On August 13th-14th, 2011, Stinger’s Sports Bar in Glendale, AZ, decided to throw some Guaranteed Added Money out to the players of Arizona. The event was Bar Table 8-ball on the 10 Diamond Tables and began right on schedule at 12 Noon Saturday. The players across the State came out to show their support and appreciation for the $750 Added Guarantee. 47 Players ended up getting signed up by the deadline and another 8 players had to be turned away as they showed up late. The tournament was mimicked off of the DCT (Desert Classic Tour) format and was a B & Below Only tournament. Entries were staggered based on ratings and so were the races. B’s paid $35 entry and raced to 6 games, C’s paid $25 and raced to 5 games and D’s paid $15 and raced to 4 games. The Pot grew fairly large quickly as many took advantage of the sidepots offered. $10, $20 and a $30 Winner Take All Pot. In addition there was a C Player & Below sidepot offered for $10. The entire payout of the tournament equaled $3,640.
With the large field it was very difficult to pick some favorites right out of the gates. And many top rated players stumbled early. Quickly the left side of the board filled with 8-ball monsters and faced early elimination matches: Bernie Store, Oscar Avila, Bob Soto, Sara Miller, Jerry Stuckart, Sophia Morquecho, Carlos Avalos, Susan Williams, Mike Hammon, Derek Austin, Todd Rowitz, Ben Sutherland, Brian Reich, Hopell Ampongan and many more.
The winners side of the board was fierce and after 3 rounds of play the final 8 on the winners had great matches to sweat. Ray Shobe vs Jason Polk, Burt Balancad vs Chad Barber, Jon Rowe vs Art St. Germain and Derek Cumm vs Matt Kwasny. Jason Polk Advanced in a hill-hill battle and Burt advanced by the same score. Art and Derek both won by large margins and continued their really strong play.
At the end of Saturday Nights play, we were down to the final 12 players that would all return on Sunday in the Money. Although there was 1 player that did get some cash on Saturday. Sophia Morquecho was the winner of the C & Below sidepot and took home $70.
Returning at Noon on Sunday were one-lose side matches of Frank Wellman vs Jon Rowe, Marvin Lawson vs Matt Kwasny, Mike Hammon vs Ray Shobe and Ed Scott vs Chad Barber. Jon won a nail biter at 6-5 over Frank and Mike Hammon dispersed Ray Shobe with the identical score. Frank, Marvin, Ray and Ed all took 9th-12th place and $50 each. Chad Barber won hill-hill over Mike Hammon in the next round and Jon Rowe sent Matt out tied for 7th-8th by a score of 6-2. Both received $75 for their top finish. Congratulations to Matt for the highest finish for a C player.
On the other side Burt Balancad defeated Jason Polk and Art St. Germain defeated former National BCA 8-ball Champion Derek Cumm 6-2 to setup the hot seat match.
Stinger’s In-house players Jon Rowe and Chad Barber both battled opponents but it was only Jon that was able to advance past 5th-6th with a win over Jason Polk. Chad was handed his final loss 6-3 by Derek. Jason and Chad took home $140 which included a tie for 4th in the $10 sidepot. Jon and Derek then faced off in a great match for 4th place while the hotseat match was getting underway between Burt and Art.
Jon and Derek battled back and forth until they were tied at 5 in the race to 6. Derek seized control of the table in the final game and did not flounder as the 8-ball fell. Jon took home $315 for his efforts.
The hotseat match turned out to be very one-sided as Art didn’t miss a single ball and Burt’s minor mistakes put him down early. Art ran away with the match and secured his place in the finals by a score of 6-2.
The hangover of his first loss carried over a little bit into his 3rd place match with Derek when he made 2 mistakes and Derek jumped out to a 2-1 lead. He was down but not out as he flipped the score and doubled it winning 3 games in a row to be up 4-2. This was a great battle by both players and Burt came up dry on the break and Derek ran out to get it to 4-3 and then broke and ran to tie it up. Burt got his chance in the 9th game and ran all the way down but missed a crucial 8-ball with only one other stripe sitting in the jaws for Derek. And like all great players do, Derek stepped on the gas and broke and ran the final rack sending Burt out in 3rd place. Burt did not go empty handed though, as he took home $480 for 3rd place in the large field.
Derek was set to get his revenge in the finals against Art and to take home the large payday. Derek already secured $125 for 1st place in the $10 sidepot as Art didn’t get in it. The match kicked off with Art winning the first 2 games, then Derek getting one back. Derek broke well, but was forced to play an early safe by tying up some balls. Art picked his way through the rack, broke open clusters and sank the 8-ball to go up 3-1 before Breaking and Running the next rack to go up 4-1. Derek got another game, but that was the last he would get as Art ran out the final two racks very quickly and took home 1st place. Derek received $705 for 2nd place and Art took home $1440 which included a $540 Winner Take All sidepot.
A special thanks to Stingers for putting up the $750 Added, supporting the Greens Fee and Open Tables all weekend long and the wait staff for handling the large rush of players as early as 10 a.m. on Saturday Morning. AZPoolScene.com appreciates the support of the players and will continue to run like events as long as the players support the pool rooms. Stinger’s is holding a $500 Added 9-ball event on September 17th for 8 & Under.
| 1st |
Art St. Germain |
$1,440 |
| 2nd |
Derek Cumm |
$705 |
| 3rd |
Burt Balancad |
$480 |
| 4th |
Jon Rowe |
$315 |
| 5th |
Chad Barber |
$140 |
| 6th |
Jason Polk |
$140 |
| 7th |
Mike Hammon |
$75 |
| 8th |
Matt Kwasny |
$75 |
| 9th |
Ray Shobe |
$50 |
| 10th |
Marvin Lawson |
$50 |
| 11th |
Ed Scott |
$50 |
| 12th |
Frank Wellman |
$50 |
| C & Below |
Sophia Morquecho |
$70 |