Pool Players of The Brooke

The Pool Players of The Brookes’ Billiard Club (PPB) hosted an 8-Ball Scotch Doubles tournament on Saturday June 20, 2026 in HOA1’s Catalina Recreation Center (CRC) Billiards Room sponsored by Debra Miller and State Farm. Debra Miller is one of the PPB’s latest tournament sponsors and we gratefully thank Debra for her generosity, support and confidence in the PPB. The format of this 8-Ball Scotch Doubles Tournament was single game, double elimination. The Scotch Doubles format is where you and your partner take alternate shots until one of you misses then your opponents take alternate shots. Tournament Directors were Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino and Phelps “Montana” L’Hommediue. The field of thirty-two players was split into “A” and “B” groups. The method for creating the two groups was partially based on the PPB’s Skill Rating and partially based on the players’ past performance. Then the “B” players’ group would randomly draw a name from the “A” players’ group to form 16 s...

The PPB thanks the SaddleBrooke Ranch Billiards Club (SBR), Jim Kauffman, and SBR’s billiards team for their pool table prowess, camaraderie, and friendly competition. Another big THANK YOU goes out to Tony “The Snake” Cardillo PPB’s Travel Team Captain for organizing this event. On Saturday May 30, 2026 the SBR’s Travel Team ventured up to SaddleBrooke for an 8-Ball Team Challenge. We were competing on four 9-foot Diamond Pro-Am pool tables for temporary ownership of a Traveling Bronze Plaque that has been in the SBR’s possession since July 26, 2025. The PPB team was made up of 4, 2 player teams and SBR also had 4, 2 player teams. The PPB teams consisted of Tony “The Snake” Cardillo/Mike “The Lip” Collins, Fred “The Baker” Dianda/Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg, Randy “Nice Try” Smith/Gary “One Rail” Barlow, Phelps “Montana” L’Hommidieu/Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar. Our opponent’s teams from SBR were Karl “English” Knight/Jim Mabbott, Robert Blackburn/Kurt Warner, Keith Vincent/Tim Conno...

The Pool Players of The Brooke Billiards Club (PPB) just completed its 2026’s 8-Ball Club Champion competition. The PPB held five 8-Ball qualifying tournaments on the following Saturdays: Oct 25, 2025, Nov 15 2025, Jan 31, 2026, Feb 28, 2026, and Mar 28, 2026. The PPB applied a point system during these tournaments where the PPB members earned points for participation, wins, and position achieved. Once all five qualifying tournaments were completed, the eight participants with the highest point totals moved on to the next level of competition. Thank you to the PPB’s Board for their sponsorship and Phelps L’Hommedieu for administering this event. Now let’s move on to the pool action. Quarter Finals: The top eight available point totals competed in the quarter finals held on Wednesday April 22, 2026 at 9:00 AM. This was a seeded competition where the highest point total competed against the lowest point total, the second highest point total will compete against the sec...

The Pool Players of The Brooke Billiards Club (PPB) held their 2026 Ladder Competition with 13 PPB Members participating. Tony “The Snake” Cardillo implemented and administered the PPB Ladder competition. The main reason for this competition was to increase head to head competition within the PPB Billiard Club. Each challenge on the Ladder was a race to four 8-ball match. The Ladder started on 09/15/2025 and ran until 04/03/2026 with the playoffs held on Tuesday 04/07/2026. The participants were Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar, Dick “Pocket Blocker” Dunbar, Mike “The Lip” Collins, Jerry Savage, Dick “The Visor” Titus, Jim Langseth, Russ “Longshot” Doering, Jim Samlaska, Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg, Tom Walter, Randy “Nice Try” Smith, Mark Erwin, and, Steve “the leave” Wiley. When the Ladder competition ended, Mike Collins, Joe Vidmar, and Dick Dunbar were the top three finishers in the regular season competition. These three competed in a playoff to determine the final positions and pr...

