Does anyone have results for the first several US Opens (9-Ball) which were held at Q-Master in Virginia Beach? I've been looking through old publications and couldn't find much.
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US Open 9-Ball -- info on early events?
- Thread starter Bob Jewett
- Start date
SlateMan
Registered
They are here as in AZbilliards here!:
US Open 9-Ball Championship - Results - AZBILLIARDS.COM
[Taken from the official U.S. Open website] The U.S.Open is The Longest Run and Most Prestigious 9-Ball Event in the world. Barry Behrman's dream to take 9-Ball, Pool and Billiards to a new level still today becomes a reality as the field stands strong from around the world. Never could have i
About 6 years ago, before Barry B. died, I tried to get information from him about 1976 and 1977: who finished second, what the final match scores were, and what the winning prize money was. But I never got an answer. Do your old publications answer any of those questions? I also do not know the score of the final match in some other years: 1979 (both events)-1982, 1984, and 1987-1990.
What was his daughters name? On the tip of my tong. She might know or know where to look. Seems to me it shouldn’t be too difficult to find-I hope.
best
Fatboy
I'm having difficulty sorting things out. Part of the problem is that it was not called "The US Open 9-Ball Championship" the first few years so far as I can tell. The main publications at that time were the National Billiard News and the American Billiard Review. The National Bowlers Journal and Billiard Review is another possible source. If anyone has access to the Norfolk newspapers of that era, they might have stories.
And so far as I can tell, Sigel won in 1977. Or at last he won an event at Q-Master Nov. 1-6. Carella finished second in that event. The players included Hopkins, Lassiter, Rempe, Jimmy Fusco, Staton, Martin, Mizerak.... The article in ABR is spotty.
I have no idea which event Hopkins won in 1977.
Wikipedia and AZB appear to be mistaken.
Here is what I found in American Billiard Review for the 1976 event. The first image is a full-page ad that appeared in October. The second is the results from the November issue.
According to this article published in the Brainerd (Minnesota) Daily Dispatch on September 29, 1977, Jim Rempe's recent titles included winning the Q Masters Invitational in Norfolk, Virginia. So it's possible that Rempe won the 1977 event rather than Sigel, but the article doesn't really provide enough details to be certain.
Keith said the Open was played at a different pool room than where Q-Masters is today, and it was crowded as heck.
I have some old National Billiards News and Accu-Stats scoresheets somewhere and Snap magazines from '70s and '80s. I'll see if I can find more data.
AzBilliards has digitized copies of National Billiards News in digital format called the "Burkman Collection": https://www.azbilliards.com/azbilliards-launches-online-national-billiard-news-archive/
I have some old National Billiards News and Accu-Stats scoresheets somewhere and Snap magazines from '70s and '80s. I'll see if I can find more data.
AzBilliards has digitized copies of National Billiards News in digital format called the "Burkman Collection": https://www.azbilliards.com/azbilliards-launches-online-national-billiard-news-archive/
I've checked the NBN and couldn't find anything. (I have paper copies.) I think the big news then was the players forming the PPPA and the dueling BCA/PPPA events.
For the Rempe item, it appears that Behrman had invitationals in April for fewer players. I have seen no results from those. The October/November event was 16 players or so at the start.
In about October 1975, Behrman moved from somewhere to the location listed above on Sewells Point Road in Norfolk. An item in ABR said he had only two tables in the tournament room. It also said he was planning on having a tournament shortly. I suppose Sigel may have won it. Does anyone know when Q-Master moved to the current location in Virginia Beach? (5612 Princess Anne Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23462)
For the Rempe item, it appears that Behrman had invitationals in April for fewer players. I have seen no results from those. The October/November event was 16 players or so at the start.
In about October 1975, Behrman moved from somewhere to the location listed above on Sewells Point Road in Norfolk. An item in ABR said he had only two tables in the tournament room. It also said he was planning on having a tournament shortly. I suppose Sigel may have won it. Does anyone know when Q-Master moved to the current location in Virginia Beach? (5612 Princess Anne Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23462)
Rempe has made similar comments during commentary that he won an event when it was called the Masters instead of the Open. I can’t recall if it was in the context of 14.1 or 9 ball.
