Brunswick Billiards Ressurects Elegant Pool Table

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BRUNSWICK BILLIARDS RESSURECTS 19TH CENTURY DESIGN, ELEGANCE WITH SPECIAL EDITION 1878 EXPOSITION NOVELTY TABLE
Table Marks Celebration of Company’s 165-Year History

BRISTOL, Wis. (June 29, 2009) – John D. Rockefeller founds the Standard Oil Company; Thomas Edison turns on the first functioning light bulb, and writers such as Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott and Henry James publish some of their finest works. During this same time, 1870 to 1880, Brunswick Billiards was impressing connoisseurs across the country with its Exposition Novelty table, which is now being resurrected in honor of Brunswick Billiard’s 165-year anniversary celebration taking place in 2010.

Brunswick Billiards resurrected 19th century design elegance with a special edition 1878 Exposition novelty pool table to mark a celebration of the company’s 165-Year history.

The 1878 J.M. Brunswick and Balke Co. catalog defined the Exposition Novelty as a table manufactured for “gentlemen’s private residences” that was “a marvel of artistic excellence.” With its superb workmanship, exquisite and elaborate inlay, and elegantly carved leg, the Exposition Novelty represents the contrast between that 19th Century decade’s sophisticated culture of innovation and the country’s untamed west. Accordingly, this stately and detailed table was a judge’s favorite of the age, winning gold medals in San Francisco and Cincinnati, and, as the 1878 catalog states, “wherever exhibited.”

“Brunswick produced more than 130 different table models during its first 100 years,” said Austin Rothbard, president of Brunswick Billiards. “But we chose to revive the Exposition Novelty, due to the table’s heritage design that speaks to a bold era of art, culture and politics in America and around the world. It is an elegant table that finely represents how we’ve been connecting generations of billiards enthusiasts throughout our rich 165-year history.”

The commemorative antique replica Exposition Novelty boasts of magnificent craftsmanship through the use of sapele rails, solid white oak legs, a variety of beautifully grained veneers, solid brass rosettes and rail sights made of Asian Water Buffalo bone.
Each table features a limited edition brass Brunswick emblem, and will be offered with a matching cue rack and distinctive Brunswick Exposition Novelty cue.

Brunswick Billiards is starting to celebrate its 165th annivesary.

Only 25, nine-foot Exposition Novelty tables will be made available to the public beginning October, 2009, in preparation for the company’s 165th anniversary celebration in 2010. The table, with matching cue rack and cue, retails for $39,999.

About Brunswick Billiards
Connecting generations through superior craftsmanship and innovation since 1845, Brunswick Billiards has been the leader in designing the highest-quality billiards and pool tables and game room furnishings preferred by experts around the world. Based in Bristol, Wis., the billiards division of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC), has more than 300 retail dealer locations across the United States and international distributors in more than 40 countries. For more information about Brunswick Billiards and its product line, visit www.brunswickbilliards.com.

Olhausen Billiard Mfg. to Support USBA Billiard Tour

Posted by admin as Billiard News

Portland, Tennessee June 29, 2009: Olhausen is very pleased to announce its support of the USBA by donating a brand new $8000 one of a kind 10ft. billiard table to be raffled off with proceeds benefiting The Carom Club of Wyoming, MI.

“The Carom Club has a long history in billiards, their dedication to the game is one that we truly appreciate here at Olhausen and we look forward to a continued relationship with their association.” – Donny Olhausen, CEO

Tickets for this raffle can be purchased at http://caromclub.wetpaint.com/page/Olhausen+Raffle

Olhausen Billiard Mfg. is stepping up once again to support billiards.

“America’s Favorite Pool Table”, Olhausen; is known for their beautifully hand-crafted pool , carom and snooker tables as well as a fine line of matching game room accessories. The Olhausen Authorized Dealer Network extends throughout the United States and the world. Olhausen products are proudly made in the USA and are available in Oak, Maple, Walnut, Cherry and a variety of exotic hardwoods, which can be custom finished to match your décor. Olhausen is proud of its 35 plus years in the pool table industry, and their outstanding relationship with world renowned companies such as Hainsworth Cloth of England.”

