Grading my First Derby City Experience w/trip report (long)

corvette1340

corvette1340

www.EpawnMarket.com
Silver Member
Well, my long awaited maiden voyage into the world of Derby City lore is complete. I had a good time but it was a bit different than what I had pictured in my mind or thought was going to happen based on what I saw in the live stream or heard from others that had been there. My journey started out with me driving 3 hours at 4:30 in the morning to Knoxville to meet Ktown D and his dad. Both of which are great people along with several of their longtime friends that I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with.

I enjoyed putting faces to a lot of the names I've gotten to know on AZ and Tar over the last few years. Justin, Cleary, Beav, Disco, Nathan, 1on1pooltourneys, Jay, Fatboy, John Mars, Nathan, Cornerman and more that I'm sure I'm forgetting, are all cool as the other side of the pillow. Along with hanging and talking with a lot of new people, I got to hang out and talk with several of the longtime regulars that I've gotten to know previously like Shannon and Marge, Brian White, Corey, Steve Lomax and a lot of the gamblers that are always on the tourney trail.

I thought it would be good to do my experience write up in this "grading" format with details on why I gave each individual topic or category that certain grade. Maybe people can chime in with some grades of their own and stories about each topic.

1) The pool itself -
World class all the way. I got to see a lot of the finals and some great action matches. I enjoyed seeing all of the foreign world champions that you don't always get to see at most of the tourneys over here. I especially enjoyed watching Orcullo. I'd have to say that out of all the pool I watched though, probably some of the best shooting was done by Rodney Morris in the 10-ball, but maybe that's because I had him in the calcutta. I did come to realize that I can't just sit and watch pool all day so some of that time went to the casino/poker room and sleeping off hangovers.
Grade: A- (would have been A+, but I missed a lot of it)

2) The gambling -
This was the part that was the most different than what I had pictured in my mind. I think it had to do with the TAR Room being different this time than it was in years past. I only went in the main action room 1 time and never really got involved in the limited woofing I saw. I lost betting on Corey against Dippy and that was the only set I bet on other than a couple of the 10-ball matches and having Rodney in the calcutta. I did jump in the box one night myself in a set of one pocket. Race to 4 for $1000. I was drunk and lost the first 2 games but grinded back to hill-hill. In the last game I missed a very makeable shot on my out ball and then my opponent ran the last 4 to win. Needless to say, I was not happy.
In years past, I made a ton of bets on basically every set that was streamed and every big match in the tourneys online. It's so much easier to bet online.
I had fun the times I hung out in the TAR Room. Ktown and I played some scotch doubles against Justin and Nathan. I got to show my skills (lack thereof) to all the viewers. Then I had a great time commentating with Beav, Cornerman, John Hennigan, and Nick Shulman.
Grade: C+ (This grade probably should have been higher and might have been somewhat my fault for not getting into more action)

3) The Venue (Casino) - As far as casino's go, and I go to a lot of them, the Horseshoe sucks. A casino that doesn't comp drinks? WTF? I dropped over $6000 on the last night playing drunk blackjack and I got to eat at the buffet for free, lol. Although I guess technically that's the only thing I asked for. The poker room sucked as well. Although I won $800 the only time I sat, the game was full of locals that were playing together I'm sure and the biggest game they spread is a $2/$5 No Limit with $1000 max buy in. Lots of poor people in that area they said.
The rooms were ok, nothing special. Another biggie though is no room service. I ate like 5 times in 4 days because it required getting up and taking a shower to go downstairs and eat when I could have just ordered some room service and stayed in bed.
The tournament set up is pretty good as far as the main area and all of the different rooms with tables. I found that it was easy to sweat pretty much any match I wanted to even if the crowd was 3 deep. Although, I guess if I weren't a taller guy that wouldn't have been so easy. I doubt any of the pinoy champions would have an easy time, those guys are super short.
Grade: C- (I hope that god forsaken boat burns to the bottom of the river before next year)

4) The Food -
I personally thought the food was pretty damn good. That may be because like I said earlier, I only ate 5 times the entire time I was there. The two times I ate the buffet it was great. The prime rib was pretty good. The macaroni and cheese was excellent along with fried pork chops. Some kind of stuffed peppers there were good too. I generally don't even eat sweets but the peanut butter balls were off the chain. I wish I had asked for some of those to be comped for my ride home.
The food at Legends was good for the most part too. I had the steak quesadilla and a burger and they were really good. The pork nachos I got sucked though. I was under the impression it was like mexican pork on any other pork nachos and it was sweet BBQ'd pulled pork. WTF? horrible.
Grade: B+ (would have been an easy A if I hadn't gotten duped on those nachos)

