Greg Sullivan attended his first Johnston City tournament at sixteen. The year was 1972, just months before federal agents raided the legendary hustler's jamboree that had run since 1961. He kept his entry ticket. Twenty-seven years later, Sullivan launched the Derby City Classic at Louisville's Executive West Hotel with 200 entrants competing across bank pool, one-pocket, and 9-ball. The tournament has grown into what many call pool's Mecca—an eight-day convention that now draws over 400 players annually to Caesars Southern Indiana in Elizabeth, Indiana.
Johnston City's Ghost
The Johnston City Hustler's Jamborees ran from 1961 to 1972 in rural southern Illinois, organized by brothers George and Paulie Jansco. What started as a one-pocket tournament featuring fourteen players evolved into an all-around championship that added straight pool and 9-ball by 1962. The Janscos built the Cue Club specifically to host their tournament—reportedly the first building constructed for that purpose. They dressed up the players, brought in Sports Illustrated coverage, and created something pool hadn't seen before: hustlers and tournament professionals competing side by side under television lights.
The 1972 federal raid ended it. But Sullivan absorbed the lesson: pool's gambling culture wasn't something to hide—it was the draw. The Johnston City format worked because it tested players across multiple disciplines while keeping the action flowing. Sullivan took those principles and refined them for the modern era.
January 1999: The First Derby
The inaugural Derby City Classic ran January 22-30, 1999. Nick Varner won the bank pool division. Troy Frank took 9-ball, defeating Efren Reyes in the final. Reyes won one-pocket and claimed the first Master of the Table title—the all-around championship awarded based on cumulative points across all three disciplines. The $20,000 Master of the Table prize has remained constant since.
Sullivan made critical structural decisions that year. Buy-back format let eliminated players re-enter, creating marathon sessions and more action. Race-to-3 matches kept things moving—shorter than standard professional formats but long enough to reward consistency. Entry fees came in below spectator admission, flipping the traditional model. If you wanted to watch, you might as well play.
The random redraw after each round eliminated seeding and brackets entirely. You never knew who you'd face next, and players couldn't plan rest periods between matches. The format created exactly what Sullivan wanted: continuous pressure and the same grinding atmosphere that defined action rooms.
Reyes's Dominance
Efren Reyes won the Master of the Table title five times: 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2010. His thirteen total Derby titles include six one-pocket championships—1999, then four consecutive from 2004-2007, and another in 2014. The run from 2004 to 2007 stands alone in Derby history: four straight one-pocket titles while simultaneously competing in bank pool and 9-ball.
In 2007, Reyes went undefeated through thirteen rounds of one-pocket, defeating Cliff Joyner 3-1 in the final for his fourth consecutive title. He was sixty when he earned his final Derby one-pocket championship in 2014. At sixty-eight in 2023, he finished third in one-pocket after defeating Alex Pagulayan 3-1 in the semifinals before losing to eventual finalist Jonathan Pinegar.
Reyes called Derby his favorite tournament, citing the opportunity to compete against and spend time with players across generations. His success there cemented his status as the greatest one-pocket player of his era and demonstrated the all-around mastery that defined his career.
Evolution and Expansion
By 2009, the tournament had outgrown Louisville. Sullivan moved it across the state border to Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino in Elizabeth, Indiana—now Caesars Southern Indiana. The venue change accommodated growing fields that had doubled from the original 200 entrants.
Side events accumulated. The One Pocket Hall of Fame dinner began in 2005, inducting two players annually. Grady Mathews founded a bank pool ring game in 2004—six players, winner-take-all. A straight pool challenge started in 2007, requiring players to post their eight highest runs before qualifying for a race-to-125 single-elimination bracket.
The Louie Roberts Action and Entertainment Award ran from 2003 to 2014, honoring St. Louis Louie Roberts's legacy. Winners earned lifetime free entry and hotel accommodation. The award recognized players who embraced the gambling spirit that defined Derby's DNA—high-stakes action, crowd entertainment, and the willingness to put money behind their game.
