Minneapolis Billiard Club

The next Poker Night is set for Saturday, November 7 @ 7:30p.m. to ???

Bring your bankroll and a potluck item.

By MBC Staff

The Minneapolis Billiard Club hosted its 3^rd Annual Fall Classic 3 Cushion Tournament September 18-20, 2009.  Eighteen players filled the open tournament’s three preliminary flights of six players.  Each flight would be a round robin format of 20 point games with the top 2 players making the finals.  Two Verhoevens covered in Simonis Delsa Blue cloth set the stage for three days of carom action.  Sunday’s final flight would feature matches to 25.  Special guests at this year’s tournament included former American champion George Ashby, billiard author Bob Byrne, and USBA Secretary Jim Shovak.  Players traveled from six states to compete.

Click on the name of the flight to see PDF chart:

Flight A. Halfway through the flight it looked possible that Byrne, Fred Lamers, and Shovak could all end up with 4-1 records as each had a single loss to one another.  Shovak’s loss was with the fewest points so he’d be the odd man out.  Then an interesting series of events began.  First, Shovak defeated Gary Eake to indeed finish at 4-1.  Second, Bernard Kapinos played his best game to earn his first victory to leave Lamers at 3-2.  This put Shovak into the finals and it looked like Lamers would be the odd man out.  Next up was Byrne who needed at least 18 points to wrap up the second spot.  His previous game was a tournament best 1.250 so his chances of advancing looked good.  This was not to be—Craig Gullett played his best game and made the Hall of Famer Byrne the odd man out.  Shovak won the flight at 4-1 and Lamers finished second at 3-2.

Flight B. Ashby cruised confidently to a 5-0 record to sweep the flight.  Steve Gullett, Pat Preziuso, and Carl Nelson fought for second place with the outcome not decided until Nelson topped Preziuso while holding him below 15 points.  Nelson advanced to the finals with a record of 3-2.

Flight C. John Jacobson, the inaugural champ from 2007, won his flight with a record of 4-1.  Second place turned into a battle between Brad Vollmers, Bob Jacobson, and Tim Gardner.  Gardner earned the second spot with his victory over John Jacobson to also finish 4-1.

Finals. Midway through the finals bracket, Ashby was undefeated and Shovak, Lamers, and John Jacobson each had a single loss.  Shovak’s loss came at the hands of Lamers who ran out with a tournament high run of 11.  John Jacobson defeated both Shovak and Lamers to remain with only a single loss.  Lamers handed Ashby his first loss with the finals high game of 1.136.  Ashby then beat Shovak which set up the final match between Ashby and John Jacobson.  The winner would take first and the loser third since Lamers had second wrapped up based on points.  Lamers, the strongest player in his home club, finished runner up for the third straight year.  He was runner up to Lupe Cruz in 2008 and John Jacobson in 2007.  The final match was a tightly fought contest with Jacobson prevailing 25-20 over Ashby.  Congratulations to John Jacobson for becoming the first repeat winner of the Minneapolis Billiard Club Fall Classic!

The total prize fund of $3,900 ($1,800 entry + $2,100 added) paid as follows:

1st Place    John Jacobson        $1,250
2nd Place    Fred Lamers        $900
3rd Place    George Ashby        $600
4th Place    Tim Gardner        $425
5th Place    Jim Shovak        $300
6th Place    Carl Nelson        $225

High Run Out of the Money        Bob Byrne        $100
High Average Out of the Money        Bob Jacobson        $100
Schuler cue raffle winner        Jamie Sibley

MBC thanks sponsors David Levine, Rene duCret, Mickey Campbell, Troy Thoennes of All About the Game Room, and Craig Gullett.  The club also thanks Goerge Bisonnette for preparing and delivering Saturday night’s feast; Bob Jacobson for tournament assistance; and Jim Larson of Billiards Unlimited for use of his club.  Most of all, we thank the players for making the tournament a success and a fun event for all.  Full tournament charts with scores and averages and more than 200 photographs from the tournament are available at the MBC website.  http://www.minneapolisbilliardclub.com The Fourth Annual tournament in the fall of 2010 should be just as exciting.

Click here for Photo Gallery, courtesy of BilliardCoach.com

Fall Classic Tournament

Fall Classic Billiard Tournament
September 18-20, 2009
18 players

13 Photos