My DCC Report

[cincy_kid]

Well, like always, I was looking forward to the biggest one hole tourney of the year and boy was it big! They actually used the action room tables (or almost all of them) for tournament play because of so many entrants in all divisions.

Since it's less than a 90 minute drive for me, I go down Sunday morning to get there in time for practice, the draw and find out when my first round match is. I show up around 9 AM ready to warm up, no tables are really open so I roam up towards the action room and notice our usual back corner table has nobody paying on it but I see Robert Frost sitting near it so I go ask him the deal. He said he and Shane Winters were playing all night (not sure the game or bet) and he is waiting for Shane to get done with his banks match to continue. He said I could have it until Shane was finished.

Told the fellas through What'sApp (btw, good idea on that Mike! Discord or other similar apps would have worked too but you were able to get the downloads and usage from members who were there and would use it, isn't great to be able to communicate better? Shortly after they started showing up.

First was John Long, good to see you again buddy and it was great to see your wife, Jeanne again too! She actually entered the one hole tourney, isn't that great?! She had the guy beat in the 2nd game and I sure hope she sticks with it, I cant wait to hear how she is beating John on a consistent basis (no offense John), we need more ladies to play this great game!

Then it was Steve and Chicago Mike, then Mitch and Nick (Jakie) and then I got to meet 2 new members while we were playing king of the table, Peter Ghostine (onerock) from Florida, nice guy and looks to hit the balls real good. Hope to see you again Peter, maybe we can play some so I can donate to your tour! And met another Peter (from Germany) who seemed like a super nice guy and also met Jim Mcrary from Houston. Also heck of a nice guy and from what I saw can play some too! The wood on those cues are awful pretty Jim, take care and see you next time, hope to play some too!

Also saw a lot of my other 1p.org buddies, Steve, Col Bille, Pilot Jim, Newkirk, Chicago Fats, Cal, JohninNH (glad you found your cue!), JR, Ben and also had the pleasure of meeting his wife Kristin, what a cute couple! By the way Ben, I knew how good you played but you keep impressing me more and more, keep it up man, way to play, I wish I could pocket balls like you! Also, always good to see my buddy John (jealous44) and his wife Ferra, another cute couple and they met playing pool! Good luck to you 2 if you make the move and sorry there's never enough time to hang out and/or play some pool. Played next to Bernie in round 2, and can't believe I didn't run into Jerry Matchin, sorry to have missed you and good playing sir, you always have a solid showing!

Also met Kaelin (kybanks), who although I didn't see play with my own eyes, heard he has a good game in both banks and one hole, maybe we can play sometime since we aren't too far apart, it was nice to meet you! Same with Chris (catkins) - I didn't get to see play but heard he plays well and it was nice to meet another west coaster, thanks for making the trip out this way, look forward to playing some in the future! Sorry I missed my buddy John Crabb, hope to see you again soon!

If I forgot to mention you, please forgive me, I have senior moments at 46 too, lol!

Also, nice representation from Bille and Mike this year, great guys and carry themselves well (on and off the table).

As far as my matches, round one I played a guy from Iowa named Dave Wagner. Super nice guy and looked like he just had an off day. He missed a few shots which led to me making some balls and getting out a few times. I played good and took it 3-0. by the way I told him about 1p.org so hopefully he comes and signs up!

Second round I play John Morra on table 2 which had the stream camera set up, don't know if it was recording but geez I sure hope not! I already know going in I have no chance and maybe that's part of the problem. For some reason when I play these champs, I don't know if its nerves or what kind of mentalness takes over but I don't play my normal game and its hard to "settle in". I mean, he gave me shots, I just could not capitalize and dogged it, very frustrating. I hope to conquer this part of the game someday!

I buy back and round 3 I draw a guy fro Florida by the name of George McLaughlin. I noticed tat he won his first 2 matches but since I had not heard of him before, that will always make me play better (no mentalness to interfere right?) because I think I have a shot to win.

