Tony's Web Log 12/24/2009 Ending The Year on a High I just won the KF Cue Tour event last weekend at Hammerheads in Holiday, Florida. This win also qualified me to play in the Predator 10-Ball international event in Spain. This was a great confidence boost for me going into the new year after several high finishes in the last 6 weeks there is nothing like lifting the trophy and finishing 1st, this also means I finished the year as player of the year and Ranked no1 on the Seminole Pro Tour and also the KF cue Tour. This gives me a big lift heading into 2010 and representing the USA in Spain in the event that starts on Jan 6. I am already excited about this event as it has been a long time since I travelled overseas to play. The last was to represent the USA in the Philippines where I had my famous win over Efren Reyes, this time I go with a whole lot more experience and with the knowledge that I am as tough as anyone out there. I wish everybody a Happy New Year and a safe holidays, May 2010 be the year that brings much joy to all our lives. Thanks To all the people out there that have shown me great support and my sponsors Strokers pool room, Diamond Billiards products who supplied me with a table to play on and www.billiardscoop.com for their support with my websites. Thanks Tony Crosby 12/18/2009 KF Cue Tour this weekend @ Hammerheads I will be taking the KF Cue Tour to Hammerheads Billiards lounge this weekend. The event is $2000 Added with a $1000 Amateur event starting Saturday followed by a $1000 Added open event Sunday, this event will also serve as a Predator international 10-Ball Qualifier for the event taking place in Spain, with the highest place finisher able to go to Spain o January the 6th getting a $1000 bonus towards expenses. I have been busy trying to get my own game back on track. I have not been happy with my performances in the last 4 months and feel in the last 4 weeks I have finaly turned the corner and maybe even become a stronger player for it. I also had the bonus of Diamond Pool Tables putting a Table in Strokers pool room for me to play on. This is going to make a big difference to me when playing in the big events. I will be competing Sunday also so hopefully I pull the win off and earn the trip to Spain myself. check out www.kfcuetour.com for more info. Thanks Tony Crosby 11/2/2009 Looking forward to a busy month. November will be a hectic one, we had to Change the KF cue Tour event from Bankshots in Ocala to Strokers in Palm Harbor on the 7th-8th November other dates this month will be 11th-15th November $40,000 Added Steve Mizerak, 18th-22 US Invitational $30,000 Added Innisbrook Resort 21st-22nd $4000 Added KF Cue Tour Amateur only, Innisbrook. Limited to 128 players for more info on this event go to www.kfcuetour.com I am hoping to have a good month of solid play after a dissapointing US Open. Check out www.billiardscoop.com for updates on these events Thanks Tony 10/12/2009 Player of the Year and No1 Ranked I was named player of the year on the Seminole Pro Tour this weekend. Stroker's in Palm Harbor Florida was the host venue for the last event of the season for the Seminole Pro tour. This venue is also my home room so it was made even sweeter picking up this award. I kicked off the weekend being ranked no1 by the slimmest of margins with top pro players Mike Davis, Stevie Moore and Corey Deuel trying to catch me. Saturday saw me win my first two matches which would guarantee me another top 10 finish and a healthy amount of points. I would however finish in 9th positions losing to Donnie Mills who played perfect on me and then having to come back sunday morning to face of against Stevie Moore. I played very poorly in this match, I had a chance in nearly every rack but found a way to finish badly and would take an emabarassing 8-1 loss. This now would leave Moore needing two more wins to over take me in the rankings. The pressure was certainly on him and it showed as he would also play a bad match and lose to Jerry Calderon 8-3. Mike Davis was eliminated Saturday so he was out of the running and with Corey Deuel finshing 6th I would be crowned player of the year and the no1 ranked player for the season. This is a great achievement for me, having played less events than the other players it also shows how consistent I have been all year on tour, I did manage to finsih top 10 in every event which included a 1st and two 4th place finishes. I would like to thanks Jose Del Rio, Strokers pool room owner for sending me to the New York event last minute, with out that 4th place finish I would have had no shot at becoming the No1 player. I owe him a drink for the $1000 bonus I get. Also thanks to everybody out there for there support and emails. My next event will be the US Open 9-Ball championships which I go to in a very confident mood. Thanks to all my sponsors, www.billiardscoop.com www.strokeitwear.com www.conceptcues.com 9/25/2009 No1 Ranked Player Seminole Pro Tour I have had a very strong season on the Seminole Pro Tour. The last event I played was a good one for me finishing in 4th spot and taking the no1 position in the rankings. The last event will be held in my home room Strokers on oct 9th through the 11th so it would fantastic for me to have a good finish and maybe be crowned player of the year. With all the events coming up over the next two months I need to bare down and put some solid time on the practice table which is somthing I have been unable to do. I have been working hard on the Tour for the new season which kicks of 3rd october at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville Florida, Check out www.kfcuetour.com Its going to be a very interesting couple of months and I am feeling very good mentally and physically due to a month spent working out and trying to shred some pounds. If I can just add some time in on the table who knows what I can do???? Thanks to everybody out there for there support. Tony Crosby 8/26/2009 FL State Amateur Chapionships an More I will be running the FL State Amateur and Open 9-Ball Cahmpioships over the next two weekends. This weekend Sat August 29/30th the Florida State Amateur championships will be at Strokers 2 in Tampa. This event also serves as the Kf cue Tour finals for the season. The Kf Cue tour is somthing I started a year ago and has already become one of the biggest tours in the country with over 500 members. This weekend will be $2500 added in prize money plus a $500 free entry into one of the major pro events of the year the Steve Mizerak event in November. if you need more info on this go to www.kfcuetour.com. I have been very busy working on these events and also spending time with my family over the summer. My two little one started school today so it will be very quiet at home for the 1st time in nearly 6 years. I have had many people email me about why I have not showed up to many of the pro events this year?, Ok well to make a long story short I am a little annoyed with low paying tournaments being classed as Pro events and ranking events. So basically if it not finacially worth my while I will not be attending. I know this means a drop in my ranking position but I have to do what is best for me and my family. The economy of course is a huge factor in this. I will be bringing more news on the event this weekend also check out my new venture www.conceptcues.com this will be fully functional very soon. Thanks Tony Crosby 8/3/2009 SE Open Finals 2nd Place not to Shabby I played the Se open season finals this weekend which managed to draw some of the best players in the world due to another event taking place later in the week. The event kicked off with some very notable names which included Rodney Morris, Corey Deuel, Stevie Moore, Tommy Kennedy, Mike Davis, Donnie Mills, Marco Tshudi and John Ditoro to mention a few. I would mange to get through Saturdays play unbeaten with a 7-0 win over Richard Fox, 7-5 win over George McLanahan I then followed this one up with a very good win over Rodney Morris 7-5 which would see me through to Sunday in the last 8. 8 Player left on Sunday were Me (Tony Crosby) v Marco Tshudi, Stevie Moore v Jerry Calderon. On the one loss side, Donnie Mills V Richey Richeson, Corey Deuel V Rodney Morris. I would lose a tight match to Tshudi 7-5, I would now go on a strong run to make my to the final with strong wins over Donnie Mills 9-5, Corey Deuel 9-8 and then a win over Jerry Calderon 9-7 to reach the final for a rematch with Tshudi. The final was a very tight affair with Both of us playing some great pool, and the match going all the way to the wire, at 10-10 Tshudi broke the balls perfect making 2 balls with nothing tied up he went onto leave me sat in my chair and in 2nd position for the event. I played some very strong pool this weekend beating a lot of good players which was a big confidence boost for me. I will be flying out to the Marine bases this week in North Carolina to do some exhibitions for four days. This should be a lot of fun trying to teach Marines how to shoot straight on a pool table. I will bring a full report and pictures for this event. Thanks again to everybody for there support over the weekend Tony Crosby The Sniper 7/22/2009 Getting ready for several events coming up. I just got back from North Carolina. My next stop will be Ft Pierce in Fl where I will be taking the KF Cue Tour. We will be having a $1700 Added event at Ultimate Billiards, $1000 Added open and a $700 Added Amateur. This is our last event of the season before the Fl State championships. The State Championships is going to be held over two weekends. August 29th/30th will be the Amateur event which is also $2500 Added. September 5th/6th is going to be the Florida State Championships which is also $2500 Added. August is going to be a very busy month. I will be playing the Se open tour finals and then flying out to North carolina to do four days of Ehibitions for the Marines. I will also be trying to tech them how to shoot straight on the pool table LOl so it should be fun. Thanks Tony Crosby 7/10/2009 Gem City Classic I am currently in Atlanta for the Gem City Classic. The event starts Friday July 10th (tonight) at 4pm there will be a players meeting. Back if Fl, My wife Natalie will be running the KF cue tours $1000 Added Amateur event. This event will be at Tj's billiards in New Port Richey. I am looking forward to playing and feel my game is improving al the time. Thanks Tony 7/1/2009 June was a good month, June was a very good month for me, I won my first Florida Pro Tour event. This win means a lot to me having been in the final day of play probably 80% of the time and to have not won was very annoying. I also receieved so many congrat messages which also made me realise how many other people out there new my position. Well the monkey is finally off my back and I now feel I will go onto be a much bigger threat having taken this one down. This win was followed up 5 days later with KF cue tour victory at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville. The next Florida Pro Tour I finished 4th so not bad but I feel that is another one that got away. I have the Gem City Classic coming up in Atlanta which should be a very strong event. I am looking forward to playing again which only comes with winning, The more you win the more you want to play. I just need to find the time to fit practice in on what is a very hectic schedule. Thnaks Tony Crosby 5/23/2009 Memorial Weekend. The last few months have been hectic. I have the Florida Pro tour this weekend at Capones in Spring Hill so hoepfully it will be a good one. The KF cue tour has become very busy, We are now one of the biggest tours in the US with our huge turn outs. The good news is we are already working on the new season and will be making some big changes to the format.These cahnges are going to make the tour bigger and better for everyone involved. Concept cues is realy taking off, Corey Deuel is playing great with his model as are all the other pro's using them today. The only way is up for Concept cues. KF cues are making the line and this which there workmanship just speaks for itself. Ok thats all from me time to go play 4/10/2009 KF Cue Tour We have got the KF cue Tour at Strokers II April 11th/12th. $1700 added event. The last few weeks have been very busy. We got back from the Super Billiards Expo and had to get ready for the Fast Breaks event in Longwwod which was a very big event with over 130 players on the weekend. I took a few days off only to find out we had to change the location of this event from Capones to Strokers so no rest for the wicked. I am looking forward to playing this weekend it should be a good event. 3/9/2009 Busy Times I have been a little slack lately with updating my blog. The last couple of months have been hectic, I have been working very hard off the table instead of on it and it is begging to show in my game which is frustrating. As many of you know I run www.strokeitwear.com also the tour www.kfcuetour.com I have been working very hard on a new project with Corey Deuel and several other high Profile players including Dennis Hatch to bring out and Develop a new line of cues www.conceptcues.com . I have incorporated the Sniper Break Jump cue which now comes in 4 styles brown, black with or without wraps. This break Jump cue is already being used by some of the best players in the World. The new cue line is from the players for the players. We will be launching the Concept Cue line at the Super Billiards Expo which is one of the biggest events on the Pro and Amateur calendar. To top this I have been trying to spend as much time as possible with my family which is growing fast. My Girls, Kayla is now 5 and Emily 3 they are getting big so fast and there characters just get stronger and stronger. We have a KF cue tour event at TJ’s Billiards in New Port Richey and two day after this I will be heading to the Billiards Expo me and Natalie will be running the Stroke It wear booth and the Concept cues booth as well. We look forward to seeing you all there. Thanks again to everybody who has been giving me support. Tony Crosby 2/26/2009 The Marines for me I am heding to New Bern North Carolina tomorrow to do an exhibition for the Marines. No I didnt sign up however they did conatct me. I will be on the Marine base for two days so this should be a fun show. I am mainly going to be doing chalenge matches. It has been a very busy few months with trying to get the new Cue line ready for launch at the Super Billiards Expo next month. Concept Cues is the new company and Corey Deuel has also teamed up with me to try and develop some great hitting Cues. Many of the Top Pro players today are already using my Jump break cue The Sniper which will also fall under the Concept Line. 2/19/2009 Turning Stone event I left Florida on Wednesday to play at the Turning Stone Casino Pro event. This event is stacked with quality players from all over the World and is also considered to be a Pro Ranking event as well. I will play my first match at 6pm tonight and a win could see me face Alison Fisher in the next round. This was a tough event to attend as my own tour is also having an event this weekend at Stroker’s 2 in Tampa. My wife Natalie will be running this one so I am confident it will be another very successful event. I will be bringing news on my progress this weekend. Thanks Tony 1/22/2009 Big O's Event KF Cue Tour Results - Roberts & Howe Big Winners in Tampaa 1/21/2009 - Big O’s in Tampa, Florida hosted the January 18th KF Cue Tour event with $1700 added. Saturday’s $1000 added Open event attracted a very strong 36 players for the $2450 purse. Some of the notable players on the day were Corey Deuel, Tony Crosby, Tommy Kennedy, Donnie Mills, Neil Fujiwara, Josh Degler, and Tracie Hines. Neil Fujiwara looked very strong throughout the day with a 7-2 win over Tim Brown, followed by a tight 7-6 win over Corey Deuel. Fujiwara then gave Donnie Mills a 7-0 thrashing, an impressive win considering the tour’s new format of alternate breaks (rack your own). Fujiwara went on to play local player Trevor Braymore for a chance to get into the finals. Braymore, however, had his own plans, beating Fujiwara 7-4, and then following up with a 7-6 win over James Roberts, who had made his way to the finals with a strong win over Josh Degler 7-5. Bill Dunsmore was the man on a mission on the one loss side. After dropping a match to Braymore 7-6 on the winner side, Dunsmore, playing some great pool throughout the day, went on to beat Jarred Schlaugh 7-1, JT 7-4, Tim Parisian 7-6, and Josh Degler 7-6, before