May 2009 page 2

May 2009 page 3

About Us at StrokeStroke is a monthly publication, dedicated to the advancement of the sport of pool and to promoting enthusiasm and encouragement among the players at all levels, regardless of their league affiliation, in addition to recognizing those businesses who support them all. Covering the Eastcoast and adjoining states.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. © 2009 Stroke

DEADLINE: 30th of each Month - CALL If LAtE

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All times are Eastern Standard Time - These schedules have been provided by ESPN. These are tentative dates and are subject to change

Stroke StaffPublisher/Editor

Don “Cheese” AkerlowMarketing Director

Becka LarkinLayouts & DesignFelicia Reynolds

Becka LarkinSunshine RossDon AkerlowMary AkerlowDistributionSheila Papke

AdvertisersAmy’s Billiards 7Atlas Billiard Supply 2BilliardCoach.com 10ConceptCues 15Crown Cues 4CSI/NCS 15CueSportPromotions.com 4Doral Billiards 2Hot Shots 4Jordan Pool Room 15Mueller 3OB Cues 16Old School Pool School 7OTBnTV.com 14pooldawg 13Pool Wars 5Ryno Room 15sammspocket.com 10Sandcastle Billiards 11

Cover Photo by Tony Crosby

courtesy of KF Cue Tour

The Pool Players Voice

ColumnistsMike Fieldhammer 10Samm Diep 10Bob Jewett 12

Watch LIVE Streaming from Las VegasBCAPL and VNEA Nationals

on www.OTBnTV.com

Read Stroke Online at:www.strokemagazine.net

05-03-2009 1:00 PM 2009 San Diego Classic Semi #105-03-2009 2:00 PM 2009 San Diego Classic Semi #205-03-2009 3:00 PM 2009 San Diego Classic Finals05-10-2009 3:00 PM WPBA Championship05-10-2009 4:00 PM WPBA Championship05-10-2009 5:00 PM WPBA Championship

05-01-2009 11:00 AM Mosconi Cup 200305-04-2009 11:00 AM Mosconi Cup 200305-05-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Sudden Death 7-Ball05-06-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Sudden Death 7-Ball05-07-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Sudden Death 7-Ball05-08-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Trick Shot Magic05-09-2009 3:00 PM 2001 Trick Shot Magic05-09-2009 4:00 PM 2003 Trick Shot Magic05-09-2009 5:00 PM 2004 Trick Shot Magic Massey vs Nikolaidis05-11-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Trick Shot Magic05-12-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Women’s Tourn of Champ05-13-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Trick Shot Magic

Classic

05-11-2009 9:30 PM 2009 San Diego Classic05-11-2009 10:30 PM 2009 San Diego Classic05-11-2009 11:30 PM 2009 San Diego Classic05-25-2009 8:00 PM 2009 San Diego Classic05-25-2009 8:30 PM 2009 San Diego Classic

05-14-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Women’s Tourn of Champ05-15-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Women’s Tourn of Champ05-18-2009 11:00 AM 2003 Wheelchair Billiards Champ05-19-2009 11:00 AM 2004 BCA Open 9-Ball (Women)05-20-2009 11:00 AM 2004 BCA Open 9-Ball (Women)05-21-2009 11:00 AM 2004 BCA Open 9-Ball (Men)05-22-2009 11:00 AM 2004 BCA Open 9-Ball (Men)05-25-2009 11:00 AM 2004 Women’s Trick Shot Magic Lee vs Jones05-26-2009 11:00 AM 2004 Women’s Trick Shot Magic Laurance vs Ng05-27-2009 11:00 AM 2004 Women’s Trick Shot Magic Lee vs Laurance05-28-2009 11:00 AM 2004 Int’l Challenge of Champ Immonen vs Hohmann

May 2009 page 4

December 8, 2008: It may have only been an EF-1 tornado, but it totally destroyed the cuemaker’s workshop. What wasn’t blown away was tossed and stirred into a horrible mess. Wood, lathes and everything else cue-related was quickly rescued from the rubble. Insurance would only pay

about half the r e p l a c e m e n t cost. What would happen to Crown Cues?A small, wooden, shed remained s t a n d i n g . N e c e s s a r y machinery and equipment were moved to the little shed for building cues and most of the frequently-needed supplies were stored in

the house, consuming most of the open space.It was suggested that Gene build a set of limited edition cues to help raise the funds to rebuild, but Gene only builds 1 of 1 custom cues, so there was some serious hesitation. Finally, he decided to make a set of limited edition cues and auction them on eBay. There are only 10 playing cues and 5 masse’ cues, valued from $700 to $800, each. Gene said he does not plan to ever build another set of like-designed, limited edition cues, again, so this is a very special collection. Updates, including cue designs, woods, inlays and ending auction dates can be found online at www.crowncues.biz/royaltwister.htmIn March, Crown Cues attended the Super Billiards Expo, in PA. If you walked by their booth, you might have seen quite a few artistic pool players testing their masse’ cues on the pool table. Tim “The Dragon” Chin and Jamey “Sharpshooter” Gray, both sponsored by Crown Cues, stopped in to entertain and even offered a few free trick shot lessons.Gene and Renee’ will not make it to Vegas, but they are hoping to be at the Southern Cue and Case Show, in July, and they plan to be much more visible in the future. Visit www.crowncues.biz to see what’s going on in the little wooden shed, these days!

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE LITTLE WOODEN SHED

Cue Sport Promotions Presents: the APA of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill Masters tour!Cue Sport Promotions is proud to announce the APA of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill Masters Tour! This tour will allow any active APA member – 8-Ball, 9-Ball, or Masters – to play for cash prizes at regional pool halls including Brown’s Billiards in Raleigh, On the Snap in Fuquay-Varina, and more.The format will be familiar to APA Masters League players, abbreviated for singles tournament play, most notably the combined 8-Ball/9-Ball races that thoroughly test player skills. Entry fees for each stop will be $35 or $25, if you are a CSP Players Club member. The playing field is capped at 32 players per stop on a first come, first register basis. Play at one, play at three, play at all the stops – it’s up to you! Players are not required to attend a minimum number of stops.In addition to the cash prizes given at every stop, players will also be accumulating points toward the Masters Tour points race for even more cash prizes at the end of the season! CSP Players Club members will also be able to accumulate points toward the CSP 2009 Point Challenge for yet more cash! CSP Players Club membership is only $40 and, in addition to a $10 discount on Masters Tour entry fees, also gets you discounts on Stick Built Tour entry fees, discounted table time at many pool halls, discounts to a growing list of partner merchants, entry to prize giveaways, and the ability to accumulate points toward the CSP Annual Points Challenge!Cue Sport Promotions is currently seeking sponsors for the Masters Tour and is offering exclusivity options for cue, table, cloth, ball, and other sponsor types. For more information about the tour, or to discuss sponsorship opportunities, please contact us through our website atwww.CueSportPromotions.com

