make a stop or two before back to the Lucky Q Ranch. We talked about the US Bar Table Championships in Reno but first hit the Northwest for a day or two. We pulled in to my old haunt Classic Billiards. Lucky said it used to be a fair amount of action in there but dropped off. We walked in and Manny Chau and Mark Vidal were taken off the locals. “The most action there in a while” I said. They hung around a couple of days got a few grand out of the place. Everyone seemed to get up and play not knowing they had no chance. Little Chris and Alberto did slow them down some on the winning. The pool room junkies tried to get Brad to the Bone to play these two roadies, but Brad politely told them all that his money was for them not the road players… Lucky was hanging around waiting for the right time to play. On the third day Lucky came in to play only to find out they didn’t show up and left town. Lucky missed the opportunity to make a few from the road team. Lucky saw Detroit John and he acknowledge him with a head nod and a surprised look. I told Lucky that Detroit John, (Jewelry John as some call him) always wanted to play Lucky again. They played years back when John was on top of his game. John played well that stormy fall day and at one point in the match against Lucky John ran 7 twice, A real show of his top gear. But Lucky prevailed. Detroit a little embarrassed about that encounter with Lucky has always denied it, ever since. Even his friends who watched that day have thought that he’s trying too hard to repudiate the story. He has always rationalizing the whole thing. John has been heard saying “he’s a player that doesn't play as good as is thought to be, anyway”. John had privately said he could beat Lucky now! John didn’t care how good he really was. “Bring him on” was his motto. The truth of it was that John had not played much the past few years. Detroit has had a high gear but is game was not there right now. Still john wanted to play Lucky, well it was Noble!! Lucky standing near the table, John said “Want to play some!!” Well, Lucky didn’t really want to play John, he was worried that he would be exposed as too good a player and all the action would stop. He didn’t want John’s money. John was very helping and generous to all his friends and folks in the pool room. Went it was inevitable they were going to play at Detroit’s
24 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
BY: ANDREW MONSTIS
Detroit John insistence, Lucky had a plan and it was not to let Detroit John beat him. Lucky was anxious about Detroit’s groupies, Brad to the Bone, Alberto, Sunami, Damascus Shorty and Angie the Striper, that they all might spread the word on Lucky. He didn’t want a crowd. I arranged the match at night when few people would be there. John was there warming up with Gary Crane. He brought his stern peripheral demeanor with him. Even though he had a real teddy bear personality. Lucky thought he was a nice guy trying to act shatterproof. You could see John wanted to play Lucky bad. Lucky was going to make Detroit play hard for it. Play by the set and not less than $1000. John wanted to play by the game and Lucky wanted to play by the set. John wanted to play this man so bad he gave into the set race to 9 for a $1,000. Detroit John got the first break. You could see the determination in his eyes. His excitement was evident. He broke and ran out; broke again and ran out. John truly was on fire and in stroke. He was as soaring as you can get playing good pool. He broke and ran out three more times and the score was 5-0. Everyone was wondering where this game came from it had been years, years that he was able to do this. Detroit was showing everyone how pool was to be played. John hadn’t even taken off his jacket, and his shirt was hanging out from underneath, and his eyes were glazed. John was pumped. He looked at Lucky and said, half-joking and half-serious, “I am going to thrash you and send you back to wherever you came from.” Lucky just calmly reached for a cinnamon stick to replace the one he was chewing on and then smiled. He said later he was a little perplexed at John’s patterns but was impressed with how he split the cup on every one of his shots. John feeling it ! made some comment like, “Might as well pay me now,” and then broke his 6th rack. He did not make a ball, acted like it was nothing and his lead was safe. He went over and sat in the chair looking at Lucky like Popeye with one eye squint and repeating biting his lip. Lucky got up, stretched, back a little stiff, hobbled