For more information about Olhausen or its products, call 1-800-866-4606 or log on to Olhausen’s World Wide Web Site at (www.olhausenbilliards.com)

4th Annual Ozone Billiards US Amateur Open

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4th Annual Ozone Billiards US Amateur Open

Orlando,Florida-  The Ozone Billiards US Amateur Open is back and will bring forth some of the best amateur talents around the country. The event starts on August 5 until August 9,2009 at Corner Pocket Billiards in Orlando, Florida. The Ozone Billiards US Amateur Open is presented by Mezz Cues and will coincide with The Mezz Classic pro events. This 4th installment of this amateur extravaganza will feature 7 total tournaments with 9-Ball and 8-Ball disciplines, with divisions in Open, Women, Seniors, and Mixed Doubles. No Pros, No Semi-Pros, No Top Rated Amateur players will be allowed to play. These amateur events are created for the true amateur players, and even certain known amateurs are not allowed to play in the events to offer fair chance for anyone to win.  This event has been a pre-cursor of amateur players turning into professionals later on and is regarded as a major stepping stone for up and coming talent.

Ozone Billiards has had a history of supporting professional tours and events on ESPN, but now has turned its focus on regional tours,  up and coming players, and amateurs. And of course Ozone still sponsors major pro events and is the presenting sponsor of the Mezz Classic.

“We are always looking to try new things, and we see the importance and benefits of supporting not only major pro events, but the smaller events as well. We know it’s a tough economy now, but we want to do what we can to support and promote the sport on all levels.” said Shawn Gargano, President of Ozone Billiards. Ozone Billiards will help bring in such names to the Mezz Classic like Mika Immonen FIN, Charlie Williams USA, Raj Hundal IND, Rodney Morris USA, Thorsten Hohmann GER and many more pro stars!

Amateurs that have won the Ozone Billiards US Amateur Open and moved onto professional status are no longer eligible. Previous winners of the amateur events include Julio Delpozo of Orlando, Matt Tetrault of New Jersey, Liz Lovely of Ohio, Stephanie Mitchell of Tampa,FL, Dominic Jentsch of Germany, Ryan Stone of Ohio, and Yu Ram Cha of Korea. Jentsch and Stone have been moved upto professional class and even women’s champ Yu Ram Cha, who won the 82 man field of the men’s US Amateur in 2007 at tender age of 19, can no longer play in the men or women’s events and has since moved onto becoming one of the world’s elite players currently ranked #6 in the Women’s Pro Tour.

John Rousseau (pictured above with Jeanette "The Black Widow" Lee) will take another shot at the Seniors Divisions of the US Amateur Open as well as the Mixed Doubles with Loraine.

Previous years have always drawn over 100 players nationwide and this year should prove no different as Orlando is one of the top destination spots in the country as well as a hot spot for poolplayers in Florida with its central location.

Players will be playing for $3000 1st place in the 8ball and $4000 1st place in the 9-Ball with full fields, and minimum guarantees of $1000 for 1st in the 8-Ball Open and $1500 minimum for the 9-Ball Open despite any field size.

The amateur events will have great quality equipment on 9 ft professional tables. No coins needed to play matches as there will be a $20 registration and green fees all inclusive in every entry fee in all divisions. Players may also choose to play in multiple divisions with no scheduling conflicts.These events are open to all true amateurs(men or women) and no membership fee is required . There is also a Mixed Doubles 9-Ball so now men and women can travel and play together on one team, as well as play in their individual singles events .

