Mike Ricciardella and JAB Productions are proud to announce the return of the Planet Pool Tour. The Planet Pool Tour is a two-day open tournament with staggered entry fees. Events will take place in the Northeast region.

Mike Ricciardella and JAB Productions are proud to announce the return of the Planet Pool Tour.

“I am happy to work with Jose Burgos, who runs the best one-day tournaments in this region. We hope to offer a highly competitive tournament and great prizes for pros and amateurs alike. We will also give each player a free raffle ticket for a Mezz cue and Mezz case at the grand finale tournament, along with prizes for the top five point leaders of the year,” explained Ricciardella.

Jose said, “I am honored to join forces with Mike Ricciardella. We believe there are a lot of great players in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington areas to again make the Planet Pool Tour one of the premier tours in the region.”

Along with the Planet Pool Open Tour, there will also be a women’s tour.

“With so many great female players in the Northeast region, this is a great opportunity to provide a competitive tour for them to participate in. We will feature great prizes at each stop, as well as hold a grand finale tournament with added monies. Prizes will also be awarded for the top three female players. I am very excited be able to provide an opportunity for our local female players to sharpen their competitive edge,” said Burgos.

The official launch of the Planet Pool Tour will be February 12-13 at Champion Billiards Sports Café in Frederick, MD. For more information, please call tournament director Jose Burgos at 267-257-8006. Visit the official Planet Pool Tour website, Planetpooltour.com, for more information.

by Dave Dupuis

François Normand and Ernie Wong took the premier spots on the first edition of the MMX AllerRetour Challenge in the elite and amateur divisions, respectively. The tournament was held June 12-13 at Dooly’s Pool Hall in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. During the tour’s 30 weeks of pool, fans were lucky enough to see, both onsite and online, two categories of play every week in a duel of 9-ball.

For the tour’s grand finale, 32 of the top players in the standings (16 amateurs and 16 elites) were invited. The amount of $4,500 CAD was awarded throughout the tournament, and the Delta-13 racks were also given as trophies to the champions.

Saturday’s qualifying session was a round robin for players who were ranked fifth to sixteenth in the standings, and later the first round of single elimination finals took place. Only four players from each category were invited to play the next day.

In the amateur division, Ernie Wong of Montreal, the best player in the season’s standings, easily defeated Francis Farley 9-1 in the finals. On the road, Wong bested Martin Lévesque 7-6 and Eric Fleury 7-4 to earn his place. Farley, on the other hand, eliminated Abraham Benoliel 7-2 and Eric Gaudreault 7-4 to participate in the final match-up.

In the elite event, the scenario was different because four players came from two round robin qualifications on Saturday. Eric Theroux lost 9-5 against François Normand and Martin Lalonde eliminated Tino Barbieri. While many predicted a victory by Lalonde, Normand’s game effectively allowed him to take the lead 10-8 in the race-to-11 games. Lalonde, who is known for his desire to win, did not let go and forced a hill-hill battle. To the great surprise of Normand, Lalonde scratched on the break, giving the advantage to his opponent. Despite the importance of the break in a championship game, Normand capitalized on the error and the match—without Lalonde returning to the table—to win the 2010 Elite title.

A live broadcast of the final matches on the Internet was made possible through the collaboration of Guy Simard (BillardQuebec.com). To view the videos visit the official website of the event Allerretour.ca.

François Normand and Ernie Wong took the premier spots on the first edition of the MMX AllerRetour Challenge in the elite and amateur divisions, respectively.

Amateur Results:
1st Ernie Wong $550
2nd Francis Farley $300
3rd Éric Fleury $125
Éric Gaudreault
5th Martin Lévesque $50
Éric Horth
Abraham Benoliel
Denis Duteau

WPBA Pro and Mezz USA President, Caroline Pao, along with Tournament Director, Jose Burgos, will be overseeing the Women’s tour.

