It's no secret that the Arizona Pool Scene is one of the biggest and best pool scene's anywhere in the nation. There are leagues, tournaments and action matches all over the state on any given night of the week. From handicapped 5 & Under tournaments to OPEN Tour events such as the Desert Classic Tour (DCT) and the Arizona Women's Billiards Tour (AWBT). But for the last 2 or 3 years whenever you asked anyone what the big money added tournament this coming weekend was you knew the answer was Scotch Doubles. And usually there were 2 or 3 different ones going on at the same time across the valley. Metro Sportz, Kitty's, Stinger's, The OX, River City, Main Street, Skip & Jans and Bullshooters hold some of the largest Scotch Tourneys in the State on any given weekend. Many of which range in the combined 14 & Under to 16 & Under Handicap for the duo of players. Over at The Ox, Julie and Rick cater to the lessor ratings by offering a staggering low of a 10 & Under Handicap which limits the field to 3's, 4's, 5's and 6's.
Every May hundreds of Arizona Pool Players flock to Las Vegas to compete in any one of the League Sanctioned Tournaments. From ACS to BCAPL to VNEA, APA and TAP, players of all skill levels turn out to take home the championships. In the ACS this year, Arizona represented well with Bernie Store and Steve Stowers of Mesa, AZ, taking home the 64 team championship undefeated. When the Largest Tournament in the world rolled into town the Arizona Players lined up to take a shot at the money. The BCAPL is well known as the Largest and Greatest Pool Tournament in the world. And Arizona showed up to get their share of the cash.
Among all the Pro and Amateur events that are going on throughout Mid-May every year, Scotch Doubles attracts a large field. This year 338 Teams entered the Open Division. And at the end of the first brutal back-to-back match day there were 4 teams still sitting on the winners side, 3 of which were from Arizona. Bernie Store now with new partner Jesse Renteria held the top half of the bracket against a team from New York. Jerry Stuckart and Ashea Erdahl were on the bottom half of the bracket and faced Tucson Team of Chris Paradowski and Lois Schmitt.
Bernie and Jesse took the Hot-seat and ultimately the Championship as play came to an end. Chris and Lois took 2nd place and Jerry and Ashea finished in 5th/6th place. With all the cash won by these 3 teams and all the other teams that also got into the Money, Arizona was able to take home more than 1/4th of all the cash dished out in this event. $7,950 made it's way east to the neighboring state out of the total purse of $30,400.
Arizona Players to Cash:
Bernie Store / Jesse Renteria, 1st Place, $3200
Chris Paradowski / Lois Schmitt, 2nd Place, $2300
Jerry Stuckart / Ashea Erdahl, 5th Place, $1100
Kitty Carroll / Ed Parker, 33rd-48th, $200
Tracey Elliott / Mike Hammon, 33rd-48th, $200
Brian Poore / Veronica Poore, 33rd-48th, $200
Jennifer Engels / Mark Grooms, 65th-96th, $125
Junior Flores / Sonia Flores, 65th-96th, $125
Salena Holland / Darrell Maya, 65th-96th, $125
Jack Murray / Lisa Rosenthal, 65th-96th, $125
Cee Perez / Dan Smith, 65th-96th, $125
Cathy Rogers / Dick Whitten, 65th-96th, $125
Skip & Jans holds their monthly 9-ball Scotch on the 2nd weekend of every month, Kitty's always takes the final weekend of every month, Bullshooters holds a Sunday Afternoon Scotch Tournament every weekend.