Re: Bob's DCC TR

On Jan 13 2008 10:47 PM, Bob Keller wrote:

All right, this is one long-ass post, but here we go -

Arrived Louisville Friday 1:00 a.m. and shared the airport shuttle with
Jude, a cueseller from Arizona, I believe - real nice guy. Couldn't sleep
for a couple hours so I toured the place instead. The Executive West is a
fine venue, completely taken over by pool players for the tourney. The
action room is actually the back half of the bar/nightclub area with all of
the furniture removed. There were two tables near the entry which were also
visible through two very large windows from the hallway. Three more tables
with a 7' Diamond in the main area, with the Action Report booth on one side
and a raised seating area for spectators. Then three alcoves off the main
area with four more tables.

The action room was full of players and spectators 24 hours a day for the
entire event. I agree with Lou that the intimate nature of the room along
with lowish-ceilings and the dark wood work throughout really contributes to
the atmosphere and keeps the room interesting to players and spectators
alike. Late night and early morning hours did get very, very crowded but
this really contributes to the exciting atmosphere. If the event is moved
to a large convention hall it may lose something so I hope the DCC folks
keep that in mind. It really got very crazy on more than one occasion.

One night a couple dudes were just warming up and chatting with folks on a
table in the main area and so gradually people began to crowd around that
table to get closer the action on the TAR table - I think it was SVB and
Cliff Joyner playing that night. So there are literally people crowded
three rows deep around the front table that started to block the view from
the seating area! Finally the guys on the front table are ready to play,
they post a huge stack of Franklins on the light and then spend a couple
minutes pleading with spectators to back up. But during their match there
were still spectators crowded around 2-1/2 sides of the table and within 5
feet of the table! This kind of thing went on constantly during late night
and early morning hours. Quite a spectacle! I can't imagine gambling with
my dough with that kind of circus going on all around, but it didn't seem to
slow any of them down.

Next to the restaurant up front is the straight pool and one pocket ghost
challenge room with two tables. These tables seemed to be setup the same as
the tournament tables, but we suspect that the low ceiling and large light
close to the table dried out the cloth and make the pockets effectively
very, very tight. Everyone was commenting on how difficult those two tables
were. After neither of my two buddies managed to run over 28 I decided to
keep my 50 bucks in my pocket and just spectate the ghost action. Next year
I will play - no excuses. Anyway John Schmidt is an excuse machine and
crybaby - he must have bought five or more chances at the straight pool
challenge and never managed a run over 77. Niel Fiejen and Thorsten Hohmann
both ran around 130 - 140 balls. I learned a lot from just watching
Thorsten's patterns, how he nudged balls open, created break balls and his
patterns to get on the break ball. Also very inspiring was all of the above
mentioned players' ability to really pound the break shot on those tight
pockets. Thorsten especially would smash the break ball and draw the cue
ball up to the head rail off the stack and back down table.

So there's a long hallway with vendors along the entire length down to the
tournament room. Accustats arena on one end, 16 tables in the main area and
another 5 or 6 in a chapel alcove off the main area. Past the end of the
corridor and upstairs to two more rooms with another 16 or so tables. Both
of the tournament areas had very high ceiling, with lights suspended a good
distance above the table - an excellent tournament setup, IMO. Spectating
upstairs was tough as there were only a few more chairs than needed by the
players. And downstairs was very narrow seating access along the sides and
standing room only along the main aisle. Not the best, but given the venue
I think the DCC folks do an excellent job with what they have. And again,
somehow the intimate feel of everything just seems to add to the excitement.

I can't remember all of the matches I sweated, but I do remember that I was
not able to remain seated for one entire match. I just felt ansy and
irritable all week, I don't know why, maybe because I'm not a fan of huge
crowds and closed in spaces. Also, I think because there is always some
other fantastic matchup to spectate at any time. Anyway, I played the banks
tourney and went two and out. I feel that I played very well, got ahead of
both opponents 2-1 in a race to 3 but couldn't close the door.
AAaaarrrggghhhh! I saw a lot of very inspiring bank play, and made some
quite impressive shots myself, if I may say so. Like this double bank:
http://tinyurl.com/349o7k
I like the game a lot and look forward to playing again next year and doing
better.

So on to one-pocket. I think I played some fantastic one-pocket also, but
only managed one win. Here's the story - my first match I draw Mark Tadd on
table 9 (loss), my second match I draw a guy from Denver that I play every
week (win), my third match I draw Mark Tadd on table 9 (loss). No, that
wasn't a typo, I drew Mark Tadd twice and on the same table to boot. This
kind of thing happens with some regularity I've heard. Ralf Soquet drew the
same player twice in 1-pocket, and then drew a different player twice in
9-ball. Anyway, I played fantastic against Mark - both matches went
hill-hill and came down to the last few balls in the final game. Our first
match I made a couple mistakes that I probably could have avoided. One of
them really cost me the first game, so I feel I could have won the match
with a little tighter play. The second match I don't think I made any
mistakes until the final game. Mark needed about 7 balls and I needed four
when he sold out a combination with tricky position, here's close to how the
4 balls I needed were arranged:
http://tinyurl.com/3a9jpy
I don't think I can make the combo and draw the CB above the 14, so I'm
trying to float the CB between the 14 and 7. I know that this is for the
match and it really looks easy when I get down on the shot, but the CB nicks
the 14 and freezes against the 7, leaving me an impossible back-cut on the
3. I believe my exact words at that moment were, "You have GOT to be
fucking kidding me.". Anyway, I make Mark's 9-ball and leave the CB way up
table on the side rail behind the 13 and 11. So begins the end game where I
need three and Mark needs seven. To make a long story short I scratch three
times in the end game, but even so I claw my way back to where Mark needs
two and I need four. Mark makes a good bank, then goes for a long cut shot
that sells out a ball near my pocket and he misses his game ball! So I have
this:
http://tinyurl.com/32qvdo
I make the 2-ball, bank the 7-ball and end up about 14 inches from the
3-ball and with a dead-straight in bank. I've been making these banks
pretty consistently and once again feel that I have the match in hand.
However, even as tall as I am I need the bridge to bank the 3. The bridge
is making some god-awful squeaking sounds on my shaft so I pause, switch my
cue to another groove in the bridge, but that side squeaks just as much as
the first! For a moment I consider getting my own batman bridge out of my
case but don't want to interrupt the flow of my shotmaking and proceed with
the squeaky bridge. Well, with all of the squeaking going on I forget to
check my cue tip placement and it must have been too far from the CB because
I way understroke the bank. The 3-ball is heading straight for my pocket
but only makes it about 8 inches past the side pocket. And then, naturally,
Mark makes the long 3-ball cross bank into his
hole..............................Dang it!!

