Duel In The Desert -- 2002

[edew]

The results are in: Cedric Anen won the open foil, then lost to Sean McClain for the $1K. Kelly Koehler from SoCal won the women's foil, then lost to Felicia Zimmerman for the $0.5K. Felicia also won the women's epee as well as the $0.5K. Curtis Andrus from Sacramento won the open sabre, then won the showcase bout against Junior. Because of NCAA rules, Curtis did not take the money. Rachel Liebing beat Megan Everett for the gold in women's sabre, and beat Megan again in a gripping 3-2, come from behind victory for the non-$0.5K. Gago Demirchan took Soren Thompson to task for the gold medal, and then went toe-to-toe with Ingo (3-2 in bouts, 5-4 victory for Ingo).

The DITD was at the Tropicana again. This year, because of the low tourist count, one could (and did) get rooms for $39/$49 (weeknight/weekend-nights). I mean, how cheap can you go, right? For me, I paid an extra $10/night for a nicer room: king-sized bed, large sitting area (almost like a suite), mirrored walls all over the place (including the ceiling)...

Had dinner at Gallagher's in New York, New York the first night. Did MGM Grand the second night, and a quickie buffet the third (Saturday) night. Went back to Gallagher's for Sunday night.

The fencing was pretty good, with fencers as far away as the Phillipines (two finished third, one finished sixth, and one other finished 17), Great Britain, and I think Canada. Foil had 104 entries, epee had 120+, sabre had about 48 I think. The women's events had small entries, in the low 30s or high 20s. I think, given the money prizes, that many more will be coming in future years. Seriously, $39/$49 per night rooms and a possibility of taking home $500 (as long as you don't spend it) should be a good incentive to show up. Delia, do you plan to come next year?

The gala finals was scheduled for 7PM and everything started on cue. We ran through the six events by 10:30PM and there were no delays to speak of.

The only sore spot: fencers had to self-referee during the preliminary pools. That's not good, and in some cases, fencers screwed others, which really affects the seeding.

[Peach]

Dang. It's tempting. Sounds like fun, and cheap.

Well, since I can't do the World Cups any more (did you vets out there know it disqualifies you for two years from entering the Veteran World Championships? and I'm betting WS gets into the event within the next couple of years) that means I get to substitute another trip, right? right? Sure, Delia.

Though I don't like self-refereeing--we had a tournament yesterday and I have a club-mate who really really really doesn't agree that he's preparing.

[goldbaker]

Just wanted to get my two cents in and say that the Duel in the Desert was a great time. My wife and I stayed at the Tropicana. The $45/$75 room rate was a good deal for the Strip, and it was real nice to just take the elevator down to the event. The mirrored ceilings were an interesting touch.

We went last year too. It makes for a nice vacation, and it's a chance to fence some good people. The exhibition went much smoother this time around -- no scoring equipment problems. The open bar, raised strip, and level of competition made it like being at a real sporting event. Plus, I actually made a little money in the Trop casino this year. The self-directing in the pools was mildly annoying, but most of us are used to it anyway, and the quality of directing for the DEs was excellent.

It's a good time and I'd recommend it to anyone who can make it.

[Boo Boo Too]

I am, finally, just back from the Duel in the Desert. I also really enjoyed the competition - LOTS of fencing - and the gala finals. Was really impressed at how friendly everyone was.

Went fencing at the Las Vegas Fencing Club on the Wednesday before: great people and really decent fencing. Only four regulars there that night, but fenced them all at least once.

Stayed at the Venetian (wanted to stay there for ages - sorry Tropicana): good hotel, great rooms, enjoyed the gym.

Short review of restaurants eaten at during trip (in case anyone is interested for next time):
- Rio Seafood Buffet: very good if you like seaford.
- Noodles (Noodle Bar - Bellagio): great Chinese noodle and rice dishes, reasonable prices.
- Royal Star (Dim sum lunch - Venetian): I really love dim sum and this was good dim sum (especially the seafood dishes), reasonable prices.
- Morton's of Chicago (Steakhouse - corner of Flamingo and Paradise): good atmosphere. great food (except the steak which was very charcoaled on the outside :-( ).
- Mirage Buffet Dinner: Okay, but can't remember much (very tired after a full day's fencing and watching a show).
- Tropicana Brunch Buffet: ate here out of convenience (right next to the venue) - wasn't too brilliant and not too much choice.
- Outback Steakhouse: I love blommin' onions (shared of course) and my steak was better than the one at Morton's !?!
- Bellagio Brunch Buffet: Excellent and well worth the extra $6 per person over the Tropicana brunch buffet...

Yes I did have time to fence in between all of that eating... :-))) Will be returning to normal healthy eating now :-(

Went to see Mystere at Treasure Island on the Friday night. Almost missed it (supposed to be seated by 7pm): was still doing womens foil L16 at 6pm and still had to return to the Venetian to shower and change. Show was good.

I would recommend doing the duel in the desert to anyone, but think that it is especially good (if hectic!) if you do more than one event.

Edew looked particularly smart on Saturday evening.

Boo Boo
(trying to return to fencing less like a "headless chicken").

[edew]

Boo Boo, appreciate the compliment.

Boo Boo has a very "Tanner City" style to her attacks.

Sorry for beating your husband in the round of 32.

Seems like you guys really took all of Las Vegas on this trip. Ate a lot, I presume. Did you partake in any of the gaming activities? (Seriously, with "O" running at $115/person and Mystere somewhere around that amount, playing and surviving at blackjack on $5 minimum bets can be a money saver.)

