Dcc 2021

lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am lighting a votive candle today and sending up a prayer that Greg Sullivan does not read the negative posts in this thread. Perhaps the right-mnded "LFigueroa" will want to join me in that devotion. Let us hope that what is true in politics is not true for billiards: the vocal fifteen percent punches way over its weight.

As for convention centers, I believe I remember a pool tournament at a convention center at which an official of the state police had to get up in front of the crowd around the TV table and make a plea that the spectators, for their personal safety, not go outside to return to their hotel rooms but stay in the corridor that connected the tournament room directly to the hotel. Anyone else remember that?

No one had a good thing ever to say about the Riviera, and what they got was the Rio.

I don't remember anyone gushing at the time about the EW (= Executive West). In fact, I remember bitter complaints about the Seventies décor and the food --which, of course, was actually very, very good.

As for the poor vendors, I tried to by a used shaft for a cue at the DCC this year. I won't say you could have gotten splinters from the thing, but it needed work. It had a noticeable ding. I asked the vendor what he wanted for it. He quoted me a price six percent below it's full retail price. I could have walked thirty feet down the corridor and ordered the thing brand new. As my great uncle would have said, "Why pay retail when you can pay more?"

Two hotel breakfasts for thirty-one dollars? I think the breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express in New Albany is free.

Now, do you think they will have matches at the church, or should I take my lighter?



Do you su


You are right about the EW.

In hindsight (and through the hazy fog of memory) it comes off as the greatest thing since the Jansco tournaments. Part of that may be that there were many players of that era still alive and putting in an appearances.

One thing I will give the EW was the number of vendors. There were waaaay more cues and pool gimcracks for sale. There were even peanut and cashew vendors and even a guy doing and selling magic tricks. Walking down the corridor it was very much a bazaar-like scenario. As to the food, I personally don't recall it being all that great at the EW and I got sick from eating there one year.

I think we should all be grateful for what we have now and enjoy it while we can.

Lou Figueroa
 

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lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Off topic but the venue conversation made me recall:

Did that tournament ever happen in something to do with a baseball stadium? I believe it was in St Luis and maybe Mark Wilson was involved. Time frame was probably about 5 years ago. Or was it cancelled?


One year about that time frame MW held a fund raising event for the MC team he was coaching, with team members playing each other.

I believe there was also suppose to be some sort of pool tournament event at Ball Park Village but it never came off.

Lou Figueroa
 

Scratch85

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Every year, following DCC, there is a thread with all the complaints. It reminds me of a quote attributed to Yogi Berra, when asked about going to an upscale popular restaurant, and he replied with: Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.


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StraightPoolIU

Brent
Silver Member
Yeah the nostalgia for the Executive West is way oversold. The vendors were plentiful like Lou mentioned, but man if you actually wanted to watch pool it kinda sucked. The man tournament room was really big, but that meant there might be a match you wanted to see across the way out in the middle and there was no good way to get close to see what was going on. At the Horseshoe (now Ceasars) you can move around easily to see anything you want or check out all the action from the balcony. Also, the food at the EW was pretty bad. Way worse than anything at the casino imo. Also parking was horrendous. If you had a spot you couldn't leave to get food somewhere because you may not have a spot when you got back.

One more positive about the casino this year. Free soft drinks and coffee right outside the tournament room. In the past you had to walk all the way down to the boat to get a soda. And the free coffee was pretty damn good I thought.
 

Tobermory

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
StraightPoolIU is right on two counts. 1. The free coffee this year WAS surprisingly good. 2. As the DCC at the EW (I love this caps thing!) got larger, it became much less spectator friendly. Matches at CSI (= Caesars Southern Indiana) are much, much more accessible.
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
StraightPoolIU is right on two counts. 1. The free coffee this year WAS surprisingly good. 2. As the DCC at the EW (I love this caps thing!) got larger, it became much less spectator friendly. Matches at CSI (= Caesars Southern Indiana) are much, much more accessible.
I think Horseshoe Indiana Venue will be less confusing.:wink:
 

xianmacx

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have only missed 3 DCC and typically go for 8 days, Friday to Saturday. I go almost solely for the action matches and pool gambling. This year the action was drastically down, especially from last year. Matches with top pros was almost non-existent. Last year, many many matches with top pros. This year, I recall 2, Alex vs JRB and Dennis vs Tommy Medina. Even these 2 matches were against poker players.

I ended up leaving a day early this year due to the low action. Don't get me wrong, there were a few very high dollar matches, but they typically included one or both side poker players.

The only explanation I have for the drop in action is the casino move. Previously players had to walk @1/2 mile to get to a slot machine, this year the slots were right outside the tourney doors. It made it very convenient to get a fix if the pool matches weren't happening.

If this is the new norm, I will only to the derby for a few days. IMO, the action is the reason the derby is special.

On a positive note, there were many food options, including one restaurant 24x7. These places had good food and decent prices. Also, pop and coffee were free all week.
 

Badbeat13

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I spent 6 days at this year's DCC. Obviously, there were a lot of changes at the venue. Overall feedback I heard was not positive at all. I'm not certain what all Greg and Diamond can do about the venue at this point, but would be interested on some ideas to keep people coming back.

Please keep this thread 100% positive in nature... everyone that has been to the DCC knows the challenges with the current venue, not looking to rehash that or hear how much everyone loved the EW... that is all water under the bridge.

Glad I got to see you, but sorry we didn't get to hang out.
I may be in the minority, but I loved the event and changes
to the venue this year. Many times I went straight to the
bar at the casino when I left the room. As far as the food, I
thought it was pretty good. Particularly the chili, probably
the best deal in the entire place imo, $4.50 per bowl if you
had your player badge and it was delicious.

In short, the bar and casino were far more convenient than
years past. Chug a few and then head right up to the action
room. Leave the action room and be at the bar in one minute,
rinse and repeat. Honestly, I lost my share of Kroners, but
still had a fun and amazing time. No doubt improvements can
be made, but I'd like to see the DCC stay right where it's at.
Just my 2 cents, my friend.
 
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