Justin "J-Hall" Hall played through both ends of the Beyond Billiards stop in Davie, Florida from April 29 to May 3 and never lost a match. The reigning Derby City Classic Bank Pool titleholder took the $1,000-added 1 Ball One Pocket Mini on opening night, then turned around and took the $6,000-added One Pocket Championship over the next four days. The 30-player championship field included BCA and One Pocket Hall of Famer Francisco Bustamante, current Beasley Open One Pocket and 2024 Buffalo's Pro Classic champion Roberto Gomez, John Wayne Pro Open winner Billy Thorpe, and big names like Tony Chohan who can snap off any 1pkt tournament.
Hall opened Wednesday with a clean 3-1 win over Thorpe in the Mini final. The main championship started Thursday on a modified entry structure tied to FargoRate, races to three through the brackets and an extended race to four in the final. Hall worked the bottom of the bracket beating Paul Lordi 3-1, DeLawder 3-1, and surviving Beyond Billiards house pro Anthony Meglino 3-2, before sending Thorpe to the loss side 3-1 in their winners-side meeting. The hot seat match brought Bustamante and Hall together for the first time, with Hall closing it 3-1.
Bustamante worked back through the loss side and survived a 3-2 fight with Gomez to set up the final. The match ran a single extended race to four. Hall took game one with a three-and-out, Bustamante answered in game two with a back cut from the end rail, and Hall pulled ahead 2-1 with a couple of breaks of his own. Bustamante built a 4-0 lead in game four and had two makeable shots to close it out, but he missed and Hall came back with a seven-and-out to push it to 3-1. Forced to win out in game five, Bustamante turned the break and put Hall on defense, but Hall scratched twice and still ran six balls after Bustamante was forced to play safe, then closed the game and the title 4-1. Gomez finished third, Meglino fourth.
The sweep tightens the Making It In America One Pocket Tour points race with one stop left. The Fourth Annual Bayou State Classic at Emerald Billiards in New Iberia, Louisiana runs May 12 to 17 with a $12,500-added One Pocket Championship and a separate $5,000-added bar table nine ball event. The points leader after Emerald walks away with a $4,000 package: entry to Buffalo's Pro Classic, room, and travel allowance. Hall, Josh Roberts, Roberto Gomez, Tony Chohan, and Billy Thorpe are all in the running.
Bayou State Classic Closes the One Pocket Tour Season May 12
The Fourth Annual Bayou State Classic at Emerald Billiards in New Iberia, Louisiana runs May 12 to 17 with $17,500 in total added money across two events. The $12,500-added Making It In America One Pocket Championship is the points-race closer for the tour, the last event before the season's points leader collects the $4,000 Buffalo's Pro Classic package. Running on the same week is a $5,000-added Bar Table Nine Ball event, a separate field for players who want a different format on the back end of the trip.
Player registration is open through the form below.
The 11th Annual Buffalo's Pro Classic Loads In May 19
Two weeks from now, the 11th Annual Buffalo's Pro Classic loads into Jefferson, Louisiana. This event is the highlight of the gambling pool players year, theres action for everyone and anyone. The week runs May 19 to 24 at World Famous Buffalo's Billiards, with $31,000 in added money across three events on one card.
The headliner is the Pro One Pocket. Format: $20,000 added, $2,000 entry, race to 5 on both sides, three foul rule, Calcutta at 6 PM Wednesday, 100% payout. The 2025 edition put $92,000 on the tournament side and $378,350 on the auction side, with first place in the auction taking home $150,000. The 2026 player list runs to 33 confirmed entries with one spot still open. Among them: Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, Fedor Gorst, Tony Chohan, Sky Woodward, Roberto Gomez, Lukas Fracasso-Verner, Marco Teutscher, John Morra, Billy Thorpe, Justin Hall, Josh Roberts, Corey Deuel, Sergio Rivas, Devin Poteet, Alex Lely, Jeremy Jones, Chip Compton, Ivan Belmonte, and Mark Mägi.
