SJM at the 2022 Derby City Classic
- Thread starter sjm
- Start date
He would have haunted the Action Room! Or maybe I should say hunted!Don’t worry RA would have held up just fine
There was still some fairly serious $$ games from what i heard. Probably NOTHING like the 24hr/day lunacy of the Executive but still not horrible.It’s a cultural shift.
People don’t gambol like they used too.
Fatboy
Ronnie, Keither and Cole in their prime would have had cots brought in. They would have never left the action room.
Thanks, Jay.
I agree 100% about the level of play. I don't think most of the stars of yesteryear would have had an easy time of it today, especially in nine or ten ball. No doubt, Lassiter, Sigel, Varner and Strickland might well have stayed with the greatest rotation players of today, but few others could have.
At one pocket, today's players are managing to find shape onto balls in ways rarely ever seen before. For instance, in the last two matches, Gorst played shape effectively underneath a ball that was near diamond seven twice! The standard is so high right now it's scary. The moves-oriented Josh Roberts simply had no shot at Gorst in the final, and I feel that moves oriented players like Pagulayan are having a harder and harder time of it, as the elite are escaping the traps set more and more with great pocketing.
My sense is that it's the same in banks. The moves-oriented players couldn't beat players like Gorst, Shaw and Chohan, all of whom played it pretty wide open and banked the balls well enough to vanquish all comers. It was the same thing in 2020 when Orcullo dominated the banks event, when bank pool specialists like Thorpe and Lunda really had no shot in the late rounds.
Finally, as for the airport trip, in my experience, the driver who gets you from the airport to Caesars is glad to give you his/her phone number so that you can call them directly to arrange your ride back to the airport when it is time to leave. These days, they are happy to be assured of a fare. I called my driver on the day before I was to fly out and he picked me up at Caesars at 4:00 AM for a 6:00 AM flight. I gave hm a $20 tip for his troubles.
My pleasure. Hope to see you at a future Derby City Classic.
As always, for me yours is the definitive report. I realize you can't cover all of these big events but you cover the parts you can very well and your added insights are always of value.
It does seem like a changing of the guard. I see Alex is matching up with Gorst for $25,000. Seems like a bit of a mismatch at the moment with Gorst riding high but counting Alex out of a gambling match is often a mistake. One that will be interesting to watch but as usual I'll keep my money in my pocket!
Hu
great writeup as usual, it's so nice to get a feel of the atmosphere without actually being there.
the elevated level of play is undisputable. i will kind of miss the one pocket specialists with their moves and their stack knowledge though. and i have yet to see someone twist a straightback with both CB and OB on the long rail like cliff joyner could. other than that i welcome the changing of the guard and i'm glad to see these rotation champs embracing the game of one pocket.
the elevated level of play is undisputable. i will kind of miss the one pocket specialists with their moves and their stack knowledge though. and i have yet to see someone twist a straightback with both CB and OB on the long rail like cliff joyner could. other than that i welcome the changing of the guard and i'm glad to see these rotation champs embracing the game of one pocket.
How can you go to Derby and not watch a single action match?!? That should be a 3 year ban lol
When it comes to "moving" at one pocket, I think I called it several years ago, when Dennis Orcullo played Scott Frost (to only slightly toot my own horn). At the time, I said the movers or those that really know the game, lose most of their knowledge advantage if they're playing without a shot clock. Without a clock, a player of Orcullo's ability and experience can sit in front of the table and let their pool brain run through all the shot options and percentages. This is exactly how it out played too. Scott would almost immediately see the shot and get on with it. For Dennis, key situations took a bit longer, but he ended up finding solutions. This is why I always shake my head at one pocket players that don't want to play with a shot clock. Why not when you have the knowledge advantage?
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Sounds about right, that’s kinda what’s left. The hardcore action and chop suey the backers matches.
Any crazy Tedder stories from this year? Also, do they still give the award for most action? If so, who won?
This summer in vegas Tedder was up almost a million on JRB.
Wasn't JRB the poker pro who was on a season of survivor? surely they were playing pool and not cards...
Yes that’s him. He was at the Derby this year. He been printing $ playing poker last 7-8 years. His pool game is solid, not a world beater but he plays long sessions and has heart.
Great write up. I need to get to DCC one year.
The pool world needs a couple thousand guys like that. Guys stepping up now are getter fewer and fewer.