Masters Tour Announced

A full field of 35 participated in the JPNEWT event on the weekend of April 18 - 19 at Primetime Sports Bar & Grill, Sayreville, NJ. This room houses a full resturant, bar and a new comedy club, including 20 Gold Crown’s pocket billiard tables.The level of competition was very impressive with Karen Corr, Pam Cimarelli,

Julie Kelly. Pam Cimarelli went undefeated into Sunday after sending Karen Corr to the 1-loss side Saturday evening. On the one loss side, Karen worked her way back to Pam Cimarelli playing Cheryl Squire, Liz Ford,, Supadra Boonpasook, Nnew member Rhio Flores, and finally Julie Kelly to go back over and get another shot at the title.Pamela Cimarelli stayed very confident and extremely

strong through the entire event. The final round with Karen Corr coming from the one loss side showed some amazing abilities from both players. The final score was 9-2 Karen Corr. Pamela Cimarelli takes the Qualifier spot for the WPBA Classic Tour 2009.We want to thank J.Pechauer Cues www.pechauer.com and Primetime Sports Bar & Grill www.primetimecomedyonline.com for all their continued support of women in billiards.1st $700 Karen Corr2nd $475 Pamela Cimarelli3rd $300 Julie Kelly4th $200 Annie Flores5th $150 Candi Rego, Supadra Boonpasook7th $100 Liz Ford, Linda Haywood Shea9th $75 My-Hanh Lac, Cheryl Squire, Briana Miller, Kim Meyer

Karen Corr Wins

May 2009 page 5

excerpted from “Pool Wars” by Jay Helfert

from florida I headed west. I was twenty-two and felt like I could play anyone. I was now familiar with almost all the top players, and had no problem ducking them. I also figured that no matter how good a guy played, he had to show his speed to beat me. If a good player tried to stall against me, he was in trouble.I worked my way back across the South, stopping to play in every large town or city along the way. My M.O. Was to stop in a town and go to a phone booth. I would find the page with billiard rooms on it and rip it out (yeah, that was me). then I would visit the one that looked the biggest, and walk right up to the counter and tell the houseman I was looking for a game. No beating around the bush for me. No long drawn out elaborate hustles. I wanted to play pool and I didn’t care who you got to play me.More often than not they would ask me how I played or was I a good player. My stock answer was that I played okay. And you know what. It worked! I rarely had to sit on my ass, waiting for someone to show up who wanted to play. Either they found me a game or I was on my way down the road. I got games nearly everywhere, booking mostly winners. Sometimes easy, sometimes tough, but I was constantly in action and doing just fine. The tough games usually ended with me quitting even, after butting heads for several hours. the other games ended with me paying the time. And that’s a good thing!I would play nearly any game someone asked for. More often than not the game of choice was 9-Ball, but it was not unusual for someone to ask me to play 8-Ball. I liked this because it told me one of two things. He was either inexperienced or he was primarily a bar table player. I did get guys who only wanted to play One Pocket or Banks and that was fine as well. I even played games like Cribbage and Cut throat and ventured onto Snooker and Billiard tables a time or two. My attitude was that if I was a better player than my opponent, eventually I would get the hang of the game and the table and win.

Moving West

Order online atjayhelfert.com

“Pool Wars” written by Jay Helfert showed up in my mailbox in mid to late March 09. I had talked to Jay by email about writing articles or stories for “The Break” sometime last year. He said he had something in the works that would be coming out and couldn’t do anything until then. And he did. From the first short story to the last it took me back to my days or so I would have you believe of hustling. It brought back memories that I hadn’t thought of in decades. Grant you, my memories are nothing to be compared to “Pool Wars”. I was only a barroom hustler who knew when to quit. Jay lays it out from his inexperience in the beginning to traveling across the country. Jay lived the life of a road player hustler but most importantly learning how to be a pool player from days gone by. Jay’s stories will have you wondering whether he gets out alive or even gets paid. The stories are put together as if you were sitting there and BS’ing with him yourself. He writes like he talks, a pool player. In my first email to Jay after receiving “Pool Wars”, I was so impressed with the book that I asked him, “When will the movie come out?” The movie Pool Wars could be set up like Twilight Zone with Rod Serling narrating the beginnings of each story. But the one question that my mind kept going over and over, “Who would play Jay?” How about Tom Cruise? He played in “The Color of Money”, he has experience. If you have any ideas go to his website and email Jay www.jayhelfert.comOne of the stories “Moving West” is below........ Enjoy

Critique by: Don “Cheese” Akerlow

May 2009 page 6

Stop #4 of the Predator 9-Ball Tour kicked off Easter Weekend with a very strong field of 45 players at Cue Bar in Bayside, NY. Top players in attendance included World Champion and Hall of Famer Mike Sigel, Oscar Bonilla, Shaun Wilkie, Al Lapena, Holden Chin, Frankie Hernandez, Jorge Rodriguez, Jeremy Sossei, Sean “Alaska” Morgan, Mhet Vergara, Mike Fingers, Victor Nau, Eddie Uber, Marc Vidal, George SanSouci and Tony Robles. Before we go on to the results, I would like to inform everyone that a dear friend of the tour, Scott Simonetti came up with a rare bacterial infection and had part of his left arm and left leg amputated. I’ve known Scott for about 20 years and can honestly tell you that he was always fearless and had the heart of a lion when it came to competition on the green felt. Please keep Scott in your prayers as he recovers. With the sixteen Open and Pro players in the event, no player was ever comfortable with the matches that lay before them. And many of the higher ranked players found victory against the usually dominating Pros. Opening first round matches saw open player Mhet Vergara against the ever improving Lionel Rivera (A) with Lionel nearly giving Vergara a donut winning 8-1. Another impressive win was John Alicea (A) who took down giant player Frankie Hernandez (Pro) 8-5. Victor Nau also had a tough opening draw in Al Lapena who has continued to do well in the Predator events this season. Victor struggled to stay in the match and lost 8-4. Later rounds found Mike Sigel, winner of the Jim Murnak Custom Cue Cases $50 give-back, against Predator tour veteran Oscar Bonilla. The match opened with Oscar coming out strong 4-1 with Mike finding the tables unfriendly to his break. A couple of missed shots by Oscar allowed Sigel to close the gap and tie it hill/hill, Oscar’s break. Oscar broke and found a very difficult 1-ball shot. Rather than push out, Oscar made an incredible shot pocketing the 1-ball and ran out the table to defeat Sigel 8-7. Tony Robles was on cruise control until he ran into Sean “Alaska” Morgan. Morgan played strong throughout the set and capitalized on a number of mistakes by Robles and defeated the Assassin 8-6.Michael Yednak had a great tournament with big time wins over Thomas Wan 8-7, Rene Villalobos 8-7, Andrew Kane 8-7, then lost a heartbreaker to Jeremy Sossei 8-7 and then Tony Robles knocked Michael out leaving him with a 9th thru 12th finish.Shaun Wilkie started out strong defeating Mike