The Pool Players of The Brookes’ Billiard Club (PPB) hosted an 8-Ball Singles tournament on Saturday March 28, 2026 in HOA1’s Catalina Recreation Center (CRC) Billiards Room. This was the fifth and last of five 8-Ball qualifiers for the PPB Club Championship. The PPB was the sponsor of this tournament. The format of this 8-Ball Singles Tournament was double elimination. Tournament Director was Phelps L’Hommedieu. The following field of 14 players showed up to compete in the game of 8-Ball singles. Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg, Jim Samlaska, Tony “The Snake” Cardillo, Bill Fisher, Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar, Jack “Crash” Hoverter, Phelps “Montana” L'Hommedieu, Mike “The Lip” Collins, Mark Erwin, Russ “Long Shot” Doering, Dick “Pocket Blocker” Dunbar, and Gary “One Rail” Barlow. Results: 1st - Mike “The Lip” Collins - Another Undefeated Tourney - 5 Wins 0 Losses. 2nd - Gary “One Rail” Barlow - No Cigar! - 4 Wins 2 Losses. 3rd - Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg - In the Picture Again! - 4...

On Wednesday March 18, 2026 the Pool Players of The Brooke’s Billiard Club (PPB) celebrated the club’s 10 year anniversary with a Member Appreciation Happy Hour. Over 115 sponsors, members, and better halves gathered in HOA2’s Ballroom for the festivities. Diane Clary and Kathleen Dunbar greeted our members at the door, Diane took attendance and Kathleen passed out commemorative koozies adorned with the PPB and XPERT Auto’s logos donated by XPERT Auto. Also, each PPB member received a free raffle ticket for the drawing. Phelps “Montana” L’Hommedieu did a wonderful job moving the program along as our Master of Ceremonies. He introduced our two keynote speakers. First was Joe “Fast Eddie” Giammarino who outlined the history of the club from inception until today. Next up was Dominic “The Doctor” Borland who introduced and thanked our attending sponsors XPERT Auto, Leah Kari Solutions, Harn Legacy, Moore Real Estate, and Arizona Pain Care Center. The highlight of the eve...

The Pool Players of The Brooke’s Billiard Club (PPB) would like to thank Mission Royale’s Billiard Club (MRBC) and their President Brian Kjensmo for their pool table prowess, camaraderie and friendly competition. Another thank you goes out to Tony Cardillo PPB Travel Team Director for organizing this event. On Saturday March 14, 2026 the PPB Travel Team ventured up to the MRBC in Casa Grande for an 8-Ball Team Challenge. We were competing for temporary ownership of a traveling bronze plaque that has been in MRBC’s possession since March 09, 2024. Our team was made up of 4, 2 player teams and MRBC also had 4, 2 player teams. Our teams consisted of Jack “Crash” Hoverter and Fred “The Baker” Dianda, Tony “The Snake” Cardillo and Jay “Destroyer” Johnson, Mike “The Lip” Collins and Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg, and Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar and Phelps “Montana” L’Hommedieu. The format was simple and interesting. Each of our teams would play each of their teams 3 games of 8-ball with eac...

The Pool Players of The Brookes’ Billiard Club (PPB) hosted an 8-Ball Singles tournament on Saturday February 28, 2026 in HOA1’s Catalina Recreation Center (CRC) Billiards Room. This was the fourth of five 8-Ball qualifiers for the PPB Club Championship. The PPB was the sponsor of this tournament. The format of this 8-Ball Singles Tournament was double elimination. Tournament Director was Phelps L’Hommedieu. The following field of 16 players showed up to compete in the game of 8-Ball singles. Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg, Jim Samlaska, Tony “The Snake” Cardillo, Bill Fisher, Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar, Jack “Crash” Hoverter, Phelps “Montana” L'Hommedieu, Mike “The Lip” Collins, Mark Erwin, Russ “Long Shot” Doering, Jay “Destroyer” Johnson, Kirk Meckem, Mike Bonicelli, Dick “Pocket Blocker” Dunbar, Gary “One Rail” Barlow, and Jim Langseth. Results: 1st – Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg – Top Dog, Again! 5 Wins 1 Loss. 2nd – Jay “Destroyer” Johnson – So Close! 6 Wins 2 Losses. 3rd ...