Complete Updated Ineligible List of Players can be found at http://www.dragonpromotions.com/ineligiblelist.html

Eligible players are determined by the following:

are not ranked in the top 50 in the BCA or the top 20 in WPBA

-have never been ranked in top 16 in WPA rankings

-have never won a men or women’s major U.S. pro tournament

-have never won 1st or 2nd at a pro event in any country outside the USA

-have never finished in top 16 in any male pro tournament sanctioned by the current governing body of pro pool at that timenever been ranked in or have never won 1st or 2nd in the finals on these following men’s tours: FL Tour, Northeast Tour, Pro Senior Tour,

-We will use our discretion on certain players depending on their skill level and amount of 1st and 2nd place finishes in regional tours such as but not limited to: Kings Bay Promotions Amateur Tour, the Super Billiards Expo Amateur Open, Planet Pool Tour,  Fast Eddies Tour, Stan James Canada Tour, New England 9 Ball Series

-Have not been Men or Women Players of the Years or finished #1 Ranked for the Year on any major U.S. recognized regional tour

DP reserves right to use our own judgment as well if a player is deemed fit or unfit to play in the US Amateur Open events

Loraine will be vying in the US Amateur Women's Open.

This event is designed for non-full time playing amateurs who do not play pool for a career. Note that below does not all apply to women. Click “Amateur Eligibility” to read Dragon Promotions Amateur Events Eligibility. Besides that list, the organizers of the event reserve the right to use their judgment if they deem a player not eligible for the event. Players who are not sure if they would be able to play should contact Dragon Promotions prior to the event.

Questions on Amateur event call 1-407-782-4978 email at dpamateurevents@gmail.com

Ozone Billiards has been providing pool players with top quality billiard products for more than eight years. Its commitment to customer service has helped Ozone Billiards grow to be one of the largest retailers of billiard supplies in the United States. For more information about Ozone Billiards and its product lines, visit www.ozonebilliards.com

Ozone Billiards US Amateur Open Events

Aug 5-7: Open 8-Ball

1st Place $3000 ($1000 minimum guaranteed)

Limited to 200 Players

Aug 5-7 : Women’s 8-Ball Open

1st Place $1000 ($300 minimum guaranteed)

Limited to 64 Players

Aug 5-7: Seniors 8-Ball Open

(must be 50 years old and up-bring ID)

Limited to 64 Players

Aug 7-9: Open 9-Ball

1st Place $4000 ($1500 minimum guaranteed)

Limited to 200 Players

Aug 7-9 : Women’s 9-Ball Open

1st Place $1250 ($500 minimum guaranteed)

Limited to 64 Players

Aug 7-9 : Seniors 9-Ball Open

(must be 50 years old and Must-bring ID)

1st Place $1400 ($500 minimum guaranteed)

Limited to 64 Players

Aug 9 : Mixed Scotch Doubles 9-Ball Open

(1 Man & 1 Woman per team)

1st Place $1000 ($500 minimum guaranteed)

Limited to 32 Teams

The amateur event will be at same venue and next to the pro event. Tickets can be bought in advance at www.dragonpromotions.com   Amateur event players can also purchase tickets to watch the pro event at the door .

Schau and Ritter Hammer Out Billiard Wins

Posted by admin as Billiard News

KF Cues 9-Ball Tour / Holiday, FL

by Lea Andrews

On the weekend of June 27-28, the KF Cues 9-BallTour rolled through Hammerhead Billiards in Holiday, FL, and two men pushed through their fields to emerge as winners. Rich Schau came back from a late loss to take first in the 31-entrant, $1,000-added open event, while Mark Ritter went undefeated through the $700-added 52-entrant amateur field.

Schau’s single loss came in the hot seat match following a 7-4 win over Han Berber. His opponent, John Gabriel, having just brushed aside Richard Broumpton 7-3, was on a roll and moved easily through the hot seat match, sending Schau west 7-3, as well.

Big names were falling off the chart on the one-loss side as tournament director Tony “The Sniper” Crosby fell 7-6 to Josh Lewis, who went on to two more hill-hill victories over Neil Fujiwara and Josh Degler, who’d ousted last stop’s winner, Hunter Lombardo, 7-2, before succumbing to Broumpton 7-2. Meanwhile, Justin Hall had a string of 7-5 wins over Trevor Braymore, Donnie Mills – who’d knocked out Louis Altes 7-2 – and Berber before his own run-in with Broumpton put him in fourth with a score of 7-1.
Broumpton, though, couldn’t get past Schau, who was ready to exact his revenge on Gabriel. After warming up for the finals with a 7-5 win over Broumpton, Schau, who’d done more observing than shooting in his first match with Gabriel, made the final race to 9 the polar opposite, dominating from start to finish by jumping to a 4-0 and then 7-2 lead, and closing out the win at 9-4.

