Recap by Gene Miller

Well, you had to be there! This was the 44^th trip to the Sands for 9-ball enthusiasts from several countries, all presented by the USPPA and the Sands Regency hotel. There were 162 players in both events, and the Early Bird drew 105. Computer problems and other unexpected woes led to a weird looking draw for the Early Bird, but we got through it okay and Skip Miller (78 avg) won the $900 top prize. All matches were race-to-five, and the four players finishing 5^th thru 8^th each won $85, covering their entries for both the Early Bird and the main event. Skip began with wins over W. Van Alst (34), Gilbert Arellano (86), Kristen Cobb (74), Dante Rakin Sr. (80), Larry Austin (67), and Gene Peregrino (67). His opponent in the finals was Tom Passow (39) who defeated Jeff Padjan (111), Elmer Diwa (82), Travis Reil (90), Jay Valdez (69), Keith Arnold (53) and Bret Baker (63) before his loss to Skip in the finals. Tom’s 2^nd place share was $475.

 Both events were under the expert direction of Scott Smith, along with a staff of Kenny Shuman, Gilbert Arellano, Frank Giordano, myself, and of course, busiest of all of us, Tony Annigoni. Adrian Annigoni, Tony’s youngest son, became sales manager for the popular Hustlin apparel and did very well. If you plan a trip to Derby City next month, that will be Adrian once again in the Hustlin booth.

The 16 pool tables were Diamond Smart tables with the polka-dot cue ball.

Tony Annigoni, USPPA director, announced that the Sands will now host only the December event, while the June event will take place at Hard Times in Sacramento. Later during the week he announced that the USPPA has begun its own Hall Of Fame, and the first inductees are Jose Parica and the late Denny Searcy, a San Francisco legend.

Also notable: Billy Teeter awarded a custom $2,000 cue stick to the winner of the open event, and Dave Jacoby donated a $3,000 Jacoby cue stick, raffled off to a USPPA member to be announced Christmas Eve. Also, congratulations to Bill Lee (64) who plays at Family Billiards in San Francisco who won a $ 1000 Pete Tonkin Custom Cue as the highest finishing 65 average and under in the Pro Am. Special thanks to Mark Thomas Cue Repair, who provided expert service throughout both tournaments including special discounts to USPPA members.

9-BALL OPEN RESULTS

$24,000 added by the Sands

1^st - $12,500: RICHIE OREM

Richie, a 26 year-old resident of Florida who spent most of his life in Fairbanks, Alaska, played his first Reno Open when he was 19. This was his second trip to Reno. This week he had several moments he will remember for a long time: He snapped in the 9-ball against Cliff Joyner to win 9-8 and leave Cliff in fourth place. About an hour later, he defeated Tony Chohan on the one-loss side with a 2-9 combination that missed but then rebounded across the table and found a hole. He then went on to defeat Gabe Owen with another 9-ball break to win 9-7 and force the final match, which he won 9-5 for the $12,500 top prize. To reach the finals, Richie beat Jim Gottier, Mike Bredehoft, Ike Runnels, and Jim Kuykendall, lost to 19 year-old Justin Bergman, then defeated Bobby Hunter, Jose Parica, Bill Ganne, Justin Bergman, Cliff Joyner, and Tony Chohan.

2^nd - $6,000: Gabe Owen

Gabe began with a bye, and then proceeded to the hot seat with wins over Ronnie Wiseman, David Krolick, Mark Tadd, Jonathan Pinegar, Ernesto Dominguez, and Justin Bergman.

3^rd - $3,250: Tony Chohan

Tony defeated Jonny Warren, Santos Alarenga, Ted Banas, Dan Louie, Mark Haddad, Jose Parica, Sparky Farrell, lost to Gabe Owen and Richie Orem.

4^th - $2,100: Cliff Joyner

Cliff defeated Tony Casas Jr., Al Markasky, George Michaels, Dan Wallace, and Keith Bennett, lost to Justin Bergman, defeated Rafael Martinez and Sparky Ferrell before losing to Richie Orem.

