NPL Tournament of
Champions at Family Billiards

by gene miller

San Francisco, CA – Allen’s day began with a loss to Kim Rinehart (NPL rating, 41), but he lost to Kim in time for one of the 17 buy-backs, and he was on his way. His first victim was Brian Theberge (70), followed by Derrick Garland (54), Forrest Roberts (62), Reid Stensrud (53), Vy Vu (60) and finally Masae Aitoku (53). To be eligible for this event, you had to be a 2004 NPL tournament winner, and additionally, you needed at least 31 matches on record. Nine 2004 winners were ineligible.

Inside Pool called me and asked what might have been the most exciting moment; I think we’d all agree it was Masae Aitoku’s 9-ball snap, winning her semifinal match against Mel Simpson. With the score 5-5 in a race to six, Masae broke, the 9-ball got a sweet little kiss, and she was in the finals. The final match against Allen Jones was pretty much a story of Allen maximizing on his opportunities while Masae watched. She played well but not well enough, and Allen gave her few chances.

WHAT, NO COMPLAINTS? From a tournament director’s viewpoint, this event was a snap. No arguments, and not one complaint regarding NPL ratings (like the familiar “No way can that guy be a 35.

No bleeping way...”) Players unanimously appreciated the opportunity to take a shot at $5700 in prizes for a mere $20 entry, and in a handicap format as well. It makes me, personally, very happy that I made the decision, eleven years ago, to go ahead and try Bob Jewett’s no-scorekeeping NPL system in my own tournaments.

Big showing from Monterey-Salinas: In the first draw, exactly half of the 44-player field was made up of tournament winners from Side Pocket (Salinas) and Easy Street (Monterey), and they’re such a nice bunch of players it made me regret having not visited those rooms for at least four years.

In the first draw we had 44 players, and the “hi-lo” rating cutoff was 49 – players 50 and above went to the upper half of the flow chart while those rated 49 and below went to the lower half. No surprise then, that the composite rating of the final eight was 50.25.

The second draw included 3 new players and 17 buy-backs, filling out the 64-player board, and the entire event took 8-1/2 hours. A big THANK YOU goes to Family Billiards for donating a huge chunk of table time, as usual.

FREE POOL FOR TOURNAMENT PLAYERS: Maybe you didn’t know, but there are never any green fees at Family’s three weekly tournaments. I normally collect $2 per player, as does the USPPA. The NPL collects only $1 per player. So at USPPA events, $16 of your $20 entry goes into the prize fund. At NPL events, $17 goes back to the players. At every tournament, $6 goes into the player’s bonus fund and table time is free.

NPL ADDS $30,000: For this special annual Tournament of Champions, all entry fees (except the $6 leader board deduction) plus $4426 added by the NPL, created the $5700 prize fund. This is the 48th added-money event by the NPL (including $500 annually to Hippo’s in Utica, New York), amounting to just over $30,000 in prize money.

Fun Heats Up At Pub 181

by andrew montsis

Main Event will be held February 26-27th! Sorry about the mixup on dates last issue. This tough short race tournament has had an exciting finish each week played so far (Jan18th) with of course the unexpected FUN. With BCA rules, a house match and expert direction the tournament has been coming off without a hitch. With 40 plus people on average playing each week, winning isn’t everything here.

Last year’s Main Event added about $2000. There are not many dates left to qualify – 118 different people are currently trying. Though many already have a lot of points and only the top 32 can enter the Main Event some may have a chance to qualify by just making the 32nd place. If you haven’t entered a couple of tournaments at this point, you’ll have to wait until next year.

The battle for the most point bonus money is between Ron Ratty and Paul Lemar. Andrew Monstis has an outside chance but needs to have a couple of wins in the remaining weeks to catch the 2 leaders. Andrew’s kicking himself for missing weeks or he’d be leading right now. Notable others (BCA masters) outside the bubble at this point: Glenn Atwell, Steve Gelow, Zac Masiba, Justin Lilie, Leo Newberry, Juan Ebenez and Troy Vanwinkle. Whatzup…

A few suprises of some players doing very well: Steve Marker, Mike Norris, Richard Bump, Eric Von Pool Simonson, elder statesmen Santa Frankie, John Antons and Dave Ford. A couple of the most improved players this year are Sharon Meyer and Sam Rabito.

The top 2 women players Denise Marker and Tanya Moser are only separated by 2 points. Good luck to them in making the final cut, which they say they will. Josie Leroy, where are you?? Betty Broussard, hope eyes get better.

