Florida Billiards Expo
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FLORIDA BILLIARDS EXPO Meet Your Host & Professionals . This year the EXPO is presenting a very unique experience for billiard enthusiasts. For the first time, and perhaps last, six highly acclaimed professionals have been assembled for a series of competitions, workshops and shows. <><><><><><><><><> Full information regarding days, times, etc. is ATTACHED. <><><><><><><><><> For Admission based events: Ticket purchase information is also ATTACHED Your Host: Don "The Preacher" Feeney Don “Preacher” Feeney is one of the "Founding Fathers" of The Villages Billiards Club, Chairman of the prestigious “FEENEY CUP” and nationally recognized clinician, adjudicator and billiard player. Don "Chris" Crisman, owner of Chris's Billiards in Chicago, said, "To play pool you need the opposite of muscle, you need a delicate touch, a fluid control motion, and a sense of timing. Don has it all. He's the only guy I've ever seen who can play pool in the morning, billiards in the afternoon and snooker in the evening . and win at all of them. Each of those games requires different stroke control, different cue control. He adapts to it all." His adapting skills were honed early. He began playing pool at the tables in The Hub Bowling Alley in Joliet where he worked as a pin setter when he was 12. Don spent hours during high school watching players at Jones' Pool Hall and Pete's Pool Room in Joliet. By the time he was 20, he could run 100 balls. In 1984 Don played in the World Amateur Snooker Championship, a very prestigious annual tournament involving 2 players from 36 countries and hosted in Ireland. The venue was The Grand Hotel in Malahide near Dublin. In his first match against Tom Finstad from Canada, Don played so well that the four referees told him afterwards "If the match were to start tomorrow, we would pick you to win!" "In 1986, when scenes from the movie 'The Color of Money' were being filmed at Navy Pier and in Chris's Billiards in Chicago, Dad was an extra, playing a pool tournament referee. Paul Newman, playing `Fast Eddie' Felson, was signing autographs between takes and a pool fan approached. Newman assumed he wanted his autograph, but the man said, `No, thanks. I hear you can't pocket three balls in a row. I've seen Don Feeney run 100, and I've already got his autograph.' " Not bad for a fellow who joined the three-man Chicago team that won the 1990 International Snooker League championship in Spain. In 1994, he joined the U.S.A. team which won again, this time in snooker-loving England, where the game not only originated but also where snooker rivals soccer as the favorite spectator sport Don promotes the tradition of gentlemen -- champs like the late Willie Hoppe and Willie Mosconi -- well groomed, well mannered, and lethal. He wore a tuxedo for tournament play, gently taps the cue on his ring in lieu of applause, and no sharking to distract an opponent's shot. His gallantry extends to his fellow players. Michael Collins of Palos Park, founder and executive director of the U.S. Snooker Association, said, "During the 1994 U.S. Amateur National Championship at Pockets in Aurora, Don took third, edging out Jim Schnick, who played despite a recent, near-fatal car accident that resulted in 300 stitches in his left arm. Afterward, without an audience, Don privately gave his trophy to Jim." Don moved to The Villages in 2001 and resides in the Village of Santa Domingo. Throughout Don's billiard career, he has played all over the world and taught a lot. Many say he is the best all-around pool-billiards-snooker player in the country. Ray Martin "Cool Cat" Inducted into Billiards Hall of Fame in 1994 Ray Martin was born in 1936, his world titles in straight pool in 1971, 1974 and 1978 make Ray Martin one of only seven players in this century to win three or more world 14.1 titles. He has many nine-ball tournament wins to his credit as well, including the 1980 Caesars Tahoe Invitational, the 1981 ESPN King of the Hill, and the 1983 Music City Open. While concentrating today more on teaching than playing, Martin is still a threat in straight pool tournaments, finishing fourth and fifth in the 1992 and 1993 BCA U.S. Opens. In collaboration with Rosser Reeves, Martin wrote "The 99 Critical Shots in Pool" (1977) Cecil "Buddy" Hall "The Rifleman" Inducted into Billiards Hall of Fame in 2000 Cecil P. "Buddy" Hall, also known as "The Rifleman" for his straight shooting, is the first Hall of Fame Inductee of the millennium and the 39th inductee since the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame was created in 1966. Mr. Hall