Open Event Payouts:1st $1,000 Tony Robles2nd $650 Oscar Bonilla3rd $475 Sean Morgan4th $350 Jeremy Sossei5/6 $275 Shaun Wilkie, Eddie Uber7/8 $150 Al Lapena, Marc Vidal 9-12 $100 Ariel Rivera, Justin Muller Mike Sigel, Michael YednakDelta 13 Highest Finishing C/D: Steven Wright $1002nd Day BCD Event Payouts:1st PJ Puma $1502nd Steven Wright $803rd Alex Borukovich $20

Fingers 8-6, then Darwin Vergara 8-5, Mike Wong 8-6, then ran into tour new comer Eddie Uber and lost 8-7. He would fight back on the one-loss side with two strong wins over Mike Sigel 9-4 and Marc Vidal 9-8 before falling to Jeremy Sossei 9-7. Oscar Bonilla continues to show the crowd he is a force to be reckoned with. Before his big win

over Mike Sigel, Oscar defeated

Brian Hunter 8-2, then Sigel 8-7, Al Lapena 8-5, Jeremy Sossei 9-7 and won the hot seat match against Sean Morgan 9-6. The comfortable Bonilla then waited for the one-loss side to catch up. After losing to Alaska , Robles worked out his demons on the one-loss side with big time wins over Mhet Vergara 8-4, Michael Yednak 8-0, Al Lapena 9-6, Eddie Uber 9-8 & Jeremy Sossei 9-4. This set up a rematch between Robles and Morgan who enjoyed his best Predator Tournament ever with wins over Erin McManus 8-0, Jorge Rodriguez 8-3, Tony Robles 8-6, Marc Vidal 8-3, & Eddie Uber 9-5, before losing to Oscar Bonilla 9-6. In the semi-final match, Tony came out vengeful with a 9-3 win and geared up to face Oscar in the finals.The finals, as predicted, was a close battle that saw both players playing great pool with few errors. At hill/hill, Tony broke and calmly ran out to win his first stop of the 2009 season.Our Delta-13 Highest Finishing C/D player was Steve Wright. Steve played incredible pool this tournament with amazing wins over Louis Pannullo 8-5, Brian Hunter 8-6 & John Lazo 8-4. This is Steve’s second time winning the Delta-13 Highest Finishing C/D and after his stellar play this season, he was raised to the B

level. Congratulations Steve!The tour also hosted a B-C-D tournament on Sunday with 10 players vying for the top prize of $150. Players that played in the Open event on Saturday got to play for $20 on Sunday and earn double points for their Open tournament finish, plus 10 points for playing in the event. The finals of the event saw the Delta-13 Highest Finishing C/D Player Steve Wright (now a B player) versus newbie P.J. Puma, a Cue Bar regular. P.J. was

u n d e f e a t e d going into the finals with wins ove r Jesse Thomas, Paul Raval, Andrew Kane & Alex Borukovich. In the finals, at hill/hill, Steve devastatingly h o o k e d himself in the side pocket. A failed masse attempt on the

2-ball left P.J. with a five ball run out that he successfully completed allowing him to finish in 1st place. Congratulations to P.J. Puma for winning the tournament in his homeroom, Cue Bar!The tour would like to thank Cue Bar billiards for hosting another great event and look forward to returning to the venue June 27th & 28th. We would also like to thank Jim Murnak Custom Cue Cases for their contribution toward the play fund.

Each tournament for the rest of the season, Jim Murnak Custom Cue Cases will donate $50 toward a random player’s entry fee. Names will be drawn from a hat to determine the winner each tournament. This week’s winner was none other than Mike Sigel! Stop #5 will be taking place at Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar & Grill this coming weekend April 18th & 19th. This will be an ABCD event only! No Pros or Open players will be allowed! Please log on to www.predator9balltour.com to see the complete schedule. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Predator 9-Ball Tour

May 2009 page 7

The $1700 Added KF Cue Tour Event was at Strokers 2 Tampa, Florida 11th/12th April.

The $1000 open event kicked of with some very strong players in the field, Charlie Williams, Ronnie Wiseman, Richard Broumpton, Tony Crosby, James Roberts, Jason Richko, Richie Richeson just to mention a few. Williams who won the last event in Orlando was looking strong making his way to the finals with wins over Ronnie Wiseman 9-6, Tony Crosby 9-8, Dan Lavoie 9-5 this would put him up against another Orlando players Adam Wheeler for the hotseat match. Wheeler made his way to there with impressive wins over Jason Richko 9-4, top WPBA player Yu Ram Cha 9-7, Richie Richeson 9-8. Williams would take the hotseat match with a hard fought 9-6 win.Richie Richeson would fight his way back through the one loss side with wins over Richard Broumpton 7-2, Ronnie Wiseman 7-1 and then Adam Wheeler 7-5 to put him in the final against Charlie Williams.Williams come out of the gates strong in the final and made Richeson pay for every mistake he made to take a 6-0 lead, the next few racks were traded with Williams looking like he was going to win easy as he go to the hill 9-3, a few mistakes by Williams would see Richeson gain momentum and claw the score back to 9-7 but that would be as close as he would get as Williams ran his way through a very tricky rack to take match and his 2nd event in a row.1st $650 Charlie Williams2nd $450 Richie Richeson 3rd $300 Adam Wheeler 4th $200 Ronnie Wiseman 5/6th $100 Dan Lavoie & Richard Broumpton The $700 Added Amateur event would kick of with 26 players.Bobby Moore who had also won the last event in Orlando would prove again to be the man to beat on the day. He would make his way to the hotseat match with wins over Valerie Dukich 7-1, Room Owner Jose Del Rio 7-4, Road Partner Albert Howe 7-5 before taking a loss in the hotseat match to Jesse Langston form Orlando. Langston had made his way to

KF Cue Tour

(l to r) Richie Richeson, Jose Delrio (Stroker’s owner), Charlie Williams

the hotseat with wins over Taz Naravane 7-0, Jimmy Bird 7-6, tour points leader Mark Wathen 7-3 and then a win over Bobby Moore 7-3.The one loss side would see Jarred Schlauch making his way through the field with wins over Mike Delawder 5-2, Jimmy Bird 5-3, Albert Howe 5-2, Mark Wathen 5-4 he would now face Moore. Moore would take this match 5-4 and get his rematch with Langston.The final was a very cagey affair with both players trading racks, Langston would get to the hill first with an 8-5 lead but several missed opportunity’s would see more claw his way back and tie the match 8-8. The final rack

would see both players missing balls and just when it looked like it was all over Langston missed a tricky 8 ball and that would be it as Moore would take the match and his 2nd event in a row.1st $360 Bobby Moore2nd $300 Jesse Langston 3rd $225 Jarred Schlauch4th $130 Mark Wathen 5/6th $70 Albert Howe & Jose Delrio The Tour would like to thank Strokers 2 Tampa for taking this event at late notice on Easter Weekend. We also want to thank all our sponsors and players for making this another very successful event. Our next event has been moved to Capone’s in Spring Hill Florida on the 2nd/3rd May.

