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  

   

 

NAPT: Menard Battles Back to Double Dip Williams in Sacramento

Menard & Williams 

By: Farla Samanovitch

Hard Times billiards in Sacramento California hosted an amazing 9 ball tournament with 54 women. They battled it out for $10,400 in prize fund and invites to all NAPT ( North American Pool Tour) division 1 pro events for next year.

7 Quebecois made the trip to play. It started with a round robin format from which 32 would emerge and play a double elimination main event. Of the 7, Veronique Menard, Venus Belanger & Farla Salmanovitch made it out of their brackets to the last 32 with Veronique going undefeated in her bracket.

Menard made it all the way to the hot seat match only to be defeated in a hill hill thriller versus Susan Williams.  Unfortunately the match was lost because Menard mistakenly touched the cue ball with her cue while stroking to shot on the 8 ball at 6-6 for the match. She then beat Liz Lovely in the B-side final to get another chance at Williams.

In the final Veronique would have to double dip her to claim the title and she did so in fine fashion 7-4 both sets. The venue was one of the best pool room set ups I have ever seen with a separate tournament room filled with Brunswick gold crowns that were well maintained and a wall of comfortable bleachers for the spectators. This event was extremely well run by the NAPT organization and look forward to the next one.

Top 3 Payouts:

1st Veronique Menard $1,500

2. Susan Williams $1,200

3. Liz Lovely $900

Pawis Comes Back From One Loss Side to Win Rack-M-Up Non Handicapped Event.

Pawis eyeing up the game winning shot. 

By: Markus Noé

Sunday February 19th Rack-M-Up Billiards held its first non-handicap tournament in sometime. Most tournaments as of late have been handicapped. In this format the stronger players have to give "weight"by spotting a game or more at times in a race to a predetermined amount of games. This encourages players of all levels to participate as not always the favourites win.

However with these types of tournaments gaining in popularity, it leaves a gap for the highly competitive players who crave straight up races and a chance to prove themselves. In light of this Doug Disotell owner of Rack-M-Up Billiards and a competitive player himself decided to host this type of event.

The format was a $40 entry races to 7 games on the winners and losers side of the bracket. The field was open to 32 players and 24 were able to show up. Which is phenomenal on less than a weeks notice and a testament to the amount of competitive players in the area. Going into this tournament the top favourites included Jody Roy, Justin Miller, Jacques Sauve and Kirk Pawis.

Early on in the tournament there was not much to report in upsets as 3 of the top 4  mentioned above cruised to the final 4 of the winners side. In the winners side final Miller and Pawis battled to be the first to book their spot in the final. Miller was able to get the job done and had time to wait to see he would face of against in the final.

Pawis who is known for his loser side charges beat Menke in the losers side final. With this momentum he earned his revenge in the final over Miller to win the tournament.

Payouts:

1st Kirk Pawis $275

2nd Justin Miller $190

3rd Andy Menke $125

4th Jody Roy $80

5th/6th Joe Hearn Mike Mitchell $50 


Upcoming Event! 

When: March 18th and 19th if Necessary

What: AAA and Under HANDICAPPED Charity Event. The Charity of choice is "EPILEPSY ONTARIO." 

Payson Boucher who suffers from epilepsy is the niece of Doug Disotell Owner of Rack-M-Up Billiards. Because he has seen and heard of her daily struggles he has decided to hold a charity event to help raise money for an important cause. 

Where: Rack-M-Up Billiards 

More details will be made available shortly. There will be a Facebook event made so please make sure to "like" this page https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=rack-m-up%20billiards so keep up with all the details. You can also call and speak to Doug Disotell at 1-613-933-9362