Improvements for 2010
Lot's of different opinions on this subject.
I personally enjoyed last year's DCC as much as any I have ever attended. The accommodations at the Horseshoe were MUCH better. For those crying about "the good ole days back at the Executive"... those days are gone. That place has been remodeled and it would never be the same even if the event moved back there. That place was a dump IMO.
The food choices were much better at the Horseshoe... no comparison to the EW. And as some have said... the Horseshoe is a much safer environment.
As far as action, I saw some great match-ups last year. Has everyone forgotten about Shane and Buste? I watched Kirkwood and Kentucky Jim play banks for hours and it was one of the most entertaining matches I have ever seen... it would not have mattered if they were playing for $2 or $20K... it was fun to watch.
There are certainly some issues that need to be addressed, the biggest being the space between the tournament tables IMO.
I played in the bank tournament, and it was difficult to find out when your next match was scheduled. I know they had some problems with the tournament software, so hopefully that will be fixed this year. I would also like to see the tournament schedule on closed circuit TV so you can access the information from your room.
I spoke with Justin from TAR this week and I know they are making some changes to the Action Room to attract higher profile match-ups.
Hopefully Greg, and/or others involved with the tournament, will make some posts outlining the changes that we can expect for this year's event.
I can't wait until January 22nd!
I think 2010 at the Horseshoe will be much better. Talking with the Diamond people I believe the table layout will be much improved both in space between those cramped tables upstairs and number of tables, which is always good for helping keep the tournament on schedule.
When I think about venue comparison, those jackhammers at 8:00am at the Executive Inn in 2007 remind me about how little regard that hotel seemed to have for its patrons. Also, the food could be included in that same argument (in my opinion).
This year we are assured by the hotel - and we will verify this long before the tournament starts - that the match schedules and event schedule will be shown on a dedicated channel in the hotel rooms. This same feed will be available on the internet for players in other hotels, and for those tracking the tournament's progress on the web.
As for the software problems that caused all the confusion last year there were two bugs that hurt us. The whole reason for the new software was/is to allow us to do each round's draw on a published timetable. No more waiting around between rounds for the draw only to find there is no draw tonite - or worse, the draw was a half hour ago and you missed your match! Not only did these two bugs prevent us from realizing this goal, but they led to confusion in when match assignments would be posted as you said. I can say with certainty those two bugs are fixed this time around. I cannot say we will never see another software problem because nobody can ever say that about any software, especially an application as large and complex as the Derby software which has experienced many upgrades these past two years. I can say it has been and is being tested vigorously for the past four months.
Perhaps the biggest change you will see this year is scheduled rounds. We've already posted a
round-by-round schedule for all three tournaments and your tournament staff will do their utmost to manage us to this schedule. This year you should know when you play next better than in any prior year. However, like in past years you will still see your queue position and have to estimate when your match will arrive at the table, and be there on time.
If we are successful in managing this year's tournaments to the published schedule, next year we will introduce scheduled matches. Every match in every tournament will have a published playing time immediately after the draw. There are over 3,000 matches in the Derby City Event and being able to schedule them all would in my opinion go a long way toward perfecting this unique tournament format. If you are interested in seeing how the scrolling match assignments will look please PM me and I'll get you a link into our software staging trials.
