Tournament Reports | Billiard Coach

Snooker: The Masters

Posted on 18. Jan, 2012 by Mike Fieldhammer.

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This is my third favourite snooker tournament of the year after the World Championships and the UK Championships. Still, it’s a great 8 days of snooker!

June asked a question on the forums and I thought it would make a perfect post. Sorry for the derailment of my post a day this month. Hand problems fouled things up. Epic post is in the works. Stay tuned.

I have a couple of Snooker Rules I need to find out about:

1) If you are shooting at a Red and miss the ball, does something happen with points and does the cue ball stay where it stops?

2) My understanding is if you scratch, you need to put the cue ball in the 1/2 circle and shoot it from there. If the last Red is behind the 1/2 circle, can you shoot directly at it from the 1/2 circle?

3) Can any combination shots be made with Reds?

4) Can any combination shots be made with a Red and Colored ball?

5) If you are shooting at a Colored ball and scratch, what happens with points and the cue ball?

I think that there are more things that came up last night, but I can’t remember right now so I might have to ask again later. It would probably help if I watched the game, but I haven’t had a chance to.

Oh June, thanks so much for asking. I’ll do my best to type quick and accurate answers before I go to bed. I’ve got to get up at 6:25am for what could be a great match: [color=#BF0000]Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. Judd Trump. Naughty snooker indeed![/color]

1. If the referee deems that the shooter didn’t make an all out attempt at making a good hit on a red, he may be called on “A foul and a miss.” Example, a simple one rail hit on one red is possible, but the shooter hits a lag speed three rail kick towards a red that will be safe. (not a sell out like the one rail kick) The minimum penalty is 4 points awarded to the non-shooter. If the blue, pink, or black is contacted the penalty is the value of that colour. The incoming player can ask for the balls to be restored in the case of a miss and the shooter must make another attempt. At world class levels, players have replayed a shot 5, 6, or more times. It is better on occasion to give up 20 or 30 points in fouls rather than sell out and give up 50+ and the frame on the incoming player’s next break. (Break is what a run is called in snooker.)

2. If the white drops in a pocket, the incoming player must shoot from the D. At any time, they can shoot at a red that is in baulk, or the lowest colour available if all the reds have been potted.

3. Plants (combination shots) can be played on reds at any time and are legal. Plants cannot be played on colours. i.e. If you pot a red and shoot the pink, the cue ball must hit the pink first and it is the only ball that can be potted. If a red or other colour flukes in, it is a foul stroke.

4. See # 3.

5. See # 3 and here’s more info. Colours are always spotted on their own spot immediately after being potted whether a foul stroke or not. They are spotted on the highest value spot if their own spot is occupied or obstructed. Referee’s ball markers used when cleaning the white also can be used as a measuring device to ascertain availability of said spot. If the colour is potted and the cue ball scratches, the ball is spotted and the cue ball is in hand by the incoming shooter in the D. Penalty is awarded to the non-shooter for the value of the ball during the foul stroke or 4 points, whichever is larger.

Cheers,

Mike

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My Favorite Pool Tournament – Rugby North Dakota’s Northern Lights Shootout

Posted on 18. Nov, 2011 by Mike Fieldhammer.

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This year is the 13th annual Northern Lights Shootout in Rugby, North Dakota. I’ve been to every one of them save the first. Robert Mattson brought me to my first one in 2000. This December 1-4 the Tournament Director will be yours truly. We’ll have a $50 entry 9-Ball warm up tournament that begins Thursday night at 7 pm and continue through the day Friday. There will be no cap on the number of entries in this event this year. We hope to pay out over $1,000 for first place! Not bad for a low entry preliminary event.

The 8-Ball main event will begin Friday night at 7 p.m. and entries must be paid by 6 p.m. that evening. Mail your entry to the Chamber of Commerce if you’d rather not stress about arriving by 6 o’clock. Weather and oil truck traffic are both unknowns in ND these days. If you absolutely can’t pay by mail and know you’ll be there in time to pay on site, please do me kindness and let me know to expect you.

This tournament, the town, and all the great people of Rugby and the players who attend are all very special to me. In particular, I’d like to thank my cue sponsor Samsara Cues. Perhaps one of the most underrated cue makers in the world, they’ve been in business 20 years! We’ll have some special shop tours and you’ll get to see the guts of cues ranging in price from $500 to $10,000.

