Larry Hubbart Passes
Former world champion, American Poolplayers Association co-founder and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Larry “Iceman” Hubbart passed away Thursday, Aug. 22, at his home in St. Louis after a lengthy illness. Hubbart was 72.
Hubbart, born in the pool hotbed of Rochester, N.Y., which also produced Hall of Famers Irving “Deacon” Crane and Mike Sigel, was one of the game’s top players in the mid-’70s and early ’80s. He was also considered one of the fiercest road players in the country
During a time in which Hall of Fame players like Sigel, Steve Mizerak, Buddy Hall, Allen Hopkins were at the top of their games, Hubbart was always a serious threat, winning the 1975 National 9-Ball Championship, the U.S. Open 8-Ball Championship and 9-Ball Tournament of Champions in ’76, the World Open 9-Ball in 1997 and the Akron Open in 1980. His last big win was in 1983 when he captured Sid Mann’s Texas River City Open.
Ironically, Hubbart’s greatest accomplishment in pool came not in an action match or at a tournament, but as a businessman. In 1979, Hubbart and fellow player Terry Bell approached Anheuser-Busch with a proposal to launch a national amateur pool league. What began as the Busch Pool League took root, and within 10 years Hubbart and Bell’s American Poolplayers Association topped the 100,000 mark in player membership. Today the APA boasts nearly 300,000 members, nearly 300 franchise holders, and competes in more than 8,000 locations in 46 states.
In 2010, Hubbart and Bell were inducted into the Meritorious Service wing of the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame. It was Hubbart’s last public appearance, as he spent the final three years of his life confined to a bed.
“I still maintain that Larry Hubbart should be in the Greatest Players wing of the Hall of Fame as well,” offered Bell. “None of the players from his era who are in the Hall of Fame wanted any part of playing Larry.”
Hubbart is survived by his wife of 38 years, Nancy, and six children.
Hall-of-Famers Hall, Rempe Opt Out of IPT Again
Hall of Fame Members Jim Rempe and Buddy Hall have withdrawn from the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship set to take place Sept. 2-10 in Reno, Nev. Both cited “personal reasons” that are keeping them from being able to perform under the grueling tournament format and conditions.
These two spots are now up for grabs and the IPT will fill them based on the qualification tournaments for the World Open. Players who have taken third place in World Open qualification tournaments more than once will be considered first. Then, players who took third place once will be considered. If there are ties, the IPT will consider the total number of qualification tournaments the players have played in. There are still five remaining qualification tournament in which to compete.
Qualification tournaments this weekend are being played in Florida, Chicago, Tokyo, London, and Pasadena. Entry fee deadline is TODAY (Aug. 24) at 4 p.m. CST.
IPT Open Kicks Off: U.K. Sizzles, U.S. Stumbles, Qualifiers Thrive
The overwhelming success of shooters from the United Kingdom and several strong qualifiers are the big surprises from the first day of the history-making IPT North American 8-ball Open, now underway at the Venetian in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, conventional-wisdom favorites such as Jose Parica, Mike Davis, Max Eberle, and Tony Robles were headed back to the drawing board, or at least a practice table, to ponder their early exits from the $2 million tournament.
But the biggest shocker was how incredibly well the contingent from the U.K. performed. Compatriots on the English 8-ball circuit (and relative unknowns elsewhere) Michael Hill, Darren Appleton and Carl Morris each went a perfect 4-0 in the first round of round-robin play, which featured 20 groups of five players each.
The second 100 competitors in the 200-player field will wage war today in their first-round matches. The top three players in each of the 40 groups advance to the next round; the eliminated players settle for a modest $2,000 each.
Here’s a brief wrap-up of the first day’s highlights:
• Of the 100 competitors in play Sunday, 13 finished with perfect 4-0 records, representing a wide array of nations: Michael Hill, Darren Appleton and Carl Morris of the U.K.; Americans Dennis Hatch, Steve Moore, Marco Marquez, and John Schmidt; Hungary’s Vilmos Foldes; Ralf Souquet of Germany; Canadian Luc Salvas; Nick Van den Berg of the Netherlands; Filipino Antonio Lining; and Mexico’s Rafael Martinez.
Incredibly, Martinez, Moore and Marquez were among the 50 qualifiers for the event, beyond the 150 regular IPT members. And Foldes earned his spot in the event as Buddy Hall’s replacement, after the Hall-of-Famer bowed out of the Open.