to the table, studied the table. John said before he was going to shoot “hey I don’t remember that you were left handed”. Lucky who never says anything too payers said “did you eat your spinach today” Lucky lined up the ball off handed. I knew lucky played right handed and wondered what the heck Lucky was doing. Lucky calmly proceeded to run out that game and the next one and the next. As Lucky ran out each game off handed, you could see John’s smugness slowly fade away. Lucky slowly ran out the set you might of thought he was playing Glenn Atwell. John said, “You can’t make me quit. Rack ‘em”. This time we’ll play to 11. Lucky came over and asked me if he should run out another set on my friend. I said “I thought your plan
to make him work for it” He’s not working just sitting in the chair. Lucky said he changed his mind. I guess Detroit’s demeanor did that. Lucky said “I want to make a believer out of him, I guess” So Lucky ran out game after game after game before you knew it Lucky was shooting on the hill at the last 9 ball and missed it. There was a little spark in john’s eye like he had hope. It didn’t last long. Instead of reaching for his cue John pulled up his pants, tucked in the one flap of his shirt tail, reached in his pocket and handed Lucky some money, all the time giving me the fish eye. I shrugged my shoulders said Pisano…. Since we were friends, all I could say to John was, “Hey, I told you, he was tough and he was “that good.” Lucky said, “Done for now?” John was a little hot but not mad, wanted to give it another try but? “No Lucky”. John did start out playing like a champion again. It was great to see. John said after that first set, now I don’t have to listen to Brad wanting to give me lessons. Lucky and John sat down and started talking about playing pool in Detroit and playing at Plush pockets. Lucky told a story about beating some guy named Ronnie from Canada. I wasn’t listing to what they were saying. It all seemed to mello out and they were laughing and smiling. Some of those Detroit stories must have been good. Later that night Lucky gave me $2,000 dollars to give back to John. “John was a real nice guy and a straight up shooter”. When I saw John later and tried to give him his money back. A Deja Vu he didn’t want the money back just like years when they played. I said “if you don’t take this money I would go to the casino and bet it all on the craps tables, one roll”. He said, “Well, OK. I’ll take the money.” To this day John still avoids saying he ever played and loss to Lucky. Everyone who was present when they played think it suspicious his always talking about as it never happened. He’s still says Lucky is a myth, fantasy and a ghost. Recently John said “There is no one that’s that good,” meaning running out two sets without missing on him. It was Lucky’s advantage to have John spread the word “He doesn’t exist”. Actually, did help keep Lucky from being too visible at the local tournaments or pool rooms. Thanks to John if he had told about playing Lucky might not have gotten another game. We had plan to go to Seattle area. A friend Askar was going to steer us into action but we turned around went south. Lucky had a big urge to go to the Bar Table championships at the Grand Sierra. The North Dakota Kid was smashing the competition. Lucky Played him some 10 years ago. He’s real good action now……Lucky wasn’t ready to go back to the ranch.
Scoreboard
FARGO MIDWINTER SHOOTOUT MARCH 2-4 2012
SHANE VAN BOENING
8-BALL RESULTS --82 PLAYERS 1 $2000 Shane Van Boening 2 $1200 Demetrius Jelatis 3 $750 Felix Beardy 4 $400 Marc Oelslager 5-6 $300 Dean Flanders, Jamie Pluta 7-8 $200 Rory Hendrickson, Josh Shones 9-12 $120 Lee Heuwagen, Josh Burbul Gary Johnson, Brent Fletcher 13-16 $80 Michael Perron Jr., Rocky Mueller Mike Osatuik, Chad Schlumburg 17-24 $50 Mohammed Bashir, Ryan Johnson Robert Pulver, Jerrod Bernath Mark Kuklok, George Goodburn Lee French, Shane Jackson 9-BALL RESULTS – 66 PLAYERS 1 $600 Shane Van Boening 2 $450 Michael Perron Jr. 3 $300 Demetrius Jelatis 4 $200 Jamie Pluta 5-6 $150 Dean Flanders, Josh Burbul 7-8 $100 Austin Sissel, Josh Shones 9-12 $60 Felix Beardy, Robert Pulver Marc Oelslager, Wade Odegaard 13-16 $40 Nate Leslie, Josh Shones Lee Heuwagen, Travis Mann
WHITE DIAMOND SUPER 9-BALL LAFAYETTE, LA - MARCH 10-11
128 Players with 51 on the alternate list 9-Ball Bar Table - Race to 7 Tournament Purse $6,120 First Calcutta $44,965 --Second Calcutta $12,480 1st $2143 James Baraks 2nd $1040 Joey Gray 3rd $796 Mike Black 4th $551 Cliff Joyner 5/6 $367 Darrell Biggart, James Walden 7/8 $214 Derrick Cantu, Joey Barnes, 9-12 $107 Kenny Loftis, Kevin Guimond, Mark Cavalier, John Hennessy
