IPT Announcement – Dates, Locations, and Event Information for 2006 Tour Card

IPT Announcement – Dates, Locations, and Event Information for 2006 Tour Card Qualifying Tournamentswww.internationalpooltour.com (http://www.internationalpooltour.com/)The entry fee for each tournament is $2000. Each tournament will be a Double-Elimination competition with races to ten. The Two players from each tournament who will win tour cards will be the winner of the winning side and the winner of the losing side of the brackets. IPT Rules, which can be read on line, govern each tournament. There is very limited space at each event so entries are based on a first-come, first-served basis. Players should not miss this chance to play on the IPT tour by failing to register in time. On line registration is the only way to enter these events and the form is on the IPT web site http://www.internationalpooltour.com (http://www.internationalpooltour.com/). Absolutely no entries will be allowed at the tournament; no money will be accepted at the events.

Pool Cues, Pool Sticks and Cue Sticks

Pool Cues, Pool Sticks and Cue Sticks

Ask any great player and they’ll tell you that the most import piece of equipment that a pool player can own would is a pool cue. The modern two-piece pool cue has been around for over a century. The pool cue actually started as a mace , which was an instrument that had a club-like end and the player would simply scoot, shove or hit the cueball with as they desired. The o­ne-piece cue as we know it today when a leather tip was added at o­ne end so to decrease miscues. chalk soon followed aftwerwards and the evolution of english and spin took over the imagination of the players.
Players soon decided to travel with their own cues, since they noticed that they played better with a familiar instrument, and the two-piece cue became an overnight necessity. About that time, cuemakers invented methods to secure the two pieces of the cue. This spawned the invention of several modern-day joints that pool cues use today. Several advancements have been made to enhance the pool cue and it’s playing characteristics, but for the most part all cues have the same elements of construction; butt, shaft, joint, tip and ferrule.

Team USA Wins Mosconi Cup 11-6

Team USA Wins Mosconi Cup 11-6Shawn Putnam 4-5 Mika Immonen Finland’s Mika Immonen kept European hopes alive at the 2005 Mosconi Cup, and he completed a tense victory over Ohio’s Shawn Putnam to reduce the deficit to 4 points in the race-to-11 tournament. Team USA still needed just one point to complete victory, while the Europeans must win every single one of the remaining five matches. Immonen won the lag and had a shot on the 1 ball, which he made, but he then over-cut the 2 ball to let Putnam to the table. The American ran out of position but played a quality safety. Immonen had the 3 ball on but missed, and then his opponent missed an even easier attempt on it. That gave Immonen the chance he was looking for, and he ran out to take the opener. With no clear path to the 1 ball after the break, Putnam reached for his jump cue and played a superb short range jump shot, which set him up for the run-out to go 1-1.

Team USA on the Hill at Mosconi Cup

Team USA on the Hill at Mosconi CupU.S. skipper Johnny Archer, partnered by Jeremy Jones, took Team USA to the brink of Mosconi Cup glory as they scored a victory over Thorsten Hohmann and Raj Hundal of Europe to move to the hill in the race-to-11 competition. Things started brightly for the Europeans as they won the opening doubles match to take themselves within one point of the Americans. It was all downhill from there, though, as the Americans proceeded to win the next four matches to make Sunday’s play a formality Williams/Putnam 3-5 Feijen/Lely Mika Immonen’s decision to change his doubles pairings around paid dividends as a rejuvenated Alex Lely, partnered by the rock-solid Niels Feijen, went past the American duo of Shawn Putnam and Charlie Williams to pull the deficit back to just one point on Day 3 of the 2005 Mosconi Cup.

