The Derby City Classic is an annual pool convention and tournament held every January at the Caesars Southern Indiana casino in Elizabeth, Indiana, near Louisville, Kentucky. [1] It is eight days long and offers various disciplines of competition for pool players of all caliber. [2] It is often referred to as the DCC.
The annual convention has been in existence since 1997. Diamond Billiard Products, [3] is the title sponsor of the event, and the lead tournament promoter is Greg Sullivan. Over $100,000 is added 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 and first organized in 1961 with the purpose of bringing America's top pool gamblers together. [1]
During the eight-day-long convention, competition is held consecutively in three major disciplines, bank pool, nine-ball, and one-pocket. According to Sullivan, "I made it where you're a sucker if you didn't enter." [1] 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. [1] 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 action , 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. [1] 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. [4]
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 for attendees. The vendor booths display a large variety of cue sticks, pool paraphernalia, billiard clothing, books, and instructional DVDs.
To commemorate the great one-pocket 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. [5]
Since 2004, A Bank pool ring game 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. [6]
In 2007, a straight pool 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 straight pool competition had been cancelled due to schedule interference with other events and competitions.
Several Hundreds of players each year participate in the open Bank pool, One pocket and Nine-ball events to get 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.
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.
| Year | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  Dennis Orcollo |  Niels Feijen |
| 2014 |  Shane Van Boening | Niels Feijen |
| 2015 | Shane Van Boening (2) | Lee Van Corteza |
| 2016 |  Jayson Shaw | Shane Van Boening |
| 2017 | Jayson Shaw (2) |  Alexander Kazakis |
| 2018 | Roberto Gomez |  Fedor Gorst |
| 2019 |  Chang Jung-lin |  Joshua Filler |
| 2020 | Jayson Shaw (3) | Lee Van Corteza |
| 2021 | Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |
| 2022 | Joshua Filler | Fedor Gorst |
| 2023 | Shane Van Boening (3) |  Konrad Juszczyszyn |
| 2024 | Joshua Filler (2) | Lee Van Corteza |
| 2025 |  Pijus Labutis | Joshua Filler |
| Name | Nationality | Winner | Runner-up | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Van Boening |  United States | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Jayson Shaw | Scotland | 0 | 3 | |
| Joshua Filler | Germany | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Nine-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 pockets at each of the four corners and in the middle of each long side. Using a cue stick, players must strike the white cue ball to pocket nine colored billiard balls, hitting them in ascending numerical order. An individual game is won by the player pocketing the 9 ball. Matches are usually played as a race to a set number of racks, with the player who reaches the set number winning the match.
Efren Manalang Reyes 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 titles, Reyes is a four-time World Eight-ball champion, the 1999 WPA World Nine-ball Championship winner, a three-time U.S. Open winner, a two-time World Pool League champion, a four-time All Japan Championship winner, a seven-time Asian Nine-ball Tour champion, and a thirteen-time Derby City Classic winner. Reyes also represented the Philippines at the World Cup of Pool, winning the event with partner Francisco Bustamante in 2006 and 2009. By defeating American player Earl Strickland in the inaugural The Color of Money event in 1997, Reyes took home the largest single match purse in pool history of $100,000. Many analysts, fans and players consider Reyes to be the greatest pool player of all time.
Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a cue sport in which two competing players attempt to pocket as many object balls as possible without playing a foul. The game was the primary version of pool played in professional competition until it was superseded by faster-playing games like nine-ball and eight-ball in the 1980s.
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 pocket can be used to score object balls. The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any object ball into their designated pocket. The winner is the first to score an agreed-upon number of points.
Francisco Bustamante is a Filipino professional pool player from Tarlac, Central Luzon and the 2010 World Nine-ball Champion, nicknamed "Django", after the lead character of the 1966 film of the same name, and sometimes also called "Bustie", especially in the United States. Bustamante has won over 80 international titles and is considered one of the greatest pool players of all time.
Jose Parica is a Filipino professional pool player from Manila, nicknamed "Amang" and "the Giant Killer." As a Filipino Hall of Famer, he pioneered the "Filipino invasion" in the United States in the late 70s, especially in the game of Nine-ball. Also known as "the King" in the Philippines, Parica is regarded as one of the best pool players and money players in history. In 1997, Parica became the only player since to perform a perfect TPA score of .1000 in a race to 11 racks, making not a single mistake the entire match.