“With so many great female players in the Northeast region, this is a great opportunity to provide a competitive tour for them to participate in. We will feature great prizes at each stop as well as hold a Grand Finale tournament with added monies. Prizes will also be awarded for the Top 3 players of the year with the Top Player receiving paid entry to the prestigious Turning Stone Classic Tournament in Verona, NY. I am very excited be able to provide an opportunity for our local female players to sharpen their competitive edge. Once we complete the 8 event schedule, it will be on our official Mezz Tour website, www.mezztour.com,” says Caroline.

Mezz USA is proud to announce the first stop of the Mezz Women’s Pool Tour, a $1,000 added event, will be held on Saturday, May 8, 2010, at Drexeline Billiards.

Stop #1 – May 8th – $1,000 Added*
Mezz Womens Pool Tour
Drexeline Billiards
5100 State Street
Drexel Hill, PA 19026

*$1,000 added is based on a full field of 50 players.

Visit the official Mezz Pro-Am Tour website, www.mezztour.com, for more information.

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact info@mezztour.com.

Mika Immonen and Mezz Cues are proud to announce the Mezz Pro-Am Tour. The Mezz Tour is a 1-day Open Tournament with staggered entry fees and additional cash prizes for the top 2 finishers in the A/B and C/D division. Events will take place in the North East region.

“We are happy to work with Jose Burgos, who runs the best 1-day tournaments in this region. We hope to offer a highly competitive tournament and great prizes for pros and amateurs alike. We will also give each player a free raffle ticket for a Mezz Cue and Mezz Case at the Grand Finale Tournament along with prizes for the Top 10 point leaders of the year,” says Mika.
Jose describes, “I am honored to join forces with Mika Immonen and Mezz Cues. I believe having the best player in the world along with one of the leading cue companies in the industry as sponsors will make the Mezz Pro-Am Tour one of the premier tours in the region.”

Along with the Mezz Open Tour, we are also proud to announce a Mezz Women’s Tour overseen by WPBA Pro and Mezz USA President, Caroline Pao.

“With so many great female players in the Northeast region, this is a great opportunity to provide a competitive tour for them to participate in. We will feature great prizes at each stop as well as hold a Grand Finale tournament with added monies. Prizes will also be awarded for the Top 3 female players of the year with the Top Female receiving paid entry to the prestigious Turning Stone Tournament in Syracuse, NY. I am very excited be able to provide an opportunity for our local female players to sharpen their competitive edge. Once we complete the 8 event schedule, it will be on our official Mezz Tour website, www.mezztour.com,” explains Caroline.

Immonen and Mezz Cues are proud to announce the Mezz Pro-Am Tour.

As a prelude to our official launch of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour, we had a great event at Drexeline Billiards in Drexel Hill, PA on January 31st with an attendance of 53 players. Joey Testa and Ignacio Chavez were co-champions of this event with Victor Nau in 3rd and Josh Brothers in 4th place.

The next stop will be at on February 21st at :
Atlantic City Billiards
6701 Blackhorse Pike
Egg Habor, NJ 08234
(609) 645-7576

Visit the official Mezz Pro-Am Tour website, www.mezztour.com, for more information.
For sponsorship opportunities, please contact info@mezztour.com.

by InsidePOOL Staff

David Vaughn and Randy Jordan pose with the fruits of their labor.

The Viking Cue Amateur-Advanced Southern Classic took place the week of November 18-23 at Mr.Cues II in Atlanta, GA, and was presented by Ozone Billiards and MxMBilliards.com.  Over 304 players showed up to vie for their part of the $22,810 in prize funds up for grabs and hosted players from eleven states. 

The event kicked off with a 6-ball tournament that drew in 60 entries and was won by local player Horace Godwin. The one-pocket tournament began Wednesday night with a field of 41 participants and was won by Randy Jordan from Lagrange, GA. Thursday night saw the kick-off of the 8-ball tournament with 67 players, with Travis Dorn claiming first place. 

The grand finale, a $6,000-added 9-ball tournament that offered a $20 entry fee for players that had participated in any one of the previous tournaments of the week, drew in a whopping 108 players.  The participants began play Friday night and continued until Sunday evening.  Randy Jordan once again made his way to first place undefeated to walk away with $3,000. 

