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COLUMNISTS

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COVER ARTICLE6 4 Bears Classic

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WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS32 Central U.S. Weekly Tournaments

Rackem is a monthly publication, dedicated to the advancement of the sport of pool. The opinions expressed are those of the author or advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Break 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.

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PRESS RELEASES

More Pool Tournament Listings & Results than any other Billiard

Magazine .... Anywhere!

by: Don AkerlowWe arrived two days late for the Four

Bears Classic due to unforeseen circumstances that prevented us from being there Thursday at the

start of the 9-Ball. As the old saying goes, “Better late than never.” My regret for that is I don’t get to

take photos of some of the players that may have left. But you will bind some 300 player’s photos taken on facebook at http://www.onthebreaknews.com/onthebreaknews

Some players came from as far away as Louisiana (over 1800 miles), who is one of the three Mosconi Cup players for 2014, Brandon Shuff. The other two were Shane Van Boening and Corey Deuel (who lives in Florida). Also coming a great distance from Seattle was Dan Louie, Stan Tourangeau and in the Women’s A Division, Jing Liu who all came some 1400 miles.

It was a privilege and honor to meet the bridal council and its members after all these years. And to

say that they put on a great tournament would be an understatement. The members of the council that run the tournament made sure that you knew they appreciated the players being there. They made you feel welcome and like you had a second home. Each of the players that won their respective tournament were given a black ball cap with the Four Bears logo on it and 1st Place on the side

In the point match Shane Van Boening won 6-0 over Corey Deuel. Corey came back to meet Shane again, in the finals, and that match went hill-hill.

In the Women’s A Division, Melissa Little from Denver, CO was there waiting on the point. She has been to the Four Bears Tournament before and has placed 2nd and 3rd. She was determined that this year would be her year to win! In the finals she met Jing Liu from Seattle, WA who she had sent to the losers side earlier. The match went hill-hill and Melissa came away victorious. She did what she set out to do!

by: Ray Poitra23rd annual 4bears classic started Wednesday april 9th with a Viper Kids Pool Clinic for the local youth by Melissa little and sponsored by 4 Bears Casino and Lodge. All youth from ages 8 to 19 were invited and given a free pool cue and case. We had a great response for the 2nd year, all the kids had a good time and learned about the sport of billiards. Melissa Little, Mark Haddad do a great job with the kid. We would like to also thank Corey Deuel and Florian for helping during the clinic. Following the clinic Florian aka “Venom” preform a great show for the kids.

Thursday at noon the 9ball event started where there was a full field of 64. Shane Van Boening went undefeated though out the 9ball event.1st place $1,500.00 Shane Van Boening2nd place $1,000.00 Dan Louie3rd place $800.00 Corey Deuel

8ball started Friday at 4pm with opening ceremonies rules and also the committee honored long time supporters of the tournament Rory Hendrickson and Kenny Azure. The committee presented them with star quits. 147 men entered the 8-ball division.

Melissa Little

Kenny Azure and Rory Hendrickson

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ResultsWOMEN’S APlace Payout/Calcutta Name1st $1200/$1620 Melissa Little (Denver, CO)2nd $800/$1215 Jing Liu (Seattle, WA)3rd $600/$810 Rhea Brooks (St Louis, MO)4th $400/$405 Joan Jacobs (Devils Lake, ND)5/6 $275 Bonita Zuck (Tioga, ND), Jen Black (Devils Lake, ND)7/8 $225 Rachael Nadeau (Minot, ND), Shelly Reiter (Belcourt, ND)9-12 $150 Sam Matuska (Fargo, ND), Jenniger Jenson (Fargo, ND) Karen Poitra (New Town, ND), Sheila Peltier (Belcourt, ND)13-16 $100 Joanie Gustin (Bismark, ND), Holly Felix (White Shield, ND) Frannie Amundson (Sidney, MT), Tania Barnhardt (New Town, ND)WOMEN’S B1st $250 Val Wilhemi2nd $200 Burva Connor3rd $150 Joelle Bearstail4th $100 Tammy HaugenMEN’S 8-BALL1st $5,000/$12,390 Shane Van Boening (Sioux Falls, SD)2nd $3,000/$9292.50 Corey Deuel (Florida)3rd $1,500/$6,195 Rory Hendrickson (Fargo, ND)4th $1,000/$3097.50 Gene Albrecth (Altoona, WI)5/6 $700 Mark Haddad (Denver, CO), John Enno (Williston, ND)7/8 $550 Jason Kishaynew (Regina, Sask.), Steve Geller (Minot, ND)9-12 $450 Dusty Geller (Minot, ND), Mike Page (Fargo, ND), Bart Goode (Grand Rapids, MI), Ray Carter (Onion Lake, Sask.)13-16 $375 Marc Oleslager (Fargo, ND), Jeff Nadeau (Minot, ND), Wade Thompson (Great Falls, MT), Brent Donahue (Minot, ND)17-24 $300 Zeb Crawford (Minot, ND), Frank Howe (Bismark, ND) Dan Louie (Mercer Island, WA), Mike Crooked Neck (Big River, Sask.) Jeff Clare (Toronto, Ont.), Jim Calderon (Pueblo, CO) Adam King (Federal Heights, CO), Stan Tourangeau (Mercer Island, WA)25-32 $200 Rick Schroeder (Williston, ND), John Fazakas (Regina, Sask.) Robert Pulver (Bismark, ND), Steve Iron Road (Fort Yates, ND) Glenn Henrikson (Fargo, ND), Jason Geller (Minot, ND) B J Fox (Portage la Prairie, Man.), Dave Schwartz (New Town, ND)MEN’S B (2nd Chance for players out before the final 32)1st $500 Dean Flanders2nd $350 Ken Azure3rd $250 Jesse Gassman4th $150 Eric Hunting5/6 $100 Tom Kaminski, Travis MannMEN’S C (2nd Chance for players out early in the tournament)1st $500 Jason Seeman2nd $350 John Bearstail3rd $250 Jim Winters4th $150 Chris O’Conner5/6 $100 Chad Harrison, Laron O’Watch

Shane Van Boening


Corey Deuel

Jing Liu

Dean Flanders

Jason Seeman John Bearstail Val WilhemiBurva Connor

Big Truck Show


Mark Haddad

Dan Louie

Gene Albrecth

Rory Hendrickson


1992 KELLY DEMARAY MEMORIALCHAMPION: GARY JOHNSON, MN

2ND ANNUAL KELLY DEMARAY MEMORIALCHAMPION: STEVE GELLER, ND

3RD ANNUAL KELLY DEMARAY MEMORIALCHAMPION: ED HERMAN, ND

1995 ANNUAL KELLY DEMARAY MEMORIAL Men’s Division CHAMPION: RANDY HANSON - MNWomen’s Division CHAMPION: LORI BUERENDORF - MN

1996 5TH ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s Division CHAMPION: ROB MATTSON - ND Women’s Division CHAMPION: TANYA HERIG - ND

1997 6TH ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSIC Men’s DivisionCHAMPION: RORY HENDRICKSON-ND Women’s Division CHAMPION: LAURIE HAWKINS-SD

1998 7TH ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s Division CHAMPION: ROB MATSONGRAND FORKS, NDWomen’s Division CHAMPION: TANYA HARIGGRAND FORKS, ND

1999 8TH ANNUAL FOUR BEAR CLASSIC Men’s Division CHAMPION: ROB MATSONGRAND FORKS, ND Women’s Division CHAMPION: JERI BOUVETTEEAST GRAND FORKS, ND

2000 9TH ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSIC Men’s Division CHAMPION: KEVIN CARDINAL - EDMONTON, ALBERTA Women’s Division CHAMPION: TASHA THOMAS - EDMONTON, ALBERTA

2001 10TH ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSIC Men’s Division CHAMPION: RORY HENDRICKSONFARGO, ND Women’s Division CHAMPION: LAURIE HAWKINSBLACK HAWK, SD

2002 11TH ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s Division CHAMPION: EDWIN MONTELCALGARY, ALBERTAWomen’s Division CHAMPION: BEVERLY ASHTONCALGARY, ALBERTA

2003 12TH ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s Division CHAMPION: DICK SPITZER - DEADWOOD, SDWomen’s Division CHAMPION: GA YOUNG KIM - CALGARY, ALBERTA

2004 ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s Division CHAMPION: DAVE MARTIN -CALGARY, ALBERTA

2005 ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSIC MENS CHAMPION: BRENT HANSON-ND

2007 ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s DivisionCHAMPION: DAVE MARTIN-CANADAWomen’s DivisionCHAMPION: TIMI BLOOMBERG-SD

2008 ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s DivisionCHAMPION: SHANE VANBOENING– SDWomen’s DivisionCHAMPION: TIMI BLOOMBERG-SD

2009 ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s DivisionCHAMPION: RORY HENDRICKSONWomen’s DivisionCHAMPION: TIMI BLOOMBERG

2010 19th ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s DivisionCHAMPION: SHANE VAN BOENING, SDWomen’s DivisionCHAMPION: LINDA ASLESON, MONTANA

2011 20TH ANNUAL FOUR BEARS CLASSICMen’s DivisionCHAMPION: LEE HUEWAGON, MNWomen’s DivisionCHAMPION: TIMI BLOOMBERG, SD

2012 Annual Four Bears ClassicMen’s DivisionCHAMPION: MARK HADDADWomen’s DivisionCHAMPION: NICOLE KEENEY

2013 FOUR BEARS CLASSIC9-Ball DivisionCHAMPION: JOEY GRAY8-Ball Men’s DivisionCHAMPION: COREY DUEL8-Ball Women’s DivisionCHAMPION: JEANETTE LEE

PAST CHAMPIONS

[L-R]: Jason Kasprzycki (3rd), Dave Torzewski (2nd) and Darrin Bergner (1st)

Darrin Bergner wins All American Tour

1st: Darrin Bergner of Birnamwood, WI $415 + $250 side pot2nd: Dave Torzewski of Wausau, WI $260 + $150 side pot3rd: Jason Kasprzycki of Rothschild, WI $160 + $100 side pot + Free Singles entry to ACS Nationals 4th: Kevin Klages of Antigo, WI $90 5-6th: Andy Nikolai of Merrill, WI $505-6th: Jim Groshek of Stevens Point, WI $50Re

sults

Congratulations to Darrin Bergner (pictured right), winner of the PureX All American Tour - Stop #25 held Saturday, April 5 at Weston Cue Club in Wausau, WI. The $500-added 8-ball tourney on 7-foot Valley bar boxes drew 21 players.

