Bishop and Jethwa Prove Deadly on Poison Lone Star Tour

May 26, 2016

Jim Bishop went undefeated at the Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour event, held on May 14th-15th, 2016, decimating the 64-player amateur 9-ball division, besting Houston’s Pete Charles in the final round, 6-5. Currently stationed in Houston for work, Bishop hales from Mobile, Alabama, and although he’s played in previous Lone Star events, he has never actually won an event, until now. Former tour champion, Andy Jethwa, overcame APA Nationals Champion, Ernesto Bayaua, in the final, 7-6, earning Jethwa his second, consecutive open division win this year.
The event was hosted by Ariana’s in Houston, Texas, and along with tour sponsors Poison by Predator Cues www.poisonbilliards.com, Delta-13 Rack www.delta-13.com, Ozone Billiards www.ozonebilliards.com, and the APA of North Harris County www.facebook.com/apanorthharriscounty, facilitated a very successful  event. Ariana’s catered to 74 Poison Lone Star Tour players (along with 31 Gulf Coast Tour women) adding a generous $1,000 to the prize fund, offering free play on all their bar tables, and providing free food the entire event.  The tour would like to thank Ariana’s owners, Minh and Bill Hammond, and their entire staff, for their gracious hospitality, and years of continued support!
With 105 players in the building and only 12 bar tables, action was slow moving on Saturday, and races were modified on Sunday in order for the event to conclude at a reasonable hour. In the amateur 9-ball division, Jim Bishop put on a solid performance, taking down a list of event hopefuls on his way to the hot seat, including Ryan Garcia, Josh White, Rocky Skuca, 6-2, and Johnny Griffin, 6-2. Junior player,  Jacob Watson, bested Curt Bovenzi, 6-4, and Kenneth Price, 6-1, to meet Bishop in the final four on the winners’ side.  Pete Charles was on a roll, logging wins over Mike Singleton, Jose Gonzales, 7-1, Danny Roland, 6-3, and Brock Temel, 6-4. In similar form, Mark Wanner made his way to the final four, ousting Chase Wheeler, David Leal, 7-6, Tommy Aramburo, 6-1, and Brandon Bilbo, 6-5. As the final four shaped up on the winners’ side, players were making their way through the one-loss side. After losing his first match to Laredo’s Martin Ramos, Ray Reeves won an incredible 6 consecutive matches, including victories over Bruce Solf, 5-0, Adam Cooper, 4-1, Charlie Jenkins, 4-2, and Kenneth Price, 4-3. Reeves was stopped short by Johnny Griffin, 4-2. After a third round loss to Bishop, Rocky Scuka won four in a row, eliminating Chuck Adams, BryanTilley, 4-1, Brandon Bilbo, 4-2, and Lester Foy, 4-1. Back on the east side, Charles overcame Wanner, 6-3, while Bishop sent Watson west, 6-1. It was a harrowing battle for the hot seat, as Bishop narrowly escaped Charles, 6-5. On the west side, Griffin defeated Wanner, 4-1, while Skuca ended Watson, 4-3. Griffin eliminated Skuca, 4-1, but was ousted by Charles, 4-3. And with that win, Charles earned himself a shot at redemption. As the rematch between Bishop and Charles commenced, it appeared to be a similar “tug-of-war” session, as each took turns executing strategic safeties and cinching any open tables. Once again, Bishop came out ahead, denying Charles, 6-5. Congratulations to Jim Bishop, who went undefeated to secure his first-ever, Poison Lone Star Tour victory!
In the 60-player open 9-ball division, Andy Jethwa was on a quest to conquer. His path of destruction included wins over Jim Bishop, Kris Modisette, 9-6, Martin Ramos, 7-2, and Mark Wanner, 7-1. Johnny Griffin plowed through Will Felder, Mark Cardenas, Alex Cardenas, 7-2, and Chris Thompson, 7-2, to meet Jethwa in the final four winners’ side. Ernesto Bayaua took the bull by the horns, defeating Lester Foy, 7-5, Chuck Adams, 7-4, and Brock Temel, 7-2. After recovering from serious health issues, Mike Singleton rejoined the tour and was back on track, besting Kenneth Price, Rene Rodriguez, 9-3, Jacob Watson, 7-3, and Tony Benestante. As the final four on the winners’ side rounded out, Watson rolled on the west side eliminating M. Cardenas, 5-4, Wanner, 5-4, and Guzik, 5-2. After a second round loss to Brock Temel, 9-7, Chase Wheeler won 6 consecutive matches, racking up wins over Adeana Sanchez, 5-0, Brandon Bilbo, 5-4, Martin Ramos, 5-3, Ryan Garcia, 5-2, Tony Benestante, 5-4, and Dalton Riley, 5-4. On the east side, it was Bayaua over Singleton, and Jethwa over Griffin, 7-6. With numerous open division titles to their credit, Bayaua and Jethwa fought equally hard for the hot seat, with Jethwa finishing ahead, 7-6. On the one-loss side, Griffin met and defeated Wheeler, 5-1, and Bayaua eliminated Watson, 5-2. Bayaua went on to eliminate Griffin, 5-2, and Singleton, 5-1, for a Jethwa reckoning. Once again, the two faced-off, exhibiting extreme collection and focus. As the champions traded games, in the end, the result remained the same. Jethwa defeated Bayaua, 7-6, securing his second, consecutive tour victory of the 2016 season!

The Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour would like to officially welcome all the new players who attended this event. The next PLSBT event will be held June 11th-12th at Bogies Billiards located at 3040 FM 1960 E., Houston, Texas 77073. The Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour encourages everyone who loves to play pool and compete in a friendly atmosphere, to attend an event. For more information, visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com. Please “Like” us on Facebook/LoneStarTour and “Follow” us at Twitter/LoneStarTour09.
Open – 60 players
1st Andy Jethwa $520/$700
2nd Ernesto Bayaua  $300/$425
3rd Mike Singleton $200/$250
4th Johnny Griffin $160/$160
5th-6th Chase Wheeler, Jacob Watson $120/$50
7th-8th Bob Guzik, Dalton Riley $100ea
9th-12th Tony Benestante, Mark Wanner, Brock Temel, Chris Thompson $60ea
13th-16th Aldo Rosso, Alex Cardenas, Mark Cardenas, Ryan Garcia $35ea
17th-24th Kevin Gray, R.J. Smith, David Leal, Chuck Adams, Genaro Flores, Jim  Bishop, Martin Ramos, Lester Foy
25th-32nd Danny Roland, Gerardo Alvarez, Kenneth Price, Angel Cerrillo, Adam Cooper, John Frye, Brandon Bilbo, Charlie Jenkins
33rd-48th Chris Rogers, Bryan Tilley, T.J. (Juan) Ortiz, Errol Sander, Curt Bovenzi, Kris Modisette, Anthony Gepayo, Tommy Aramburo, Jason Byrd, Jesus Perez, Pete Charles, Rene Rodriguez, Adeana Sanchez, Jason McDowell, Rocky Skuca, Will Felder
49th-60th Deon Clayton, David Chow, Nick Kubiak, Frances Tso, Jeffrey Chen, Johnny Lawson, Josh White, Brian Rosenbaum, Viet Do, Fernando Frias, Mitchell Lang, Carl Honey
Amateur – 64 players
1st Jim Bishop $500/$720
2nd Pete Charles $280/$430
3rd Johnny Griffin $180/$270
4th Rocky Skuca $140/$200
5th-6th Jacob Watson, Mark Wanner $100ea/$100ea
7th-8th Lester Foy, Ray Reeves $90ea/$60ea
9th-12th Kenneth Price, Martin Ramos, Brock Temel, Brandon Bilbo $50ea
13th-16th Chase Wheeler, BryanTilley, Mike Singleton, Curt Bovenzi $25ea
17th-24th Dany Roland, David Chow, John Frye, Tommy Aramburo, Chuck Adams, R.J. (Robert) Smith, Errol Sanders, David Leal
25th-32nd Rene Rodriguez, Charlie Jenkins, R.C. Hogan, Will Felder, Genaro Flores, Jorge Lopez, Kris Modisette, Kevin Gray
33rd-48th Jason McDowell, Josh White, Bob Guzik, Adam Cooper, Angel Cerrillo, Anthony Gepayo, Mark Cardenas, T.J. (Juan) Oritz, Mitchell Lang, Jose Gonzales, Arthur Vasquez, Todd Haddad, Chris Rogers, Chris Thompson, Ryan Garcia, John McGarvey
49th-64th Carl Honey, Sam Devita, Shelby Agnew, Bruce Solf, Beto Lopez, Tony Benestante, Johnny Lawson, Jerald Holland, Dalton Riley, Fernando Frias, Adeana Sanchez, Nick Kubiak, Deon Clayton, Gerardo Alvarez, Hector Torres, Chris Gutierrez