gulfportdoc
Verified Member
Just returned home last night from the DCC at the Horseshoe. It was a relief to get out of the snow and ice!
As one would expect there were top pool players hanging from the rafters. There were always excellent tournament banks and 1P matches to watch. Especially thrilling were John Brumback's bank pool matches. He ended up winning the tournament over a very tough field of about 400 players.
The action room seemed to stay pretty busy as well. I watched a little of Sparky Ferrell and Ricky Byrd play 1P at half a bag per game. Lil D and Tater seemed to live in the action room, playing many races. And of course SVB beat Efren 23-19 ten ball for 20 bags.
The action room was adequate for 5 tables, but there was very little room to watch the contests. People always seemed to have to stand out in the hallways, peering in at the action through 3 doorways.
Likewise the AZ/onepocket.org room was very small. There again, two tables could accommodate the players, but there was only room for a handful of spectators to wedge in around one corner.
Bob Jewett's 14.1 room was small, with usually only one of the two tables being used. I was flabbergasted how Bob could sit there all day, every day, keeping score for the guys trying to get the highest run. I don't know if he ever saw any of the other events! When I left, John Schmidt's run of 154 was leading the pack, with a run of 153 by Corey Duell a paper thin second place. Someone said the 153 was Corey's personal best. I watched quite a bit of Bobby Hunter's run of 80, ending with a miss on a very simple shot. Bobby is still a threat!
IMO the table layout was very awkward. It took me two days to figure out where the 40 numbered tournament tables were located. On the main floor the tables were too close together. I'd guess 5 feet from table to table. It was like in a small poolroom where you always have to step away, or wait for another guy to make his shot on the next table.
My biggest gripe about the whole affair concerned the distance between the hotel and the event center. I'll guess that it was 300-400 yards to walk. It reminded me of landing at an airport in one terminal, then having to walk clear over to another terminal for the next flight-- several times a day. It got to where you had to plan when you wanted to make the trek back to your room, because it wasn't likely you'd want to do it more than once or twice a day! There were moving walkways on two legs of the covered hallway, but the distance still made it a major drawback.
The rooms were very nice. A couple guys complained to me about paper thin walls, and that the noise didn't allow them to sleep soundly. I must have gotten a lucky floor. My room was very quiet.
I suppose the food prices were in line with an isolated casino/hotel. However, buying any food or drink from the bars or deli's they had set up around the pool areas was very expensive. I bought a 10 oz. bottle of Starbuck's coffee drink-- it cost $6.75! On another day I bought a small coffee and a cookie- $7.00. At that point I decided to bring my own soft drinks, or buy a coffee "to go" at one of the restaurants.
Unfortunately the hotel layout, plus the possibility of bad weather interfering with travel will undoubtedly preclude me from attending another event there. It's always wonderful to play with, and watch all the great players, but in my case the minuses outweighed the pluses. Hopefully they'll be able to find a more suitable location. I'd suggest the southern U.S.
Doc
As one would expect there were top pool players hanging from the rafters. There were always excellent tournament banks and 1P matches to watch. Especially thrilling were John Brumback's bank pool matches. He ended up winning the tournament over a very tough field of about 400 players.
The action room seemed to stay pretty busy as well. I watched a little of Sparky Ferrell and Ricky Byrd play 1P at half a bag per game. Lil D and Tater seemed to live in the action room, playing many races. And of course SVB beat Efren 23-19 ten ball for 20 bags.
The action room was adequate for 5 tables, but there was very little room to watch the contests. People always seemed to have to stand out in the hallways, peering in at the action through 3 doorways.
Likewise the AZ/onepocket.org room was very small. There again, two tables could accommodate the players, but there was only room for a handful of spectators to wedge in around one corner.
Bob Jewett's 14.1 room was small, with usually only one of the two tables being used. I was flabbergasted how Bob could sit there all day, every day, keeping score for the guys trying to get the highest run. I don't know if he ever saw any of the other events! When I left, John Schmidt's run of 154 was leading the pack, with a run of 153 by Corey Duell a paper thin second place. Someone said the 153 was Corey's personal best. I watched quite a bit of Bobby Hunter's run of 80, ending with a miss on a very simple shot. Bobby is still a threat!
IMO the table layout was very awkward. It took me two days to figure out where the 40 numbered tournament tables were located. On the main floor the tables were too close together. I'd guess 5 feet from table to table. It was like in a small poolroom where you always have to step away, or wait for another guy to make his shot on the next table.
My biggest gripe about the whole affair concerned the distance between the hotel and the event center. I'll guess that it was 300-400 yards to walk. It reminded me of landing at an airport in one terminal, then having to walk clear over to another terminal for the next flight-- several times a day. It got to where you had to plan when you wanted to make the trek back to your room, because it wasn't likely you'd want to do it more than once or twice a day! There were moving walkways on two legs of the covered hallway, but the distance still made it a major drawback.
The rooms were very nice. A couple guys complained to me about paper thin walls, and that the noise didn't allow them to sleep soundly. I must have gotten a lucky floor. My room was very quiet.
I suppose the food prices were in line with an isolated casino/hotel. However, buying any food or drink from the bars or deli's they had set up around the pool areas was very expensive. I bought a 10 oz. bottle of Starbuck's coffee drink-- it cost $6.75! On another day I bought a small coffee and a cookie- $7.00. At that point I decided to bring my own soft drinks, or buy a coffee "to go" at one of the restaurants.
Unfortunately the hotel layout, plus the possibility of bad weather interfering with travel will undoubtedly preclude me from attending another event there. It's always wonderful to play with, and watch all the great players, but in my case the minuses outweighed the pluses. Hopefully they'll be able to find a more suitable location. I'd suggest the southern U.S.
Doc