Latest tournament happenings and Mosconi Cup 2017

Hello everyone.  I have been keeping up lately with some of the tournament action.  Skyler Woodward 3-peated the Side Pocket Open in Shreveport, LA.  They have never had anyone win that tournament 3 times in a row!

Dennis Orcollo went undefeated in the West State Billiards/POV Pool West Coast Swing One Pocket tournament at California Billiards in Fremont, CA, beating opponents like Shane Van Boening, Jayson Shaw, and Alex Pagulayan.  Dennis beat Alex in the finals to win the tournament.

Also at this stop, Dennis and Tony Chohan each put up $50k for a One Pocket race to 40 match.

Vivial Villarreal smoked the field at an AWBT event recently.  The site was Main Street Billiards (Mesa, Arizona, I believe), July 8th and 9th.  Villarreal went on a tear with 7-1 wins over 3 opponents.  Sunday was much of the same with a 7-1 win and a 7-2 win.

In upcoming tournament news, the US Open 10-ball players have been announced.  The field includes (to name a few):

Shane Van Boening

Dennis Orcollo

Alex Pagulayan

Lee Vann Corteza

Justin Bergman

Francisco Bustamante

Vilmos Foldes

Ralf Souquet

Mika Immonen

Warren Kiamco

Karl Boyes

Alex Kazakis

Thorsten Hohmann

Rodney Morris

Mario He

Skyler Woodward

This tournament will be played July 17-19 at Griff's in Las Vegas.

MOSCONI CUP 2017

As of this writing, the top ten in points for the 2017 Mosconi Cup are:

Shane van Boening
Dennis Hatch
Oscar Dominguez
Rodney Morris
Billy Thorpe
Donny Mills
Hunter Lombardo
Skyler Woodward
Johnny Archer
Ernesto Dominguez

The 2017 Mosconi Cup will be held in Las Vegas.  In my opinion, having the tournament in Las Vegas will give team USA a slight chance of not getting crushed by team Europe...but I just don't see team USA winning.  Might as well start calling it the European Cup.

The Box Game

Hello everyone!  Occasionally, I like to make up pool games for fun and as a practice aid.  One of these games I call, The Box Game.  It's pretty easy and will help you with position play.

Arguably, the best position (in most cases) to be on the table is in the middle of the table.  Obviously, is some instances, the middle of the table isn't going to work out for some shots, but most of the time, the middle of the table is a good place to be.  So this game will help you with position play to the middle of the table.

As with most of my games I create, it can be played either alone or with multiple players.

For solo practice.  Rack all the balls like you would for 8-ball, order of the balls doesn't matter.

Break the balls like you would for 8-ball.  Spot any balls pocketed.  If you leave the cue ball in the middle of the table in the blue box as indicated on Figure 1 (see below), give yourself 2 points.  If the cue ball ends up outside the blue box, but still contained within the red box (see Figure 2 below), then give yourself 1 point.  The goal here is to break the balls with a good spread, leaving the cue ball in the middle of the table to have a good shot on the remaining balls.

For each ball pocketed after the break, if the cue ball ends up in the red box after coming to rest, give yourself 1 point.  If the ball is pocketed and comes to rest in the blue box, give yourself 2 points.

The maximum score is 32 (15 balls x 2pts = 30 + 2 bonus pts for leaving cue ball in blue box after break = 32pts)


For multiple players.  Rack all the balls like you would for 8-ball, order of the balls doesn't matter.

Player 1 breaks the balls as in 8-ball.  Spot any balls pocketed.  If Player 1 pockets a ball, their turn continues after any pocketed balls are spotted.  If Player 1 leaves the cue ball in the middle of the table in the blue box as indicated on Figure 1 (see below) after the break, give them 2 points.  If the cue ball ends up outside the blue box, but still contained within the red box (see Figure 2 below) after the break, then give them 1 point.

For each ball pocketed after the break, if the cue ball ends up in the red box after coming to rest, give the shooter 1 point.  If the ball is pocketed and comes to rest in the blue box, give the shooter 2 points.

Player 1 continues shooting until a miss occurs.  After a miss, the next player shoots until they miss or all the balls have been pocketed.

The player with the highest score wins that round.  An alternative could be to play similar to 14.1, such as, play to 100, 150, or any number.

The maximum score is 32 (15 balls x 2pts = 30 + 2 bonus pts for leaving cue ball in blue box after break = 32pts)

Figure 1. The Inner Box.  Box is formed by drawing a line from the diamonds closest to the pockets on both the ends and sides of the table.

Figure 2.  The Outer Box.  Box is formed by drawing a line from the diamonds closest to the pockets on the end rails and the middle diamonds on the side rails.

*Note:  If half or more of the ball appears to be across the line, it is considered inside the box.

Inaugural Scotty Townsend

If you didn't know Scotty Townsend, there's a good chance you have at least heard the name.  He was a larger than life pool player and legend.  I had heard so many tales of Scotty Townsend while playing pool in North Louisiana that I wasn't sure he was even real.  Until the one day he walked into a pool room in Ruston, Louisiana.  Shenanigan's was the name of the place, no longer in business in Ruston.  The owner knew Scotty and we practically begged him to call Scotty to come up there...and he did.

Tragically, Scotty was killed while riding his motorcycle.  Being from around the Monroe/West Monroe area, The Arena Billiards in West Monroe held the Inaugural Scotty Townsend Memorial Tournament March 13-19, 2017.  There was a HUGE turnout!!

There were some big names that showed up to the tournament including:

Shane Van Boening
Dennis Orcollo
Jeremy Jones
Sky Woodward
Warren Kiamco
Billy Thorpe
Charlie Bryant


One Pocket ($1,000 entry with $5,000 added to the Calcutta)

1st - Billy Thorpe
2nd - Shane Van Boening
3rd - Evan Lunda
4th - Charlie Bryant

10-Ball Ring Game ($100 entry)

1st - Dennis Orcollo
2nd - Warren Kiamco
3rd - Johann Gonzales Chua
4th - Joshua Roberts

Open 9-Ball ($75 entry, $25 Green Fee)

1st - Dennis Orcollo
2nd - Sky Woodward
3rd - Ramil Gallego
4th - Gary Abood


Here are some pics I took during the 9-Ball tournament.

Shane Van Boening warming up.

Warren Kiamco playing right in front of where I was sitting.

Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant.  Skylar Woodward is just behind him in the b/w shirt.