Battle of Los Angeles - Results

[CrownCityCorey]

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

 

[BigBull]

Hey corey thanks for all your hard work on this tournament.you did a great job.

 

[Jimmy M.]

Statistics from the event will be available shortly.

Are those statistics going to include how many times Morro changed shafts? Just curious.

 

[CrownCityCorey]

Are those statistics going to include how many times Morro changed shafts? Just curious.

During my match with him, it was weight bolts...:grin:

 

[Nostroke]

Excellent tournament- Would like to see it become a regular event.

But someone should get on Hard Times to add some money. Maybe i Don't have all the info but it seems to me they are not being fair on this. Lots of spectators from what i hear.

 

[poolhustler]

Yes...... Thanks Corey, Tiger and all the other sponsors. I was there on Sat and saw some great matches. Unfortunately I missed the final matches.

Russ...

 

[enzo]

500 entry, 4000 for first winner take all. that is tough for louie. anyway. great job to the people who coordinated all this. not to take away from his event, but is it just me, or is this just another example of how great players are getting way too little money. i see the word "sponsors" mentioned, and they all seem to be getting their plugs..... but 500 entry times 8 is 4000 (and 4000 was first). what exactly did the "sponsors" do??

edit: i mean these 8 could just get together at my place and do this same thing if you see my point.

 

[StevenPWaldon]

Originally this was a qualifier for the Allen Hopkins million dollar event, but due to some cancellations it was turned into a winner-take-all format.

I'd guess that in the finals, there was a saver worked out... especially with the high entry fee and winner-take all. My guess would be 3000/1000 split.

500 entry, 4000 for first winner take all. that is tough for louie. anyway. great job to the people who coordinated all this. not to take away from his event, but is it just me, or is this just another example of how great players are getting way too little money. i see the word "sponsors" mentioned, and they all seem to be getting their plugs..... but 500 entry times 8 is 4000 (and 4000 was first). what exactly did the "sponsors" do??

edit: i mean these 8 could just get together at my place and do this same thing if you see my point.

 

[CrownCityCorey]

500 entry, 4000 for first winner take all. that is tough for louie. anyway. great job to the people who coordinated all this. not to take away from his event, but is it just me, or is this just another example of how great players are getting way too little money. i see the word "sponsors" mentioned, and they all seem to be getting their plugs..... but 500 entry times 8 is 4000 (and 4000 was first). what exactly did the "sponsors" do??

edit: i mean these 8 could just get together at my place and do this same thing if you see my point.

Our sponsors supported us in products and services. No money. All of the players knew exactly what they were getting in to with this tournament. Every player without a doubt got a great deal of value from this event. Especially Max :grin-square:

All the guys had a good time and got to play top notch talent for two solid days, 7 races to 11 minimum. This was an opportunity to sharpen our games for very little cash investment.

We on the West Coast, rarely get a chance to play great players competatively.

When any one of us travel to the east to play in a big tournament, you will rarely anyone do better than 5th. Essentially, we have to go to tournaments cold. We have no pro events, no regional tour, and are barred from most local events. Unless we are trying to take each others money, there is no competition.

Not anymore!

If we do it again, it will likely be shortly before a major east coast event. So we came come instroke and ready to play.

and good luck getting 8 guys that play this good all together at once. . .

 

[JDB]

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

Serious question; what did the sponsors do? It was an 8 man format, $500 entry fee, total $4,000 purse, with winner take all.

I understand hardtimes because they held the event; however, I don't understand what the rest of the "sponsors" did. Unless of course, they paid some of the entry fees, which may be the case.

If that is the case, I am mistaken and they deserve thanks; however, if they did not pay the entry fees I am confused on what they did for the event.

 

[JDB]

500 entry, 4000 for first winner take all. that is tough for louie. anyway. great job to the people who coordinated all this. not to take away from his event, but is it just me, or is this just another example of how great players are getting way too little money. i see the word "sponsors" mentioned, and they all seem to be getting their plugs..... but 500 entry times 8 is 4000 (and 4000 was first). what exactly did the "sponsors" do??

edit: i mean these 8 could just get together at my place and do this same thing if you see my point.

I posted after the initial entry, so I did not see your post, but that is EXACTLY what I was thinking.

 

[JDB]

Our sponsors supported us in products and services. No money. All of the players knew exactly what they were getting in to with this tournament. Every player without a doubt got a great deal of value from this event. Especially Max :grin-square:

Corey,

I don't doubt you at all and from everything I have seen here and heard about you, you are a great guy. However, I think most people would be interested in hearing about the sponsors and what they provided so that they can choose these products and services in the future since they supported the event.