Ritter chose the domination route for his entire run through the amateur field, ultimately finding himself in the hot seat match after he and Bobby Moore had sent Jeff Mabry and Jason Richko west with identical 7-5 scores. Ritter continued the 7-5 trend and sent Moore to the one-loss semifinals, where he was greeted by Dan Lavoie. Lavoie, having suffered an early loss to local player Ivan Ambrosio, had gone steadily through the one-loss side with wins over last stop’s winner, Dan Whitten, Mike Delawder (shut-out), Richko, and a man known simply as “Grover,” to land in the one-loss semifinal match against Moore. Semipro Lavoie, spotting Moore two games in a race to 6, found himself far in the hole very quickly as Moore took three games to put himself on the hill. Lavoie hunkered down, though, finishing up 6-5 to earn his spot in the single-race final match.

With two break and runs and other good outs, Ritter, who was racing to 7, sprung to a 5-1 lead, but Lavoie, who was racing to 9, pushed back to get the score to 5-4. That was too close for Ritter, though, and he took the opportunities that came in the next two racks to earn his 7-4 victory.

Rich Schau came back from a late loss to take first in the 31-entrant, $1,000-added open event, while Mark Ritter went undefeated through the $700-added 52-entrant amateur field.

Open Results:
1st Rich Schau $700
2nd John Gabriel $500
3rd Richard Broumpton $300
4th Justin Hall $200
5th Josh Lewis $100
Han Berber
7th Josh Degler $75
Donnie Mills

Amateur Results:
1st Mark Ritter $520
2nd Dan Lavoie $400
3rd Bobby Moore$300
4th “Grover” $200
5th Jason Richko $100
Jeff Mabry
7th Mike Delawder $70
Ivan Ambrosio
9th Dan Whitten $50
Mark Wathen
Stephanie Mitchell
Albert Howe

BCA Books a Winner with Vegas Expo

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BCA Returns to Vegas for Successful 2009 Expo

Broomfield, Colo. – June 29, 2009 – The 2009 edition of the Billiard Congress of America’s (BCA) International Billiard & Home Recreation Expo came to a successful conclusion. The event, produced by the BCA, was held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 25-27, 2009. Buyer attendance for the three-day event was 1,120. The number of companies exhibiting at the event was 116, while the total number of booths was 412.

“I was excited to see how well the show turned out and I am very pleased with all of the positive comments that I have received from both exhibitors and buyers,” commented Ivan Lee, co-chair of the Expo and 2008-2009 chairman of the BCA Board of Directors. “Informally, the show was a roll-call for the billiard industry and the exhibitors that attended saw a strong show of support from the retail base. Many buyers commented that Las Vegas is the right place for the BCA Expo and they were happy to be back in Vegas. I was also impressed with the Business of Billiards Seminar Series. We had very good attendance at the seminars this year and the information presented was timely and very useful.”

The 2009 edition of the Billiard Congress of America’s (BCA) International Billiard & Home Recreation Expo came to a successful conclusion.

“If you are involved in the billiard industry and didn’t participate in the BCA Expo you missed out,” said Lee. “But, don’t take my word for it, ask the exhibitors, retailers and room operators that came to the Expo.”

The BCA has secured the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 2010 Expo, which will take place June 24-26, 2010, and the Sands Expo and Convention Center, June 23-25, 2011.

About Billiard Congress of America
Founded in 1948, the Billiard Congress of America is a non-profit trade organization dedicated to growing a united, prosperous and highly regarded billiard industry through BCA leadership. The BCA seeks to enhance the success of its members and promote the game of billiards though educational, marketing and promotional efforts, annual industry trade shows, tournaments and other programs designed to encourage billiards as a lifestyle and make pool everybody’s game. For more information, visit www.bca-pool.com or call 866.852.0999.