The 10th Annual Derby City Classic

January 12, 20078

There was change in the air at the10th annual Derby City Classic as the mighty Efren Reyes failed to win the One Pocket division after five championships in five tries; and there were some relatively new faces -- including quite a few women -- that made very strong showings, and the talk is that next year the main tournament room might even move across the street.

After ten increasingly crowded years in the Executive West, it looks like next year the Main tournament tables might be moving across the street, to the Kentucky Fair Grounds convention center. According to Derby City promoter Greg Sullivan, the Fair Grounds would offer plenty of space for all the tournament tables they could possibly need.

Although he did grab a timely bye with just three players left in the field, Gabe had a plenty tough route through a very strong One Pocket field of 389 at this year’s Derby. He earned the One Pocket title fair and square, never even dipping into his buy-back option as he reeled off nine straight victories against the likes of Cliff Joyner, Scott Frost, and Efren Reyes. It was fitting that Gabe became the first player ever to knock Reyes out of the One Pocket division at Derby City. Alex Pagulayan was the player that handed Reyes his first loss, only to fall himself to Efren's good friend Francisco Bustamante a few rounds later.

Although he is a real good banker, Gabe talked about the possibility of skipping the Banks this year to focus on winning the One Pocket. It turned out he didn’t need to skip the Banks.

Larry Price Nabs His Second Banks Title

Veteran Larry Price took down his second Derby City Banks crown, topping the field of 456 players. beating a relative youngster, Silver Ochoa in the finals. Ochoa is a newcomer to the final rounds of Banks, but not a newcomer to the Derby, as he has finished 18th in both the Banks and One Pocket in 2007. Yet it was quite a visual contrast in the finals, with the up and coming 22 year old Texan Ochoa tangling with the big man from West Virginia, Larry Price, who had also captured the Derby City Banks crown back in 2002. Maybe Sylver was a little bit just glad to be in the finals this year as Larry methodically racked up the finals win.

Click here to view a gallery of tournament photos

Banking with the Beard

by Freddy Bentivegna

Freddy 'the Beard' Bentivegna has just published a unique new book on banking, entitled Banking with the Beard, Secrets of a Master Banker.  Chicago has for years been host to a culture of big action Bank Pool, home to legends such as 'Bugs' Rucker, Glenn 'Piggy Banks' Rogers, and of course, 'The Beard'.

Click here for our complete review