Why should you come to the Northern Lights Shootout? I know pool tournaments have been dieing out and the number of players dwindling, but this event must be kept alive. Please pass the word and make an effort to attend. I’ve got a discussion thread in the Billiard Coach Forums that has a list of players that are coming. Add your name to the list and comment on some of your favorite things about this tournament. I’m writing a special piece in this year’s program to thank Mark Hamilton and all the local volunteers for getting this small town event a big time reputation in a dozen years. Here’s to another dozen successful tournaments!

Please contact me to register or to answer any questions about the event.

Thank you,

Mike Fieldhammer

Please pass the word on about this great tournament.

13th Annual Northern Lights Shootout

$5,000 Added

Rugby Armory — Rugby, North Dakota

9-Ball: December 1-2, 2011

Sign-up Deadline Thursday at 6pm

$50 Entry

Matches begin at 7 pm

8-Ball: December 2-4, 2011

Sign-up Deadline Friday at 6pm

Matches begin at 7 pm

Men’s Division $70 Entry

Race to 5 Alternate Break

Final 32: Calcutta, Redraw and Race to 6

Women’s Division $40 Entry

Race to 4 Double Elimination

Send Money Orders to:

Rugby Chamber of Commerce

Attn: Sharon Pfeifer

224 Highway 2 SW

Rugby, ND 58368

Hotel Rooms

Northern Lights Inn

701.776.5776

For more information please contact:

Mike Fieldhammer

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Another Great Fargo Tournament

Posted on 28. Jun, 2011 by Mike Fieldhammer.

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I just returned from another great event at Fargo Billiards & Gastropub.

Archived matches that Dave and I streamed are at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/davesroom

I’ll provide more details very soon, but here are a few photos from the event. The following write up is from Mike Page.

Fargo Summer Shootout, June 24-26 2011 — Results

Eighty one players from eight US states and three Canadian provinces converged on Fargo North Dakota June 24-26 for the second annual Fargo Summer Shootout. The tournaments were held at Fargo Billiards & Gastropub, on its 35 Diamond 7’ tables with Simonis cloth and red circle cueballs. In the end it would be the player from Illinois, St. Louis area’s Justin Bergman, who would prevail in both the $500 added 9-ball event and the $2500 added 8-ball event.

The race-to-7 winner breaks 9-ball tournament began Friday evening at 6 pm. Bergman finished that event undefeated, getting through Bill Beaman (Bismarck, ND), Dean Flanders (Fargo, ND), Daryl Phillips (Aberdeen, SD), Dave Coon (Minneapolis, MN), Shane Jackson (Minneapolis, MN), Berry McClean (Winnipeg, MB), and Lee Heuwagen (Minneapolis, MN).

Play in the 8-ball race-to-5 main event started around noon on Saturday, but the day had already been hopping for a couple hours by that time. The Gastropub provided a complimentary breakfast spread for the players and their guests at 9:30 am. Two of the thirteen Gabriels 9-foot tables at Fargo Billiards were opened up for the weekend as challenge tables, and both had been going for a while before the 11 am full-field Calcutta that would grow to $9,300.

When a family emergency precluded OTBNtv from streaming the events as scheduled, Dave Coon & Mike Fieldhammer from Minneapolis stepped in to provide an excellent stream with dual commentators. Archived matched can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/davesroom.

The tough 72-player 8-ball field was played down the first day to four on the no-loss side and eight on the one-loss side. Some of the top 8-ball players who failed to make the second day include Marc Oelslager (Fargo) , Mario Parayno (Minneapolis), and Ryan Solleveld (Winnipeg). In the two winner’s side matches Sunday at noon, Rory Hendrickson (Fargo) beat Felix Beardy (Winnipeg) by a score of 5-3, and Justin Bergman (St. Louis) beat Jamie Pluta (Minneapolis) by a score of 5-2. Bergman then beat Hendrickson by a score of 5-1 to win the driver’s seat position. On the B-side, Pluta beat Beardy 5-2 for the chance to face Hendrickson. Hendrickson won the match 5-2.