(l to r) Bobby Moore, Jesse Langston

May 2009 page 8

The Great Southern Billiard Tour and Breakers Sports Bar in Rock Hill, SC hosted the Mid-Carolina A/B amateur 9-ball tournament the weekend of April 4-5, 2009. All forty two players wanted their shot at the $1,000 first place prize.. A few top guns in the running were Brian White, Jeff Abernathy, and Josh Roberts. After playing down to the final 16 on Saturday, the tour would return with 8 players on the winners side and 8 players on the one loss side. On the winners side, Josh Newman defeated Lay Thammavong, (7-4) Steve Cox over Paul Mullins, (7-4) Jeff Abernathy over Zeek Gomez, (11-0) & Dusty Norris won on the hill after a scratch on the nine ball by Wade Mascia.The one-loss side would have Norris Brady and Brian White winning by forfeits over their opponents Clay Branham & Robert Ash. Josh Roberts would end Chris Steele’s touranment hopes, (11-4) as well as Dale Phillips sending Rory Dover home early by a score of (7-5). The next round on the one loss side would see Brady over Gomez after a double-hill battle, Roberts over Mascia, (11-5) Phillips over Thammavong, (7-3) and White over Mullins, (11-2).This would bring the tournament to the final 8: On the winners side, Newman chalked up another win over Cox, (7-5) and Abernathy would send Norris to the left side of the chart by a score of (11-5). On the one-loss side,Roberts ended the road for Brady, (11-2) as well as Phillips sending White out in 7-8th place, (7-6). Phillips and Cox would have to settle for a 5-6th finish while Roberts and Norris would go on to face each other.

Newman on FIRE

Shannon Daulton, Josh Newman, Josh Roberts, & Jeff Peele (owner of Breakers)

The hot seat match would have 16 year old, Josh Newman facing off against veteran, Jeff Abernathy. Newman was in full control of the match

and took the win by a score of (11-5). Battling for a chance to play Newman in the finals, Roberts dusted off Norris by a score of (11-1) and then sealed his seat in the finals after an exciting doulbe hiller against Abernathy.The stage was set for a true double elimination finals. The two Josh’s - Newman and Roberts really wanted this win. Roberts showed this in the first set by his aggressive play and shot making. He went on to win the first set (11-6). In the second set, Newman would be too much for Roberts to handle. Some early mistakes in the match allowed Newman to gain control of the match

and take the win by a score of (7-5). Newman would remain undefeated all weekend to claim his first win on the tour.For a recap of the finals, please check out our ustream channel at: www.ustream.tv/channel/greatsouthernbilliardtourThe Great Southern Billiard Tour would like to congratulate all the players on their awesome finishes. Also, a big thank you to Jeff and Amy Peele for being great hosts!! 1st $1,00 Josh Newman2nd $500 Josh Roberts3rd $300 Jeff Abernathy 4th $200 Dusty Norris5/6th $120 Dale Phillips & Steve Cox 7/8th $60 Norris Brady, Brian White

Jordan Pool Room in Whitehall, PA is proud to announce that the Sweathogs were the Winning Team from the Monday Night BCA Pool Leagues. They are heading to Las Vegas to compete in the 8-Ball Nationals May 8-16 at the Riviera Hotel Casino.

Sweathogs: (l to r) Dave Glaser, Roger Bee, Jace Messenlehner, Scott Fisher, Meghan Strasser (middle)

Las Vegas Bound

May 2009 page 9

The weekend of April 25-26 saw three National Championship Series (NCS) qualifiers take place, two in 14.1 Continuous and one in 9-Ball.Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento, CA hosted a 14.1 qualifier and top local favorite Frank Nordmann Jr. edged out Robert Aldana by a mere 6 points to win the spot to the NCS 14.1 Continuous National Championship being held July 31 – August 2 at Comet Billiards.Across the nation the memorably named pool room, the Ryno Room, hosted Sunday April 26 a 14.1 qualifier. The NCS qualifier portion was part of a three day annual tournament called the Ryno Cup which featured 8-ball, one pocket and 14.1. Mark Ritter took a domineering victory over Brian Artrip 100-14 and too will be heading to Comet the end of July for the NCS national event.In addition to 14.1, NCS qualifiers in 9 and 10 ball are also scheduled. Golden Fleece Billiards in Kenmore, Washington hosted a field of 45 players in the first NCS 9 ball qualifier in the Pacific Northwest. Jim Conway and Damien Deng won the two spots to the NCS 9-Ball National Championship. The dates and details of the NCS 9 and 10 ball national tournament will be held in the early fall in Las Vegas. Details about the Las Vegas 9 and 10 ball NCS national events will be announced soon.The NCS is a series of U.S national championships in five cue disciplines: 8-Ball, 9-Ball, 10-Ball, 14.1 Continuous, and One Pocket.For more information about the NCS, any of its national championship events or CueSports International call 702-719-7665 or email holly@playcsipool.com

From Kokomo to Kenmore

Tollefson Wins Opener

Scott Tollefson

The 2009 season is underway as the year opener took place Apr 18th/19th at Orange Ball Billiards in Rockville, MD. A strong field of 83 players signed up for the $1000 added event made possible by Orange

Ball, Tiger Products and the tour sponsors. There were plenty of new faces joining the tour regulars for this event. Joining Scott Tollefson and Danny Madden in the final 8 winner side were Manuel Orino, Jeff Adams, Roger Riley, Chuck Curro, Richard Nace Jr and Ryan McCreesh. 8 players remained in the one-loss bracket. On Sunday, Madden and

Tollefson advanced to the hot seat match with little trouble. Tollefson had a 9-6 win over Madden. The elimination bracket held a little more interest with loads of previous tour event champions battling it out. Tour founder Danny Green took out 2007 Player of the Year Shaun Wilkie but then fell soon afterwards to Manuel Chau. The undefeated Tollefson took an early lead and kept the score on his side most of the match. Chamberlain fought back to take a 9-8 lead. When Tollefson returned to the table, he made the most of it closing out the match 11-9.1 $1150 Scott Tollefson 2 $750 Bobby Chamberlain3 $500 Daniel Madden4 $300 Manuel Chau5 $200 Manuel Orino, Ryan McCreesh7 $140 Andy Lincoln, Danny Green9 $100 Richard Nace Jr, Chuck Curro, Roger Riley, Jeff Adams13 $75 Shaun Wilkie, Mike Ricciardella, Saif Muhsen, Matt Clatterbuck

May 2009 page 10

Samm Diep

Is Cue BalanceReally That Important?

