A great competition broke out at The Orleans Bowling Center Saturday.  With slightly lower scores on the board going into the last squad (nobody over 1000), the opportunity for a spectacular finish existed and several bowlers proceeded to seize that moment (more below).  A nice turnout of 80 entries and a RECORD total payout of $5,816.00, made for an incredibly profitable day for several bowlers... especially one very LUCKY Member who earned the Tour's second 'Golden Shot' at the Jackpot already this year!  With only one score above the 1000 mark and a perfect cut score of 922, our efforts to provide a fair and equitable scoring environment are paying off.  That's easy to see, looking at the very diverse handicaps throughout the 'Cash List', ranging from -8 to +38 pins per game.

The first squad of the day brought about a handful of scores above 900, with Mark Kight leading the way with a 963.  Teresita Zafra took the lead in the 2nd squad with an excellent 993, with Sean Carney close behind.  In the final squad of the day, a handful of bowlers had excellent chances at breaking 1000.  Only one, however, was able to crack the barrier.  First, it was Daryl Jeffries topping Teresita by just ONE PIN with his 994... then minutes later Ric Bisnar turned in another 994 to create a tie for 2nd place.  In the end, we had THREE bowlers separated by just ONE PIN, in 2nd thru 4th Place.  Ric & Daryl each took home nice MATCHING checks of $478.00.

Alex Watanabe, a UNLV student, joined the Tour a couple of weeks ago.  Bowling since the age of 4, Alex was using a Storm 'IQ Tour' that wasdrilled by Brian Trubiro, over at the Suncoast Pro Shop.  With only 1 pin of handicap, he needed to shoot a huge 270 total in his last game to take the lead.  Finishing like a true Champion, Alex threw a beautiful 300 game, for a final series of 1025 and an AWESOME payday of $1,366.00.  Knowing he needed a great effort in his final game, Alex said he concentrated on one shot at a time.  His plans for his winnings are to pay down his student loans.  In addition to being in college and spending time in the gym, Alex has a part-time job at the Boulder Creek Golf Club where he enjoys playing golf.  We certainly appreciate Alex making time to compete on the Tour.  Way to Go Alex and CONGRATULATIONS on your first Tour Title!

Ryne Semmerling made history Saturday, becoming the first Las Vegasbowler to take down the 9-Tap Jackpot.  Unfortunately, we didn't capture the moment on video, since we were unaware until the last minute.   Ryne found himself stringing 9-Taps in his last game of the day.  Spectators, family and fellow bowlers erupted in cheers when he got the 9-Tap he needed on the 'Golden Shot'.  You never know when it might happen to you... Two Golden Shots in just our first 7 weeks is really surprising... showing that the 9-Tap Jackpot can be hit on any given weekend.  Ryne earned $1,398.00 in COOL CASH for his feat!  Not a bad return on his $4.00 investment!  He also had a 9th Place finish, as a 'Cherry-on-Top', on his memorable day.  CONGRATS RYNE!!!

Many thanks to The Orleans staff for their great customer service.  With seven weeks of competition behind us, the Tour is most grateful and appreciative of the management and staff of all the spectacular centers we've visited since January.  It's easy to forget how lucky we are... nowhere else in the country has the concentration of great bowling facilities that Las Vegas offers.