The A-side concluded with Dave Torzewski ((Wausau, WI) claiming a semifinals win over Andy Nikolai (Merrill, WI) 5-4, while Jason Kasprzycki (Rothschild, WI) joined Dave in the finals via a 5-3 vistory over Kevin Klages (Antigo, WI). Torzewski then claimed the hot seat by outlasting Kasprzycki 5-4.

On the B-side, Darrin Bergner (Birnamwood, WI) lost his second-round match to Torzewski 5-3, but then went on a tear in eliminating Troy Coates 5-3, Lloyd Zynda 5-4, Shawn Hana 5-2, Kevin Klages 5-3, Andy Nikolai 5-4 and Jason Kasprzycki 5-1 to claim a tourney finals spot versus Dave Torzewski. Bergner kept up his trend of winning close matches by taking two sets from Torzewski 5-4, 5-4 to take the title!

By virtue of Jason Kasprzycki being the highest-finishing ACS member in the event, he qualified for a free 9-Ball singles entry into the 2014 Universal Cues ACS Nationals at the Tropicana Las Vegas – courtesy of the ACS.


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On The Road with ... C J Wiley

http://www.cjwiley.com

Wiley remembers how easily the action flowed right after the release of 1986’s The Color of Money. Thanks to that film, Wiley clipped off an entire bar in Pittsburgh over the course of an evening. He began with the owner, a pigeon who knew the flick by heart. He led Wiley up to hid private pool table on the second floor, saying, “It’s just like the movie. You saw the movie, right?” The Owner couldn’t hit the floor with his hat.“After I beat him out of a few hundred, stalling to keep the games close, he quits and has me play everybody else in the building: the bartender, the cook, the dishwasher, five locals and finally the best player in town. By night’s end, I had the owner stuck around 65 hundred. ‘You know kid, you played a lot better at the end than you did at the beginning.’ He says to me. I looked him square in the eyes and said, ‘Well, you saw the movie right?’”Wiley was part of an elite underground group called “road players,” traveling pool assassins hiding below the radar y never showing their faces in tournaments. “There were only around 30 of us,” says Wiley, who’s run a dozen racks without missing and won as much as $20,000 in a single night. “I’m talking about the solid ones, the guys who consistently got the cash.” These players were known through the grapevine simply by their nicknames: Frisco Jack and One-Eyed Rd, Water-dog and Shaft Man, Big John and The Faceless Man. “We knew each other, and there was a camaraderie. We even worked together taking off scores, calling each other with steers into good games.“In the pool world, the road player is the most respected, way more than the tournament winners. We’re not just great players. We’re a special bread. We have nerves strong enough to hold up for the

big money. We have something extra—a killer instinct, an ice-cold hearts.” He

pauses, then, unflinchingly, adds: “I had both in abundance.”

WAKE-UP CALLHigh-stakes pool hustling is a dangerous game. Hustlers get hurt. Wiley has been clocked with a pair of roundhouses, been slipped a Mickey at least three times and was robbed at gunpoint twice. “Both times was after I won a lot of money,” he says. “Both, I’m convinced, were setups.” It didn’t stop him, though. Wiley accepted those things as occupational hazards. “I was on an adventure, and I never saw a great adventure movie without the star being chased, shot at and running for his life.”The first time Wiley stared down the barrel of a gun while hustling, he was 18. It was 3 a.m. in a seedy section of Minneapolis, near Gentleman Jim’s, a 24-hour poolroom well-known for its big money action. Wiley had scored around seven grand and was riding a rush of adrenaline. The gunman stuck his .45 so hard underneath Wiley’s chin it rose the Texan onto his toes. The mugger made off with only $400, speeding off in a car. “luckily,” Wiley says, “my partner was always the one who carried most of the money.”Wiley was shaken but not stirred. “It had no lasting effect,” he says. “it was just a wake-up call.” In fact, he was robber again a year later, in Albemarle, North Carolina, at some bootleg liquor joint with a backroom pool table by a guy with a shotgun who wore a nylon stocking over his head. He still felt bulletproof, though he finally learned to leave town in a hurry after big wins.RACK ‘EMBorn and raised in Green City, Missouri, a desperately small, poor cattle town 136 miles from Kansas City, Wiley started shooting stick at seven, standing on a wooden soda case to reach the table. Four years later he was the best player in town; by 15 he was outgunning guys twice his age for $20 a game. He found his nirvana in his senior year in high school. During Christmas break, he and two experienced partners embarked on a road trip, working

spots all over Oklahoma and Kansas. The trio took in $16,000 in just 40 days. Wiley never sat though another class again.From ages 18 to 26 Wiley lived constantly on the move. His Sky-Pager would go off in the middle of the night, alerting him to action. In 1987, Wiley relocated to Dallas to be centrally located between both coasts. He’d plan trips on his motor home based on trips from an underground network of informants. “I would take a map, circle spots I wanted to hit and connect them as strategically as I would if I were running a rack of balls,” he says. All the inside info was compiled in a “spot book,” a hustler’s little black book containing addresses of action joints, names of gambling players, how well they played, what games they liked and how much they liked to bet.He assumed aliases: Mike from Indiana, Chris from Missouri or Butch from Tennessee. “I once went to a spot where the locals were talking about all three of my aliases and arguing which one was the best player.” He posed as a college student, a computer salesman, even a drug dealer. He used fake IDs and phony glasses. (“a guy with glasses can always get played.”) He blended with locals by mimicking their behavior, dress and accents, even occasionally stealing license plates. He did whatever it took to get the game. “There were only three guys in the country I wouldn’t play,” he says, “and I knew who those guys were.”He also had a favorite line that never failed to lure ‘em in. Wiley would simply smile and say, “I’m very good at pool—is anyone here as good as me?” He found it was better to be cocky than pretend to be a bad player and what could guys say when he beat them? He’d warned them he was good.Like most hustlers, Wiley traveled with a partner. This guy held most if the cash, watched his back and helped the scam. “Sometimes, I’d act like the stake-horse and my partner would be the player,” he says. “My partners could play, though not as well

as I could. He’d beat a guy until he quit, then the guy would say to me, ‘I can’t beat him, but I’ll play you.’ They assumed that I couldn’t play since I was staking the money. They didn’t realize they’d stepped into a bigger trap.”EIGHT BALL IN THE CORNER POCKETWiley didn’t just roll chumps. “My forte was beating players who were supposedly unbeatable on their home tables. Even if they played as well as I did, I’d simply outlast them.” He built a rep for intimidating opponents, slamming balls into pockets with a popping stroke, making long-range shots as if they were mere tap-ins and shooting so fast he ran racks in minutes. He accompanied this with a mean game face derived from biting the inside of his mouth until he bled. “With good players, I didn’t just want to beat them, I wanted to crush them,” he says. “I got off on seeing their knees buckle, seeing fear in their eyes.”Wiley’s reputation began to precede him, and the money dried up. He retired from hustling for good and went legit, joining the pros in 1991. Four years later, frustrated with the piddling prize money, he quit that, too, but not before being ranked as high as fourth in the world. “What I made in a year on the pro tour, I used to make in one night hustling.”Now 38 and more than a decade removed from his poolroom cons, Wiley is still hustling—but in the business world. Today, he owns a 24-hour poolroom and a $3.5 million sports bar. He lives in a three-bedroom home in the swanky suburb of Lake Highlands, outside Dallas.Does he ever miss the pool-hustling life? “At the time, I loved everything about the life, especially the freedom and being able to travel around the country,” Wiley says. “When I look back on it now, it sickens me. I was a pure predator. I’d hate to ever go back to that, even though I was a winner.”

Life of WileyHe hustled pool for a while and made a living, then turned pro and made a killing. Clearly, Dallas’ CJ Wiley is on the ball.By Michael P. Geffner

NOTE: This article appeared in ‘Dallas Life’ February 14, 1993 (it no longer exists as an insert for the Dallas Morning News) It was written by Michael Geffner, but a few newspapers back in the early 90s reproduced it and you may want to at some point....according to many people it’s one of the best pool stories ever written and my someday be instrumental in a movie.....as a matter of fact that process is underway right now.


