Executive West Halls Awake with Billiards Vendors Bustling

Executive West Halls Awake with Billiards Vendors BustlingFinal weekend of the Derby alive with 9-ball and carom qualifiers By Paul Berg, Inside POOL MagazineThere’s more of a Woodstock quality to the halls at the Derby City Classic than the all-business attitude in the action arenas, and this is where this event transcends the Diamond pool tables that support this amazing convocation. The news that Bobby Pickle defeated Efren Reyes 7-6 last night spread down the corridors nearly as fast as Reyes went out to celebrate knocking off the DCC One-Pocket title on the same table just before suffering his second loss in seven days of non-stop tournament play. While the principle aim of any vendor is to, well, vend, so much more happens as folks shuffle to the desk to get their one-pocket payout or buy back for the 9-ball. In between all the action and cold cash dealings, people make lifelong friends and partners thanks to a man who got his business start in a little venture called Pool Jewelry.Derby City Classic image galleryDiscuss the Derby City Classic
The concordance of commerce is near there. The Hustlin’ USA booth is in full swing since Tony Hargain brought it to Louisville, and to be sure, business is booming. Corey Deuel consoled himself shortly after his loss to Dennis Orcollo with thoughts of Chinese food while he heavily considered one of Hustlin’s very nicest jackets. From Barry Behrman’s dog Buddy’s specially tailored shirt to guys in a rush, trying to fit in at the mini-tournament across the street while they reload amongst the slightly more amateur crowd, the motorcycle brand that just don’t stop is still doing just fine. Hargain seems to be working harder, perhaps looking over the big "H" on his shoulder.For those who couldn’t make it this year, ask your road dogs to come home to the pool room with a Stroke It shirt to go with the replacement for the Hustlin’ towel you left in the Jack Cooney room upstairs last year. Those were pretty hot yesterday. Across the way, a lovely array of hematite jewelry is sold with some non-IPT natural cures in mind. The metal supposedly possesses magnetic properties with healing capabilities. Diamond Billiards founder Greg Sullivan would be proud, and he might want to break out some of his old Pool Jewelry inventory so the Jule’s Hematite ladies can fetch a nice price for it.Many of the top high-end cue vendors are here, with limited editions of production runs, bargains on jump cues, and some of the most unique cues ever turned on a lathe. From Richards Black or Harris, a Southwest or a Joss West, you can find it here unless Paul Mottey still hasn’t finished it. Joe Salazar is one such specialist who traipses to every big tournament with precious cargo and vast knowledge.Established masters Joe Blackburn and Guido Orlandi man the halls for repairs to any of those precious rods, and traffic ebbs and flows around displays for products and literature. Those notorious tasty coated nuts are now sold next to the stairs up to the Jack Cooney/James Walton rooms. The area outside near the pool has changed dramatically the last two years at the Executive West, as the non-smoking in the outdoor enclosure has ceded from revelers to a quiet game called Carrom. It’s a four-pocketed piece of equipment that appears to be a sort of shuffleboard/pool hybrid. A tournament was held, but according to a highly touted participant, the field was under-attended by the best in the discipline. Over on the Gabriels tables with no pockets, over in the hole in the wall next to The Tea Room, Mazon Shooni and Reyes both put on shows playing a slightly different carom game. Many were drawn in from the restaurant, and probably ran across the interesting proposition from Wei Chau. It wasn’t even a bet.One of the most interesting product gambits is more of a one man display army. Wei Chau has brought a slow but capable iMac with him from New York, and besides him standing there in his Dieckman Cues hat, that’s about all he has. There’s some stickers littered around with an odd pencil through a cue ball emblem, and these sheets spread all around the tournament with three blank table diagrams that are somehow affiliated with this enthusiastic and genial Taiwanese-born man.When he convinces someone to give him ten minutes of their time, suddenly they’re transported to a world of possibility on a website dedicated to an idea. Chau’s cuetable.com is essentially a freeware software for adding shot diagrams to a “public archive,” but the applications of it are staggering. From the Accu-Stats booth to the instructional session, not to mention explaining complicated shots that win championships to a billiards-hungry public, Chau’s knowledge to the players approach is refreshing. He hopes to collect a vast library of shots on-line, and has asked DCC attendees to help out by submitting the diagrams and then sitting in to learn the basics of the application.“It’s moving pool towards a more serious sport when you can actually study the exact layouts a professional plays,” Chau said of his hopes for the game he loves. For those looking to hand in some of their favorite shots, Chau can be found at the USBA U.S. Open Three-Cushion qualifying room, where Fred Lamers is the second of three winners of a spot in the discipline’s toughest stateside tournament. Hopefully many billiards-related companies will take to CueTable, and Chau can bring in some revenue to support this great service.At the risk of lowering traffic here at InsidePOOLmag.com, check out the Project La Fortune link on Chau’s site. It’s named after the billiards-related painting by Man Ray, not the billiards player Peter LaFortune from Southern Florida. Besides forcing the consideration that Peter LaFortune is an alias, the painting’s actual three cushion layout has been shot by some great carom minds through the magic of CueTable. Before that, plumb our messageboard for a hidden update on the after-hours party that happens from the halls to the rails as the ninth Derby City Classic rolls into its final weekend.

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Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.