5^th/6^th - $1,400: Justin Bergman & Sparky Ferrell

7^th/8^th - $1,000: Bill Ganne & Ernesto Dominguez

9^th-12^th - $700: Tyler Edey, Jose Parica, Rafael Martinez, Ted Banas

13^th-16^th - $500: Gerardo Jamito, Ronnie Wiseman, Jonathan Pinegar, Keith Bennett

17^th-24^th - $375: Raoul Alvarez, Mark Haddad, Timmy Hall, Bobby Hunter, Todd Marsh, Edwin Montal, Danny Petralba, Santos Sambajon

25^th–32^nd - $275: Ramin Bakhtiari, Jui-Lung Chen, Joey Gebron, Oscar Guerrero, Ike Runnels, Mark Tadd, Shane Van Boening, Dan Wallace

33^rd-48^th - $200: Camie Chou, Ken Cavener, Francisco Galindo, Dave Hemmah, Bill Houck, Marshall Jung, Jim Kuykendall, Dan Louie, Ron Matsuura, Danny Medina, Damian Overton, Derek Pogirski, Ray Robles, Kings Santy, John Starcevic, Scott Tollefson

49^th-64^th - $150: Richard Broumpton, J.J. Cain, Kenny Chen, Joe Chun, Peter Gates, Kurt Kobayashi, John Kutcher, Barney LaMontagne, Melissa Little, George Michaels, Brian Parks, Danny Phelps, Dave Rodden, Robbie Saez, Lance Salazar, Josh Smith.

USPPA  PRO-AM 9-BALL RESULTS

The Sands added $10,000 and paid through 64^th place.

1^st - $3,500: Sylvester Coronado (USPPA avg, 76) drew a bye, defeated Ron Cook (88), Jimmy Gardner (66), Angel Abrajano (83), Shan Damani (65), Steve Haynes Jr. (53), and Ron Matsuura (77).

2^nd - $2,300: Ron Matsuura (77) drew a bye, defeated Daniel Rakin (104), Carmine Sardo (37), Alex Bradley (74), Tom Passow (39), and Colin Mazaika (120), lost to Sylvester Coronado (76), defeated Colin Mazaika and Bill Lee (64), then lost to Sylvester in the finals.

3^rd - $1,600: Bill Lee drew a bye, defeated John Walker (49), John Agustin (63), Ed Ames (113), Pat Akins (58), Danny Phelps (65), Tipper Aufderheide (64), then lost to Sylvester and Ron.

4^th - $1,200: Colin Mazaika defeated Doug Uhrig (70), David Rader (33), Chris Taw (45), Simon Dudley (92), Bill Houck (80), lost to Matsuura, defeated Angel Abrajano (83), Eduardo Ramos (75) and Tipper Aufderheide before his second loss to Matsuura.

5^th/6^th - $850: Tipper Aufderheide (64) & Travis Reil (90)

7^th/8^th - $550: Eduardo Ramos (75) & Danny Phelps (65)

9^th-12^th: $400: Mike Morang (47), Jonny Warren (91), Angel Abrajano (83), Steve Haynes Jr. (53)

13^th-16^th: $280: Pat Akins (58), Kevin McClain (57), Shan Damani (65), Bill Houck (80)

LOOKING BACK

One year ago: 12/4/2005 - The 42nd USPPA Reno championship drew 191 players, and Jonny Warren (USPPA Avg, 89) beat Matthew Anderson (Avg, 32), Burns McCalman (48), Simon Dudley (77), Cliff Huebner (35), Jeff Gregory (123), Qurram Nasiri (101), Gilbert Arellano (92) and Mark Hernandez (101) to reach the hot seat, then took Mark out again to finish the tournament without losing a match.

Twenty-one years ago: 12/7/1985 - Sands Regency II: Efren Reyes lost his first match to Jerry Chappel of Los Angeles, then won twelve consecutive matches, defeating Jay Swanson in the finals for the $10,000 top prize. Wade Crane, 3rd, Danny Medina, 4th. 96 players entered the USPPA event preceding the open, won by Al the Plumber Winchenbaugh.