By Samm Diep, PoolTipJar.com © February 2009

Before I begin, the answer to the title question is: ABSOLUTELY!We’re repeatedly told how important it is for our stroke arm to be “perpendicular” at the point of contact with the cue ball. We want to create a pendulum motion as we follow through and accelerate through the cue ball. What most beginner players don’t take into consideration is the balance of the playing cue.A distinct observation I’ve made over my past few years of teaching is that shorter players, particularly women, have a tendency to grip the cue too far back. Often times, they’ve just never been told otherwise. Some of the time, it just feels more natural. This generally happens because they are not using a well-balanced pool cue.When a shorter player uses a cue that is too heavy in the back, it’s so easy during their follow through to drop their elbow from the extra weight and bring their tip up, resulting in a follow-through with the cue pointed way up at the light. They just can’t help it. When they are perpendicular, most of the weight is behind their grip. The cue almost doesn’t feel stable. The extra junk in the trunk weighs down the back end and naturally flips up the front. It’s involuntary.Because of this, a shorter player instinctively will grip farther back on the cue where it feels more balanced in which case there are two possible outcomes: (1) they are gripped too far back, incapable of delivering a smooth, pendulum follow-through, or (2) they end up having a super long bridge to stay at 90 degrees and to compensate for the grip position.I’m 5’5” tall. With an approximate 10 inch bridge and my chin down on the cue, when my stroke arm is at perpendicular, there’s still roughly nine inches from my grip to the butt of the cue. Now, I’m fortunate enough to shoot with a well-balanced Chris Byrne Custom Cue, but for those of you using a butt-heavy cue or worse, a wall-abushka (aka, a house cue), nine inches may feel like a ton of bricks. The moral of the story is: If you are a shorter player with a shorter arm span and are thinking about getting more serious, consider investing in a well-balanced pool cue.Please be sure to visit PoolTipJar.com “random smatterings of pool thoughts, articles, & news”. You can take polls, view article archives, and read tournament and training updates.Samm Diep, “Cherry Bomb” - House Pro at Rack ‘Em Billiards (Aurora, CO)Author of “You Might Be A D Player If… (101 Classic Moves That All Pool Players Can Appreciate)” Visit: www.SammsPocket.com fun & unique products for pool players

Better Break Outs© 2009 Mike Fieldhammer, BilliardCoach.com

Breaking out balls in clusters is an essential skill to playing high-level, run-out 8-ball. Many players have difficulties busting open tied up balls

and achieving good results. To have more successful results, learn and practice the following concepts: The tangent line, best approach angle and speed of shot, and having a safety valve or backup shot.Let the cue ball do the work. Breaking out balls is generally easiest when you have good position on a shot and the natural tangent line of the cue ball runs directly into the cluster. When evaluating the table and planning an attack on a group of problem balls, try to play

position so that a stun shot will nudge or blast the balls open. Speed of execution must still be considered with care, but a natural stun shot line from the pocketed ball is a predictable path. If you must draw or follow into the cluster, extreme care must be taken to contact the cluster for a desirable outcome. The curved path of the cue ball into the cluster can be much harder to control and predict the outcome.

Following or drawing into a cluster without some help from an angle is usually ill-advised. If the shot is straight-in or has very little angle to work with, a keen stroke and lots of spin must be used. Consistently hitting these with accuracy is hard to do. Many times with these power shots, if the pocket is accidentally cheated a little bit your cue ball will not take the ideal path. You might even bobble or jaw up the object ball. Use these types of breakout shots as a last resort. Avoid them all together if you’re dealing with a cluster of four or more balls, especially if they’re not frozen. If the shot is difficult to pocket and break out your ball, look for a safety instead. Choosing the attack angle for clusters should also be analyzed carefully. Will knocking into a pair

of balls near a rail result in a double kiss leaving no shot? If so, maybe coming off the rail from behind will put your tied up ball into a better position. Or maybe a glancing blow to avoid the kiss will get the job done. Try to think of a plan and be specific with your intentions. Players who blast into clusters willy-nilly get lucky sometimes, but the fallout often creates problem clusters elsewhere.Table conditions should be considered. Fast cloth with clean balls often react favorably to little nudges and flicks with finesse rather than brute strength. Hitting breakouts with the minimum required speed offers more accuracy and greater control of the paths of the relocated cluster balls. Many times just a little separation of the group will open up clear paths to

(continued on page 12)

May 2009 page 11

Reprinted with permission from Mike Zuglan - by AzB StaffTurns out that the lights of the Accu-Stats streaming table at Comet B i l l i a r d s were no d is t ract ion to Dennis Hatch and his goal of r e g a i n i n g dominance on the Joss NE 9-Ball Tour.Hatch was just one of the forty one players in attendance on April 25th and 26th. Hatch was joined by such notables as Al Lapena, Shaun Wilkie, Joey Korsiak, Tom McGonagle, Matt Tetreault, Liz Ford and Mike Fingers.Hatch was up to his old tricks, and was cruising through the brackets with only one scare, courtesy of Shaun Wilkie. That match went 9-7, but that was the closest Hatch would allow an opponent over two days of play. Hatch took the hot-seat with a 9-4 win over Tom McGonagle and awaited his opponent in the finals.McGonagle, went to the left side of the board and found Al Lapena waiting. Lapena had lost a Saturday match to Holden Chin and had been on a tear ever since then. Lapena won five matches on the left side of the board, including eliminations of Joey Korsiak and Shaun Wilkie. With all Lapena’s built up momentum, he crushed McGonagle 9-1 in the semi-final match and booked his place in the finals against The Hatchetman.With Lapena’s hot play leading up the finals, fans were expecting a real shootout. What they got instead was an ambush as Hatch took commands and cruised to a 9-3 win for yet another Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win.Hatch earned $1400 for first, with Lapena settling for $980 in second place prize money.The Joss tour will be at Turning Stone Casino on August 20th - 23rd for the Turning Stone Classic XIII. Interested players are urged to contact Mike Zuglan as soon as possible to sign up for the Turning Stone event.1st $1400 Dennis Hatch2nd $980 Al Lapena3rd $750 Tom McGonagle4th $550 Shaun Wilkie5th $400 Matt Tetreault, Dave Grau7th $200 Ken Kerner, Ron Piontkowski9th $100 Chris Taormina, Holden Chin, Bruce Carroll, Michael Wong

