The Derby City Classic is an annual

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

convention and tournament held every January at the Caesars Southern Indiana casino in

Elizabeth, Indiana Elizabeth is a town in Posey Township, Harrison County, Indiana, Posey Township, Harrison County, Indiana, Harrison County, Indiana, United States. The population was 199 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The original plat ...

, near

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. It is eight days long and offers various disciplines of competition for pool players of all caliber. It is often referred to as the DCC.

History

The annual convention has been in existence since 1997. Diamond Billiard Products, is the title sponsor of the event, and the lead tournament promoter is Greg Sullivan. Over $100,000 is to the tournament payouts. Sullivan was inspired to create the DCC by the Johnston City Classic, a former all-around tournament held in

Johnston City, Illinois Johnston City is a city in Williamson County, Illinois, Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,348 at the 2020 census. This was a center of coal mining in the early 20th century, having a peak of population in the 1920s ...

and first organized in 1961 with the purpose of bringing America's top pool gamblers together. During the eight-day-long convention, competition is held consecutively in three major disciplines,

bank pool Bank pool is a pool game that has as its most fundamental requirement that all scoring shots in the game must be made by a called ball off a and into a called pocket. While the game has multiple variations, the predominant version through much ...

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle o ...

, and

one-pocket One-pocket is a pool game. Only one pocket for each player is used in this game, unlike other games played on a pool table where any can be used to score . The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any obj ...

. According to Sullivan, "I made it where you're a sucker if you didn't enter." All tournaments are "buyback" competitions in which players can buy their way back in after being first eliminated; matches are races to three sets, much shorter than standard matches; and the entry fee for a tournament is less than that for a spectator's ticket. An All-Around Champion title is awarded each year to an individual player who participates in all three disciplines, and is determined by an ascending point scale and high quality of play, with a prize of $20,000. The late "St. Louis" Louie Roberts, a legendary American player known for an entertaining style of play and high-stakes

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

, is memorialized by the annual Louie Roberts A&E Award, which stands for "action and entertainment". Attendees of the event vote, and the pool player who displays the most action and entertainment ''a la'' Roberts each year wins the award and is thereafter granted lifetime free entry to the Derby City Classic, including a free room at the Horseshoe's hotel during the event. The title was awarded by the DCC from 2003 until 2014, and although it continued in 2015 and 2016 (via fans and not associated with the DCC), it officially stopped being awarded in 2017. There are also smaller age-restricted competitions for under-16, over-21, over-62, and over-70 divisions, as well as a ladies-only tournament held. Pool industry members bring their wares to the DCC and set up vendor booths, providing a billiard

expo An expo is a trade exposition. It may also refer to: Events and venues * World's fair, a large international public exposition * Singapore Expo, convention and exposition venue ** Expo Axis, one of the world's largest membrane roofs, construc ...

for attendees. The vendor booths display a large variety of cue sticks, pool paraphernalia, billiard clothing, books, and instructional DVDs. To commemorate the great

champions, OnePocket.org, a website dedicated to the discipline, hosts an annual dinner gala at the Derby City Classic and inducts two people each year into the One Pocket Hall of Fame."One Pocket Hall of Fame: Celebrating The Legacy of Pool in Action
''OnePocket.org'', Retrieved 24 May 2008 Since 2004, A

Bank pool Bank pool is a pool game that has as its most fundamental requirement that all scoring shots in the game must be made by a called ball off a and into a called pocket. While the game has multiple variations, the predominant version through much ...

event founded by the late Grady Mathews has been held, which consists of six players, who post an entry fee with a winner take all prize. In 2007, a

straight pool Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a Cue sports, cue sport in which two competing players attempt to as many s as possible without playing a . The game was the primary version of Pool (cue sports), pool play ...

competition began where players are given an assigned number of chances to make a high run. The players with the 8 highest runs will qualify into a single elimination tournament where every match is race-to-125 points. In 2020 the

competition had been cancelled due to schedule interference with other events and competitions.

Winners

Main events

Several hundred players each year participate in the open Bank pool, One pocket and Nine-ball events to get an opportunity to win the overall title of $20,000 cash prize and to be awarded the prestigious title of "Master of the Table." It is possible for a player to win the "Master of the Table" title without winning any of the three competitions.

Top Performers

* Active participants are shown in bold. * Only players who reached the final are included. This includes the Bank pool, One Pocket, Nine-ball & Overall divisions. * In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by first name.

Bigfoot Ten-ball Invitational

The bigfoot ten-ball event, played on a 10ft table and is played alongside the other events, a 16 player invitational, that does not count towards the "Master of the Table" overall title.

Top Performers

Records

Efren Reyes Efren Manalang Reyes (born August 26, 1954) is a Filipino professional pool player. A winner of over 100 international titles, Reyes was the first player to win world championships in two different pool disciplines. Among his numerous title ...

of the Philippines holds the record for winning the Derby City Classic the most times: eight titles, with five "Master of the Table" titles. * Efren Reyes holds the record for the most consecutive wins: four (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). * Efren Reyes holds the record for most wins in a single discipline, in one-pocket: six (1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2014). * Fedor Gorst of the United States and Alex Pagulayan of Canada are the only players to win all three events: nine-ball, bank pool, one-pocket. * The oldest pool player to ever win the tournament to date is Efren Reyes, at 59 years old at the time of his victory. The youngest is Billy Thorpe of United States, aged 20 years old at the time. *

References

{{Cue sports nav Pool competitions Sports competitions in Indiana Harrison County, Indiana Annual sporting events in the United States ja:USオープン (ビリヤード)