David Vanbenburghe, Scott Smith, Ed Hagan, Dee Adkins and Chad Scharlow
I guess we can refer to the Derby City Classic as an annual event as this is the second tournament with dates already released for 2001, Jan 19-27.
It really ranks as a classic in the mold of Johnson City. The event runs 9 days with 3 days each for Bank Pool, One Pocket and 9-Ball.
The venue was the Executive West Hotel in Louisville, KY and the tournament was conducted Feb, 4-12.
It’s an impossible event to follow, as it allows players to buy back in once they have been eliminated.
Every time there are buybacks they redraw, so you really can’t tell where you are until the field is pared to the two final players in each division.
Shannon Daulton was victorious over Whitey Stephenson in the Banks event. This was, by the way, 9-Ball Banks.
Shannon looked very strong, especially his defense, as he went through the field.
It’s always a pleasure to see Donnie Anderson perform. He is getting up in years and has some medical problems which don’t help his playing.
During the event he had to play Truman Hogue, whom he defeated. In fact, Truman hadn’t beaten Donnie in 30 years or so in a tournament.
At one point during the match, Donnie had to stretch out for a shot with one knee on the table, but he couldn’t get his knee up high enough so he said, “Come on, Truman, help me.”
Truman jumped up and lifted him onto the table. After all that, he didn’t like the shot and chose another. But Truman went down to defeat anyway.
And friends are always helpful. One of Truman’s asked, “How old does Donnie have to be before you can heat him?” What are friends for anyway?
Kentucky is the heart of the bank pool game and 184 players entered the event, with $19,200 total prize money.
Even Detroiter Paula Albright entered and beat up a couple of boys. Not bad, Paula!
The second event was One Pocket, won by Nick Varner. It was kind of a reversal from last year. Shannon Daulton won the One Pocket and Nick won the 9-Ball Banks.
There were 156 players in the One Pocket division with $26,700 in total prize money.
The final event was 9-Ball and George San Souci took home the first-place prize, beating Dee Adkins, 7-5.
George played very well throughout the event, shooting .951 for the match against Gary Spaeth, winning 7-2.
Don’t shed tears for Adkins, though, as he did win the All Around Championship title, which was worth $5,000. Dee did this by finishing 5th in 9-Ball Banks, 25th in One Pocket and 2nd in 9-Ball as he trucked off $10,478.
And George got $8,000 for his win in 9-Ball, which was the only event he entered.
There were 178 players in the 9-Ball division with a total purse of $42,800.
There was also room upstairs which had a lot of very lively action. All in all it was a very good event.