taking his second loss to Fujiwara 7-5. Dunsmore finished in 5th-6th position with Tony Crosby, who had just been eliminated by Tommy Kennedy in a 7-5 match. Fujiwara went on to beat Kennedy 7-6, putting Kennedy out in 4th place. His win would be short-lived, however, losing to James Roberts 7-3. Roberts now had another shot at Braymore for the championship. Roberts, whose only loss of the day came from Braymore, showed no mercy in the final with a blistering 7-1 win, making Braymore pay for every mistake. This was James Roberts second final of the season and his first-ever open event with the $750 first prize. Open Event Payouts 1st James Roberts $750 2nd Trevor Braymore $540 3rd Neil Fujiwara $400 4th Tommy Kennedy $300 5th/6th Tony Crosby $150 Bill Dunsmore 7th/8th Harry Hess $80 Josh Degler The $700 Added Amateur event kicked off with 50 players and a total purse of $1850. This was the tour’s 7th Amateur event of the season, and with it brought a 7th different winner to the champions list, which means no single player is dominating the tour. Bill Dunsmore was one of the stronger players making his way to the hotseat match. Dunsmore, who had a strong 5th-6th finish in the Open event the previous day, continued his strong play with wins over Jimmie Hines 7-4, Evan Hugnh 7-4, Bobby Moore 7-6, Ernesto Kilgore 7-4, and Jason Walton 7-5, placing him in the finals. Mark Wathen was another tour regular making it to the finals for the first time. His route to the finals included wins over Stephanie Mitchell 7-3, Jeff Blomquist 7-3, Dale Stanley 7-1, and George Saunders 7-3. Wathen went on to a bruising 7-0 win over new Amateur tour points leader Ted Lepak. The hotseat match was a tight one, with Dunsmore jumping out to a 5-2 lead, only to see Wathen come back with 4 wins in a row to get on the hill 6-5. Dunsmore managed to tie it at 6-6. Wathen got his chance in the decider and ran a very tough rack to win the match. On the one loss side, Albert Howe proved to be to tough to beat. Howe dropped a hill-hill match to Jason Walton, and then went on a 5 match winning streak with wins over JT 5-1, Richard Langston 5-0, Tour points leader Ted Lepak 5-0, Adam Wheeler 5-4, and Bill Dunsmore 5-2. And, Howe didn’t let up in the final, making it a one sided affair, with Wathen struggling to find the form and focus he had played with all day. Howe went on to win the match 9-3, with Wathen making too many mistakes to mount any kind of challenge. Amateur Event Payouts 1st Albert Howe $550 2nd Mark Wathen $340 3rd Bill Dunsmore $230 4th Adam Wheeler $150 5th/6th Ted Lepak $100 Jason Walton 7th/8th George Saunders $70 Richard Langston 9-12th Ernesto Kilgore $60 Matt Menes JT Bobby Moore Top Lady Finisher - Leslie Davis Blaikie $20 This was another great event with the Amateurs players coming out in force once again to support the tour. Seven different winners in 7 different events goes to show the format of the tour is working well and the handicap system implemented for the high level Amateur players is paying off. KF Cue Tour wishes to thank KF Cues and all their sponsors for making another fantastic event happen at one of the biggest rooms in the Tampa Bay area - Big O’s Billiards. The next KF Cue Tour event will take place at Ultimate Billiards in FT Pierce, Florida. Check out the schedule at www.kfcuetour.com for schedule changes and the latest rankings and news. 12/29/2008 KF cue tour changes We have had to make some changes to our upcoming event scheduled at Doral Billiards for January 3-4th. It will now be moved to January 10-11th. We will have an Amateur Only event on Sunday, January 4th, at Hammer Heads Billiards in Holiday, $700 added. This will run in conjunction with the Hammer Heads monthly Open tournament $1000 added, US National Amateur format on the Saturday, 8-ball and 9-ball. We had a record breaking turnout last event with 62 players and hope to see everyone out after the holidays. Please look at the attached changes and adjust your calendar. If you have questions or concerns feel free to email us. Look foward to another great tournament. The open events are now going to be alternate break rack your own balls race to 7. We have done this to try and make it a little fairer to the weaker players. Happy Holidays! Thank You, Natalie Crosby & Tony Crosby KF Cue Tour Directors Phone: Tony @ 727-488-0536 Email: natalie@strokeitwear.com 12/12/2008 KF cue tour event Mills and Degler Take Down Capones 12/3/2008 - The $1000 Added open event kicked off with a very strong 30 man field. The first round would see some surprise results with none bigger than Capone’s house Pro Corey Deuel being sent to the one loss side with a 9-7 loss to Donnie Mills. Deuel looked like he was going to run away with this match taking a 6-2 lead, Mills had other ideas and would mount a good come back and take the match 9-7. Mills would follow this match up with impressive wins over Justin Hall 9-6, Johnny Demet 9-4, and Jim Sandaler 9-1, pitting him against Neild Fujiwara. Fujiwara made his way to the final with wins over Travis Croft 9-4, Bill Dunsmore 9-6, Josh Degler 9-3, and Julio Aquino 9-7. The hotseat match became very one-sided, with Mills thrashing his opponent 9-3. Tony Crosby would also see himself sent to the one loss side early with a 9-8 loss to local top Amateur player Johnny Matawa. Crosby was looking determined on the one loss side with impressive wins over, Jimmy Hines 9-5, Bill Dunsmore 7-0, Trevor Braymore 7-2, Johnny Demet 7-2, and Jason Richko 7-3 before running into a very determined Julio Aquino. Aquino halted Crosby’s run with a strong 7-4 win, and sent him crashing out of the event, leaving Crosby in the 5th spot. Just when it looked like Julio had done the hard work, along comes James Roberts, playing some very strong pool. Roberts pushed his way to the final with wins over Aquino 7-4, and Neil Fujiwara 7-4, setting the stage for a final match with Mills. Roberts came out strong, taking a 4-0 lead. Mills picked up on a few unforced errors by Roberts, and the match went go back and forth. Roberts got to the hill with an 8-7 lead. A dry break allowed Mills take the rack and break, running the table on the last game to win his first KF event. James Roberts (2nd place) & Donnie Mills(1st place) - Open Event OPEN EVENT 1st Donnie Mills $700 2nd James Roberts $500 3rd Neil Fujiwara $340 4th Julio Aquino $200 5/6th Tony Crosby $150 Jim Sandaler 7/8th Jason Richko $80 Justin Hall Taz Naravane - Top Junior $15 The $700 Added Amateur event would see 35 players show up. The Amateur event has been boosted to $700 Added and 35 players showed up to try and take a piece of the $1650 pot. There were a total of 12 players taking advantage of the discounts the tour offers to ladies, Seniors, and Juniors. Trey Jankowski was the man to beat on this day. Trey went through the winner bracket, playing some strong pool with wins over Bettina Chase 7-4, Cisco 7-0, Ted Lepak 7-6, and Louie Smith 7-3. This would pit him against Richard Murray for the hotseat Match. Murray, who is classed as a high level Amateur player, would give Trey a 2 rack start. Trey took advantage, only needing win 5 games, and took the match 7-6, putting him in the hotseat. On the one loss side, a very determined Josh Degler (who had finished 2nd in the last event) was proving to be too strong as the matches went on. Josh was sent to the one loss side in his 2nd round match with a 7-6 loss to newcomer Jim Spiers. As a high level Amateur player Degler would have to win an extra 2 racks. But the extra racks weren’t needed, as he would race through the field with dominating wins over Bob Albert 7-2, Mike Vore 7-3, Taz Naravane 7-2, a revenge match over Spiers 7-2, and Mike Delawder 7-3. Degler then played Richard Murray in an even up match 5-4. The final match saw Degler come out of the gates with a quick 4 rack win. This would put him up 4-2, due to the two rack handicap in place. The match went back and forth with both players making a handful of unforced errors. Josh eventually surfaced with a 9-5 win, and take the Amateur title for this event. 2nd place Trey Jankowki, Room Owner Rocky Mcelroy, and winner Josh Degler AMATEUR EVENT 1st Josh Degler $520 2nd Trey Jankowski $370 3rd Richard Murray $230 4th Mike Delawder $150 5th/6th Louie Smith $100 Jim Spiers 7th/8th Travis Croft $70 Ted Lepak Taz Naravane - Top Junior $20 Shanna Lewis - Top Female $20 KF cue tour would like to thank Capones room owner Rocky Mcelroy, and all their sponsors, which can be viewed on the tour site www.kfcuetour.com. The next event will be at Hammerheads Billiards lounge on December 13th/14th. We also have added a new event Doral Billiards in Miami, Fl, on the 3rd/4th of January. Visit www.doralbilliards.com Register For Membership Register For An Upcoming Event 11/28/2008 KF Cue Tour The next Kf event will be at Capones in Spring Hill, Florida. This event is now $1700 Added with a $1000 Added open and a $700 Added Amateur. The open will kick of on November 29th and the Amateur 30th. This should be another good event with many of the best players in the Florida Area competing. I look Forward to seeing you all there. Dont forget to visit www.kfcuetour.com and check out all the latest news. Thanks Tony Crosby 11/3/2008 Hammer Heads $1000 Added I followed up last weeks KF Cue Tour win with another 1st place finish at the Hammer Heads monthly open event. 38 players turned out for the event which I went undefeated in, in the quarter final beating Richard Broumpton who had Earlier knocked out Corey Deuel then Dan Lavoie and Finally Justin Hall in the Final. These back to back wins put to bed my poor US Open and I have a few good events coming up with the IPT in Chicago followed by the FL Seminole Pro Tour the fllowing week. I have been using a new shaft for the past 8 months and feel my game is just getting stronger and stronger. My KF Cue has the a new technology shaft called the Vigor, Its not a laminated shaft but it has got a carbon insert going through it, This gives the cue a low deflection hit but a far more solid feel. I will be setting up a booth at the Hard Rock hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida for the joint Mens Seminole Pro tour finals and the WPBPA event which will run along side it. Stroke It Wear and KF cues will be on display so it will be a good chance for you to get a look at these great cues. Thanks Tony Crosby 10/28/2008 KF Cue Tour. I won the KF cue Tour event this past weekend at my Home pool Room Strokers in Palm Harbor. The event only had 24 players due to the US open finals being played the same weekend. I dropped a 9-5 match in the 2nd round to Josh Degler who played some great pool. I would then go onto to win 8 straight beating Bobby Livrago 9-4, Bob Eaton 9-3, Julio Aquino 9-7, Jason Richko 9-3, Jose Del Rio 9-7, Tony Ruberto 9-2 and Tracie Hines 9-2 this would put me in the final against Johnny Demet which I would go onto win 9-3. This was a very tough days pool considering there were only 24 players. I took my First KF Event which was a small consolation for my poor US Open. My next event will be in Chicago for the IPT's 16 man pro invitation.Taz Naravane finished the event as Top Junior player, beating out Bryce Lepak in the play off. 10/17/2008 US Open 9 Ball Championships I will be flying out for the US Open 9 Ball Championships Saturday morning. This is one of the biggest if not the biggest event of the year. Its also a Pro ranking event and a good event would see me climb higher than my current position of No 10 on the Pro ranking list. This should be a great event with over 200 players already signed up to play. I will be bringing updates daily on my progress, I will also be playing with my new Custom KF cue which has the new Vigor shaft on it. I am looking forward to the event. Thanks Tony Crosby 10/9/2008 Florida Pro Tour, Jacksonville The Florida Pro tour will be at bankshots in Jacksonville this weekend. The event is a $10,000 added on and should attract many of the top players from around the country. This will be the last regular stop of the season before the finals next month. I will bring updates to the site at the weekend. Thanks Tony Crosby 10/1/2008 Kf Cue Tour latest TJ’s Billiards in New Port Richey, Florida. Was the host location for inaugural KF Cue Tour Event Saturday would see a very strong field of 25 players turn up with for a piece of the $1,720 purse.  Notable names in attendance included Johnathon Pinegar , Donnie Mills, Trevor Braymore, Tony Crosby, WPBA player Tracy Hines, Current US national Amateur Champion Jason Richko. There was some great first round matches with Donnie Mills defeating Jason Richko 9-6, Jonathon Pinegar defeated Justin Hall 9-7, Trevor Braymore defeated Tony Ruberto 9-3. Jonathon Pinegar would follow his win up over Hall with wins over Billy Moses 9-8, Louie (The Spoiler) Smith 9-3 which put him in the winners final where he would also meet a man on a mission Julio Aquino. Aquino had battled his way through Kevin Overton 9-4, Tournament Director Tony Crosby 9-7, James Roberts 9-1 to get to the final. Pinegar would win this match to take the hotseat 9-6 and sit back to see who would play him in the final. There were two men on the one loss side on similar missions with Justin hall toughing his way through with wins over WPBA pro Tracie Hines 9-4, Adam Wheeler 9-7, Tony Crosby 9-5, Jason Richko 9-7 and Louie Smith 9-6 he would now play Tony Ruberto who had also been toughing his way through the one loss side with wins over Taz Naravane 9-3, Rocky Mcelroy 9-0, Jim Oddy 9-1, Billy Moses 9-6, James Roberts 9-7 he would eventually come unstuck to Hall 9-5. To leave him in 4th spot. Hall would now be playing a determined Aquino for a shot in the final. Aquino would bring halls run to an end with a very hard fought 9-6 win. The finals looked like it was going to be one way traffic with Pinegar (hennesy) stroming into an 8-3, Julio had other ideas going onto play some great pool to win the next 5 racks to level the match. The next few racks would be battled out with Aquino moving ahead in the match 10-9, a dry break would see Pinegar back to the table to run the rack out and tie it hill hill for the title. Pinegar broke the balls dry in the last rack and left the 9 hanging and just when it looked like it was going to be all over the last ball rolling would block Aquino from a shot on the one, with the 9 hanging and the 2 ball right next to it Aquino decided to jump over the ball only to fould and hand Pinegar the win and first place. 1st Jonathon Pinegar, 2nd Julio Aquino, 3rd Justin Hall, 4th Tony Ruberto, 5/6th James Roberts & Louie Smith. The event also had prizes for top junior players Bryce Lepak who at 11 years of age is showing signs of a very strong player for the future and Taz Naravane another local top rated junior player. The ladies top honors were shared by Tracie Hines and Stephanie Mitchell. Sundays Amateur event Kicked off with a field of 32 players battling it out for a share of $1420 that was in the pot. The Amateur event is slightly handicapped due to some of the high level players in the area. I realized when starting this tour that if I didn’t handicap the high level Amateurs by 2 racks that it would be unfair. On the day there was 8 players giving there opponents a 2 rack advantage and I feel this was a big success in leveling out the field. On the one loss side high level players would still have to go to 7 and there opponents 5. However this did not Stop James Roberts who went onto win the event with the handicap. James went undefeated to the winners side final where he was pitted against Michael Delawder from Orlando who was having his best ever tournament reaching the final of the winners bracket. Michael would keep his great day going sending Roberts to the one loss side of the chart. Roberts would have to clear his head fast as his next opponent Louie (The Spoiler) Smith had been on a rampage after dropping his first round match to Trey Jankowski. Louie would make it to the one loss side final (Semis) with wins over Josh Lewis(high level) 5-3, Taz Naravane 5-2, Travis Croft 5-2, Scott Howard 5-1, Jason Richko (high level) 5-4, Bobby livrago( high Level) 5-2, Mark Wathen 5-2 before meeting up with a determined Roberts who halted his run with a 7-3 defeat leaving Louie in 3rd place. The final would see Roberts have to go to 9 and Delawder to 7, This was a very good match with Roberts breezing into a 4-0 lead and Delawder fighting hard to win the next 3 racks. They traded the next 5 racks with Roberts edging 7-5 ahead. A dry break would be Delawders last chance at the table with Roberts running the rack and then breaking and running the last to take the Amateur Title. 