Bankers Start to Cash in as One-Holers Post up

Bankers Start to Cash in as One-Holers Post upInterdisciplinary ball-makers start double duty at DerbyBy Paul Berg, Inside POOL StaffBack in The Chapel, the heavenly set of tables cozied in stained glass hues at the back of the main room of the Ninth Annual Derby City Classic’s three central tournaments are occupied by fresh five-figure winners. Unceremoniously stopped in his 9-ball banks title defense as of the third draw yesterday, Jason Miller takes up one-pocket eyeing a finish one better than his runner-up spot in the division last year. The other 10-ball Banks Ring Game winner and fellow World All-Around Champ alumnus is also gone from the division. Just a couple of Diamonds further back in the converted cathedral, Shannon Daulton and Sparky Ferrell experience a nice first draw in the field of 470 hungry for Efren Reyes’ crown. For Reyes part, he’s still busy banking, while players like the Southeastern legend in his own time Steve Moore have ended strong opening statements in the discipline. Moore proceeded to the next round of banks undefeated.Derby City Classic image gallery
The matches for the eighth banks draw are now underway, alongside the opening mix of one-pocket, as banks play will reach a crescendo tomorrow. Some surprising contenders have emerged amongst established champions, and some check amounts are waiting to be determined by the final number of buyback dollars added to the pot. 119 players out of the initial 469 reached the fifth draw and will see a payday. An undefeated Reyes is among 30 players who are grappling currently, after dealing countryman Jose Parica his second loss in the previous round. After the dust settles on Day 3, your tireless correspondent will give a thorough accounting of who will stand for tomorrow’s finale to banks play and how they got there.Gamblers Sweat and Bleed During Saturday Night FightsAway from tournament play, gambling picked up as Saturday turned into Sunday. Bets are getting a little more brazen, nerves are getting slightly frayed. Around midnight last night, an open 10-ball ring game commenced after Filipino presence squashed the first scheduled effort in the BCn pit. Corey Deuel swam with an opening pair of Pinoy sharks Parica and Dennis Orcollo, as well as Fabio Petroni and Stoney Stone. Deuel put some racks together and got ahead of the game early, while Orcollo had to leave abruptly when a match-up with Chris Bartram came together. The addition of Francisco Bustamante to the fold eventually pushed some tortured souls out of the game, as the two Filipino greats and Deuel didn’t appear like a nice threesome to join.There were other fish to fry for many prospective entrants. While Deuel and Bustamante battled at even one-pocket—Francisco a one-game winner eventually—Orcollo displayed the current popular mode of engaging the American backroom studs for the champions of the Philippines. Bartram has bested others before with the 8 and 9 playing 10-ball, but difficulties with the break hounded him in an ahead-set loss.Scott Frost bounded back to the list of the very elite one-pocket players after his go-off performance with Reyes. First Frost resumed a regular game with Billy Incardona, the noted commentator and great champion only needing six balls to the double-digit zone for “The Freezer.” The spot keeps going up, and Frost keeps winning. While Incardona ended up offering rewards for a lost cellular phone, Frost proceeded to defy conventional wisdom, taking on Cliff Joyner even and finishing four games up sometime after the noon hour.The night was long for the kids, too. Winterhaven, FL’s, Josh Degler made another huge score off Nick Hickerson by coming back from his opponent reaching the hill in a lengthy 9-ball ahead set. Degler has since played Hickerson again this afternoon, losing the cabbage back while giving up the last two.Recent winner of the Reno Open, Richie “The Alaskan Salmon” Orem took his hustle to a different level. Jerry Tarantola and his company, Insomniac Productions, have steadily gathered material towards a reality television program about road gamblers of all stripes. The crew took a shine to the boisterous Orem, but his challenge table quickly descended in a blustering screaming match, and while he snatched some cash, Orem seemed to offend the entire Derbyshire Dining Room, perhaps in a calculated move to stir it up. When the cameras left and Orem matched up with Toledo’s bank specialist Timmy Heath, his one-race victory giving up the 6 ball was ugly. Tony Coleman has shipped the most money, according to rabble-rouser Fred “Scooter” Goodman, losing two sets backing and side betting an 8-ball game between English comer Darren Appleton and Tennessee’s inimitable John “Hennessee” Pinegar. The often-angered and passionate Hennessee got a spot of two games on the wire racing to 11, and after coming from behind in the first set, the Music City Open champion maintained composure to take the next. Coleman would find more action, losing to a fired-up Heath in some one-handed banking games. Stay tuned for a full accounting of the two-hands-allowed banks division as the Derby City Classic rolls into Day 4.

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