By Jerry Stuckart: On February 21st and 22nd, The Desert Classic Tour started its 2009 season. The first of 8 stops on the tour was held at Kolby's Corner Pocket Billiards in Tempe, Arizona. 49 players from all over the state and a handful of players from other states showed up to try their luck at the Big Table 8-ball event.

The sign-up started at 10 a.m. with players meeting at 10:30. During the players meeting, several rules were discussed for the entire season. One of which went to vote was if the tour would implement a 3 foul rule for rotation games. By some surprise to Dennis and Jimmy, the tour operators, it passed in overwhelming majority. The DCT has also made some other changes this year to attract more players. The decision to implement a staggered entry fee is one that has already paid off. Players were broken down into 3 distinct categories based on the Arizona Rating Committee rankings of players. 10 and above rated players would fall into the 'A' category. 8's and 9's in 'B'. And 7's and below in 'C'. The entry for each event would be $70 for A players, $50 for B players and $35 for C players. Along with some side pots of $10/$20/$40 and a very unique B/C side pot of $20. The B/C side pot would pay out to the highest finishing player ranked B and below. Another major decision that was made was lowering the races from 8 on the winners and 7 on the losers to 7 and 6 respectively. This turned out to be a great idea given by Tres Kane as the finals concluded at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday.

After the draw was done by the computer program that the tour runs all tournaments on, play got underway and the intensity was at full strength. A few top players from the 2008 season drew each other and were forced to track through the one lose side to accomplish their goals. After many hours of play and waiting for matches, one by one players were eliminated down to the final 16 players. The final round on the losers side, 4 matches, would give us the final 12 players that would return on Sunday. All 12 of those persons would be “in the money”. 8 players that each won 3 matches on the winners side were already home resting for the next day while the losers side worked it's way down to 4 players.

The 8 winners side retuning on Sunday at 11 a.m. were Pete Lhotka, Dennis Orender, Bernie Pettipiece, Gus Briseno, Ken Gouso, Leil Gay, Tres Kane and Terry Osbourne. The four players on the one-lose side were Brett Huth, Brian Begay, George Teyechea and Mike Williams.

On the TV table, streaming live from www.azpoolscene.com and www.desertclassictour.com were Pete and Dennis. Pete supports the DCT as much as he can, and drives over from Yuma just to compete with the best players in the state. And he started this match by showing why he was here. After a few racks, Pete was up 5 – 3, an then reached the hill first a 6 – 5. Dennis, the 2008 BCA Masters Open champion, was not ready to give up just yet and he strung together the final two racks with the 7 – 6 victory. Other winners of this round were Gus Briseno, Leil Gay and Tres Kane.

Sunday just was not their day for Terry, Pete and Ken, who dropped their next matches on the one lose side along with Mike Williams to finish in 9th-12th place. Ken couldn’t get out of work and had to forfeit both his matches on Sunday. Losing out in 7th/8th was Bernie Pettipiece and George Teyechea.

In the semi-finals of the winners side, Dennis and Gus Briseno matched up. Dennis quickly built a 3 – 0 lead and looked to be cruising until he came up dry in rack 4. Gus ran out the rack and then proceeded to break and run out the next 4 racks as well to take the 5 – 3 lead. The two exchanged the next two racks but Gus was able to put Dennis away at 7 – 4 to get to the hot seat match. In the other semi-final, two strong 1 pocket players matched up, but Leil was able to get the best of it and sent Tres over to the one lose side.

Two players that were sent to the one lose side on day one, were showing some major heart, Brian Begay of New Mexico and Brett Huth each won a few matches and were awaiting Dennis and Tres. Brett relinquished his early loss to Dennis with a hill-hill win of his own. And Brian continued his strong play by sending Tres home. Tres and Dennis each finished in 5th/6th.

Brett and Brian then squared off and Brett’s fast 9-ball style finally caught up with him as Brian worked meticulously through tough rack after tough rack to setup the battle for 3rd place. Brett took home $280 for his efforts and 4th place. Meanwhile over in the hot-seat match, Gus and Leil matched up in what would turn out to be the first of two one-sided matches. Gus got out from everywhere and Leil couldn’t capitalize on his own breaks.

Leil and Brian played for 3rd place on the live streaming table. And Leil’s slow deliberate style effected Brian’s play and he was unable to string together any racks. Leil was able to get out from everywhere and setup a 1-set rematch with Gus for the title.

In the finals, Gus started the 1st rack the same as he did in every other match. He stayed perfectly in-line, but then made some very uncharacteristic mistakes that started to loosen the wheels on his game. Gus missed one key shot in each of the first 4 games and Leil jumped on each and every opportunity to open an early lead. Gus was able to get on the board, but a few minor mistakes and great play by Leil pushed the lead almost out of reach. The frustration set in on Gus, and he slammed a few shots that moved balls all over the table. Leil was able to finish out the 1 set race to 10 and take home the first stop on the DCT tour.

Gus was able to almost make as much money by getting into all the side pots, where Leil didn’t get in any of them. Leil took home $825, Gus $740, Brian $395.

In the B/C only side pot, Jerry Stuckart was able to take home first place with his 13th place finish in the event, and received $130. Four other players all tied for 2nd and split the remaining $110, Gary Koschnick, Allan Pettis, Jack Murray and Mike Boyer.

A special thanks to Kolby’s for hosting another great event for the Tour. The food, wait-staff, tables, etc. were all top notch. Kolby’s hosts various weekly tournaments and special events for all players. Thank you to Dennis and Jimmy for putting in the countless hours to make the tour a success and we all look forward to seeing you at the 2nd stop of the tour at Bullshooters, March 21st and 22nd for Barbox 8-ball. See you all there.