Tom Simpson

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© January 2013 – All Rights Reserved – PoolClinics.com

On the first day of pool school, I point out that if you can’t deliver the cueball where you think it has to go, nothing else matters. All your strategy, knowledge, and experience won’t pocket a ball or win a game. Your fundamentals do that, and so they are first and foremost.At pool school, we focus hard on fundamentals of form, how best to arrange your body to facilitate an accurate, fluid, consistent, straight, repeatable stroke. We all have form flaws, departures from the ideal. And of course, exactly what constitutes the ideal is different for every player. There’s a lot to it, but we move the class along in a fairly systematic way. As the instructors circulate to help the individual players at their tables, we generally work on the biggest things first. As I watch a player, I’m looking for what sticks out to me the most. What’s the simplest thing we can change or improve to get the greatest immediate gain? Maybe their bridge is floppy or their head is moving or their stick is swerving or their stance is awkward or any of a hundred things. Whatever it is, we gradually work each player into something closer to ideal for them, something that gets them past the biggest issues they had, gets them more confidence and better results.Eventually, as players’ fundamentals are “roughed in,” they start to look like solid players. Things become more consistent, fluid, athletic, simple. It’s worthwhile to let players work on these changes for some time, perhaps a few months. The longer someone has played, the tougher it is to overcome old habits. At this point, though, our players are very clear on why they should make their changes, and so they are motivated to change and to be vigilant about it.For those who stick with it and are patient with themselves and their learning process, their new fundamentals begin to dominate their play and their game comes up. Here’s where we can begin to refine the finer aspects of form, and get even further down the path to excellence. But this is also where the changes become much more subtle. Instructors can point out some factors to consider, some ways to experiment, some ways to measure or compare results.One of these subtle areas is grip. Grip is what connects us to our instrument – the cue stick. This joining, and the motion of the grip with the stick, must function smoothly. In my opinion, your grip can evolve and improve throughout your entire pool life. We can give you general guidance, such as where your grip hand should

be on the cue. We can give you important ideas, such as your grip should be very light. We can suggest experimenting

with different numbers of grip fingers, different thumb

placements, and small changes in your palm/stick angle. These are all worthwhile areas to explore, but aside from seeing whether a change allows the stick to stroke straighter, all you have is “How does it feel?” Does it feel smoother? Is it uncomfortable? Is it difficult to do consistently? Does it give you more confidence? It’s hard for an instructor to tell whether a change feels better to a player. That’s up to the player. We try to see whether the “quality” of their stroke improves and whether their pocketing and ball control improves.So while I can’t really tell you exactly how to improve your grip, I do have a few suggestions you’ll find worthy of your attention:no gRiPPing: Don’t squeeze the stick. Don’t grab it. Just swing it. Gripping runs tension up into your arm and hobbles your fluidity. It’s actually okay to hold so lightly that the stick sometimes slides forward after the hit.Rule of thuMB: No squeezing with the thumb either, for the same reason. The thumb makes some kind of soft loop that keeps the stick from falling off your hand – and that’s all. Our rule of thumb (ha ha) is “When the tip hits the ball, the thumb points to the floor.”soft hand: Your grip hand should be as soft as possible. Tensions in your grip fingers can tighten up your wrist and affect your fluidity. How can you “hold” your fingers in place without tension? Don’t brace your hand shape.feweR fingeRs: The more fingers the stick touches, the more ways there are for the stick to go crooked. Everyone’s hand is different, but it makes a certain amount of sense that as the weight of the stick passes from finger to finger during the stroke, things can go wrong. Also, micro-movements in your fingers can make you miss. So maybe fewer fingers would work better. Try a one-finger or two-finger grip.find youR angle: Most players stroke with the palm of their grip hand facing their body. Some players stroke with the palm rotated toward the back of the stick. I can’t tell you what’s right. Everyone’s joints work a little differently. What’s important is to find the palm angle that works best in your stroke. Note that changes in this angle affect where the stick rides in your fingers, so this experiment calls for you to really observe closely. It’s complicated.feel the weight of the cue: This is a huge tip. Try to feel the weight of the cue hanging from your elbow point. Feel the weight in your fingers. What can you soften to feel the weight more clearly? You’ll find that when you feel the weight, everything is soft and you are fully connected to your instrument. Begin your backswing without effort and without gripping. Do less.

gRiPPing exPeRiences

http://www.nationalbilliardacademy.com

TABLE TALK BY: MICHAEL K GLASS

Michael K GlassMichael Glass has been teaching pool for close to 10 years. He is a Recognized PBIA Billiards Instructor, taught by none other than Bob Jewett of the San Francisco Billiard Academy. Michael has been playing pool almost all of his life (except when he was in the Navy — it’s hard to install a pool table on a rocking ship!). He managed to stay away from the hustler life; he doesn’t believe in being dishonest in order to win money. He will, however, occasionally play for a beer or two at the local watering hole. Michael teaches all levels of pool players, from beginner to pro, and works on all aspects of the game, from fundamentals, to pattern play, to trick shots. He can be found playing in his home town of San Ramon, CA at Crown Billiards. Visit his website at mikekglass.com for pool tips or to schedule a lesson!


(Glass continued on page 30)

No, they aren’t Nascar racing terms. It is not the name of a law firm. And most likely, you will not be seeing this move on Dancing With the Stars.I am going to teach you how to pivot your cue stick to compensate for squirt, without inducing swerve.If you have no idea what this means, don’t worry. By the time you are done reading this article, it will all make perfect sense.If you already know this stuff, what’re you doing here? Go play!Here’s an exercise I would like you to try:Place the 1-ball on the foot spot. Place the cue-ball on the head line about 6 inches away from the head spot (typical break position). Now, using a center ball hit, shoot the cue ball into the 1-ball as hard as you can while maintaining accuracy. If you shoot it perfectly, the cue ball should stop without leaking to the right or left.Once you can do this fairly consistently, I’d like you to do the same shot, this time with extreme right-hand spin. Do not compensate in any way... simply shoot hard and straight at the 1-ball. Make sure you keep the cue as level as you possibly can.What happened? If you did everything correctly, most likely the cue-ball hit the 1-ball on the left side, or perhaps missed it altogether! This is a result of deflection, or “squirt.” If you are using a “low deflection” shaft, then the effect won’t be as pronounced. But, it will still happen. So how do we compensate for this? Logically, if you aimed the shot more to the right, the cue-ball will not go to the left so much. Makes sense, right? The question is, how much do

you need to compensate so that with the extreme spin, the cue still stops when hitting the 1-ball?

The answer is... “it depends,” mostly on how much your shot deflects. Fortunately, we can do a little trial and error to figure it out. Get yourself a pad of Post-It® notes, and a sharpie.Try this: Set up for a shot on the 1-ball again, but bridge close to the ball (about 3 inches away). Now, without moving your bridge, pivot the cue stick with your back hand until you are aimed with extreme right spin on the cue ball, and note just how far to the right the 1-ball you are aimed. Now do it again, but this time use a ridiculously long bridge (like 2 feet). This time, when you pivot the stick (don’t move your bridge!) for extreme right spin, your aiming line doesn’t change much. Makes sense, right? The further back your bridge hand (and ultimately, the pivot point), the less you need to move your back hand to apply spin to the cue-ball. We are going to find the “sweet spot,” where pivoting the cue stick to apply spin will perfectly cancel out the squirt effect.Start with a 6-inch bridge. This means that the point the stick emerges from your fingers to the cue-ball is 6 inches. Aim through the center of the cue ball, at the center of the 1-ball. Now, pivot your cue-stick, without moving the bridge at all, by moving your back hand to the left. This will apply a lot of right-hand spin. Remember... DO NOT MOVE YOUR BRIDGE. You will be aimed to the right of the 1-ball. That’s OK.Note: You may have heard this referred to as “back hand english” because you move the back hand to apply the english.Shoot the same shot we did at the beginning of this exercise. Hard, with lots of right-hand spin. Observe where the cue ball hits the 1-ball.

SWERVE, SQUIRT, AND PIVOTStraight facts about shooting straight

http://www.mikekglass.com

Bob

Jew

ett

Bob Jewett

San Francisco Billiard Academywww.sfbilliards.com

San Francisco Billiard Academy is a BCA Certified Master Academy.

In my last article I discussed a position play drill I call A2B -- you chose two random spots, A and B, on the table and learn how to pocket an object ball on spot A and take the cue ball to spot B. The idea was to use no cushions and to try to find the range of possible positions of the cue ball that would work when using a particular pocket as well as the easiest or most natural position for the cue ball for each target pocket.The next level of this drill is to use one cushion to get the cue ball to spot B. Now there are far more choices in how to play the shot since you can choose any pocket-cushion pair. Shown in the diagram are the same A and B spots we had last time and two choices of cushion for the same pocket. Both can be played from the cue ball position shown.For path X, the easiest way is to let the cue ball roll and maybe use a little right English to widen the angle on the cushion. Try placing the cue ball over a range of positions with more or less cut angle and see what spin is needed to make the shot work. For example, you will find that if the shot is nearly straight in, you will have to use less follow and more side spin to get to B. Youmight say, well, if I want to go to B from a nearly straight shot, why do I use a cushion? Because sometimes you will have to use that path such as when another ball is in the no-cushion path. For path Y which uses pocket H and cushion CD, the action is nearly the same as you would use for the no-cushion play, but if you have too thin a cut you will need to go to the cushion to absorb some of the extra speed on the cue ball.Can you see how to use the remaining four cushion sections along with pocket H to get to B? Section DE is with simple straight-back draw and section FG is with nearly plain follow. For DE you still want to find the range of cue ball positions for which you can make the shot work. You will need a little English to one side or the other as the cue ball comes off the perfect line to adjust the cue ball angle off the cushion. I think you’ll find that the range of workable cue ball locations is quite small for this pattern.For FG the cue ball will be about at Z and you can vary the amount of follow and side spin to adjust the cue ball’s path. I think you’ll find that if the cue ball is rolling smoothly on the cloth when it hits the object ball you will get the most consistent results.If you can use cushion sections GH or EF for the shot into

H, you should be writing articles, not reading them. Sometimes you have to pass on a cushion-pocket pair.

Now let’s move on to pocket C. Using HC, CD and

DE to leave the cue ball at Bcan be done with simple follow shots and the right cue ball position. GH and EF are again out of consideration, but FG is possible with a pretty good draw stroke. It’s hard to imagine a situation where draw to FG would be the right solution so it would be fair to leave it out of the drill unless you want to practice your power draw.Work out the rest of the one-cushion possibilities on your own for each of the remaining pockets. I think GH and EF are never used for this choice of points A and B, but if you can find such a shot please send it in.

The A2B Drill Part 2

REJ

1

A

B

C D

E

FG

Can you make the ball at Ainto each of the six pocketsand get the cue ball to Busing one cushion?(Cue ball is in hand for eachshot.)

X

Y

What range?

