Tuesday 24 March 2015

Trump Beats O'Sullivan to Claim £100,000 Top Prize



By: Markus NoƩ

This past Sunday in Llandudno located in North Wales the final of the 2015 Grand Prix took place. The field featured most of the top players in the world. Current reigning World Champion Mark Selby participated along with other big names in the world of Snooker such as Neil Robertson,Ding Junhui, Mark Davis and many more.

The two finalist Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan had two very different paths to the finals. Trump battled through many close matches in which he was down multiple frames each set, but was able to find a way through. For O'Sullivan leading up to the final he only dropped 3 frames the entire tournament, including a whitewash of Stuart Bingham 6-0 in the semi-final.

There was no doubt that O'Sullivan was the favourite based on his performance this week. However as we all learned leading up to the final you cannot count Trump out. The 25 year old Trump was down most of this match which was a best of 19 frames. Early on he was down 4-1 and then at 7-4 down he made an improbable comeback.This thrilled those in attendance as he went on to win the next 6 frames to claim the Grand Prix title 10-7. Trump also claimed the high run prize of 5,000£ with a 142.

Here is a link to the entire finals for your viewing pleasure.





Monday 23 March 2015

2015 U.S Open Registration will be done by Accu-Stats





By: Pat Flemming

Beginning April 1, 2015, Accu-Stats will be the only authorized entity to accept the $1,000 entry fees for the 2015 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship.  The event will take place at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Virginia on October 23-30, 2015.  Accu-Stats will also be collecting the $75,000 in added money derived from ticket sales, sponsorships, and promoter Barry Behrman.

These monies will be deposited into a Bank of America bank account for the purpose of paying out the projected $188,000 in prize money.  One of the reasons for this action is to guarantee that the event will be sanctioned by the WPA as a Tier 2 event which awards more WPA points to the high finishers.

Accu-Stats/Pat Fleming is the only person authorized to accept entry fees.
  • There are several ways to pay your $1,000 entry fee.  They are:
  • Mail check or money order payable to Accu-Stats Video Productions to Accu-Stats, PO Box 299, Bloomingdale, New Jersey 07403

  • Log on to accu-stats.com and pay your entry fee on line by check/money order, credit card or PayPal.

  • Log on to Ticketfly.com and pay your entry fee on line plus applicable Ticketfly fees

  • Pay on site with check, money order, or cash.

Accu-Stats/Pat Fleming is the only person authorized to sign the prize money checks.

There are several ways to collect prize money:

  • Business check (no fee)

  • Cashier’s check ($10 fee)

  • Wire Transfer ($35 fee)

  • Automatic deposit into your Bank of America bank account (no fee)

  • Wire transfer (US Currency) to foreign bank (a fee is charged)

For 1099 Purposes:

IRS form W-9 (for those players having U.S. Social Security or Tax ID numbers) will be given to prize winners to be completed and returned before the prize money check is disbursed.No withholding taxes will be deducted but all winnings in excess of $600.00 will be reported and a 1099 will be issued to the player at the end of the year.

Likewise IRS form 1042-S will be given to all non-US citizens, non-resident aliens, and foreign persons not in possession of a valid U.S. Tax ID number. This form must be completed and returned prior to the check disbursement and an amount equal to 30% of the prize money will be withheld and submitted on the player’s behalf to the IRS.

The local Bank of America (walking distance) will gladly cash your prize money checks provided you present proper identification.  The “cashable” amount would depend on how much currency the branch has on hand.  If you are a high finisher, you can accept two checks which will total your prize money.  The smaller check could be an amount that can be cashed.

If by July 23, 2015, the total of $75,000 in added money is not reached (received by Accu-Stats), the WPA may take the event off its calendar and not sanction the event.  At the same time (If that delisting should occur), an accounting of the monies in the account will be addressed and other decisions may be made.



Wednesday 11 March 2015

Deuel Double Dips Morra in Chinook Winds Final

Archived photo of John Morra 
By: Erik Hjorleifson

On the weekend of March 7th most of the best players in the Northwest and a few from across the country descended on the Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, Oregon. This Casino has been a long time supporter of pool and has held WPBA pro events in the past. This weekends tournament has a 20 year history and in the last couple of years they have raised the added money to a level where they have been attracting some big names. This year the open men's event was billed as a 128 player, double knockout bar table 8 ball event with $13 000 added to the prize fund of $150 entries. There was also an open women's event that created some interest. Notables in attendance in the men's event were Shane Van Boeing, John Morra, Corey Deuel, Rodney Morris, Jayson Shaw, Rafael Martinez and numerous other top bar table players from the Northwest.

It should be noted that in the past year and a half there have to been a lot of new tournaments on the bar table that have been popping up on the scene. Most notably the Smokin Aces, White Diamonds, Andy Mercer Memorial and Carom Room tournaments, whereas the only major nine ball events remain the U.S. Open, Turning Stone, Derby City Classic and Super Billiards Expo. Also this year the U.S. Open 8 ball and 10 ball will be back but this time they will be played on the bar table, those events will carry a $15 000 first prize. The main thing that is driving the prize money in these tournaments is the Calcutta but if the players are fortunate enough to be able to participate in that the amount of prize money they can win is probably almost 15 times more, believe it or not,  than the total prize money they can win on the 9 foot.

Whether this is a good thing or not for pro pool is a multi-layered answer but my gut reaction is that one of the complaints about the game is that it is already too offensive on 9 foots and the game is even more offensive on the 7 foots, the size of the table just doesn't do justice to the talent of pro players. Others will say the general public most commonly plays on the 7 foot table and it is a good thing for pros to be playing on the same table. I think there is some merit in that. For me it will be interesting to see if American pro tournaments being played more on the 7 foot is just a fad or if it is here to stay.

Here's how they finished this weekend:

THE TOP 16 MONEY WINNERS
1st – Corey Deuel - $10,000
2nd – John Morra - $5,000 
3rd – Shane Van Boening - $3,000
4th – Joshua Roberts- $2,000 
5-6th – Taylor Anderson Matt Horner- $1,500
7-8th – Randy Baker , Danny Olson- $1,000
9-12th – Dan Louie Jayson Shaw, Rafael Martinez , Stan Tourangeau - $600 
13-16 – Rodney "The Rocket" Morris Mike Stevens, Mike Massey Edmund Carrido - $300

Women's event results:

1st – Vivian Villarreal - $4,000 
2nd – Cindy Sliva - $2,000 
3rd – Kim Jones- $1,400
4th – Carissa Biggs- $900 
5-6th – Stacy Allsup Linda Carter– $500
7-8th – Mary Coffman Kathie MacDonald– $250