Mike Geffner’s “Inspired Word” 2nd Event Tonight at Le Poisson Rouge… NYC’s Hottest Spoken Word/Poetry Event!

Two weeks ago, NYC’s own world-renown writer and journalist Mike Geffner launched the Inspired Word - Night of Stars series at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC. The event was a huge success showcased in front of a packed house.

Le Poisson Rouge is one of the hottest progressive locations for emerging art and music in NYC, and served as the perfect locale for this event. At the kickoff of the Inspired Word Series, Mike Geffner introduced 19 of the most dynamic and talented spoken word artists in the NY area.

Tonight at the second event of the series takes place again at Le Poisson Rouge. The Inspired Word will feature an amazing fantastic, line-up of four spoken word/poetry rockstars:  Shanelle Gabriel, Caits Meissner, B. Yung, & Kelly Tsai.

(Le) Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St., 7-10pm

Read the story for last weeks lineup as well as the first video showcased from the series. Stay tuned for more!!!

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Pool Instruction: CueTips #17 Using a Rolling Cue Ball

NYC Grind is proud to welcome back New York pool instructor Mark Finkelstein for his second year of contributing tips and tools for our readers in 2010. Mark has brought his unique insight and perspective to the Grind as well as his students in NYC, where he is house pro at upscale pool room and lounge, Slate. His passion and dedication to playing and teaching pool are evident in his observations, so be sure to check out the weekly edition of his column “CueTips” every Thursday here on NYC Grind.

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I was giving a lesson up town today.  Before my lesson, I was watching a young man practicing a long thin cut shot, trying to pocket the object ball and roll the cue ball between two balls on the end rail.  The shot is in the diagram below.

Unfortunately, he was having a lot of trouble with this shot.  Here is what I saw.  First, his stick was not level and he was hitting down on the cue ball.  Next, he was contacting the cue ball in the center, causing the cue ball to slide and jump.  Because he had a dead cue ball, he had to overstroke the cue ball, losing control of the ball.

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Ra Hanna Runs Undefeated to a Tri-State Win at Castle

The Tri-State Tour held a special C/D 9-ball event at Castle Billiards in E. Rutherford, NJ on Saturday, January 23, with a J. Pechauer Custom Cue going to the winner.  42 players turned out to vie for the cue along with a top prize of $500.

Cruising through to the final four of the winner’s side, house player Annie Flores faced NY’s Dave Schlemperis, who would dominate the set (6-3).  In the other final four match, Ra Hanna would defeat Pho Tran by the same scoreline (6-3).  Hanna and Schlemperis faced off for a guaranteed spot in the finals, and the hot seat would go to Ra Hanna, taking the match easily, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Tri Chau was busy making his way back through the one-loss side, where he came through to the final eight to defeat Richard Ng 6-3, Andrew Boryszewski (6-4), Pho Tran (6-3), and Annie Flores (6-3) in the quarterfinal.  This moved him onto the semifinal against Dave Schlemperis, where he continued his winning streak with a close 6-4 win.

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Ginky & Alex Gonzalez Claim their First-Ever wins on the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour

On January 23-24, 2010, the Ozone Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour made its second stop of the 2010 season at Eastside Billiards on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

In the amateur A/B/C/D event, the first day showcased strong play from John Alicea, Stu Warnock, and Andrew Kane in a full field of 64 players. The second day of the tournament kicked off at noon on Sunday, to bring back the final 8 players.

On the winner’s side, Wilson Cruz rolled over Stu Warnock (7-3) in a dominant performance. Wilson was then matched up with Alex Gonzalez, who had previously defeated Matthew Harricharan (7-3).

Wilson continued his winning ways over Alex (7-3), earning him a spot in the finals, undefeated. Alex would wait for the west side of the bracket to fight it out, for a chance to get in the finals.

On Sunday, Andrew Kane had a gritty performance, defeating Pat DiBuono (7-6), Matthew Harricharan (7-4) and Stu Warnock (7-2), before losing to Alex Gonzalez (7-0).

Alex was hungry to bounce back in a rematch against Wilson Cruz in the finals. That final match would be one race to 9 games, which Alex came out first, completing the set with a 9-7 score and an impressive Predator Tour win.

In the Open/Pro 10-ball event, Tony Robles won his first two matches over Randy Jaragoske (8-5) and Paul Raval (8-4), before losing to Frankie Hernandez (8-6).

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The 12th Annual Derby City Classic Takes the Stage at the Horseshoe Casino

By NYC Grind Contributor, Alison M. Fischer

There are three words that best describe The Derby City Classic… action, action, and more action!  Okay, so five words, but regardless, The Horseshoe Casino is now in the thick of the 12th Annual DCC, where around the clock pool action can be found whether it’s in the tournament, the ring games, or–the infamous money matches.

The Derby City Classic began in 1998, and was created in the spirit of the Johnston City Classic tournament to continue the tradition of an all-around event that would bring in the most talented players in the game from all over the country. The sport of pool has certainly come a long way since 1972, and now players from around the world come to the Derby to get in on even higher stakes action.

However, at the 2009 DCC, the players to go home with top honors included an All-American lineup of One Pocket Division Champion John Schmidt, 9-Ball Division Champion Shane Van Boening, and 9-Ball Banks Division Champion & All-Around top finisher John Brumback, who are now faced with the challenge of defending their titles.

The 2010 DCC kicked off on Friday, January 22nd with the 9-Ball Banks event, followed by the legendary Derby One Pocket event starting yesterday, with the 9-Ball event beginning on Wednesday.  To watch live feature tournament matches, be sure to check out Accu-Stats.com.

If you want to catch interesting match-ups between some of the toughest in the world, along with insider commentary, The Action Report (TAR) will once again be streaming matches live from the DCC every day, with stream viewing provided free through today, and for a pay-per-view fee beginning Tuesday.

