TACOMA, WA - June 26-27, 2004
The McDermott Tour Finale went off without a hitch at Tacoma’s City Lights. Some
amazing summer weather contributed to the light turnout of 47 players. There was a
noticeable absence of players from the Portland area and many of the
Canadian players remained in Canada to play in the Canadian 9-Ball Championships.
For those who did attend, the tournament had a great payout with first place receiving
$1,700! To those players who stayed home, you really missed out on a great
tournament, that first place prize money could have been yours!!!
City Lights added $1,125 and The Break added $2,000 to the tournament making the total
payout $5,475.
Andrea Saenz-Maes, tournament director, lengthened the races for the tournament in
order to make the players “work” for their prize money. The A side races went to 9,
the B side to 7, money rounds were a race to 9 with the finals being a single
race to 13. Complaints, which normally accompany any tournament were not heard. City
Lights recently recovered their tables and made their usually tight pockets larger,
which helped the tournament run smoothly and complaint free.
Santos Sambajon took home the first place prize money after an exciting
final match against Barry Emerson. Barry started the match slowly and
found himself down 6-1, but he soon geared up and tied the match at 7.
Barry went ahead on the next rack but Santos came back to finish the
match 13-9. Santos had been undefeated through the tournament displaying
his professional playing ability. He mad it look easy.
1st $1,700 Santos Sambajon
2nd $1,250 Barry Emerson
3rd $725 Raul Abenojar
4th $400 Don Wirtiman
5/6 $200 Stan Tourangeau, Ed Hobbs
7/8 $150 Craig Dumo, Dick Trichtler
9-12 $100 Rich Geiler, Scott Chandler, Jim Boyce Karl Baughman
13-16 $75 Soud Alabdulrazaq, Tim Paget, Frankie Rocha,
Randy Camantigue
“The Break” would like to thank McDermott Cues for sponsoring the tour
and City Lights for hosting our finale. We would also like to thank all the
locations and players who have supported the tour this season.
Andrea would like to invite all the players back to City Lights in September
because she is bringing back the Wednesday Night “Heavy Hitters” 9-Ball
Tournament. Sign-ups are at 7PM, starts at 7:30PM with a race to 3. See
ya there!
McDermott Tour’s Roadmap to Success
October 3rd was the start of the McDermott NorthWest 8 and 9-Ball Tour
presented by “The Break”. First venue was City Lights Tacoma, Washington
and was billed as a BCA warm-up for Lincoln City, small table 9-ball. The
field was limited to BCA players and brought in the best players from
Washington and Oregon. Stan Tourangeau and Rich Geiler, two talented players
in the Northwest fought a hill-hill match in the finals, with Stan coming out on top.
It was a great kick-off to the season.
Troutdale, Oregon at Skyland Pub saw the first 8-Ball stop on the McDermott
Tour on October 11th. Pool players packed the pub for play on three 4 x 8
Valleys and four 3.5 x 7 bar boxes which made the tournament challenging
and full of surprises. Local talent Glenn Atwell played strong the entire
tournament and went undefeated to win. The spectators were treated to
some very tough play by all the participants and everyone found the final
match between Glen Atwell and Mike Stevens riveting.
Next up on the circuit was Let’s Play Billiards in Forest Grove, Oregon,
November 1st. This was again a 9-Ball stop and was shaping up to have a
strong field of 48 players. The actual count on the day of play was far
below this expected number but the owners, John Campbell and Gary
French still added the $1,000 to the pot. Darin Walding the tournament
director remarked, “Isn’t it strange to see more heart from a room owner
than from Northwest pool players? The tournament was successful with
or without a full field, it was disappointing to me to have heard throughout
the years how there are no good tournaments in Oregon, and when we do
have a strong added pot, the players call in sick? I think the pool players of
the Northwest at least owe an apology for not supporting pool, or at least
the integrity to not whine about lack of events in the Portland area.” Everyone
enjoyed the tournament and Brett Seyler took top honors.
The tour now turned North to City Lights in Tacoma for a Thanksgiving
weekend 9-Ball tournament. This time the play was on the 9 foot tables
and the house was packed with 61 players all vying for their share of the
$3,940 pot. Even though it was a holiday weekend the field was very strong
with the best players in the Northwest coming to play. Tournament Director
Andrea Saenz-Maes remarked that, “It was an honor to watch and
participate with some of the best in the business”. The top four were names
familiar to anyone who follows pool in the Northwest, Stan Tourangeau,
Dan Louie, Marlon Oliveros and Glen Atwell. Stan again took top honors at
the 4th stop on the McDermott Tour.
December 13th and 14th was the 5th stop at Harvey’s Billiards in Renton,
Washington. The field was originally limited to 32 players but was expanded
because of the demand for spots in the tournament. The field could have
been twice as large with an entry of $25. Bert Harvey, owner and tournament
director instituted a rule to keep the players on time. “For every 10 minutes
you were late for a match you lose one game”. This rule only got used
during the first matches and was not needed again. This was the first “no
smoking” venue on the tour which didn’t phase the players at all. The
finals saw Dan Louie and Robert Colby contending for the $700 first place
prize money. Dan came out on top 11-7.
The next stop moved east 300 miles and foul weather limited the field
(which is not uncommon for January) at The Falls Club in Post Falls, Idaho.
Expecting a full field of 64 players a heavy winter snowstorm prevented
many players from making the trip but the field was still a strong 51 players.