Team USA Leads 6-4 After Day 2 of Mosconi Cup

Team USA Leads 6-4 After Day 2 of Mosconi CupIt’s 6-4 Team USA at the halfway stage of the 2005 Mosconi Cup as they won the Friday session by 3 matches to 2, leaving themselves in the driving seat as they home in on their 12th Mosconi Cup. Four of the five matches went hill-hill, and there were plenty of errors as both teams felt the nerves throughout. However, it was the USA who dug deepest, and they are now 2/9 prohibitive favorites with sports bookmaker Stan James. Putnam/ Williams 5-4 Hohmann/Feijen Team USA put some daylight between themselves and their European opponents as the Putnam/ Williams axis won an entertaining match as play commenced on Day 2.

Team USA Leads Mosconi Cup 3-2

Team USA Leads Mosconi Cup 3-2Team USA completed a terrific comeback on Day 1 of the 2005 Mosconi Cup as they came from 2-0 down to win three games in a row to carry a 3-2 lead into the second day of competition. With the scores poised at 2 apiece the final doubles match of the day, the Euro pairing of team captain Mika Immonen and Sweden’s Marcus Chamat fought back from 4-0 down to tie the match up at 4-4 and leave opponents Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris reeling. However, the match ended in controversial circumstances as Chamat time-fouled after the cue ball ran out of position. The clock and audible bleep, which counts down the final five seconds, failed to go off properly and, following deliberation with tournament officials, referee Michaela Tabb allowed the Swedish player to play the shot.

Hines Wins with Spirit

Hines Wins with Spirit
By J.A. Barnes
The finale of the Ladies Spirit Tour, the Florida State Championship, drew some of the best women around, including Rachael Abbink, Debbie Schjodt, and 2002 winner Tracie Hines. However, the 2004 champion was going to have to win with spirit in such a competitive environment.
The event, held December 11-12, 2004, at Capone’s Billiards in Spring Hill, FL, drew a 42-player field seeking a multitude of prize money, thanks to the $6,200 added and a paid spot into the 2005 WPBA U. S. Open. Early o­n, it was clear that Florida favorites Hines, Schjodt, and Miyuki Sakai would be battling o­n the final day. But the Canadian, Abbink, and the Texan, Tara McCracken, made sure they at least had a say in final matches.
Sunday’s early winners’ side match featured McCracken and Schjodt, with McCracken earning a 7-2 win, while Hines also sent Sakai to the west side. This set up the hot seat match between McCracken and Hines, and Hines handily won 7-3 to secure her place as queen of the hill.
Meanwhile, in the o­ne-loss side, Schjodt ousted WPBA pro Angel Paglia 7-3 then moved o­n to Sakai in the quarterfinals. There was plenty of action, and fans were eager to see this match-up. o­n the opening break, Sakai sank five balls, including the 9. After the following break, she lined up the 1-9 combo for a quick 2-0 lead while o­nly shooting three shots. But o­nce Schjodt got to the table, she showed why she became InsidePOOL Magazine’s December Player of the Month by running through three racks to take a 3-2 lead. Then Schjodt nailed the 9 o­n the break for a quick turnaround and a two-game lead. But Sakai didn’t back down, winning four out of the next five games to take a 6-5 lead. Schjodt got the match even o­n the hill and then broke and ran the final rack for a 7-6 win and a chance for a rematch with McCracken in the semifinals.
With Schjodt’s position and safety play, as well as her offensive talents, she jumped out to a 6-0 lead before McCracken could even get o­n the board. But it was too little, too late as Schjodt took the win 7-2.
In the finals, Hines won the lag and broke and ran the first rack. In Game 2, Schjodt was forced to play a safe o­n the 8 ball, and Hines nailed the 8 o­n a long bank, followed by an easy 9 for a 2-0 lead. After Schjodt got o­n the board, Hines regained her two-game lead with a long-rail bank o­n the 9 to go up 3-1. But Schjodt got back into the match in a hurry with a 2-9 combo, a run-out, and a break-and-run to take a 5-4 lead. Hines quickly tied the match at 5 apiece and ran away from there to win the championship 7-5.
Results:
1st Tracie Hines $1,675 + WPBA Qualifier
2nd Debbie Schjodt $1,225
3rd Tara McCracken $925
4th Miyuki Sakai $725
5th Angel Paglia, Sarah Ellerby $500
7th Rachael Abbink, Bonnie Plowman $300
9th Ellen VanBuren, Bonnie Coats, Ming Ng, Helene Caukin $200
13th Tina Pawloski, Tina Larson, Emily Wilmoth, Lisa Hamilton $100

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the Ladies Spirit Tour.

