All-Star Field Attends the Florida Pro Tour

by Rick Davis
The second billiard stop of the Seminole Florida Pro Tour’s 2007 season got underway April 28 at Stroker’s in Palm Harbor, FL, where a full field of 64 players entered the event, many of whom include past champions and top touring pros.
Early action on the winners’ side saw 2006 player of the year, Will Bilbrey, defeat the current Florida Pro Tour Championship champion, Robb Saez, 7-5. Other upsets included Danny Harriman’s 7-5 win over Gabe “The Babe” Owen and tour regular Jason Richko’s defeat of Howard Vickery by the same score. Perhaps the most unexpected event so far has been the elimination of road player Chris Bartram, who was defeated by James Roberts 7-4 and then eliminated by Sam Monday 7-5.
Sunday’s action will bring back the top 16 players, and as of the early evening, the winners’ side matches have been determined. Multiple-event winner Dennis Hatch will face Tony “T-Rex” Chohan, while tour regular Dave Grossman faces Bilbrey. The other two parings will show the winner of the season’s first event, Corey Deuel, against Harriman, while “Marvelous Marlon” Manalo clashes with Nathan Rose.
On the one-loss side, it’s every man for himself as players try to stretch to the next day of play. Raul Alvarez and Dave Broxson flew through their evening matches, assuring their spots Sunday as they look forward to playing Hunter Lombardo and Tommy Kennedy, respectively. Many tough matches remain up in the air such as Monday versus Owen, Shaun Wilkie versus Tony Crosby, and Butch Croft versus Saez. That’s not the end of the action, however, as plenty of notable players still remain in contention such as Donnie Mills, Adam Wheeler, and Richard Broumpton.
While all of Saturday’s matches were races to 7, Sunday will bring races to 8 with a single race to 9 in the finals. The event boasts an $8,000-added prize fund that makes the top finish worth $3,500.
Stay tuned to Inside pool Magazine for the latest updates and info on the scorching hot Florida Pro Tour.

Diamond billiard Products Obtains table Rights for Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships

Diamond billiard Products is pleased to announce that they have acquired the rights as the official table of the BCA’s 2007 Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, May 13-19. The event, to be taped for broadcast on ESPN, allows Diamond world-wide exposure for, arguably, the greatest pool table ever made.
Diamond’s mission is to standardize equipment to professional specifications as determined by professional players. VP, Chad Scharlow, looks forward to the feedback as, For the first time, both men and women’s professional organizations will compete simultaneously on the the crown jewel of tournament play, The Diamond Pro-Am.
Diamond sees this year’s Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships, held in conjunction with BCA National 8-ball championships, as a monumental occasion. For the first time in billiard history, the professional player and the league player will play under the same conditions. Same pocket openings, slate thickness, cloth speed and color, balls– including the same weight, non-magnetic cue ball. The only difference is the 9 foot versus 7 foot playing surface. All BCA pool League members competing in the Grand Ballroom, on each of the 102 seven foot Diamond Smart Tables with 4-1/2 Pro Cut pockets, are competing under professional conditions. When they watch the Pro’s competing in the Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships on ESPN, they can take pride knowing that Diamond, and the BCA pool League, care about their sport, and treat their amateur players with the same respect as they do the Pro’s.
Diamond is no stranger to professional events. Since 1999 they have they have developed their tables through input from the greatest pool tournament on earth; The Diamond Derby City Classic. Ten days of 500 players jousting with Bank pool, One Pocket, Straight pool, and 9-ball will certainly put any table to the test.
The U.S. Open 9-ball Championship has Diamond as it’s official table.
The BCA pool League hosts its National 8-ball Championships on the 7 foot Diamond Smart table. The Smart table is coin operated and, through laser technology sensors, allows Red Circle cue ball return after a scratch. Now league players don’t have to use the oversized cue ball.