was born in 1945 in Metropolis, IL and has been recognized as a championship player for three decades, garnering over 50 professional titles. Titles include the Caesar's Tahoe 9-Ball Championship (1982 & '84); the International 9?Ball Classic ('91); Challenge of Champions ('92); and the U.S. Open 9?Ball Championship ('91 & '98). Hall has also won three of the ten richest top prizes in pool, and many consider him to be one of the most fundamentally solid 9?Ball players of all time. He has been selected as Player of the Year in 1982, 1991, and 1998, and Senior Tour Player of the Year in 1998. Rags to Rifleman, a biography of his life and career, was published in 1993. Ewa Laurance "The Striking Viking" Inducted into Billiards Hall of Fame in 2004 Ewa Laurance is one of the best-known and recognizable stars in billiards. Known as “The Striking Viking”, she began her career in her native Sweden, where she captured the National 9-Ball Championship in 1980. In 1981, she won this title again and also won the 14.1 Championship and the European 14.1 Championship. She won the World Open 9-Ball Championship in 1983 and 1984, and she captained the winning team in the Old Milwaukee Team Cup in 1984. In 1988, Ms. Laurance won the International 9-Ball, the World 8-Ball and the U.S. Open Women’s 9-Ball Championships. She set the Women’s High Run record for Straight Pool in 1988 and has held it (except for 10 minutes in 1992) since then. She also won the 1991 WPBA National, the 1991 Women’s U.S. Open 9-Ball and the 1994 WPA World 9-Ball Championships. Ms. Laurance has made many TV appearances, written four books, received the Billiard & Bowling Institute of America (BBIA) Industry Service award, visited U.S. troops in Bosnia, is the only billiard player ever featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine and currently serves as President of the WPBA. LoreeJon Hasson "Queen of the Hill" Inducted into the Billiards Hall of Fame in 2002 LoreeJon Hasson began playing billiards at age four at her home in Garwood, New Jersey. Recognizing her talent, her father built wooden boxes around the table so she would be the correct height for him to teach her the sport. Her father was her instructor, and her mother became her daily practice partner. She ran her first rack of balls at age 5. At age 11, she became a pro player with the Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) and known as “Queen of the Hill”. At age 15, she won the World 9-Ball tournament, becoming the youngest player, male or female, ever to win a world title, a feat recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. From 1987 to 1993, she won 18 tournaments, including her third WPBA National Championship. When she won the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) World Championship, she had held every title possible in women’s professional pocket billiards. Her greatest victories are eight World championships, three National championships and three U.S. Open championships. At the time of her induction, she held over 50 titles, and over the course of her career, Ms. Jones was recognized five times as “Player of the Year” by Pool & Billiard Magazine and Billiards Digest. Jim Rempe "King James" Inducted into the Billiards Hall of Fame in 2002 Jim Rempe was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and began to play billiards at age six. “My goal, ever since I was a small child, was to be the best pool player in the world,” he once remarked. At age 13, he renewed his interest in billiards, playing up to 10 hours a day. To further his skill, he frequently went to New York to watch the top pros. After high school, he traveled across the country for three years, improving his game by playing all the best players. He turned professional at age 22. He played so much better than anyone else, he became known by his nickname, “King James”. From 1972 until 1978, he won more championships than any other player in the world. In total, he has won nearly 100 major championships and 11 world titles. Included on his long list of top finishes are the World One-Pocket Championship, the World 9-Ball Championship, the World Straight Pool Championship, All-Around Champion of the World and the Mizerak Senior Tour . Also known as “The Ambassador of Pool”, he has traveled the world sharing his secrets on billiards. An international star and the first major player to bring modern pool to Europe and the Orient, Mr. Rempe has loyal subjects on every continent. Joann Mason Parker “Battling Beauty” It was Mason Parker's mother, Irene, a pretty good billiards player, who first handed a pool cue to her 4-year-old daughter.