First game, I beat him to the shot and I run 6 (I am not a ball runner so this is top run for me at the dcc lol), and after that moment, I think I went brain dead. I literally have never played that bad of one hole in the past 3 years since I started playing again, it was unreal. I lost that game and the next 2, having multiple chances to win every game but gave them all away, I was so upset with myself! I was playing someone I felt I could beat and could no perform.

So after that loss and the fact that there are no tables to match up on in the casino (mistake on their part, I hope they change it next year), I grabbed some lunch, packed up and drove back home.

I am sorry to have missed the HOF dinner (and meeting your son Steve!) and to not have hung out for longer to get in on some of the fun after the tales did finally open up! I usually don't sweat the small stuff but I guess a bunch of stuff added up and got to me good.

See you guys on the flip side ~

 

[NH Steve]

Yeah, I definitely understand some of those feelings (except the winning part lol)
The table situation was a real bummer. I know for a few years now the Ghost has not been coming mainly because of that issue, and here we are this year, it gets even worse with them using even the action room tables for the tournament most of the time.

Keep your chin up brother and don't forget the game can even be fun and invigorating, win or lose (well, within limits of course). But I certainly get you about wishing I could pocket balls better. Nothing worse than beating a champion to the shot, then dogging the shot and watching them run 8 and out. But I know for me, such is my lot, I'm afraid I am stuck with that.

Anyway it was great to see you, even though I wish it had lasted longer, and thank you for the pins again this year!!!

 

[lll]

cincy
great report
dont beat up on yourself
at least you were there and got to play....

 

[crabbcatjohn]

Sorry I missed you and a few others bro. I came in early Thursday and i ended up getting sick Saturday after my beat down by Mitch on that shitty table in town. So I left out Sunday morning early so I could see the doc on Monday. Didnt want to get anybody sick. Good thing I left, I had a flu shot and still caught that type A crap.

 

[12squared]

Thanks for the report, Chris. Enjoyed the read and the comradery we all share at onepocket.org. It really is a special group.

Dave

 

[Hardmix]

Great write up Chris. I am sorry that we did not get a chance to hang out together.
I will try to make it back up to Cinnci soon.

Ben

 

[NH Steve]

If you don't mind, I'm going to piggy back on your thread Chris

I had a wonderful time for 7 days -- the best part being mixing and reconnecting and meeting new members of onepocket.org from all over. Every One Pocket match with a member in it, had a few fellow members sweating it that I saw, all the way through Ben's 10th round loss

I brought my cue in every day, but really only got to the table 2-3 times -- once starting 11 PM, once starting midnight (both of those on tournament tables after hours) and just once briefly in the morning in the action room before they took over those for the tournament (which they did almost all week every day this year -- bummer!!). So bottom line is, DCC is not a great place for us to match up with each other even though there are tons of us there. We simply cannot get tables! Out MOT, Senior & I'm guessing Memphis are much better for that!! And maybe even the Hague lol

The Hall of Fame dinner was inconveniently moved all the way to the 4th floor of the casino -- on the boat -- this year, due to the major construction going on at the Horseshoe. The staffer I deal with for the dinner said it is an 85 million dollar renovation, the main thing being the boat casino is going to be gone, and a new casino built on land, due to changes in Indiana gaming laws. It is supposed to be done just prior to next year's DCC.

That said, the dinner seemed to really go well, witha full house over in the Diamond VIP room of the casino where they are usually wining and dining their high roller gamblers. Scott was truly humbled, and emotional, and James Walden was appreciative as well. Shannon Daulton is a good presenter, in my opinion, although he is following tough precedent of Grady and Freddy, Shannon kind of bridges the generations because he started so young!

I want to thank all of our members that came and supported the dinner! This is OUR HOF, and it will not stay as successful and meaningful if you all do not continue to come and support it -- thank you. And even for those who cannot come, I want to thank you for getting involved in the nomination and election process, because that too, is VERY important to create the significant event that is the HOF dinner! So keep it up guys!!