Dennis Orcollo, sometimes called Dennis Orcullo, is a Filipino professional pool player, nicknamed "Surigao" and "RoboCop". He has been called "The Money-Game King". Orcollo is considered one of the greatest pool players of all time.
Lee Vann Corteza, also spelled Lee Van Corteza, is a Filipino professional pool player. He is nicknamed "The Slayer", and started playing pool in 1993.
Johnny Archer is an American professional pool player. He is nicknamed "the Scorpion" (his zodiac sign is Scorpio. He is a two time World Nine-ball Champion & won a record 5 Sands Regency 9-Ball Open titles. In 2009, Johnny Archer was nominated to be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame.
Roberto Gomez is a professional pocket billiards player from Zamboanga City, Philippines. He competed in the final of both the 2007 WPA World Nine-ball Championships, and the 2007 World Cup of Pool. Gomez was the first qualifier to reach the final of the WPA World Nine-ball Championships.
The 2019 WPA World Ten-ball Championship was a professional pool tournament for the discipline of ten-ball organised by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and CueSports International. It was the fifth WPA World Ten-ball Championship; the previous championship was held in 2015. After plans for an event in both 2016 and 2018 to be held in Manila fell through, a 2019 event at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas as part of a three-year deal for the event to be played in the United States was agreed. The event was held concurrently with the Billiard Congress of America's National Ten-ball event from July 22 to 26. The event was sponsored by cue manufacturer Predator Group.
John Schmidt is an American pool player, born in Keokuk, Iowa. Nicknamed "Mr. 600", specialising in straight pool, Schmidt held the record for the highest run made (626), until Jayson Shaw broke that record with a high run of 669 in January 2022. Schmidt won the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships in 2006 defeating Rodolfo Luat in the final. He was also part of the American team at two Mosconi Cups in 2006 and 2014.
Joshua Filler is a German professional pool player from Bönen, Germany. In 2018 Filler defeated Carlo Biado 13–10 to win the 2018 WPA World Nine-ball Championship. In 2017 he was the youngest player to win the China Open, and in 2018 he also won the 10-ball European Pool Championships. Filler became WPA and Euro Tour world number 1 in 2019, and later he reached the final of the 2019 WPA World Ten-ball Championship before losing 10–7 to Ko Ping-chung.
Roland Garcia is a professional pool player from Magalang, Philippines. Garcia reached the final of the 2017 WPA World Nine-ball Championship; but lost 5-13 to Carlo Biado. Garcia had also reached the quarter-final of the China Open in 2016, and the last 32 of the world nine-ball championship in 2018.
Skyler Woodward is an American professional pool player. At the 2017 World Cup of Pool, he was the runner up, alongside Shane Van Boening. Woodward has represented the United States each year in the Mosconi Cup since the 2015 Mosconi Cup. At the 2018 and 2019 events Woodward was voted the Most Valuable Player.
Kristina Olegovna Tkach is a Russian professional pool player. She became the 2017 WPA World Nine-ball Junior Championship winner, defeating Lee Woo-jin in the final 9–6. Tkach is a four time European champion having won the eight-ball event in 2016 and 2019, as well as Straight pool in 2017 and 2019. In addition, she is a nine-time Junior European Champion.
The 2017 Derby City Classic was a professional pool tournament held from the January 20 to 28, 2017 in Horseshoe Southern Indiana in Elizabeth, Indiana. It was the 19th hosting the event. Competitions were held in the disciplines nine-ball, ten-ball, one-pocket, straight, and bank pool. The event was the 2017 edition of the Derby City Classic.
The 2014 Derby City Classic was a professional pool tournament and the 16th Edition of the Derby City Classic. It took place from January 24 to February 1, 2014, in Horseshoe Southern Indiana in Elizabeth, Indiana. Competitions were held in the disciplines nine-ball, ten-ball, one-pocket, straight, and bank pool. The Master of the Table awarded for the best player overall was won by Dennis Orcollo.
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