The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour was back in action, at Yale Billiards in Wallingford, CT, over the April 6th – 7th weekend and young gun Lukas Fracasso-Verner was back, looking to return to the ever elusive winners circle. Fracasso-Verner had earned three runner-up finishes, with his last attempt, back in early March, ending with a two set final match loss to another young gun, Germany’s Moritz Neuhausen.

A day and a half of matches led to the showdown between Neuhuasen and Fracasso-Verner for the hot-seat, with Fracasso-Verner winning 9-7 to send Neuhausen packing to the left side of the board.

Any chance that Fracasso-Verner had to relax in the hot-seat was very short lived. Neuhausen found Jeremy Sossei waiting for him on the one-loss side. Sossei had lost his first match of the event on Saturday, but had then put together an eight match winning streak to earn his shot against Neuhausen in the semi-finals. That match was a quick one, with Neuhausen winning 7-1 and the rematch with Fracasso-Verner in the finals was on.

Neuhausen won the first set of the finals 9-7 and then cruised in the second set with a lopsided 7-2 win for his second Joss NE 9-Ball Tour win of the year.

The bracket for Sundays second chance tournament looked a lot like the bracket for the main event, with Mike Renshaw winning the hot-seat with a 3-1 win over Steve Mack, only to see Mack come through the one loss side to double dip Renshaw with back to back 3-1 wins in the finals.

The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be at Fairway Billiards on April 20th – 21st for the first time, to play on their beautiful 7’ Diamond tables.

As many of our friends, colleagues, and customers know Dan Janes has passed away. We lost our dear Dan on June 20, 2023.

Dan's life passion was for making the best cue possible. Throughout his career he had a lifelong quest to continually improve methods, materials, and aesthetics of the Joss Cue while insuring they had the best, solid play possible. Dan, Debbie, and Stephen would sit for hours and plan the approach to perfect a certain technique. The goal always to make the best playing, well-built cues with a range of price points. All cues being equal only some had more inlays or veneers. The play, the same!

And if you wanted to talk to Dan about almost anything, especially cues, he would talk with you. Many people were surprised when it was Dan who answered the phone. He spent many hours with customers creating their image of the perfect cue. He was an inspiration to other cue makers and would spend hours discussing methods, ideas and strategies. Dan shared his knowledge and his many, many pool, life stories. He was a special man.

Dan began his life's cue making journey in a small garage in an area of Baltimore known as Hampden in 1967. Later in 1975 the business was moved to a new industrial park in Towson where Joss still resides. By his side his wife Debbie and son Stephen helped grow the business. Debbie and Stephen will still run the business and will continue to craft the same superior quality Joss Cue that we have been making since 1967. Dan made sure that Debbie and Stephen were ready for this transition. We have been there every day beside Dan. Stephen has helped the business evolve with his own innovative advances and stands behind every cue he crafts. He has been managing the shop for 44 years. We will carry on the tradition of making quality customized Joss Cues.

Dan will be missed immensely by his family. His daughters Amanda Janes, Kim Moreau and other son Mark Janes are heartbroken.

He is also survived by grandsons, a granddaughter, and great-grandchildren.

The pool world has lost a great man of the sport!

We are saddened.