My son Travis, who really does not play pool much, since he seems to have missed out on the genes that draw you to the game and that help you see the angles involved, yet he thoroughly enjoyed taking in the culture and seeing what his dad is doing there for the week. Of course I put him to work at the HOF dinner lol, but I also know he had a lot of fun seeing me get worked over for that! I tried to introduce him to as many people as I could. It was funny, because often when I made an introduction, or pointed someone out, he had already heard that name or maybe seen photos or bits of Accustats scenes, so he knew many more names than what I expected. That was fun!!

Of course, the One Pocket ran way over their planned Thursday night finals, so again this year I was gone when there were still 4-5 players left in the tournament.

This year you had record entries in all divisions, and record competition for the limited tables they can place at the Horseshoe, with several tables dedicated to Straight Pool, and of course the Big Foot from Friday through Monday. Plus I never hear it mentioned that in recent years they raised the 9-ball race from 7 to 9. That adds a lot to 9-ball. Imagine if I suggested the One Pocket go from a race to 3 to a race to 4, which is close to the equivalent!! The reason that is an issue is simply the overlap between One Pocket & 9-ball on Wednesday and Thursday in particular. Although they begin Wednesday with all One Pocket matches, once they do the 9-ball draw between 1 and 2 PM they switch almost entirely to 9-ball, wanting to get through a whole round of that on Thursday if they can. Even though by Thursday morning they needed only 10 tables for One Pocket matches, they had NONE scheduled until noon -- virtually making inevitable that the One Pocket would not finish by any time Thursday night.

For One Pocket, while they considered going with the "Grady Rule", instead they had in place a warning system, triggered by their software, which apparently shows what time each match theoretically started. They were going to warn players after 2-1/2 hours, and then take drastic measures (sweep the balls, re-lag and break for one winner take all match). I never heard of that happening, despite some fairly long matches, so I believe what was really in place this year was mainly the threat that they might do something drastic, and encouraging players to move along with their matches.

One Of the longest matches I saw was between Gomez and Aranas, which was in a deep round like 10 or 11 -- I am not sure how long the match took as a whole but I saw one game that featured about 4 balls on the table, for about an hour before Gomez finally maneuvered a victory. And both of those guys are considered shooters, right!!

I do find it kind of ironic that often it is the great "shooters", not "movers" that seem to get involved in those mind numbingly long matches lol.

 

[baby huey]

Cincy, sorry I missed seeing you. I was battling a cold all week and tried to stay in the room AMAP for rest and not to infect any one else. I saw Steve Booth at the airport friday and we had a chance to talk about the event. For sure its a happening kinda like a "Pool Woodstock" for us older types. Greg Sullivan needs to figure out how to smoothen some things out. Clearly Greg has nothing to do with the remodel going on due to the river overflowing etc. but this tournament is so big now that the ability to practice and gamble is becoming very limited. Transportation costs also continue to be a problem and getting the events played in a timely manner continues to occur. The prize money is also an area thats going to require scrutiny. I like the fact he pays deep into the entries but the top money may not keep this international field spending an awful lot to come out and play. The action this year just didn't happen at all. Oh there were a few matches but no one could get tables to play on. That has to be fixed. Maybe the action award should go to the guys playing chess and backgammon. I love all my compadres and hope to see you all soon at our next gathering.

 

[NH Steve]

Great write up Chris. I am sorry that we did not get a chance to hang out together.
I will try to make it back up to Cinnci soon.

Ben

...and Ben, congratulations on finishing 16th in that monster One Pocket field -- wow!!!

 

[Island Drive]

Cincy, sorry I missed seeing you. I was battling a cold all week and tried to stay in the room AMAP for rest and not to infect any one else. I saw Steve Booth at the airport friday and we had a chance to talk about the event. For sure its a happening kinda like a "Pool Woodstock" for us older types. Greg Sullivan needs to figure out how to smoothen some things out. Clearly Greg has nothing to do with the remodel going on due to the river overflowing etc. but this tournament is so big now that the ability to practice and gamble is becoming very limited. Transportation costs also continue to be a problem and getting the events played in a timely manner continues to occur. The prize money is also an area thats going to require scrutiny. I like the fact he pays deep into the entries but the top money may not keep this international field spending an awful lot to come out and play. The action this year just didn't happen at all. Oh there were a few matches but no one could get tables to play on. That has to be fixed. Maybe the action award should go to the guys playing chess and backgammon. I love all my compadres and hope to see you all soon at our next gathering.

