Dick Weber PBA Playoffs
To Conclude Lumber
Liquidators PBA Tour Season

The Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour’s 2010-11 season comes down to a dramatic season-finale next week at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, Ind. when 180 PBA exempt players and PBA Regional competitors will butt heads in a new Dick Weber PBA Playoffs starting Wednesday.

The inaugural PBA Playoffs will feature three “elimination” television shows leading into the final live telecast of the 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season on Sunday, April 17, when the PBA Playoffs championship and its $50,000 first prize will be decided.

“The PBA staff, players, news media and other interested parties have talked a great deal over the past two or three years about the need for a special event to conclude our national tour season,” said PBA Deputy Commissioner Tom Clark. “After a great deal of discussion, we arrived at the PBA Playoffs concept.

“It’s new, it’s different and it’s going to be an exciting battle between the best of the PBA’s national touring stars butting heads against the very best of our nationwide regional network. We think it’s going to become one of the most anticipated events on tour.”

Borrowing a chapter from end-of-season championship playoff series in virtually every other sport, the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs will provide a showdown for 108 top regional players who earned their way through competition points races within their respective regions, along with the top 72 players from the 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour points list.

“It resembles the World Series of Poker,” said PBA Vice President and Director-PBA Tour Kirk Von Krueger. “Each group of players has to win their way through out of their group to get to the final table where they’ll play for all of the chips.”

Because the playoffs structure provides for up to three bye rounds for PBA Tour players based upon their points ranking, it has been extremely important for every player to bowl at a high level during the season. The top six players on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour points list have earned “byes” for the first three rounds. Players ranking seventh through 12th will enjoy two bye rounds. Those who rank 13th through 18th in points at Sunday’s conclusion of the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship in Cheektowaga, N.Y., will earn one bye round.

Going into the Plastic Ball Championship, the six top "seeds" based on points belong to Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa.; Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich.; Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas; Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C.; Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., and Jason Belmonte, Australia.

The Playoffs format will include six unique “regional pods” for 18 top PBA Regional players based upon competition points as of Nov. 30, 2010. Players within the East, South, Central, Southwest, Midwest and combined West/Northwest Region pods will remain in their respective pods throughout the event, heading into the television finals. Each pod also will be assigned seeded PBA Tour players based upon their 2010-11 points rankings. Exempt Tour players who rank between 19th and 72nd for the season will be assigned to pods, regardless of the players’ home regions, for the opening qualifying round.


For the current, complete PBA competition points list, visit pba.com and click on the “statistics” tab.

The Dick Weber PBA Playoffs is named in honor of the PBA legend who was born and raised in Indianapolis.

DICK WEBER PBA PLAYOFFS
Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, Ind., March 8-13 (live TV finals on April 17)

REGIONAL POD ASSIGNMENTS (as of March 3)
(Regional qualifiers are listed below. Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Exempt Players will be seeded into pods based upon their positions on the PBA Tour competition points list at the conclusion of the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship on Sunday, March 6)

East Region Pod: Charles Anderson, Sloatsburg, N.Y.; Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa.; Kevin Cartier, Beverly, N.J.; John Furey, East Windsor, N.J.; Tommy Gollick, Oberlin, Pa.; Stephen Haas, Enola, Pa.; Brian LeClair, Athens, N.Y.; Terry Miller, York, Pa.; Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa.; Tom Sorce, Blasdell, N.Y.; Jason Stadtler, Cherry Hill, N.J.; John Szczerbinski, North Tonawanda, N.Y.; Jim Tomek Jr., Camp Hill, Pa.; Michael Tweed Sr., Camp Hill, Pa.; Eddie Van Daniker, Essex, Md.; Jeffrey Voght, Canojaharie, N.Y.; Jason Weaver, Denver, Pa.; plus Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour players seeded 20, 29, 32, 41, 44, 53, 56, 65, 68. Seeds earning bye rounds: 17 (one bye), 8 (two byes), 5 (three byes).

South Region Pod: Tom Baker, King, N.C.; Josh Chambliss, Charleston, S.C.; Richard Chmura, Lumberton, N.C.; Chris Collins, Savannah, Ga.; Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla.; Dale Eagle, Frisco, Texas; Gary Faulkner, Norfolk, Va.; Ronnie Horton, Christiansburg, Va.; Scott Newell, Deland, Fla.; Kip Roberts, Glenallen, Va.; Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga.; Troy Stus, South Lyon, Mich.; Steve Taylor, Madison Heights, Va.; Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C.; Larry Verble, Mason, Mich.; Randy Weiss, Columbia, S.C.; plus Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour players seeded 19, 30, 31, 42, 43, 54, 55, 66, 67. Seeds earning bye rounds: 18 (one bye), 7 (two byes), 6 (three byes).

Central Region Pod: Tim Bell, Garden City, Mich.; Carleton Chambers, Detroit; Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio; Matt Freiberg, Simpsonville, S.C.; Paul Gibson, Brunswick, Ohio; Bo Goergen, Sanford, Mich.; Brian Himmler, Cincinnati; Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y.; Nick Kokenos, St. Clair Shores, Mich.; Kenneth Kolberg Jr., Cleveland, Ohio; Jack Laffey, Indianapolis; Dan MacLelland, Saginaw, Mich.; Billy Oatman, Cleveland; Jason Queen, Forsyth, Ill.; Ted Rosenquist Jr., Valparaiso, Ind.; Brett Spangler, Niles, Ohio; Brian Thompson, Flat Rock, Mich.; Rick Zakrajsek, Lorain, Ohio, plus Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour players seeded 23, 26, 35, 38, 47, 50, 59, 62, 71. Seeds earning bye rounds: 14 (one bye), 11 (two byes), 2 (three byes).