5) The Pricing -
I think the Derby is WAY OVERPRICED. I got nickle and dimed to death. The passes each day are overpriced and the drinks are outrageous. I bet I spent over $700 on drinks for myself and others while at the derby. I brought a big bottle of crown but it was gone the first night. Next time I'm gonna bring a lot more to drink myself and not purchase so much downstairs. For what I lost in the casino and spent on drinks I could have bought 5 or 6 really nice cues.
Grade: D- (only thing that kept this from being an F is that the lady behind the counter cut me a deal on a pass one night because I was "cute")

6) The Party -
I did have a good time partying, but the scene could be a little better. As I said earlier it cost me a fortune and the return wasn't as good as it should have been. Legends is pretty cool on the weekends with the band and dance floor. I saw several groups of milfs but for the most part all of them were already with guys. For a good looking guy like myself it should be like shooting fish in a barrel at a pool tourney but I could count on one hand the number of good looking females that were there for the tourney and all of them were already with someone. That being said, average girls need love too and there was no shortage of them there.
Grade: B- (not sure how this could have been helped at all)

7) The AZ Room -
I debated on making this a topic at all, but I was really disappointed. I guess I met all of the people that I really wanted to at the Derby or that I interact with regularly, but I was looking forward to putting more faces with names. I went into the AZ room twice and stood there watching people shoot. I even walked to the back and looked at the big banner on the wall. Not one time did anyone in the room say a word to me. No "Hey, how are you?" or "I'm so and so, are you on AZ?". I didn't want to walk in there and say "Hey, I'm corvette", but maybe that is what you are supposed to do. It just seemed really out of sorts to me. Maybe even a bit like a high school clique.
Grade: C-

Overall I had a good time at the Derby, it was just different than I expected. I will say that I don't know how anyone could stay there for the entire Derby. Wednesday through Sunday was more than enough for my taste.
Overall Grade: C+ (It had a nice rhythm with funky beats, but I just couldn't dance to it)
 
Thanks for the detailed report vette. I for one am glad you were there, not here, as I actually made a profit betting online. Rodney did play pretty sporty didn't he.

You gamble too good to mix it with over drinking bud.
 
I'd like to point out something.....

If you're commenting on the buffet's macaroni and cheese, that's not a buffet I want to eat at.



This is supposed to be a step up from the "homestyle buffet."
 
wanted to add that I got to meet and hang out with/drink with John Brumback also, who is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.
 
It was nice to finally meet you too. I wish we could have hung out together a little more (and talked poker), but it seems like I was always busy with something. That's how DCC has become for me.
 
Thanks for the report Vet.

Just goes to show the pool world has a long way to go in order to entertain the common fan when it's hard to please the hardcore fan. JMO
 
Great report.

Still makes me want to go, even more now. (Many of the things that bothered you won't be as big an issue to me, heh heh. Not much of a gambler, primarily. Certainly not at the level you're at.)

Good to know about things like drinks and food and such. Being prepared and stocking one's room with the appropriate supplies would make it easier to have a good time.
 
corvette1340 said:
Well, my long awaited maiden voyage into the world of Derby City lore is complete. I had a good time but it was a bit different than what I had pictured in my mind or thought was going to happen based on what I saw in the live stream or heard from others that had been there. My journey started out with me driving 3 hours at 4:30 in the morning to Knoxville to meet Ktown D and his dad. Both of which are great people along with several of their longtime friends that I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with.

I enjoyed putting faces to a lot of the names I've gotten to know on AZ and Tar over the last few years. Justin, Cleary, Beav, Disco, Nathan, 1on1pooltourneys, Jay, Fatboy, John Mars, Nathan, Cornerman and more that I'm sure I'm forgetting, are all cool as the other side of the pillow. Along with hanging and talking with a lot of new people, I got to hang out and talk with several of the longtime regulars that I've gotten to know previously like Shannon and Marge, Brian White, Corey, Steve Lomax and a lot of the gamblers that are always on the tourney trail.