The U.S. Open Bar table Championships puts the Diamond 7 footers to the test.
Qlympics: Three Weeks of pool Bliss upcoming in November, will host both professional and BCA pool League events on Diamond 7 and 9 foot Smart Tables.
Both Diamond’s 7 and 9 foot tables have the 4-1/2 Pro Cut pockets, again, to standardize equipment, and bridge the gap between amateur and professional players.
The Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships and The BCA pool League National 8-ball Championships have 281 Diamond tables under one roof at the same time: All draped in Simonis 860 Tour Blue cloth and adorned with Super Aramith Pro Balls. Now that’s a sight to behold. Come to the Riviera and see for yourself.

McDermott All American Tour Hits Nite Hawk

The thirty-third billiard stop of the 2006/2007 McDermott All American Tour (produced by the American CueSports Alliance – ACS) was hosted at Nite Hawk Café Lounge, in Portland, OR on the weekend of April 20-22, and featured a $1,500 added purse with thirty-nine players. The event included a double-elimination 9-ball format on 8-foot bar boxes.
Stan Tourangeau (Vancouver, BC) ran undefeated to the finals. In the hot-seat match, Tourangeau comfortably dispatched Zac Masiba (Vancouver, WA) 9-4. Earlier in the A-bracket semi-finals, Tourangeau outplayed Dan Louie (Seattle, WA) 9-4, while Masiba knocked off Jessie Allred (Portland, OR) 9-4. In the B-side quarterfinals Mike Zimmerman (Seattle, WA) eliminated Louie 9-7, while Glenn Atwell (Portland, OR) ousted Allred 9-3; Atwell took out Zimmerman 9-7 in the semifinals; and in the B-side finals Atwell ended Masiba’s run by a 9-6 margin. The tourney finals was one set to 11, and both Tourangeau and Atwell battled to the very end, with Stan Tourangeau clipping Glenn Atwell for the title by an 11-10 margin!
By virtue of Stan Tourangeau being the highest-finishing ACS/CCS member, he qualified for a free singles entry into the 2007 ACS Nationals in Las Vegas – courtesy of the ACS. The ACS wishes to thank sponsors McDermott Handcrafted Cues, Silver Cup Chalk, billiard Wholesalers and Pro Series Cases for their support in donating “Value-In-Kind” product for this and all stops on the McDermott All American Tour. Sponsorship opportunities are still available by contacting the ACS.
Saturday-Sunday, April 28-29 will feature three Tour stops - a $500 added 9-ball event at the Chattanooga billiard Club in Chattanooga, TN (for onsite entry details contact Don Hatcher at 423-499-3883), and the McDermott Green Country Tour 9-ball Open ($500 added – men’s division/ $350 added – women’s division) at Sandite billiards in Sand Springs, OK (for onsite entry details contact Cindy Smith at 918-245-2859). Information, entry details and schedules for the 2006/2007 McDermott All American Tour are available at www.americancuesports.org.

Final Results:
1st Stan Tourangeau (Vancouver, BC) $1,250 + free ACS Nationals Entry
2nd Glenn Atwell (Portland, OR) $825
3rd Zac Masiba (Vancouver, WA) $500
4th Mike Zimmerman (Seattle, WA) $280
5-6th Jessie Allred (Portland, OR) $125
Dan Louie (Seattle, WA)
7-8th Al Perez (Vancouver, WA) $75
Eddie Mataya (Seattle, WA)