Dennis Hatch

Hatch Unstoppable

Dennis Hatch

S A N D C A S T L E B I L L I A R D SA N U P S C A L E B I L L I A R D P A R L O R & T A B A C C O L O U N G E

May 30 Tristate Tour $500 Added

Brunswick TablesSimonis & Mali ClothWeekly TournamentsPool Leagues

B C D 9 Ball 12:00pmLodging Discounts101 Townsley Ave

Edison, NJ Call for details 732.632.9277

www.sandcastlebilliards.com

Capones Billiards Lounge, Spring Hill, FL was the host venue for the latest $1000 Added KF CueTour Open event May 2-3, 2009. The field was a small 22 players with very notable names, Donnie Mills, Ronnie Wiseman, Tony Crosby, James Roberts, Yu Ram Cha, Tracie Hines, Julio Aquino, Jason Richko just to mention a few.The day kicked off with local player Bill Stoll causing an upset sending Ronnie Wiseman to the one loss side 7-6. One of the matches of the day would see Tony Crosby defeat Yu Ram Cha 7-6 in a very high quality match.Julio Aquino (tour points Leader) was doing his best to try and take his first KF event by capturing the hotseat with wins over Nicole Winters 7-0, Room owner Rocky Mcelroy 7-3, Bill Delisle 7-2, Tony Crosby 7-2 and then he would get a bye into the hotseat as Donnie Mills would have to forfeit for family reasons.

On the one loss side Yu Ram Cha would go on a mission beating Bill Dunsmore 7-1, James Roberts 7-2, Wayne Catledge 7-5, Tracie Hines 7-2, a revenge match on Tony Crosby 7-5 and then a win over Ronnie Wiseman 7-3 to put her in the final.The final would be a single race to 9. Cha would come out of the gates quick taking a 4-1 and 7-2 lead, Aquino would win one more rack but a dry break would be his last visit to the table with Yu Ram running the table and breaking and running the last rack to take her first KF Open Event win along with first place trophy and prize money of $635. So a big Congratulation goes out to our first Lady winner on tour Yu Ram Cha.Payouts1st $635 Yu Ram Cha2nd $400 Julio Aquino3rd $300 Donnie Mills4th $200 Ronnie Wiseman5/6 $100 Tony Crosby, Han BerberThe tour would like to thank Rocky Mcelroy Capones Room owner for hosting another great event, our sponsors which can be viewed online at www.kfcuetour.com along with our schedule for the remainder of the season which includes the Florida Amateur State Championships and the Florida Open State Championships both to be held at Stroker’s 2 in Tampa.

First Lady WinnerYu Ram Cha

Yu Ram Cha

May 2009 page 12

Rockaway Billiards in Rockaway NJ hosted the Blaze 9 Ball Tour, on Sunday April 19th a strong field came out to play. Players like Eddie Abraham, Adam Kielar, Mike Miller, Carl Khan, Joey Testa and Carmen Lombardo to name a few.Leading the top half of the bracket was Eddie Abraham with wins over Kenny Rutman 7-1, Bill Gallagher 7-3, and Carmen Lombardo 7-6. Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Mike Miller with wins over Adam Kielar 7-6, Randy Schwager 7-6, and Joey Teasta 7-6.Playing for the hat seat was Eddie Abraham VS Mike Miller this match was all Eddie Abraham winning easily 7-3 and sending Mike Miller to the one lost side. It was young Adam Kielar making a move after losing his first match by beating Kevin Coyle 6-0, Carl Khan 6-3, Bill Gallagher 6-4, Bob Geurra 6-2, Joey Testa 6-2, Carmen Lombardo 6-2, and Mike Miller 6-5.In the Finals it was Adam Kielar VS Eddie Abraham, Adam Kielar has to beat Eddie Abraham twice to win the event. The first set was a great set the went double hill, when the smoked cleared it was Eddie Abraham pulling off the win 7-6 and the event.1st $750 Eddie Abraham2nd $375 Adam Kielar3rd $250 Mike Miller4th $100 Carmen Lombardo

(l to r) Eddie Abraham, Bob Guerra, Adam Kielar

Abraham All The WayTaking The Easy WaySan Francisco Billiard Academy

www.sfbilliards.com

Bob Jewett

By: Bob Jewett

I like to think of learning to play pool as having three separate parts or phases. In the first phase, you learn the basic mechanics of making a shot: how to chalk, how to aim, and how to stroke. In the second phase, you learn how to move the cue ball in various ways: follow, stop, draw, side spin, and speed control. In the third phase, you learn how to put together multiple shots to form a run. Most players don’t have the luxury of so much

practice time that they can learn the parts in order, so usually a player is still working on mechanics while trying to put sequences together. If you’re

trying to run out with imperfect mechanics and only partial knowledge of how to move the cue ball, you need to limit your plan to tactics you can execute adequately if not perfectly. In the diagram is gift. Your opponent has managed to scratch at eight ball, giving you an open table with the cue ball in hand a n y w h e r e . Which group do you prefer? The standard recommended technique for planning an eight ball run-out is to work b a c k w a r d s starting from

the eight. That works here.Here’s a hint: the runout can be done with just stop shots if you plan carefully. That is, the cue ball will not move more than an inch after pocketing each ball in your run.If you see a solution, write down the number of balls in order, and send me an email at jewett@sfbilliards.com. I’ll acknowledge the first five “correct” answers in my next column and give some drills for perfecting your stop shots.

pocket these balls. It might be a good tactical play to remove your trouble ball from the pack and leave your opponent’s balls in a difficult spot with a well played bump.If the cloth is slow/dirty and the object balls are clingy, you may have to take some chances and play breakouts with more gusto. There are few things less irritating than playing a fine breakout shot and having the balls rock back together because of the sticky equipment. When shooting breakouts at higher speeds, try to imagine where the balls are headed that will leave the cluster with the most velocity. Be aware if one is heading toward the 8-ball or one that might carom back toward the cue ball. Don’t lose the game with a risky break out that gives your opponent ball in hand or dunks the 8.Have a plan, get to it quickly, and have a backup plan. My best advice for aggressively playing racks with clusters is twofold. Get to the problem balls as soon as possible and always try to leave yourself a bail out ball (safety valve). Concoct a plan where you can take a swing at the cluster at your earliest opportunity. This might allow you a second or third chance should you fan on the first attempt. You can always duck with plenty of balls left on the table if the breakout attempt fails. Getting to the breakout early also gives you the best chance to have a back up ball. Part of playing successful run-outs with clusters is knowing you’ll get a shot after re-arranging the balls. You’re asking for trouble if you have to depend on getting on one of your balls in the cluster for your next shot. Better to have an uninvolved ball sitting pretty that you can shoot if the cluster doesn’t develop into an open shot. Practice these guidelines in tricky racks of 8-ball or straight pool to hone your cluster management. A well played breakout can be a confidence building tool in turning a messy table into a game winning run out.Mike Fieldhammer - Professional Billiard Instructor www.billiardcoach.com / 612.802.0519Mike is a full time tournament player and professional billiard instructor. He is available for private instruction or group clinics and events. Gift certificates are available.