 

[Snake]

Hey Cory, thanks for producing a fabulous event, I was there all day saturday and watched the finals via TAR. It was awesome to see the best players in our area go at it, I have so much respect for you all. Keep up the good work. Peace.
snake

 

[LAMas]

Serious question; what did the sponsors do? It was an 8 man format, $500 entry fee, total $4,000 purse, with winner take all.

I understand hardtimes because they held the event; however, I don't understand what the rest of the "sponsors" did. Unless of course, they paid some of the entry fees, which may be the case.

If that is the case, I am mistaken and they deserve thanks; however, if they did not pay the entry fees I am confused on what they did for the event.

What I saw was that The Actionreport streamed the event on table 6 - quite an effort and expense. Tiger Products and Cory put the event together and ran it with a great crew. I don't know what Extreme Focus did, but Million Dollar 9 Ball will have to wait and see if Max will use his prize money to pay for his entry there on the East Coast.

 

[JDB]

What I saw was that The Actionreport streamed the event on table 6 - quite an effort and expense. Tiger Products and Cory put the event together and ran it with a great crew. I don't know what Extreme Focus did, but Million Dollar 9 Ball will have to wait and see if Max will use his prize money to pay for his entry there on the East Coast.

LAMas,

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.

 

[enzo]

Our sponsors supported us in products and services. No money. All of the players knew exactly what they were getting in to with this tournament. Every player without a doubt got a great deal of value from this event. Especially Max :grin-square:

All the guys had a good time and got to play top notch talent for two solid days, 7 races to 11 minimum. This was an opportunity to sharpen our games for very little cash investment.

We on the West Coast, rarely get a chance to play great players competatively.

When any one of us travel to the east to play in a big tournament, you will rarely anyone do better than 5th. Essentially, we have to go to tournaments cold. We have no pro events, no regional tour, and are barred from most local events. Unless we are trying to take each others money, there is no competition.

Not anymore!

If we do it again, it will likely be shortly before a major east coast event. So we came come instroke and ready to play.

and good luck getting 8 guys that play this good all together at once. . .

good luck? i could probably pull it off if i had a measely 2000 to add to a tournament pot. that is not very much money, so i dont think one needs too much luck, just a very, very small tournament payout. and that was the point of my post, why wouldn't the sponsors throw in 500 (or god forbid 1000) each or something? they are getting plugged all over the place with the names of these players attached to the flyers ect to attract the attention??

im glad they had fun but if we all think they are so great why dont we pay them more? that is my only question.

 

[enzo]

i just saw mentioned that the action report "sponsored" the event by streaming table 6. now, please please forgive me if im way off base here. i dont go to action report really.... but i take it they have ads, right? and when they have a stream of world class players, e. dominguez vs eberle (for example) they get hits, potentially a lot. people click on the ads and buy products because of this, and the action report gets a cut. so, because of the PLAYER'S names there is money being made, but the players get no money? i hope you see my point.

i think we all need to take a close look at what these "sponsors" do in any event. are they "sponsoring" the players, themselves, the establishment?? they should sponsor the players as they are using their names to cash in.

 

[demonrho]

I don't see how Action Report made anything off this - it probably cost them. Two hundred or so people watching the free streaming is a negligible amount of "hits." And it is my understanding that they had to pay their own air and motel expenses. Sounds like a labor of love. I for one -appreciate the hell out of them.

i just saw mentioned that the action report "sponsored" the event by streaming table 6. now, please please forgive me if im way off base here. i dont go to action report really.... but i take it they have ads, right? and when they have a stream of world class players, e. dominguez vs eberle (for example) they get hits, potentially a lot. people click on the ads and buy products because of this, and the action report gets a cut. so, because of the PLAYER'S names there is money being made, but the players get no money? i hope you see my point.

 

[yobagua]

i just saw mentioned that the action report "sponsored" the event by streaming table 6. now, please please forgive me if im way off base here. i dont go to action report really.... but i take it they have ads, right? and when they have a stream of world class players, e. dominguez vs eberle (for example) they get hits, potentially a lot. people click on the ads and buy products because of this, and the action report gets a cut. so, because of the PLAYER'S names there is money being made, but the players get no money? i hope you see my point.

i think we all need to take a close look at what these "sponsors" do in any event. are they "sponsoring" the players, themselves, the establishment?? they should sponsor the players as they are using their names to cash in.

