Diamond Eight will host the 2009 APA Northeast Challenge Qualifier Team 8-Ball Tournament set for Sunday, June 28. Play will be on the 7-footers. Play starts at 10am, with doors opening at 9am.

$35 entry fee + $15 table time per team ($50 total)

Players must be active on a Summer roster and must have at least 20 scores in either 8-ball or 9-ball. See this APA news item for more details, or contact Steve Blaney, APA of Albany league operator.

Now is your chance to stay cool by playing pool! We have limited openings in our awesome Sunday night and Wednesday night APA team divisions. Both nights are in the Double Jeopardy format: 8- and 9-Ball with the same team, on the same night. Double your chance to qualify for Vegas! Full team rosters means more flexibility for you are your teammates, and both nights are great fun!

On Thursday night, we have openings in a new division of our popular 14and1.com Straight Pool league starting Thursday, June 25th. 6pm practice with play at 7pm. Please call Diamond Eight to confirm your spot! There are only a few spots available for this division!

“Diamond Eight Best Pool Hall Around.” Those six words were crafted by Diamond Eight regular and evangelist Julie Levenberg for the Times Union “Best of the Capital Region 6-word Challenge.”

Julie’s entry was chosen at random to win a “Best of the Capital Region” prize pack! Congrats Julie, and thanks for your support of Diamond Eight!

Vegas, Baby! A big congratulations to Cindy Dominy and Mike Yudin, who took 1st place in the APA 9-Ball Scotch Doubles Tournament, held at Diamond Eight on Saturday, June 13th. The pair is headed for The Riveria in Las Vegas to compete in theNational 9-Ball Doubles Tournament, to be held August 26-28, 2009.

Both Mike and Cindy arrived at Diamond Eight that Saturday morning without a partner, but fate brought them together and helped propel them to the final match against John Robinson and Kevin Castle. Both teams traded runs in a very tight race from start to finish. Just when John and Kevin seemed to have the momentum, Mike and Cindy combined to pocket the balls for the victory and the opportunity to compete at the highest level of the APA leagues.

Congratulations to “Billiard Bandits” and “Did You See That?,” winners of the LTCs, and now Vegas bound!

The teams that won their respective LTC brackets have 3 things in common:

1. All three teams are from Diamond Eight!
2. They all count local great Tom Acciavatti as a member!!
3. And they are all headed to Las Vegas!!!

8-Ball

“Billiard Bandits,” led by Christine Skawinski, came back from a 1-0 deficit, to steal the next 3 matches against team “All Phased.” Stacy Mendrick dominated her opponent by making some great shots and playing good position. In the 3rd match, Bob Macy’s opponent started with a masterful break and run. Bob stayed cool and found a way to win the next 2 games. After a missed 8-ball, Bob had to rack for the 5th and final game. Both shooters went back and forth, but a scratch on the 8-ball gave Bob the victory, as the “Bandits” took a 2-1 match lead. Tom Acciavatti was able to come from behind to win the 4th and final match for the team. Tom was showered by hugs in a huge celebration by the team, mostly comprised of Diamond Eight employees.

“Did You See That?” led by Michael Kordt and John Stock, quietly celebrated their 8-Ball Championship victory since they were also playing in the 9-Ball semi-finals! Kordt’s 8-ball team clawed back from being down 1 match against the formidable “Off the Wall” team, led by Frank Majewski.By winning the next 3 matches, they secured their bid to advance to Las Vegas.

9-Ball

“Did You See That?” was then able to concentrate on duplicating the feat in the sole 9-ball bracket. Their opponent was “Blue’s Clues,” a strong team led by John Robinson. This was a repeat match from the Spring 2009 playoff finals, which Kordt’s team was able to win. Blue’s Cues tried to avoid the same result by taking a 25-15 team lead after 2 matches. The key 3rd match saw Ryan Dean get a 15-5 victory and bring “DYST?” back to 30-30. Tom Acciavatti held SL4 player Bill Majer to 11 points, which put Kordt’s team at 47, just 4 points shy of the win. John Robinson did his best in the “sudden death” match, but “Did You See That?” was able to hold on for the win, and the coveted Blaney Cups, the tickets to Vegas and a chance to compete at the highest level of the APA leagues.

For the second time in 2 years, one team has captured both the 8- and 9-ball LTC crowns. “No Clue” did it in 2008, and we congratulate “Did You See That?” for this incredible feat in 2009.

