Reno 9-ball Reaches Finals; 8-ball Begins

by Rick Davis
The finals of the 9-ball division for the U.S. Bar table Championships are set and will feature Jonathan Pinegar against Gabe Owen at 8 p.m. local time. For the 111-player field, this second of three events has offered much excitement for the week-long event that filled the Sands Regency Hotel and Casino.
On the winners’ side Pinegar had a great run that started by defeating Filipinos Jose Parica and Rodolfo Luat. Pinegar then slipped through a few more matches before besting Steve Moore then John Morra to reach the hot seat match. In all, Pinegar took seven matches to reach the finals. Morra also had a strong run, although he did not face any of the top pros, giving him a somewhat smoother run. Other highlights included Moore sending Cliff Joyner to the one-loss side in the event’s first round, then a clash of pros in a corner of the chart saw Shane Van Boening, the winner of the 10-ball division, send Scott Frost west while Larry Wilson sent Owen over at the same time. Following that match Wilson shocked everyone by defeating Van Boening, who was the sure favorite until that point.
On the one-loss side both Van Boening and Owen made a quick run to the top eight laying waste to the other competitors, while nearby Moore and Luat each took command of their quarter of the chart to make the top eight. Since the winners’ side was already set, the one-loss kept grinding through, and Owen eliminated Van Boening while Luat ousted Moore but then fell to Oscar Dominguez. A quick jump later and Owen knocked out Dominguez in the quarterfinals then eliminated Morra in the semifinals to get a shot at the title.
While the evening rounds give the final 9-ball players a break, the third and final division of 8-ball got underway with over 140 players. This final division will break in the evening for the spotlight 9-ball finals then resume over the weekend to end the trio of events. Early action has Owen, Van Boening, Luat, Moore in the top caste of players still on the winners’ side.
Stay tuned to InsidePOOLmag.com for updates throughout the weekend on this exciting event.

Taylor Takes the Top Spot
Pechauer All-American Tour / Aurora, IL

by InsidePOOL Staff
Dan Taylor went undefeated to take top honors at the February 23 stop of the Pechauer All-American Tour. Hosted by Rudy’s Place in Aurora, IL, this $500-added event drew 35 players in a double-elimination 8-ball format on 7-foot bar boxes.
Hailing from Hickory Hills, IL, Taylor slid by Bob Romano 5-4 in the hot seat match. Earlier, in the A-bracket semifinals, Taylor knocked off Shannon Schroeder 5-4, while Romano eclipsed Pat McMullen 5-3. In the B-side final eight, Adam Maloney and Tommy Hernandez eliminated at seventh place Jamie Dolan 4-2 and Tony Gong 4-3, respectively. The progress of Maloney and Hernandez continued in the next round, as each ousted Pat McMullen 4-1 and Schroeder 4-3, respectively, into fifth place. The quarterfinals saw Maloney continue forward, as he knocked out Hernandez on the hill 4-3 at fourth place. But Romano ended Maloney’s run in the B-side finals by a 4-3 margin. The tournament finals featured the undefeated Taylor versus Romano, and Taylor again defeated Romano 5-4 in the first set for the title.

Results:
1st Dan Taylor
2nd Bob Romano
3rd Adam Maloney
4th Tommy Hernandez
5th Pat McMullen
Shannon Schroeder
7th Tony Gong
Jamie Dolan

Fuller and Bulfin are the Big Dawgs
Viking cue 9-ball Tour / Athens, GA

by InsidePOOL Staff

Lucky Dawg billiards in Athens, GA, hosted the Viking cue 9-ball Tour the weekend of Februry 23-24, and the joint was jumping with a total of 86 participants, with players from eight different states. Michael Fuller took off the open division, while Matt Bulfin triumphed in the amateur event.
The events hosted 43 players in the Open Event which included 7 free entries and 7 league discounts and an additional 43 players in the Amateur Event on Sunday which included 7 free entries and 6 league discounts. The Viking cue 9-ball Tour paid out an astonishing $5790 in prize money this past weekend. The Viking cue 9-ball Tour continues to strive to provide an excellent tournament environment by scheduling events in some of the best player oriented pool rooms in the region and continuing to offer players the highest payouts possible.

The open event had 43 players vying for the top spot. Fuller, who has racked up wins on most Southeast tours with his astonishing ability over the past year, fought his way to the finals by getting a bye in the first round and then dominating the top half of the bracket. He dealt a donut to David Lemon before defeating Omar Abbsi 9-5, Walker Breadon 9-3, Bruce Berrong 9-1, and Travis Summers 9-6 for the hot seat. After Summers’ loss, he faced off against Paul Song in the semifinals and bested him 9-7 in the battle for the tip back across the board to face Fuller again. Summers won the first match 9-4, but in the second, Fuller came back to win a hill-hill thriller 9-8.
Open Results:
1st Mike Fuller
2nd Travis Summers
3rd Paul Song
4th Tim Orange
5th Bruce Berrong
David Shadden
7th Brian White
Roger Lewis

