My final thoughts on the DCC and the new venue.

[JimmyRayK]

I know there has been a lot of complaints on this forum concerning the new venue for the DCC. Personally, overall, I really liked Harrah's.

Were there bugs to be worked out?? Absolutely. This is going to happen anytime there is a big change. Are they fixable?? Absolutely.

I know the prices were higher. Some comments have been made in terms of price gouging. I disagree. I think anytime you go to a casino that is this nice, food, beer, etc. is going to be expensive. Look how much all of this costs at any major sporting event. A hot dog and a beer at a major league baseball game will cost you $13-14. If you are going to hold an event at a much nicer facility, then the prices are going to be higher.

And IMO Harrah's blew away the Executive West in terms of how nice it was. One thing is for sure, there is no comparison when it came to the food. You had probably 8 choices for a place to eat. Legends was a very nice sports bar type restaurant. The only time the buffet was ultra-expensive was when the had the seafood buffet. Then look at the food at the Executive West. Again IMO, the food choices and quality there were absolutely terrible.

Me personally, I hope it is back at Harrah's. For a first year at a new facility, I really enjoyed it. I can't even imagine the amount of work Greg Sullivan and his gang had to do to make this work. They did a fantastic job under the circumstances. I am sure Greg already has a list made up on how to make things much better next year.

Again, all of this is just my own personal opinion..............:smile:

Take care,
Jimmyk

 

[ragbug74]

I pretty much agree with Jimmy. My observations: http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=129677

 

[Ironman317]

i think they need a larger room with more tables for the action room.

 

[JimmyRayK]

i think they need a larger room with more tables for the action room.

I totally agree. They need to spread the tournament tables out better, also. There was definitely room for improvement, but I think the right changes will be made.

 

[stanthebanker]

Jimmy, your description is 100% accurate. Yes improvements need to be made but Greg Sullivan also realizes this and will be doing everything possible to make 2010 a better event. We should be deeply grateful that Greg is in charge and that their will be future DCC's.

 

[jay helfert]

I tend to agree with most everything said here, with a few exceptions. The biggest grumbling was about the high room rates, $105 weekdays and $130 weekends. Pretty expensive for a nine or ten day stay. What bothered many people was the fact that rooms were $69 and $89 the week prior to and the week after DCC. It appears they jacked up the prices for the event. Not too cool IMO. With lower room rates, more people will come - bottom line!

As far as the venue, I preferred it over the Executive West. The other drawback is the distance to the Horseshoe from the airport. The shuttle was a good thing, but we could have used regularly scheduled service, like on the hour. It's only about a 30 minute ride either way.

I know from personal experience how tough it is to put on an event like this. My hat's off to Greg Sullivan for pulling it off again this year. The Horseshoe has to be thrilled with the results. Without the pool crowd the hotel would have been empty. I would estimate this event brings the Horseshoe easily $1,000,000 in business over the course of eleven days. Not a bad chunk of change in this troubled economy.

Greg may well be able to drive a harder bargain next year. I always look forward to DCC. It's one of the highlights of my year.

 

[ceebee]

If more POOL personalities like Jay halfert can pass their comments off to Greg Sullivan, next year should be very good.

Price gouging on the room rate is a big no-no for me, a 10-day deal should be in effect for a 30% discount at the regular room rate. Maybe a downtown Louisville hotel will want to pursue Greg about the Tournament.

There is plenty of time for arranging a new deal.

 

[selftaut]

Price gouging on the room rate is a big no-no for me, a 10-day deal should be in effect for a 30% discount at the regular room rate. Maybe a downtown Louisville hotel will want to pursue Greg about the Tournament.

There is plenty of time for arranging a new deal.

The room gauging was not "totally" true, I happened to check the room rates when Greg first mentioned the location a few months ago and their regular rates were still posted on their calendar rates link http://www.harrahs.com/AvailabilityCalendar.do?propCode=UEL&showHotDeal=Y .

The rates you see there for February are similar to what January read before the tournament locked into the venue. Monday thru Thurs $69 , Friday and Saturday were $249 and Sunday was $99 in January.

It appears what Greg negotiated was a reduced weekend rate for exchange of them bumping the weekday rates about $35 a night during the week. I think a lot of fans would go on the weekends and Greg saved those a lot of money. But as Jay said , a 9 or 10 night stay is a tough one at those rates.