The players also had several different mini tournaments that consisted of single-elimination races to 5 or 7, depending on the event they chose to participate in. These events coincided with the main events each evening, allowing anyone that had been eliminated a second chance tournament and paid out another $3,200 in tournament winnings to the players.

6-Ball Results:
1st $1135 Horace Godwin
2nd $700  Terry Stewart
3rd $500   Danny Smith
4th $300   Jesse Middlebrook
5/6th $100 each  Adam Towery / Eddie Balderas
7/8th $50  each Randy Jordan / Denny Singletary

One-Pocket Results:
1st $900 Randy Jordan
2nd $600 Danny Smith
3rd $420 Jesse Middlebrook
4th $200 Josh Hillard
5/6th $50 each Kim Bennett / Greg Burke

8-Ball Results:
1st  $1700 Travis Dorn
2nd  $1000 Horace “Groundhog” Godwin
3rd  $650  Jim Jennings
4th  $420 George Rothrock
5/6th $260 each Chris Cooper / Craig McPartlin
7/8th $150 each Henry Brodt / Blair Thein
9/12th $100 each Terry Stewart / Lewis McDaniel / Arlo Walsman / Gil Hernandez

9-Ball Results:
1st $3000 Randy Jordan
2nd $1800 David Vaughn
3rd $1200 Arlo Walsman
4th $750 Horace “Groundhog” Godwin
5/6th $450 each Craig McPartlin / Brain Capps
7/8th $275 each Billy Tyler / Adam Towery
9/12th $150 each Dustin Paris / Brad Ragon / Kim Bennett / Danny Smith
12/16th $100 each Josh Hillard / Russ Edwards / David Shadden / Mike Bumgarner
17/24th $75 each Ellis Brown / Gill Hernandez / Clay Medlock / Mark Ritter / Joey Ryan / Ron Gilbert /  Jeff Tabet / Eddie Little

Paul Song won the Wednesday Night $200 entry fee mini tournament.

Josh Hillard won the Wednesday Night $50 entry fee mini tournament.

Danny Smith won the Friday Night $200 entry fee mini tournament.

Mark Ritter won the Sunday $25 entry fee mini tournament.

Tour to Focus Event in New England and the Northeast U.S.

William Dominiak of Dominiak Cues and Kevin Vidal of 14and1.com have teamed up to bring a new Amateur 10-Ball Tour to the Northeast and New England.

William Dominiak of Dominiak Cues and Kevin Vidal of 14and1.com have teamed up to bring a new Amateur 10-Ball Tour to the Northeast and New England. Dominiak Cues as tour sponsor, Kevin Vidal as tour director,  along with several generous host rooms have created The Dominiak Cues Northeast Amateur 10 Ball Tour.

“We felt there was a need for a platform purely for the amateur player to have an affordable quality tour to attend and compete in a format that allows amateur players to enjoy competition and hone their skills, a stepping stone if you will” says tour director Kevin Vidal. Each tour stop will have a entry fee of $35 that includes table time, all women and all players under 18 (juniors) will have no entry fee, but do pay the $10 greens fee. Players considered of “B” level skills and below, along with league players will now have a tour they can call their own! Players considered to be “A” or “Pro” level are not eligible for the tour.

100% of entry fees will be paid back at each tour stop along with a brand new Dominiak Cue to each winner for each tour stop! Tour memberships will be required for all entries, either a full tour membership or 1 day memberships will be available.  Memberships are discounted for women and juniors, as well as free entry fee for women and juniors at each tour stop.  Currently there are 7 Dominiak Cue Tour stops planned and a grand finale for the 2009 season, with the first stop kicking off January 10th at The Billiards Café in Ayer, Ma. 

All tour stops with the exception of the grand finale will be 1 day events on either a Saturday or a Sunday with doors opening at 11am and play starting at noon.  Top 100 player rankings will be kept and be determined by points earned at each tour stop and will be displayed on our official website. For tour dates and locations along with all tour info please visit the official website for the tour  www.DominiakCuesTour.com .

Kevin and William are encouraging all northeast amateur players to come out and support the new tour and have some fun.

For more information about Dominiak Cues, visit Dominiakcues.com

All inquiries please email Kevin at kevin@dominiakcuestour.com.

