Leon Contreras charged through a 64-player field at R House Bar and Grill in Houston, Texas, coming from the one-loss side to defeat Ray Porter in overtime and capture the seventh stop on the 2022 Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour. Contreras lost his second match to Johnny Griffin and won an incredible 11 matches to secure his first title of the season.
On September 10th-11th, 2022, title sponsor Poison by Predator Cues, sponsors Predator Cues, Alamo Billiards, Outsville Billiards, and Team Straight Pool Eye, facilitated another successful event for players across Texas. The $1,000 added, two-day 9-ball tournament, featured a full, 64-player field, with a nearly $7,000 payout. In addition to the Poison Lone Star Event, the room hosted a Gulf Coast Women’s Regional Billiards Tour Event, with $500 added to the ladies’ event, which garnered 16 players. R House Bar and Grill provided 14, 7’ Diamond bar tables for match play, in a smoke-free environment, along with a free, in-house live stream. Predator sponsored Arcos II ball sets, and Outsville Billiards provided Accu-Racks for discussion-free racking, for each table.
On the winners’ side, final eight, Ray Porter ousted Bill Fuller, 6-3, while Johnny Griffin defeated Sonny Bosshamer, 6-2. Calvin Chappell upset Eric Cantrell, 6-5, and Dinesh Kumar bested Dennis Hadley, 6-2. In the following round, Porter sent Griffin west, 6-3, and Kumar slid past Chappell, 6-5. Hot seat action witnessed Porter handily defeat Kumar, 6-1, to secure his second, hot seat win of the season. On the one-loss side, down to the final 8 players in the event, Contreras eliminated Bosshamer, 5-3, and Chappell, 5-2. Cantrell denied Hadley, but fell to Griffin, 5-2. Contreras was on fire, ousting Griffin, 5-3, and Kumar, 5-1, to meet Porter in the finals. The finals drew a record number of live stream viewers, as both players fought an epic battle, executing few mistakes. An unforced error by Porter, in the first set, propelled Contreras to a 6-5 victory. In the second set, Porter found it impossible to regroup, losing the second set, 5-1. Congratulations to Leon Contreras who displayed a tremendous amount of heart and talent, winning 11 straight matches to capture his first title on the 2022 Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour.
Junior talent Eva and Mary Grigsby, along with Tyler Miller, were also in attendance, representing a group of young up-and-comers in the sport of billiards.
The Tour welcomes all new players who attended this event and invites them back at every opportunity. The final event will be held October 8th-9th at Big Tyme Billiards in Spring, Texas.
For more information about the Poison Lone Star Billiards Tour, visit www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.
Open Payouts – Total $6,705
1st Leon Contreras $1,000/$1,400
2nd Ray Porter $640/$915
3rd Dinesh Kumar $430/$450
4th Johnny Griffin $250/$200
5th-6th Calvin Chappell, Eric Cantrell $150/$150 ea
7th-8th Dennis Hadley, Sonny Bosshamer $100/$100 ea
9th-12th Bill Fuller, Kenney Nguyen, Alex Ramon, Shane Yarborough $65 ea
13th-16th Victor Rojas, Chad Burgess, Danny Bennett, Robert Pham $40 ea