How many different cushionsfor each pocket?

CD

DE

EF

FG

GH

H

HC

Z


Melissa “The Viper” Little has been a WPBA Touring Professional for over 10-years, she has represented the USA in Four WPA World Championships and has over 20 top-10 WPBA career finishes. She teaches monthly clinics, gives private lessons, and has created a juniors program that promotes billiards education to the local youth. Recently, Melissa opened a new billiard supply store www.qzetta.com

For more information about Melissa please visit: www.melissalittle.com

Melissa Little

“The Viper”An Interview by:

Read more articles by Melissa Little at

www.onthebreaknews.com

www.melissalittle.com

WPBA Touring Profession

The

For Juniors Events, Tournament News, Sponsors, Lessons & For My Fans...


Viper: Where were you born?Billy: Dayton, Ohio Viper: What are your biggest accomplishments in the sport of billiards?Billy: Winning the VNEA and BCA Junior National Championships Viper: Do you have a nickname yet?Billy: The BulldozerViper: What are your short-term goals?Billy: Winning more tournaments then I haveViper: What do you do when you’re not competing?Billy: hunt, fishing and riding dirt bikes.Viper: Do you have siblings?Billy: I have one sister named Mariah and she’s 21years old. Viper: Who got you started in playing pool? Billy: My dad and mom they taught me everything I know about poolViper: What do your parents think of your pool career?Billy: They both support me 100% on everything I do. I couldn’t ask for better parents.Viper: In your opinion, what parts of the world produce the best players?Billy: PhilippinesViper: Who is/was your favorite pro player growing up?Billy: Shane VanBoening

Viper: Do you currently have any sponsors?Billy: No, currently I have no sponsors yet.

Viper: Did you ever play in a pool league?Billy: No I have never played in a pool league.

Viper: Are you good at any other sports?Billy: Growing up I played football, which was my favorite sport, but then I chose pool. Also I love to ride dirt bikes.Viper: Describe yourself in three words?Billy: confident, loyal, trust worthyViper: If you had to live your life over again, what would one thing you change about yourself and/or your pool career?Billy: No, I would not change a thing at this point I love the life I’m living.Viper: How do you prepare for events?Billy: I try to practice as much as I can and work on things that I’m doing wrong.Viper: What was the best advice

you were ever given?Billy: Perfect practice makes perfect playing Viper: What is one thing that you enjoy most while playing pool?Billy: I enjoy meeting new people. I enjoy competing with people that are better than me so I can get better myself.Viper: If you could say one thing to a young up-coming player what would it be? Billy: Keep calm and fire it cross corner!Viper: What’s your Favorite game?Billy: Bank pool A special “Thank-you” to Billy for taking time out of his busy schedule to participate in my “Ask the Viper”. Till next month, you can find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/melissalittleakatheviper

an interview with young Player Billy thorPe From dayton, oh

http://www.melissalittle.com

Anthony Beeler is a 2013 BCA National 9-Ball team champion. He also finished 9th out of 1086 players in the 2013 BCA National 8-Ball Championships. He is a certified Level 3 instructor for the American CueSports Alliance and is the founder of Maximize Your Potential Billiards Academy located in Bradfordsville, Kentucky. Beeler is also a fully licensed Kentucky Educator having, received his bachelor’s degree at Campbellsville University and his master’s degree in Education Leadership at Eastern Kentucky University. Throughout his pool-playing career Anthony has won over 300 tournaments and has defeated numerous professional players in tournament competition.


THE SKY IS NO LIMIT

INTRODUCING:

SKY BLUE®

It was 1996, and I was attending Campbellsville University. As I was filling out my college course schedule for the upcoming term, one class in particular caught my eye. College Billiards was being offered as a physical education credit by a gentleman named Stan Shuffett. I decided to sign up for the course and to this day my enrollment was one of the best decisions I ever made. Stan exhibits all of the qualities of a great instructor and is also

a very accomplished player. In my opinion, he is one of the most knowledgeable individuals you could talk to about the game of pool. Stan was the first to show me that there was more to pool fundamentals than making a bridge, gripping a cue, and delivering a straight stroke. He taught me how to evaluate myself as a player and how that every part of your game needs to be both deliberate and calculated.In fact, I can recall one occasion where I mentioned to Stan that I had been having some bad luck in my past few tournaments. I informed him that my opponents were kicking balls in after I played safe. As I approached Stan about the topic, I will always remember the statement that he made. He

said, “If they are kicking balls in, maybe your safeties aren’t good enough.”I stopped for a second thought about what he said. I then replied with, “I am not sure exactly what you mean.” It was clear I was hooking my opponents, but I was unsure what he meant by “good enough.”

I set up the situation below and demonstrated how I normally played safe. Stan looked at my safety and said, “I see your problem. It’s not good enough to just hook your opponent. Think about how to cut off the side rail so there is no easy return kick. You must cut off the cushion.” Stan was referring to me leaving the cue ball at position “A”. Leaving the cue ball at this position allows my opponent to kick at the 6 ball from the side rail with

force (the upper cushion in diagram 1).He then set up the same situation and demonstrated how I could make my safety better. The way he played the shot left very few options for his opponent. Stan shot the cue ball ½ of a tip below center with a medium speed. He hit the 6 slightly off center (to the left). Stan concentrated on freezing the cue ball to the 8-ball leaving it at cue ball position “B” as pictured in the diagram below. Freezing the cue ball to the 8-ball cuts off the side rail (the upper rail in diagram 2) forcing his opponent to kick at the 6 ball from the bottom

cushion (rail on the right). His opponent would also have to shoot over top of a ball, further eliminating their accuracy. Execution of the safety requires both a delicate mixture of speed and spin so you will need to shoot the shot several times in order to develop the feel needed to control the shot.

This was a real eye opener to me. It took some time for me to develop the touch needed to execute the shot reliably, but my time spent practicing the shot was well worth it. Now, before shooting any type of defensive shot, I always look at several options and try to think about what my opponent will like the least. Over the next few years I learned a lot from Stan, and to this day I consider him to be one of the nation’s top instructors. So the next time you are at the table getting ready to execute a defensive shot, don’t just shoot the first thing that pops into your head. Ask yourself the question “Is my safety good enough?” and you will minimize your opponent’s ability to kick balls in from defensive position.

ARE YOUR SAFETIES GOOD ENOUGH?

diagram 1

diagram 2

http://www.poolteacher.com


THE SKY IS NO LIMIT

INTRODUCING:

SKY BLUE®

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I want to state from the very beginning that I have been and on occasion still find myself discourteous at times. There are of course excuses, “I’m busy”, “I didn’t have time”, “There’s a lot on my plate”,, but in reality for the most part, but not always, I was simply discourteous. So I want to apologize for that.

It got me thinking at the same time … are we all like that? Do we make excuses? Or do we care enough to make excuses? I may be becoming too philosophical.

Somebody once told me that if you do something or don’t do something, whether you should or shouldn’t, you have to ask, “Would your Mother be proud of you if you did or didn’t do it?” For example: holding a door for a lady or anyone and most importantly not expecting a reply, like “Thank you”. But I digress, yet again.

Let me get to the real point. In the billiard industry, some say that it is a dying industry. I for one do not believe that. There are a lot of industry people or those who are connected to the industry that work very hard and put a lot of effort and money into it. Although courtesy, I think would help the industry a lot along the way. I had the owner of a national league tell me during a conversation that he could not stand the majority of the people in the industry. I asked him who did

he mean, the players or who? He told me it was the business end … owners, managers and corporate types. They don’t return call, they don’t return emails.

Even if you have been working out some deal or contract how hard is it to just return a courtesy call? In any given month we contact by phone and email hundreds of people in the industry. Even if you don’t know someone, see what they want. Sometimes it’s nothing but sometimes it’s worth answering the call or email. Or simply tell the person, “No”, “I’m not interested”, “It doesn’t work for me”. Don’t waste someone’s time because good business people will always think you are just too busy, so they will try again. I am not trying to be judgemental even if it may appear to be, just raising a concern that others may have experienced. Remember, if someone thinks enough of you or your company to include it in whatever they are doing, it may behoove you to find out what it is or not. I personally woudl prefer, if circumstances merit not being interested, to know that decision ... just a courtesy.

Remember, be courteous. I know every time I’m not, those words appear in my mind, “Would your Mother be proud of you?”

Just a thought. And as always message me your views on Facebook at www.facebook.com/onthebreaknews

Courtesy .... a dying art

By Bad Boys Billiard Productions StaffPhotos by Keith Aikens This year, Bad Boys Billiard Productions moved the BCAPL Texas 8-Ball State Championships to the Mayborn Center in Temple, Texas. Action was hot and heavy in 13 different tournaments from April 1st through 7th, 2014. Action got started on Tuesday morning, April 1st with 40 Mixed Scotch Doubles teams chasing their dreams of being Texas State Champions and the $800 prize check that would accompany that honor. The teams of Beatty & Hyde and Bailey & Jones raced to the hot seat match playing a match every two hours until their showdown against each other at 8 PM. Both teams eager to guarantee themselves a spot in the finals played a very close match that saw Bailey & Jones prevail in a 4-3 win. Beatty

