SJM at the 2020 Derby City Classic

[sjm]

Great trip report. So DO got Master of the Table over Thorpe. I was trying to find this info somewhere. Thanks for that.

Sounds like you had a glorious time. Pool heaven!

Hope everyone understands just how close this race was. Thorpe was eliminated from the nine ball on Friday night, so Dennis Orcullo's mission was clear. He need to come tied third or better in the nine ball, but he entered Saturday with a loss., so it wasn't going to be easy. He reached the last four and drew undefeated Filler. Aranas, carrying a loss, drew undefeated Corteza. Dennis had two ways to get the Master of the Table: 1) beat Filler, or 2) a Van Corteza win over Aranas. A loss by Dennis and an Aranas win would have given Thorpe the Master of the Table as Dennis would have finished fourth in that scenario. Dennis lost to Filler, but Corteza's win over Aranas decided the all-around.

 

[sjm]

The amazing thing about this post is that you got home in your apt in NY within 4 hrs and 10 minutes of the finish?!?

Actually, I posted this before I left for home.

 

[sjm]

Warning to all. I’m going to go on a bit of a Filler Bro-phile here. Joshua at times looked like the best player of any of the disciplines, and I think he has the skills to win all three tournaments.

Banks: I was stunned to see how well he played. His dismissal of Bustamante was shocking. He looks like a “technical banker” instead of a feel banker. Whatever the case, his banks game looks a mile better than last year.

One Pocket: his game is very reminiscent of the professional 9-ball players who had just started to play One Pocket 20 years ago... a little raw in the moves, but his firepower from anywhere is downright scar. If he continues to spar with his Roy’s Basement pals, be afraid.

9-ball: with today’s fast cloth and template rack, Joshua is an odds on favorite to win any event, even with 9-ball on the spot and the 3-pt rule. His 0.984 against Shane might have been the most dominating performance I’ve seen at the Derby. I believe that Shane had 4 strokes the entire match. Yet he actually won 2 games on a kick-and-fluked 9-ball and an ensuing 9OTB. Those accounted for two of his four strokes. He dogged his first look, down 5-0, and he broke dry after his 9-snap. That’s it.

This Filler is uncanny.

Filler seems to have embraced the fringe games, and that is helping him to develop in these disciplines. Still, one must wonder how often he'll get to play bank pool or one pocket other than at the Derby.

 

[sjm]

Good stuff here, thanks! You forgot one thing though. He got a dose of Lee Van magic that even he couldn't overcome. I was late to the party in the Action room or I would have emptied out on Lee, especially getting games on the wire. I did manage one healthy side bet on FB getting two games to eleven in the 9-Ball finals. I've been following this guy forever and he plays his best pool against the best players. Over and over again I've seen him slay dragons.

Just want to give a little shout out to Lee Van, who is often overlooked for the great player he is. He's been Top Tier in the Philippines even longer than Dennis! I've seen the Taiwan champions turn down games with him and ask for Django or Alcano instead.

On reflection, I think the Filipinos were a very big part of the story at the Derby. Orcullo, of course, won the bank pool. Still, just as impressive is that three of the last four in the Bigfoot were Filipino (Corteza, Bustamante and Pagulayan) and three of the last four in the nine ball were Filipino (Corteza, Aranas, and Orcullo). That's very impressive.

 

[sjm]

Stu;

It was actually fun for me watching on stream as you took your usual spot by the clock and brought in various guests to chat with and enjoy the play. Billy and you looked to be having a lot of laughs.

Thank you again for your report and keen insight on this year's dcc.

I was especially happy for Lee Van who showed an awful lot of heart and skill. He's def one of those quiet ones with a BIG stick!

I also enjoyed seeing Billy Thorpe and Sky as the last 2 standing in the banks ring game. They were obviously having a blast out there.

Did you happen to see any odd rolls from the Cyclop diamonds & dots cue balls? Some guys were indicating there were some...

Thanks!

brian kc

I did overhear a few negative comments about the cyclop balls but am not willing to share who made these comments. I am not sufficiently observant to comment on how these balls played.

 

[sjm]

Seems the internet detectives have jumped to a false conclusion. The young lady with whom I sweated several matches is a friend but not a girlfriend. I've not had a girlfriend for about two years, and I've never had one that was a pool enthusiast.

Sorry to disappoint.

 

[markpatrick]

Louie Roberts Action Award

There were some new names who made their presence known. Two in particular were Jesus Atencio, who tied for sixth in one pocket and Can Salim, who tied for fifth in the nine ball. Salim, in particular, looks like he can be a major force in the game.