The undercard fills out the rest of the week. The $1,000-added 1 Ball One Pocket runs Tuesday night, 32-player single elimination, $200 entry, races to 4. The $10,000-added Open 9-Ball is Saturday's draw with a 128-player cap, $100 entry, races to 7 on 7-foot Diamond tables, single elimination from the final 16. Live coverage runs on PoolActionTV.
This event has to be on your bucket list of pool tournaments to attend!
BUY BOX - Aramith Tournament Black
If you've watched a Mosconi Cup, a UK Open, or any Matchroom WNT broadcast in the last few years, you've watched players strike this exact set. Aramith built the Tournament Black in collaboration with Matchroom Multisport to fix the contrast problem on broadcast and small-screen viewing. Light purple replaces orange on the 5 and 13, a lighter green replaces the dark green on the 6 and 14, and the patent-pending black caps on the stripes separate the 9 from the 1 instantly, which is the entire point in a nine ball break.
Underneath the look is fourth-generation Duramith resin, the same chemistry Aramith ships in their highest-end sets. The through-hardened vitrified surface delivers longer service life than prior Aramith generations, with less chalk transfer and reduced cloth wear over time. It's a regulation 2 1/4 inch set with a cue ball and the 1 through 15.
The set lists at $661.08 retail and runs $528.86 at BRB after the standing Aramith discount. Code BLAK at checkout takes another 15% off the sale price, putting it just under $450.
Szolnoki Closes Out Bob Stocks Memorial Undefeated
While the action stateside was on PoolAction TV, the WNT side of the calendar wrapped its Virginia stop. Hungary's Oliver Szolnoki took the 17th Annual Bob Stocks Memorial in Front Royal April 23 to 26, going through the 62-player field undefeated and closing out the UK's Fraser Patrick in the final. The race was to 13. Patrick kept it tight all the way to 10-10, at which point Szolnoki took the next three to finish 13-10.
Szolnoki finished 2025 at #43 on the AZBilliards money leaderboard, and the Bob Stocks win has already moved him to #34 on the 2026 board. He currently sits at #46 in the WNT rankings. It's his first title of 2026, with his last coming at the Predator Spanish Open in December. The added money came from Universal ($10K), George Hammerbacher ($2.5K), and Lakeside Enterprises ($2.5K). Tour director Chris Wilburn ran the event out of On Cue Sports Bar and Grill.
WATCH THIS - "This man is a MENACE 😭"
Traveling Pool Hustler · April 30, 2026 · 64,000 views
The Traveling Pool Hustler channel runs on one format. The guy travels to rooms, events, and tournaments around the country, plays whoever's there at a high level, films himself in the action, and narrates over the top of it. Each video runs about a minute. This one cleared 64K views in a week, and the back catalog runs the same setup against different opponents in different rooms. The whole thing is worth a scroll.
ON THE CALENDAR
📍 Bayou State Classic 🔗 Register · May 12 to 17 · New Iberia, LA · $17,500 added across two events
📍 TAOM Arena Open 🔗 Event · May 14 to 18 · Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia · $31,300 WNT Ranking
📍 Buffalo's Pro Classic 🔗 Register · May 19 to 24 · Jefferson, LA · $31,000 added across three events
📍 Jacoby Scottish Open 🔗 Event · May 20 to 23 · Glasgow, Scotland · $46,000 WNT Ranking
📍 2026 UK Open Pool Championship 🔗 Event · May 26 to 31 · Brentwood, Essex, UK · $225,000 WNT Major
📍 Florida Open Pool Championship 🔗 Event · August 4 to 9 · Orlando, FL · $225,000 WNT Major
WHAT'S NEXT
With Hall's sweep behind us and the Bayou State decider six days out, American one pocket is having a moment. The WNT side of the calendar is loaded right behind it. Follow us on Instagram for bracket coverage and gear drops, and forward this issue to one player who'd want it on their list.