The amateur division, won by Bulfin, garnered another 43 fine players. Bulfin took charge of the chart, beginning with Paul Derringer 5-4, Mike Henry 5-2, Chad Royal 5-2, Todd Drake 5-2, Bryant Walker 5-3, and Jim Davis 5-3 in the hot seat match. Davis was awarded a win in the semifinals via a forfeit by Todd Drake and then returned to the finals to face Bulfin, where he was defeated 5-2.
Amateur Results:
1st Matt Bulfin
2nd Jim Davis
3rd Todd Drake
4th Billy Tyler
5th BR Tatum
Bryant Walker
7th Gary Neal
Chad Royal

NACPBA Cancels Multi-Million Dollar billiards Tour
Press Release:
We at the NACPBA are saddened and deeply disappointed to announce the cancelling of the multi-million-dollar tour we were planning. The decision in fact was not made BY us rather FOR us. The financial backers feel that the environment of professional pool/billiards in the United States of America is not conducive to the sizable investment they were talking about. Using the pool community as a test bed and marketing arena for their product would cost too much money to “fix” the environment. They have found other “venues and commodities” for this.
Through our research, conversations, investigations and negotiations we have learned a great deal about the inner workings of the sport and industry. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done to make the professional pool/billiard community a viable entity to work with corporations and investors alike.
It is time for some hard decisions to be made. Those decisions lay first and foremost with the players and their organizations. The players need to decide whether the organizations that represent them are the ones they want and whether they are ran the way they want them. If they are not then either change them or replace them. If they are then you need to rally around them and become an asset not a liability. You can not leave this decision up to others to make. These organizations should be yours and should serve your needs first and foremost. These organizations should listen to the players and work hard to meet their needs fully. There should be a committee deciding things not one person.
The leading organizations in this country need to really listen to the players and help them get what they want and need. If you feel you can’t lead the sport completely with total confidence then be open to handing that responsibility to people who can and will do it with integrity, honesty and morality. There needs to be a group to mold the sport into what is needed to make it an attractive commodity. The future is up to you.
For any further information please use this contact information;
Terry Hamill
Terry.h[at]nacpba.com
Kevin Lewis
Kevin.l[at]nacpba.com

Dr cue Gives Surprise Exhibition to Dallas High School Students
Tom “Dr. cue” Rossman and his wife, Marty, provided Dallas high school students with a visit that they will always remember when they stopped in at AMF Richardson Lanes in Richardson, TX, February 26. Several high schools were scheduled for a billiard competition, and everyone was surprised to see the world-famous trick shot champion arrive to see the high school billiard program and give a quick exhibition.
Their appearance was short notice: the Dallas-area high school billiard program director, Earl Munson, got a surprise telephone call from Marty Rossman, asking if he would like for them to visit. Having watched Dr. cue in action at the Junior Nationals and the BCA Expo, the response was an immediate Yes, the students will love it.
Some of the students, having competed at the Junior Nationals, immediately recognized Rossman and were thrilled to see him again. As the buzz spread around the room of who he was, the excitement and anticipation grew as everyone watched in amazement. One particular shot that “Dr. cue” made repeatedly was his famous wing shot where he would roll an object ball down table and effortlessly shoot the cue ball and pocket the object ball when it was still in motion. He made bank shots and kick shots from ANYWHERE on the table with ease. One student noticed and picked up an over-sized cue stick and held it in bewilderment of what this cue was for. Another cue stick he had which looked liked a giant pencil would later be demonstrated for his world-famous draw shot.
Even veteran BCA instructors and players Bill Suden, Mike Bearskin-Winger, Nolan Shaw, Carl Oswald, and Earl Munson laughed and shook their heads in amazement as they witnessed Rossman perform his craft of artistic pool. Rossman is the modern-day founder of artistic pool, in which several Dallas area high school players have been very successful in competition at the Junior Nationals Artistic pool Championship hosted and organized by Tom and Marty.
Trey McMullen from the Rockwall H.S. Yellowjackets had taken second place in the artistic pool event in 2006 at the University of Arizona with Trey’s brother Trent McMullen taking third place the following year at the Minnesota State University in the same event. Wylie H.S. Pirate Vince Villarreal had taken second-place honors also in last year’s event in Minnesota. Players who will be selected to compete this year at the 2008 BEF Junior Nationals will once again try to be the best in artistic pool.
The students, teachers, and parents were impressed by Rossman’s visit, but also equally impressed were Dr. cue and his wife after witnessing the high school billiard program firsthand and remarking that this could be a program that could spread around the United States.
Tom Rossman understands the need to promote billiards to the youth in this country and has many years of experience working with youth, having served on the billiard Education Foundation board and promoted and run the annual Artistic pool Championships held jointly with the BEF Junior Nationals. Everyone in attendance was awed and thankful for the visit, and talks were of hopefully them visiting again in the future and giving an exhibition at several of the Dallas-area high schools.
For more information on high school billiards, please contact the billiard Education Foundation at Billiardeducation.org.