Right now I'm considering the Oct/Nov Q-Master event for more than eight players "The Open". I don't think it officially had the title "US Open" until sometime after the Nov. 1977 event. At that time it was called the "Invitational Tournament of Champions". The 1977 event was planned for 16 players:
In today's dollars, that's around $18,000 for first place.
In today's dollars, that's around $18,000 for first place.
Do you think the money was really in escrow? Ha ha ha ha ha.
SlateMan
Registered
I found this while trying to help. It is not on point, but interesting:
No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up. --- Lily Tomlin
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I asked the Norfolk Public Library to help and they were amazingly helpful. Here is an article about an earlier tournament -- The U.S. Nine Ball Classic -- at an earlier poolroom -- Paddle and Cue -- that I'm pretty sure was the grandfather of the current Q-Masters.
From the October 16th 1974 issue of the Ledger-Star (which seems to have stopped publishing in 1995):
NORFOLK - When the big guns of the green felt and numbered sphere set gather, there's an aura of Dodge City. There is always a "new kid" who wants a shot at beating the top man — or the man who was. A pool hall hosting a big money tournament carries with it some of the drama and tautness of a Western gunfight. Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter, once the "Elizabeth City Kid", still commands the respect and envy of young challengers. When the weapons are cues and the rules Nine Ball, the young men on the way up are usually nipped in the bud — at least temporarily.
Such was the case in the opening rounds of the United States Nine Ball Classic at the Paddle and Cue on Sewells Point Road. "If it's like a gunfight, then I've lost all my bullets," quipped the 54-year-old, seven-time world's champion. No longer a highly-rated player on the national level, Lassiter has joined Willie Mosconi and Jackie Gleason's "Hustler" as familiar figures in posters that stare down at the tables from pod parlor walls.
Despite Lassiter's legend-in-his-time status, he had no difficulty besting one of the Norfolk's top "local players" Monday night, unerringly dropping the money ball on tricky combinations. "He's young and I'm old. I'd have hated for him to win," Lassiter confided after the one-sided match. Although Mike Segal and Richie Florence — both in the top five nationally — were battling it out on the center table, most eyes were on Lassiter. Knowing smiles and open murmurs of admiration greeted the master's moves.
The Paddle and Cue qualifies as a serious billiards establishment - as opposed to the metal flake and Muzak amusement centers found in some cities - but it is a brightly-lit, well-ventilated far-cry from the dens of iniquity mothers still fear. Norfolk, 1974, with its thorny garland of laws and vigilant alphabet agencies, is not the free-swinging boom town that Lassiter came to as a sharp-shooting 15-year-old ready to hustle the hustlers. An 18 and above law retards future generations of pool players. "The greatest 'action' there's ever been in the history of the game was here in the '40s. Everybody that was playing for money came to Norfolk and Virginia Beach," Lassiter said, a faint smile on his lined face. For those who can be a bit nostalgic about the dingy and illegal — who can't? — the 'game' has lost some of its color.
A billiard ambassador with a gentle way and fatherly thatch of white hair, Lassiter sees a new future for pool. "Pool beats all sports for television potential. How much of the action in a golf match do you see on TV? With four cameras and a fifth overhead, you can't miss a thing that goes on at a table." Consummate skill, win-or-lose drama, and colorful motion are assets that might attract television. But one hopes the clinical sterility of a studio is at least spiced up with a few spittoons, a "No profanity, please" sign and a few pool hall characters.
The U.S. Nine Ball Classic continues nightly with semi-finals and finals Saturday. The top eight finishers share a $5,000 purse. In tonight's matches, Lassiter takes on Joe Nemi of Norfolk. Both players are undefeated in the tourney. Jim Rempe plays Mike Segal, Florence plays Charlie Jones and Tom Syr faces Billy Cabalaro.