& Hyde would now have to travel to the left side of the board to win a match to earn a chance for revenge in the finals. They were not the only team looking to exact a little payback for an earlier loss. The team of Franklin & Hess suffered a very close loss in their first match of the tournament to Beatty & Hyde and marched through the one loss side of the bracket with 8 straight wins to earn that shot at payback with Beatty & Hyde. In another tightly contested match, Franklin & Hess prevailed with a 4-2 victory and a shot at Bailey & Jones in the finals. The four combatants would have to wait until 2 PM Sunday afternoon as they also were competing in the Singles and Team tournaments. Due to the fact that Bailey & Jones were undefeated, they would have to be beaten twice in the finals and that is just what Franklin & Hess set out to do with a hill-hill victory in the

first set, forcing the second and deciding set. Both teams regrouped and played another tightly contested set with Bailey & Jones coming through with the 4-3 victory and title of 2014 BCAPL Texas State Scotch Doubles Champions! Wednesday morning the Men’s Open Singles and Men’s B Singles got underway with 202 players doing battle on the 80 Diamond tables. The Men’s Open Singles is a race to 5 with Advanced players having to win one more game if playing an Open player. After 14 hours of play, the list of undefeated players had gone from 110 players down to one, Advanced player, Cesar Garcia Jr., by result of a 6-1 victory over Frank Ferrer Jr. in the hot seat match. Frank would now have to win a match on the one loss side to earn a rematch with Garcia. That he did with a 5-0 win over Leonel Torres who finished

BCAPL Texas State Champions Enjoy New Location


3rd. Ferrer would now have to beat Garcia twice to win the title and that Is exactly what he did with matching 5-2 wins Ferrer Jr. collected $1,520 plus the winner’s trophy for his performance. In the Men’s B division, 92 players arrived with cues in tow to do battle. Roy Shumacher raced through the event undefeated, beating Adrian Womack Jr., who after losing his very first match of the tournament 4-2 to Victor Dabu, went on a tear winning eleven straight matches to make to the finals. Adrian came up one game short of the 4-3 final match score and had to settle for a second place finish and $290 in prize money for his hard work. Schumacher received the first place trophy and $460 for his stellar play. Wednesday afternoon also saw the women come in to start their Open divisions with 29 in the Open and 16 in the B division. Good friends and teammates, Melinda Bailey and Tracie Voelkering battled their ways through a tough field to meet in the hot seat match that was won by Bailey by a 4-2 score. Tracie then went to the one loss side and defeated Angela Garza in a very close 4-3 match to earn a second shot at Melinda in the finals. Garza had to settle for a 3rd place finish. The finals would only last one set as Melinda Bailey continued her smart stellar play and defeat Voelkering 4-1 to win her very first Texas State Women’s open Singles Championship, the trophy and a $550 first prize. Couple with her win in the Scotch Doubles, made this a very nice week for Melinda! In the Women’s B division, Stephanie Reyes went through the field undefeated and beat Cindy Vansickle 4-1 in the finals to win the trophy and $150 first prize. Thursday morning got the Men’s Senior division underway with 74 experienced players playing a race to 5 to see who the champion would be. That man would be Kenny Ellis. Ellis marched his way through the field and claimed the hot seat with a 5-2 win over Pete Stoval sending him to the one loss side where he would meet Ismael Ramirez. Ramirez prevailed this time and would get a shot at Ellis in the finals. Ramirez won the first set with a 5-3 win sending the finals to a second and deciding set. Ellis regrouped though and left no doubt who the champion would be with a convincing 5-1 victory. Along with the BCAPL Texas State Senior Singles trophy, Ellis was rewarded with $1,100 for his stellar play. Friday saw the teams roll in to do battle. Ninety three Mixed Open teams and 23 Women’s Open teams began their quest to be Texas State Champions! In the Mixed Open division, The Hitmen raced through the field undefeated and handled the Top Dawgs in the finals 13-5 to win the title and the $4,780 first place money. In the Women’s Open teams Boom Shaka Laka also went undefeated and beat the Elementals in the finals 11-8 to take the title and the $1,000 first place prize money. Along with all the main events, there were also five Second Chance tournaments. In the Men’s Open Second chance, Chris Romero bested the 52 player field. In the Men’s B Second chance, Darren Charles double dipped Matt Jarolik in the finals to best the 35 player field. In the Women’s Open Singles, Celeste Espinosa came out on top of the seven player field. Team Second Chance winners were Chosen Few and Caught Strokin. Along with all these tournaments, Bad Boys Billiard Productions did their best to insure the players got their green fees worth of playing pool and ran 98 mini tournaments during the event. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Mayborn Center and their friendly and helpful staff for making this such an enjoyable venue to hold this prestigious event. We also want to thank each player who came to participate and support this great sport we all love. We look forward to an even bigger and better event next year!

Melinda Bailey1st place Women’s Open Singles

Marty Jones and Melinda Bailey 1st place Scotch Doubles



RANDY HANSON, IOMA 2014 MASTERS 9-BALL IST PLACE WINNER

http://www.muellers.com

https://www.facebook.com/smokinacesbbllc

by: Skip Maloney - AzBilliards.com

Pretty much everything about the 1st Annual Smokin' Aces Bar Box 9-Ball Open held from April 18-20 in Poplar Bluff, MO was a little different. It was limited to 16 players, required a $2,000 buy-in, featured races to 21, and paid out $20,000 to the winner, Justin Bergman. It was the realization of room owner and tour director Mike McKuin's desire to improve the money-making possibilities for traveling pros.

"I did it for the players," said McKuin, who grew up within a dozen miles of an abandoned restaurant called Spencer's Barbecue that he bought back in October, and after re-opening the restaurant, expanded the facility to house a pool room. "I just don't think it's fair. I see all these pool players going to these big tournaments (where) expenses are high, and they don't make money like they should.

"I feel like promoters are taking too much out of pool," he added.

His solution: limit the number of players, increase the buy-in, and give the players who show up the opportunity to win big money, in addition to whatever money accrues from the player auctions. And the players responded; a veritable 'Who's Who' in Midwest pool circles, like Shane McMinn, Chip Compton and Joey Gray, along with top-notch players from the rest of the US of A, like Corey Deuel, who was the runner-up, Robb Saez, who placed third,Brandon Shuff, Rodney Morris, Jonathan "Hennessee from Tennessee" Pinegar, and Oscar Dominguez, to name a little over half the field. All 16 were treated to two free dinners over the weekend.

"I'm going to continue to do these tournaments," said McKuin, noting that he has scheduled a second such tournament for August 15. "I'm going to (pursue) sponsorships, and I want to be able to give players a

free hotel room." The winners' side semifinals in this event featured

all three money winners, and Joey Gray. Bergman faced Saez, as Deuel battled Gray. Bergman defeated Saez 21-19, and in the hot seat match, faced Deuel, who'd sent Gray to the loss side, 21-18. Bergman downed Deuel 21-19 and waited in the hot seat for his return.

Over on the loss side, Morris, Compton, Chuck Raulston, and Danny Rose finished in the tie for 13th, asScott Frost and Skyler Woodward advanced through to pick up Saez and Gray. Frost had downed Pinegar 21-18, and survived a double hill fight against McMinn to draw Saez. Woodward defeated Whitney Walker 21-12 and Jesse Bowman 21-10 to draw Gray.

Gray and Saez got right back to work; Saez downing Frost 21-15, as Gray eliminated Woodward 21-18. Saez then dropped Gray, 21-19, in the quarterfinals, moving into a guaranteed money slot

in the semifinals. Deuel stopped him right there

21-18. Bergman and Deuel duplicated their hot seat match, with Bergman winning it 21-19 to claim the 1st Smokin' Aces Bar Box 9-Ball Open title.

McKuin thanked all of the players who participated, as well as his staff for their work over the weekend. He also thanked Big Truck and his crew for their streaming of the event, Jumpin' Jack Cues, Bill Roach, and a "lady named Angel," who stopped by to do work on her pool documentary, Raising the Hustler.

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JUSTIN BERGMAN

(l to r) Robb SaezJustin Bergman

Corey Deuel

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Rafael Martinez went undefeated at the second Poison by Predator stop defeating Chase Rudder in the final, 4-1. Martinez conquered a talented field of 36 players in the one-day, $500 added open 8-ball event, which yielded a purse in excess of $2,500. Players ventured from far and wide to compete against the likes of Sylver Ochoa, Manny Chau, and Sam Manaole, but it was business as usual for flamboyant pool superstar Martinez who “wowed” the crowd, coasting to a near flawless victory.

Winners’ side action saw hot seat contender Manny Chau tare his way through Ben Zamudio, 4-0, Blaine Barcus, 4-3, Chase Rudder,4-1, and Bill Fain, 4-0, while Martinez made quick work of Sylver Ochoa, 4-0, Eppie Madrigal, 4-2, Sam Manaole, 4-1, and Ricky Hughes, 4-0. On the one loss side, Ochoa captured an incredible 6 consecutive matches including wins over Chris Villanueva, 4-0, Sam Manaole, 4-2, and Bill Fain, 4-1. On a mission of his own, Rudder ousted Jack Cavalier, 4-2, and Ricky Hughes, 4-1, for

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a third place face-off with Ochoa. Rudder took full advantage after a couple of unforced errors by Ochoa, ending the set, 4-2. East side, hot seat action saw Martinez best Chau, 4-1, presenting Rudder with a chance at redemption. Little time passed as Rudder quickly, calmly, and confidently, claimed the set, 4-1. Holding strong, Martinez had lost only 4 games heading into the finals. Going toe to toe with 3x PxP event champion Rudder, the finals were shaping up to be a sheer explosion of wit and skill. In the final set, it was more of the same for Martinez, who came out firing, and on this day, proved a bit much for the PxP champ. Not only did Martinez take home $500 for his first place victory, but also a free entry into the Space City Open III 9-Ball division, coming December 4th-7th, 2014, to Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar, Houston, Texas. For more information on the Space City Open, visit www.facebook.com/spacecityopen.

The title sponsor for the PxP Tour is Poison by Predator cues. Find your Poison at www.

poisonbilliards.com. The official tour rack is Delta-13, www.delta-13.com and the official league is the APA of North Harris County, www.facebook.com/apanorthharriscounty. Finally, the tour would like to thank David Richardson and Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar for their continued support. For more information about the PxP Tour, please visit www.pxptour.com.

