Travel Report, EPT12 Dublin, Day 3 -- There Is Only One Mustapha, and There is Only One Kanit

Checking in here at the end of an especially lengthy day at the European Poker Tour Dublin festival where Day 1a of the Main Event played out. Also finishing up was that €25K High Roller, won by the entertaining and talented Mustapha “lasagnaaammm” Kanit.

There was a funny moment at the end of Day 1 of the €25K involving Kanit when players were bagging up their chips. There was a slight delay getting the bags out at his table and he was growing impatient. I think he had a couple of friends there ready to leave, and so was wanting to get out the door as soon as he could.

Finally he got a bag and quickly grabbed a pen and began hastily jotting down his name and chip count on the front. As he did, the dealer said something to him about the need to write clearly. After all, he was going to have to transcribe all of the players’ names and counts onto a sheet, and so needed to be able to decipher who they were. Kanit looked up to respond.

“There is only one Mustapha... and there is only one Kanit!” he said, and the other players erupted in laughter. Kanit was grinning, too, as he inserted his chips, sealed the bag, and skedaddled.

The Italian loves to talk at the table (that’s him on the right above chatting with Igor Kurganov). And if you read through the live updates of an event in which he plays, you often find lots of references to his banter. His English is quite good, and his predilection for adding “bro” at the end of sentences -- especially when joking around (which he often does) -- tends to add a degree of levity at the tables that is sometimes missing among more serious-minded players.

That said, Kanit is seriously skillful as a player, and proved it again tonight. We’ll see if he can add anymore silver spades this week before the festival is over.

Photo: courtesy Neil Stoddart/PokerStars blog.