This tournament advertised a $5,000 payout due to the generosity of John
Carr owner of The Falls Club and the field of players was proof of that. Nita
Saddler tournament director kept the tournament running smoothly. Two Canadian
players found their way into the finals Edwin Montal and Mike Vidas. Edwin was
undefeated throughout the tournament and beat Mike 9-6.
Once again the tour ventured into Oregon to the Cue Ball in Salem, February 21st.
And once again an Oregon venue didn’t get the player draw. Jim Lebold, owner even
provided the players with free Lattes, Cappuccinos and donuts, not to mention the
9 foot tables covered in Championship 3030 tournament cloth. With 21 tables to
play on the tournament ran quickly. The tournament directors expressed that “While
the playing field lacked quantity, it certainly did not lack in quality”. This stop had
past McDermott tour stop winners in contention. They were John Doherty (1st),
Glen Atwell (3rd) and Brett Seyler (4th) who filled out three of the top four spots.
Justin Lilje, a new player on the tour took 2nd place.
March 20th and the tour turned once again to Idaho for an 8 Ball stop. This time the
venue was Mingles in Moscow. The field was limited and play was held on 4.5 x 9
foot Brunswick Medalist tables covered in 860 Simonis cloth and cleaned with
Quick-Clean. Skyler, owner of Mingles furnished coffee and donuts for the players
and even raffled a McDermott Cue during the event. The tournament was won by
Clay Belvoir who went undefeated and faced Tony Waters in the finals.
Heading south 32 miles to Lewiston, Idaho, Shooters Sports Bar hosted the next
stop on the tour April 3rd and 4th. Max Martin, owner with his son Zane worked very
hard to put on an awesome tournament. Local television channel KLEW was present
and aired the final match including an interview with Stan Tourangeau the winner.
Max even went so far as to have some great looking T-shirts printed for the event.
Shooters really went all out to show the players a great time in their new facility
designed for tournament play. “The concensus among players, both locally and out
of town was Great Place, Great People, Great Tournament.” Stan faced Wayne
Boyd in the double elimination finals and won 9-4/9-3.
Heading back west to Seattle and 80 miles south to Centralia, Washington home of
the Olympic Club, the next stop April 24th and 25th. The six 9 foot Brunswick tables
had just been recovered by Pat Sheehan who stayed to watch the tournament and
clean the tables with Quick-Clean. Pat even put up $250 to the first player that
could run 7 racks. No one did but the money was added to the pot. The Olympic
Club is a unique venue in that it has a Hotel, Restaurant and Movie Theater along
with the Poolroom in the Club. Everything you could want in a tour stop. Todd
Chaput, manager even invited Ken “Sarge” Aylesworth to put on one of his famous
Trick Shot Exhibitions during the tournament. This was the first tournament ever
played in Centralia and everyone is excited for a return visit. The field was filled with
big name players from around the Northwest and Simon Pickering of Canada, who
faced Raul Abenojar in the finals, walked away with top honors.
By: Andrea Saenz-Maes, Tournament Director
WOW! What a Weekend!
Stan Tourangeau snapped off the Tacoma City Lights – McDermott
Thanksgiving 9-Ball Open November 29th and 30th. With everyone’s
great play, it made for a great weekend!
Sixty-one players competed for $3,940 in prize money. It was a very
competitive and entertaining time for all.
From this players standpoint, it was an honor to watch and
participate with some of the best in the business.
The tournament’s great success was due to the loyal participation
of the players in the Pacific Northwest! Thanks, guys.
1st $1200 Stan “The Man” Tourangeau
He showed he is one of the best in the Northwest!
Playing great consistent pool all weekend. His hard work and
dedication to the game is remarkable. Great shooting Stan!
2nd $700 Dan Louie
Dan was undefeated going into the finals, which was
very close (7-9). He played excellent pool all weekend. What can I
say about Dan that hasn’t already been said. A veteran player who
shows by example what it means to be a class act, a great player,
and a good sport! Thanks, Dan.
3rd $500 Marlon Oliveros
Marlon’s “never give up” attitude was fun to watch.
He bore down and won some tough matches. His performance proved he
deserved his excellent 3rd place finish! Way to go Marlon!
4th $350 Glen Atwell
Another veteran player who had a great tourney. He’s
always raising the bar of excellence in competitive pool tournaments.
Good shooting Glen!
5/6 $185 Kris Iverson, Santos Sambajon
7/8 $130 Rich Geiler, Junior Tolentino
9-12 $80 Andrea Saenz-Maes, Raul Abenojar, Merv White,
J D Doherty
13-16 $60 Ivan Doty, Larry Maes, Mike Zimmerman,
Wayne Boyd
TACOMA, WA
All the players who attended the first McDermott tour stop at City
Lights in Tacoma, WA, October 4-5, 2003 had a great time. The stop
was billed as a small table 9-ball event and was a warm up for the
BCA players who
would be attending the WBPPA regionals later in October.
Players came from both Washington and Oregon to play in this event.
The finals came down to Stan Tournageau and Rich Geiler. It was
double elimination and looked as though Rich was going to take the
event in the second match when he jumped out to a 6-3 lead. Then Stan
came back and won four games 6-7. The match went hill-hill and was
hard fought before Stan came out victorious.
City Lights would also like to congratulate Frankie Rocha for his
excellent play. Frankie’s game has improved over the last couple
of years and his 3rd place showing here was proof of that.
1st $350 Stan Tourangeau
2nd $250 Rich Geiler
3rd $150 Frankie Rocha
4th $100 Andrea Saenz Maes
5/6 $50 Jay Siongco Jr
5/6 $50 Ray Luther
Watch for our upcoming McDermott tour stop November 29-30, 2003
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