Better Break Outs (continued from page 10)

May 2009 page 13

www.pooldawg.com

Nicole Christie to take over running the New England Women’s 9 Ball tour - A WPBA Sanctioned Regional tourAfter many years of great service, Bonnie Saritelli has decided to hand the running of the New England Women’s 9 Ball Tour (NEWPT) – A WPBA Sanctioned Regional Tour - over to Nicole Christie. Bonnie has done an outstanding job running NEWPT over her years as Tour and Tournament Director, encouraging participation from around the New England area. It is Nicole’s hope to take the tour Bonnie has kept rolling and establish it as a strong force for expanding the number of women who reach the WPBA Pro Tour from New England each year. The first tour stop for the New England Women’s 9 ball tour this year, is on May 24th, 2009 at Bo’s Billiards at 22 Lambert Lind Highway in Warwick, RI. Although this is not a WPBA qualifying event, it is a ranking’s point event that counts towards NEWPT’s End of Year Rankings. The top NEWPT players at the end of the 2009 season will be eligible to play in the Regional Tour Championships 2010 and from there have a chance to earn their 1 year “Q” card for the 2010 WPBA Season. Remember to check out the website at www.newomenstour.com for more information. If you have any questions please contact Nicole Christie at tour@dlbilliards.com. We are looking forward to a great 2009 season.

ScoreboardMD State 9-Ball Bar Table Championship1st $2000 Ryan McCreash - Calcutta $10002nd $1000 Brandon Shuff $5003rd $500 Mike Painter $3004th $300 Mark Ford $2005th $200 Scott Tollefson, Joey Ryan $1507th $150 Chris Loar, Kevin West9th $100 Saun Toni, Jason Kochnour, Fred Scott, Tommy Kay13th $65 Rich Nace, Joe Chester, Max Schlothauer, Matt Clatterbuck

NEWPT New Director

The Dominiak Cues Northeast Amateur 10-Ball Tour stop #6 was held on Easter Sunday April 12th hosted by the popular London Billiards in

Worcester, MA. A fiesty field of 19 players from throughout the northeast made the trek from C o n n e c t i c u t , Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts in attempt to capture the title of the 6th Dominiak Cues tour stop of the season.

We saw Brandon Charin make his way through top half of the winners side brackets with wins over Jolie Brancaccio, Justin Kesler, Pot Danh and Richard Barrette to take his spot in the one set race to 6 finals finals. On the botton half of the winners side it was Richard Barrette making his way through the field with wins over Annie, Rob Francoeur and Ken DeBroske, but only to get sent to the loosers side by Brandon in the hot seat match.The finals match would be a rematch between Brandon Charin and Richard Barrette and this proved to be a closely contested battle, as was their earlier winners side match. Brondon was able to take advantage of a couple unforced errors and take home the title to tour stop #6 with a finals score of 6-4. Congrats to the top finishers and all the players that attended for a great easter sunday of pool!We would like to once again thank Bill Dominiak www.DominiakCues.com for sponsoring the tour. We would also like to thank Jeff at League Shirts www.LeagueShirts.com for co-sponsoring the tour. Hope to see you at the next tour stop!1st Brandon Charin $130 + NEW Dominiak $320 cue2nd Richard Barrette $90 + Tour T-Shirt3rd Kevin Blackstock $554th Joe Sobowicz $355/6 Ken DeBroske $25 Chuck Hill $25

Charin Wins Battle

Richard Barrette, Brandon Charin

Blaze 9 Ball Tour made its way to Master Billiards in New York City. On Sunday April 5th. A Small but strong field came out to play. Players like Joey Testa, Eddie Abraham, Rob Pole Sean Morgan, Jorge Rodriquez, and Darwin Vergara.Leading the top half of the bracket was Rob Pole with wins over Bob Madara 7-5, Dawin Vergara 7-2, and Mike Miller 7-2. Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Joey Testa with wins over Michael Yednak 7-3, Rene Vilalobos 7-2, Eddie Abraham 7-6, and Jorge Rodriquez 7-3. Playing for the hot

seat was Joey Testa VS Rob Pole this was a great match that went double hill, when it was all said and done it was Joey Testa pulling off the win 7-6. sending Rob Pole to the one lost side. Waiting for Rob Pole on the one lost side was Mike Miller this too was a good match but it was Mike Miller winning 7-4.In the finals it was Joey Testa VS Mike Miller, in order for Mike Miller to win the tournament he would have to beat Joey testa twice.Joey Testa brought his A game and won the match 7-5 and the tournament.1st Joey Testa $750.002nd Mike Miller $375.003rd Rob Pole $200.00