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New Yorkers Pool Their Strength for the Treatment of Cancer as World-Class Pool Players Put on an Exhibition at Eastside Billiards

New York pool players and fans will “pool their strength” for the treatment of cancer as top pool players and fans team up for a worthwhile charity. In a charity event to benefit the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Patient Free Care Fund, Eastside Billiards will host an awesome night of pool and community.

NY -area pool player Jason Gonzalez is organizing the event, in an effort to help multiply the impact on Cancer patient’s lives.

The Patient Free Care Fund provides free cancer care to financially needy people who might not otherwise be able to afford treatment. This is an amazing service, which is truly life changing, and provides people with a light at the end of the tunnel.

In a strong show of support, top NY pro pool players “9mm” Jennifer Barretta and Tony Robles will be putting on a great show. Not only are two of the strongest players in pool going to be helping Cancer patients get a good roll, but Jason has announced a very special appearance.

“The Duchess of Doom” Allison Fisher, is also flying in to help this cause reach it’s goal of raising $10,000 for the evening. As sports fans know… Allison Fisher is the most dominant female professional pool player to ever grace the sport, and has also shown great leadership within and outside the pool industry.

Be sure to read the story for all of the details for the even,t which will take place on Saturday, February 6, 2010 from 2:00 to 5:00.

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Tomorrow! Super Billiards Expo Qualifier at Crown Billiards in Pompton Lakes, NJ

Allen Hopkins’ Super Billiards Expo is right around the corner, and tomorrow, January 24th, Crown Billiards in Pompton Lakes, NJ is giving players an opportunity to win a free entry into the Expo’s Amateur Players Championship 9-ball event.

New Jersey veteran player Carmen Lombardo recently re-opened Crown Billiards, and will be running a qualifier 9-ball tournament on Sunday starting at 2:00 pm, in the same format as the Super Billiards Expo, which will be held on March 18-21, 2010.

Like the Expo, the qualifier will be played on 7′ tables and feature a single elimination format, with each match going to the best 2 out of 3 races to 5.  The entry fee for the qualifier is only $20, and 1 out of 4 players will win a free entry into this year’s Super Billiards Expo.

Crown Billiards is located at 735 Hamburg Turnpike, Pompton Lakes, NJ.  For more info call Crown at 973-835-9226.

For more information on the Super Billiards Expo, visit www.SuperBilliardsExpo.com.

Ed Manlulu Claims an Undefeated win on the Tri-State at Sandcastle

Last Saturday, January 16th, the Tri-State Tour headed to Edison, New Jersey’s Sandcastle Billiards where Ed Manlulu went undefeated in tour’s B/C/D event. His route to the finals included wins over John Egeln (7-3), Paul Everton (7-2), James DiLillo (7-6), George Osipovitch (7-5), and to claim the hot seat, Chris Luethi, 7 - 1.

After Chris Luethi was sent to the one-loss by Manlulu, he would wait for the eventual winner of the left side of the bracket.  This event would see North Jersey Straight Pool Pro-Am Quarterly director Scott Abramowitz come through the loser’s bracket from the final 8 with wins over Peter Brennan (6-5), Christian Smith (8-6), George Osipovitch (6-1), and Raul Reyes (6-3) to land in the semfinal against Luethi.  Scott’s run would end here as Chris would win the set defiantly, 8-4, to move onto the finals for a rematch with Ed Manlulu.

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The Ozone Billiards Predator 9-ball Tour Kicks off 2010 with wins from Jeremy Sossei and Hiram Sherman

The season opener of the 2010 Ozone Billiards Predator 9-ball Tour kicked off on Saturday, January 16 at Raxx Pool Room, where it premiered the tour’s new format with an Open division and an A-D amateur division.

With an impressive field of 76 players in the handicapped amateur division, the tour’s players would face a long battle on the road to the finals.  This event featured a split format, where A/B level players would compete on one side of the bracket while C/D players were on the other, only to meet in the final two on the winner’s side.

Coming through the winner’s side to the final four were John Hacsi, who defeated Michael Hertz (7-5) on the C/D side, and Hiram Sherman, who came through with a 7-4 win against  Tommy Derasmo on the A/B side.  This win set Sherman up against Hacsi for the hot seat match, where Hiram Sherman would end up in a battle to hill-hill, but finish on top at 7-6.

Meanwhile, Jeff Firester and Stewart Warnock had made their way through the one-loss side to face Tommy Derasmo and Michael Hertz in the final four of the one-loss side.  To land a chance at the quarterfinals, Firester defeated Erin McManus (7-3) along with breakthrough junior player Darwin Vergara by the same score, while Warnock knocked out Shawn Sookhai (7-4) and Junior Sanchez (7-1).

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Pool Synergy Volume 3: ShootingArts on How Life Influences Pool

In the third installment of PoolSynergy, the collaborators have decided to bring on a few special guest writers.  Our special guest for this edition is named Hu, known as “ShootingArts” on the AZbilliards forums.  Hu has been and AZ forum member since  2005, having over 6,870 postings.  The topic for January’s PoolSynergy is on how things other areas of our lives have an impact on how we play the game of pool.  Click Here to go to pool instructor Mike Fieldhammer’s complete listing of articles on this topic on www.billiardcoach.com.

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Outside influences that have affected the way I play pool are simply everything in my life. We all bring our life’s experiences to the table. The main influences are a little trickier to pin down. I was born on a
farm. I feel the ethics learned there are the foundation all else is built on. Hard work was the norm and quitting wasn’t an option. Expecting to have to work hard and never considering that failure is an option are of benefit to any competitor. Any loss on the table is a minor setback, never seen as a major failure or permanent status.

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