Payouts1st Rafael Martinez $500/$5002nd Chase Rudder $360/$3003rd Manny Chau $210/$2004th Sylver Ochoa $140/$1155th-6th Bill Fain, Ricky Hughes $707th-8th Sam Manaole, Jack Cavalier $35


1st Kevin Cheng

2nd Daniel Mckenney

3rd Justin Hall

4th Shane Winters

5th John Morra

6th Michael Black

7th Justin Bergman

8th Sky Woodward

9th Robb Saez

10th Jeremy Jones

11th Joey Gray

12th Herman Quarles

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$214 $2,400

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Scoreboard

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Sharky’s Bar & GrillDavenport, IAThanks everyone for the wonderful showing of support for the Griffin family today. With your help, we raised just short of $3,000. A big thanks to Meghan & Chad Howell for running the tournament too. Scotch doubles tournament winners were as follows:1st Bill Akers & Matt Strausser2nd Kamron Fuller & Steve Parlow3rd Josh Hillman & Carlos Perez

Sharky’s Bar & GrillDavenport, IA - April 14No Master Spring Fever 9-ball results are in, with an advanced player taking the title:1st $600/$937 Ryan Short (Moline, IL)2nd $450/$600 Tommy Fuller (Davenport, IA)3rd $350/$300 Dean Fuller (Davenport, IA)4th $175/$200 Tom Peck (Galesburg, IL)5-6 $125 Aaron Weston (Clinton,IA) Luis Carreon (Chicago, IL)7-8 $75 Mark Kozelichki (Kewanee, IL) Adam Richards (Cedar Rapids,IA)9-12 $50 Greg Sheffert (Cedar Rapids,IA) Jason Welker (Sterling, IL) Mike Zhorne (Cedar Rapids,IA) Chance Vong (Des Moines, IA)Also, top finishing woman open player of the day, taking home $50 was Dawn Crecelius. Great job everyone!

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live streamed by: Accu-Stats

Darren Appleton Rises to the Top

Darren Appleton

A personal perspective by Bob Jewett

Darren Appleton has notched a convincing win at the Accu-Stats All-Star Invitational event. Played April 15-20 at Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, the event showcased four of the very best players on the planet: Appleton, Dennis Orcollo, Shane Van Boening and Thorsten Hohmann. Each one played each of the others matches in four different disciplines: one pocket, 10 ball, 8 ball, and 14.1 (straight pool), and each played two matches per day over the 6-day tournament.The players were selected based on performance in previous Accu-Stats-produced tournaments. These are the “Make-It-Happen” series which pulls in help from the fans to create very special pool events in different games. Van Boening won the one pocket tourney, Hohmann won the straight pool, and Appleton finished second in the 8 ball event. (Alex Pagulayan, the winner at 8 ball, had a scheduling conflict.) The final player to fill out the field of four was selected by the fans and the overwhelming choice was Dennis Orcollo who has been in top form this year. Referee and Master of Ceremonies Ken Shuman could mention only a few of the many top finishes of each player during the introductions before each match.The format which was devised by Pat Fleming of Accu-Stats guaranteed perfect viewing for the fans at Sandcastle and those watching the stream. Each player


Thorsten Hohmann

The 2014 Accu-Stats All-Stars Lineup: Shane Van Boening, Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Dennis Orcollo

The Accu-Stats Staff and Crew

played twice per day and each discipline was played once per day. There was $625 prize money on each match, so even if a player was doing poorly in his round-robin bracket, all his matches were important. There was no additional cash prize for overall winner. Pat did offer a $500 bonus for any run of 100 at 14.1 with a double bonus for 150, and triple for 200, but only Hohmann collected for a run of just over 100.Eight ball had races to 10. A 45-second shot clock was doubled for the shot after the break to allow a little more planning. The one pocket gave 60 seconds with races to 4, ten ball 40 seconds with races to 11 and straight pool 45 seconds to shoot and a match of 150 points. One extension was allowed per rack. It was a “relaxed” clock so it was good enough if the player was down on his shot when time expired.Play was in the Aramith/Simonis Arena at Sandcastle on a single Diamond table that was surrounded by VIP seating plus bleacher seating. The VIP seats got headsets to hear the commentators. Danny Diliberto and Billy Incardona provided excellent stories and insight and some matches had player commentators.Ed Liddawi and his staff at Sandcastle made everyone feel welcome. The room is a little hard to find but once inside you know you’re in a pool players’ hall.The results table mostly speaks for itself. The one surprise you might notice immediately is that Appleton lost all his straight pool matches. He holds the world record for a tournament run of 200 balls and is always a tough competitor at the game even though he came to it late in his career. In fact in his match against Orcollo he was on a run of 76 and had a good chance to both come from behind against Orcollo and collect high-run bonus money. Instead he missed a medium-hard combination and out of frustration launched an object ball off the table with his cue. This resulted in the match being forfeited which was Darren’s first loss of the tournament and put him at 7-1.Other quick notes: Jump cues were forbidden. A dry break at 8 ball almost always meant a loss. It was winner breaks at 10 ball and alternate at 8 ball and one pocket. Slop on a kick shot at 10 ball counted although it was call-shot otherwise. SVB kept his short extension on his cue most of the time. All but the 14.1 matches were rack-your-own. All games except one pocket were played “all

fouls” and not “cue ball fouls only”. Eight ball had a required racking pattern. Shane has been practicing a new break at one pocket but didn’t use it.If you can ever attend one of the Make It Happen events, you must go. It’s a great way to watch top players “up close and personal” and you’ll learn things about the game that you will not get any other way. The next best thing is to get the stream or the DVDs which will be available soon, but in person spectating is best.

Player One Pocket 10 Ball 8 Ball 14.1 Total

Darren Appleton 3-0 2-1 3-0 0-3 8-4

Shane Van Boening 1-2 2-1 1-2 2-1 6-6

Dennis Orcollo 1-2 2-1 1-2 2-1 6-6

Thorsten Hohmann 1-2 0-3 1-2 2-1 4-8


LADIES MASTER TEAM: 1st WHICH WITCH IS WHICH


8-BALL LADIES MASTER SINGLES1st PAULA REEDER

8-BALL LADIES SINGLES LEVEL 21st STEPHANIE BAKER

8-BALL MENS MASTER SINGLES

1st SHAWN GELO

8-BALL OPEN SINGLES LEVEL 2

1st BILL FREDRICK

2014 State Championships

LADIES LEVEL 1 TEAM: 1st CHICKS ON TOP LADIES LEVEL 2 TEAM: 1st TWEETY’S CREW

1st JUNIOR BOYS 15-18

1st JUNIOR BOYS 14 & UNDER

8-BALL LADIES SINGLES LEVEL 1

1st KRISTIN PROUTY

PHOTOS COURTESY OF: SUNSET DIGITAL IMAGING - SUNSETDIGITALIMAGING.COM/STORE

Iowa State Poolplayers Association

MASTER TEAM: 1st GOTTA HAVE IT!!


2014 State Championships8-BALL SUPER SENIOR SINGLES[65+]

1st JERRY REUTHER

9-BALL LADIES MASTER SINGLES1st SHARON RINKERT

OPEN LEVEL 1 TEAM: OPEN LEVEL 2 TEAM

1st JUNIOR GIRLS 14 & UNDER

8-BALL SENIOR SINGLES9-BALL SENIOR SINGLES1st JERRY MASON

8-BALL OPEN SINGLES LEVEL 11st KEVIN SULLIVAN

9-BALL OPEN SINGLES1st SHANE SEEVELL

9-BALL LADIES OPEN SINGLES

1st MICHELLE SIVERTSEN

1st JUNIOR GIRLS 15-18

Iowa State Poolplayers Association


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Now you’re going to adjust your shot as follows:If the cue-ball goes to the right after hitting the 1-ball, you need to lengthen your bridge.If the cue-ball goes to the left after hitting the 1-ball, you need to shorten your bridge.Adjust in 1-inch incrementsIf you can, mark your shaft with a small strip of a Post-It® note, so you know the exact position of each pivot point.If you do this correctly, you will find that spot where the cue hits the center of the one-ball even though you

are aimed to the right. What’s really cool about this is that you can use extreme english, or mild english, to the left or to the right, and you should get the same results!Remember that this works for shots that are the same speed, usually power strokes. Your pivot point will change if you shoot softer, because of the effects of swerve.It’s very important to note that because you are using side spin, you must keep the cue stick as level as you can. When you raise the butt of your cue, applying

english will cause the cue ball to massé, or “swerve.” Most of the time, you do not want this.Here is a video that explains this concept of back hand english, and how to find the pivot point, by Dr. Dave: http://tinyurl.com/pvtpoint.Do you have some tips that you’d like to share with me? Do you have any suggestions for future articles? Drop me a line at [email protected]. I can also be found hanging out with fellow billiards enthusiasts at reddit.com/r/billiards. Come on by and join the discussion!

Glass (continued from page 13)

Garcia Wins

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA2nd Avenue Corner Pocket held an All American Tour Stop on April 17th. Here are the results:1st Place Anthony Garcia2nd Place Chad Vilmont3rd Place Tim Kindl

ANTHONY GARCIA

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JUN

IOR

PLAY

ER P

ROFI

LEFULL NAME: Nick Evans

NICKNAME: Nick The Stick

HOME TOWN: St. Peters

BIRTH DATE: 8/20/1996

GRADE: 11th

GPA: 3.7

FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: Algebra

POOL ROOM(S) WHERE YOU PLAY: My dad’s pool hall called ABC Billiards

WHAT KIND OF CUE(S) DO YOU USE? Pechauer

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU START PLAYING POOL? 6 but stopped for 4 years

LEFT OR RIGHT HANDED? Right

TITLES / HIGHEST FINISHES: 4th 2013 Junior Nationals1st Dawn Hopkins Billiard Show1st 2012 Super Billiards Expo

OTHER NOTABLE AWARDS: Honor RollWon local tournaments 7th in adult Missouri state

MOST MEMORABLE POOL MOMENT: Winning 2012 Super Billiards expo..went to last set against Tyler Styer who played really good

SPONSOR(S): PechauerPool-A-HolicHustlin

FAVORITE BAND/MUSIC: Hip hop, r&b, some country

HOBBIES: I play baseball and starting to play golf when I’m not playing pool. I like to do well in school. I like to travel and play pool when me and family go to pool tournaments and on vacations

FAVORITE POOL GAME: 9 ball

FAVORITE POOL PLAYER: Nick Varner

FAVORITE FOOD: Spaghetti

FICTIONAL HERO: Superman

REAL-WORLD HERO: Dad

FONDEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY: My dad trying to help me play pool in his pool hall. And winning my first tournament when I was 7.