I don't know how much Greg has to say about the business end of it anymore, we talked last year for awhile like we always do, the pulse of the game so to speak. We have talked many times over the years, also I helped open and design his first Diamond table room in Denver, Rack Em in 93.

Now..............My feeling after chatting at DCC in 2018....is he has stepped back, and just comes to enjoy what's been created and watch play.

I saw similar expansion problems at Janscos once the Carbondale IL SIU college kids found out about it going on in their backyard. It kept getting bigger-better every year....till the Treasury Dept raid.

What's happening now in pool world wide, play is increasing, tables are not as available and prices are starting to percolate with preexisting rooms.

Main problem all new/some old pool room owners have, unless they own the land, getting a space they can afford to pay rent on.

 

[vapros]

Speaking of space they can afford to pay rent on, it seems to me that the proprietors are buying a lot more seven-foot tables, rather than the bigger ones, for that reason. It's the league players paying the rent today, and that's the way the industry is going. I would like to hear Greg Sullivan's comments on this - or any billiard proprietor.

 

[Kybanks]

Nice meeting you Chris, we definitely need to get together and play some. I wouldn't mind driving up on a Saturday and playing for awhile, just let me know when you are available.

 

[James Galati]

Cincy, sorry I missed seeing you. I was battling a cold all week and tried to stay in the room AMAP for rest and not to infect any one else. I saw Steve Booth at the airport friday and we had a chance to talk about the event. For sure its a happening kinda like a "Pool Woodstock" for us older types. Greg Sullivan needs to figure out how to smoothen some things out. Clearly Greg has nothing to do with the remodel going on due to the river overflowing etc. but this tournament is so big now that the ability to practice and gamble is becoming very limited. Transportation costs also continue to be a problem and getting the events played in a timely manner continues to occur. The prize money is also an area thats going to require scrutiny. I like the fact he pays deep into the entries but the top money may not keep this international field spending an awful lot to come out and play. The action this year just didn't happen at all. Oh there were a few matches but no one could get tables to play on. That has to be fixed. Maybe the action award should go to the guys playing chess and backgammon. I love all my compadres and hope to see you all soon at our next gathering.

Does all the entry money get paid out to the players ?

 

[cincy_kid]

Nice meeting you Chris, we definitely need to get together and play some. I wouldn't mind driving up on a Saturday and playing for awhile, just let me know when you are available.

Sounds good Kaelin, we will do it, over the next month or so going to be focused on this house, but in the not so distant future for sure!

 

[Island Drive]

Speaking of space they can afford to pay rent on, it seems to me that the proprietors are buying a lot more seven-foot tables, rather than the bigger ones, for that reason. It's the league players paying the rent today, and that's the way the industry is going. I would like to hear Greg Sullivan's comments on this - or any billiard proprietor.

Well it looks to me like, playing a 9 footer at an affordable price is becoming way more difficult, because of cost and rent. Playing on a 9 footer in some places is just as expensive as a round of golf, with a cart! If the Cup and the US Open keep stirring the pool, the game could change in the next 5 years, it could happen. Never thought I'd say this in my lifetime. Since playing Varner in the Collegiate Midwest 14.1 finals till now....change could finally happen....but. Barry Hearn mentioned, he's got Snooker maybe 1/2 way figured out.

 

[chicagomike]

Hey Chris it was really good seeing you...looks like you’re game was really picking up from what I saw in the action room! The pins were awesome this year...thanks for those!!!! The WhatsApp seemed to work out well and nice thing is that for future events a pretty good member base has been established regarding contacts and installation for the guys. See you again soon!!!