ANGEL of the WINDS manager Stacia and her team have come a long way since the 9-Tap Tour hosted the very first Tournament at the facility.  The record large turnout of 161 Entries went so smoothly, that every squad started right on time and the only real glitch on the day was our own, a printer issue after the last squad.  Even the scoring was amazingly perfect, with a right 'on-target' THREE 800's shot (one in each squad) and an ideal 'Cut-Line' at 703. 

The 9-Tap Jackpot didn't get off easy paying out $525.00 in an unusual fashion.  We lost track of all the bowlers who had 6 of 7 Middle Taps (around 5, 6 or7) and our 9-Tap King Earl Kleist even had NINE 9-Taps in one game (pic), finishing with the last 6, but running out of frames... strangely no one managed to start a game with 4-Taps or more on Sunday, leaving SEVEN bowlers in a tie for the Front 3-Taps.  Since ties are being paid-in-full, each of the seven (including a husband & wife) earned $75.00, Huyen Thai, Jennifer Gilitiuk, James Black, Montana Xaysana, Matt Hert, Ruta Hert & Samson Ibale.  Thanks to the enthusiastic feedback from our bowlers and the great service, beautiful Casino and smooth running Bowling Center, we have moved up the date for our next visit, from the 1st quarter next year, to a December 2024 date... watch for future schedules.

FOUR time Champion Kenny Burnside has an interesting mix of Titles... half of them coming from Centers in Casinos.  He won his first in 2016 at Bowlero Lanes (Lakewood), which used to have a Casino.  His second Title came at the Gold Coast Casino in 2017, the first time he participated in our Las Vegas Region, while he was in town.  Title #3 was at Daffodil Bowl last year and of course #4 was Sunday at AOW.  Kenny has certainly upped his game this summer, with a previous 2nd Place finish last month.  He attributes part of that improvement to getting to bowl with his son Jayden, who was able to join the Tour just a year ago.  Jayden also had a big game that boosted him onto the Cash List at 28th place.  Kenny's $2,597.00 Champion share was the biggest payday of his Tour career, pushing his Career Prize Money total to $16,221.00.  The funny line of the day, was when he was asked what he would do with his Winner's share... he said, "Depends on what the wife wants to do!!"  Kenny was bowling with only 3 pins of handicap, needing to shoot a HUGE 279 or better to pull out the Win... in true CHAMPION fashion, he came through with an awesome 297 finish to win it by a hefty 28 pins.  He did his handy work Sunday with his Purple Hammer and Dexter SST 9's.

In 2nd Place, newcomer Miles Nerona almost pulled off what hasn't been done by New Member for a long long time... shooting the only 800 in the 2nd squad and taking the lead into the final squad, it looked like he might hold on for the Win.  We've had very few bowlers win on their first day on the Tour, I can only think of a few in my 18 years.  Miles and his wife came down from British Columbia with a large group of his Canadian friends, but he and wife Amy had a lot further to travel... all the way from Campbell River, BC (more than half way up Vancouver Island).  Despite being limited to $10 in the Progressive Pot, Miles earned a nice $849.00 check for his effort.  Welcome to the Tour!!

In 3rd Place, Tour Hall of Fame member James Black, has been working his way back into form, after being away for several months.  James was chasing Title #8, earning $569.00 for his super 801 series, which tells us that 'he's baaaack'!  The #5 earner on the Tour's Career Prize Money list (not to far behind #4 Thang Thai) pushed his total to an impressive $58,088.00.