• Some folks have to go, and there were several flame-outs from well-regarded American players: Robles (U.S.), 1-3; 2006 Derby City Classic Master of the Table winner Jason Miller (U.S.), 1-3; Max Eberle (U.S.), 1-3; Robb Saez (U.S.), 1-3; Tony Crosby (U.S.), 0-4; and Tommy Kennedy (U.S.), 2-2.
Filipinos are expected to perform well at the Open, but expatriate Parica struggled to a 1-3 record and an early exit.
• Snooker superstar and 8-ball neophyte Ronnie O’Sullivan (U.K.) squeaked into the next round with a 2-2 record.
• After losing his first two matches, Shawn “Bubba the Love Sponge” Putnam (U.S.) gutted out two victories to advance.
• Long-ago road player Michael Zimmerman (U.S.) emerged to win his group — a toughie that included Filipino Warren Kiamco and Keith McCready of the U.S. It was not clear initially whether McCready or Kiamco would advance, since both held 2-2 records and an identical games-won percentage.
Buddy Hall Makes Way For Understudy in IPT’s First Event
The International Pool Tour announced today that Hall-of-Famer Buddy Hall has withdrawn from the IPT North American 8-Ball Open Championship to be held July 27-30 at The Venetian-Las Vegas. Hall expressed regret for his withdrawal, citing personal reasons: “At this time, I will not physically be able to play the length of time needed to be competitive at the Venetian. I am getting better everyday, and I am very thankful for the IPT, and looking forward to my return at the next tournament!”
Hungarian Vilmos Foldes was chosen to fill Mr. Hall’s vacancy due to his two third-place finishes in the 2006 IPT Tour Card qualifying tournaments. Foldes will have the opportunity to earn points toward attaining a 2007 IPT Tour Card and was thrilled by the news. “I have dreamed of this day for pool and for me. I am very happy to be invited by Kevin [Trudeau] and Deno [Andrews]. I now will tell my father the good news,” he said.
Hall anticipates he’ll be ready to play by the next event, the IPT World 8-Ball Open Championship, which will be held Sept. 2-10 at the Hilton in Reno, Nevada.
The North American Open will consist of 200 players: 150 IPT Members and 50 players who qualify through 25 qualification events throughout North America and abroad. Qualification Tournament details for open tournaments, including dates and locations are listed on www.internationalpooltour.com.
Game Over for the Glass City Open
Tom Gearhart, co-owner of the Toledo, Ohio-based Glass City Open with partner Tom Elder, gave a glassy-eyed eulogy for the 22-year-old independent 9-ball tournament via press release yesterday.
“Although record crowds packed the seats every night, it still wasn’t enough for this great tournament to break even. Simply put, without serious sponsorship, the Glass City Open costs much more to put on than we were able to take in,” he wrote.
The Glass City Open began in 1984, when Joe Kerr, Larry Kahan and Tom Elder teamed up to create an independent 9-ball event. The first one was held in Hi-Q Billiards and offered a modest $2,400 added to the player entry fees. Kerr was able to attract many of the top players such as Mike Sigel (the first ever champion of the Glass City Open), Kim Davenport, Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, Wade Crane, Jimmy Mataya and many more.
Due to the declining health of Kahan and Kerr, the tournament was discontinued in 1993. Larry has now passed on, and Kerr has been forced to retire from the sport he loves due to a rare neurological disease called Myasthenia Gravis.
Gearhart and Elder took over in 2002 and got the tournament back on its feet, but have opted to pull the plug in 2006.
Gearhart wrote: “I, and all the others who have attended a Glass City Open, will always recall the superb playing, great match-ups, unbelievable shotmaking, the approachability of the great players for autographs and conversation, bellying up to the bar and listening to the never-ending tales of stories while on the road, plus… who will ever forget all the entertaining bark-fests between top players and amateurs alike trying to get in action morning, noon, and night? Folks, you can’t put a price on those kind of memories! Again, thanks to all who made this tournament possible.”
Live Coverage of Florida Pro Tour This Weekend
The second stop of the Florida Men’s Pro Tour boasts a cramped marquis and live online coverage, taking place this weekend, April 15-16, at Players Billiards in Melbourne, Fla.
Players competing will include Earl Strickland, Nick Varner, Buddy Hall, Rodney Morris, Mike Sigel, Ronnie Wiseman, Troy Frank, Rob Saez, Ray Martin, Danny Diliberto, David Grossman, Neil Fujiwara and many more. Tournament coverage can be found at www.platinumbilliards.com where brackets will be updated match-by-match and for some, game-by-game.