The Bigfoot 10-Ball Challenge launched in 2014, showcasing Diamond's ten-foot table. The invitational features elite players competing on an oversized surface that rewards break power and long-distance accuracy. In 2025, Pijus Labutis won the Bigfoot while Fedor Gorst captured both bank pool and one-pocket titles, earning his third Master of the Table crown.
The International Shift
Derby started as American players dominating Filipino talent. That balance shifted. Dennis Orcollo won three Master of the Table titles. Francisco Bustamante took three. Shane Van Boening claimed two, winning four 9-ball championships between 2009 and 2016. European players entered the conversation in the 2010s.
Fedor Gorst's rise epitomizes Derby's evolution. His seven main event titles—three each in bank pool and one-pocket, plus one 9-ball championship—demonstrate the all-around game required to succeed there. Gorst won the Master of the Table in 2023 by capturing both bank pool and one-pocket while finishing third in 9-ball. In 2025, he repeated the bank pool and one-pocket sweep for his third all-around title.
The international field now includes players from Canada, Germany, Spain, Russia, Finland, the Netherlands, and beyond. The 2025 edition drew competitors from dozens of countries, reflecting pool's global reach and Derby's status as a must-attend event regardless of geography.
What Makes Derby Different
The format remains deliberately grueling. Buy-backs mean players can lose, pay to re-enter, and fight their way back through the field. The random draw creates unpredictable matchups—you might face a world champion in round two, then draw an unknown road player in round three. The short races create variance that rewards shot-making over position grinding, though longer races would favor different players.
Action rooms run twenty-four hours. Money games happen between rounds, after elimination, and throughout the week. The gambling Sullivan witnessed at Johnston City remains alive. Players compete for tournament prizes while testing their games for cash on the side. The culture attracts road players who normally avoid major tournaments, creating fields that blend touring professionals with action players who rarely appear on broadcast tables.
The vendor expo brings manufacturers and equipment suppliers. Diamond tables fill the tournament space. Cue makers set up booths. Players can test new shafts, buy equipment, and talk directly with manufacturers. The commercial aspect reflects Derby's unique position—not quite a pure tournament, not quite a convention, but something that combines both.
The 2021 Gap and Beyond
The 2021 Derby City Classic was cancelled due to COVID-19—the only year since 1999 without a tournament. The event returned in 2022 with enthusiasm intact. Fields remained strong. The format stayed the same. Derby's essential character survived the interruption.
Current champions reflect the tournament's breadth. Joshua Filler won the 2025 9-ball title, adding to his reputation as one of Europe's most dangerous players. Gorst's dual titles in bank pool and one-pocket demonstrated versatility across defensive and offensive games. The competition level continues rising as international talent deepens and younger players arrive with professional training that previous generations lacked.
Derby's influence extends beyond results. The all-around format tests players across disciplines in ways single-game tournaments cannot. Bank pool demands precision. One-pocket requires strategic patience. Nine-ball rewards break-and-run ability. Winning the Master of the Table means excelling at all three—or at least performing well enough in each to accumulate points through consistency and deep runs.
Johnston City on Steroids
Sullivan calls Derby "Johnston City on steroids," and the comparison holds. The structure mirrors the Jansco brothers' vision: multiple disciplines, open entry, gambling culture, and an atmosphere that blurs the line between tournament and action. The scale exceeds anything Johnston City achieved. Four hundred players instead of dozens. International fields instead of regional draws. Eight days instead of three weeks spread across events.
What Derby preserved from Johnston City matters more than what changed. The spirit remains—players gathering not just to compete but to test themselves against the field and each other, formally and informally, in tournaments and money games. The titles matter. The cash matters more. The action never stops.
Twenty-six editions completed through 2025. Twenty-six years of bank pool, one-pocket, and 9-ball. Twenty-six Master of the Table champions crowned. The Derby City Classic stands as the most successful competitively-attended professional pool tournament in the world, measured by consistent participation and endurance. Sullivan kept that entry ticket from 1972 because he knew what he'd witnessed mattered. In 1999, he proved he understood why.
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