Desert Classic Tour / Phoenix, AZ
by Lea Andrews
To reach the finals of the Desert Classic Tour stop the weekend of June 6-7, Gus Briseno had to get through several quality players, including 2008 U.S. Bar Table 8-Ball champion Mitch Ellerman. The $1,000-added 10-ball event, which was played on 7-foot bar tables, drew 35 players to Bullshooters in Phoenix, AZ.
Before Briseno came along, Ellerman had been working his way through the winners’ side, ultimately taking down George Teyachea to face Briseno in the match for the hot seat. Briseno, who had just sent George Ramirez west, was ready for Ellerman—he took control of the match, finishing Ellerman off 9-3 and sending him to fight for a rematch.
But the fight would prove to be a difficult one. The person waiting for him on the one-loss side was Bobby Emmons, who had earlier put one of DCT’s most dominant forces, Scott Frost, into seventh place. He had follwed up that win with wins over Ramirez and Brett Huth, who had knocked out Teyachea and Bob Mizer, and Emmons wasn’t ready to let his winning streak come to an end. He put Ellerman into third with a score of 7-5 and earned his spot in the finals.
Briseno and Emmons stayed close for the better part of the single race to 13. With the score 10-9 in Briseno’s favor, Emmons seemed set to make it even, but a fatal error on his part put Briseno up 11-9, and he was soon up 12-10. With Briseno getting ready to break, Emmons was waiting for his chance to get back to the table and get control of the match, but he never got there. With a powerful break that exploded the rack, Briseno dropped the 10 ball in the side pocket for the win.
To reach the finals of the Desert Classic Tour stop the weekend of June 6-7, Gus Briseno had to get through several quality players, including 2008 U.S. Bar Table 8-Ball champion Mitch Ellerman.
Results:
1st Gus Briseno $1,370
2nd Bobby Emmons $700
3rd Mitch Ellerman $355
4th Brett Huth $200
5th George Ramirez $125
George Teyachea
7th Scott Frost $75
Bob Mizer