Battle of Los Angeles - July 12-13,2008

dabarbr said:
A little added note: During the players dinner break on Sunday and before the final matches Chef Anton has agreed to keep the fans entertained with an an exhibition of pool wizardry and magic. Come and enjoy, you will be truly amazed. Players dinner break is scheduled to be from 4 to 5:30 pm.
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Is TAR going to be able to cover this as well?
 
CrownCityCorey said:
Mike DeChaine has withdrawn from the event.

Working on filling his spot . . . :scratchhead:
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Alright I'll play .... I get the 3 out from everyone though!!

:D
 
Anyone know what time the festivities start/stop for both days. Gonna try to make it down. Thanks!

-Abe
 
Today!!!

Here we go:

Ernesto Dominguez
Oscar Dominguez
Max Eberle
Corey Harper
Rafael Martinez
Ismael "Morro" Paez
Jose Parica
Louis Ulrich

Watch live on theactionreport.com starting at 10am (pst)/1pm (est)

This event is being held in honor of Chuck Markulis (RIP)

Thanks to everyone for your support!
 
Day 1 Results

Day 1 had some great play and matches streamed by TAR. Results were as follows:

Oscar Dominguez - 2-2
Ernesto Dominguez - 0-4
Max Eberle - 4-0
Dave Hemmah - 3-1
Corey Harper - 2-2
Rafael Martinez - 2-2
Ismael Paez (Morro) - 1-3
Louis Ulrich - 2-2

Some people were inquiring as to if Chef Anton's entertainment (during the dinner break) would be streamed by TAR - as far as we know the answer is yes. Tomorrow's matches will begin at 10AM Pacific Standard. Final 4 in the single elimination will take place after the dinner the break.
 
winner is

dabarbr said:
Day 1 had some great play and matches streamed by TAR. Results were as follows:

Oscar Dominguez - 2-2
Ernesto Dominguez - 0-4
Max Eberle - 4-0
Dave Hemmah - 3-1
Corey Harper - 2-2
Rafael Martinez - 2-2
Ismael Paez (Morro) - 1-3
Louis Ulrich - 2-2

Some people were inquiring as to if Chef Anton's entertainment (during the dinner break) would be streamed by TAR - as far as we know the answer is yes. Tomorrow's matches will begin at 10AM Pacific Standard. Final 4 in the single elimination will take place after the dinner the break.
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i like big wave dave hemmah
 
Safety said:
Does anyone know the final scores or results for the tournaments?
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Statistics from the event will be available shortly.

From the AZBilliards.com homepage:

Eberle Wins Battle of Los Angeles

Eight top West Coast professional players showed up at Hard Times in Bellflower, CA on July 12th and 13th to vie for the official title "The Best in the West!" This event was winner-take-all, with each man having posted up a $500 entry fee, and a 1st prize of $4,000. The format started with a round-robin (race to 11, 9-Ball); in which all eight players competed against one another in a total of seven matches. The top four players, determined by best win records, advanced into a "?final-four" single elimination series to determine one ultimate winner.

After the first round matches were over it seemed that the man to beat was Rafael Martinez. In his first match Martinez played against Ismael "Morro" Paez, and he did not make any mistakes until the 9th rack, taking a quick 8-0 lead and winning the match 11-2. Another memorable bout was the father versus son match up of Ernesto and Oscar Dominguez. Oscar had started out with a lead over his father, but had started to make mistakes and Ernesto tied the score up. Towards the end of their match neither seemed to be on top of their game, but then again it would be hard to have that competitive edge over your father or son. The match ended up going hill-hill with Ernesto scratching and Oscar sinking in a 9-ball combination with ball in hand. When the round robin was over the standings were Max Eberle in first place being undefeated, Dave Hemmah in second with two losses, Louis Ulrich in third, and Rafael Martinez in fourth place.

