Rack-M-Up Billiards Raises $1100 for Epilepsy of Ontario

From left to right, Clayton Disotell, Jean Vallaincourt, Jay Cuggy, Doug  Disotell, Amanda Collins, Andy Menke

By: Markus Noé

During the weekend of March 18-19 Rack-M-Up Billiards hosted the inaugural Break for Epilepsy Charity 9 Ball Tournament. The idea for this came from the owners Doug Disotell and Amanda Collins. Disotell has seen first hand the hardships his niece Payson Boucher has undergone with her own battle with epilepsy, because of this he decided to see what he could do to help an important cause.

This was an amateur handicap event with players racing to their number. A beginning player would be a 5 and would need to win 5 games in order to win the match. The numbers went up to 9 depending on skill level. With the help from social media the response for this event was overwhelming. So much so Disotell was forced to extend the field past the originally posted 32 maximum as 36 players confirmed. The cap was at 32 because of the limited amount of tables available which would cause some delays however after a brief discussion it did not make sense to turn down raising more money. 

The entry fee was 60$ with $10 going as donation to the tournament. Tommy Fagan (82) long time player at Rack-M-Up Billiards once hearing about the charity event asked himself what he could do to help. On his own accord he went around his community and asked businesses and friends to donate what they could and between cash and gift certificates Fagan raised an extra $250. This combined with a 50/50 draw and some other personal donations brought the total up to $1100 raised for the charity. 

Being that that this was a two day tournament the idea was to play down to the final 6 and bring them back Sunday. Throughout day 1 there was many surprises as many of the favourites to win the event did not make it out of the day. Players like Justin Miller, Do Gauthier, Kirk Pawnis Marc Ducharme, Charley Sypes and Mike Mitchell all suffered early exists. 

This was a double elimination meaning you if lost two matches you were out. On Sunday the losers side match ups began at 11:00 am With Jay Cuggy beating Markus Noé and Andy Menke getting by Paul Daoust. Former owner of Rack-M-Up Billiards Clayton Disotell made a charge through the winners side bracket and went all the way to the winners side final. There he met up with a strong AAA player from Gatineau Jean Vallaincourt. Disotell continued his charge and won a close match securing his spot in the grand final. 

On the losers side of the bracket Cuggy edged out a very game Menke in a close match with Menke being eliminated in 4th place. Vallaincourt made quick work of Cuggy in the losers 9-3 giving him another shot at Disotell. However between Disotell good shooting and a few moments of good fortune he was not to be denied and walked away with the final to win one of the biggest local tournaments in some time. 

Special thank you goes to:

Mark Baker 50.00 gift card's from the Squire Shoppe

Sara Proulx Gift basket from Salon on Second

Jay Cuggy 20.00$

Mike Joannette 5.00

Bill and Tom Fagan 100.00

Connie Aube 20.00

Bob Gauthier 20.00

Kelly Geneau 10.00

Denis Lalonde, Cornwall Automotive service 25.00

Jack and Jean Lawson 30.00

M&J Rochon 20.00

Nelson Ayotte 20.00

Clayton Disotell 100.00 

Doug Disotell and Amanda Collins 80.00

Henry Barkwell 20.00

Pat Piquette 10.00

Maureen Fagan 20.00

Payouts:                             Calcutta

1. Clayton Disotell $600       $575

2. Jean Vaillancourt $360     $425

3. Jay Cuggy         $260       $300

4. Andy Menke    $180         $200

5/6. Paul Daoust/$120 $150

       Markus Noé $120 $150

7.Charley Sypes/Mike Mitchell $75