Yee-haa! The 2008 Derby City Classic is just around the corner! Named after the famous horse race, the Louisville, Kentucky-based Derby City Classic pool tournament features round-the-clock gambling action. It is known as the biggest pool tournament in terms of gambling action, with that unmistakable 24/7 excitement that the game of billiards is known for the world over! It will run from January 4 to 12, 2008.
What is great about the Derby City Classic are the specially appointed action rooms, where both fans and players, audience and gamblers observe and wait for opportunities to watch live matches and make money on potential and actual match-ups. Negotiations about weight and handicapping (partida) can last for hours or days before the first rack of a big-money game is even played! And more often than not, the stake money is posted on the table lamp – just like old times y’all!
It pays to know your way and who you know when one is at the Derby City Classic. Why so? Well, wouldn’t you want to know where the action is, grab a piece of the action, and make a ton of money on the side? I would! Moreover, side actions generate more than the actual table bet! No kidding! There are also non-stop $1,000 mini-tournaments that are played on 40 tables! The heart-pounding action doesn’t stop there! Multi-player ring games are also featured in a special TV arena!
The nine-day Derby City Classic pool tournament will feature hundreds of top professionals. These include Filipino pool players and their international counterparts from the US, Europe, and Asia. I know my buddies Francisco “Django” Bustamante and Rodolfo Luat, aka Boy Samson, will be there. By the way, Rodolfo Luat uses pool cues made by Pat Diveney, a custom cuemaker in eastern Iowa who has developed a great following in that area. And believe me, Pat's cues are stunningly beautiful!
Filipino pool player Jose “Amang” Parica is also expected to be there! Jose Parica, who is the first Filipino pool player to travel outside the Philippines and play in the international circuit, is the Derby City Classic’s champion in 9-Ball Banks (2001), One Pocket (2003), and All-Around (2002). And who would want to miss out on Efren “Bata” Reyes, aka The Magician! Did you know that Efren “Bata” Reyes, who is the best player to ever wield a pool cue, holds a number, wait let me rephrase that, holds several championships in the Derby City Classic? Yes, he does! These include championships in One Pocket for the years 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007! And Efren did not play in the event from 2000 to 2003, thus the beloved billiards icon is a perfect 5 for 5! I’m not done yet! The soft-spoken Efren Bata Reyes also took the 2005 Championship in the event’s 9-ball competition! And the Philippines’ favorite son is also the Derby City Classic’s All-Around Champion for the years 1999, 2004, 2005, and 2007! HE IS THAT GOOD, dear readers! Good luck to all my kababayans who will compete in the prestigious 2008 Derby City Classic! I’m betting my bottom dollar on you guys!
All in all, the Derby City Classic represents that great age of pool, kinda similar to what you see in the motion picture The Hustler. And it’s not about gambling, mind you! It’s not even about the money, my friends! The Derby City Classic is all about the drama and the excitement - about putting something on the line and realizing that one-of-a-kind rush which one can only get from playing pool! And I kid you not!
"It's non-stop pool action with The AnitoKid!"
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