The single elimination round was in effect with Dave Hemmah vs. Louis Ulrich and Max Eberle vs. Rafael Martinez. Louis Ulrich was on top of his game and did not leave many chances for Hemmah. Ulrich was the first to finish his semi-final match and patiently waited for the winner of the Eberle vs. Martinez match. The last semi-final match was a very close one. Neither player really seemed to get their break working, which lead into many safety battles, but at the end Max Eberle came out on top with an 11-9 win giving him a shot at Louis Ulrich in the final.

The final match was everything it was meant to be, a blood thirsty "Battle!" Eberle had taken a quick 2-0 lead, but with bad position on the 8 ball in the third rack left Eberle hanging the 8 ball in the corner pocket and allowed Ulrich to tie the match up. The match seemed to go back and forth but always with Ulrich taking the lead and Eberle playing catch up every time to tie up the score. Ulrich had reached the hill, but came up dry on the break. Eberle had taken this opportunity to run out by sinking in a tough nine ball to get to the hill. At hill-hill Eberle had made a ball on the break leaving him an open layout. Eberle cleared the rack and finished the event with an undefeated run and taking home the $4,000 winner-take-all prize!!!

Thanks to our sponsors: www.theactionreport.com, www.tigerproducts.com, www.hardtimesbellflower.com, www.extremefocus.net, and www.milliondollar9ball.com.

And a huge thanks to the Staff of Hard Times Billiards: Eddie, Elias, Jennifer, and the gang; as well our all Volunteer Tournament Staff: "Crown City Corey" Harper (Organizer/Producer), Frank "DaBarber" Almanza (Tournament Director), Eddie "Zirroe" Cohen (Chief Assistant), Kent "KD Cues" Davis (Assistant Director), Chris "Run the Century" (Co-Assistant Director), and Ben "railfirst" (Art Director).

Note: Our apologies to Allen Hopkins Productions, as this event was intended to be a ten man $500 entry ($5,000 total) qualifier into the upcoming "$1,000,000 9-Ball Shootout," being held in Valley Forge, Pa Aug 6-10, 2008; however due to a couple of last minute player withdrawals, the qualifier aspect of the event had to be negated.

By Eddie Cohen - 2008-07-15
 
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Great Article and even better tournament to watch. Thanks to TAR for putting this all online for the viewer to catch some exciting matches.

Look forward to the next one!
 
Battle of L.A.

Eberle Wins Battle of Los Angeles

Note: Our apologies to Allen Hopkins Productions, as this event was intended to be a ten man $500 entry ($5,000 total) qualifier into the upcoming "$1,000,000 9-Ball Shootout," being held in Valley Forge, Pa Aug 6-10, 2008; however due to a couple of last minute player withdrawals, the qualifier aspect of the event had to be negated.

COREY -- PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY THE QUALIFIER ASPECT WAS CANCELLED. DID THE (8) PLAYERS KNOW THAT? WHAT WAS THEIR REACTION TO THIS LAST-MINUTE CHANGE? AND TO THE 20% REDUCTION IN PRIZE MONEY - FROM $5K DOWN TO $4K ?

ISN'T THAT A BAIT-AND-SWITCH? :( (GOOD TOURNAMENT OR NOT) ?

RL
 
RED LITE said:
Eberle Wins Battle of Los Angeles

Note: Our apologies to Allen Hopkins Productions, as this event was intended to be a ten man $500 entry ($5,000 total) qualifier into the upcoming "$1,000,000 9-Ball Shootout," being held in Valley Forge, Pa Aug 6-10, 2008; however due to a couple of last minute player withdrawals, the qualifier aspect of the event had to be negated.

COREY -- PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY THE QUALIFIER ASPECT WAS CANCELLED. DID THE (8) PLAYERS KNOW THAT? WHAT WAS THEIR REACTION TO THIS LAST-MINUTE CHANGE? AND TO THE 20% REDUCTION IN PRIZE MONEY - FROM $5K DOWN TO $4K ?