[Boo Boo Too]

Dare I ask what the "Tanner City" style is?

Did a little bit of gaming on the slot machines (although not much: I think that gaming is a pretty good way to loose money - unless you are talented or lucky or both).

Mystere was about $80 or $90 per person. Not something that we would do regularly, but okay for a special treat (it is very difficult to drag my husband to any kind of theatre other than a movie theatre nomrally...).

Okay about knocking my husband out: it has given me the ability to tease him about me finishing one place ahead of him in the L32 ;-))). It was nice to see your fight: you have a very aesthetically pleasing style. Shame that you lost to the one of the guys from the Philipines (they are a friendly and "entertaining" bunch :-)).

Las Vegas is a very interesting place and I didn't eat THAT much: fortunately/unfortunately I don't have a very large stomach, so don't get a huge amount of value out of buffets. WOuld have liked an extra day or two to recover after the competition (drove back to LA on Sunday, flew back to UK yesterday, arrived today, back at work tomorrow :-(((( ).

Boo
(starting her search for a career which allows more vacations...)

[edew]

The Tanner City style is a compliment. The Tanner City Fencers were the powerhouse in women's foil before the Rochester foilists came into being in the early 90s. Tanner City fencers included Olympians Jana Angelakis, MJ O'Neill, Molly Sullivan, and a host of other very strong women fencers. However, MJ and Molly sort of exemplified that style (which wasn't totally pervasive, as the Rochester style is quite pervasive among the RFC women foilists), which is similar to how you fenced. It's that beat-attack remise move.

I was temporarily ahead of Canlis (the Phillipino fencer), when he figured out and spazzed. I think there was also one questionable call that sort of spooked me from trying the action again.

As for the odds at Tropicana, I played some table poker-type games. You're basically dealt a poker hand and if it's a pair (of some sort) or better, you're guaranteed to win at least equal to your ante. Well, the odds sucked tremendously. For example, a flush paid 8-to-1. Getting a flush with a five-card hand is about 510-to-1, I believe. So they're paying you 8-to-1 for those odds. That's a $0.015 expected-value return on a $1 bet. Pretty s**ty pay-out, if you ask me. Of course, they give something back: some tables have dueces wild, which helps improve the odds. Other tables offer an additional pay-off if you put in an additional $1 ($5 minimum bet). Still...better to play something with reasonable odds like roulette or craps.

[Boo Boo]

Thanks. I am probably a bit too aggressive sometimes, though (and, so, was completely unable to contribute to the recent "how can you make a woman fence more aggressively" thread...): the members of LVFC are probably still nursing their bruises from two weeks ago... :-(

The presiding was a bit mixed: some was very good, some was rather questionable. However I was impressed that there were so many referees there: here many of our DE fights at major Opens and our National Champs are self-presiding. Mark Mulholland did most of the presiding in my poule, so most of the presiding was good (some of the other presidents were not quite as good).

I don't know how to play poker (and know that my face is far too expressive for that sort of game). Would have liked to have played Black Jack, but haven't got the guts to gamble much money ($5/$10/$15 minimum bet sounds a lot to me - I guess that I don't have a gamblers mentality).

Boo

[edew]

No, the "poker games" I was referring to are not actually poker games in that you're not competing against other players or even the house. It's more like the video pokers. You try to get a good hand. In real poker, you can will big bux holding nothing more than a pair of aces, and you could lose big bux holding nothing less than a full house.

Here, a pair of aces gives you 1-to-1 return. Two pairs, three-of-a-kind same thing. A straight gives you 4-1, flush 8-1, full-house 11-1, four-of-a-kind 30-1, and so on.

[edew]

Completely unsubstantiated rumor: next year's DITD may be televised by a bona fide television network/organization/whathaveyou.

[swordsen]

the DITD is about the only tournament in the US that stands a chance of getting TV coverage. It is well run, held in a good local,has a reputaion and a following.
have they started running a line on it in vegas yet???

[edew]

I asked Evan Ranes about it. It's not so easy. Because it's a sporting event, putting money on it requires going through the Nevada Sporting Governing Board the Gaming Commission, etc. It will be treated like a boxing match, and there's big bux to pay to make it a legitimate bettable sports event.

However, several years ago, we did have a non-Nevada sanctioned betting line on the outcome of the finals (fifteen-touch bouts then). There was an over-under bet (total of the two fencers' score). Jim Campoli won the big one betting on 19 for the foil final. Mike (Stryder) beat Zhon Johanssen 15-4. Having lines like that certainly makes for louder cheering.

If the event is televised, I don't think we can put lines on the outcome, or somebody can be in deep doo-doo. However, it could make some Gaming Commission folks think of allowing it, and when it becomes legitimate, I think we can see/expect a large crowd of non-fencing related people as spectators.

Then, we need to provide more in-depth bios of each fencer, especially the finalists.

[Stryder]

15-2

[Purple Fencer]

Eric,

I haven't check the DITD site yet. Did Cedric Anen to the epee as well? He almost beat Alejandro Castillo for his epee "A" yesterday at SoCal (He won the foil, which was ALSO an A1 event). Final score was 15-13, and he broke at epee blade in three places around the 12 point level (double touch, too!)

[edew]

He fenced just foil. Foil and epee were held on the same day, so it would be tough for those who plan to fence all day (like Cedric) to do both. There was too much overlap.

Breaking an epee into three parts isn't so hard, especially if it's one of those cheap russian (or chinese) blades. I broke one once (into two, not three pieces) by just gently straightening out a slight upward curve with my hands. Bend, bend, boing, break!