A Great Experience

Congratulations to all the teams who made it to the LTCs. It is quite a feat just to qualify! Special thanks to Steve and Lisa Blaney, owners of the APA of Albany league, who ran a great tournament and were able to smile throughout!

All the teams seemed to have a lot of fun, and many expressed their thanks for having the opportunity to compete at this level. It was a great experience for all!

Diamond Eight begins its weekly summer hours on Monday, June 1st. We will open at 5pm Monday through Thursday, and open at Noon Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Now you can get the latest info from Diamond Eight by becoming a fan of Diamond Eight on Facebook, and/or by following Diamond Eight via Twitter.

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a “social networking” web site. By signing up, you can “become friends” with people who you know, who you used to know, or who you would like to know more about! There are also lots of businesses, bands, and celebrities on Facebook, and you can “become a fan” and get notified when they make updates to their page (news, photos, etc.)

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a communication tool, similar to Facebook “status updates.” Basically, Twitter asks you “what are you doing right now?” and you can answer that question (in 140 characters or less) as often as you like. Your friends and family can keep in touch with you by “following” your posts (called “tweets”).

What can I expect from Diamond Eight’s posts and tweets?

News, league and tournament updates, upcoming events and pool-related links! Sign up for Facebook and Twitter, and see how cool these “Web 2.0″ tools really are!

Diamond Eight now features personal-size pizzas! Choose from cheese, white garlic, pepperoni, or spicy taco! Pizzas are $5.95 and are yummy delicious! Enjoy!

Congratulations to Long Island’s Tom Walter, who proved his straight pool skills and displayed his stamina through a very long day, as he defeated Rochester’s Lyn Weschler 150-67, to claim the 1st annual New York 14.1 State Championship and earn the qualification for the National Championship Series (NCS) 14.1 National Tournament, to be held in July. Tom went undefeated through the tournament, to face Lyn Wescheler, who has edged out a very strong effort by local player Jeff Smolen. Click the link to read more details about the tournament.

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Spring Session Results for Sunday Night Double Jeopardy league.

In 8-Ball, “Go West” (Scott Winchell) took 1st place by dominating the session by a 6-point margin over the 2nd place finishers “Blue’s Cues” (John Robinson). “Home Team” (Ed Skawinski) took 4 points in the last week to edge out Pool Nutz (Frank Bogardus) by 1 point for the 3rd place spot. Wild Card winners “The Intimid8ters” (Mark Strock) were 6th in the standings, and now have entered the playoff fray.

In the 1st round of playoffs, “Go West” swept “The Intimid8ers” 3-0, while “Blue’s Cues” and rival “Home Team” fought in a tight race. “Blue’s Cues” jumped to an early 2-0 lead, but “Home Team” won 8 straight games to bring it back to 2-2. The last match saw Bill “Cracker” Majer and Jen Oliver battle, until Bill emerged as the winner, giving “Blue’s Cues” the game, match and victory.

“Go West” (Scott Winchell) and “Blue’s Cues” (John Robinson) met in the final match and traded matches, but “Go West” emerged as the winner 3-2, and the Spring Session Champions. Congratulations to “Go West” for a fantastic session and an impressive finish!

In 9-Ball, “Did You See That?” cruised to the 1st place finish with 839 points. “Blue’s Cues” (John Robinson) again reached the playoffs with 784 points, good enough for 2nd place. “No Clue” (Cindy Dominy) took 3rd place with 776 points, while “Pool Nutz” (Frank Bogardus) got the lucky pick for the wild card and will compete for their chance to enter the LTCs.

In the 1st round of 9-Ball playoffs, “Blue’s Cues” edged out “No Clue” (Cindy Dominy) 50-33 in 5 matches, while “Did You See That?” (Michael Kordt) dominated “Pool Nutz” (Frank Bogardus) 53-27, led by another great performanec by Tom Acciavatti, who betsed Lee Lemiuex 17-3.

“Blue’s Cues” are a regular fixture in session playoffs, and Spring was no different, with “Blue’s Cues” playing in both 8- and 9-Ball final matches. However, “Blue’s Cues” were unable to capitalize on their appearances, being bested in both formats. “Did You See That?” held firm as the best 9-ball team during the session and were victorious to claim the Spring Session 9-Ball crown. Congrats to “Did You See That?” for a great win!