The Pool Players of The Brookes’ Billiard Club (PPB) hosted an 8-Ball Singles tournament on Saturday February 14, 2026 in HOA1’s Catalina Recreation Center (CRC) Billiards Room. The PPB had a scheduled Travel Team event with Green Valley Recreation (GVR) at SaddleBrooke’s Catalina Recreation Center but at the last minute GVR had to cancel. Tony “The Snake” Cardillo the PPB’s Travel Team Director decided to utilize the reserved table times at the CRC by holding an in house PPB 8-Ball Tournament. The following field of 14 players showed up to compete in the game of 8-Ball singles. Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg, Tony “The Snake” Cardillo, Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar, Jack “Crash” Hoverter, Mike “The Lip” Collins, Mark Erwin, Russ “Long Shot” Doering, Jay “Destroyer” Johnson, Kirk Meckem, Dick “Pocket Blocker” Dunbar, Les Goins, Fred “The Baker” Dianda, and Jim Langseth. Results: 1st – Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg – It’s About Time! 5 Wins 1 Losses. 2nd – Mike “The Lip” Collins – In the Mix Again! ...

The Pool Players of The Brookes’ Billiard Club (PPB) hosted an 8-Ball Singles tournament on Saturday January 31, 2026 in HOA1’s Catalina Recreation Center (CRC) Billiards Room. This was the third of five 8-Ball qualifiers for the PPB Club Championship. The PPB was the sponsor of this tournament. The format of this 8-Ball Singles Tournament was double elimination. Tournament Director was Phelps L’Hommedieu. The following field of 16 players showed up to compete in the game of 8-Ball singles. Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg, Jim Samlaska, Tony “The Snake” Cardillo, Bill Webster, Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar, Jack “Crash” Hoverter, Phelps “Montana” L'Hommedieu, Mike “The Lip” Collins, Mark Erwin, Russ “Long Shot” Doering, Jay “Destroyer” Johnson, Kirk Meckem, Mike Bonicelli, Dick “Pocket Blocker” Dunbar, Les Goins, and Jim Langseth. Results: 1st – Mike “The Lip” Collins – Perfect Tournament! 5 Wins 0 Losses. 2nd – Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar – Right There, Again! 4 Wins 2 Losses. 3r...

Tucson Parks and Recreation and Pain Institute of Southern Arizona presents the 41th annual Senior Olympic Festival. This festival is a celebration to promote fitness, health, and an active lifestyle among adults 50 years of age and older. Events include volleyball, billiards, bowling, bridge, racquetball, basketball shoot, pickle ball, archery, golf, tennis, horseshoes, badminton, and so much more. On Tuesday January 20 and Wednesday January 21, 2026 the 8-Ball competition took place at Pockets Billiards in Tucson. All matches were two out of three. The Pool Players of The Brooke Billiards Club (PPB) had 6 members competing. Tony “The Snake” Cardillo, Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar, Phelps “Montana”, L’Hommedieu, Dominic “The Doctor” Borland, Mike “The Lip” Collins, and Dick “Pocket Blocker” Dunbar. We ended up with two PPB Members winning medals. Mike “The Lip” Collins won a Bronze medal in the 65 – 69 age bracket against 15 other cueists. He accomplished this by winni...

The Pool Players of The Brooke’s Billiards Club (PPB) would like to thank MOD Pizza 4386 N Oracle Rd, 520 448-5838 for sponsoring our Travel Team. The PPB also thanks Voyager’s Billiard Club (VBC) and Ted Beery for the friendly competition and cordial luncheon at HOA1’s RoadRunner Grill after the 8-Ball team challenge. Another big THANK YOU goes to Tony “The Snake” Cardillo, PPB’s Travel Team Captain for organizing this event. On Saturday January 17, 2026 the VBC’s Travel Team ventured up to SaddleBrooke for an 8-Ball Team Challenge. We were competing on four nine foot Diamond Pro-Am pool tables for temporary ownership of a Traveling Bronze Plaque. The PPB has had possession of this plaque since January 13, 2023 when the PPB defeated the VBC 27 to 21 at Voyager. Our team is made up of four, two player teams and Voyager also had four, two player teams. Our teams consisted of Joe “Ball Breaker” Vidmar and Lowell “8-Ball” Hegg, Mike Collins and Phelps “Montana” L'Hommedieu, ...