Tour Dates & Locations:
————————–
>>Tour Stop #1<<
$500 Added in cash & prizes
Saturday January 10th 2009
The Billiards Cafe
39 Main St., Suite 201
Ayer, Ma. 01432
www.TheBilliardsCafe.com
*$35 entry for men 18+
*Women & Juniors Free entry
*Membership required
Double Elimination
Race to 4W/3L
Finals 1 Race to 5
48 player limit
Doors open at 11am play starts at noon
All inquiries to TD Kevin Vidal kevin@dominiakcuestour.com

>>Tour Stop #2<<
$500 Added in cash & prizes
Saturday February 7th 2009
Diamond Eight Billiards
9 Johnson Rd.
Lathem, NY
518-786-8048
www.DiamondEight.com
*$35 entry for men 18+
*Women & Juniors Free entry
*Membership required
Double Elimination
Race to 4W/3L
Finals 1 Race to 5
48 player limit
Doors open at 11am play starts at noon
All inquiries to TD Kevin Vidal kevin@dominiakcuestour.com

>>Tour Stop #3<<
$500 Added in cash & prizes
Sunday February 22nd  2009
Snookers Billiards
1791 Boston Road
Springfield, Ma 01129
www.SnookersBilliards.com
*$35 entry for men 18+
*Women & Juniors Free entry
*Membership required
Double Elimination
Race to 4W/3L
Finals 1 Race to 5
48 player limit
Doors open at 11am play starts at noon
All inquiries to TD Kevin Vidal kevin@dominiakcuestour.com

>>Tour Stop #4<<
$500 Added in cash & prizes
Sunday March 1st 2009
Casey’s Billiard Emporium
501 Dalton Ave.
Pittsfield, Ma.
www.CaseysBilliards.com
*$35 entry for men 18+
*Women & Juniors Free entry
*Membership required
Double Elimination
Race to 4W/3L
Finals 1 Race to 5
48 player limit
Doors open at 11am play starts at noon
All inquiries to TD Kevin Vidal
kevin@dominiakcuestour.com

>>Tour Stop #5<<
$500 Added in cash & prizes
Saturday March 28th 2009
Pool Table Magic
75 Ella Grasso Turnpike
Windsor Locks, CT
www.PoolTableMagic.com
*$35 entry for men 18+
*Women & Juniors Free entry
*Membership required
Double Elimination
Race to 4W/3L
Finals 1 Race to 5
48 player limit
Doors open at 11am play starts at noon
All inquiries to TD Kevin Vidal
kevin@dominiakcuestour.com

>>Tour Stop #6<<
$500 Added in cash & prizes
Sunday April 12th 2009
London Billiards
70 James Street
Worcester, Ma 01603
www.LondonBilliards.com
*$35 entry for men 18+
*Women & Juniors Free entry
*Membership required
Double Elimination
Race to 4W/3L
Finals 1 Race to 5
48 player limit
Doors open at 11am play starts at noon
All inquiries to TD Kevin Vidal
kevin@dominiakcuestour.com

>>Tour Stop #7<<
$500 Added in cash & prizes
Sunday April 26th  2009
Snookers Billiards
1791 Boston Road
Springfield, Ma 01129
www.SnookersBilliards.com
*$35 entry for men 18+
*Women & Juniors Free entry
*Membership required
Double Elimination
Race to 4W/3L
Finals 1 Race to 5
48 player limit
Doors open at 11am play starts at noon
All inquiries to TD Kevin Vidal kevin@dominiakcuestour.com

>>The Grand Finale!<<
All entries to the Grand Finale MUST be ranked in the top 100 according to tour player rankings for the 2009 tour season.
Sat & Sun May 9th & 10th 2009
Casey’s Billiard Emporium
501 Dalton Ave.
Pittsfield, Ma.
www.CaseysBilliards.com
*$50 entry for men 18+
*Women & Juniors Free entry
*Membership required
Double Elimination
Race to 5W/4L
Finals 1 Race to 7
100 player limit
Doors open at 11am play starts at noon
All inquiries to TD Kevin Vidal
kevin@dominiakcuestour.com