Marlon Manalo Wins 2005 Texas Hold ‘em BilliardsDecember 12, 2005 – Springfield, Mass: “This tournament takes the sport to a whole new level,” said an elated Marlon Manalo moments after capturing the 2005 TEXAS HOLD ‘EM BILLIARDS CHAMPIONSHIP. The pressure packed $100,000 winner-take-all event was held at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA on December 10, 2005. Manalo, from the Philippines, defeated Johnny Archer of the USA for all the money in the final match and was crowned the “Texas Hold ‘Em Billiards Champion.” The two semifinals and the Championship match were taped by ESPN for telecast beginning in February.“The pressure is just incredible,” said Manalo. “There’s no margin for error from start to finish. One shot missed and you can lose $100,000! Your nerves are off the wall during the entire tournament.” Indeed, of the eight champions in the event, Manalo battled his way to the title. He overpowered 2004 Sands Open Champion Rodney Morris, 2004 Sudden Death 7-Ball Champion Corey Deuel and 2004 Pro Tour Champion Robb Saez in the first semifinal.The semifinal and final matches pit four players in a format similar to Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, with chip totals of $500,000 at stake in each semifinal and $1,000,000 at stake in the Championship match. The four players in a match start with equal amounts of chips and are required to make ever-increasing wagers through four rounds of play. The two top money winners from each semifinal advance to the Championship match.

Efren Reyes "The Magician" is King of the Hill

It turns out it was harder for Efren Reyes (index.php?option=content&task=view&id=85) to get to the final contest of the IPT King of the Hill International 8-Ball Shoot Out than it was earn the $200,000 match up with fellow Hall of Famer and defending King of the Hill Mike Sigel. Reyes defeated Sigel 8-0, 8-5 before a standing-room only crowd in Orlando today. Runner up Sigel takes $100,000 of the $1 million purse.Reyes got into the fray after 30 IPT players played two days of round robin 8-ball to advance to the Hall of Fame round. On Friday, the six tour players who made it through joined 12 Hall of Fame members and were drawn into three groups. Reyes came out of that day’s competition tied 3-2 with two other players for a chance to advance to the final day. It was his 4.20 GLI that kept him alive.On Saturday, six players were left standing, including newcomer Marlon Manalo, who was undefeated until the final day of competition. Although he faltered a little on the first day, dropping two matches, Reyes lost only to his countryman Francisco Bustamante in the finals round. Bustamante also took care of knocking off Manalo, who won all but his last to pairings on the week. Reyes then beat Manalo in the last round of the day, nailing a 4-1 record and leaving Manalo at 3-2. That was good enough to earn a shot at Sigel today for the big money.

IPT Day Four in the Books

IPT Day Four in the BooksSigel vs. Reyes Showdown SetEfren Reyes (index.php?option=content&task=view&id=85) and Marlon Manalo, but the King of the Hill Challenger has been named. Efren Reyes (index.php?option=content&task=view&id=85) defeated Marlon Manalo 8-4 to advance to tomorrow’s $300,000 payday. The winner of the best of three, race-to-8 contest will win $200,000 while the runner up will take home $100,000.Reyes was 3-1 going into the final round. As with previous days, the players with the best record after a day of round-robin play would advance to the next round. Manalo, undefeated through the first three days of play and the first three rounds of action today, fell to countryman Francisco Bustamante in a hard-fought battle that included a controversial call, but ended 8-7. Bustamante also handed Reyes his only loss on the day.