World 10-ball Championship Filling Up with Diverse International Field

Dragon Promotions predicts that the Predator World 10-ball Championship will have the largest foreign field ever attended in Florida’s strong billiard history. The invitational event was limited to 96 invitees who will commence combat on the green felt starting May 24 at Bankshot billiards in Jacksonville, FL.
Over 20 countries will be represented including players from Italy, Hong Kong, Sweden, Netherlands, Russia, Dominica, France, Canada, China, England, Australia, Germany, Korea, Philippines, Denmark, Puerto Rico, Spain, Japan, Aruba, Curacao, Belgium, Guatamala, Finland, and the USA.
We’ve sponsored this event seven years now, but we’re more excited than ever before. Going from 9-ball to 10-ball, and then from open to the World Championships has been the right evolution. The response on this World Championship event has been beyond our expectations. says Karim Belhaj, CEO of Predator Products.
Experienced World Championship title competitors in attendance include World 9-ball Champions Thorsten Hohmann(GER), Alex Pagulayan (PHI), Mika Immonen(FIN), Ralf Souquet(GER), and Johnny Archer(USA). Other vastly seasoned pros include Niels Fiejen (NET), Marcus Chamat(SWE), Francisco Bustamente (PHI), Charlie Williams (USA), Thomas Engert(GER), Raj Hundal(ENG), Luc Salvas(CAN), Fabio Petroni (ITL) and many more.
First timers for a World Championship event include newbies Rob Saez (USA), Manuel Gama (SPN), Goh Takami(JPN), Pil Hyun Cho(KOR), Craig Riley (ENG), John Morra(CAN).
Surprisingly, top pro veteran Tony Robles(USA) will be taking his first stab at a rotation game World Title at this event. I get invited every year, but the World 9-ball Championship has always been far overseas. I don’t know if I can sweat the flight. Just flying to Las Vegas from New York kills me! admits the 2x Sportsman of the Year.
As well as being the first ever World 10-ball Championship in history, this will be the first time a rotation game World Championship will be held on American soil since 1994.
We revived the World Straight pool Championship last year, and since then we’ve seen a resurgence in the game all over the world. Creating the first ever World 10-ball Championship, we feel we will help promote the growth and popularity of this game as well. says Charlie Williams, Founder of Dragon Promotions.

In conjunction with the main event, there will also be the 2nd Annual US Amateur 8-ball 9-ball Open with Open, Womens, and Seniors Divisions from May 23-27,2007. These events are only open to amateurs and will not allow pros,semi-pros,or top rated amateurs. The Junior World 10-ball Championships with Girls and Boys Divisions will be held May 26-27,2007. For info on amateur events goto www.dragonpromotions.com or email dpamateurevents@gmail.com (mailto:dpamateurevents@gmail.com) . Junior inquiries email world10ballchampionships@gmail.com (mailto:world10ballchampionships@gmail.com)

Predator Products is based in Jacksonville, Florida and produces the highest quality and most technologically advanced playing cues, break cues, jump cues, and cases. More than 60% of the top pros in the world on the men and women tours use Predator technology in competition.
Dragon Promotions is one of the leading producers of billiard programming in the world today. DP produces over 40 events a year airing on networks in USA and Korea including The World 14.1 Championship, King of Carom, and Korea vs USA. Dragon also manages some of the world’s best players including Thorsten Hohmann, Mika Immonen, Rodney Morris, Yu Ram Cha and many more.

Special Viking cue 9-ball Tour Discount for Texas

Vikng Enters the Lone Star State
The Viking cue 9-ball Tour will host it’s first event ever in Texas on April 28-29, 2007 at The Billard Den in Richardson, Texas. There is a $1,000 added Open event, a $500 added Amateur event and a Junior event with 4 BEF Junior National Qualifier spots and $750 in Viking Cues will be given away.
The Viking cue 9-ball Tour is recognized as one the premier regional tours in the U.S. today. Tour owner and promoter Mike Janis said, I’ve always wanted to host a tournament in the great state of Texas. I hope everyone from the region can make their way out and support these events.
With this being the first time that the Viking cue 9-ball Tour is going into the Lone Star State, Janis is doing everything he can to make this event a success. If anyone would like a flyer for the event please email vikingtour2@yahoo.com (mailto:vikingtour2@yahoo.com) with the heading Texas and I will send you a flyer. I would sure appreciate everyone from that region passing out a few flyers on league night or at other events. , said Janis.
Additionally, there is a $10 discount off the Viking Tour Card Fee for any player that is a member of any league. To receive this discount, just bring your league membership card or your weekly player roster with your name on it to get your discount.
Event details:
April 28-29 at 1pm
OPEN Event - $1,000 Added
((( GRAND OPENING TOURNAMENT )))
THE billiard DEN
580 W. ARAPHO RD - RICHARDSON, TX
972-792-7665
The event is race to 9W/7L
This event is played on 8′ tables
The TD for this event is Randy Goettlicher
www.thebilliardden.com