Did anyone get the Action Award?

Thanks

 

[sjm]

Did anyone get the Action Award?

Thanks

The award no longer exists. I believe it was last awarded in 2018.

 

[sjm]

One thing I left out is a big negative at this year's Derby. More days than not, the Derby website was not updating the completed matches, at one point falling more than a day behind and this made it impossible, at times, for me to follow the event to the extent I had wished and had done in the past.

This was not the first year that this problem was encountered, and I think it's embarrassing that they haven't worked this problem out yet. This constitutes a reduced level of service to attendees as well as those who follow the event from home and needs to be addressed.

 

[Fatboy]

Great report.


Sadly I missed the derby.

See ya next year
Fatboy

 

[Tin Man]

Stu, thank you for the time you shared with me at DCC. It was nice to get to know you and a treat to sweat the Bigfoot match with you. We have more similarities than differences in our views on pool, in addition to sharing a bubbling enthusiasm for the game. You can bet I'll be taking my warm up more seriously and make a priority to dial in the speed of the tables and win as many lags as I can from this day forward. Can't wait until next time!

 

[jasonlaus]

There were some new names who made their presence known. Two in particular were Jesus Atencio, who tied for sixth in one pocket and Can Salim, who tied for fifth in the nine ball. Salim, in particular, looks like he can be a major force in the game.

Salim was there a few years ago in action, I believe I made a little $$$ betting on him, cannot remember who he played, but I believe it might have been 10 ball in the action room.

Somebody else will probably remember.

Jason

 

[Tin Man]

Can Salim

Salim was there a few years ago in action, I believe I made a little $$$ betting on him, cannot remember who he played, but I believe it might have been 10 ball in the action room.

Somebody else will probably remember.

Jason

He played Danny Smith and made a hero out on the hill-hill. Not sure if they played one set or more than one but it was vs. Smith.

 

[jasonlaus]

He played Danny Smith and made a hero out on the hill-hill. Not sure if they played one set or more than one but it was vs. Smith.

Yep, just rewatched the last rack. Took some huge balls to shoot that 7 like that.

Think they played 2 sets and Can won the first by 11 games, the 2nd 30 - 28.

2017

 

[sjm]

Stu, thank you for the time you shared with me at DCC. It was nice to get to know you and a treat to sweat the Bigfoot match with you. We have more similarities than differences in our views on pool, in addition to sharing a bubbling enthusiasm for the game. You can bet I'll be taking my warm up more seriously and make a priority to dial in the speed of the tables and win as many lags as I can from this day forward. Can't wait until next time!

Yup, it was a pleasure. If you'll be at the US Open 9-ball in April, I'll see you then.

 

[Cornerman]

Did anyone get the Action Award?

Thanks

Unfortunately, we haven’t done the action award for several years now. After we did the Grantland Online Magazine article (ESPN affiliate), which showcased the action and the Action Award, the casino put an end to it.

Freddie <~~~ former committee head

 

[Cornerman]

There were some new names who made their presence known. Two in particular were Jesus Atencio, who tied for sixth in one pocket and Can Salim, who tied for fifth in the nine ball. Salim, in particular, looks like he can be a major force in the game.

For those that don’t know, Can is pronounced something close to Chahn (ah is in father in Standard American English) , almost but not quite like John.

 

[pt109]

Unfortunately, we haven’t done the action award for several years now. After we did the Grantland Online Magazine article (ESPN affiliate), which showcased the action and the Action Award, the casino put an end to it.

Freddie <~~~ former committee head

Freddie, you’re just the guy to do it.
How about every year....”THE MAN WHO WOULD’VE WON THE ACTION AWARD IF
THERE WAS ONE”

 

[Cornerman]

Freddie, you’re just the guy to do it.
How about every year....”THE MAN WHO WOULD’VE WON THE ACTION AWARD IF
THERE WAS ONE”

Lol! Probably JRB. Entertaining action was pretty sparse this year.

 

[rburgoyne]

There were some new names who made their presence known. Two in particular were Jesus Atencio, who tied for sixth in one pocket and Can Salim, who tied for fifth in the nine ball. Salim, in particular, looks like he can be a major force in the game.

I got to watch a couple of Can's matches when he took down a couple big dogs. I was also fortunate enough to play him a set and have a few drinks with him late Saturday night. Very nice and humble guy with some great talent. So nice he let me use his cues when we played.