1st James Roberts, 2nd Michael Delawder, 3rd Louie Smith, 4th Mark Wathen, 5/6th Bobby Livrago & Keelan Mccullers, 7/8th Ted Lepak & Jason Richko. Top Junior finisher was 11 year old Bryce Lepak Top Ladies finisher, Stephanie Micthell. The KF Cue Tour would like to thank TJ Fiorneli for hosting the event. Tjs Sports bar and Grill this is another high class pool room in the Bay area. We would also like to thank our sponsors and all the players that turned out to make this event and also Natalie and Tracie Hines who worked tremendously hard to help run both events. Please support the people who support the tour visit our sponsors page and check out all the latest products. Thanks Tony Crosby KF Cue Tour Director 9/16/2008 Deuel Wins on home court Deuel went undefeated in the latest Florida pro Tour event at Capones where he is also the house Pro. Deuel breezed into the final beating Donnie Mills 8-1 and then scoring another convincing win over Charlie Williams 9-4 My next event will be the KF cue Tour, Tjs, in New Port Richey is the venue. Thanks Tony Crosby 9/4/2008 KF Cue Tour, Web Site The KF cue tour is weeks away from it first event. The tour is getting a lot of press in the Pool World and has just lauched it user freindly website www.kfcuetour.com The website will give you all the latest news on tour dates, Rankings Winners and latest news on what the tour is doing. You can sign up for our news letters and press releases by entering your email address to be kept up with the latest news. We look forward to seeing you at the newest pool room in Florida, TJ"S in New Port Richey. This event will also be played on new Brunswick Metro tables which is another bonus. on the 27th/28th of September. Visit the website and sign up for our news letters. Thanks Tony Crosby 8/25/2008 Upto No 10 in the Rankings After my last event in NY last week I have jumped upto World No 10 on the Pro ranking list. I have been trying for 3 years to break into the top 10 and have been bordering the on 12-13 for the last year. My game is improving all the time and one or two more good finishes would see me break into the top 5. I want to thank all the people who have been supporting me. My next ranking event will be the US Open in Virginia oct 19 thru 26th. I am feeling very good about my game and the things I have been working on are paying off. My next event will be the Florida Pro Tour at Cappones in Spring Hill, september 10. Thanks Tony crosby 8/19/2008 Turning Stone Results I just got back from the Joss $25k Added ranking event. This was a full 128 man field and was stacked with some of the best plaers in the world. My results over the weekend were as follows Tony Crosby beat Aaron Greenwood 9 - 2, Tony Crosby lost to Johnny Archer 9 - 5 after losing to Johnny I would play one more match friday nigt beating Mike Wallace 9 - 5. I would now come back on Saturday and play six matches back to back which was a very hard days Pool, My results from saturday are as follows. Tony Crosby Beat Shin Park 9 - 7 Tony Crosby Beat Walter Szydlowski 9 - 6 Tony Crosby Beat Matt Krah 9 - 5 Tony Crosby Beat Greg Antonakos 9 - 3 Tony Crosby Beat Ernesto Dominguez 9 - 8 I would then lose in the last round of the night to Shane Van Boening 9 - 5 who played well but also gave me many chances that I failed to convert. The event would see me finish in a respectable 9th place and the man that beat me in the second round Johnny Archer go onto win beating Charlie Williams in the Final. My next event is going to be he Florida Pro tour at CApppones in Spring Hill which is very close to where I live. Thank to everybody for there support in this event. Tony Crosby 8/11/2008 KF CUE Tour Coming Soon KF Cues 9-Ball Tour Tony Crosby Partnership Comes to Fruition Between Tony Crosby and K.F. Cues K.F. Cues (Kao Fa Cues) has been a supporter of the billiard industry for many years now and as of late, a more recent sponsor to two of the top professional players in the United States, Ga Young Kim and Tony Crosby. The cue maker/manufacturer has decided to take that sponsorship one step further in the way of teaming up with Tony Crosby as lead sponsor of his upcoming tour – the KF Cues 9-Ball Tour. K.F. Cues defines themselves as the leading professional in delivering exquisite pool cues and accessories. The company provides customers with not just sheer comfort, but stability and precision, along with excellent customer service. With forty years of cue making experience, K.F. Cues has extensive knowledge and offers absolute professionalism in what pool players need. As if the company being one of only a few ICA certified cue manufacturers was not enough of a credential to boast, support continues to grow via the professional pool scene with names such as Fong-Pang Chao, Tony Crosby, Ga Young Kim, and Xiao-Ting Pan proving its reputation in the billiards industry. Crosby, along with K.F. Cues, will kick off their first season together this September 27th-28th at TJ’s Billiards in New Port Richey, Florida, with its $1600 total added events. The tour will offer $1000 added open nine-ball events on Saturday and Sunday; and $600 added amateur events Sunday only. Entries will vary for the two divisions: the main event will run $65 which includes a $10 green fee and $10 registration fee; while the amateur field will be $50 with the same green fee/registration fee included. Juniors will play for $15, amateur ladies receive half-off entries, plus a discount will be received by those that play both divisions. Prizes will be provided to top juniors and top women players, along with Player of the Year honors. Specifics for each are as follows ($20 tour card required for participation): Open Events: Races to 9W/9L Double Elimination Winner Breaks (rack your own) Standardized World Pool Rules Amateur Events: Races to 7W/5L Double Elimination Top Level Amateurs Will Be Handicapped* *Note: Top Level Amateur players will give a two rack start (handicap) to lower speed up-and-coming amateur players – this has been setup in this manner to avoid excluding higher speed amateur players who have not yet reached professional level from competing in tour events The tour will primarily focus on the Tampa Bay area of the state, with approximately eleven scheduled events and a season finale to cap the season off. The tour has already received rave reviews from many and has acquired support from top names in the billiard industry including Stroke It Wear, Sniper Cues, Tiger Products, Axiom Pool Tables, Vigor Shafts, Extreme Focus Vitamin Water, AZBilliards.com, Billiard Scoop, Billiards Digest, and Inside Pool Magazine. “In the last few years, Florida has grown to become a pool mecca to many of the best pool players in the world whether they be residents or by simply traveling through the area to attend some of the larger events that take place in the region. The K.F. Cues 9-Ball Tour has already sparked major interest with many pool rooms and players from outside of the state with interest in not only attending, but hosting events. I believe the tour will be a success and is just what Florida needs at this time. I have worked with K.F. Cues for over a year now and stand by the products they produce, the partnership is a fantastic opportunity for both of us as K.F. Cues makes some of the best hitting cues on the market today and the tour is an excellent way to show off and promote their products here in the US.” - Tour Director, Tony Crosby We look forward to seeing you all out on tour! If you would like to learn more about the tour visit www.kfcuetour.com (tour) or for additional information about the tour’s title sponsor, K.F. Cues, visit www.poolcues.com.tw or www.vigorshaft.com The complete schedule can be found on the tour website. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, email either Tony Crosby at tony@strokeitwear.com, Natalie Crosby at natalie@strokeitwear.com, or call (727) 488-0536. By Sherry Pouncey - AzB Staff - 2008-08-06 Upcoming Events KF Cues 9-Ball Tour Season Opener TJ's Billiards New Port Richey, FL September 27 - 28, 2008 $1600 total added: $1000 added open 9ball event Saturday/Sunday (Entry $65 includes $10 green fee/$10 registration fee); $600 added amateur 9ball event Sunday only (Entry $50 includes $10 green fee/$10 registration fee) For more info: www.kfcuetour.com Stroker's Billiards Palm Harbor, FL October 25 - 26, 2008 $1600 total added: $1000 added open 9ball event Saturday/Sunday (Entry $65 includes $10 green fee/$10 registration fee); $600 added amateur 9ball event Sunday only (Entry $50 includes $10 green fee/$10 registration fee) For more info: www.kfcuetour.com Capone's Billiards Spring Hill, FL November 29 - 30, 2008 $1600 total added: $1000 added open 9ball event Saturday/Sunday (Entry $65 includes $10 green fee/$10 registration fee); $600 added amateur 9ball event Sunday only (Entry $50 includes $10 green fee/$10 registration fee) For more info: www.kfcuetour.com 8/4/2008 Lucasi Hybrid 4th Place finish WOW what a strong event this was. My weekend Kicked off with a win over US Open Champ David Howard 9-5 I would then follow that up with another win over US Open Champion John Schmidt 9-2, This would set up a match with World No1 Dennis Orcollo. Dennis beat me the last three times we played so this was a big match. I have been playinmg solid pool and was really looking forward to this match, It was a good one for me coming back from 7-3 down to win 9-8 and put my self in thew last 4 on the winners side. Sunday would see me take on Johnny Archer in my first match and this was another strong match which I ended up losing 9-8. I would then go onto play Mika and take another hard fought match winning 9-8. Charlie Williams would be my next opponent and he was on a mission beating me 9-4 in a match where I just could not get going, He would then go all the way beatin Shane Van Boening 9-8 and then taking down Archer 10-5 in the final. Over all a great weekend of pool. I am looking forward to my next event in Syracuse NY the Turning Stone Classic. I recieved some great support over the weekend so I would like to say a big THANK YOU to everybody. Thanks Tony Crosby PS dont forget to check out the www.kfcuetour.com its coming soon. 8/3/2008 Lucasi Hybrid 10 Ball I had a good day yesterday with wins over David Howard 9-5, John Schmidt 9-2 John had just beat me a day earlier in the Straight pool event which made me a little more determined to play very hard. I then would beat Dennis Orcollo in waht was another strong match with very few balls missed by both of us. Dennis had me down 7-3 which was a little annoying as I had given up two easy games. I held on and played some very solid pool breaking and running a bunch of 10 ball racks, I got back on level terms at 7-7 only to come up dry Dennis would go onto run out and put himself on the hill, another dry break by Dennis would have me come back to the table hooked on the 1 ball, no matter where I pushed he would have a tough shot on the one ball which he went for and missed this would be his last one with me running a very tough rack to make it 8-8 and then breaking and running another very tough rack to win the match. I am very happy with my performance and need to play just as hard to day against my next opponent Johny Archer. I also did an interview right after the Orcollo match with inside pool so copy and paste the link below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg6Y8bzgiSs# Thanks Tony Crosby 7/29/2008 KF Cues 9 Ball Tour I am happy to anounce that the KF Cues 9 Ball tour will have its openning event at one of Florida's newest rooms TJ's Billiards in New Port Richey on september 27th-28th. The schedule is alsmost complete with only a couple of blanks to fill you can check the schedule out at www.kfcuetour.com this site is under construction and has limited information right now. This tour can only grow as there has been much interest from players and pool room owners from all over the country, we also have had some postive feed back with regards to sponsorship so with any luck the money could be raised for bigger and better payouts. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please email me direct at tony@strokeitwear.com and you will be the first to know what is going on. My next event is going to be in Jacksonville Florida for the Lucasi open. I will bring news from the events Thanks Tony Crosby 7/29/2008 KF Cues 9 Ball Tour I am happy to anounce that the KF Cues 9 Ball tour will have it openning event at one of Florida's newest rooms TJ's Billiards in New Port Richey on september 27th-28th. The schedule is alsmost complete with only a couple of blanks to fill you can check the schedule out at www.kfcuetour.com this site is under construction and has limited information right now. This tour can only grow as there has been much interest from players and pool room owners from all over the country, we also have had some postive feed back with regards to sponsorship so with any luck the money could be raised for bigger and better payouts. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please email me direct at tony@strokeitwear.com and you will be the first to know what is going on. My next event is going to be in Jacksonville Florida for the Lucasi open. I will bring news from the events Thanks Tony Crosby 7/24/2008 Straight Pool 146 Ball Run I made the highest run in our straight pool leauge this week with a run of 146 balls, This is also my second highest run ever which was nice as it was on my birthday, My other high run in the leauge was 102 so its a nice jump. In this match I gave 140 ball start in a race to 170, This makes you try that little extra hard to focus and it payed off. I will be taking part in the Lucasi Hybrid Invitational event which also includes a Straight pool event and a 10 ball event. This is a dragon promotions event and will take place in Jacksonville Florida. Thanks Tony Crosby 7/24/2008 KF Cue Tour The KF cue tour schedule is out and the first event will kick of in september at a new room that will be open very soon called TJS, in New port Richey. Copy and paste the link below for the tour flyer http://s324.photobucket.com/albums/k341/ncrosby79/ More info will be coming soon Thanks Tony Crosby 7/15/2008 Florida Pro Tour I lost My fourth round match to Corey Deuel 8-6, in this match I was 3-0 down and played solid pool to turn it around and take a 4-3 lead only for a lapse in concentration I would have been 5-3 up after missing a straight in ten ball. Corey would then go onto to play some good pool and close me out of the match 8-6. My next match I would lose another tight one to Donnie Mills 8-5 with Donnie closing the match out with three break an runs. I did announce the Start of my new tour, KF cue tour which will kick of in september, More news will come very soon on this tour. Thanks Tony Crosby 7/12/2008 Fl pro Tour Update My weekend has kicked of with three wins. I played up an coming player Travis Croft in my first match. I knew having watched him only just lose to Wiseman in the last event 7-6 I couldn't take any chances. I played solid pool and came out a 7-1 winner, I followed this up with two more wins 7-0 over Raymond Linares and then another good win over Tommy Kennedy 7-5. My next match will be against Corey Deuel at 7pm. There have been some very good matches with Yu Ram Cha playing very solid pool and still undefeated with wins over Dave Ross 7-3, Dan lavoie 7-2 and then Japans Sato Takuya 7-1 she will now go on to play Jon Pinnegar. There are 8 left on the winner side Jon Pinnergar v Yu Ram Cha Ron Wiseman v Stevie Moore Chip Klein v Justin Hall Tony Crosby V Coey Deuel. Complete brackets are updated on www.azbilliards.com Thanks Tony Crosby 7/11/2008 FL Pro Tour, Gainsville The FL pro tour kicks of tonight at the new room in Gainsville Art Of Billiards, This should be another very strong field of players, I will bring more news on the event later tonight. Thanks Tony Crosby 7/1/2008 Wiseman Takes down Viking event Ronnie Wiseman came out on top of a very strong 41 player field at the Viking event. My tournament kicked of with a win over Sparky Ferrell 9-6; I was then sent to the one loss side by Justin Hall 9-6; once there I had wins over Ted Lepak 9-1; Mike Janis 9-4; Neil Young 9-4; Stony Stone 9-6; Justin Hall 9-8; Shawn Putnam 9-5; and was elminated in the semi finals by Deuel 9-1. Deuel broke an ran the last 6 games not giving me a shoit so not much I could do sat in my chair. He would then go on to play Wiseman and win the first set 9-4 and then lose the second 9-6. This was a very good work out for me and I realise that these local events are a big help towards making your game and confidence stronger. I am happy with where my game is right now but also see there is still a lot of room for improvement. My next event will be at Art Of Billiards in Gainesville, Florida for the Seminole Florida Pro Tour. I have heard this is a great new room and I am really looking forward to playing in it. Thanks Tony Crosby 6/22/2008 Florida pro tour My day kicked off with a win over Jason Kirkwood 8-7 and I them followed it up with an 8-3 win over Hunter Lombardo. My tournament would then be ended by Jerry Calderon who played well beating me 8-3. For the latest results check out azbilliards.com Thanks Tony Crosby 6/21/2008 Seminole Pro Tour, Diamond Billiards, Cape Coral I managed to get through the day on the one loss side. I took my frist loss to Donnie Mills in a match a probably should have won, I was 5-3 up and hooked my self running out on the 8 ball and it just all went wrong from there. I went onto win two matches against Room owner James Oswalt and then Dave Uwate which sets up a meeting with Jason Kirkwood tomorrow morning at 10am. I dont feel I played my best pool all day which makes it nice to get through. you can check out Azbilliards.com for further updates and complete brackets. Only 12 people come back tomorrow. Thanks Tony Crosby 6/21/2008 Seminole Florida Pro Tour I won my 2nd match beating Johnathon Hennesy. 