gulfportdoc
Verified Member
If no one has yet mentioned it, the tournament venues and hotels are very awkwardly set up. Most everyone is staying at the Veranda facility-- one of the 3 at the Harrah's Tunica. And the convention center is right next door. Unfortunately all that are in that venue is the bar box area for leagues, tournaments, etc., and the 9 table action room. The main tournament events are all at the Casino building, which is probably a half mile away, or more-- too far too walk, especially in the Mississippi sun. The shuttles run with some regularity, but one oftentimes has to run the whole route to get where one is going. Anyway, I simply drive the car across the hill from parking lot to parking lot. Then it's a crap shoot if there are any reasonably close spots. The AM's are best.
I arrived Friday night and started b.s-ing with Cardone. He was barking at Shane Van Boening. They eventually matched up at a game which quickly became the game du jour: two ball one pocket (racked in the okey-doke position). Billy got the breaks, with the stipulation he couldn't go for his hole. Then they played from there, with Billy getting 2 balls to 1, at a dime per game. After a few hours it seemed like Billy had the edge. At one point he was up 8 games. But later he got tired, and ended up sliding to even. Shane said he'd play it again, but last night Billy said Shane demurred.
The same prop game was played by Chris Gentile and Harry Platis, I think for the same stakes. They played for quite awhile. At one point, Chris was up 2 games, the Harry wanted to change. They played regular one hole (10-6?) all night, with Chris coming out ahead.
There's been some 10K action. Hennessee beat Mike Bennett at that figure in the action room-- probabaly 9-ball. Cardone will play 1P with Chris Bartrum on Tuesday for 10 dimes. I don't know if the spot has been settled.
As far as the tournament, I haven't been paying attention to the standings. With this buy-back format, and no leader board, it's difficult to follow. You probably have the lists up online. Brumback is still in undefeated of course. Also Pinnegar, Frost, and the usual suspects. The big news is that The Beard made it through 6 rounds, beating some tough customers along the way-- Tony Fargo for one. He was knocked out last night. I watched the last few games. It was a close finish. I never got the guy's name, but he was a strong banker, especially on straight-backs. He did tell Freddy that he learned several of the banks he made by reading Beard's book.
So that probably made Fred both glad and sad...
The one-pocket got underway yesterday with approx. 160 players (about the same number of contestants as in the banks). I drew Warren Kiamco, so I knew it was going to be uphill. I won the lag, and should have won the first game, but I flubbed mid way through a relatively simple run, and he got out, 8-6. The next 2 games were about the same. A couple of misses with someone like Kiamco is usually not going to provide a good outcome... In retrospect, I played a little too loose. I needed Artie in my corner.
1p.o is well represented. I met Larry (lll), Vapros (Bill S.), and a couple of others. DeeMan, Bille, Pelican, and Lou Figueroa are all here, along with a ton of friends of mine from Biloxi, New Orleans, and Mobile.
Internet in the room is $12/day, so I was going to wait until there was more time to be online. But I just happened to pass the "business center" this A.M. It's "only" $3/hour, so I figured what the hell! I'll try to post back if anything real interesting comes up. I leave Wednesday morning. Oh, next year, Mark Griffith told me that the Mississippi event will be in May, and the Rivera will be in August. I hope they also flip the pool venues here next year!
Doc
I arrived Friday night and started b.s-ing with Cardone. He was barking at Shane Van Boening. They eventually matched up at a game which quickly became the game du jour: two ball one pocket (racked in the okey-doke position). Billy got the breaks, with the stipulation he couldn't go for his hole. Then they played from there, with Billy getting 2 balls to 1, at a dime per game. After a few hours it seemed like Billy had the edge. At one point he was up 8 games. But later he got tired, and ended up sliding to even. Shane said he'd play it again, but last night Billy said Shane demurred.
The same prop game was played by Chris Gentile and Harry Platis, I think for the same stakes. They played for quite awhile. At one point, Chris was up 2 games, the Harry wanted to change. They played regular one hole (10-6?) all night, with Chris coming out ahead.
There's been some 10K action. Hennessee beat Mike Bennett at that figure in the action room-- probabaly 9-ball. Cardone will play 1P with Chris Bartrum on Tuesday for 10 dimes. I don't know if the spot has been settled.
As far as the tournament, I haven't been paying attention to the standings. With this buy-back format, and no leader board, it's difficult to follow. You probably have the lists up online. Brumback is still in undefeated of course. Also Pinnegar, Frost, and the usual suspects. The big news is that The Beard made it through 6 rounds, beating some tough customers along the way-- Tony Fargo for one. He was knocked out last night. I watched the last few games. It was a close finish. I never got the guy's name, but he was a strong banker, especially on straight-backs. He did tell Freddy that he learned several of the banks he made by reading Beard's book.
So that probably made Fred both glad and sad...The one-pocket got underway yesterday with approx. 160 players (about the same number of contestants as in the banks). I drew Warren Kiamco, so I knew it was going to be uphill.
I won the lag, and should have won the first game, but I flubbed mid way through a relatively simple run, and he got out, 8-6. The next 2 games were about the same. A couple of misses with someone like Kiamco is usually not going to provide a good outcome... In retrospect, I played a little too loose. I needed Artie in my corner.1p.o is well represented. I met Larry (lll), Vapros (Bill S.), and a couple of others. DeeMan, Bille, Pelican, and Lou Figueroa are all here, along with a ton of friends of mine from Biloxi, New Orleans, and Mobile.
Internet in the room is $12/day, so I was going to wait until there was more time to be online. But I just happened to pass the "business center" this A.M. It's "only" $3/hour, so I figured what the hell! I'll try to post back if anything real interesting comes up. I leave Wednesday morning. Oh, next year, Mark Griffith told me that the Mississippi event will be in May, and the Rivera will be in August. I hope they also flip the pool venues here next year!
Doc