I thought it would be good to do my experience write up in this "grading" format with details on why I gave each individual topic or category that certain grade. Maybe people can chime in with some grades of their own and stories about each topic.

1) The pool itself -
World class all the way. I got to see a lot of the finals and some great action matches. I enjoyed seeing all of the foreign world champions that you don't always get to see at most of the tourneys over here. I especially enjoyed watching Orcullo. I'd have to say that out of all the pool I watched though, probably some of the best shooting was done by Rodney Morris in the 10-ball, but maybe that's because I had him in the calcutta. I did come to realize that I can't just sit and watch pool all day so some of that time went to the casino/poker room and sleeping off hangovers.
Grade: A- (would have been A+, but I missed a lot of it)

2) The gambling -
This was the part that was the most different than what I had pictured in my mind. I think it had to do with the TAR Room being different this time than it was in years past. I only went in the main action room 1 time and never really got involved in the limited woofing I saw. I lost betting on Corey against Dippy and that was the only set I bet on other than a couple of the 10-ball matches and having Rodney in the calcutta. I did jump in the box one night myself in a set of one pocket. Race to 4 for $1000. I was drunk and lost the first 2 games but grinded back to hill-hill. In the last game I missed a very makeable shot on my out ball and then my opponent ran the last 4 to win. Needless to say, I was not happy.
In years past, I made a ton of bets on basically every set that was streamed and every big match in the tourneys online. It's so much easier to bet online.
I had fun the times I hung out in the TAR Room. Ktown and I played some scotch doubles against Justin and Nathan. I got to show my skills (lack thereof) to all the viewers. Then I had a great time commentating with Beav, Cornerman, John Hennigan, and Nick Shulman.
Grade: C+ (This grade probably should have been higher and might have been somewhat my fault for not getting into more action)

3) The Venue (Casino) - As far as casino's go, and I go to a lot of them, the Horseshoe sucks. A casino that doesn't comp drinks? WTF? I dropped over $6000 on the last night playing drunk blackjack and I got to eat at the buffet for free, lol. Although I guess technically that's the only thing I asked for. The poker room sucked as well. Although I won $800 the only time I sat, the game was full of locals that were playing together I'm sure and the biggest game they spread is a $2/$5 No Limit with $1000 max buy in. Lots of poor people in that area they said.
The rooms were ok, nothing special. Another biggie though is no room service. I ate like 5 times in 4 days because it required getting up and taking a shower to go downstairs and eat when I could have just ordered some room service and stayed in bed.
The tournament set up is pretty good as far as the main area and all of the different rooms with tables. I found that it was easy to sweat pretty much any match I wanted to even if the crowd was 3 deep. Although, I guess if I weren't a taller guy that wouldn't have been so easy. I doubt any of the pinoy champions would have an easy time, those guys are super short.
Grade: C- (I hope that god forsaken boat burns to the bottom of the river before next year)

4) The Food -
I personally thought the food was pretty damn good. That may be because like I said earlier, I only ate 5 times the entire time I was there. The two times I ate the buffet it was great. The prime rib was pretty good. The macaroni and cheese was excellent along with fried pork chops. Some kind of stuffed peppers there were good too. I generally don't even eat sweets but the peanut butter balls were off the chain. I wish I had asked for some of those to be comped for my ride home.
The food at Legends was good for the most part too. I had the steak quesadilla and a burger and they were really good. The pork nachos I got sucked though. I was under the impression it was like mexican pork on any other pork nachos and it was sweet BBQ'd pulled pork. WTF? horrible.
Grade: B+ (would have been an easy A if I hadn't gotten duped on those nachos)

5) The Pricing -
I think the Derby is WAY OVERPRICED. I got nickle and dimed to death. The passes each day are overpriced and the drinks are outrageous. I bet I spent over $700 on drinks for myself and others while at the derby. I brought a big bottle of crown but it was gone the first night. Next time I'm gonna bring a lot more to drink myself and not purchase so much downstairs. For what I lost in the casino and spent on drinks I could have bought 5 or 6 really nice cues.
Grade: D- (only thing that kept this from being an F is that the lady behind the counter cut me a deal on a pass one night because I was "cute")