7-3. I will now play Donnie Mills. This is a tough math as I see a lot of Donnie in my home town where we do play a lot of cheap sets. Thanks Tony Crosby 6/21/2008 Seminole Pro Tour, Diamond Billiards, Cape Coral The tournamnet kicked of last night with 60 players. Some of the notable names are Earl Strickland, Corey Deuel, Ronnie Wisemann, Tony Chohan, Johnathon Hennessy. There were some tough match ups the first round with Ronnie Wiseman surviving a scare against up an coming Travis Croft, Wiseman clawed his way back from 6-4 down to win this match. Tony Chohan would lose his first round to Johnathon Hennessy 7-4, I would beat last months 3rd place finisher Han Berber 7-4 to set up another tough match with Hennessy today at 1pm. you can also check out the brackets for the event on AZbilliards.com. I will be taking pictures at the event and post them later in the week. Thanks Tony Crosby 6/14/2008 Jones Takes the BCA Title congratulations to Jeremy Jones for winning the BCA Title. My event was ended by Stevie Moore in what was a very frustrating match. Stevie played extremely slow and complained nonstop about the rack. After one hour and twenty minutes we had played 5 racks of 9 ball, I have beaten stevie in our last few meetings so I know he changed his game plan for this match and it worked, I would go onto to lose over 3 an half hours later 11-6 which was a very frustrating exit to the event but also a very valuable lesson. My next event will be the Florida Pro Tour at Cape Coral on the 20th June. Thanks Tony Crosby 6/10/2008 Generation pool, BCA I lost to archer today 11-5, A couple of dry breaks at the start of the match and two break and runs by Archer gave him a 4-0 lead so it was an uphill battle. I will now face the winner of Stevie Moore and Warren Kimaco at 530pm. RAj Hundal lost 11-5 to Shawn Putnam and that was the only other result. Thanks Tony Crosby 6/9/2008 Generation pool, BCA I beat Kim Davenport today in my first match 11-8. This turned out to be a very tough match with Kim leading all the way till he got to 7 games. At 7-7 I broke the balls very good and took the lead for the first time, this was a big turning point and I played very strong from there to win the match and put me in the 17-24 Bracket. My next match would be against former US Open champion John Schmidt. This looked like it was going to be a stroll in the park with John never really getting going and I played some solid pool to go 10-2 ahead. John was now in the position where he didn’t care and just blasted the balls in the pocket to win the next two racks to make it 11-4 I then would miss a long rail bank on the 9 and rattle it in the hole for it to be 11-5, he then would break and run and I would then scratch on my break and he ran them out and before I know it its 10-10 my break. I broke the balls as hard and as good in the last rack making 5 balls and finishing straight in on the 2, wow what a relief I would finally run out and take this match 11-10. I will now play Johnny Archer tomorrow in the last 8 on the winners side. The last rack with Schmidt was a $1300 swing in prize money so a very good rack for me. I will bring some news on my further results tomorrow. Thanks Tony Crosby 6/8/2008 Generation pool, BCA This event will kick of at 10 am tomorrow morning. There are only 32 players on the mens division which means it is a very tough field. I will play Kim Davenport at 10am. I will bring some other news form the event later in the day. Thanks Tony Crosby 4/26/2008 Desert Shootout, 9th Place Finish My day kicked of with a good win over Cliff Joyner 9-6. Cliff played some great pool from 2-0 down to take 6-2 lead, Cliff then missed an easy 3 ball and never recovered, I got some good rolls and made some good outs to take this match 9-6. I would then lose my next match to Rob Saez 9-7 This was a tigh one with the match swaying both ways. This was a good tournament for me as I feel I never got out of 2nd gear but won some good matches to finish a respectable 9th place. This should also move me up on the pro rankings which will guarantee me some invitations. Thanks for all the support I have recieved, this was a well run event so a big hats of to the organizers. Tony Crosby 4/26/2008 Desert Shootout, Arizona, Day two My third round didn’t go as planned losing to Mike Davis 9-3 and feeling like I was lucky to be 3, Mike played solid and got some good rolls to go with it, There wasn’t a great deal I could do form my chair. I would then go onto face Jeremy Jones who is always a tough player to beat. This match was also a money match with the loser getting nothing. I played a little shaky at the start missing a 10 Ball and also one bad safe. But then Jones let me back in the game with some unforced errors and also a missed 10 ball when we were tied at 3-3. This would give me a lot of confidence and also help me towards winning the match by a score line of 9-6. I will now face Cliff Joyner who just sent Thorsten Hohmann out of the event. I play at noon tomorrow so it’s a good night from me. Thank you Tony Crosby 4/25/2008 The Desert Shootout Day One I won my first match over Stevie Moore Today, 9-3 I played some very solid pool and put pressure on from the off breaking and running the first two racks, I broke good in the 3rd only for the cue ball to get kicked in. Stevie Moore would go onto run a tough rack only to miss the ten ball for me to go 3-0 up. I played a very solid match and broke the balls as good as anyone today. My second round would be against Ernesto Domingez who I don’t think I have ever played before. This was the exact opposite to my first round with me making far to many unforced errors. The match was nip and tuck all the way and at 7-7 Ernesto flukes the ten ball in to put himself on the hill, He broke dry and I ran a very tough rack and then broke and ran the last to take this match 9-8. I will now play Mike Davis tomorrow. Ernesto’s son Oscar is having a great tournament beating Shawn Putnam and Shawn Wilkie today both by the score line of 9-7. Mika has a had a tough draw playing Playing Efren Reyes and then Earl Strickland he would win both these matches to set up another tough one with Jose Parica. Johnny Archer would have to strong wins of 9-0 and 9-1 over Louie Ulrich. Thorsten Hohmann would beat local hero Mitch Ellerman 9-5. Charlie Willaims also won two beating Jeremy Jones in the last match. I will bring some more news tomorrow. Thanks to everybody for there support and Emails. Thanks Tony Crosby. 4/24/2008 The Desert Shootout The Desert Shoot out will kick of today with a full 64 player field which is stacked with many high profile names. The event organizer ran into some difficulty with the venue that was originally chosen the Sheraton Hotel due to lack of hotel rooms booked, Rather than cancel the event arrangements were swiftly made to move it to near bye venue Kolby’s pool room in Tempe. They installed bleachers yesterday and managed to get everything ready in time. The event is going to be a very strong 64 player field, and there have been some very good first round matchups which would include my self playing Stevie Moore, Corey Deuel V Dennis Hatch and the one other big one is Mika Immonen playing Efren Reyes. Corey Deuel was trying to make his way back from Dubai for the event and would not have wanted to see a first round match like this. I will take on Stevie Moore at 3pm Arizona time, I will bring some updates on the matches as the day progresses. I think a big congratulation has to go out to the people involved in making this event happen. This is still a 25k added event which will make for a good payout. I will be bringing news and updates as much as my internet connection allows me. Thanks Tony Crosby 4/15/2008 Exciting Times Ahead. I will be heading to Arizona on the 23rd to play in the Desert Shootout which is a $25k UPA sanctioned event. Since I got back from Atlanta I have been trying to play everyday. I have played some cheap sets with Jason Richko and Corey Deuel which I have come out ahead. I have also won the two local events on Wednesday and Monday nights. I did however take my first loss in the Straight pool league I have been playing in my home room Strokers, This league has been going now for almost 3 months and has been excellent practice for me. I am giving most people 100 plus ball start and which has really helped me get focused and make some good high runs including 102 which is my highest in competing. There will be a lot going on for me over the next couple of months with three or four big events to play which include The Desert Shootout in Arizona, The international 10 ball in Vegas and the BCA in Charlotte. Its nice when you have some events to look forward to as it just gives you that extra edge you need to stay on your game.. I will be trying to keep my site updated for all these events and some other weekly updates so stay tuned. Thanks Tony Crosby 4/10/2008 Seminole Pro Tour I got back from Atlanta on sunday night. This was a very strong field tournament with only 48 players. This I didnt fair to well in this event being involved in 3 hill hill matches. I won my first match against Tommy Kennedy 7-6 and then would go onto to face one of my good buddy's Jason Richko. I knew this would be a tough one and it was I took a 7-6 loss, Jason played a very smart on the 9 ball leaving me hooked on the 10, I then would lose 7-6 Mike Davis who also is no slouch of a player, I was 6-2 down in this match with Mike playing some very good pool, I made a strong fight back only to lose 7-6 again. This was a good event and makes me even more dtermined to get my head back in gear and practice a little more. I have some big events coming up and feel good about where my game is. Next event is the Desert Shootout in Arizona and then onto Vegas to play in the Internationalk Ten Ball Championships where we will also have a Strokeitwear Booth for the BCA. 3/18/2008 Super Billiards Expo I just got back from the Super Billiards Expo, This turned out to be a great tournament with me taking a respectable 5th place and taking my first loss to Van Boening who went onto win. This was a non stop event for me as I also set up the Strokeit Wear Booth which was slammed everyday, so between playing matches I was selling products in the booth. A big hit this year was our new kids line of shirts Small Strokes which can be seen on my online shop. I will be playing a Seminole Pro Tour event next month in Atlanta and then the Desert Shoot Out in Arizona which is sanctioned by the UPA, A good event in Arizona could break me into the top ten on the UPA ranking list which is big for invitations. I am very happy to be home after a 20 hour drive. I am going to put a little more time on the table in. Thanks to everybody for there emails and support over the weekend. Tony Crosby 3/16/2008 Super Billiards Expo My day kicked off with a good win over Adam Smith who also has had a great tournament. I would then go onto lose to Van Boening 10-6, Shane missed a lot of balls in this match but never left me any clear cut chances. My next match would see Rodney Morris give me a good beating he stormed into an 8-0 lead I did mange to pull 4 gales back but it was all in vein. Rodney will now play Mika immonnen with the winner taking on Van Boening who lost to Shawn Wilkie 10-9. This was a good even all in all, The strokeit wear booth has been slammed every day. Thanks to everybody for there support and emails Tony crosby 3/15/2008 Super Billiards Expo I played a very solid match tonight against raj Hundal taking this match 10-6, Raj was 6-4 up and was looking like going 7-4 before missing an easy chance this was a big turning point in the match. I will now play Adam Smith in my next round at 130pm. Thanks for all the support Tony Crosby 3/14/2008 Super Billiards Expo I managed to win my first match against Jeremy Sossei, Sossei just finished 2nd to Archer at the Turning Stone casino event, I knew this would be a tough match and it was I won 10-9. This would now pitt me against Charlie Bryant(Hillbilly) and having won 10-9 only minutes earlier I was right back on to play again. I kicked of very well in this match not realy missing much till I got 8-1 ahead, I gave up a couple of silly racks and charlie pulled back to 8-4 only for him to miss an easy 8 ball when it looked like going 8-5, I closed the match out with a 10-4 score line. I will now play Raj Hundal who defeated Danny basavich, Raj pulled out a good win as he did kick of the match trailing 4-0. I am very happy to be 2-0 as we got here late wednesday night after a 20 hour drive and then had to be up early and spend 5 hours setting up the Strokeit wear booth. It was a good first day we lauched some of our new clothes which included a kids line of clothing called Small strokes and your no match. My cue line also was on display. I will play at 830pm so some rest is needed today. Thanks Tony Crosby I will be try bring some more new later. OK Cadilac Bob 3/9/2008 Seminole Update I ended up losing my first match on the sunday to Adam Wheeler, 8-5 this was a dissapointing loss with me making far to many errors at the start of the match. 