THORPE TAKES LOUISIANA!!!
By Mary Kenniston
One of the few tournaments that is on any pool player’s favorites list is the semi-annual Super 9 Ball Extravaganza held at White Diamond Billiards in Lafayette, LA. Played on Valley seven footers, the format was race to seven, alternate break and rack your own. Hundreds of people showed up this weekend to take their shot at one of the biggest paydays in bar box pool or to sweat the action plus enjoy great food!!!
The event kicked off on Friday with a mini-tournament with 78 players. Cliff Joyner defeated Alex Olinger to take the cheese. He received $780 for first while Alex cashed $390. Chip Compton placed third and received $234 while Josh Roberts got $156 for fourth place. Not too shabby for a $20 entry fee!
The main event kicked off with The Chris Miller Show. There was plenty of action as folks bid on each player – the first Calcutta totaled $75,680!
There were no lucky byes this time! The field was full at 128 players and the battles began – races to 7, alternate breaks, rack your own. Players duked it out until they were down to 32 players and then there was a second Calcutta. New bids totaled $13,680 to be paid to the top four finishers.
Finally, it was down to eight players on the winner’s side – sixteen on the west side. Billy Thorpe defeated Robb Saez 7-3, Chase Rudder lost to Shane McMinn by the same score, Daniel McKenney blistered last weekend’s Taom Tour Memphis finalist, Alex Olinger, 7-2 and Robley Fontenot couldn’t keep Danny Smith from advancing 7-4.
Hot seat match saw Billy take dead aim at Daniel – final score 7-2. Daniel went west while Billy cooled his heels waiting for an opponent.
Meanwhile, on the west side, Robley Fontenot, Chris Miller, Sean King and Alex Olinger finished 9-12th and each received $107 in prize money plus $1324 in Calcutta cash – totaling $1431. Manny Chau and Chase Rudder finished 7-8th – each cashed $214 in prize money and $2649 from the Calcutta for a total of $2863. Robb Saez and Jamie Baracks finished 5-6th and received $367 in prize money with an additional $4541 Calcutta cash – total $4908. Danny Smith defeated Shane McMinn in a hard fought match 7-5 leaving Shane in fourth place. He received $551 in prize money plus $6811 from the first Calcutta and $1675 from the second one - $9307 total.
The one loss side finals was a battle of the Daniels – Danny took on the waiting Daniel McKenney. The match was neck and neck until 4-4 when McKenney pulled ahead and never looked back - final score 7-4 – leaving Smith with a very respectable third place finish. Danny received $796 in tournament cash plus an additional $9838 and $2234 for the first and second Calcuttas for a total of $12,868.
It was a long time coming but the title match was finally ready to start. Since this was true double elimination, McKenney had to defeat Billy Thorpe twice to take the title. Second place prize money was $1040 plus $12,866 for the first Calcutta and $3490 for the second totaling $17,396. The winner would receive $2142 with an additional $26,488 from the first Calcutta with $6561 for the second totaling $35,191 – a difference of almost eighteen big ones!!! Wow!!! Now, that was some serious action!!!
Daniel won the lag and drew first blood, forcing Billy to play catch-up. Daniel pulled ahead 4-1, 5-2, 6-3 and then Billy caught up to tie it at 6-6! However, it was now Daniel’s break and he closed the first set out with a 2-9 combination.
The final set started out the same way as the first – with Daniel breaking. His failure to get out allowed Billy to rocket out to a 3-0 lead. However, Daniel was having none of it as he rallied to tie the match 4-4 – and his break!
He broke the balls and the nine hung in the pocket. Daniel played the carom and followed the nine into the pocket! Instead of 5-4 Daniel, it became 5-4 Billy and now it was his break!
Again, the nine headed for the same corner pocket and hung. Billy pocketed two tough shots and played a great carom on the nine putting him on the hill 6-4. Daniel won the next game making it 6-5. Now, it was Billy’s break for the cheese. A nudge by the cue ball turned a cosmo into a tough run out, but run out he did to claim the title!
Congratulations to Billy Thorpe for taking the title and a whopping amount of cash! Daniel McKenney played a great event and took home a good-sized chunk himself! Way to go, guys!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Chris and Ashley Miller and their entire staff of White Diamond Billiards for their great hospitality. They always go all out to make everyone feel welcome. We’d also like to thank our sponsors – Emerald Billiards of New Iberia, LA, Hanshew Custom Cues, GoPlayPool.com, Lomax Custom Cues, EnviroAssessments.com, Durbin Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Gem Cues, JB Cases, Kamui, Rick’s Gun & Pawn, It’s George cases and Club Billiards of Wichita, KS – and, of course, our fans! Thank you to all!
Our next stop is the Space City Open at Bogies Billiards in Houston, TX – December 1-4th. The tournament has four divisions – Open 9 Ball and Ladies 9 Ball on the eight footers with One Pocket and 9 Ball Banks on the nine footers. Hope to see you there!!!
And, last but not least, we’d like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving!!!
