Turning Stone Classic XLII – $25,000 ADDED – Verona, NY – Sept 3 to Sept 6, 2026

My Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour's $25,000 Added Turning Stone Classic XLII 9-Ball Open is less than 3 weeks away. Once again, our event will be in Turning Stone's beautiful & spacious Event Center with free admission for all. There are no bad seats in the house. There will be a limited number free posters with all of the past winners listed and featuring 9 Time TS Classic champ "Eagle Eye" Jayson Shaw, Up and coming star "Hollywood" Moritz Neuhausen and reigning champ "Mr. Smooth" Johnny Morra. Turning Stone Resort Casino is a world class facility with everything we could ever need. Great accommodations, great food, sports bars, gaming and sports betting make for a great time while not watching the tournament. Check them out at http://www.turningstone.com .

Once again, Steve Janes of Joss Cues has provided us with 2 gorgeous engraved cues for raffle. The cues are valued at $1,800 each and will come with a case. Can't thank Steve & Debbie Janes enough for all they do for us!! Anyone can participate in the raffles and you do not need to be present to win. Tickets are $5 each, 3 for $10 or 7 for $20 and will be available on site. Make sure to put your name and phone number on any tickets purchased and we will call you immediately if your ticket is drawn. First drawing will be Saturday Sept 5 at 8pm and the second on Sunday Sept 6 just prior to the 7pm final match.

We will once again be playing on 16, 9 ft Diamond Pro tables covered with 860 Simonis and Aramith balls. Only the best once again!!

There will be a free live stream & live scoring provided by Mike Howerton of azbilliards.com, Upstate Al Leon, Turning Stone Resort Casino and the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour. To access the free live stream and live scoring go to azbilliards.com

Match times are as follows:

Thursday Sept 3 at 4pm, 6pm, 8pm & 10pm.

Friday Sept 4 at 10am, Noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm & 10pm.

Saturday Sept 5 at 10am, Noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm & 10pm.

Sunday Sept 6 at 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm


There will also be a second chance event on Sunday Sept 6 for non pro level players only. Play for the second chance tournament will begin at 10am and run continuously until completed.

I invite everyone to come to Turning Stone Resort Casino on Sept 3-6, 2026 for some great pool action and a chance to mingle with some of the current greats of the game. Also, as always, any no show players will be replaced on site. I will start a new waiting list at the door on Thursday Sept 3 at 9am. First in line will be first on the new list etc. Keep in mind that some arrive very early for this. No shows will be determined at the 1 pm player deadline.

Mike Zuglan
Could we see photos of the cue?

Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team

I'll write what I wrote on FB:

It’s your responsibility to know, you are a top pro and in position to be on the team every year. It’s the same as in the DCC. If a player WINS both the banks and one hole, but doesn’t enter the 9 ball, he’s ineligible for the Master Of The Table .

How can Yuma be a bad financial decision but Vietnam and Bali be a good one? That one doesn’t pass the sniff test.

MR is also not “forcing” anyone to play every (or a specific) event. Or penalizing for playing in a competing event. They are not banning pros from all of their events as the WPA was 2 years ago. They are instead saying “if you don’t show up to our big Open events, don’t expect to play on our year end invitational event”. That’s reasonable.

The WPA was saying “if you play in a single MR event, you can never play in ANY WPA event again”. 2 different worlds there.

Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team

In the best-case scenario, the qualification criteria would be spelled out in a player contract. While early dissemination of the qualification criteria is, of course, preferred, I think having the players up to speed on the qualification criteria prior to the first WNT major is far more important than having the fans up to speed.
If fans also knew the rules, players would more likely know them, too. Making this stuff public means more awareness broadly.

How hard is it to publish qualification rules? Every other major pro sport does it.
PS The PLP and WPM must not be factored into Mosconi or Reyes Cup qualification, because the WNT pros do not have equal access to these events.
Agreed.

Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team

Matchroom has every right to institute a minimum attendance rule, but I think it should be more lenient given the cost of global travel and modest prize funds. You have to attend at least two majors and X number of ranking events.

Ultimately a player isn't going to get on the Mosconi or Reyes if they don't accumulate enough points anyway.

Still, the previous rules, and the current ones, could backfire. That's what happened last year.

SVB and Filler were omitted from the Reyes Cup in 2025, with an out-of-form Skyler Woodward taking Van Boening's place. Fiasco.

The rule in 2025 supposedly required participation in the final "major" before the Reyes - the Hanoi Open. Both SVB and Filler missed it for a competing Predator/WPA event in Asia.

In 2024, the rule seemed to be a player had to play in almost all, or all, majors.

The PLP and WPM, by the way, don't appear to factor into Mosconi qualification.

Going forward, WNT best be careful. There may be a case in which five U.S.-based players don't even meet current rules.

The PLP and WPM, by the way, don't appear to factor into Mosconi or Reyes qualification.
In the best-case scenario, the qualification criteria would be spelled out in a player contract. While early dissemination of the qualification criteria is, of course, preferred, I think having the players up to speed on the qualification criteria prior to the first WNT major is far more important than having the fans up to speed.

PS The PLP and WPM must not be factored into Mosconi or Reyes Cup qualification, because the WNT pros do not have equal access to these events. Counting these would bring additional politics. with which we can do without, into the qualification formula.

Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team

Matchroom has every right to institute a minimum attendance rule, but I think it should be more lenient given the cost of global travel and modest prize funds. You have to attend at least two majors and X number of ranking events.

Ultimately a player isn't going to get on the Mosconi or Reyes if they don't accumulate enough points anyway.

Still, the previous rules, and the current ones, could backfire. That's what happened last year.

SVB and Filler were omitted from the Reyes Cup in 2025, with an out-of-form Skyler Woodward taking Van Boening's place. Fiasco.

The rule in 2025 supposedly required participation in the final "major" before the Reyes - the Hanoi Open. Both SVB and Filler missed it for a competing Predator/WPA event in Asia.

In 2024, the rule seemed to be a player had to play in almost all, or all, majors.

The PLP and WPM, by the way, don't appear to factor into Mosconi qualification.

Going forward, WNT best be careful. There may be a case in which five U.S.-based players don't even meet current rules.

Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team

The main thing I would fault Matchroom for is not publicizing its rules for Mosconi qualification. Players AND fans should be able to see what the rules are in writing, especially since they appear to have changed a few times in the past few years.

Before Thorpe's post, the rumored rule was that a player had to attend at least two Matchroom majors. Now it seems the rule is a player can't miss more than two major WNT events.

If that's true, Thorpe would have had to attend the Arizona Open and the upcoming Philippines Open to quality. He's right - it's costly for him to attend both. It also would have been costly to play in either the UK or European Open earlier in the year.

If Bergman goes to the Philippines, as he has stated, he would qualify. Woodward will also have to go to the Philippines Open if the Matchroom requirement is as Thorpe stated. Woodward also missed both majors in Europe.

Thorpe blasts ‘one of the dumbest rules’ after becoming ineligible for USA Mosconi Cup team

I agree. But all I see today on Facebook is “Billy severely criticized…” or “Billy blasts WNT…”

He was very professional and PC with his post. How about something like “Billy ignored his emails and disqualifies himself from the cup”?

Yeah that seems to be what happened.
Pool isn't changing anytime soon. He must be more focused on whatever he
is doing for gainful employment.

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