There are always a few unpredictables. Ray Galli would be a better player if he spent as much time with pool as he does as the Cliff Robinson fan club president. “Crash‘em” Steve Meadows has improved his crashing the 9 ability every tournament. Pat Schumacher has to use a seeing eye dog to play! Both Pat and Steve have a good chance to make the final cut, maybe even without a good draw.

Tournament Director, Andrew Monstis says “it’s been a long 20 weeks but well worth seeing the support for the event.”

Broken Rack Tuesday Nights

By Linda Silva, Tournament Director

New Year's Eve at Doc's

by don sheldon

Ocean Park, WA – Twenty-five players and about 75 rail birds enjoyed a pool tournament/raffle/banquet at Doc’s on New Year’s Eve. The tournament started at 7pm and ended just in time to celebrate at midnight.

Each time a match was announced, a prize was given away by the host via a raffle. Gourmet food in abundance was available all evening to spectators and players alike. Rides were provided to all to insure a safe and happy holiday.

Horner hot at Riley's

by on the wire staff

Albany, OR – Historic Riley’s Billiards has kicked up the pool action a notch with their growing Monday night tournament. Matt Horner has been dominating the competition, but everyone has been having a great time! The tournament generally consists of a wide range in skill level with some out to learn more than to win. Riley’s has been working to develop their tournaments and welcomes leagues, as the management is excited to get more and more pool going in the area! This beautifully designed room has lots of space, incredible food, and a separate bar area for adults. When you get a free Monday night you will definitely have to check out Riley’s and see if you can give Matt a run for his…entry fee!

Sam's straight pool tournament

by wr bradford

Portland, OR – Bob Zack, who hadn’t played at Sam’s for over a decade, came back to clean the slate in the Straight Pool Tournament at Sam’s Billiards in Portland, Sunday, January 2, 2005. And it was a large slate to clean. Sixteen top-notch players came together for a great tournament. Zack was nearly flawless, winning his qualifying heat games by scores of 50-7, 50-3 and 50-14, with high runs of 43 and 29; and then going on to win his two matches in the finals by scores of 50-11 and 50-1, with a final run out of 41 balls. Among the players not even making it to the finals round was Justin Lilje, who has won the tournament quite a few times.

The 16 players was the most for a straight pool tournament at Sam’s Billiards since June of 2003. It was a good mix of new and old players and a great way to bring in the new year. Many of the players said they hope to be back for the next 1st Sunday of the month Straight Pool Tournament, February 6, 2005. It’s encouraging to see the interest in keeping this great game of straight pool going. 

Congratulations to Valerie, owner of Sam’s Billiards, who was married on January 2nd. Thanks, Valerie, for your long-term support for the Straight Pool Tournament.

3rd Weekend Tournament
Results from CA Billiard Club

by chet itow

7the Annual New Year's Eve
Partners Tournament at CBC

by chet itow

On December 31, 2004, California Billiard Club hosted it’s 7th Annual New Year’s Eve Partner 9-Ball Tournament. This year we had 54 players for 27 teams with the double elimination tournament. Everyone truly enjoyed themselves. At midnight, we celebrated with complimentary party hats and whistles, with champagne toast and plenty of food for everyone.

At 6am, Eric Harada and Glen Silva finally won the tournament over Alex Bradley and Elmer Diwa. Will be looking forward to the next new year’s eve tournament.

Underground Monthly a Hit!

by matt bryan

Aloha, OR – The Club Underground held its monthly 9-ball tournament on Sunday, Jan 16th. Thirty players showed up anxious to play after being iced in on Saturday. As always, the competition was great with 8 “A” players and 22 “B/C” level players. The bar added $250 with the thirty player field which brought the total purse to $630. Congrats to Cedric who walked thru the field undefeated, claiming to be a “B” player (he will pay $20 next time). The next tourney is scheduled for Sunday Feb 20th. We hope to see you there, if not before then!

Winter Freeze at Ringo's

by matt hiatt

Keizer, OR – Okay guys, next time let’s not send Rich Gieler to the one loss bracket in the first round! Kudos goes to Brett Seyler for getting more wins (7-5) from Gieler (and putting him in the loss side) than the rest of the field put together! Rich came back only losing three games total in getting to the final with, of course, Carlos. Rich took control early in the final and finished 11-7.

15 players made it to the 2nd open 9-ball tournament at Ringos in Keizer. Again Joe came through and added $250 for the cause. The weather played a big role in the turnout; I received calls all morning from players who were stuck on ice and unfortunately couldn‘t make the trek south! Two players managed to make it from Bend, OR. and there were even a couple of players from Eugene!

I’ll be changing to an alternating break format next month to even the field a little bit.

Again, thanks to all the players who risked coming and made it possible to play, and to Joe and Kathy Ringo who graciously added $$ to the event and served up breakfast and lunch for everyone.