JAMES BARAKS
April 2012 - Rackem Magazine 25
Presents
Call First - All Tournaments are subject to change without notice
Click on the MAP link online to get directions to each location DATE Apr 7 Apr 7 Apr 7-8 Apr 10-15 Apr 11-15 Apr 14-15 Apr 14-15 Apr 14-15 Apr 19-22 Apr 19-22 Apr 19 Apr 20-22 Apr 21
CITY Tulsa, OK Muscatine, IA Waukesha, WI Harker Hgts, TX Davenport, IA Waukesha, WI Houston, TX Three Lakes, WI New Town, ND New Town, ND Billings, MT Billings, MT Muscatine, IA
LOCATION Magoo’s Krug’z Pool Hall Master Z’s Harker Heights Event Cntr Iowa State Poolplayers Master Z’s Bogies Billiards Oneida Village Inn Four Bears Casino Four Bears Casino MCMOA MCMOA Krug’z Pool Hall
PHONE (918) 663-3364 (563) 263-7665 (262) 522-3615 (702) 738-4950
Apr 21 Apr 21 Apr 21
Sedalia, MO Oshkosh, WI Green Bay, WI
Sharky’s Billiards Varsity Club The Bar on Lime Kiln
(660) 826-5855 9-Ball (920) 651-0806 8-Ball - Lucasi Tour (920) 609-2611 WI handicapped 8-Ball
$25+$10 g.f. $40 $20
Apr 21 Apr 21-22 Apr 25-27 Apr 27-29 Apr 28 May 9-20 May 10-13 May 14-19 Jul 20-22 Jul 20-22 Jul 20-22 Jul 20-22 Jul 23-25 Jul 23-25 Jul 23-25 Jul 23-25 Aug 30-Sep 3
West Salem, WI Three Lakes, WI Mtn View, CA Mtn View, CA Muscatine, IA Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas, NV Tunica, MS Tunica, MS Tunica, MS Tunica, MS Tunica, MS Tunica, MS Tunica, MS Tunica, MS Scottsdale, AZ
Breakers Oneida Village Inn CA Billiard Club CA Billiard Club Krug’z Pool Hall BCAPL CSI BCAPL CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI BCAPL
(608) 786-9999 (715) 546-3373 (650) 965-3100 (650) 965-3100 (563) 263-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 (702) 719-7665 playbca.com
$25 $100/team $125 $125 Call Varies Call Call $50+$25 fees $50+$25 fees $50+$25 fees FREE (w/8) $50+$25 fees $50+$25 fees $50+$25 fees FREE (w/8) Varies
presents
EVENT / RULES ENTRY 1st Annual Vegas Warm-up $65 Muscatine City Team Champ $50/team 10-Ball WI State Open $65 Texas State BCAPL Varies www.ispa.in2pool.com 8-Ball Singles/Teams & 9-Ball Varies (262) 522-3615 9-Ball State Amateur $55 (281) 821-4544 Lone Star Tour $35-$15 (715) 546-3373 Women’s Inv. Traveling Tourney $100/team (701) 421-0604 8-Ball Classic Men division $60 (701) 421-0604 8-Ball Classic Women division $40 (406) 208-3506 State 8-Ball 4-person Team $200/team (406) 208-3506 State 8-Ball Singles M/W Qual. at bars (563) 263-7665 Skippy Cup Call
Open 8-Ball Women’s Inv. Traveling Tourney One Pocket 10-Ball Skippy Cup BCAPL Nationals U S Open One Pocket U S Open 10-Ball 8-Ball - Men’s Open Division 8-Ball - Women’s Division 8-Ball - Men’s Sr (55+) Division 8-Ball - Juniors Division 9-Ball - Men’s Open Division 9-Ball - Women’s Division 9-Ball - Men’s Sr (55+) Division 9-Ball - Juniors Division Southwest Regionals
ADDED $2,500 Call $2,500 $5,000 Call $1,500 $1,000 Call $10,000 w/128 $3,000 w/64 Call Call Call Call $1,000 $400 w/32 Call Call $4,000 $10,000 Call $800,000 payout $10,000 Guar $25,000 Guar $3,000-1st w/64 $500-1st w/16 $1,000-1st w/32 Prizes-Entry $3,000-1st w/64 $500-1st w/16 $1,000-1st w/32 Prizes-Entry $6,000
TIME LINK 11AM 1PM MAP 1PM Call MAP Call 1PM Call 10:30AM 5PM MAP 5PM 6:00PM MAP 7:00PM Call MAP Noon MAP Call MAP Noon 9AM 10:30AM Call MAP Call Call MAP Call MAP Call Call Noon Noon Noon MAP Noon Noon Noon Noon MAP Noon Online MAP
WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS Call First - All Tournaments are subject to change without notice
DATE Wednesdays Thursdays Fridays Saturdays
CITY Oshkosh, WI Muscatine, IA Oshkosh, WI Coon Rapids, MN Farmington, MN Muscatine, IA Tulsa, OK Oshkosh, WI Farmington, MN Tulsa, OK
26 Rackem Magazine - April 2012
LOCATION Varsity Club Krug’z Pool Hall Varsity Club CR’s Sports Bar Farmington Billiards Krug’z Pool Hall Q-Spot Billiards Varsity Club Farmington Billiards Q-Spot Billiards
PHONE EVENT / RULES (920) 651-0806 9-Ball Beginners (563) 263-7665 Pool/Darts (2nd Shift) SE (920) 651-0806 9-Ball Intermediate (763) 780-1585 8-Ball on 7’ Diamonds (651) 463-2636 8 or 9-ball rotation (563) 263-7665 9-Ball Race to 4 or 5 (918) 779-6204 8-Ball 7 & under (920) 651-0806 9-Ball Open - Break Pot (651) 463-2636 8-Ball Bar Box Hdcp (918) 779-6204 9-Ball 7 & under
ENTRY ADDED $8 $5 $10 $16 $75 $10 $50 w/16 $5 $5 $15 $5/player Guar. $20 entry $25 every 8 $10 (incl. g.f.)
TIME Call 1AM Call 7PM 6:30PM 8PM 9 PM Call 2PM 9 PM
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