Randy Mackin (2nd), Joe Palone (1st), Rick Shellhouse (3rd)
Staten Island’s Port Richmond Billiards was host to the Tri-State Tour on Saturday, January 28, and drew in a total of forty-one players to their $750-added 9-Ball event.
In this event, Joe Palone would prove to be the stand-out player in the field, moving through the winner’s bracket undefeated. Palone’s path to the hot seat, he claimed wins over Raj Vannala 7-3, Joe Landi 8-7, Paul Spaanstra 7-6, Rhio Anne Flores 7-2, and Randy Mackin 7-6.
Rhio Anne Flores had made it through to the winner’s side final four before falling to Joe Palone… and ended up with another strong finish, tied for 5th place, after previously tying for 7th in the Tri-State event at Castle Billiards.
Taking the lead on the one-loss side was New Jersey player Rick Shellhouse, who had a strong run through to make it to the semifinal against Randy Mackin, who had lost the winner’s side final to Palone. However, Mackin managed to hold off Shellhouse and finish the match at 6-2 to move on to the final, while Shellhouse finished strong in 3rd place with a 7/2 win/loss record.
Randy Mackin moved on for a rematch against Joe Palone in the final. After claiming the first rack of the match, the two players went back and forth to tie at 3-3… when Palone pulled away to win 7-3, snapping the nine in on the break in the winning game.
The Tri-State Tour staff would like to acknowledge Gary Murgia for all his efforts to insure a great environment for the tournament. Tour staff would also like to thank Sterling Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics for their sponsorship leading to this event.
The next Tri-State event is a $1,000-added C/D Event at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY on February 4, 2012.
Payout:
1st: Joe Palone – $650
2nd: Randy Mackin – $440
3rd: Rick Shellhouse – $270
4th: Raj Vannala – $160
5th/6th: Rhio Anne Flores, Tony Ignomirello – $105
7th/8th: Gary Murgia, Ben Castaneros – $80