12 players came back on the sunday and 5 of them were using my line of Jump Break cues THE SNIPER II. My cues have been selling very well and many of the top players in the world are now using them, Rodney Morris is the latest player to pick one up and start using it. I will be heading to Valley Forge on tuesday for the super billiards expo where my cues Strokeit wear will have a booth with also my cue line so come check us out. Thanks Tony Crosby 3/9/2008 Seminole Pro Tour, Strokers The first event of the season kicked of at Strokers Palm Harbor, Florida. I won my first match on the day beating Bobby Garza 7-0, I then took a 7-6 loss to Ronnie Wiseman, Then i would go onto beat Stoney Stone 7-2, James Stewart 7-4, Dan Sheldon 7-4 and then Stevie Moore 8-7. The match against stevie was a very good one with both of us only making a few errors. Moore had the break at 7-6 down and Scratched giving me ball in hand I would then go onto run the rack out and make it Hill Hill, my break hadnt worked all match so I changed the break position and hit them as hard as I could and managed to make a ball and go onto run a very good rack to take the match 8-7. I will now face Adam Wheeler in my next match sunday morning. I also have been updating the brackets for AZbilliards so check them out. http://azbilliards.com/2000storya.cfm?storynum=5217 Thanks Tony Crosby 2/20/2008 Andy Grubbs Memorial I finished fifth in the Andy Grubbs Memorial event this past weekend. This event always draws a big field stacked with talent and this one was no different almost 80 players turned out. I played some good pool Saturday going undefeated including a win over highly rated Stoney Stone coming from 4-1 down to win 9-6. Sunday would see 24 players come back with my first match would be against Mitch Yarbrogh a pool room owner from Atlanta. I would win this match 9-4 I would now face John Schmidt who also had been playing some high quality pool using his OB1 Shaft. I would race ahead in this match to a 6-2 lead only to come up dry on the break, John would go onto clear the table and my next visit would be from a push out at 8-6 down in a blink of an eye lid. I would lose the match 9-6 having not missed a single ball. Its not very often you lose in these situations and its only a high quality player like Schmidt that you kind of expect it. My next match would see me play another kind of local hero Scotty Townsend This was another tight match that I would go onto lose 9-7 having not done a great deal wrong. This event is one of the best run events of the year, Room owner Robin runs a no mess tournament and during tournament play you could be in a library. Starcade also stocks my new cue line which are selling very well. The break Jump cue is the hottest thing on the market right now and Mr 400 himself John Schmidt also picked one up to use. This is the best I have seen John play and I think his switch to the OB1 cue has brought his play to another level. My next event will be at my home room Stroker's, Palm Harbor where the Seminole Pro Tour kicks of with its first event. Thanks Tony Crosby 2/14/2008 Seminole Pro Tour The seminole Pro Tour will kick of its first event of the season at Strokers in Palm Harbor, Florida. This is my home room so which is great but always puts that little extra pressure to do well in front of your home crowd. The tour will also have two events out of state going to Atlanta and the Carolinas so this will make it very interesting season. I have posted the schedule on my site so check out the Florida pro Tour section. Thanks Tony Crosby 2/12/2008 Andy Grubbs Memorial I will be heading to Fort Walton Beach this weekend to play in the Andy Grubbs Memorial event at Starcade Billiards. I won this event last year come out ahead of 105 players so it would be very nice to try and defend the title. There is always a host of top name players that turn out to play in this one, John Schmidt, Tommy Kennedy, Scotty Townsend, Dave Broxson just to mention a few. For more info on ther event contact Starcade. 5th Annual Andy Grubbs Memorial Starcade Billiards Ft Walton Beach, FL 850-244-2349 February 16 - 17, 2008 $50.00 Entry 1/13/2008 DCC Classic Souquet beats Bustamante to take down the 9 ball event. Bustamante claimed the $20,000 all round bonus for the first time. My tournament came to end with a loss to Rick Howard 7-3, I played poorly in this match and Rick took his chances and made me pay. I had a very tough draw in this event rounds one, win over Oscar Domingez 7-3, Loss to Niels Fiejen 7-3, then wins over George Rothrock 7-0, Tony Mougey 7-3, Gabe Owen 7-4, Shin Park 7-6 and then took my second loss to Rick Howard. I played very inconsistent in the whole event which I can only put down to lack of practice over the holidays. So new years resolution is hit more balls. Thanks Tony crosby 1/12/2008 DCC Classic The 6th round draw pitched me against Shin Park from Korea, Shin is a very strong player who spends most of his time in New York playing. This is a match where I really had a very good run of the balls and came from 6-3 down to win the match 7-6. I broke in the last game making a couple of balls and almost making the 9 ball, I ended up playing a very good hook on the one ball and sending it down by the 9 which was close to the pocket, Shin didn’t make contact and I took the case game with a combination on the 9 ball. I now play at 11am and don’t know who my next opponent is. I feel I deserved a couple of rolls my 9 ball draw has been tough match after tough match. I am now looking forward to playing tomorrow and am very content with my overall play on the day. Thanks Tony Crosby 1/11/2008 DCC Classic Well they done the fifth round draw and I got matched up against Gabe Owen, so just when I thought I had had some tough matches they got tougher. I mentioned in my last post I needed to come out the gates a little quicker and I did just that playing very well to take a 6-2 lead, just when the winning line was in sight I missed a tricky 7 ball and had to watch Gabe run out and break and run two more to make it 6-5 he scratched in the last game and I ran the balls to take the match 7-5 and put my self in the 6th round. I now await the draw which will be done about 9pm. I will post some updates later. Thanks Tony Crosby 1/11/2008 DCC Classic I drew Tony Mougey who is known for being a bar table champion in my 4th round, I kicked of the match with a couple of misses and let a few games slip to to go behind 3-1, Tony then handed the games right back to me making some unforced errors and I eventually went onto win 7-3. I am now waiting on the 5th round draw so I don’t know who I play. Thanks Tony Crosby 1/11/2008 DCC Classic I lost a tough second round to Niels Fiejen Last night 7-3. This was a long match with lots of safety battles and only one break and run. I would then go onto win my third round match against George Rothenback 7-0 so I am now waiting for the redraw. There is a ton of action going on here with all the games being played so there is plenty to watch on these long first few days. I will bring some more updates later today. Thanks Tony Crosby 1/10/2008 DCC Classic The 9ball event kicked of with 430 players signed up. This is a huge turn out for the 9ball but leaves a very big backlog of matches to get through. I would wait 12 hours yesterday to play my first match, I drew Oscar Dominguez first round who is one of the top players from California. I went onto win this match 7-3 and now wait on the redraw about noon today. I played the straight pool challenge last night with the top 8 runs going to the finals, The highest run is by Mika Immonen 147 with Fabio Petroni close behind recording a 140. I had runs of 47 and 58 which was 6 balls shy of qualifying at the time. I will try and post some updates later today Thanks Tony crosby 1/8/2008 DCC Classic I just arrived at the Derby city Classic for the 9Ball event. The 9 ball had almost 400 players when I signed up today so it going to be a huge event. I am also here to show off my new line of playing cues and break cue. Which has already had a great response in Florida and arizona. I am looking forward playing in this event which is the start of a new year on the pool circuit. Thanks Tony Crosby 12/30/2007 Jason Richko, Fox 13 News Jason Richko who recently won the US National Amateur Championships was recently interviewed on Fox 13 news channel. For all of you that didn’t see it you can copy and paste the link to view it. It’s a very nice piece they did and all the publicity on pool on any news channel is very good for the game, So a big congratulations to Jason Richko 2007 US amateur Champion copy link below. http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/p...d=1.1.1&sflg=1 I have been a little slack with my site as of late, This is due to lack of tournaments and holiday period. For my next post I am going to try and give a review of how my year was. Thanks for all the support I have received from everybody. I wish you all happy holidays Tony Crosby & family 12/13/2007 Rodney Morris Challenge Match I will be playing a Challenge match V Rodney Morris next week In Arizona. The match is going to be a race to 21 Ten Ball. I am feeling very good about playing Ten Ball right now, my record this year on the Florida Pro Tour proves it, I finished NO3 on the ranking list and cashed in more events than any other player for the season. Mark Cantrill with Eclipse Media Group is the promoter of this event, also sponsored by Kolby's Corner Pocket Billiards, Micasa Lending, Killian Jack's, Boston Lobster, More Money Pawn, www.strokeitwear.com. For more information with regards to this event contact Mark Cantrill @ 480-612-7732. I will try and post a Flier with more details of the event very soon. I have already had many emails and calls about this match. there is a lot of interest for this match in an area where theres are very few pro players. People have got Rodney down as a big favorite which is just how I like it. Thanks Tony Crosby 12/1/2007 Florida Steve Mizerak Championship This event is being held in the Hard Rock live, which is one very fine venue. I am still undefeated going into saturday, I drew a bye in the first round and then had wins over Charlie Williams 7-3, Jason Richko 7-2 and George Mclanhan 7-2. My next opponent will be Ronnie Wiseman at 11.45 am saturday. Other results on the day had Archer taking a big 7-0 loss to Immonen who would later get sent to the one loss side by Thorsten Hohmann. Charlie Bryant would send Stevie Moore to the one loss side with a 7-3 win. Azbilliards.com has live brackets of the event so check them out. I will bring more news from the event later, I also have the Strokeit wear booth set up so its already been a long weekend. Thanks Tony Crosby 11/8/2007 Sniper II. Break Jump Cue I am happy to announce my new line of Break Jump Cues, The Sniper II. As a Pro Player I decided I wanted to bring out a cue that I knew would be as good or if not better than any other break Jump Cue on the market and it really is. I have gone with a maple shaft with maple stained Butt with no wrap. The butt is a dark brown and black Stain. The shaft has a 14mm phenolic Tip and ferrule all in one. This gives the cue a much higher percentage of hitting the correct spot on the cue ball, which means more accuracy and power when breaking and jumping balls. The Sniper II cue has not been out for more than 10 days and has already played a big part in helping Jason Richko become 2007 US National Amateur Champion so A big congratulations to him. The cue is also very well priced at $199. They will be available very soon on my online shop and in a pool room near you. If you would like to purchase a Sniper II you can contact me via Email through my site. If you go to my photo gallery I have posted pictures of the cue. This cue is a must buy and will definitely improve your break and jumping for all level of players. 11/1/2007 Mark Coats Wins His first FL Pro Tour Event The Seminole Florida Pro Tour stopped into Bird Bowl Billiards in Miami, Florida for their $9000 added final stop before the State Championships. stop of the season. The event attracted some of the toughest talent out there considering there was a couple of major events going on in other areas around the country. Mark Coats came out ahead of the 43 player field, to earn himself the $3500 first place. I lost my 3rd round match on the winners side 7-6 to Jerry calderon who was also having a fine event going on to beat Richard Broumpton and Corey Deuel. I then lost one match out of the money to Corey Deuel 7-5. This would mean I end up finbishing 3rd on the rankings for the year. The rankings have now been posted so check them out. Corey Deuel is confirmed player of the year. Thanks Tony Crosby 10/22/2007 US Open I ended up finishing in 25th place at this years US OPEN. I lost my 4th round match on the winner side to Dennis Orcollo 11-5 I then went on to beat Oscar Domingez and my tournamnet would come to an end playing Mika Imonnen 11-6. I felt i could have won this match only for a couple of dry breaks. A big Congrats goes out to Shane Vanboening for winning this event and proving he is with out doubt the best player in the US right now. I would also like to wish him all the best and hope he takes down the World Championships next month. I had some great support at the Open with many people coming to watch my matches. Thanks again Tony Crosby 10/18/2007 US Open I won my 3rd round match last night 11-8. This was the first time I got to see Brian Parks Play, WOW and can this guy play. I kicked of the match with a 5-0 lead only to be pegged back with some great play from Parks to 6-5. I was then leading 9-8 and just when looking like getting to the hill I miss an easy 7 ball, Parks then make s a very tough 7 and then slots in the 8 only to miss a straight in 9 ball. I manged to break and run out a very tough rack to take the match. I will play Dennis Orcollo in the 4th round, they dont come much tougher than this guy. There are no easy matches at this stage in any pro event so you just have to take what ever chances you get and thats what I have been doing. Thanks for all the support in this event. Tony Crosby 10/16/2007 US Open I just got back to the hotel room after a very good win over the 2003 US Open Champion Gabe Owen. Gabe stormed into a 6-1 and then 7-2 lead, I hadn’t had many chances at this point, with him breaking dry most of the match only to leave me hooked on the 1 ball. Gabe at 7-2 scratched on the break and left the balls a little tough so I opted to play a 1-9 combination and stole a quick rack to start my fight back. I played some good safes to force some errors from Gabe and made some good outs to win this match and put myself in the 3rd round. I will now play Brian Parks at 7pm Wednesday. There is a lot of stuff going on here this year, www.azbilliards.com has a TV Show called AZBTV which is online based. www.insidepoolmag.com also has a live pod cast going on and www.billiardclubnetwork.com so for all the latest info check these sites out. Thanks Tony crosby 10/16/2007 US OPEN I will play my first match at the open today against Gabe Owen who won this event 3 years ago. James Kay, a guy from my home town in England never showed up to play so I moved forward without playing a match. I am looking forward to the Gabe match as I don’t think we have played each other until now. This will also be a very big test for me in my first match of the tournament. The venue is as good as always and there was a good amount of people watching last night. I will try to bring some more news on my progress later today. Tony Crosby 10/10/2007 Florida Pro Tour Rankings Corey Deuel third place finish has placed him in the no1 ranked player on tour. There is only one event left and his two closest rivals Stevie Moore No2 ranked and Marlon Manalo No3 ranked are not expected to attend means he is almost guaranteed player of the year and the Big cash bonus of $1000 plus. Check the rankings out 10/9/2007 Moore Takes down the Fl Pro Tour Stevie Moore beat Brian Brekke 9-8 to take 1st spot and the $3500 first place prize. Brian Brekke who was making his first appearance on the Florida Pro tour had been playing great pool all weekend and in so made it to the final with wins over Moore and Deuel. Moore would then go onto beat Neil Fujiwara 8-5, Tony Crosby 8-6, Corey Deuel 8-3. This would also mean some big changes on the ranking list. Corey Deuel would replace Marlon Manalo in the no1 position and almost guarantee himself the player of the year spot with only one tournament left. This makes it very tough for him to be caught with Stevie Moore already commited to playing in the Viking Tour finals which clashes with The Bird Bowl event. Marlon Manalo is in 3rd spot and is not guaranteed to make the trip. I would move upto 4th on the list with Donnie Mills dropping to 5th. This could mean Me and Mills have an outside chance of stealing 2nd spot for the year. I am very happy with my performance over the weekend. I have been putting some extra time on the practice table which I know is paying off. The US Open will be my next event and I am way over due a good run in this event so who Know. Check out the new rankings they are now posted. Thanks Tony Crosby 10/7/2007 Florida Pro Tour Update The day kicked of with 12 players. I played Corey deuel on the winners side and dropped that match 8-3. The other winners side match would see Brian Brekke from Minnesota beat Stevie Moore and set up a match with Deuel. Brian Brekke went onto take the hotseat playing just how he has all weekend very strong. On the one loss side I would go on to beat Charlie williams 8-3. Stevie Moore would then go on to beat Fujiwara 8-6. This would pit me against Moore who stormed into a 6-1 lead before giving me a clear oppertunity to take a game which I didnt. So form 7-1 down I would make a good come back to get to 7-6 and just when looking like I was going to tie the match I missed a tricky 4 ball only for Stevie to make a good clearance and take the match. Stevie would then go onto beat Corey Deuel 8-4 to set up a race to 9 final against Brain Breek who sent him to the one loss side. 10/7/2007 FL Pro Tour The Florida Pro Tour Kicked off on friday at Hammerheads Billiards in Holiday Florida. I am still undeafeated and will face of with Corey Deuel today to try and get to the Final of the winners side. I will try and bring some further results later in the day and I know the tournament directors