Your DCC nut? Total...

Thank you ibA that's a good one for sure.



I go for the action first weekend only:

Fuel to and from: $100-200
Room: Free-$240
Entry fee: $0, I do not play in event
Entry fees: $24
Gambling: $550 cost to $3,400 profit

Above are my results from my last 7 years of going. I have come home without extra money only once. That year I believe I was out about $665. Every other year I came home with a profit of at least $300 and a couple thousand more than once.
 
OK, How did you do for your trip.
Did you sidebet accordingly, win a mini, or just spectate.

I'd love to hear your story
 
I went for the first 4 days and split a room. We rented a car. I didn't play in any events.

Room: $350 (for me)
Car : $35 (got a deal, split 3 ways, this is my portion)

I can't say where all the money went, but I went down with about $400 in cash, and I came back with $42 - most of it went to food/coffee. One steakhouse night, one seafood buffett (not worth it, imo), a universe clothing hoodie, and a dcc shirt. The rest was wristbands and table time and other little things like rum and cigarettes.

So... about $800-ish? for 4 days? I did bring a lot of food with me so I saved a bit there.

Still - not too bad at all for the amount of awesome that I got to witness.
 
Thank you very much stljohnny.

Did you win anything like a sidebet or a mini to help with the trip, or was it just a watching trip.



I went for the first 4 days and split a room. We rented a car. I didn't play in any events.

Room: $350 (for me)
Car : $35 (got a deal, split 3 ways, this is my portion)

I can't say where all the money went, but I went down with about $400 in cash, and I came back with $42 - most of it went to food/coffee. One steakhouse night, one seafood buffett (not worth it, imo), a universe clothing hoodie, and a dcc shirt. The rest was wristbands and table time and other little things like rum and cigarettes.

So... about $800-ish? for 4 days? I did bring a lot of food with me so I saved a bit there.

Still - not too bad at all for the amount of awesome that I got to witness.
 
All the threads talking about making more money in pool, sponsorship, etc. had me thinking back to the days I brought someone over and put them in.

I'd like to hear from anyone, but prefer to hear from

1. a player in all events,
2. a player and action person (same person)
3. a player WITH his stake horse both attending (action or not)
4. a spectator
5. an action person

Think about this. Please remember ALL your expenses.

Travel (air or car), Hotel, Food, Entries, Action, Admission to watch, and anything else.

Edited to add if you are playing in the Bigfoot or the Bank Ring game as those add considerable expense.

Only played in one pocket but was there all the days,

$225 for playing
$600ish for gas there and back. (towing a trailer)
$900 for the room
$700 food
$1000 action
$1000 booth rental
$200 on shirts, dvds etc..
_________________

so about $4500 for the week is what I spent.
 
Only played in one pocket but was there all the days,

$225 for playing
$600ish for gas there and back. (towing a trailer)
$900 for the room
$700 food
$1000 action
$1000 booth rental
$200 on shirts, dvds etc..
_________________

so about $4500 for the week is what I spent.

I'd say that most of this is a 'business loss/write off (edit.."write against)' for John that most will not be able to take... so you can add back about 38-50% back to the real dollars to the "entertainment/travel" portion of the trip he mentions above. So business promotion... ie booth rental, part of food/ gas / hotel/ event entry/ and even the educational material is business expenses (loss) for John. As John probably is not a profession gambler as the main source of his income the gaming loss is like anyone else's. Apples to Apples here would be more appropriate imo.

If you did what John did for a couple of rounds of 1 hole (minus 1K for booth rental) so say $3500 then add back for the tax loss (38-50% depending on your State/Fed bracket etc) I'd say that week of fun would be more like $4500-$5000 after tax retail (....Apples to Apples). 2 and out (in 1 hole) would have to be VERY entertaining for most to consider a fun working vacation.

What did I miss here?

R
 
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I'd say that most of this is a 'business loss/right off' for John that most will not be able to take... so you can add back about 38-50% back to the real dollars to the "entertainment/travel" portion of the trip he mentions above. So business promotion... ie booth rental, part of food/ gas / hotel/ event entry/ and even the educational material is business expenses (loss) for John. As John probably is not a profession gambler as the main source of his income the gaming loss is like anyone else's. Apples to Apples here would be more appropriate imo.

If you did what John did for a couple of rounds of 1 hole (minus 1K for booth rental) so say $3500 then add back for the tax loss (38-50% depending on your State/Fed bracket etc) I'd say that week of fun would be more like $4500-$5000 after tax retail (....Apples to Apples). 2 and out (in 1 hole) would have to be VERY entertaining for most to consider a fun working vacation.

What did I miss here?

R

Agreed. Without the business and action side of it I would have spent about $2500 for the week if not sharing expenses.

Just an FYI write-off isn't really the right term because it's simply expenses that are tallied against income to determine taxable income. Write-offs refer more to things in business that depreciate in value over time and the government allows you to write-off that lost value for the purpose of reducing the tax burden.

Now with some creative editing I might be able to categorize my $1000 in one pocket action losses as "advertising" expense.

:-)
 
Thank you very much stljohnny.

Did you win anything like a sidebet or a mini to help with the trip, or was it just a watching trip.

Nope, didn't really get into any action down there. I played one guy, but we broke even, so... The other game I was trying to get into never happened - schedule conflicts.

It was a watching trip, only my 2nd time down. Next year I hope to enter one of the events, and maybe stay the whole week; but that's gonna take some serious planning.
 
Nope, didn't really get into any action down there. I played one guy, but we broke even, so... The other game I was trying to get into never happened - schedule conflicts.