Well, as I said, I feel real good about my play regardless - Mark Tadd after
all is a top 1-pocket player. Concerning the DCC draw system: I don't mind
the way my draw went, but considering their system and the hundreds of
players I really think it would be a worthwhile improvement if they added to
the system as follows. First of all, they should program the computer so
that no player draws someone from their own home town for the first two
rounds only. After that, it should be anything goes, but it's just a
little strange for example, for me to have travelled 1,500 miles to play
someone that I play every week. I don't know how easily that could be
programmed, if at all, but it would be an improvement if the couple hundred
short-stops coming to the event could be assured of playing someone they
don't know. Secondly, I think it would be real easy to add some programming
so that the same two players do not draw each other within 2 rounds of first
playing. Again, you'd have to pick a point in the tourney where you COULD
draw the same person twice (like when there are 64 or 32 players left). I
wouldn't mind drawing Bustamante and then Efren, but how would you like to
travel to Louisville and end up playing Ralf Souquet - twice! I'd like to
stress that the tourney is fantastic as-is, and I'm not complaining about my
situation one iota. One has to expect and even hope to draw a top player at
the DCC, that's even the point. But it would be just a little bit better
with the above additions to the draw, IMO. Comments?

So anyway, my days during and after my match play were spent mostly sweating
matches, watching TV when that became too much, and learning how to play
poker from my roommate who is an avid online poker player. Oh BTW, my
roommate was Demitrius Jelatis, a top player from Minneapolis and he
actually did get to play a 9-ball match with Ralf Soquet. Demi gets ahead
of Ralf 4-1, plays great and loses 7-4! Yikes! Oh, and Mr. Lou and I
tossed back a brewski - very nice. Lou is a great guy and a strong player,
and seems to know everyone! I really can't imagine why it didn't occur to
me to ask him to play a few games. (Or maybe we did and we just aren't
telling.....?? ;-) ) I caught a couple snippets of his matches but
remember a 1-pocket game upstairs where his opponent sold out a shot and Lou
ran 7-and-out with most of the balls on his opponents side of the table.
Nice job, Lou!

A few of us ventured over to the local casino on Friday, a moored riverboat
about 20 minutes away. Played some $5 blackjack from an 8-deck shoe to
warm-up, then played a $25, 2-deck table until they wouldn't let me
double-down with a 9 vs. a 5. Turns out the rules downstairs are poor and
upstairs in the high stakes room are good. Silly me for not checking before
playing. So upstairs I go and only manage to break even while some
hillbilly at the table with a friendly southern drawl buys in for $2,000 and
loses. So he buys in for another $2k, bets a little higher and loses that.
Then he buys in for another $2k, bets even higher - needs to buy in again to
make a double-down. He must have lost at least $10k before I decide he's
bad luck and skeedaddle back downstairs. Before long we have to go so I
don't miss my flight, so on the way out the door I plop down $50 on black at
the roulette wheel. Black 8 - thank you very much for making me almost
even!

OK, I'm sure I'm leaving out something important but I know this is going to
one long damn post, so that's enough for now.
Bob Keller


Very Good read Bob , The posts are NEVER too long as they are filled with
great stuff as yours was ! I really am hating these good reads about this
years DCC because If Me and my van had not had an unfortunate meeting with
my mailbox at the bottom of the hill of my driveway during a slippery
snowstorm I would have made it to this one also ! I have went the last
couple of years and loved it , I just railbirded the events but enjoyed
going nevertheless .

I really hope the new venue has at least some of the flavor that the EW
had , It was cheesy enough to give an old school pool afficianado a sense
of being right at home But also classy enough to make one feel that it was
money well spent with the aura of rubbing elbows with greatness and will
be a hard thing to reproduce let alone capture once again .

I know how you feel about traveling all those miles just to play an
acquaintance ! It leaves you with the feeling of WTF ??? It has happened
to me and also my buddies more times than I care to think about ! I
could've stayed home and played (Insert acquaintance's name here ) and
saved a bundle of cash on gas and hotel ! I would think the odds of
improbability would be high but it happens so often that they can't be as
high as you'd think , I can't believe that there are other people out
there as unlucky as me also ! lol

I am glad you got to meet some of the other RSB'ers out there , I have yet
to actually meet a bad one in the bunch well except for maybe Hustlin'
Hank ! and he don't count lolol

Tom S.-

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