ISN'T THAT A BAIT-AND-SWITCH? :( (GOOD TOURNAMENT OR NOT) ?

RL
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Bait and switch to who? The guys all knew that the only prize money was the $$$ we each put up. I think the only dissapointment is in Allen not getting an entry from it.

Actually, getting players was tougher, IMO, for a qualifier than just for the cash. Our best effort was made to have all 10 there, but there was litterally a no-show at the players meeting :frown: The guys that did not come, did at least contact me, but the last one called me at 9:45am Saturday. 15 late for the players meeting and 15 min before start of play.

This was a learning experience and if done again . . . I know what must be done.

The ultimate goal was that everyone had a great time: players, staff, attendees, and the live stream audience. It was a huge success!

I won't be commenting on the event after this post. Let's keep our finger crossed to do more.
 
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RED LITE said:
Eberle Wins Battle of Los Angeles

Note: Our apologies to Allen Hopkins Productions, as this event was intended to be a ten man $500 entry ($5,000 total) qualifier into the upcoming "$1,000,000 9-Ball Shootout," being held in Valley Forge, Pa Aug 6-10, 2008; however due to a couple of last minute player withdrawals, the qualifier aspect of the event had to be negated.

COREY -- PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY THE QUALIFIER ASPECT WAS CANCELLED. DID THE (8) PLAYERS KNOW THAT? WHAT WAS THEIR REACTION TO THIS LAST-MINUTE CHANGE? AND TO THE 20% REDUCTION IN PRIZE MONEY - FROM $5K DOWN TO $4K ?

ISN'T THAT A BAIT-AND-SWITCH? :( (GOOD TOURNAMENT OR NOT) ?

RL
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Thanks Corey for doing your best and running an excellent event, from what I have heard/read. Yes, it is unfortunate that the field was not full as expected, and the event could not be a satellite...

I just want to address the above quote. This is not a bait-n-switch, and I agree with Corey 100%. The players knew what they were getting into. If the field did not raise enough money to guarantee an entry, then the players just play for the cash, if they choose to. The players were made aware of this situation, and agreed, so it is not bait and switch, nor does it become a bad tournament. Max still won $3500 profit for 1 weekend of pool against a small, yet talented, field. I hope Max realizes that our event is guaranteed to pay at least $1000 to every player, so the effective entry fee is only $4000, so he could post the other $1000 since he is guaranteed to get that back.. if he still wants to play... We would love it if he did....

More players have begun to send in their entry fee. Several players have retained sponsors (some through Allen Hopkins Productions - the players dont even know who their sponsor is...), so they are playing in the event for free. MANY players have said they are just going to show up and pay their entry onsite - so as to not have to tie up the 5K for a long time.....

Just a reminder, this event is happening, and some poolplayers are going to earn very good money for 4 days of pool... and yes, the optimistically intended $1,000,000 prize pool may not happen the first year, but we will get there eventually. It is not Bait-N--Switch. Our website is very clear on how the formats will change and payouts will vary based on player turnout.... and the players that win are going to still have a very nice payday, even if its not a share of $1,000,000, it may still be a share of $250,000. And how often does that happen?

Thanks again Corey! Great job... and please remind Max about the guaranteed $1000 payout. I think my dad is going to call him tomorrow or soon...



So, t
 
Correction

No question it was a good tournament with a quality field, from what we could see on the TAR coverage. A couple of friends who attended agree.

My quesiton ("bait-and-switch"?) was framed on the mistaken belief that the announced plan was $5000 winner-take-all AND an entry to the million dollar event. Apparently I misread the tournament announcement, and didn't grasp that the $5000 was to be applied to the qualifier entry. And, of course, two missing players meant $1000 shortage. Or, maybe the tournament flyer could have been more clear on that point.

No offense intended, Corey; it was a great event for the railbirds and TAR viewers. (My only comment on TAR would be to suggest that they announce the game score more frequently; at home there is no wire to view, and no captions on the live feed.)

RL
 
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