It was a watching trip, only my 2nd time down. Next year I hope to enter one of the events, and maybe stay the whole week; but that's gonna take some serious planning.

You won a rum and coke.
 
This year I made two trips out of the event. I went the first Thurs-Mon then came home and went back Thurs-Sunday morning. The first weekend I stayed in a room with friend at the casino for 35 a night. The second weekend I stayed for 80 a night at the Best Western in New Albany and I must say it is the nuts. One hell of a hotel with the best "hotel gym" I have ever seen. I checked in Friday morning and got the 2 for 1..so that particular hotel only cost me 160 for basically 3 nights.

I like to eat and ate at Binions 4 or 5 times with average cost being 70 dollars a meal. One of those times being paid for by our gambling pal Carl from St Louis. I lost some money to him on dumb bets later that night so I paid dearly for his wining and dining. I also ate at Legends where the average meal is 20 dollars. I ate at the Chinese place once and felt like I had been cheated as it was approximately 28 dollars for wonton soup, beef with broccoli, and a diet coke. My local Chinese place was a little better and all of that would of cost 10 dollars.

I counted my money and recorded it on both trips before I left home. Trip 1 I came home almost exactly 2200 to the positive side. Trip 2 I came home 600 dollars to the negative side but that figures in a couple small loans made to some pool pals that had a rough trip there. One of them had not gambled a lick and said he didn't cash in any tournament and that hurt him bad. So, that gives an idea what can happen if a player bombs out in the tournaments.

Basically..it cost 100 a day with food and drink to hang out there. Also trip 1 I played in banks to avoid paying the gate and actually cashed in the banks so it was like getting in for free.

Oops...don't forget prices include the big 5% discount to players!!! :eek:
 
These are GREAT to hear, thanks a lot.

To the 1 on 1 poster, I've read your posts before, did you get in any games at all? Or just play banks.

To JB

Thanks for your post, that's dropping a lot, and you win for the gas, so far!!!!!!
No one has stepped up and said they had an airline ticket from Greece, Russia, UK, etc.

What a huge deal to win the master of the table. Lifetime entry to the tournament. I'd say that will help people's nut each year. But, the people winning that are action hounds and will not sweat a hotel or entry, maybe it's more like a badge
 
Next year

So for planning a first trip next year is it better to go the first 5 days or the last 5 days? I'm not going for the whole time so was wondering which is better.

When is the action better? I'll be watching more than participating. My guess is the last Wed through Sunday to catch the 1P and 9 ball but I don't know about the action games.

Also, is it better to pre buy tickets for a seat or do you just get the tickets when you get there.

Thanks in advance.
 
Here's the deal for a New York spectator who chooses to have his own room but does not rent a car and stays for all nine days of the Derby.

Taxi from home to LaGuardia - $39
Round trip Airfare NY to Louisville - $303
Taxi form Louisville to Horseshoe - $50
Hotel Bill for 9 nights - $990
Taxi from Horseshoe to Louisville - $25 (shared cab ride)
Cost of TV-VIP reserved seat - $240
Taxi from LaGuardia to home - $39
Total cost before sponsorship: $1,686
Sponsorship of 14.1 Challenge: $1,000
Total cost after sponsorship: $2,686

I omit food as I spend about the same on food at home as at the Derby. Hence, the total cost of the DCC trip for me was $2,686. Had I not been a sponsor of the 14.1 challenge and shared the room cost by having a roommate, I would have saved $1,495 and would have spent $1,191.
 
Here's the deal for a New York spectator who chooses to have his own room but does not rent a car and stays for all nine days of the Derby.

Taxi from home to LaGuardia - $39
Round trip Airfare NY to Louisville - $303
Taxi form Louisville to Horseshoe - $50
Hotel Bill for 9 nights - $990
Taxi from Horseshoe to Louisville - $25 (shared cab ride)
Cost of TV-VIP reserved seat - $240
Taxi from LaGuardia to home - $39
Total cost before sponsorship: $1,686
Sponsorship of 14.1 Challenge: $1,000
Total cost after sponsorship: $2,686

I omit food as I spend about the same on food at home as at the Derby. Hence, the total cost of the DCC trip for me was $2,686. Had I not been a sponsor of the 14.1 challenge and shared the room cost by having a roommate, I would have saved $1,495 and would have spent $1,191.

Thank you for your sponsorship.... I enjoyed watching the 14.1 from afar (unfortunately)
 
All 9 Days

A friend and I went for all 9 days, this year.

My share of expenses are as follows:

Played in one-pocket with a buyback........$210
One-pocket mini tournament........$25
Brought some food from home, to eat in the room......$40
Daily food & drink (I don't live very high, confirmed cheapskate, $25)......$250
One night motel on trip down..........$49
9 Night DCC Special Rate Horseshoe room (total $989)....$494.50
Bellhop (I carry alot of stuff with me)........$20
Gas (South Dakota-Horeshoe & return)..........$200
DCC Polo..........$35

Total......$1343.50

I don't gamble, side bet, or drink, I go just to watch players I've never seen before, against the players I've watched for years; the DCC is the ultimate gathering of pool talent in the US. Anyone who loves pool will have a great time.

Charlie
 
As a spectator, travel (by car), accommodation, food & drink, VIP TV seating just over $3,000. Worth every penny.
 
Thanks everyone for posting.

I hope to see some more of you posting.

Now if you are thinking of going, you have ideas of the cost from NY, SD, Midwest, etc.

What a nice job you guys did keeping track of things.
 
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