Midwest Region Pod: Diandra Asbaty, Chicago; Dallas Baldridge, Lenexa, Kan.; Quinton Bohlen, Decorah, Iowa; Don Breeden, Clive, Iowa; Marc Heninger, Tonganoxie, Kan.; Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa; Mark London, Ingleside, Ill.; Tim Mack, Indianapolis; Brian Menini, Brookfield, Mo.; Carmen Salvino, Schaumburg, Ill.; Derek Sapp, Keokuk, Iowa; John Slavich IV, Schaumburg, Ill.; Mike Steil, Wheeling, Ill.; Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo.; Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill.; Nick Weber, Foristell, Mo.; Jason Wojnar, Chicago; plus Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour players seeded 24, 25, 36, 37, 48, 49, 60, 61, 72. Seeds earning bye rounds: 13 (one bye), 12 (two byes), 1 (three byes).

Southwest Region Pod: Bill Alexander, San Angelo, Texas; D.J. Archer, Mineral Wells, Texas; Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan.; Jim Carter, Keller, Texas; Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas; Darren Comardelle, Gretna, La.; Brett Cooper, Fort Worth, Texas; Jay Futrell, Derby, Kan.; Kurt Gengelbach, Carrollton, Texas; Chris Hibbitts II, Ft. Worth, Texas; Mike Keily, Littleton, Colo.; Kris Koeltzow, Wheat Ridge, Colo.; Rick Lawrence, Waxahachie, Texas; Robert McBride, Mesquite, Texas; Andrew Mortensen, Tulsa, Okla.; Danny Neill, Allen, Texas; Andy Patterson, Tyler, Texas; plus Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour players seeded 21, 28, 33, 40, 45, 52, 57, 64, 69. Seeds earning bye rounds: 16 (one bye), 9 (two byes), 4 (three byes).

West/Northwest Region Pod: Thomas Ault Jr., Portland, Ore.; Mitch Beasley, Puyallup, Wash.; Steven Black, Phoenix; Jon Brandon, Santa Clarita, Calif.; Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore.; Andre Eubanks, Los Angeles; Rick Francis, Linden, Calif.; Wayne Garber, Modesto, Calif.; PJ Haggerty, Roseville, Calif.; Corey Husted, Milwaukie, Ore.; J.T. Jackson, Los Angeles; Ernie Schlegel, Vancouver, Wash.; Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore.; Greg Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif.; John Wilcox, Kirkland, Wash.; Dave Wodka, Chatsworth, Calif.; plus Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour players seeded 22, 27, 34, 39, 46, 51, 58, 63, 70. Seeds earning bye rounds: 15 (one bye), 10 (two byes), 3 (three byes).

PBA DICK WEBER PBA PLAYERS SCHEDULE

Tuesday, March 8
9 a.m. – Practice session (108 regional and 72 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour qualifiers)

Wednesday, March 9
8 a.m. – East, South, Central Pods, five qualifying games (18 regional and 7 PBA Tour players per pod)
11 a.m. – Midwest, Southwest, West/Northwest Pods, five qualifying games (18 regional and 7 PBA Tour players per pod)
4 p.m. - Midwest, Southwest, West/Northwest Pods, five qualifying games
7 p.m. - East, South, Central Pods, five qualifying games

Thursday, March 10
8 a.m. – East, South, Central Pods, five qualifying games
11 a.m. – Midwest, Southwest, West/Northwest Pods, five qualifying games
Top nine from each pod after Qualifying Round (15 games) advance
6 p.m. – Elimination Round One (nine Qualifying Round survivors in each pod plus one PBA Tour player in 13-18 seeded group), six games
Top seven from each pod after Elimination Round One (6 games) advance

Friday, March 11
8 a.m. – Elimination Round Two (seven Elimination Round One survivors plus one PBA Tour player in 7-12 seeded group), six games
Top five from each pod after Elimination Round Two (6 games) advance
1 p.m. – Elimination Round Three (five Elimination Round Two survivors plus one PBA Tour player in 1-6 seeded group), six games
Top four from each pod after Elimination Round Three (6 games) advance
6 p.m. – Elimination Round Four (four Round Elimination Three survivors), six games
Top three from each pod after Elimination Round Four (6 games) advance

Saturday, March 12
Noon, 3 and 6 p.m. - Pro-Am squads

Sunday, March 13 (three television shows):
9 a.m. – Regional Championship Round (top three from East, South and Central Pods bowl one game
within their own pods; three Pod winners advance to Conference Championship Round). Tape-delayed
show airs on ESPN on Sunday, March 27, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern.
1 p.m. – Regional Championship Round (top three from Midwest, Southwest and West/Northwest Pods
bowl one game within their own pods; three Pod winners advance to Conference Championship Round).
Tape-delayed show airs on ESPN on Sunday, April 3, at 1 p.m. Eastern.
3:30 p.m. – Conference Championship Round (East Pod winner vs. South Pod winner; Central Pod winner
vs. Midwest Pod winner; Southwest Pod winner vs. West/Northwest Pod winner. Three winners advance
to Championship Round on Sunday, April 17, live on ESPN at 1 p.m.). Tape-delayed show airs on ESPN
on Sunday, April 10, at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Sunday, April 17
1 p.m. – Live Championship Round on ESPN
Match One: Three Finals Elimination Round winners, one game (lowest score finishes third).
Championship Match: Top two from Match One.