Nick Evans

GOALS (personal and/or career): I want to be an architect or an accountant not sure which yet. And I would like to eventually win the U.S. Open

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOU? I like making new friends so if u see me come up and talk to me

Mondays Davenport, IA Sharky’s Bar & Billiards (563) 359-7225 9-Ball $12 $100 every 16 7PM Houston, TX Bogies Billiards (281) 821-4544 9 Ball on 8’ tables-Race 4/3 $7 $100 w/20 8PM Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards (515) 266-6100 B/C 9-Ball $10 $$$ 7PM Green Bay, WI KK Billiards (920) 432-0059 9-Ball $15 7PM Dundee, IL Hammerheads (847) 836-8099 10 Ball $15 $$$ 7:30PM Rockford, IL Rockford Billiards (815) 962-0957 9 Ball $14 Call 7:30PM Kansas City, MO Side Pockets (816) 455-9900 9 Ball $5 7PMTuesdays Cedar Rapids, IA 2nd Ave Corner Pocket (319) 366-0979 8-Ball-Race to 2 $5 7PM Spring, TX Big Tyme Billiards (281) 288-0800 8 Ball $10 Call 9:30PM Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards (515) 266-6100 Handicap 8-Ball $10 $$$ 7PM Barnhart, MO Kenny’s Bar & Grill (636) 464-9070 8 Ball $10 $100 6PM Kansas City, MO Brass Rail (816) 468-6100 8 Ball $5 7PM Lenexa, KS Side Pockets (913) 888-7665 9 Ball $6 9:30PMWednesdays Chicago, IL Chris’ (773) 286-4714 8 Ball $10 Call 8PM Davenport, IA Sharky’s Bar & Billiards (563) 359-RACK 8-9-10 Ball Winner Chooses $10 (incl g.f.) $100 every 16 6:30PM Midwest City, OK Jamaica Joe’s (405) 736-0590 9 Ball $15 $5/player 7:30PM Houston, TX Bogies Billiards (281) 821-4544 8 Ball on 8’ tables-Race 2/1 $7 $100 w/20 8PM Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards (515) 266-6100 B/C 10-Ball $10 $$$ 7PM Alsip, IL Red Shoes (708) 388-3700 10 Ball $15 Call 8PM Oshkosh, WI Varsity Club (920) 651-0806 9-Ball Beginners $8 CallThursdays Oshkosh, WI Varsity Club (920) 651-0806 9-Ball Intermediate $10 Call Davenport, IA Sharky’s Bar & Billiards (563) 359-7225 8-Ball $10 $100 every 16 7PM Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards (515) 266-6100 Short Rack 8-Ball $10 $$$ 11PM Chicago, IL Chicago Billiards (773) 545-5102 9 Ball $10 100% payout 8PM Spring, TX Big Tyme Billiards (281) 288-0800 9 Ball $10 50% 8PM Kansas City, MO Boomers Bar & Grill (815) 639-3333 8 Ball $5 7:30PM Kansas City, MO Brass Rail (816) 468-6100 9 Ball $10 7PM Lenexa, KS Side Pockets (913) 888-7665 9 Ball $6 9:30PM Manhattan, KS Fast Eddy’s Billiards (785) 539-4323 8 Ball & 9 Ball $15 6PMFridays Cedar Rapids, IA 2nd Ave Corner Pocket (319) 366-0979 8-Ball - Race 2/3/4 $5 Call 7PM Chicago, IL City Pool Hall (312) 491-9690 8 Ball $15 Call 7PM Houston, TX Bogies Billiards (281) 821-4544 Night Owl 8-Ball-Race 2/1 $7 $100 w/20 2AM Coon Rapids, MN CR’s Sports Bar (763) 780-1585 8-Ball on 7’ Diamonds $16 $75 7PM Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards (515) 266-6100 Open 10-Ball $10 $$$ 7PM Farmington, MN Farmington Billiards (651) 463-2636 8 or 9-ball rotation $15+$5 g.f. $50 w/16 6:30PM Spring, TX Big Tyme Billiards (281) 288-0800 One Pocket $10 Call 8PM Spring, TX Big Tyme Billiards (281) 288-0800 8 Ball - APA 5 & under $6 50% 8PM Tulsa, OK Q-Spot Billiards (918) 779-6204 8-Ball 7 & under $5 9 PM Poplar Bluff, MO Smokin’ Aces (573) 712-2900 9 Ball $10 $200 7PM Kansas City, MO Country’s Tavern (816) 231-8007 8 Ball $10 8PM Davenport, IA Sharky’s Bar & Billiards (563) 359-7225 Coin Toss decides $10 $100 every 16 7PM Round Lake Rebecca’s Pub (847) 740-5405 8 Ball $10 100% payback 8PM Rockford, IL Rockford Billiards (815) 962-0957 Open 8 Ball $10 Call 7:30PM Aurora, IL Rudy’s Place (630) 898-7769 Call $15 $100+ w/10 7:30PM Tonganoxie, KS Helen’s Hilltop (913) 369-3772 8 Ball $10 7:30PM Topeka, KS Terrys Billiard Club (785) 273-3553 8 Ball $5 7PM Raytown, MO Raytown Rec (816) 358-5977 Players Vote $10 2AM Jonesville, LA Les Charles Inn & Gameroom (318) 339-4540 8 Ball $5 8PM Oshkosh, WI Varsity Club (920) 651-0806 8-Ball Open - Race to 2 $12 6:30PMSaturdays Jonesville, LA Les Charles Inn & Gameroom (318) 339-4540 8 Ball $5 8PM Houston, TX Bogies Billiards (281) 821-4544 Night Owl 8-Ball-Race 2/1 $7 $100 w/20 2AM Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards (515) 266-6100 8-Ball - 4s & Below $8 $$$ 1PM Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards (515) 266-6100 8-Ball - Handicap 8-Ball $13 $$$ 1PM Eureka, MO JP’s Sports Bar (636) 938-5030 8 Ball $10 $$$ w/8+ Noon St Peter’s, MO 3rd Base (636) 447-5300 9 Ball $15 Call 1PM Kansas City, MO Boomers Bar & Grill (816) 436-7245 8 Ball $5 7:30PM Oak Lawn, IL Demma’s (708) 636-1240 8 Ball $10 Call 3PM Joliet, IL Pool Loft (815) 722-0964 8 Ball $15 Call 4/5PM Aurora, Il Rudy’s Place (630) 898-7769 Call $15 $100+ w/10 7:30PM Fox Lake Bay Billiards (847) 587-8888 8 Ball $15 Call 8PM Chicago, IL Chris’ (773) 286-4714 9 Ball $10 Call 7PM Salina, KS Sunset Billiards & Sports Bar (785) 826-9992 Multiple Call Call Kansas City, MO Brass Rail (816) 468-6100 Big Table 9 Ball $5 2PM Topeka, KS Diamond Joes (785) 783-2883 9 Ball $10 8PM Blue Springs, MO Roadies Rock House (816) 228-7625 8 Ball $5 8PM Lenexa, KS Side Pockets (913) 888-7665 APA Rated 8 Ball $10 1PM Tulsa, OK Q-Spot Billiards (918) 779-6204 9-Ball 7 & under $10 (incl. g.f.) 9PMSundays Cedar Rapids, IA 2nd Ave Corner Pocket (319) 366-0979 9-Ball - Race to 5 $5 Call 2PM Cedar Rapids, IA 2nd Ave Corner Pocket (319) 366-0979 8-Ball - Race to 2/3 $5 Call 7PM Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards (515) 266-6100 Open 9-Ball - Race 6/5 $5/$10/$15 $$$ 7PM Davenport, IA Sharky’s Bar & Billiards (563) 359-7225 10-Ball $12 $100 every 16 7PM Barnhart, MO Kenny’s Bar & Grill (636) 464-9070 9 Ball $10 $100 6PM Spring, TX Big Tyme Billiards (281) 288-0800 10 Ball $12 50% 6PM Green Bay, WI KK Billiards (920) 432-0059 8-Ball $15 1PM Topeka, KS Terrys Billiard Club (785) 273-3553 9 Ball $5 7PM Chicago Hts, IL Oasis One-Sixty (708) 756-0600 9 Ball $10 6PM Jonesville, LA Les Charles Inn & Gameroom (318) 339-4540 9 Ball $5 8PM Lenexa, KS Side Pockets (913) 888-7665 9 Ball $6 9:30PM Oshkosh, WI Varsity Club (920) 651-0806 10-Ball on 9’ tables-Race to 5 $15 Call

Call First - All Tournaments are subject to change without notice

DATE CITY LOCATION PHONE EVENT / RULES ENTRY ADDED TIMEW

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The 2014 USBA National Three-Cushion Championship was (once again!) won by Pedro Piedrabuena. For Piedrabuena this is his seventh championship (2002, 2004, 2007, 2011-2014) and fourth in a row. And along with his repeat performance as champion, several firsts for both Pedro and the National event itself were realized.

Firsts for Pedro PiedrabuenaFinals Average Record Set - 1.892 (surpassing Sang Lee's 1.835 in New York, 1995) Best Game Record Set - 40 in 8 innings for a 5.0 (surpassing Mazin Shooni's 3.889 in Miami, 2006)This performance puts Pedro Piedrabuena among an elite group of International players who have achieved the 5.0 performance level and furthers his reputation as a world-cup and world-championship contender.