are putting up live resultson Azbilliards Forums. Thanks Tony 9/17/2007 Tony Crosby Latest I have just posted the latest rankings for the Fl Pro Tour. This latest ranking list puts me in joint 4th spot and makes the last couple of events very interesting to see who will end up no1. Jacksonville was a great event with John Ditoro taking second place, I think with the tribe now being more hands on running the event it gives John more time to play. I had a very good event playing some very strong pool over the weekend. I lost to Ditoro and Mike Davis who both finished 1st and 2nd in the event so no complaints there. My next event will be at Capone’s in Spring Hill where Tk will bring his SE Open Tour. This year has been a very busy one for me. My pool game has improved 20% which has also seen me cash in almost every event except for one. The Joss event at Turning Stone Casino last month. This will make it my most successful year to date playing pool. There is also my new business Stroke it Wear which my wife and I have taken on www.strokeitwear.com we have been bringing out new stuff all the time and this week we will launch our line of custom Cue Cases. Then I have my two small girls Emily and Kayla who are getting bigger and bigger every day. We just got back from a mini vacation which also tells me you can never spend enough time with your family watching my girls grow up is a truly amazing experience. I will bring some news from the weekend’s Se Open Tour. Don’t forget to check out www.strokeitwear.com www.axiombilliards.com Thanks Tony Crosby 9/8/2007 Florida Pro Tour The Florida Pro Tour kickeed of with 55 players today. I managed to make it through to sunday undefeated with wins over TF Whittingon 7-1, Terry White 7-2, Thorsten Hohmann 7-4 and Louis Ulrich 8-4. I played some great matches today, I have been putting some time in on the table in the last two weeks and it is paying off. I have now won 16 matches in a row at Bankshot Billiards since last sunday so I am feeling good in this room. I will now play old timer Ditoro on the winners side tomorrow. Ditoro has played some great matches today I told him I hope his age catches up with him tomorrow. you can check the brackets out at www.azbilliards.com. 9/8/2007 Bankshots Billiards, Jacksonville I am playing at Bankshot Billiards for the second weekend in a row. Last weekend I played two events Losing 9-8 to Cory Deuel in the final on saturday night. Sunday I lost my frist match and then went onto win 12 matches in a row to beat Dave Grossman in the final 9-4. This weekend I a playing the Florida pro tour, I have managed to win my first 2 matches 7-1, 7-2. Thorsten Hohmann will be my next opponent at 4pm. 8/31/2007 Bankshot Billiards, Bankshot Billiards, Jacksonville, Florida, will be holding a $2000 Added 9 Ball event tomorrow Saturday the 1st September. This event will be limited to the first 64 paid players so for all those already not payed you will have to turn up early. Entry is $65 this should be a great event. This will also be a great warm up for the folowing weekend where Bankshots also Hosts the Florida Pro tour resumes after the Summer break. I will try and bring some news and pictures from this event Tony Crosby 8/21/2007 Joss Tour Event I just returned from Verona, NY Where the Joss 25k Added was won by Lee Van Cortezza. My event didnt go as well as planned. I won my first lossed my 2nd to Allen Hopkins who did play very well, I then won my third and then lossed another very dissapointing match to Jasmin Ouchan who also had a good match against me. My game was just not there this weekend which is dissapointing. My lack of table time in the past month is starting to show, I made a lot of errors in the matches I won and the ones I lost I will also take notthing away from my opponents because they took advantage of all of my mistakes. Me and my wife had a great weekend Promoting our company which we now own Stroke It Wear clothing. The mens clothes were almost totally sold out so a very good show it was. Check out the new lines at www.strokeitwear.com I also had the pleasure of meeting Pat Flemming from Accu Stats Pool DVD's, I heped out over the weekend doing Commentary on several matches with Danny D. I will now also be doing commentary at this years US Open so looking forward to the event. A big Congrats has too go out to Louis Ulrich who finished 2nd at this event beating World Champion after World Champion, For all of you that dont know Louis he is not a Full Time Player so this makes it even tougher to turn up and do what he did. Thanks to every one for there support for this event and all the emails I recieved. And also my sponsors Axiom Cues, Strokers Billiards. Tony Crosby 8/7/2007 Joss Tour Finals I will be heading to the Joss event for there 25k added event at the Turning Stone Casino. This event will be stacked with the best players in the World turning out. Some of the Confirmed Players: Johnny Archer Thorsten Hohmann Ralf Souquet Karen Corr Jasmin Ouschan Julie Kelly Dennis Hatch Liz Ford Stevie Moore Francisco Bustamante Jose Parica Dennis Orcollo Mika Immonen Shane Van Boening Warren Kiamco Tony Robles Tony Crosby Lee Van Corteza Allen Hopkins Ronnie Wiseman Ronnie Alcano Tony Chohan The field is limited to 128 players which was full over a month ago, there are some high profile players on the list that didnt get in. This just shows that some pool events are run the right way. I will also be helping run the Stroke it Wear booth. Tony Crosby __________________ 8/2/2007 Bob Martin Memorial I will be heading to Fort Myers tomorrow to play in this event, There will be $1000 added in prize money and the field is limited to 64 players. The event will be held at the Miscue Lounge anyone intrested in playing should should contact the room the details are below. The Bob Martin Memorial Miscue Lounge Fort Myers, Fl 239-936-1116 August 4 - 5, 2007 $1000 added $65 entry 7/31/2007 Viking Tour, Atlanta Larry Nevel went undefeated through a very strong field of 68 players. The notable names from the event were Tony Crosby, Tommy Kennedy, Monica Webb, Helena Thornfeldt, Little Jon, Louis Ulrich, Richey Orem, John Morra, Cliff Joyner, Mike Davis, Larry Nevel, and Paul Song. I recieved a Bye in my first round and then played three good matches to make it through to sunday. I would face Richey Orem on the sunday, Richey also travelled with me to the event which makes these matches a little tougher. I went onto lose this one 9-7 both of us didnt really play to good. I then would have a tough task on the one lossside with many very good players already there. I beat Louis Ulrich 7-4 then local favourite Clint McCullough I won 7-5, John Morra would be next, I lost to John at Turning Stone earlier in the year so this was a match I was very much up for, This turned out to be my best match of the event I broke an ran the first six games and I never let up in the 7th breaking and opting to play a good safe, I hooked John and his only shot in the match was a jump shot which he hit but also sent the cue ball straight into the side pocket I went onto run the last one out and take this match 7-0. Richey Orem lost to Justin Hall and then went onto beat Cliff Joyner which set up a rematch, I would grind this one out fora 7-5 win. I then would take my second loss to Justin Hall who had a very good event he wuld eventually lose to Nevel in the final 9-5. I took 3rd for this event so it was a good showing. Thanks Tony Crosby 7/26/2007 Viking Event in Atlanta I have decided last minute to enter the Viking event at Mr Cues in Atlanta this coming weekend. Mike janis runs a very strong tour and due to lack of events lately I am really needing the match practice. I will bring a report after the weekends play on my progress for this event. 7/18/2007 FLORIDA PRO TOUR Our next stop on the Seminole Pro Tour will be at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville, FL, September 7th – 9th. THE TOURNAMENT WILL START ON FRIDAY NIGHT. The player’s meeting and draw will take place at 7pm, and the event will begin at 8pm. Please plan accordingly to be prepared to play on Friday night. Also, please spread the word so nobody gets left behind. All tournament matches will be scheduled! Registration: If you register by August 24th, the cost is $150. Late registration entry fee is $175. The field will be capped at 72, so it is beneficial in more ways than one to register ASAP! No Money will be accepted at the door. Pay in advance by credit card or mail a check to: Seminole Sports Management 2525 N. State Road 7 Suite 230 Hollywood, FL 33021 For questions regarding the tournament format, feel free to call Kevin Pickard at 954-364-5201 ext. 3 or email at KevinPickard@semtribe.com To sign up for the event, or for any other registration issues, please call Brenna Mello at 954-364-5201 ext. 4 or email at BrennaMello@semtribe.com 7/15/2007 Webb and Thornfelt Dominate Spirit Tour WPBA stars Helena Thornfeldt and Monica Webb joined the field at the Ladies Spirit Tour's July stop at Amy's Billiards in Stuart, Monica Webb went undefeated to win the event beating Helena Thornfelt in the final. This is a great result for the travelling pair, They both travelled to Florida on monday so they could spend three days taking lessons with me. There game is getting stronger and stronger on every time I have seen them. So watch out for these two as they are just growing in confidence. Tony Crosby 7/15/2007 Mills takes SE Open Donnie Mills beat Richey Orem to win his 2nd Se Open Title. I was sent to the one loss side by Mills 9-6, I then went onto win two more matches and would face of with Richey Orem, This was another tight affair up till 4-4, Richey just played great and took me down 9-4 breaking and running a bunch of racks. He would then go onto lose to mills 9-4 in the final. Mills has become very tough to beat especially playing rack your own balls. He takes a very long time to freeze the balls the way he wants them which can be a little disturbing when you are sat there while he runs out quicker than he racks them LOL. But he is playing very well so congrats to him and Orem for 2nd place. 7/15/2007 SE Open, Capones Spring Hill I won my first three matches saturday to put me in the last four on the winners side for sunday. I will face off against Donnie Mills sunday at 2pm in a race to 9. Mills beat me in the last Tommy Kennedy event we played last month 9-8, This was a strong match with both of us running a lot of racks. He went on to win his first semi pro title. Another local player richey Orem current Reno Open Champion is also on the winners side where he face Luc Duprien from Ohio. The event is at capones in Spring Hill I will try bring Updates Tony Crosby 7/4/2007 WPBA Event I was at the hard rock Casino near Miami last weekend. I was there to help promote Stroke It Wear, We had taken up the option of a booth for this event and the clothes went down very well. I also got the chance to watch three players who I am now teaching in action. Monica Webb, Helena Thornfeldt and Tracey Hines. Alison Fisher went onto win the event playing some great pool in the finals. My next event will be at Capones in Spring Hill on the 14th July where the SE Open comes to town. Dont forget to check out www.strokeitwear.com for some great clothing, www.axiombilliards.com for some great cues. Thanks Tony Crosby 6/17/2007 Pagulayan Wins World Summit Alex Pagulayan beat Shane Van Boening to win the World Summit of Pool. This is Van Boenings third major final in the space of a month, With a runner up spot at the BCA, a win at the 10 Ball World Championships and a another final defeat at the World Summit. He is defo the most consistent player in the World right now. So a big congrats to him and his amazing run. 6/15/2007 World Summit I managed to get through on thursday with wins over Bill Dugan 11-2 and Louis Ulrich 11-8. I would have to play my next match on friday morning against Lee Hewagen. Lee kicked of playing very well and stormed into an 8-2 lead, I managed to claw my way back into the match and at 9-8 Lee broke the balls and left himself a long 2-9 combination which he slammed and missed, The 9 but it hit 2 rails and kissed of a couple of balls and fell in the hole. This was a real dagger in the heart and a weask safety from me in the last game handed the match to him. My good freind Lee Chenman is still going and has had wins over Lillis, Hohmann, Saez and Dave Hemmmah and is now playing Mika. Thorsten Hohmann has been struggling as of late. His confidence is low and it showing in his game. However this guy is just pure class not once do you see him moan or groan during his matches and in defeat he a gentleman. I think if most of the guys on tour had his attitude the sport would just grow. I am now going to go down and support my buddy lee. 6/14/2007 World Summit The World Summit kicked of with a 64 player field. I managed to scrape through my first match 11-10 over good friend lee Chenman, I then went onto lose my second round 11-8 with a dissapointing performance against Walter Glass. There have been a lot shock results, I think the playing conditions have got a lot to do with it. The tables have been set up very badly and has caused a lot of players to struggle through there matches. I play again tonight at 430 so hopefull y I can go on a good run on the one loss side. 6/8/2007 World Summit Of Pool 2007 Billiard Factory World Summit of Pool Riviera Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas, Nevada June 12-16,2007 Added Purse: $25,000 added Format: 9-Ball / Races to 9 / Double-elimination / Races to 7 in televised matches Equipment: Olhausen / Pro Aramith balls / Simonis Cloth Broadcast: ESPN will televise the final day matches Produced by: Dragon Promotions Sanctioned by: United States Professional Poolplayers Association (UPA) Limited to 96 players $450 total entry fee on May 30 and after Tuesday, June 12: 7:00 pm Players Meeting Tuesday, June 12: 8:00 pm "Challenge the Pros" Charity event with UPA/ACS players benefiting the Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) Wednesday, June 13: 10:00 am first matches Saturday, June 16: ESPN Final 3 Matches Time TBA Spots are open still and players may pay at the venue site by 7pm on June 12 or email dragonpromotionsupdates@gmail.com For inquiries call 407-782-4978 Special discounted hotel room reservations for players and spectators ($84 + tax/night) at the Riviera are available by calling 1-800-634-6753 and using the ACS Group Code: "EIGHT07". 