Sponsored by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the tournament is $8000-added, 10-Ball, race-to-8, rack your own, winner breaks.
Buddy Hall Wins Senior Masters
“Rifleman” Buddy Hall won the Senior Masters VI over the weekend at Steve Mizerak’s Billiards in Lake Park, Fla.
The event was double elimination, race-to-9, with a single race to 11 in the finals. The event was sponsored by The Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Hall lost his first match of the tournament to bearded sharpshooter Howard Vickery. After nine wins on the one-loss side, including triumphs over Ron Park and Bob Ogburn, Hall secured a spot in the final. He faced Wade Crane in the title match, and at first he trailed Crane 6-1, but he caught up with and passed by his competitor for an 11-7 win.
Hall took home $10,000 for the win, while Crane settled for $6,000. Ogburn and Vickery took third and fourth, respectively.
Buddy Hall Wins Hard Times Summer Jamboree One-Pocket Title
Buddy Hall won the One-Pocket division at the Hard Times Summer Jamboree, June 16, at Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, Calif. Hall went to the one-loss side at the hands of Billy Palmer, but then fought his way through the likes of Greg Sullivan and Tony Chohan, among others. Hall faced Jose Parica in the race-to-5 final; The Rifleman won, 5-1, and collected $3,000.
The Hard Times event goes from June 14-19, and also features a $10,000-added 9-ball division, which concludes on Sunday. For more information and complete brackets, check www.azbilliards.com.
Schmidt wins Firecracker Open
John Schmidt came back from a long stay on the one-loss side to avenge his only loss to Mika Immonen and won The Florida Firecracker Open at Capones Billiards in Springhill, Fl.
The tournament, a stop on the Seminole Florida Pro Tour, drew a field of 62 players to Capones for the two day affair. Schmidt had a perfect Saturday with wins over Rick Croney, Eric David and Robb Saez. Sunday was a different story though, as Schmidt lost a 9-4 match to ‘The Iceman’ Mika Immonen.
After the victory over Schmidt, Immonen cruised into the hot-seat relatively untested with a 9-2 win over Capone’s housepro Rodney Morris and a 9-4 win over ‘The Korean Dragon’ Charlie Williams.
Schmidt took the trip to the one-loss side and landed on his feet. A 9-3 win over Jimmy Wale got a five match winning streak started on the left side of the board. Schmidt beat Ray Martin 9-3, Danny Harriman (who won at Capones last year) 9-7, Buddy Hall 9-4 and Charlie Williams 9-4 to get to the finals.
Schmidt was not content with just a trip to the finals though, as he quickly jumped out to a 5-1 lead over Immonen in the final set. The players traded games until the 7-3 mark when Immonen put on a run and tied the match at 7-7. With the match tied at 7-7, both players knew it was a straight race to four for the title and Immonen was breaking. Immonen may have reached back a little too far looking for a strong break as he knocked the cue-ball off the table in rack 15 and was forced to watch Schmidt take control of the match again. From that point, Schmidt won the next four games to score the 11-7 victory.
Schmidt pocketed $3500 for first place, while Immonen was forced to settle for $2000. Charlie Williams and Buddy Hall filled out the top four spots. The Seminole Florida Pro Tour will be at Planet 9 Ball in Tampa, Fl on July 31st – August 1st for their next event. That event is limited to the first 64 players who pay their entry so players should get their entry in soon. Players can contact Planet 9-Ball owner Ken Miller at 813-891-1450 to sign up.
Patriot Games
Team Predator, consisting of the top players from the Florida Tour, defeated Team Joss of the Joss Northeast Tour in the inaugural Patriot Cup held at Planet 9-Ball in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 15-17. Charlie Williams, the event’s promoter, had a hand in several key matches that led to his team’s victory, including a win over George SanSouci in the break contest. The three-day event pitted the rival tours against one another in a series of games, including 9-ball, 10-ball, straight pool and one-pocket.
Team Predator’s roster featured Ray Martin (team captain), Buddy Hall, Nick Varner, Tommy Kennedy and Williams. Runner-up Team Joss included Mike Zuglan (team captain), Tony Robles, Frankie Hernandez, Mika Immonen and SanSouci. The event is scheduled to return next year in a location to be determined. For complete coverage of the event, check the April issue of Billiards Digest.