Firsts For the USBA National Tournament• First time held in Houston Texas - Houston is a up and coming hot spot for three cushion action,

with more than a dozen three cushion establishments and more than 40 top quality 5'X10' heated tables in town.

• First time all three balls frozen in a game - this oddity occurred in a match between Hugo Patino and Luis Castillo.

• First time a woman player qualifid for the finals - 2008 USBA Woman's Champion Mercedes Gonzalez entered the tournament as an open entry and stunned everyone with her performance as she moved from the preliminaries through the semi-finals all the way to the finals where she placed seventh. Great job Mercedes!

Complete results charts for the preliminaries, semi-finals and final rounds can be found on the official tournament page on www.usba.netCongratulations to all the players and to our repeat champion Pedro Piedrabuena.

Press Release

2014 and Defending Champion Pedro Piedrabuena of San Diego, CA

2014 Tournament is filled with both “Repeats” and “Firsts”USBA 3-Cushion National Championship to Pedro Piedrabuena

Piedrabuena Tops CPB RankingsMonday, 14 April 2014

Pedro Piedrabuena, seven-time US Champion, was ranked Number 1 in the offical rankings of the CPB for April 2014. The CPB (Confederación Panamericana de Billar) is the governing body for three cushion billiards in the Amercas. Piedrabuena’s ranking is a result of his winning his second Pan American Championship in June 2013.

In addition the United States was ranked second overall in the country rankings with the success of Piedrabuena in the indivudual events and the win for the US Team of Hugo Patino and Mazin Shooni.

See the entire rankings and CPB results at www.usba.net:

We are pleased to announce that Mike ‘Fireball’ Dechaine has joined the OB Pro Team of players. Mike was born in Waterville, Maine and now resides in Providence, Rhode Island where he plays out of Snookers Sports Bar & Grill (who also sponsor him) . At the young age of 26, Mike has already been playing Pro for the last 7 years and has won several large events which include the Ultimate 10 Ball Championship in 2011 and the Turning Stone Casino Classic XIX in 2012. Mike has also proudly represented the USA twice in the prestigious Mosconi Cup both in 2011 and 2012. In the last 2 years Mike has proven to be one of the most consistent American players competing today with a string of high finishes in almost every event he competes in.

Mike had this to say about the move to OB “Switching to OB has been one of the best decisions in my professional career. OB focuses on two of the main ingredients when perfecting their low deflection shafts, consistency and quality. I am looking forward to this successful relationship.” Shane Sinnott (Director of Sales & Marketing for OB) said this about their newest team member “Mike is a very exciting player to watch and has a very large following of fans, especially in the North East. He has what many people consider to be one of the hardest breaks in Pool today and it will be exciting for us and for his fans to see how this next chapter in his pool career unfolds now that he is using OB products as the tools of his trade”

OB is headquartered in Plano, Texas and is a leading manufacturer of high performance Pool Cues and Pool Cue Shafts made 100% in the USA since 2005. For more information on OB Cues or OB shafts or to become an authorized dealer, please visit www.obcues.com or like OB on Facebook at www.facebook.com/obcues

Mike Dechaine joins OB Pro Team of players

Mike Dechaine and Shane Sinnott

Call First - All Tournaments are subject to change without notice

DATE CITY LOCATION PHONE EVENT / RULES ENTRY ADDED TIME LINK

Click on the MAP link online to get directions to each location

May 3 N Vernon, IN Phat Guy 812-346-0870 Open 8-Ball $50 $250 Guar w/16 1PMMay 3 McAlester, OK Marlan’s Back Alley Billiards 918-916-2837 8-Ball $20 Call NoonMay 10 Baton Rouge, LA Big Mike’s 225-292-9162 8-Ball Scotch Doubles $30 $$$ NoonMay 10 Cedar Rapids, IA 2nd Ave Corner Pocket 319-366-0979 8-Ball $10 $300 1PM MAPMay 10 McAlester, OK Marlan’s Back Alley Billiards 918-916-2837 8-Ball $25 Call 11AMMay 11 Houston, TX Bogies Billiards 281-821-4544 Gulf Coast Women Call Call Call MAPMay 17 McAlester, OK Marlan’s Back Alley Billiards 918-916-2837 Ladies 8-Ball $20 Call NoonMay 17 McAlester, OK Marlan’s Back Alley Billiards 918-916-2837 Big Dog 9-Ball $40 Call NoonMay 17 Davis, OK Chuck Wagon Bar 405-238-0794 8-Ball $25 $250 1PMMay 17-18 Olathe, KS Shooters Billiards 618-709-2615 Open 8-Ball $35 $1,000 NoonMay 16 Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards 515-266-6100 Open 10-Ball $10 7PM MAPMay 17-18 Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards 515-266-6100 No Masters 8-Ball $40 incl g.f. $500 Guar 11AM MAPMay 17-18 Houston, TX Bogies Billiards 281-821-4544 9-Ball $35/$25 $1,000 11AM MAPMay 18 Davenport, IA Sharky’s Billiards 563-359-RACK 9-Ball High Roller-16 Max-Open $100 Noon MAPMay 18 Davenport, IA Sharky’s Billiards 563-359-RACK 9-Ball High Roller-16 Max-Adv $100 Noon May 18 Davenport, IA Sharky’s Billiards 563-359-RACK 9-Ball High Roller-16 Max-Master $100 Noon May 24 Davenport, IA Sharky’s Billiards 563-359-RACK Coin Flip Tournament $45 incl g.f. $1,200 10AM MAPMay 24 Alsip, IL Red Shoes Billiards 708-388-3700 10-Ball $50 incl g.f. $500 w/full field Noon MAPMay 31 Columbus, IN Lags Billiards 812-375-9010 10-Ball $40 incl g.f. $250 w/full field NoonMay 31 Oshkosh, WI Varsity Club 920-344-3379 9-Ball - Limit 32 $100 incl g.f. $500 10AM MAPMay 31 McAlester, OK Marlan’s Back Alley Billiards 918-916-2837 Scotch Doubles-Limit 32 teams $30 Call NoonJun 7 Houston, TX Houston Sports Bar 281-580-7777 8-Ball $40 $500 Guar 1PM Jun 14 Cedar Rapids, IA 2nd Ave Corner Pocket 319-366-0979 9-Ball $10 $300 1PM MAPJun 20 Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards 515-266-6100 Open 10-Ball $10 7PM MAPJun 21 Des Moines, IA Big Dog Billiards 515-266-6100 Open 10-Ball $40 incl g.f. $500 Guar 11AM MAPJun 21 Alsip, IL Red Shoes Billiards 708-388-3700 14.1 Qualifier $105 Call MAPJun 21-22 League City, TX Legends 281-332-7716 9-Ball OB Cues Ladies Tour $30 $2,000 10AM Jun 21-22 League City, TX Legends 281-332-7716 Second Chance $10 $200 10AM Jun 26 Olathe, KS Shooters Billiards 618-709-2615 One Pocket $60 $1,000 8PMJun 27-29 Olathe, KS Shooters Billiards 618-709-2615 9-Ball $60 $4,000 8PMJul 5-6 Houston, TX Bogies Billiards 281-821-4544 9-Ball Call $1,000 Call MAPJul 6 Houston, TX Bogies Billiards 281-821-4544 Gulf Coast Women Call Call Call MAPJul 11 Jackson, MS Cross Corner Billiards 601-941-3702 9-Ball-Limit 32 $25 100% payout 7PM Jul 12-13 Jackson, MS Cross Corner Billiards 601-941-3702 9-Ball-Limit 128 $40 $1,000 Noon Jul 12 Cedar Rapids, IA 2nd Ave Corner Pocket 319-366-0979 8-Ball $10 $300 1PM MAPJul 16-17 Las Vegas, NV BCAPL Nationals 702-719-7665 BCAPL Nat’ls-9-Ball Sngls Varies Call Call MAPJul 22-23 Las Vegas, NV BCAPL Nationals 702-719-7665 BCAPL Nat’ls-9-Ball Tm Varies Call CallJul 18-22 Las Vegas, NV BCAPL Nationals 702-719-7665 BCAPL Nat’ls-8-Ball Sc DblsVaries Call Jul 19-22 Las Vegas, NV BCAPL Nationals 702-719-7665 BCAPL Nat’ls-8-Ball Singles Varies Call CallJul 23-26 Las Vegas, NV BCAPL Nationals 702-719-7665 BCAPL Nat’ls-8-Ball Teams Varies Call CallJul 16-20 Las Vegas, NV USAPL Nationals 702-719-7665 USAPL-Singles & Teams Varies Call CallJul 17-20 Las Vegas, NV WPA (see ad p43) 702-719-7665 WPA World Artistic-Open/W/Jr Varies Call CallJul 18-25 Las Vegas, NV CSI (see ad p43) 702-719-7665 CSI Invitational 8-Ball Call $16,000 Call Jul 18-25 Las Vegas, NV CSI (see ad p43) 702-719-7665 CSI Invitational 10-Ball Call $16,000 CallJul 19 Alsip, IL Red Shoes Billiards 708-388-3700 Bank Pool $50 incl g.f. $500 w/full field Noon MAPAug 9 Cedar Rapids, IA 2nd Ave Corner Pocket 319-366-0979 9-Ball $10 $300 1PM MAPAug 16 Alsip, IL Red Shoes Billiards 708-388-3700 One Pocket $50 incl g.f. $500 w/full field Noon MAPAug 22-24 Beloit, WI Carom Room 608-365-1811 10-Ball $100 $7,000 6PMSep 13 Alsip, IL Red Shoes Billiards 708-388-3700 8-Ball $50 incl g.f. $500 w/full field Noon MAP


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