4th Annual Billiard Factory World Summit of Pool in Las Vegas Houston, Texas- The Billiard Factory will headline sponsor this year's ESPN World Summit of Pool, a staple tournament on the men's UPA Tour. Dragon Promotions has moved the event from New York City to the western region of the USA as the event will take place at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on June 12-16, 2007. The pro event will take place alongside a multitude of amateur players and fans at the American Cuesports Alliance National Championships . Pro event tickets can be bought online at www.dragonpromotions.com "There are so many events on the east coast already, and we are producing two there as well. The west seems to be starving for pro events so producing The Billiard Factory World Summit of Pool in Las Vegas along with our US Pro Tour Championship in L.A. should help satisfy fans and players in that region." said Cindy Lee , President of Dragon Promotions. Players from around the world, many who have opted to stay in the US after the World 10-Ball Championships, will be heading to Las Vegas to play for $25,000 guaranteed added prize money with the winner taking home a minimum $12,000 for 1st place. World Champions Alex Pagulayan, Mika Immonen, Thorsten Hohmann, and Johnny Archer will be in attendance and foreign stars such as BCA Open Champion Dennis Orcullo(PHI), US Bar Table Champion Warren Kiamco(PHI), ESPN Speed Pool Champ Luc Salvas, World Junior 10-Ball Champion John Morra (CAN) and top Aussie David Reljic(AUS). Top US talent will include #2 Ranked Mike Davis, US Open Champion John Schmidt, World Pool League Champion Rodney Morris, 4x US Mosconi Cup winner Charlie Williams, former BCA Open Champion Tony Robles, and legendary players Allen Hopkins and Kim Davenport will be throwing in their hats as well. Newly crowned World 10-Ball Champion Shane "South Dakota Kid" Van Boening will be looking to keep his hot streak alive with his appearance there. Olhausen will be the Official Table of the Billiard Factory World Summit of Pool along with Simonis Cloth and Aramith Balls. The pro players will be competing on Olhausen Champion Pro Tables with tournament blue Simonis 860 and Super Aramith TV Pro Balls. Other Official Sponsors include Master Chalk and Ozonebilliards.com . "We are really excited with this event and getting involved with the professional sporting side of billiards. The media coverage the event will receive and bringing this world class event to the fans is something that really interests us and the future of the Billiard Factory. It's going to be a great tournament!" commented Tony Stick, President of Billiard Factory. Players can call 1-407-782-4978 for info to register for the event or goto www.dragonpromotions.com for more info on entry fee and players meeting. Billiard Factory is one of the nation's largest billiard retail store, carrying every top brand name in billiards. Billiard Factory has been in business for over 32 years and has 16 locations throughout the United States. More information on stores and locations can be found at www.billiardfactory.com Dragon Promotions is one of the leading producers of billiard programming in the world today. Dragon produces over 40 events a year airing on networks in USA and Korea including The World 14.1 Championship, King of Carom, and Korea vs USA. Dragon also manages some of the world's best players including Thorsten Hohmann, Rodney Morris, Mika Immonen, Yu Ram Cha and many more. Current Player List: Edwin Montal Tyler Edey John Morra David Reljic Allen Hopkins Dennis Ocollo Warren Kiamco Austin Murphy Troy Frank Timothy Hall Mat Krah Luc Salvas Pete Kelly Jeff Kennedy Mike Davis John Schmidt- Daniel Wallace John Kutcher Ronnie wiseman tony crosby richard broumpton Ike Runnels Dave Hemmah Daniel Wallace Paul Potler Stevie Moore Albrecht U. Lapena Oscar Dominguez - Ernesto Dominguez shawn wilke Mika Immonen Thorsten Hohmann Charlie Williams Rodney Morris Cory Deuel Johnny Archer Shawn Putnam Charlie Bryant Frank Alvarez Tony Robles Ronnie Wiseman Rob Saez Jeremy Jones Nick Tafoya Tommy Najar Dan Wallace Francisco Bustamente Santos Sambajon Alex Pagulayan Lee Van Corteza Shane Van Boening 6/4/2007 Florida Pro Tour I have just updated the rankings for the Florida pro Tour. Corey Deuel who has been No1 since the 1st event has dropped to No2 with Marlon Manalo replacing him. The next Florida Pro Tour event will be at Bank shot Billiards in Jacksonville in September. 6/4/2007 The Hispanic Panic The owner of Strokers pool room Jose Del Rio won his 1st Kings Bay Event this weekend at Hammer Heads in Holiday Florida. This is a very good win foir him beating Nomar Paula who is one of the top Kings bay players. A big Congrats to him. 6/3/2007 Kennedy V Manalo Finals Final Rack Marlon breaks and makes the six ball leaving himself an open table with a shot at the one. Plays the one ball but hooks himself on the two.. Tries to kick the two in with no luck and now Tommy is at the table. Tommy has gone back to the table to put his glasses on to make sure he can hit this next ball. Tommy's glasses did the trick he makes the two ball. He has missed the three ball but left Marlon a tough shot for position. He banks the three ball, cross side and leaves himself straight in on the four ball. He makes the four ball and then plays a good shot into the side pocket with the five ball, to get shape on the seven and now has an open table eight nine and ten to win the match. It looks like it's all over and Marlon has made a Great comeback to win this match... Ten ball in the corner pocket for the match and it's in!!! Marlon has Won!!! Rack 16 Marlon breaks and makes two balls. He has a tough one ball against the rail and tries to bank it in, but misses and hooks Tommy. Tommy makes contact with the one but leaves it hanging.. Marlon is grinding his way back into this match. He hits the three ball in the side pocket and follows with an easy 4. He now has a tough seven ball to cut in, and comes up for the eight. Two easy last shots for the nine and ten ball to win the rack. Marlon has taken the match to hill hill... Rack 15 Tommy breaks and comes up dry. Marlon rockets in the 1 and 2 and 3 ball easily and now has an open table to run the rack. He has left himself a tough 9 but makes it 10 to win the rack. 8-7 Rack 14. Marlon Scratches on the break. Tommy had an open table, he plays a bad shape from the 4 to 5 and misses the 5, Marlon then also misses a straight in combo leaving tommy only to make the 5-6 and then play an easy combo on the 8-10 to get on the hill 8-6 Rack 13 Tommy makes a ball and has to play a push out, Leaving Marlon on the rail shooting a straight in 1 ball full length of the table, he fires it in and hooks himself on the 3, he makes the hit but leaves Tommy an open table. he makes the 9 ball and plays shape for a cross side bank on the 10 which he misses and marlon slots it home. 7-6. Pressure is on both players now, Rack 12 Marlon makes a ball and plays a very good shot to make the one ball, plays safe on the 2, Tommy also plays a good safe hooking Marlon. behind the 10. Marlon makes the hit but leaves tommy a shot on the 2, Tommy makes the two and plays a 3-10 combo and lets a big yeah scream out to take the game 7-5 Rack 11 Another dry break, Tommy has no shot on the one ball. he manages to squeeze the one ball in and then misses a bad 2 ball, leaving Marlon another open table, he runs the rack and now thew match is very tight. 6-5 Rack 10 Another dry break, Tommy plays safe on the 1 ball, Marlon replies with another good safe, Tommy Leaves Marlon the one which he makes, he then goes onto to run a very good rack to pull another back 6-4. The match has turned big time and marlon now looks a little more relaxed at 6-4 Rack 9 Marlon breaks dry and Tommy plays a good hook, He misses the 1 and leaves Tommy a 1-10 combo which he misses leaving the 10 hanging and the 1 right there. Marlon pulls another back 6-3 Rack 8 Tommy breaks dry, Marlon plays safe, Tommy attempts the bank misses and leaves marlon a shot on the one, Marlon makes the one and plays a hook on the 2, Marlon gets ball in hand and finally runs a rack to pull one back 6-2 Rack 7 Tommy breaks dry, Marlon makes the one ball but has no shot on the 2 he plys safe, Tommy makes the 2 gets shape on the 3 and should be out with the balls open,, he runs the rack to take a very good lead. 6-1 Rack 6 Tommy breaks dry marlon has a shot on the one he makes it and misses the 2 ball, Tommy makes a good combo on the 2-3 combo and scratches in the side, marlon has an open table and should pull one back, marlon runs to the 8 ball and misses it bad, Tommy also misses it and leaves marlon tough, Marlon miscues on the 8 makes contact and leaves Tommy a tough cut which he makes but leaves no shot on the 9, he plays safe leaving Marlon a long 9 which he misses he leaves Tommy an easy out which he makes to take a 5-1 lead. Rack 5 Tommy breaking makes the ten ball which doesnt count, he cant see the one ball, He jumps it full cue and makes a great shot and get shape on the tow ball, he makes the two and three ball and leaves himself tough on the 4, he plays a great shot makes the 4 ball and sends the cue ball 3 rails to leave himself a bank on the 5 ball which he makes and runs the rack to take a 4-1 lead, Marlon looks a little under pressure now Tommy Breaks makes two balls and hooks himself on the 1, He rolls out and Manlo plays a bad safe and leaves him straight in. Tommy Runs to the 5 ball and misses a 5 ball jacked up, Marlon makes the 5 but leaves himself bad on the 7 and misses it bad and scratches to leave Tommy an easy out 3-1 kennedy Tommy breaks and makes a ball, Slow rolls the one which only justs drops into the side and then runs out 2-1 kennedy Tommy makes a good out 1-1 Tommy Makes the 2 ball and should be out with all the balls open Manalo breaks Dry, Tommy Hooks him and Manlo kicks in the one ball and then tries to kick the 2 ball and gives Tommy ball in hand Tommy hits the 5 and leaves Manalo an easy out 1-0 Manalo he takes a flyer at it, makes the hit and Manalo plays a good safe Kennedy looks like taking the first rack only to hook himself on the 5 ball Kennedy beat Moore 8-5 to take the hotseat. Kiamco beat Lapena 8-1, Manalo beat Orcollo 8-3 and then went onto beat kiamco 8-3 and Stevie Moore 8-2 so he will now face Tommy Kennedy for the title. Kennedy beat Lapena 8-4 and at the same time Moore beats Manalo to set up an all American hotseat match. which will be a big suprise to many people. Kiamco beat Mills 8-6 and Orcollo beat Ruberto 8-5. This leaves the one loss side looking like a Philopino event. Congrats to Tommy Kennedy who really has been playing well this weekend and Stevie Moore for making it to the hotseat match.:) I lost to Warren Kiamco on sunday morning 8-6, This was a tight match and I looked like tieing it up at 7-7 only to hook my self on the run out. other results on the day. WINNERS SIDE Lapena beat Edey 8-4 Kennedy Beat Ruberto 8-2 Manalo Beat Broxson 8-2 Moore beat Dempsey 8-4 ONE LOSS Orcollo beat Sey 8-2 Pagulayan beat Cortezza 8-7 Mills beat Montel 8-6 Kiamco Beat Crosby 8-6 Kiamco beat Dempsey 8-5 Mills beat Broxson 8-5 Ruberto beat Pagulayan 8-6 Orcollo beat Edey 8-5 Matches in Progress Winners Lapena V Kennedy Manalo v Moore One Loss Mills v Kiamco Ruberto v Orcollo I will be bringing live action on th final match of the evening So check it out rack bye rack The Seminole Florida Pro Tour stop will be down to just sixteen players on Sunday morning. I managed to get through on the one loss side. I took my first loss to David Broxson 7-5, I then went onto beat Wayne Catledge 7-6 which would set up a match with Ronnie Wiseman who had beaten me the last 3 times so I was looking forward to this one. Ronnie kicked off the match playing very confident in the knowledge that he had beaten me the last few times, He was 3-1 ahead and just when looking like going 4-1 up he missed an easy ball. I stepped up a gear on my days play to win this match in style and put this bogey player to bed going ahead 6-3 and eventually winning 7-4. My final match of the day would be against one of the upcoming local players. Keelan McCullers I would go on to win 7-2 and put my self into Sundays play. I will face Warren Kiamco. This was another long day I left the pool room at 2:30am and play again today at 9:30am. 5/31/2007 Big guns going at it. Corey was still playing Dennis Orcollo last night, They have been going at the 2nd set now for 2 days, Corey changed the game to 15 ahead because he got beat on the first night in a few hours, This cold take sometime playing rotation. The 2nd set is taking way longer, Corey was 8 ahead at one point and Orcollo brought it back to 1. When I left last night he was three ahead. Richey Orem beat Tyler Edey out of a couple of sets and lost one set to Edwin Montel. They are going to play again today at 2pm and I will be playing Warren Kiamco a set at the same time. So there is plenty going on right now. The Florida Pro tour is also going to kick of at 10am saturday morning, they are not going to close the field at 64 because of demand. 5/29/2007 Florida Pro Tour The Florida pro tour has its 4th event of the year at Capones Billiards lounge, Spring Hill, Florida. This event could turn out to be the strongest event ever for the tour, The World 10 Ball champiopnships was just held in Jacksonville Florida and most of the high quality players are expected to show for this event. Just to name a few Dennis Orcollo, Lee Van Corteza, Francisco Bustamante, Marlon Manalo, Stevie Moore, Will BilBrey, Danny Harriman, Dennis Hatch, Alex Pagulayan the list just goes on not t mention the usual guys that show up. This will be a great event to play and watch. I will be bringing live updated all weekend and I will also supply azbilliards with the brackets. 5/28/2007 Boening 10 Ball world Champion Shane Van Boening made his way through a Quality Field of players to win the Predator World 10-Ball Championship. I went out saturday Night losing to Niels Feijen 10-4 and then losing by the same score to Thomas Engert. I had a headache during the day and just never shook it of for the night time and it really showed in my play. This was two hard losses especially with playing so well the day before beating Mika Immonen and Matt Krah. A big Congrats has to go out to Sahne for this event he is proving what a force he is going to be for many years to come. I have another event coming up this weekend in Springhill Florida. The florida Pro Tour comes to town. 5/26/2007 World 10 Ball Championships I have now had two very good wins in this event. I played matt krah in the 2nd round and managed to sneak a very good win over this guy who is improving all the time. At 8-8 I played a couple of very good safes to take this match. This now set up a meeting with Mika Immonen, I have played him twice before and never won so this was a very big match for me. I broke the balls bad the 1st couple of racks and it put me 5-3 down. I then went onto play some of the best pool I have played this year breaking and running all my racks to get to 9. The crazy thing was that the score went 9-9. I went onto play a couple of very good safes and win this maqtch 10-9 and set up a meeting with Niels Feijen. 5/20/2007 World 10 Ball Chapionships The world 10 ball Cahmpionships will start on Thursday the 24th may at BankShot Billiards in Jacksonville, Florida. There will be 96 players from all over the world competing to become the official World 10 Ball Champion. I am happy to be one of the guys invited to play in this event and just got the news tonight I will be one of the top 32 seeded players who will recieve a bye in the 1st round of the event. The list of seeded players was released tonight and are as follows. Thomas Engert GER Johnny Archer USA Mika Immonen FIN Ralf Souquet GER Thorsten Hohmann GER Alex Pagulayan PHI Mike Davis USA Shawn Putnam USA Dennis Orcullo PHI Niels Feijen NET Ronald Wiseman CAN Raj Hundal ENG Naoyuki Oi JPN Charlie Williams USA Francisco Bustamente PHI Marcus Chamat SWE David Reljic AUS Pil Hyun Cho KOR Troy Frank USA Hiroshi Takenaka JPN Evgeny Stalev RUS Stefan Cohen FRA Luc Salvas CAN Robert Saez USA Fabio Petroni ITL Vilmos Foldes HUN Tony Robles USA Ditto Acosta ARU Tony Crosby USA Lee Chenman CHN Dennis Hatch USA SPN #1 I will also be bringing news from this event on my progress and some of the other matches taking place. I am also going to this event to help promote my sponsors Axiom Cues, www.strokeitwear.com and Strokers Pool Room Palm Harbor Florida. 5/16/2007 BCA I lost 11-9 to Tony Robles, I was very lucky to get to 9. I dont think I broke and run one rack in the set. The balls racked very badly and I really struggles with the break. Tony turned up 12 minutes late and at 3-3 we were put on the clock which I thought was a little unfair to me. I have never been on the clock before and it affected me for a couple of racks. Other results. Manalo managed to beat Thorsten Hohman 11-10 Hewitt beat Souquet 11-9 Chamat beat Kuo 11-7 5/16/2007 BCA I am just about to go down and play my 1st match on the one loss side. I got my opponent wrong I am now playing Tony Robles. I watched Helena and Monica both win there matches yesterday so they will now face each other on the winner side. Tony Crosby 5/15/2007 BCA I took a good beating from Niels Fiejen tonight losing 11-4, Niels played an almost flawless match. I will now play Po-Cheng Kuo or Jeff Kennedy on wednesday morning. There were some very good matches tonight with Parica beating Deuel 11-10 another very good match was Fabio Petroni v Charlie Bryant, Bryant was 9-0 down and played very well to get it to 9-7 only to make a school boy error on a simple safe shot. Fabio went onto win the match 11-9. Strickland was his normal self making the crowd laugh while he beat Rob Saez 11-9. 