Yeah youre "way off base" here. The Action Report paid for all of their hotel, air, car rental, food, etc. out of their own pocket. That was their end of sponsorship on this deal. They did not organize the event. No profit has been made other than the satisfaction of providing the event worldwide through the internet and proving that they have the capability to do it. Why dont you do the simple thing like clicking on to their site and you will see that they do what most of us only wish we could. And that is support the game, the players, the manufacturers, etc. and providing regionally known players with international visibility. Pool players need sponsorships and backers. What TAR does well is give recognition to those who need it. Look at the name worth now of a Justin Bergman, a Mike Deschane, and more known ones like Max Eberle and Danny Hariman. Whose name value has gone up on an international level since TAR airings. THis translates into money.
These are basically two pool loving guys who have put their money where their mouth is and put their own time, money, and hard work to give back to the pool community. JCIN is now in the process of developing a library of cuemakers interviewed and photographed. He spent one day on his own dime to interview the great Ernie Gutierrez of Gina Cue and will put it on the site. Will TAR make any dough out of this? No! But the fact is that this important cuemaker will be archived for generations to come. Now just think if we had Szamboti, Balabushka, or Paradise on tape or video.

TAR needs our whole hearted support. If they ended tomorrow what they have done is already tantamount to greatness.

 

[UrackmIcrackm]

good luck? i could probably pull it off if i had a measely 2000 to add to a tournament pot. that is not very much money, so i dont think one needs too much luck, just a very, very small tournament payout. and that was the point of my post, why wouldn't the sponsors throw in 500 (or god forbid 1000) each or something? they are getting plugged all over the place with the names of these players attached to the flyers ect to attract the attention??

im glad they had fun but if we all think they are so great why dont we pay them more? that is my only question.

You could've pulled it off if you had a measly $0.00 but an exorbitant amount of patience, effort, and time.

It would seem that you're confusing the qualifier with a regular pro tournament. People like Allen Hopkins and Barry Berhman come up with tournaments that are geared towards paying out a prize fund. The general basis of this tournament was just like an IPT or US Open qualifier.

People do not play in these events to win money from that particular event, they play in it in order to win a spot into a large, high paying tournament for a fraction of the entry fee cost. There is a huge difference between a qualifier and a tournament, which is the point that I believe is being missed here.

Had there been a field full of 10 and the winner won a spot on Allen Hopkins million dollar shoot out, would you still have a problem with it? The only reason this didn't happen was because players backed out.

Product sponsorship is very common place in the pool world. The sponsors for this event were either asked or volunteered to sponsor this event with the perception that this was a qualifier. They were approached or they approached the situation with this in mind.

I haven't spoken to anyone close to the situation since Sunday but the last I heard, there was a rumor that Tiger was going to provide the players with one of their new break cues, extreme focus was going to send their drink for the players and spectators to enjoy, and TAR was going to CA on their own money to cover the event for the fans of high caliber pool that couldn't be there for various different reasons from location to work to handicap to whatever reason one might have for not being able to attend the event live.

Tiger, Extreme Focus, and TAR all put something up for the players and fans of this qualifier and over all great exhibition of pool. It cost these sponsors out of pocket, it did not cost me, the fan and spectator anything. For the players that didn't necessarily care to go out to the east coast and play in Allen's event, the fact that it turned into a winner take all event was simply a bonus.

While I did not partake in chat, I did watch the chat session that went on and there were over 200 people watching the match from all over the world. Both the players and sponsors benefited from this exposure. People that had never heard of these sponsors now know of their products and people that had only ever heard of these players were blessed with the opportunity to actually see these them play.

As another poster had mentioned, I urge you to go check out the TAR website. The last time that I looked around, they were not a "sponsored" site like AZ is. There are no banners with sponsors ads. If they're lucky, they can get an event sponsor like they did with their Vegas trip where someone like OB Cues steps in and helps them defray the travel, lodging, action room rental, and internet hook up expense. I believe Diamond Billiards will step in for certain events and provide the pool table. They still have to cover the nut for cameras, computers, microphones, a booth. Oh yeah, they also have to eat at some point. I forgot to mention that even with the cost of airline tickets rising, fuel prices are out of this world and the economy at an all time low, Justin from TAR felt strongly enough about this event to volunteer to cover it on his own dime.

I hope that my very long winded post can somehow help you better understand not only the difference between a regular tournament and a qualifier but also how the sponsorship worked for this tournament, the players, and the sponsors themselves.

Last but not least, I was able to gather from the TAR commentary & chat room conversations that Corey Harper was the brainchild of this idea. He is employed full time and married with a life outside of pool. He spent months chasing down players for their entry fee and looking for alternates to fill in for some of the players that had originally given their word that they would play.

According to people like Jay Helfert that live in that area, the pool room, Hard Times was more packed than he could ever remember. There were local & far away spectators online in the chat room begging for this event to become an annual event. There are a lot of great players on the West coast that don't have very many local events to show their wares. The possibilities of this becoming a monies added, annual event are very real.

You have to crawl before you can walk. These 8 players and product sponsors crawled to this event. It was such a success that the players on the West coast will more than likely have a monies added event next yr for a new "Best of the West" title holder.

In my opinion, this qualifier was wildly successful for all involved and I sincerely hope to be able to watch the 2nd annual best of the west event on TAR next summer.

Peace