The DCC experience is very subjective, and can be very different, depending on who you are. This year I barely had time to watch much of the "action" taking place, mostly upstairs, as I seemed to be pre-occupied with various tasks every day. I did get to watch some of the best parts of the tournament, and the play was exceptional for the most part. One thing I noticed in the Ten Ball event is that players are beginning to run more racks. In past years, a three rack run was considered excellent, but this year I saw runs of four to six racks being made. That astonished me! Only thing I can surmise is that the players are getting better. 9-Ball must look like a far easier game to the top players now, with only a good break shot required to run out rack after rack. Of course that is easier said then done.
Personally I prefer the Horseshoe to the Executive West hotel. It is a newer, much cleaner venue, with much nicer facilities. Several choices of places to eat at varying prices, with good food to be had at all of them (thank God the pizza/sub joint has been closed). A good workout room (like I'd really go there
), a nice indoor heated swimming pool, more than one gift shop to pick up any little essentials you may need and a friendly staff always ready to help you. These are all pluses in my book.
The main drawbacks are the distance from the airport. The shuttle service provided by Diamond was great (Enzo, the driver, knows a lot about pool!), but we needed more than one van to shuttle players and fans. Two would have been good. The Horseshoe should also provide a van for people who will be visiting their facility. The walk from the hotel lobby to the tournament area is one quarter mile! Just enough to get some much needed exercise every day, but a little too much when you need to run to your room to get something. The hotel does provide one shuttle (a double seat golf cart) running back and forth, but trying to time your trips to coincide with the shuttle service is just not possible. Once again, two shuttles would be much better. The casino is another quarter mile further from the tournament area, but I never made it down there one time all nine days. There is really nothing for me there, except the poker room, and I can get all of that I want in L.A.
My overall experience was a good one, as I get to see many old friends (and make new ones), and watch some great pool being played, which I enjoyed. The two events I worked both went off well and were well received by everyone in attendance. Greg even suggested that we find a way to get the One Pocket Challenge in the TV arena, it has become that popular. The Fatboy tourney is also one of the most popular events at DCC, with long matches between excellent players.
I did get a chance to play some pool while there, limited though it was. I played a couple of games of $50 One Pocket and got lucky to win them :wink:. There is never a shortage of people to challenge me. I only wish I had time to play more of them. But my work there is always going to be my priority. I wanted to play my little match with Chris B. during the first two days I was there, but he was pre-occupied with bigger action at the time. At the very end of DCC we talked about playing on the last day, and I even pulled my cue out of mothballs (I hadn't hit a ball in a week), and came down early to hit some balls.
Like so many others, I had gotten a touch of the cold going around, and was not feeling so hot. I was taking large doses of Vitamin C and drinking copious amounts of hot tea to ward it off. I think the long days with little sleep had gotten to me and made me vulnerable. Thankfully I didn't see Chris that day, until late at night, as he was coming out of the Steakhouse. I walked over to him and told him that I would prefer we wait for another day to play, and he was totally cool with that. I really like this guy, he is an old school gentleman gambler! Not a loud mouth obnoxious hustler like I see too many of at DCC. Although they do seem to have toned it down a notch this year, maybe at the behest of Greg S. I don't really mind the hustler types who are attracted to DCC and the chance at big games. I've seen many like them in my years in pool. But they are just not guys I would gamble with at this stage of my life. I don't need the aggravation. All and all, DCC was once again a very good experience for me, with one exception that I will not discuss publicly on here.