5/14/2007 BCA I won my first match beating Tim Hall 11-4, I played very solid throughout the match taking advantage of every chance I got. Neils Fiejen will be my 2nd round match. I am looking forward to this match I beat him in this event a couple of years ago so he knows who I am and am sure will be up for the game. Azbilliards have got the full bracket for the event online. I will keep you posted on my own progress. Thanks Tony Crosby 5/12/2007 BCA Open The draw for the the event is complete, I play Tim Hall in my first round at 11am sunday morning. The arena looks great as usual, the tables this year are Diamonds which is also a bonus. There have been some great 1st round match ups which was always going to happen with a very high quality field. Francisco Bustamante will play Jeremy Jones, Lee Chen man v Thomas Engert. Richard Broumpton v Niels Feijen Fabio petroni V Gerge Breedlove. Johnny archer v larry Nevel I will give some updates as the matches go. Thanks Tony Crosby 5/11/2007 BCA I am now at Tampa airport waiting for my flight. The one good thing about this airport is it is probably the only airport in the US to offer free wifi. The BCA is one of the best run events of the year, Steve Tipton who runs this event does a fantastic job. This event is also has the ladies playing in the same arena as the men which is about the only time I would ever get a chance to watch them play. I will be rooting for Helena Thornfelt and Monica Webb as I have been working with them on there game, also Tracie Hines who lives local to me. I will be bringing news and story's from the event every day so stay tuned to www.tonycrosby.com for the latest news. I also would like to thank the people who have helped me get here so check them out and support them. Thanks Tony Crosby 5/7/2007 Florida Pro Tour Dennis Hatch went onto to avenge his loss to Donnie Mills by beating him 9-4 in the final on sunday night. Hatch Thrashed Marlon Manalo 8-1 running a five pack in the semi final and the final was no different, Hatch ran another five pack on Donnie Mills to take 1st place and the $2700 in prize money. I finished a respectable 7-8th place, I took my first loss in the 3rd round of the winners side to Neil Fujiwara but then went onto beat Bobby Garza 7-4, Troy Frank 8-4 and Danny Harriman 8-7. I then played Marlon Manalo who played great and knocked me out of the event 8-4. My next event will be the BCA Open Las Vegas. The rankings for the Florida Pro tour are updated so check them out on my site which is the only one with the official ranking list. I was unable to do live posts this weekend due to no wifi internet connection but I am sure I will be bringing plenty of news from the BCA event. Thanks to everyone for there support be sure to check out my sponsors www.strokeitwear.com and www.axiombillards.com and Strokers pool room. Thanks Tony Crosby 5/6/2007 Florida Pro Tour Miami The third Florida Pro Tour of the season kicked off with 47 players. There is still a very high quality field, Last weeks winner Marlon Manalo, Danny Harriman, Tony Chohan, Lee ChenMan, Rob Saez, Richard Broumpton, Chris Bartram, Dave Broxson, Wil Billbrey, some big names that didnt make it to sunday were Dave Broxson, Wil Billbrey, Tommy kennedy just to mention a few, I have supplied Azbilliards with the brackets for this event so you will be able to keep upto date. I will face troy Frank today on the one loss side, I lost my third round on the winners side to Neil Fujiwara and went onto beat Bobby Garza to get thru on the day. 5/1/2007 Florida Pro Tour Marlon Manalo took the 2nd event of the season down and the first placed prize of $3500. My weekend kicked of on friday with a very tough chalenge match against Ignacio Chavez. We played a race to 21 Ten Ball, I lost this match 21-16. This was one of those matches that could have gone either way, I feel I got a bad run of the balls nearer the end which did have a major bearing on the score line. This match will be available on DVD very soon for all those people who have not seen him play. I ended up 9-12th in the pro event, I came away from this event feeling I didnt play my best all weekend but still managed to win some good matches which says a lot for my progress. The next event will be at New Wave Billiards this weekend coming. It will be limited to 64 players so make sure you get your entry in to avoid dissapointment. I had some problems this weekend logging into my site and should be able to bring live updates as I go next weekend, I did supply AZBilliards with the brackets and updates from Strokers. Thanks Tony Crosby 4/16/2007 Florida Pro Tour Corey Deul has won the first event of the season and the top prize of 5k. Corey Beat Dave Broxson in the final. Rob Saez took 3rd, Adam Wheeler 4th and my self and Mike destafano took joint 5th. This was the hardest Florida pro tour event I have ever played in. I finished my last winners side match at 5am in the morning and considering I drove there on the day leaving my house at 8 am I had been up for almost 24 hours. I am very pleased with my performance on the weekend beating Stevie Moore, Paul Song, Trevor Braymore then I took my first loss to Mike Destafano who played very well all weekend. I then went on to beat luis Viera, Mike Dechaine and I then lost a hill hill heart breaker to rob Saez 8-7. Some of the players didnt get there one loss side matches done with till 10 am sunday morning and the one loss match players had to start at 11 so a very hard weekend. There was only 9 tables with 93 players, The tournament directors did all they could to speed things up, but it was just impossible to move it any quicker. The rankings will be up in a couple of days. The next Florida Pro tour event is going to be at my home room Strokers in Palm harbor. The day before it kicks off I will be playing a challenge match against Chavez the highly rated Mexican player. 4/14/2007 Florida Pro Tour Results I managed to win my first match against Stevie Moore 7-3 and now will go on to face his road partner Paul Song. Other players advancing on the winnres side are Earl Strickland Rob Saez Richard Broumpton Lee Chen Men Jose Del Rio Richie Orem I will try and bring more updates tonight 4/14/2007 Florida Pro Tour The Florida Pro Tour 1st event of the season has kicked off with a record 92 players in the field. Top players from around the country always show up for these events and this one is no different, Earl Strickland, Rob Saez, Tony Ruberto, Dave Broxson, Mike Dechaine, Lee Chenman, Stevie Moore, Paul Song, Jose Del Rio and Dave Grossman just to mention a few. I got a bye the first round and will now face stevie Moore who beat Dave grossman in his first match. 4/8/2007 The tournament Calendar. I have just updated the tournament schedule on my site. It is going to be a great couple of months of pool action, there is an event almost every two weeks with a lot of them in the Florida State. I am feeling very upbeat about the way I am Playing at the moment. I have been working very hard on and of the table and it is now starting to show. The skin on my fingers is actually starting to wear which tells me I have not played this much pool in a very long time. This time last year I was pulling my hair out trying to qualify for the IPT tour, Trying to come up with money to chase a dream which turned out to be a nightmare. I know this has also made me a better player. I am also just about to lauch the online store for this site, which will be offering all kinds of billiard products at great prices. SO STAY TUNED. And Thanks Tony Crosby 3/31/2007 UPA Pro Tour Championships I played well against Efren today beating him 11-9. This is the second time I have now had the pleasure of playing and winning against this legend of a player. But my joy was short lived after I took an 11-9 loss to Shawn putnam. This is a match that i should have won and will be kicking my self all the way back to Florida. I was 6-3 up and should have gone 7-3 up. I made severall unforced errors which also gave him the confidence to start playing well. Overall I am very pleased with my game and maybe just need to get my tempo round the table a little more consistent, I think this really showed against Bustamante last night, when I really had him under pressure I let him of the hook as well. It was a very tough event with the table causing a lot of players to miss which looked like easy balls. My next event is going to be the Florida Pro Tour event in Melbourne. I will be bringing a lot more updates and on my site. My new site is almost finished and will be very easy on the eyes. you can take a peek at www.tonycrosby.com Also i would like to thank my sponsors Axiom Cues, Strokers pool room in Palm harbor, www.strokeitwear.com. I urge you all to support these companys and if you see somthing you like buy it. They are a massive help to keeping me out here playing and bringing the updates to all you great people. Thanks to everyone for there intrest in my site as well Tony Crosby 3/30/2007 UPA Pro Tour Championships My match against Bustamante is at 830 pm so I will be rooting my buddy's on Richard Broumpton and Lee Chenman. They both play at Noon. I will try and bring some new later on the days play. Tony Crosby 3/29/2007 UPA Pro Tour Championships I played very well against my buddy Richard Broumpton, I won this match 11-1, Richard got a few bad rolls at the start and I got some good ones which seems to only happen when you play well. I will now face Francisco Bustamante tomorrow night. This is a match which I am realy looking forward to as I have never had the pleasure of playing this well known legend. Fabio Petroni beat Lee Chenman 11-9 Corey Deul won 11-8 Francisco Bustamante beat Mike Davis 11-4 Tony Crosby beat Richard broumpton 11-1 I will try bring some more news later. Thanks Tony Crosby 3/29/2007 UPA Pro Tour Championships I play my first match today against Richard Broumpton, we are also rooming together which makes the match a little tougher. I watched some good matches last night with Efren Reyes beating Neil Fujiwara 11-6, Johnny Archer beating Santos 11-9. Rob Saez beating Landon Shuffet 11-7, Shawn Putnam didnt have to hit a ball with his openent Alesandra Torrenti not showing for his match. Lee Chenman put the heat on Kim Davenport, Davenport was 8-3 down when he attempted a very thin cut on a tough 8 ball, He didnt make contact with the 8 and unscrewed his cue handing Chenman the match. I will try and bring some more news later, I was unable to log into poolsniper for a couple of days. Tony Crosby 3/28/2007 UPA Pro Tour Championships The UPA Pro Championships starts today with 51 players. There are lots of big name players in the event, You can check the brackets out at http://www.azbilliards.com/brackets/showbrackets.cfm?tourneynum=2414 I will be trying to bring updates on my own progress and also some news from the event. I have been handed a bye in my first round matches, The top 13 ranked players were given a bye. I will now face either good buddy Richard Broumpton or Tim Hall. Thanks Tony Crosby 3/24/2007 WPBA Good luck to Monica Webb and Helena Thornfeldt, They are both still undefeated in the event. They both recently came to me for lessons and both were very excited about what they learned. They are going to get better and better this year and it sure gives me a boost watching them do it. Tony Crosby 3/22/2007 A good week I had good week at Valley Forge. I finished 13th in the pro event losing to Cory Deul who went onto win it and also the 2006 US Open Champion John Schmidt. I lost to Antonio Gabica in the last 8 of the pro am event. I spent most of my time at the Strokeitwear booth, They also had a very good week selling a lot of shirts and meeting a lot of very good contacts so all in all my week was a good one. I fly out to LA next week to play in my next event, The UPA Pro Tour championships. I will have my pc with me and will have much more time to give updates on matches and pictures. Tony 3/17/2007 Super Billiards Expo I played in the Pro Am event tonight, This event is $300 to enter best of 3 sets races to 7, I had a tough first round match against Tony Chohan which i won 7-4, 7-5 I also went onto to win my next match 7-3, 7-5 to put my self in the last 8, I will now face either John Morra or Antonio Gabica. I was unable to gain acces to the pro arena to update the scores, I heard that wiseman took the Hotseat with a win over Rodney Morris. I will try and bring all the updates in the morning. I play my first match at 10am. Tony Crosby 3/17/2007 Super Billiards Expo I just crashed out of the event losing to the current US Open Cahmpion John schmidt. I was 7-3 down and got it back to 7-7 and looked like getting out only to play a bad positional shot from the 8 to the 9, I left my self all most frozen with no clear shot, attempting a bank i miscued leaving a very tough 9 for John which he slotted in the whole. I end up losing 10-7 and go out of the evnt kicking my self for some unforced errors. Other players that won there matches were Rodney Morris over Deul, Stalev over Hernandez, Joey K over Wilkie, I will try and bring some more news later from the event. tony crosby 3/17/2007 Super Billiards Expo I won my 1st match on the one loss side beating Danny Mullhollen 10-5, I played solid in this match and capitalised on any mistakes he made. I will now play the either John schmidt or Kim Davenport. 130pm is the match time. I have also been working here everyday with strokeitwear, They have taken a booth and are selling a lot of T-shirts. Check there products out online now at www.strokeitwear.com they have recently added many new items to the store. The weather here is bad right now and many people were unable to leave the hotel last night due to the snow storm. I will bring you more updates later. Thanks Tony Crosby 3/15/2007 Super Billiards Expo I managed to win my 2nd match on thursday but took a 3rd round loss on the winners side to an inform Corey Deul. Corey is playing very well so far in this event, he looks to be playing to win and its showing. I play again saturday at 1130am I dont know who my oppenent is yet. But i will bring you updates later. My Pc is not working downsatirs so I have been keeping AZbilliards upto date with the brackets. Thanks Tony Crosby 3/15/2007 Super Billiards Expo Round one kicked of with some very good matchups, Mika beat Sambajon, Kiamco beat gabica, Charlie Williams beat last years winner Dennis Hatch. The one loss side has already got a lot of good players in it. I managed to win my first match 10-5 and will play again tonight at 10:30 pm. There is a full 64 man field and the prize money has had an added boost with an extra 5k being added from the UPA’s new investors, The event is now a 25k added. I will try and bring tonights results to you later, there there are some 8:30pm matches and 10:30pm matches. Tony Crosby 2/14/2007 Turning Stone Classic I just won a very tough match against Paul Song from Atlanta. Paul was 5-2 up and the balls just seemed to be rolling his way. He had only missed three times and hooked me all three times, I kicked all them and scratched on all of them soit was not looking good. I managed to stay focused and played very well to come back and win the match. I will now face one of the young guns that has been making a lot of noise on the circuit John Morra from Canada, 8pm match time. My buddy Richard Broumpton never got going against Jose Parica and was sent the one loss side 9-0, Richard said he missed an 8 ball to go 3-0 down and he never got much after that. Archer won 9-3 The rest of the players were still going. 2/24/2007 Turning Stone Latest Mika beat Gabica 9-8 he is currently leading Richard broumpton 5-4 Zuglan is curently 6-1 down putnam 4 tucker 3 Hatch 4 song 3 2/25/2007 Hard Nite's Pool I lose a tough match to John Morra 9-3, I made far to many unforced errors in this match, John was very nervouse at the start and I just couldnt put the nail in the coffin. He played very well in the end you could say I put him in stroke missing a straight forward 9 ball at 6-3 down, he broke and ran the last two racks showing what a good player he is. I then had to face Luat which turned out to be a very dissapointing loss. I went 7-3 down and played my way back into the match to go 8-7 up and then scracth on the break. I dont get to shoot at another ball. I already feel like my year has kicked off way better than last year. This time last year I was chasing the IPT Circus and I for one am happy if the them three letters were never ever mentioned again. Thanks to all the people who have been giving me support this week, Especially my wonderfull wife Natalie. Tony Crosby 2/28/2007 Stroke-It Wear If you have not checked out this site do so.. www.strokeitwear.com they have the newest billiards apparel out there. 3/2/2007 2007 Super Billiards Expo I will be playing the upcoming 2007 Super Billiards Expo, this event is also UPA sanctioned and will be classed as there season opener. The tournaments cant come quick enough for me right now, my game is very strong and my confidence is high. I will be bringing my pc and trying to bring some news from the event. Strokeitwear will also be in attendance and have taken a booth downstairs to help promote there products so make sure you all swing by and say hello I will be helping out on my free time. They have some really cool shirts for men and women.