6) The Party -
I did have a good time partying, but the scene could be a little better. As I said earlier it cost me a fortune and the return wasn't as good as it should have been. Legends is pretty cool on the weekends with the band and dance floor. I saw several groups of milfs but for the most part all of them were already with guys. For a good looking guy like myself it should be like shooting fish in a barrel at a pool tourney but I could count on one hand the number of good looking females that were there for the tourney and all of them were already with someone. That being said, average girls need love too and there was no shortage of them there.
Grade: B- (not sure how this could have been helped at all)

7) The AZ Room -
I debated on making this a topic at all, but I was really disappointed. I guess I met all of the people that I really wanted to at the Derby or that I interact with regularly, but I was looking forward to putting more faces with names. I went into the AZ room twice and stood there watching people shoot. I even walked to the back and looked at the big banner on the wall. Not one time did anyone in the room say a word to me. No "Hey, how are you?" or "I'm so and so, are you on AZ?". I didn't want to walk in there and say "Hey, I'm corvette", but maybe that is what you are supposed to do. It just seemed really out of sorts to me. Maybe even a bit like a high school clique.
Grade: C-

Overall I had a good time at the Derby, it was just different than I expected. I will say that I don't know how anyone could stay there for the entire Derby. Wednesday through Sunday was more than enough for my taste.
Overall Grade: C+ (It had a nice rhythm with funky beats, but I just couldn't dance to it)
Click to expand...


Great report, corvette. I always enjoy reading other peoples takes on the DCC, because no two people have the same experience -- so it's cool to hear about other facets of the event and impressions. One thing I agreed strongly with is how a few days there goes a long way. You have to really be an iron man to stick it out the whole tournament.

Lou Figueroa
 
Nice post Vette...I agree if you are going to hit some balls in the AZ room mingle a little. It'd be nice to put some faces to the names on here. Hopefully one year I can make it out there to do that.
 
Nice report indeed!

I didn't make the trip this year but if I were the casino and I could verify your losses, I would contact Greg Sullivan and make sure I sent you free passes to all of next year's events. I might even drop a couple of coupons in there for a few well drinks to get you started. :grin:

The AZ Room is peculiar in some of the regards you mentioned but it for a reason. The reason that the people in the room seemed a littl distant is that many NON-AZ room people pass through there, who have not paid their dues and who will make friendly with the people who did pay their AZ Room fee, just to get a chance to play on the tables for free. If you are in the room and a stranger comes in and you get to being friendly with him or her, they are almost guaranteed to ask you to play. If you play with them, you are also practically guaranteed to catch the ire of those who paid their dues to belong to the AZ Room. At least that has been my experience. Those who are AZ members pick up their identification card and clip it one so that introductions can be more easily made. At least that's the way it has been in the past...

Hope you have a better time in the future. The DCC needs customers like you. :yeah:
 
I've been hesitant to attend the DCC at the new venue...and it looks like I will just wait for it's return to the Executive West. How long is that Horseshoe contract anyway?!?!
 
Yo Vette, I can't possibly believe you went in the AZ room and they didn't know who were. I mean sometimes it's hard to talk to someone that has reached Jesus status. They were all hoping you said hello, either that or they had the line that if no one talked to you that you would buy the whole room a drink! You avoided the trap.
 
Vette, I did see you playing in your scotch doubles match in the TAR room (was in the room). And though I wasn't completely sure it was YOU, I guessed it was. If you hadn't been so intent on winning the 5 dollar a man bet I woulda introduced myself, but you seemed pretty focused LOL. I left to sweat something else, and I'm not sure I saw you after that. Hindsight buddy....wish I would have said something now.

I met a few folks in the AZ room, but I know at least two said there were NEW, and I'd never seen a post from them. Seemed like the times I did shoot in there I was ultimately "racking" for an older gentleman named John (from NH??) that I can't recall his screenname, or getting beat up on by Cliff (Boradriver). Both of these two I enjoyed playing, but being dead tired most of the time...sitting and watching them run racks just got me more tired..lol.

Oh well, next time Vette....even if you seem to be grinding to get a fiver off of Beav or Justin. :grin:
 
'vette,

It was fun hearing you on the stream and trying to get some love over Nick & John, the "other" professional card players :rolleyes:.

Thanks for taking the time writing out the critique. I have been to the derby but not since they moved, sorry it wasn't up to your expectations. You would have loved the Executive West, except the food wouldn't be rated as high. But you made it home safely so that's a good thing.

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top