In the finals of the tournament, Fargo Billiards & General Manager & House Pro Rory Hendrickson would need to beat the young Justin Bergman twice. Hendrickson won the first match 5-2, setting the stage for an exciting final set of the tournament. Bergman, the runner-up finisher in the January Fargo Midwinter Shootout, evidently returned to Fargo to close the deal, as he won the final set by a score of 5-3.

Plans are underway for the next Fargo Midwinter Shootout, January 27-29, 2012.

2^nd Annual Fargo Summer Shootout – June 24-26, 2011

8-Ball Results

1.                           Justin Bergman                                 $1800 (+3270)
2.                            Rory Hendrickson                            $1100 (+2330)
3.                            Jamie Pluta                                        $700    (+1680)
4.                            Felix Beardy                                       $500    (+1120)
5-6.                        Michael Perron Jr.                           $300    (+470)
Lee Heuwagon                                 $300    (+470)
7-8.                        Vince Chambers                               $200
Jesse Engel                                         $200
9-12.                      Ryan Liebl                                           $100
Justin Volk
Jeff Sakellson
Dwight Boucher
13-16.                    Demetrius Jelatis                            $70
Darcy Gilkes
Craig Stainbrook
Austin Sissel
17-24.                    Ryan Sollevold                                  $40
John Thorson
Dean Flanders
Shane Jackson
Ben Hill
Joshua Morigeau
Nick Jones
Dave Coon

9-Ball Results

1.                            Justin Bergman                                 $600
2.                            Lee Heuwagon                                 $400
3.                            Berry McClain                                   $300
4.                            Ryan Sollevold                                 $200
5-6.                        Shane Jackson                                   $110
Dwight Boucher
7-8.                        Rory Hendrickson                            $80
Vince Chambers
9-12.                      Dave Coon                                          $60
Mario Paranyo
Jesse Engel
Craig Stainbrook
13-16.                    Keith Malcolm                                  $30
Austin Sissel
Darcy Gilkes
Ryan Liebl

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Pool Synergy: The Perfect Pool Tournament

Posted on 15. Jun, 2011 by Mike Fieldhammer.

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Steps to follow for a great tournament as told by our Pool Synergy writers.

In this month’s edition of the Pool Synergy blogging initiative, I’ve asked our panel of opinionated players to tell us what they think makes for a great tournament. It is my hope that pool room owners, tournament directors, counter men and women, players, and event promoters will see this collection of ideas and incorporate them into tournaments around the world.

1. Michael Reddick explains that it’s not really about the tournament, but WHO shows up that makes it a great event. Read about it here.

2. Gail Glazebrook, C.P.A.( Go figure!) appreciates well organized, classy tournaments that are always trying to improve. Gail is, of course, a player, but also has experience running tournaments. She’s well qualified to audit a tournament from both sides of the TD desk. Read about it here.

3. Jake Dyer takes a look back in time to one of the greatest tournaments of all time, the famous Johnston City tournaments of the 1960s. Read why these became so legendary that we’re still talking about them 40-something years later here. Read about it here.

4. Poolriah says he isn’t much of a tournament player but he’s got plenty to say about what makes for a great spectator experience at the event. Read about it here.

5. I like it when tournaments feature something unique, fun, or rewarding. Certain things make for a memorable tournament experience that sets one apart from another. Mike Page at Fargo Billiards & Gastropub has hit a couple of home runs. Read about it here.

6. Melinda comes at this question from a pure player’s point of view and she knows what she’s talking about. She points her finger directly at the Tournament Director (TD) and tells it like it is. Read about it here.

7. Detroit Larry, who lives in San Francisco, is a first time writer on the Pool Synergy team. He writes about weekly “Hi-Tech Tournaments” he’s running that have a web presence. Read about it here.

To sum up, here’s the condensed list of ingredients to make a great pool tournament.

Make certain that you invite the who’s who in your region to make it to the event. Get the right mix of characters in the hizzouse and you’ll be sure to have an exciting atmosphere.
Class it up and make it ultra organized.
Try to create an event that will be talked about for years.
Make it a joy to attend for non-playing spectators.
Think outside the box to entice players to think fondly of the event and feel glad they made the trip.
Have a Tournament Director that helps players compete at their best and makes them want to come back again.
Leverage the web for recruiting and results.