Winner Joey Testa

Testa Undefeated

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May 2009 page 14

DATE CITY LOCATION PHONE EVENT / RULES ENTRY ADDED TIME

Watch the VNEA LIVE from Las Vegas May 21-30

Watch the BCAPL LIVE from Las Vegas May 8-16fREE LIVE StREAMING

tIMES tO BE ANNOUNCEDwww.OtBntV.com

May 8-16 Las Vegas, NV BCAPL www.playbca.com BCA Nationals Varies $750,000 Payout OnlineMay 8-16 Las Vegas, NV BCAPL Nationals www.otbntv.com Free Live Streaming of the Grand Masters & Singles Events - Times TBAMay 9-10 Pittsfield, MA Casey’s Billiard Emporium caseysbilliards.com Dominiak 10-ball Tour $50 NoonMay 9 E. Rutherford, NJ Castle Billiards (201) 933-6007 Tri State Tour A-B-C-D Call $500 CallMay 10 Ft Pierce, FL Ultimate Billiards (772) 464-7665 Billiards Race to 9 pts $20 (incl g.f.) 3:30 PMMay 16 Latham, NY Diamond 8 Billiards (518) 786-8048 NCS 14.1 Continuous Qualifier $60 CallMay 16-17 Rocky Mount, NC Sharks-N-Shooters (252) 908-0754 Jacoby Carolina Tour Call $1,000 CallMay 16-17 Greenville, SC Palace Billiards (864) 234-0428 GSBT Call $1,500 guar CallMay 16 Tampa, FL Strokers Billiards (813) 814-2277 Tiger Bay Area Amateur Call $500 CallMay 17 Ft Pierce, FL Ultimate Billiards (772) 464-7665 One Pocket Race to 3 $25 (incl g.f.) 1:00 PMMay 21-30 Las Vegas, NV VNEA www.vnea.com VNEA Live on OTBnTV.com Varies $85,000 OnlineMay 21-30 Las Vegas, NV VNEA Nationals (See ad p31) www.otbntv.com Free Live Streaming of the Singles Events - Times TBAMay 23-24 E. Rutherford, NJ Castle Billiards (201) 933-6007 JPNEWT Call $1,500 CallMay 23-24 Parsippany, NJ Comet Billiards (973) 334-7429 Predator 9-Ball Tour Call $1,000 CallMay 23-24 New York, NY Amsterdam Billiard Club (212) 496-8180 Tri State Tour B-C-D Call $1,000 CallMay 23-25 Springhill, FL Capone’s Billiards (352) 688-9965 Seminole Florida Pro Tour Call $6,000 CallMay 24 Ft Pierce, FL Ultimate Billiards (772) 464-7665 9-Ball Race to 7 $25 (incl g.f.) 1:00 PMMay 24 Worchester, MA London Billiards (413) 212-6390 NCS 14.1 Continuous Qualifier $60 CallMay 24 Palm Harbor, FL Strokers Billiards (727) 786-6683 9-Ball KBP Call CallMay 30-31 Midlothian VA Diamond Billiard (804) 794-8787 GSBT Call $1500 CallMay 30-31 Derby, CT Fat’s Billiards (203) 734-7713 NCS 14.1 Continuous Qualifier $60 CallMay 30-31 Egg Harbor Twsp, NJ Atlantic City Billiards (413) 212-6390 NCS 14.1 Continuous Qualifier Call Call May 30-31 Jacksonville, FL Bank Shot Billiards kfcuetour.com KF Cues 9-Ball Tour $65 (incl gf) $1,600 Log onMay 30-31 Allentown, PA Gallery Billiards (610) 841-4828 Predator 9-Ball Tour Call $1,000 CallMay 30 Edison, NJ Sandcastle Billiards (732) 632-9277 Tri State Tour B-C-D 9-Ball Call $500 CallMay 30-31 La Grange, GA Chalk It Up Billiards (706) 616-3541 GSBT Call $2,000 guar CallJun 6-7 Allentown, PA Buzzy’s Billiards (484) 554-9397 NCS 9-Ball Qualifier $50 CallJun 6-7 Spring Hill, FL Capone’s Billiards (352) 688-9965 GSBT Call $1500 CallJun 6-7 Ft Pierce, FL Ultimate Billiards (772) 464-7665 Treasure Coast Open Call $$$ CallJun 6-7 Sunnyside, NY Master Billiards Cafe (718) 507-1660 Tri State Tour A-B-C-D/Dbl Pts Call $1500 CallJun 7 Woodbury, NJ Hot Shot Billiards (856) 384-5727 One Pocket $45+$5 g.f. $300 CallJun 13-14 Greenville, SC World Cup Billiards (864) 220-2630 GSBT Call $1500 CallJun 13-14 Palm Harbor, FL Stroker’s Billiards (727) 786-6683 KF Cues 9-Ball $65/$50 $1600 CallJun 13-14 Kokomo, IN Ryno Room (765) 868-8171 NCS 9-Ball Qualifier $60 $1000 w/64 CallJun 14 Ft Pierce, FL Ultimate Billiards (772) 464-7665 Billiards Race to 9 pts $20 (incl g.f.) 3:30 PMJun 20-21 Montgomery, AL Deja Vu Billiards (334) 239-9212 GSBT Call $1500 Guar. CallJun 20-21 Doral, FL Doral Billiards (305) 592-8486 Viking Amateur-Advanced $60 $1000 1 PMJun 21 Doral, FL Doral Billiards (305) 592-8486 Viking Amateur $50 $500 1 PMJun 21 Manchester, CT World Championship Billiards (860) 647-1711 NCS 14.1 Continuous Qualifier $60 CallJun 21 Ft Pierce, FL Ultimate Billiards (772) 464-7665 One Pocket Race to 3 $25 (incl g.f.) 1:00 PMJun 25-28 Lincoln, NE VNEA Live on OTBnTV.com www.vnea.com VNEA Jr. Nationals Varies OnlineJun 25-28 Lincoln, NE VNEA Jr. Nationals www.otbntv.com Free Live Streaming of the Jr. Nationals - Times TBAJun 27-28 Holiday, FL Hammerheads (727) 939-9494 KF Cues 9-Ball Tour Call CallJun 27-28 Glen Burnie, MD Big Daddy’s Billiards (410) 760-1332 MD Open 14.1 Championships Call CallJun 27-28 Chattanooga, TN Diamond Billiard Club (423) 877-5882 GSBT A/B Amateur Call $1500 CallJun 28 Ft Pierce, FL Ultimate Billiards (772) 464-7665 9-Ball Race to 7 $25 (incl g.f.) 1:00 PMJul 11-12 Roanoke, VA Guys & Dolls (540) 981-1600 GSBT Call $1500 Guar. CallJul 18-19 Florence, KY Billiard Hutch (859) 647-6070 Viking Open $60 $1500 1 PMJul 19 Florence, KY Billiard Hutch (859) 647-6070 Viking Amateur $50 $1000 1 PMJul 18-19 Sayreville, NJ Primetime Sports Bar (732) 721-6555 JPNEWT Call CallJul 18-19 Parsippany, NJ Comet Billiards (973) 334-7429 NCS 14.1 Continuous Qualifier $60 CallJul 18-19 Whitehall, PA Jordan Pool Hall (484) 554-9397 NCS 14.1 Continuous Qualifier $60 $500 w/32 CallJul 25-26 Fort Pierce, FL Ultimate Billiards (772) 464-7665 KF Cues 9-Ball Tour Call CallJul 25-26 Sanford, NC Speakeazy Billiards (919) 775-1166 GSBT Call $1500 CallAug 1-2 Derby, CT Fat’s Billiards (203) 734-7713 NCS 10-Ball Qualifier $60 $500 CallAug 1-2 Charlotte, NC Paradise Billiards (704) 900-7525 GSBT Call $1500 Guar. CallAug 1-2 Glen Burnie, MD Big Daddy’s (410) 760-1332 NCS 10-Ball Qualifier $60 TBA CallAug 8-9 Derby, CT Fat’s Billiards (203) 734-7713 NCS 9-Ball Qualifier $60 $500 CallAug 8-9 Whitehall, PA Jordan Pool Hall (484) 554-9397 NCS 10-Ball Qualifier $60 $500 w/32 CallAug 15-16 Kokomo, IN Ryno Room (765) 868-8171 NCS 10-Ball Qualifier $60 $1000 w/64 CallAug 28-30 La Grange, GA Chalk It Up Billiards (706) 882-9798 GSBT Call $6500 Guar. 6PM

May 2009 page 15