Nemi beat Ray Trivette Tuesday night. Rempe downed Terry Hubbard, Syr defeated Cisero Murphy and Dave White beat Red Hicks.
![CropperCapture[764].png](https://forums.azbilliards.com/attachments/croppercapture-764-png.612899/ "CropperCapture[764].png")
There's life in the old champ
''Wimpy" Lassiter outsticks a young challenger
Photo by Mike Williams
From the October 16th 1974 issue of the Ledger-Star (which seems to have stopped publishing in 1995):
Shootout at the OK poolroom
By GREG GLASSNERNORFOLK - When the big guns of the green felt and numbered sphere set gather, there's an aura of Dodge City. There is always a "new kid" who wants a shot at beating the top man — or the man who was. A pool hall hosting a big money tournament carries with it some of the drama and tautness of a Western gunfight. Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter, once the "Elizabeth City Kid", still commands the respect and envy of young challengers. When the weapons are cues and the rules Nine Ball, the young men on the way up are usually nipped in the bud — at least temporarily.
Such was the case in the opening rounds of the United States Nine Ball Classic at the Paddle and Cue on Sewells Point Road. "If it's like a gunfight, then I've lost all my bullets," quipped the 54-year-old, seven-time world's champion. No longer a highly-rated player on the national level, Lassiter has joined Willie Mosconi and Jackie Gleason's "Hustler" as familiar figures in posters that stare down at the tables from pod parlor walls.
Despite Lassiter's legend-in-his-time status, he had no difficulty besting one of the Norfolk's top "local players" Monday night, unerringly dropping the money ball on tricky combinations. "He's young and I'm old. I'd have hated for him to win," Lassiter confided after the one-sided match. Although Mike Segal and Richie Florence — both in the top five nationally — were battling it out on the center table, most eyes were on Lassiter. Knowing smiles and open murmurs of admiration greeted the master's moves.
The Paddle and Cue qualifies as a serious billiards establishment - as opposed to the metal flake and Muzak amusement centers found in some cities - but it is a brightly-lit, well-ventilated far-cry from the dens of iniquity mothers still fear. Norfolk, 1974, with its thorny garland of laws and vigilant alphabet agencies, is not the free-swinging boom town that Lassiter came to as a sharp-shooting 15-year-old ready to hustle the hustlers. An 18 and above law retards future generations of pool players. "The greatest 'action' there's ever been in the history of the game was here in the '40s. Everybody that was playing for money came to Norfolk and Virginia Beach," Lassiter said, a faint smile on his lined face. For those who can be a bit nostalgic about the dingy and illegal — who can't? — the 'game' has lost some of its color.
A billiard ambassador with a gentle way and fatherly thatch of white hair, Lassiter sees a new future for pool. "Pool beats all sports for television potential. How much of the action in a golf match do you see on TV? With four cameras and a fifth overhead, you can't miss a thing that goes on at a table." Consummate skill, win-or-lose drama, and colorful motion are assets that might attract television. But one hopes the clinical sterility of a studio is at least spiced up with a few spittoons, a "No profanity, please" sign and a few pool hall characters.
The U.S. Nine Ball Classic continues nightly with semi-finals and finals Saturday. The top eight finishers share a $5,000 purse. In tonight's matches, Lassiter takes on Joe Nemi of Norfolk. Both players are undefeated in the tourney. Jim Rempe plays Mike Segal, Florence plays Charlie Jones and Tom Syr faces Billy Cabalaro.
Nemi beat Ray Trivette Tuesday night. Rempe downed Terry Hubbard, Syr defeated Cisero Murphy and Dave White beat Red Hicks.
There's life in the old champ
''Wimpy" Lassiter outsticks a young challenger
Photo by Mike Williams
Ray Trivette is probably a typo. "Roy" Trivett was the real players name. Red Hicks and Roy were arch rivals in Virginia. Roy was related to Seattle Sam...
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Carry Dunn was still an active player not long ago. Hopefully he is still around, his brother Marty could play well also.