The Derby City Straight Pool Challenge is being renamed the George Fels Memorial Straight Pool Challenge in honor of George Fels who passed away on December 31, 2013. George brought the game to life whenever he wrote about it in his monthly Billiards Digest Column. He had seen all of the great ones play throughout the years and shared it with us in his own inimitable way. He was probably the first to give written instruction of the intricacies of straight pool in his many books. Many of you must remember his "Whenever Possibles" . Clear the rails, whenever possible. Open the pockets, whenever possible. In addition, he actively participated in the Straight Pool Leagues in Chicago. He played in the Red Shoes Leagues many years, and recently, when travel became difficult, he played in a new straight pool league on the North side of Chicago and graced the league with his presence, while taking home first place. He commentated on some of the live streams out of Red Shoes and even at the World Tournament a few years back and he was indefatigable. It is only fitting that we make at least some small gesture in recognition of his contribution to our sport.
This year's event takes place January 26, 2014 to February 1, 2014. The qualifiers take place Sunday through Wednesday.
For every $100 paid in, the player gets 12 chances. There is no limit to the number of times they can enter. They rack 14 balls and take the 15th ball in hand and cue ball in hand and see how many balls they can run . The three high runs for each of the first 4 days are paid $300, $200, and $100 respectively.
The players with the top eight runs of the four days then have a single elimination tournament. Inside Pool is doing a live stream of the event and in all probability, videos will be uploaded to youtube at the end.
We have had players like John Schmidt, Thorsten Hohmann, Ralph Eckert, Charlie Williams, Mika Immonen, Darren Appleton, Niels Feijen, Huijdi See, Danny Harriman and many others compete in the event and we have had many high runs in the 100s on tough Diamond tables.
We have been able to raise $7,750.00 in added money to this event. We should be able to generate a pretty good prize fund. Because we are back on the nine foot tables this year, I suspect the tables will not turn over quite as fast.
If anyone wants to make a donation to this event, money can be sent by check or money order to the following address with a notation Derby City Straight Pool:
Derby City Classic
4700 New Middle Rd.
Jeffersonville, IN 47130
or you can paypal to my account at gwtlaw@aol.com
We will be upstairs in the same larger room that we had last year, which will be even roomier with 9 foot tables. Stop by and say hi. If anyone wants to volunteer to help for a while as a scorekeeper, let me know.
This year's event takes place January 26, 2014 to February 1, 2014. The qualifiers take place Sunday through Wednesday.
For every $100 paid in, the player gets 12 chances. There is no limit to the number of times they can enter. They rack 14 balls and take the 15th ball in hand and cue ball in hand and see how many balls they can run . The three high runs for each of the first 4 days are paid $300, $200, and $100 respectively.
The players with the top eight runs of the four days then have a single elimination tournament. Inside Pool is doing a live stream of the event and in all probability, videos will be uploaded to youtube at the end.
We have had players like John Schmidt, Thorsten Hohmann, Ralph Eckert, Charlie Williams, Mika Immonen, Darren Appleton, Niels Feijen, Huijdi See, Danny Harriman and many others compete in the event and we have had many high runs in the 100s on tough Diamond tables.
We have been able to raise $7,750.00 in added money to this event. We should be able to generate a pretty good prize fund. Because we are back on the nine foot tables this year, I suspect the tables will not turn over quite as fast.
If anyone wants to make a donation to this event, money can be sent by check or money order to the following address with a notation Derby City Straight Pool:
Derby City Classic
4700 New Middle Rd.
Jeffersonville, IN 47130
or you can paypal to my account at gwtlaw@aol.com
We will be upstairs in the same larger room that we had last year, which will be even roomier with 9 foot tables. Stop by and say hi. If anyone wants to volunteer to help for a while as a scorekeeper, let me know.
