Derby City Classic, The Mecca of the Pool World

By Brian Pauley

The Derby City Classic is an event all its own, with many calling it the “Mecca” of the pool world. Born out of the long-standing tournament in Johnson City, Illinois, Derby is a mix of tournament play and action for cash. The Derby City Classic is a grueling nine-day event composed of three different main event tournaments. Those three tournaments are 9 ball banks (referred to as bank pool), one pocket, and 9 ball. A player can choose to play in any one of these events, or they could also play in all three events. Players that compete in all three events are eligible for the Master of the Table title, which also comes with a $20,000 prize. Points are given to players by what round they finished in the tournaments.

The Derby is truly an open event where anyone who pays the entry can play. It’s like your local pool tournament and homeroom, with about 50-plus professional players and hundreds of above-average players. Some amateur players play at the derby to see where their game is. Some play in hopes of drawing a big name and the opportunity to play against their heroes in a tournament setting. Some play with the hopes of cashing. Anyone that gets to the 5th round gets paid. With the luck of the draw format, an amateur player can dodge the shark-infested waters long enough to where their tournament entry fee is paid for. The entry fee for each tournament is low enough that it doesn’t hinder amateurs from playing, just $160.

Derby City has a very distinct format not used by any other major tournament, the buyback system. The tournaments at Derby are technically single elimination; however, a player has the option to buy back into the next round of the tournament for $100. To accommodate this format, there are no brackets for these tournaments. Each round is a different “shake of the jar.” There is a scrolling list of matches that players watch all day long to see who they play, what table, and when, hoping not to get the “dreaded” TBD. There are possibilities of two high-level pro players having to play in the early rounds. There is also a chance that players may have to play each other two rounds in a row. It isn’t common, but it does happen. I remember one year I had to play Brandon Shuff in round 2 of the 9-ball event. This was the year after Brandon made the Mosconi Cup, and he was playing well. After losing in round 2, I bought back to stay in the event. Once the round 3 draw happened, I saw that I was matched up with Brandon again with the same result. The draw is completely random. There is some excitement in not knowing who you play in the next round. The downfall of not having a bracket is not knowing when you play. With bracket tournaments, one could plan out when to go get food and rest between matches. That is not always the case at Derby, which adds to the grind.

Derby City is where unknowns come to become known, and history can be made. History was made this year in more ways than one. The 24th installment of the Derby starts with a side event known as the Diamond Bigfoot 10 Ball Challenge. This event is played on a 10foot Diamond table, and it features 16 pro players, all ponying up $1,000 to play in this single elimination race to 11. This event was started in 2013, and it is a favorite amongst fans. This year Diamond decided to even the playing field and set the pockets to 4 1/8 inches. This didn’t seem an issue to most of the players as they still proved why they are the best in the world at what they do. At the end of the day, Shane Van Boening took down the title for the third time. He is tied with Jayson Shaw with the most Bigfoot wins with three.

While the Bigfoot tournament is going on, the first of the three main tournaments, 9 ball banks, kicks off. 9 ball banks, also called short rank banks, may not be popular in all the US, but in the Midwest where Derby is held, it is a very popular game. Players must bank every ball with no caroms or kisses. All balls have to go clean, and players must call the number of rails. The first one to bank five balls in wins the game in a race to three match. Last year’s winner Fedor Gorst was eyeing a back-to-back win, while 528 other players were looking for that title. Gorst showed why he won the bank pool event last year as he mowed down the competition round after round. Players at home got the opportunity to watch all of Fedor’s matches on his YouTube channel, except matches on the TV table being streamed by AccuStats. After four days of competition and 12 rounds of competition, Fedor found himself in the finals again. Not only was he in the finals, but he was also unbeaten. Evan Lunda had already used his buy-back so if Fedor won the first match, it was over. Evan played very well and handed Fedor his first loss of the tournament and sent Fedor to the buy-back window. Fans were treated to a double-set final. Fedor came back from the break and reclaimed his title as Derby City Bank Pool Champion.

Day three of Derby starts the second of the main event tournaments in One Pocket. One Pocket is the very definition of chess on a pool table. One Pocket may not be the most popular game around the country, but at Derby City, it is a favorite amongst players. Like with all tournaments, there are storylines that come up. The first storyline was Fedor Gorst going out of the one pocket in round 6. Fedor would need to win big in the 9 ball to keep his hopes of going back-to-back Master of the Table champion. The other storyline of the One pocket event was how deep the GOAT Efren Reyes was going without losing. The later the rounds were going, Efren was still there undefeated. Efren is no stranger to success in one pocket. He has won that tournament a record of six times and even a stretch of four events in a row, which is why he is in the one pocket hall of fame. After six days of play through the record

423 players, only three players were left: Efren Reyes, Tony Chohan, and Johnathan Pinegar. The last day of Derby saw “T-Rex” Tony Chohan vs. “The Magician” Efren Reyes in a semi-final match that packed the TV arena. It was the old lion vs. the young lion. At 68 years old, what Efren was doing was nothing short of amazing. Almost an hour later, the young lion outlasted the old lion in a match for the ages, with Tony Chohan advancing to the finals against Pinegar. The two Derby City veterans battled back and forth for over an hour. When the dust settled, Tony Chohan captured the most coveted title for any one pocket player.

The last of the main events is the ever-popular 9-ball tournament. Just like the banks and the one pocket, the 9-ball event had a record amount of entries at 527. The usual names were advancing to the late rounds that set up some amazing matches to work. Due to longer matches from the one pocket and even the 9-ball event, mostly from the decreased pocket size to 4 ¼ inches, the 9-ball tournament was almost a day behind. It became an endurance grind. Match after Match with no stopping. Once it was determined that the tournament would end that night, no matter the time, players found food and rest whenever they could. The hours kept turning later and later. Fedor kept winning and winning. Trying to join a select few players to go back-to-back All Around Champion. In the early morning hours of the next day, the finals of the 9 ball were set. Fedor Gorst vs. Shane Van Boening. Both players were visibly spent and missing shots you would not expect these players to miss. When the last 9 ball fell, Gorst was the winner at around 9:00 am the next day. Gorst enters some elite company with his performance. Gorst became only the second person in Derby City history to win all three main career events. It took him only three tries to do it. He is the only person to win two of the three events in back-to-back years. For years Derby was dominated by Efren Reyes. That baton passed to Shane Van Boening. It looks like the baton could be passing again. Still in his early 20s, Fedor will definitely be making history at the Derby City Classic for many years to come.